One of the big mysteries of Villa’s season so far is the disappearance of Libor Kozak.
The Czech Republic international has only featured once this season in Villa’s League Cup win against Notts County.
That was way back in August and the 26-year-old has not even made his way onto the bench.
A goalless draw at home to Manchester City saw Rémi Garde in the Villa hot seat for the first time; Kozak was not on the pitch or the bench making Garde the third Villa manager this season to snub Kozak. The following week, when Villa were thrashed 4-0 by Everton at Goodison Park, Kozak was left out again.
Tim Sherwood opted to give the 6’4″ striker a runout in preseason, but left him out in every Premier League matchday squad, a trend continued by Kevin MacDonald in Villa’s 3-1 defeat to Tottenham Hotspur.
The Czech giant has so far had a nightmarish time at Villa after picking up a small injury and being sidelined for a few months. His injury woes increased after an unfortunate leg break in training thanks to Nathan Baker; that postponed his return date by several months and several niggles later he returned in preseason ready to restart his Villa career only to be overlooked once the season started.
Villa have only played one game under the stewardship of Garde, so there’s still plenty of time for Kozak to feature, and it was obvious that defence was what the new manager focused on in the build-up for the City game. That perhaps left little time to focus on the striking situation at the club, and indeed Kozak.
With Villa’s blatant lack of firepower up front, Garde will surely be looking closely at Kozak in trying to see if his predecessor got it wrong (spoiler alert: he probably did).
Garde has already reintroduced some players not favoured by Sherwood towards the end if his tenure including Jordan Amavi, who was subsequently injured on international duty, Jordan Veretout and Scott Sinclair, which must be encouraging for Kozak to see.
The most notable inclusion and one that may give Kozak hope is Charles N’Zogbia, who emerged from the bench on Sunday. The Frenchman was a key figure under Sherwood for a while last season, a decision as questionable as Charles’ fashion choices, but the 29-year-old had not made a Premier League appearance this season until the arrival of Garde.
If Kozak is not at least named on the bench in the next few games then it looks like it could be curtain call for him. Unless Ayew, Gestede and Sinclair start banging in the goals, it would seemingly be a baffling decision.
Although only the people that watch Kozak train can truly judge his worth, it still remains a mystery to those in the stands.
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