Personal frustrations of a lackluster Villa

You would have thought that a top-six team, playing a top-one team, with an extra man advantage would really show they are capable of taking it to the Champions, particularly after beating them earlier in the season. Apparently you’d be wrong. And apologies in advance, because this is pretty much an article just about the Villa.

Last night I went to Villa Park to see Aston Villa take on Manchester United, in a game that I not only expected Villa to lose, but also one which before hand I stated I’d bite their hands off if they offered a draw. Yet come the final whistle, I was actually disappointed to get a point against United, and it seemed like I wasn’t the only one. Of course there were no boos at the end of the game – such a thought would be absolutely ridiculous – but there was a certain frustration that rang around Villa Park after the 1-1 draw.

Let’s briefly review the events of the game. Villa took a deserved lead through a decent header from Carlos Cuellar, Villa’s best player on the evening, which was cancelled out minutes later, when Giggs’ volley went in off James Collins. Nani got himself ridiculously sent off for a two-footed challenge: he may have won most of the ball, but his follow through caught Stiliyan Petrov hard, resulting in the Villa captain being replaced in the second half. Despite the advantage, Man Utd posed more of a threat through the latter part of the first half, and the first twenty minutes of the second, but had little clear cut chances. From there, Villa started to press the opposition back into their own third, but never looked like scoring, and ultimately a draw was probably a fair result.

So if the result was fair, why was I left frustrated? Well, if anyone has seen the majority of Villa’s last performances they would have noticed that the Villans are missing something in attack. Since Xmas, Villa have lost 3-0 to Arsenal, lost 0-1 to Liverpool, drawn 0-0 with West Ham, drawn 0-0 with Arsenal, beaten Fulham 2-0, drawn with Tottenham 0-0, and drawn with Man Utd 1-1. In seven games, the Villans have scored just three goals, conceding five.

Now defensively, I don’t think there are any problems with Villa, far from it in fact. With four clean sheets in a row during that run, and conceding just one a piece against Liverpool and Man Utd, Villa have now conceded just nineteen goals this season, giving them statistically the Premier League’s strongest defence. In contrast, they have scored thirty two goals, eighteen at home and fourteen away. Even Hull have scored as many at home as Villa. And three goals in seven games shows there is something missing in Villa’s attack.

My personal thoughts on the matter focus on two areas. Firstly, the lack of a natural goalscorer. Neither John Carew nor Emile Heskey will ever get 20 goals in a single season for Aston Villa, and I’d be surprised if Gabby Agbonlahor ever did either. Come the summer, if Martin O’Neill does not spend big money on a striker, then Villa will continue to struggle scoring goals like teams of similar status (out of the six teams above them, Liverpool have scored the least goals with forty three, and that’s with periods of the season missing Gerrard and Torres). Man Utd have Rooney, Chelsea have Drogba, Liverpool Torres, Arsenal Van Persie, Spurs Defoe, Man City Tevez. All decent goal-scoring threats, who will at least go close to 20 goals every season.

But secondly, Martin O’Neill is not tactically a great manager, and the last seven games have shown it. O’Neill has recently decided to play James Milner in a more central role, which has meant that Milner, Ashley Young and Stewart Downing have all been playing in a four-man midfield. For me, this is starting to show it’s weaknesses. You would have thought that with the flair of Milner, Young and Downing, defined as England’s future by some sections of the country’s media and fans, that Villa would be one of the most threatening teams going forward. But last night, Villa actually showed more promise in attack with three attacking midfielders supporting a lone striker. Yes Milner, Young and Downing were playing at the same time, but all in more advanced roles, allowing Petrov and the impressive Fabian Delph to hold the centre of midfield.

Take the Spurs game on Saturday. Both teams had pretty similar styles of play (which is why I found the chant “Boring, boring Villa” pretty ironic). Both teams had central-midfield pairs who were less than adventurous – Milner and Petrov for Villa, and Wilson Palacios and Tom Huddlestone for Spurs. And both sides had two main forms of attack – long balls up to a target man (Heskey and Crouch), or threats down the flanks (Downing and Young, Bentley and Bale). Other than that, there was little to distinguish between the sides. Except for one player. Luka Modric. Nearly every ball Crouch won in the air, he knocked it back down to Modric who was found time and time again in the centre of midfield, just outside the box, completely unmarked. Unfortunately for Spurs, they were not at their attacking best. Neither Defoe nor Modric were getting much on target, and Villa managed to cope with what came Friedel’s way.

Villa have been missing an attacking threat from central midfield for a long, long time, and putting a winger into the middle is not going to change that. Milner will always work his socks off for Villa, but when playing in the middle, it seems as though O’Neill has made him more aware of his defensive duties. As such, he  pushes forward less than when played out wide. On those occasions he is found forward, it is usually out on a wing, helping either Young or Downing attack the fullback. Villa are still relying too much on their crosses to get goals, and without the fire power in the middle it’s going to continue to hinder them. What Modric did for Spurs last Saturday, what Lampard does for Chelsea, Gerrard for Liverpool, is drive through the centre of midfield, and provide another route to attack. Villa have absolutely no attacking presence through the middle of midfield whatsoever, and it’s extremely frustrating for the fans. Once Plan A fails (get the ball out wide and cross it), there is no Plan B to go to.

But it does seem in the Villa squad that there is some hope for the future, in the shape of Fabian Delph. After a slow start to his Villa career, recent performances have shown what the fuss was about when Villa spent £6m on him in the summer. He impressed first half against Blackburn in the FA Cup, really impressed against Brighton when he played 90 minutes, and last night against the Champions of England he was Villa’s best player until his substitution early in the second half, and it is safe to say that we looked weaker going forward without him in the team. Because of the three attacking midfielders in front of him, he did not push forward as much as expected from him, playing like a mirror image of Petrov next to him. But judging by his performance against Brighton, in a 4-4-2 he will give Villa exactly the kind of potency their central midfield needs.

He’s an extremely mature player considering he is just 20 years old. His attitude towards self-improvement really is remarkable. Despite what was probably his best showing in a Villa shirt, he made this comment in the post-match interview:

“I think I was tidier on the ball and I think that was down to having a bit more space. I saw a few things that went wrong though, like I played two diagonal passes which were a bit high and they got cut out, so that’ll be playing on my mind for a few days but hopefully I can work on that in training and get it right.”

How can a couple of misplaced passes be that much of an issue? Most people would just put it down to bad luck and move on, but he is desperate to improve and be the best he can, and that in the long run is going to be what the Villa fans love about him. I think this lad is really one to watch out for, and if you don’t believe me then check out these goals from last season whilst he was at Leeds. It may have been in League One, but I don’t think things would have been any different for him with these chances if they came last night against Manchester United.

Advertisement