When Alex McLeish joined the club it is fair to say the fans were not exactly in complete agreement over his appointment. Many feared that the Scot would bring a negative approach to the game and that Villa’s creativity and attacking instincts would suffer.
One win and four draws in and those fears seem to be becoming somewhat of a reality in the last couple of games at least. Retrieving a point from Craven Cottage should not be sniffed at (just ask Man City) and after backing the decent result up with a good win and performance to boot against Blackburn, all appeared reasonably rosy at Villa Park.
Three consecutive draws later and the mood at the club is significantly less so after abject performances in the most part against Everton and Newcastle (nevermind Bolton) in particular. The point at Goodison was a good one, especially considering the way the game was shaping up in the first half, but draws at home to Wolves and Newcastle won’t suffice for large sections of the support.
Despite the results not matching up to expectations, it is the lacklustre displays that are more of a worry and tiredness shouldn’t come into this early in the season. McLeish has been reluctant to rotate, only doing so at right-back thus far due to the sale of Luke Young, and it may be time to drop those not performing.
A look at the stats from the first two games showed Villa kept 49% of the possession on average against Fulham and Blackburn. Since then the side have kept a meagre 44% of possession in their remaining three league fixtures, despite two of them being at home. The win over Blackburn was the only time Villa have edged possession all season with 52%.
However, the most disappointing stat in this regard saw Newcastle control the game at Villa Park with 59% possession with Cabaye and Tiote pulling the strings. Prior to the trip to Birmingham, Newcastle had averaged just 44% of possession in their previous four games and it’s why Villa shouldn’t have let them back into the game after scoring early.
The team’s passing has also diminished. In their first two games they achieved an average success rate of 76.5%, which would place them around mid-table in the league in this regard. In the three games since the Blackburn match Villa have completed just under 71% of their passes which would place them in 19th in the league, only ahead of Stoke.
In terms of players who have had slow starts to the season, there are none more so than Darren Bent and Charles N’Zogbia in my opinion. The duo were touted as the side’s key/best players by many but both have failed to hit form thus far. N’Zogbia’s form could be attributed to his lack of pre-season with the club which is fair, while Bent has had a niggling groin injury.
Despite these factors both players have played every game this season, including the win over Hereford in the League Cup, and I feel both could do with being put on their toes by a replacement.
Charles N’Zogbia’s first few displays were steady if unspectacular but along with Bent he has been very quiet in the last two outings. Having started the season with an impressive pass accuracy of 85% in his first few games the Frenchman has picked out his man with an average of just 70% of his passes against Everton and former club Newcastle.
His dribbling was a facet that many were eager to witness at Villa Park but just 1.2 completed per game thus far is fairly meagre for his high standards. Despite attempting eight shots he has failed to score while Agbonlahor has tried the same figure and netted three times.
In terms of shooting Darren Bent is firing blanks at the moment. His singular strike against Blackburn has come from just six shots, and he missed an absolute sitter that would have given Villa breathing space against Newcastle. His lack of goal threat can of course attributed to a lack of service, but Gabby Agbonlahor has had the same service and looked far sharper.
If Villa are to improve, the aforementioned duo will need to up their games, and dropping them may well give them the kicks up the backside they need.
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