I thought perhaps I was being a bit harsh, but as Ireland surged then floundered against the mighty Croat machine, I turned to my son and said, “This is just like watching Villa.” Maybe it was Richard Dunne and Shay Given. Maybe the overall lack of quality, and the comedy cuts at the back. But whatever it was, it all looked the same. And really, for England, too.
While England’s point against the French has to be considered a reasonably good one, it dawned on me again that Villa’s problems are the same as England’s and Ireland’s. Villa are made up up mostly English and Irish players. And it’s not really a recipe for success. The odd exciting moment, yes, but, well, more than anything that feeling as games wear on that whatever was bright at the beginning starts to look rather ragged and worn and scruffy by the end. And that end, unfortunately, is the wrong end of the pitch.
Does Hodgson have much choice? I don’t really think so, overall. The takeaway? Paul Lambert needs to give himself some better choices.
Which Brings Us To Transfers
We’ve seen a few links, and some good discussion on here about the relative merits of several players who mostly haven’t been linked, and a couple or three who have. Today, it was Poulsen. The 27-year-old Dane also seems to be wanted by Ajax to replace 23-year-old Vurnon Anita, who apparently is the target of a bid by the Toon. The Sun are careful to note that Anita’s agent did mention Lambert’s previous interest in the player while at Norwich, and did not rule Villa out so…
I get a bit dizzy when it comes to all the musical chairs…I just generally wait until the talk really firms up, and then form an opinion. But we do seem to like Scandinavian defenders at Villa, and it’s refreshing that perhaps the knock on Lambert of buying British has been a matter of means and circumstance.
If true, then obviously we’ve got a bit of a shakeup in the works at the back, and that’s a good thing. Exactly who the casualties would be, well…it would seem one of Hutton, Warnock, Herd or Lichaj are out of favor. I’m betting on either Hutton or Warnock. If there is a god. But as I’ve long said, all four at the back need to go. Whether they can be shipped out, or even more unlikely, transformed, I don’t know.
The other bits involve Stephen Ireland and Shay Given. Now, if Lambert has his plans, and Ireland’s wages outweigh his value, then so be it. That’s what Lambert’s getting paid for. Personally, I’d like to see Ireland, who still is only coming back to what he could be, Charles N’Zogbia, who has simply been lost, and Jean II Makoun actually passing the ball around, making incisive passes and freeing up some players more capable than Marc Albrighton, Barry Bannan, and Gabriel Agbonlahor. Bent, I’m guessing we’re stuck with, but even if he is lazier than a summer day, he does have a knack for putting the ball in the net if you place it such that he’s only got to make one touch to redirect it. But right now, it’s all about how far the wages can be made to go. Perhaps 80% of Ireland’s best at one-quarter to one-third the wages is the right math.
And if Shay Given wants to move on? Well…After a year behind that back four, wouldn’t you want a move? Not saying he does, but I wonder, since he doesn’t command his line any better than Brad Guzan, why we’re letting Guzan go, who, in my opinion is a better shot-stopper, and certainly better at penalties, never mind being much younger. There are probably keepers out there like Foster who can be had. But I just wonder.
But I’m not in charge.
Speaking Of The Back
It was good to see Matt say that a certain esteemed Villa insider confirms what I’ve been saying all along about our CB pairing. Since they can’t play up and out, they have to sit deep. And when they have to sit deep, they’re a bit of a Maginot Line, and we all know what happens to static fortifications. Someone clever goes round them.
Now, of course, the problem is only magnified by poor fullbacks. Yes, they were asked to get forward to provide width last season more than they were (as positions, not players) when Ashley Young and Stewart Downing were providing width, pace and crosses the season before. But, despite the noble intent, we all pretty much agree that neither was really up to the task of going forward or getting back.
In Matt’s nice diagrams, you could see the problem when a wide attacker isn’t canceled out further upfield by a better fullback/winger combo, and both CBs have to sit deep so that they’re in as little open space as possible. You’ve got a deep striker, or arriving midfielders, a winger or overlapping fullback all coming forward with pace and intent, and Warnock, Dunne, Collins and Hutton to figure it all out. That’s the sort of thing that requires a Prozac prescription.
When you sit deep, you obviously invite pressure. When you sit deep and are a step slow, you can’t anticipate and cut things out: you end up impersonating a cone in training.
But we have to sit deep because neither Collins nor Dunne is quick, agile, or fast enough to press up and snuff out trouble further up the pitch. I’m sure we all saw Dunne trying to play the ball against the Croatia, and getting mauled. It’s only compounded by Hutton and Warnock running alongside wingers and attacking fullbacks, not getting tackles in, and getting pressed back all the way to the box or the end line, and then into the box itself. It’s a stagnant line unable to cut out an incisive pass that inevitably finds its way back to a lurking striker or attacking midfielder. It’s fullbacks who lose their men in quick, predictable one-twos.
It’s basically a formula for being hit by waves of slicing runs that you can only react to, and too slowly at that. It’s everything collapsing back into a shell around the keeper. Which leaves a very inviting 10-20 yards of prime real estate open to opponents who aren’t much bothered by our midfielders. They shoot, get deflections, goals, corners…We can’t deal with them.
So, I’m glad to finally hear that someone on the inside sees the same thing. I’m not crazy, in other words.
And this is why two men have been employed to shield this lousy group. Meaning we’re always on the back foot by design and necessity…six defending, a keeper, and four men left to do anything useful up front. Linkage from Clark, Gardner and Herd (minus Stan now)? Well, that’s not really scaring anyone.
You want to know why we don’t have service? Why we looked so stretched and chaotic? Why goals are so hard to come by? Well, it’s not that difficult to suss out. This is where the problems all start. I’m not saying we don’t have other problems (are Fonz, Weimann and Gabby first-choice strikers anywhere else?), but the back four mean we have to score at least two and probably three each time out.
Established wisdom says you build from the back. Common sense says we have to start fixing things from the back. That’s been my story, and I’m sticking to it.
And yes, we do need another striker, too, just to help make things simple.
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