Another weekend gone, and another uninspiring Villa performance. If ever there was evidence of who Villa’s star player of the season is, this was it. Without Gabby Agbonlahor, Villa looked devoid of inspiration.
Sure, Darren Bent wasn’t playing either (and the fact Bent wasn’t even at the game tells a whole different story), but it was Agbonlahor’s absence that showed up Villa’s faults more than anyone. Bent is nothing without supply anyway, but without Gabby, Villa are an even more lethargic shadow of what they should be.
Looking purely at the statistics, Villa didn’t appear to do as bad as things may have appeared. However, for anyone who knows anything about football, statistics don’t tell the whole story, and can be manipulated accordingly.
Looking at it from a spectator’s view without a ream of statistics appear from the most salient one – the final score – then I would say we were lucky to only concede two.
For me, Villa lost for a multitude of reasons. One is the lack of squad depth available. Another is the loss of a player who has been a lynchpin for Villa. A third is this consistent inability to defend set-pieces.
With both Agbonlahor and Bent out of the team, Villa’s strike force was comparatively underpowered. Combine that with a midfield that is quite lightweight, and it’s invariable that the team will resort to type and try and bypass them. Which led to chasing balls rather than playing a passing game.
It’s not good but, again, it is what it is. Not great, especially when the defence lacks the ability to stay tight.
That’s weakness in three areas already by my reckoning. Thank God for Shay Given, but even he can’t be expected to just keep the ball out for 90 minutes on his own.
Villa need major surgery in the near future to become a solid and cohesive unit. Regardless of McLeish’s role as manager, or whether he does or doesn’t have the job later this year, Villa need a spine to the team. Right now, that spine seems totally shattered.
Spinal Surgery
For me, it isn’t a difficult concept – build a spine to a team as a starting point and flesh it out with time. Given is a great keeper, Agbonlahor is a great striker. What is missing is the middle bits in defence and midfield.
Without the middle, Villa have very little choice but to kick the ball long. I know that, you know that, everybody who has watched a game of football knows that. The midfield lack spark and energy amongst other things. Petrov is a talented footballer but is aging in terms of his legs. Herd has done well but is relatively new to the team. Bannan and Delph are, for me at least, small and lightweight and thus easily dominated.
The midfield need a dominating influence who can be big, strong, and capable. Someone who can impose themselves on the game. Many opposed the suggestion that Joey Barton was suitable as a player for Villa, but he is certainly imposing. There are those who see his past as being littered with thuggery, but the counter argument to that would be that he would be for us, not against us. Barton may not have been a long term solution to Villa’s midfield, but if ever there was a man who could rampage through the middle, and that Villa could afford, it was Barton. That ship has sailed though.
The defence too has a problem. Dunne and Collins seem to be the preferred partnership for no other reason other than nothing else works. Hardly what I would call inspiring, and part of why Villa concede so readily in set piece situations. Couple this lack of mobility and ball hoofing with some recent sloppy form from the full backs, and it is no wonder that Villa’s back line is as porous as a sponge.
Again, in defence, Villa need some real power and solidity. If this means selling one or both of our current pairing in the middle, then so be it. You can’t move forwards without a solid back four. If anyone should know this, a defender like McLeish should. To ensure that happens, the middle two need to be big and strong. For me, that means the likes of Christopher Samba or another big, strong centre half who can play the ball and dominate lightweight forwards. Samba has pace too, which is a great asset when married to his size.
The type of player I would like is someone like Carlos Marchena of Valencia, only a younger version. You know the type – a real animal who will cut players in half if they even attempt to get past them.
Some might see using “big” players as primitive, that playing with that kind of player is more consonant with long ball than skillful passing. That should McLeish adopt such a policy, it would be more Birmingham than Barcelona. After all, Lionel Messi isn’t tall and plays fantastically well, right?
By the same token, Lionel Messi is in such a different stratosphere to Villa’s targets that it makes no sense to even use him as a comparison. Building a team means starting from leser foundations to move forwards. It’s not quick, it isn’t always attractive, but it is what is needed.
Playing Youth & Non-Playing Players
In terms of the team, a strike force of Delfouneso and Heskey were never going to be prolific but the sad reality is that, in the absence of Agbonlahor, through suspension, and Bent, through injury, a partnership of Nathan and Emile is as good as Villa can hope to play up front. Of course, Weimann could come in for Heskey, but he is far from proven at the top level. Delfouneso’s contributions to date have yet to persuade me that he will be a success story. I could be wrong, of course.
One thing the youth have going for them though is commitment. Villa have lacked the effort required to make results happen this year, between a series of managerial swaps, players who haven’t fit systems, and others who have lacked commitment.
As a fan, I’ve grown used to mercenary footballers switching clubs at the drop of a hat. I don’t like it, but I’ve come to accept it. I also know that Villa isn’t the biggest club in the world so there wil be players who want to leave to pursue goals that they feel aren’t able to be done at Villa. Again, I don’t like it, but I realise it is part of the modern game.
What I can’t get used to is a lack of effort. In my personal experience, regardless of your job or salary, commitment is key to doing a job well. It is even more essential when your job involves entertaining the paying public. It might well be one thing to slack off when you’re on minimum wage stacking shelves at a low-end supermarket, but when you’re on millions of pounds a year and being watched by the public, it is slightly less forgiveable.
Restoring The Pride In The Badge
Talking about apathy, there seems to be a situation that is constantly twirling around Darren Bent. Bent has an uneasy reputation with an increasingly large number of fans who see him as apathetic towards the club. Gabby Agbonlahor, who was suspended for the game, watched Villa from the stands. Darren Bent, on the other hand, was nowhere to be seen. The club’s official line is that Bent was injured.
I’m not going to get into whether Darren Bent was or wasn’t injured, but regardless of either situation, there was nothing stopping him watching the team that he plays for. Shay Given watched Villa against Bolton from the stands. Watching Villa play isn’t a massive challenge, and Bent’s injury wasn’t massive. What made it all the more ridiculous is Darren Bent was already AT Villa Park earlier in the day, so to not watch the game meant leaving earlier to get home to Cambridge. Which says it all – Bent would rather be somewhere else rather than at a Villa game. Way to endear yourself with the fans Darren.
If he was watching the game at home, why not just watch it at the ground? Why leave before it ended? Neither question would yield a particularly positive answer.
In a period where Villa desperately need effort and work rate, Bent’s appears to be lacklustre. Here is a player who has the unfortunate title of “player with the fewest touches” in the Premier League. Granted, Bent operates as a striker and thus is not likely to see as much of the ball as a midfielder, and statistics only tell half of the story.
However, Tottenham sold Bent for a reason earlier in his career. We all know why Sunderland sold him – money – but what about Spurs? Why do fans think they got rid? For me, it was because his need to be centre of everything doesn’t work in team game. You can’t set up the team around one player. Why? Players get injured, players fall out of form, essentially players aren’t infallible.
So to think that Bent should be a constant epicentre for Villa’s attack is ridiculous. Even if Bent had the same recent scoring record as van Persie at Arsenal or Cristiano Ronaldo at Real Madrid, I’d still not suggest using him as a single focus of play.
Yes, many leading teams have a goalscorer and supplemental players, but they also have flexibility. Without flexibility, defending against a Villa attack becomes easy. Work out the player, play them at their own game, and keep it tight. Without the ability to change your game plan, attacks become obvious and easily able to be countered.
To beat Villa in a 4-2-3-1 with Bent up front, all it takes is a cohesive and mobile defensive line. Use that effectively and Bent will constantly be offside. Conversely, having an immobile back line is precisely the reason why Villa leak goals. If the defence is slow to react, it gives the attacker a free chance. Give too many of those up and you will concede as we have sadly seen far too often for my liking in recent times.
Getting back to Villa, we are big enough to be able to have different options available to us when it comes to strikers. If someone offered me £25m for Darren Bent now, I’d take it and go buy Jermaine Defoe with a portion of the cash. Same style of player, much cheaper in every sense. Then I’d use some of the remainder to fix some of the issues I listed earlier. You know the score – sort out the basics, so you can move forwards.
Whether McLeish will be able to sort these problems out, either financially or tactically, come January is anyone’s guess. However, the fact remains that things need to change at Villa because regardless of the manager, owner, or any other person under scrutiny, the players need to be committed to the cause and playing for the badge.
I won’t expect badge kissing or any other fake loyalty, but I’d like to expect a certain degree of commitment in games. If the commitment going forwards is consonant with that shown on Sunday then it won’t be a question of if change happens, but when. The only question left remaining will be what will need to change.
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