Sitting watching the West Ham United vs Aston Villa game had me thinking like it was a severe case of deja vu. No, I don’t mean in terms of comparing it to last season, but rather to the season before under Gerard Houllier.
As we know, Houllier attempted to get Villa playing a short passing game though, to be fair, he didn’t have a great amount of raw materials with which to enact a B6 tika-taka revolution.
Paul Lambert has better players, or rather he has better equipped players to be able to deliver such a style of play, but there was still a distinct lack of urgency to the game. Part of this may have been down to scorching heat as London basked in its hottest day of the year to date, but both teams had to ensure the weather so it sounds more like an excuse.
Make no doubt about it, the passing game that Lambert has us playing is far superior to what was happening under Alex McLeish. However, passing alone is not going to win games for Villa, and failing to score goals is always a concern for any team.
Given Villa’s current structure, and their use of Darren Bent as a strong focal point for attacks, the midfield is simply too far back to be engaging Villa’s number nine. It is all very well Villa reeling off twenty consecutive ten yard passes but if the final ball – one that often went wide or nowhere near Bent – is a long punt, then all that build up play is worth nothing.
West Ham’s goal was hardly one to be savoured as a classic – many thought it was offside as it went in – but they scored. When push comes to shove, scoring goals and winning games is how you progress and become a success – slick passing alone won’t bring you wins, success, or trophies.
Nobody is saying that Villa should drop their attitude towards passing the ball around because we all know this is a long term project. However, given the way that West Ham defended – in rows of four – Villa were simply left in front of them passing the ball around exhibition style. As soon as the ball came anywhere near the final third, West Ham dealt with it and that was that.
Not all teams will defend like this of course, but Villa will face different types of challenges when facing teams that don’t defend in numbers. Compare and contrast how the likes of United, City, and the other top teams will play and Villa won’t have row of players to get through, instead having to deal with the likelihood that, man for man, they are probably going to be beaten in terms of quality.
This may sound nihilistic but it isn’t intended to be so. The analysis of how Villa played this game shouldn’t be a cause for depression, rather another wake up call to any fan who thinks that the revolution is over simply by bringing in a new, forward thinking manager. The progress needed to push Villa on to the next level is going to involve a lot of hard work, and it may well involve seeing disappointing performances like today.
What we can count on is that Lambert will scrutinise the performance of the team and cut away players who aren’t good enough. There will be no bowing to player pressure, nor concern about changing things up. Lambert’s reign may well have started with a loss but the future is bright, though progress may well be long term.
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