Aston Villa put a potential banana skin behind them with a 3-1 win courtesy of home grown players. Marc Albrighton opened the scoring for Villa, followed by a goal from Gabby Agbonlahor with the third taken by Ciaran Clark. It wasn’t to be a true Villa performance of recent times though without a calamity of a defensive error, and a scare at the end with Guzan needing to save a last minute penalty to avoid a grandstand finish.
Whilst there can not be too much credit to be heaped upon Villa in beating a 19th placed League 2 side, McLeish’s side did enough to ensure that the job was done. The promising signs about the game involved the core involvment of younger players, as well as another solid performance from Stephen Ireland. Should Ireland continue his recent rich vein of form, his purchase will not only be vindicated as wise, but also as daylight robbery of Manchester City.
Villa’s Future Is Safe With Young Guns Firing
Between Ireland’s renaissance and the link up of players that have featured at youth level, Villa had a coherence about their play today. Bristol Rovers didn’t offer a huge amount of challenge, often offering far too much respect to Aston Villa, but it was a bullet dodged, even if Villa seemed to conspire to attempt to throw it away in the final moments.
Yet again, what appeared to look like Villa’s achilles heel was defending from set plays. Richard Dunne’s gifted goal for McGleish showed the signs of shakiness creeping in, with Stephen Warnock also offering Rovers a penalty that didn’t really need to be conceded, only for Brad Guzan to provide the role of hero of the moment.
If there was to be any changes made to Villa’s team on the basis of this performance, it would be total disassembly of the starting back four. When Villa are pressed into taking on pressure from any atttacking play, especially in set piece situations, the defence looks terrible. Whether we want to attribute this to form, lack of footballing brains, or aging players, the fact remains that the defence is simply not good enough.
Sadly for Villa, there are limited options – Clark can slot in at the back, Stevens at left back, potentially Lichaj at right back, and Cuellar in the middle. Yes, this would effectively replace the existing back four but, beyond these players, Villa lack further depth. Given the fact that I would gladly sell all of Warnock, Dunne, Collins, and Hutton to any club that would buy them, I don’t even consider them cover, merely the cause of many of our defensive frustrations in recent months and seasons.
Whilst the defence may not provide a huge amount of revenue in terms of transfer fees, all four players are on fair wages. In reality, the likelihood of selling the recently signed Hutton is marginal, but the argument for Dunne and Collins’ disruption of the Villa team has been ongoing for more than a season. A pairing that appeared to work well under O’Neill have, now under several managers, appeared to have displayed flaws that are regularly exposed. Villa are, again, one of the leading clubs for dropped points due to poor defending as well as leading the pack when it comes to conceding from set pieces.
Villa’s Way Forward
Villa’s transition to the future has to involve a two-fold development, firstly in the continuing development and usage of the academy, both for financial and continuity purposes, as well as selling the players who are, like the current back four, simply not providing value for money. In an era where we are regularly reminded of the fact that Villa have players who are not earning their money, and that the club are still cutting back, there’s a logical connection between the two. Sell players who both aren’t performing, and who are taking up valuable squad wages.
One player who was previously seen as a wage drain, Stephen Ireland, has turned things around and is now contributing well to the team, being regularly involved in the buildup play, as well as potentially solving the need for a link-up man that many fans have demanded for a significant period of time. For me, Ireland was man of the match again, although Albrighton did provide a good show on his side of the pitch.
One disappointment that I did have is with the fairly obvious poor body language eminating from Villa’s number 9. In all of Villa’s goal celebrations, there was a unity from the players with the exception of Bent. He wasn’t even seen moving towards those celebrating to offer any kind of congratulations for their goal, instead he looked disinterested. He may well be a poacher, and that may well be an explanation for his lack of movement, but failing to get involved with celebrations on every occasion merely serves to illustrate an increasingly obvious rift in the team spirit.
Bent, of course, is being stated as not being sold by the club though so, to that end, he is “safe”, although an increasing lack of interest and commitment, as well as expecting the supply to be directed through him at all times is clearly causing internal squad tension. One only need look at the frustration Bent has shown when the camera has captured him watching another player score is enough for me.
I understand totally why a player might feel frustrated had the ball failed to go in, with Bent thinking he could have scored it himself, but looking frustrated when another player scores simply makes the player look selfish. Whilst Bent may well have scored goals that have been valuable for the club, such an attitude is not conducive to great team spirit, or team performances.
As I’ve said before, if Villa were offered a profit on Bent, there is a strong argument to reinvesting that money elsewhere in the team. Ideally, I’d like to keep Bent, but if his attitude does not show improvement, then I can’t continue to defend his apathetic attitude. Suggestions that he may be frustrated by lack of supply is one thing, but not congratulating your team is pretty straight forwards. Bent isn’t that in need of conserving energy that he can’t celebrate with fellow players, so I’m rapidly wondering what he needs to look more involved. He is on more money than any other player, and is treated like royalty by the club so it is even more puzzling.
Anyway, back to the game. It was a win, and a deserved one. It had all the makings of a Villa game, complete with defensive mistakes, but we won the game so, whether it’s only for a few hours, enjoy the fact we avoided a banana skin. After all, it could have been a lot worse, and Villa are through to the next round of the FA Cup.
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