With Paul Lambert facing the possibly unenviable task of rebuilding a damaged team for a fairly moderate amount of money in modern times, I wanted to contemplate the raw materials that the club have in order to do the job on a budget.
With two extra players coming back into the team – Brett Holman as a new acquisition and Jean II Makoun as a player returning from loan, Aston Villa have the beginnings of a solid ball playing midfield when those two are added to Stephen Ireland and Charles N’Zogbia.
With only £20m to spend, Lambert will have to be sensible as well as practical when it comes to buying new players. Before I go into who I think would be good choices to fill those gaps, I wanted to set out the formation of the team, or rather the slots we can fill at present, from the existing players we own.
Villa have operated a 4-2-3-1 and I wouldn’t change this. Whilst Alex McLeish looked to use 4-2-3-1 in a defensive manner, the formation can provide a very attacking style of play with the right players. With Makoun and Holman both intelligent footballers who can pass the ball, there are sufficient players in the midfield area who can both pass and distribute the ball in an effective manner.
Given the existing players we have, there are two alternative variations on how I would set the team up, with the only difference based on where Ciaran Clark is positioned.
In the first example, Clark is playing as a defensive midfielder leaving Villa to find two defenders to plug the gaps in the defence.
In the second example, Clark is playing as a centre half meaning that Villa need to find one defender and one defensive midfielder to complete their team in my example.
As you can see from both examples, the team can be reorganised by pushing Eric Lichaj and Chris Herd into defence as well as taking advantage of the recall of Makoun and the purchase of Holman. This removes the potential liabilities Villa have had in the full back area after issues with Stephen Warnock and Alan Hutton last season.
Players That Aston Villa May Want To Check Out
Villa have options on who they can look at for a mobile and effective defender. In fact, one of those options was a player McLeish was tracking last season – Douglas of FC Twente. Douglas is a solid player and an imposing presence at 6ft 4, very much in the style of Christopher Samba. Despite Douglas’ height and size, he is also very mobile and this is exactly the sort of player that they need to plug the gaps that an aging Richard Dunne is leaving in today’s team.
A second defending option for me would be Belgian youngster Dedryck Boyata who currently plays for Manchester City. With Boyata kept out of his domestic club by the likes of Micah Richards, Joleon Lescott, Pablo Zabaleta, Vincent Kompany, and Aleksandr Kolarov, and out of his national team by the likes of Thomas Vermaelen, Tottenham-bound Jan Vertonghen, and aforementioned team mate Kompany, Boyata may well be available at the right price.
Boyata was on loan at Bolton last season and despite their relegation and Boyata’s injury that took him out of the team for a period of time, he is still seen as a solid player and one that may well want to move to a new team due to an inability to break on of the best first teams in the league.
Should Villa look to buy a defensive midfielder, I personally rate several players in this area. The first, Maxime Gonalons, is a player I have recommended for a long time. Gonalons, a former team mate of Cameroon international Makoun, is an excellent defensive midfielder, although I imagine Lyon will be hesitant to sell him as he was the reason the club had let Makoun go due to Gonalons’ development.
The second defensive midfield option I would look at is another French player, this time Toulouse’s Etienne Capoue. Capoue, a player of similar height, build and age as Gonalons would also provide a solid partner for French speaking Makoun. However, Capoue is already known to Arsenal’s scouting team with Arsene Wenger likely to move for the player should moves to find Yann M’Vila fall apart. Capoue has also captained the under-21 team for his country so whilst he may well be unknown to many fans in the Premier League, he is far from unknown.
There are many other options out there in my opinion, but those are four potential players who may well fit Villa’s remit. Who the club do eventually choose to pick will be known in time, but I certainly believe that any one of the players listed above would provide great service to the club and the potential to push the club forwards. Time will tell if the budget provided can provide a solution to Villa’s numerous issues – I am hopeful that Paul Lambert can get the job done.
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