I was looking through the statistics for this season, and noticed a salient point that I thought I might share with you. Our beloved club, Aston Villa, have managed to drop 23 points from winning positions this season. Yes, TWENTY-THREE. To give that some sort of perspective in this alternate universe we may glimpse into, it means that we would be 3rd in the table.
Ok, so we aren’t, so why exactly have I brought this up? Well you see, knowing that statistic alone points to the whole downfall of our season – an inability to maintain concentration over 90 minutes
What we haven’t got
In order to view a real perspective of where we are, we need to indulge in a modicum of constructive criticism. As many of those who know me from my posts on my friend Damian’s blog, I’m not one for negativity really. By that I don’t mean that I swan around thinking that 1982 was yesterday, and that the world is filled with sunshine, bunnies, and chocolate – however I do have a positive, if not a little more realistic, view of the world.
So to the team – where are we lacking? It would be very easy to just adopt the horde mentality and blame the whole team and the manager but that really isn’t my style, nor is it anything at all constructive. I’d like to look at this from a more logical, reasoned, and balanced perspective. I will be being critical, but in a measured way, rather than saying about how terrible people are.
Defence isn’t just about defenders
Looking at our defence’s record this year, you’d not raise any eyebrows if you considered it to be performed by people more akin to Laurel & Hardy, than Collins & Dunne. People are often quick to say “How can a defence become that bad that quickly?” After all, last season our defence was one of the major standouts of the whole Premier League. Sure we “only” got 6th, but that was because we had a number of strikers who couldn’t, if you pardon the somewhat crude euphemism, score in a brothel. A strike force that, last season, comprised of a rarely scoring Heskey, a rarely bothered Carew, and a rarely able to control the ball Agbonlahor, was hardly going to be scaring defences up and down the land. United, a team who didn’t even win the title last year, had a striker who scored more goals than our entire set of forwards. Anyway, back to the case in point – how can our defence be so bad now?
It goes without saying that a major part of the goals against column comes down to the defence, but it isn’t just about 4 men who stand around trying to cover a pitch that is 45m wide. Dunne might have put a bit of weight on, but even 4 Richard Dunnes doesn’t equate to 45m. The difference between now and last year is that free-flowing football relies on midfielders further up the pitch. This is one reason why we have shipped goals, along with the fact that Milner worked a lot harder than a lot of our current midfield, and that we had a midfield injury crisis earlier in the season. An O’Neill team would have seen Milner running around for his life, along side a younger Petrov. Petrov couldn’t handle the pace over 90 minutes though and this, I believe, is why John Terry said that Villa didn’t have the energy to play a full 90 minutes without tiring. Essentially O’Neill’s teams had 6 players defending, and relying on wingers and long passing. A Houllier team, by comparison, preferred a more free-flowing midfield, pushed probably 10 yards further up the pitch which, when combined with inexperience and a series of individual defensive mistakes, is the reason why we have conceded so much.
Selling your best midfielder repeatedly doesn’t help
I might be reviled for saying this by some, but when Gareth Barry went to Manchester City, I felt we had lost our midfield fulcrum. I know he wasn’t the fastest player anymore, but he had a good football brain on him, and he knew how to play in a variety of areas. We were very fortunate (and unfortunate when I come to my next point) that James Milner managed to take to a central role like a fish to water, which meant that losing Gareth wasn’t a real issue at the time. However, James Milner being so adept at the job meant that the whole process repeated the season following, and off went James to the Pied Piper of Manchester. Losing Milner showed up the real cracks in the team – Milner had replaced Barry pretty well the season prior, but when we looked to see who could come to replace Milner, there weren’t as many options.
After all – who did we have? Nigel Reo-Coker – a man who had, after falling out with O’Neill, pretty much ensured that he won’t be here next year, preferring instead to get a final payday from a signing on fee. Petrov – a player contracted to 2013 (why for goodness sake?) who was already showing that he couldn’t have the legs to last 90 minutes the year before. Beyond those two, there was Stephen Ireland – I really don’t even need to say a word about him given what we all know. Delph was a great prospect, but the reality was just that – he was a prospect and didn’t, I feel, have the football brain or the body to stack up in a four man midfield. Looking through those options, again it is pretty evident why teams were playing the ball straight through the middle of us. Add into that Ashley Young being given the captains armband (who on this planet thinks he is a good captain?), and you have a midfield fraught with issues that illustrate why we are where we are.
It helps if you have forwards who can actually score
Now before anyone says anything – I know we have Darren Bent. However, he signed pretty late on in the season when you look at it, at least in terms of “being in the mire”. Darren himself has done pretty well – 5 goals in 9 games is a very good return and, if he can continue the one in two ratio, he will be an excellent long-term member of the squad. The problem though is not with Darren Bent, it is with the remainder of the strike force.
When you look through what we had for the majority of the season in terms of striking options, it’s probably no surprise (especially when combined with our shambolic defending/attempts at more advance midfield positioning) that we are where we are. Logically if you can’t score, and you’re conceding, you’re not going to win many football matches. Before January, we had players who couldn’t score or didn’t want to score. A list of players including an unhappy nomadic Carew, coupled with Gabby (the man who promises so much, but delivers less than the hype lets you believe), as well as Emile Heskey. Having Ashley Young as a striker seemed promising (given his Watford days) but when a striker has, up until now, only scored 6 goals (a number identical to Stewart Downing, and only 2 more than Marc Albrighton) then you realise that he isn’t a striker, and shouldn’t be played there either. Some might say that we have Delfouneso but I would say a significant part of why he hasn’t played as much as he could have is down to the same attitude problem that Gabby had when he was younger. He’s young, rich, and fancies himself as a bit of a player. However, those who become great (apart from a very select few – Cantona et al), have to realise that they are not as good as they think they are, and could do with actually trying to develop a little more, rather than relying on skill alone.
So, overall, it is pretty evident why we are where we are at present. A midfield crisis coupled with playing further forward was the main trigger, which caused the defensive crisis of confidence, which causes unrest, which exacerbated the whole situation. Couple that up with the fact we didn’t buy anyone massively capable of scoring until the January window, as well as the most competitive Premier League table in its history, then you can see why we are where we are.
Just think though, if we hadn’t dropped points from winning positions, and there is a strong logic to say that we will have a better defence next year, we would have been 3rd. Just goes to show that the line between success and failure really is that razor-sharp in width.
If we can pick up the habit of not dropping points once we are in front, which I believe we will remedy next year as Houllier is a good defensive coach, then we could be further up than 6th next year. We just have to hope/pray/believe that we will do what it takes in order to ensure that next year we are still in the top flight. The future, assuming we get over this blip, could be very bright indeed.
The Author
