This was, for Manchester United, just another pedestrian step towards their 20th title with the current champions requiring little effort to do away with Aston Villa.
It would perhaps read better if the analysis of the match was akin to that of a tight group of men putting up a valiant fight in the face of overwhelming odds. For Villa, however, the dissection of this performance sadly appeared more like a meek ceding of the ball to a better team.
To be clear, this wasn’t a performance like several others in the season, personified by game away at Tottenham Hotspur, but it was anaemic. United often looked like they were only playing in second gear, but second gear was good enough to do away with Villa.
In Villa’s defence, the squad is severely depleted. Whilst fans can use the youthful contingent as evidence that the academy will continue to produce professional footballers, the organisation of said footballers, along with a few senior players, was distinctly lacking.
Depending on your angle of analysis, this could be down to any number of factors. Many will throw Alex McLeish in as prime suspect one, accused as he often is as being unable to organise the proverbial drinking contest in a factory that produces beer. Despite McLeish’s suggested defensive tendencies though, much of the reasoning for the loss must sit on the team’s shoulders.
Yes, McLeish had set them up in a familiar 4-5-1 variant, and therefore could be accused of dulling Villa’s attacking intent, but the reality is that the Birmingham club are lacking a lot of things, attacking capability being one of a long list of issues that needs remedying in the near future.
These issues must surely include amongst them a defence that can deal with balls – Alan Hutton’s leaping effort prior to Ashley Young cutting into the penalty area was more dance than defence – as Villa, yet again, made defensive lapses.
The first was a tad unfortunate, coming as it was from a somewhat, shall we say, overplayed tackle by Ciaran Clark on former player Ashley Young. Clark did his utmost to get away from any contact, and Young sold the fall. United fans will have called it a great penalty earned, while the rest of the world will, no doubt, suggest Young is showing a late push for selection in the Olympics as a diver.
The second defensive error, this time far more down to the Villa defence, was the chance that led to Danny Welbeck’s goal. A simple late cross of the ball was unable to be dealt with by not one, not two, but three Villa players.
James Collins and Nathan Baker both stood off of the ball, presumably thinking that a mistimed toe poke would mean an unwanted own goal. Shay Given, normally solid as a rock at the back, dived but missed, presumably assuming Baker could have touched the ball wide for a corner.
Communication? Clearly a foreign concept, though not surprising as our board seems to have the same issue talking to anyone about anything.
Welbeck, of course, did not need to be asked twice as the young striker tapped in what was to be the second goal before the half time break.
As a competition, sadly, the game was over as United scored their second. Whilst more goals were to come, both of which were fairly soft concessions, from Wayne Rooney and Nani, this was a despondent Villa.
Had it not been for the gross ineptitudes of several teams currently sitting below the Midlands club this season, fans would have real reason to panic.
Their panic may well not have been restricted to merely the tactics either, as Villa’s bench had a flavour of being very much an afterthought, containing as it did a combination of youngsters and an assortment of, shall we say, “niche” veterans.
By comparison, United’s brimmed with talent with the likes of Dimitar Berbatov, Javier Hernandez, and Ryan Giggs all able to come on to change the game, not that they needed to. No, following the second goal, this was to be United’s three points as clear as Monday followed Sunday. That isn’t to say that there was no hope before the game, merely that the performance in the first half, unlucky penalty or not, was clearly not good enough.
So Villa continue on in their troubled season, hoping as they will that clubs below them will labour to another series of losses. In the eyes of this writer, I still believe Villa will be safe, although this is testament more to the ineptitudes of those below them than any particular survival instinct amongst this group of players.
Change must come in the summer, whatever the form it takes because Aston Villa, once a name that stood proud amongst English teams, are slowly, but surely, becoming a team in danger of dropping out of the Premier League.
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