In the interest of full disclosure, I wasn’t able to watch the Spurs match last Sunday. Based on varying reports and tweets Villa were either under siege for most of the match, or had a few spells on the front foot, wasted chances, and were made to pay.
There was consensus that Christian Benteke missed a sitter with the match still at 0-0. Everything I had read leading up to the match lead me to believe that Darren Bent would regain his spot. After the match, the manager explained that he thought Bent works better with a strike partner, and that Benteke was better equipped to play alone as a target man.
My initial reaction was that it was complete rubbish, intended to placate the press and fans. One of the main criticisms of Bent is that he can only play as a lone striker, requiring the rest of the team to be tailored to him. Upon a bit of reflection, the manager is probably right in regards to this team. With Steven Ireland injured, the club doesn’t currently have a player who can operate in the hole of a 4-2-3-1 and supply passes and through balls at Bent’s feet. Maybe N’Zogbia or Holman could fill that role, but if they can we haven’t seen it.
Speaking of N’Zogbia, he again started on the bench. If you are using form as one of your main criteria, this was clearly the right move. However, N’Zogbia might be the second best pure finisher at the club behind Bent. It is still early days, and I am not blaming the manager one bit for sitting him.
I will be watching to see if this continues. I think we can say this manager values effort and work-rate highly. Managing smaller clubs in the past, this is the first time Lambert has had to manage big players, players who are full internationals or are fighting to be internationals, at a big club. Can he manage the big egos that big players typically have? I think he can, but I will be watching to see him prove it.
If he can’t, I am fully confident Lambert can build a team of blue-collar players that play their hearts out every game, and that the fans get behind and can be proud of. Still, for the club to truly compete at the upper echelon of the Premier League, the manager may have to deal with fragile egos and manage them accordingly to get the best out of them.
A manager’s job is to treat every player fairly. That doesn’t mean treating every player equally.
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