There are many benefits to the exuberance of the youthful player but there are, as always, flaws to using too many of them. Against Chelsea, it was clearly a case of men against boys as what started as a series of moments of brilliance catching out a team riding high on confidence quickly deteriorated into sloppiness caused by over-thinking.
Which goes to show that Aston Villa’s issues, many of which have been well publicised over the past few seasons, are clearly psychological. Whilst Villa have the undoubted talent to beat teams, no matter their size, mental toughness is a characteristic that has been lacking when under pressure.
For young players, there is a fearlessness that means that the loss today won’t have issues in the long term, so we mustn’t dwell too much on the result in itself. What we should do is work out the issues and see what happened to make the day as bad as it was.
As stated earlier, the first few goals that Villa conceded were the result of well worked play by Chelsea. However, as the team’s newly found confidence slipped away, the team work, consideration, and effort that made the Liverpool game a success evaporated into nothingness.
Looking around the team, there were issues. When Ashley Westwood came off for Stephen Ireland, I was scratching my head thinking it should have been either Brett Holman or Barry Bannan making way as neither player had performed well during the day. Bannan, in particular, was thinking far too much by starting to play the long balls that marred his game earlier in his career, punting balls into dead ends and creating very little.
Getting back to the remedy for such a slaughtering and, at 8-0, one can call it nothing less than one, Paul Lambert will need to conjure up the best of his managerial ability in order to push things forwards. Whilst Villa’s young team will likely display fearlessness to move on from the floodgates opening at Stamford Bridge, the next match – against Tottenham Hotspur – promises to be a challenging affair again with sloppy play likely to be punished if it happens again.
In a time where recent performances have had some beliefs flying high, a heavy loss can be a real way to get back to reality. However, reality is that we aren’t as dire as this single game indicates, rather that we are far from the finished product, and one that still will need adjustment, and bolstering, in January.
So, as Villa take a pounding this weekend ahead of Christmas, the season’s festive cheer may well be in short supply amongst fans, especially given the nature of the loss at Stamford Bridge. However, the team must get their heads straight, get back on the pitch, and start realising that self-belief is a great positive but not if it comes at the cost of sloppy play and lack of application.
Villa’s young team have suffered a setback with the loss, but it isn’t the end of the world. What matters now is how the team respond against Spurs on Boxing Day as fans will be waiting with baited breath.
The Author
