The central defence conundrum
Super Skipper
Without Martin Laursen there is no doubt that Villa are leaky at the back. Brad Friedel, whilst still very capable and with some very valuable experience, needs a little more protection than Knight and Davies offer. Carlos Cuellar is injured almost as often as Laursen and when he is fit he is often played out of position.
So what is the answer to Villa’s defensive riddle?
There’s no two ways about it; Villa miss Laursen MASSIVELY. We are dangerously reliant on the injury prone skipper and while he has been out we have seen our first bad run this season, with goals leaking in far more than any challenge on the top four can sustain.
The partnership of Curtis Davies and Zat Knight initially looked like it was capable of being solid, with a couple of good games where they played with confidence but it soon deteriorated and now they just look shaky and like they don’t trust each other or even sometimes; like they don’t want to be there. The job of a central defender is an often thankless task, but it is also a VERY important cog in a winning machine. Our cog is looking very rusty and it is showing in the results.
Carlos Cuellar has spent far too much of his Villa spell so far on the sidelines or at full back. He initially looked like he has potential but has struggled to adjust fully and is still a long way from the quality we need at the back. I think if he and Laursen were fully fit they could forge a great partnership, but that doesn’t look likely at all. In fact, we Villans may have to accept that Martin Laursen will never return to full fitness. There have even been suggestions that his career is over.
Come the summer we will definitely need to purchase at least one centre back. We need a proven, reliable, solid player. Not a youngster hoping to come good or a player who used to be good (I’ll let you assign names there).
If we want to mount a better challenge next season, then we need new defensive signings to make sure the wheels don’t come off mid-flow again.
Injuries mount up ahead of the visit of the Ruskies
With the UEFA Cup knockout round against CSKA Moscow now upon us, Villa are feeling the pinch of our small squad as the number of injuries stack up in our physio room. In the Premier League, Villa have so far only fielded 19 different players, 10 less than the league leaders, a sign of the slimness of our numbers.
The injury concerns on MON’s plate for tonight are as follows Read more
Villa vs West Brom – When the weakest can be the strongest
West Brom are bottom of the league, by rights that should mean they are the easiest team to beat. Vill are fourth in the league, so there are just 3 teams able to beat them and they will thrash the bottom team. Right?
Wrong.
This is football and one of the great joys of football is it’s unpredictability. Villa are the home team and unquestionably the better team in this morning’s match, but does that mean we’ll win? No, in fact if the players go into the match with that kind of attitude then we’ll probably lose. Cockiness doesn’t have a place in football (who said ‘Ronaldo’ then?), it can be your undoing. Villa need to take West Brom as a serious threat if we are to stand a chance of diffusing that threat.
It’s bloody complicated stuff, this football lark isn’t it?!
Statto time
West Brom come into the match Read more
Villa vs Baggies preview & all the transfer rumours are being laughed at
Tomorrow at 12.45 GMT (3.45 PST), Villa Park welcomes our local rivals, West Brom, to hopefully get shown a trick or two by a top four side. The game promises to be an exciting one, with us chasing a top four finish and West Brom fighting for survival, so both teams will be eager to start the year as they mean to go on.
Former Villan, the legend Paul McGrath, believes we have a side capable of turning them over with a convincing win. We go into the game as heavy favourites, sitting in fourth place whereas Baggies are the ’strongest’ team in the league, holding the rest up.
Curtis Davies and Luke Moore will both hope to start against their old clubs and they’d both love to see their name on the scoresheet too. Scott Carson will also be returning to the ground he called home for a year and will be out to keep a clean sheet.
With a different challenge compared to the last two games, what team will O’Neill go for against Fulham?
The last two games have been against top four sides and O’Neill has chosen the same formation and almost the same team (Cuéllar’s thigh niggle being the cause) for both. It’s a formation that is attacking but at the same time loads the midfield, so at the same time errs on the side of caution. When we are on the back foot, we have Milner and Young to drop back and help to defend the danger and when we attack they are both bombing down the wings to try and break through defences. This is only possible with players such as Milner and Young as a huge amount of pace and stamina is required to play it effectively.
Prior to that Read more
Gardner plays superb for England U21s, Agbonlahor and Young now with good chance of senior England action… at last and Barry remains regular in the national side
Filed under: Ashley Young, Aston Villa, Craig Gardner, Gabriel Agbonlahor, Gareth Barry, International Football, Match Previews, Match Reports, Player Profiles
Last night saw an England international friendly take place, not quite to the same media frenzy as tonight’s senior game against Germany, but successful all the same. Stuart Pearce’s U21 side took on the Czech Republic U21 at Bramall Lane and triumphed 2-0, thanks to goals from Manchester United’s Fraizer Campbell, currently out on loan at Harry Rednkapp’s Tottenham Hotspur, and none other than Villa’s own home-grown talent; Craig Gardner.
Campbell opened the scoring ten minutes into the game with a deftly taken goal, played through by Peterborough goalie Joe Lewis, who had a great game till he went off injured. The second goal came at the same length into the second half, from a free-kick by Gardner that you couldn’t quite tell if he meant it or not. It was a low free-kick, that went under the wall and into the bottom corner of the net. Through pride for one of our own, we’ll say: Played for… and got! Well done Craig.
In addition to the goal, Gardner also played a good commanding role in the midfield for the side, showing he could have potential to get back in the Villa side, but with our current crop of players you can only see him making it if injuries help him out. A loan move would certainly benefit him, but I doubt O’Neill would sanction letting players go when we still don’t have the largest of squads.
On to the senior England team Read more
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