Aston Villa News 24/7I don’t want to enter into a debate about managerial qualities just yet, but if you were screaming out for rotation in the past, you’ve certainly had your fill recently. Last season, Martin O’Neill started just 24 different players in all competitions and received no shortage of criticism, not unfairly in some cases. Just four games into the 2010/11 season and Kevin MacDonald has already used 23 different players in his starting team sheets.
To be fair, MacDonald has certainly had more injuries imposing themselves on his team selection than we’re used to, but senior players have also been “rested”. Take Stephen Warnock and Stewart Downing for instance. I know it’s a long season, but these are 28 and 26 year old professional athletes we’re talking about, do they really need to be rested after three games?
When I saw the starting line-up for last night’s match against Rapid Vienna I was at first thrilled to see that KMac was clearly taking the competition seriously by sending a strong side out, but then couldn’t avoid feeling a little concerned about the lack of natural left footers in the side.
My hope was that he intended to use a 4-3-3 system with Ash and Gabby as additional strikers either side of Heskey with the ability to cover the wings when Rapid had possession, dropping deeper to morph into a 4-5-1. Something like this:-
This was the only way I could see that we could employ the players in the starting XI to best cover the wings. Gabby has played as a right sided wing-forward in the past and did very well. We know Ash can play anywhere across the front, but often puts in his best performances on the left.
But KMac actually seemed to use something more akin to a 4-3-1-2 with Ash as the ’1′ behind Heskey and Gabby in orthodox dual striker roles. Initially this worked well, but the lack of width in midfield left the full backs with little protection as the central three of Reo-Coker, Petrov and Ireland shuffled from side to side, filling the gaps.
This wasn’t such a huge issue for Cuellar who doesn’t generally over-commit himself going forward and is strong defensively, but Beye’s lack of positional discipline, coupled with almost zero ability to use his left foot made the left wing a massive weakness for Villa. Rapid’s captain, Steffen Hoffmann, is a cultured and skilled right winger and he had a field day in there.
The two goals Rapid scored from open play were crossed in from that side and the corner was also won and fired in from that side too. Speaking of which, there wasn’t anyone on the near post where the ball spooned in after Guzan failed to take enough weight the shot to prevent it going in. I’m not saying Beye should have been there, or anyone neglected their duties for that matter, but it’s ironic that Reo-Coker, I think, was stood at the other post helplessly watching.
I can analyze this to death, or go completely the other direction, proclaiming something vacuous like Rapid “just wanted it more”, but the bottom line for me, like the Newcastle game, was that some of the best players we have available were playing, with one or two exceptions, in roles close to their best positions and they couldn’t get the job done.
Although Villa played some nice football during the first half and the goal was very well worked, the middle three did look good, Ireland in particular, but I didn’t sense there was much urgency in Rapid’s approach. Contrary to my assumption that they would come out looking for the goals they required, they seemed, if anything, to be extremely patient during the first period, even after conceding the opening goal.
Once Rapid had some purpose about their play during the 2nd half and started to work their right flank, Villa started to wobble and collapsed like a house of cards once Rapid equalised. The back four, made up of three centre halves and a full back on the wrong side, looked helpless to provide much protection for Guzan who was simply caught flat footed a couple of times, more than actually playing badly.
Fix The Problem, Not The Blame
I don’t particularly wish to fall into the trap of playing the blame game. Yes, Beye wasn’t great at left back, worse than at centre back recently, but he probably didn’t ask to play there and may well have played to the best of his ability, he was certainly spirited going forward. Equally, there’s little to be gained from engaging in the infinite regress of assigning blame to the man who played him there and then the man who sold Shorey, or the man who bought Shorey, or the man who didn’t buy whichever player you think we should have to play at left back, so on and so forth.
Again, with one or two exceptions, this is essentially the side that were very much in the chase to crash the top four for 36 games last season. Sure, there were a few bad results, Stamford Bridge springs to mind along with this same fixture against Rapid Vienna, but they never felt as dysfunctional as the last couple of games have felt. Not to me.
Perhaps things could have been different in Newcastle had Carew scored that penalty. Maybe the same could be said about this game if Petrov had done the same, or Heskey had bundled the rebound into the empty net, but in both cases, as far as I’m concerned, I don’t much care whether it’s Martin O’Neill, Kevin MacDonald or Jose Mourinho stood on the sidelines, this Aston Villa team should be comprehensively beating Newcastle and Rapid Vienna.
However you analyze the last couple of games, it just feels like something is fundamentally not right. Under the circumstances that might seem a ridiculously obvious point to make, but this clearly isn’t a team “playing for the manager” as was loudly proclaimed following the impressive performance against West Ham just a couple of weeks ago. Not that anything sinister should be read into that, it’s just that we cannot continue this way and something has to change.
It has to be said, we didn’t have the greatest of starts last season and frequently looked disjointed, but still managed to put together the best performance over 38 league games for 17 years, so it’s not impossible to put these poor results behind us and move on.
Martin O’Neill was frequently described as stubborn, but maybe he was just extremely self-assured. In comparison, MacDonald is something of the “tinkerman”, but that could equally appear as indecisive. Maybe, like Habib Beye at left back, this just isn’t the position for Kevin.
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19 Comments to “My Left Foot – How The House Of Cards Collapsed”
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The problem with Kev is he has been dumped into the deep end, he isn’t used to the team (aside from the youngsters), not used to the pressure, or the managerial stuff that goes on. I still hope that we get a new manager, and that Kev works closely alongside him. I really hope Villa find their feet though, the season is looking a little messy, but really it isn’t as bad as all that. Last night we saw a good first half, In fact it was a good 2nd half till about the 65th minute. If we write the Newcastle game off as a one off, last night merely comes out as a less-than-average performance. I still remain hopefull, and perhaps with us out of Europe, the pace of games will give the team the time needed to settle.
In reality, with 4 games in your first 2 weeks of managing a side, I would think the results are actually fair.
absolutely, there’s lot of positives to be found and things could easily have been different. but it is what it is.
perhaps it is early days, but these four games are not the most challenging we’ll face this season and it’s not like KMac inherited the situation MON did four years ago.
we can afford to write the newcastle game off as there’s 36 left to make up for it. we don’t have any more european games to make up for this one.
stick a fork in another villa european campaign, it’s done.
Totally agree with your analysis of ‘something not being right’, and that means the manager.
We lacked any kind of mental strength last night – concentration disappeared after our goal when they scored a minute later, and once we were under pressure, we lost any kind of fight or calmness.
There were some really promising signs in the way we played in the 1st half – passing the ball patiently (though sometimes it was like we didn’t realise how effective this was, as either the fans or players would get impatient and blast a ball up to Heskey/Young). So we’re fine when playing with confidence (as we saw against West Ham). But as soon as we’re on the backfoot, we really do collapse like a pack of cards.
Other random points of note from last night:
1) It’s time to retire Emile Heskey. Start playing Delfouneso properly. Why, oh why, did he play right wing when we brought him on??
2) Albrighton is *really* talented. He was constantly in space (maybe because of the odd old-style wing forward position MacDonald played him in?) But so many times no-one passed it to him when in space. Weird. Worrying?
3) Stephen Ireland is suprising me. His touch was beautiful and so self-assured. Something I haven’t seen in a Villa shirt since Paul Merson. We really need to give him space to break though. Albrighton ended up playing in the space he had been breaking into.
Maybe this isn’t the place, but does anyone know if Slaven Bilic would be available?? He’s said before he wants to manage in England, let’s get him before someone else does!
how fitting that heskey misses an almost empty net on the penalty rebound, but “scores” essentially trying to get out of the way of beye’s shot.
i had a discussion before the game about where to play heskey and i concluded up front rather than wide as at least he could score by accident.
ireland did look very good and i think bilic would bring the discipline that seems to be missing.
I agree totally. This isn’t a terrible team, nor is it a “lost” season. Take a look at the team sheet — the majority of EPL teams would love to have a strong a squad. It is just a matter of how to get them playing together consistently.
I hadn’t thought of the concentration issue, but now that you mention it, it rings true. We just aren’t focused. This could be due to the chaos of losing a manager and a key player but if I think back to the last couple of years we had many lapses in concentration — giving up goals right after scoring or in the last 10 minutes of the half/match.
We need a manager (and I’m now firmly in the camp that MacDonald needs time elsewhere to learn to deal with the pressure), but we also need a leader in the team. Petrov is a great “organizer” but every squad has someone that keeps the team in line, makes sure everyone is focused, doesn’t give up. I thought Dunne would pick up the mantle this year and maybe he will, but if he doesn’t I think we will be lacking a bit of backbone.
Dan,
I like your suggested formation for the starting XI — very attack minded. My first reaction is that this is a formation built to score goals — but then I see NRC and Petrov having to hold the defensive line and I get worried!
It occurs to me that perhaps we aren’t missing that creative midfielder that can score goals, but rather we need a solid defensive midfielder that can take some of the defensive duties off our attacking midfielders and free them up to score.
i’m a fan of NRC. not because he’s a great distributor, he certainly is not, and while he might not be the best in the business in this role, he’s the best “destroyer” we have and i’d have him in my starting XI most games.
before the west ham game i was starting to vocalize my feeling that petrov was just too “wishy-washy” in the middle and that he was our weakest link.
then he played the best game i’ve seen from him in over a year and i wondered whether i misjudged him. maybe he was just doing exactly the job MON asked him to and it just didn’t suit him.
i don’t know, but he hasn’t replicated that west ham form.
walking off the pitch last night and telling the first interviewer that the result was “unacceptable” is all well and good, but what exactly is he going to do about it?
we need some time, but i’d really like to get a look at NRC and petrov ahead of the back 4 and ireland given license to play behind the striker(s).
I’m with you. NRC and Petrov would worry me just because it is an unknown — worry, not disagree!
AnotherJames – you also have a good point that for the formation to work we really need good fullbacks who can link-up and overlap. The defense just needs to get healthy. Overall I’m hopefull but we need to get out of caretaker Purgatory.
Definitely true now that we have Ireland who really does give us attacking thrust through the middle. Petrov sat incredibly deep at times yesterday – almost forming part of the defence, which did allow the full back to push wide, creating space going forward. The midfield shape was then more of a diamond, very narrow, so needed more width from the fullbacks. (This could work wonderfully – see http://www.zonalmarking.net/2010/04/22/is-the-sweeper-set-for-a-return-to-prominence/ )
But if Petrov’s going to do that, we need Young & Warnock to play, as they offer defensive solidity but, more importantly, attacking intent.
Anyway, I’m going off-topic… yes, I’m not sure Petrov is really built to anchor a midfield like this on his own. Maybe a chance for Jonathan Hogg? Though I’m sure NRC has all the attributes to do it, if he disciplined himself to stay back.
interesting. i was pondering whether we could kill two birds with one stone by looking at a sweeper system and converting one of the many centre halves we have.
it was dunne that got me thinking, but he’s since left me cold to the idea. collins is quite skillful, but i think is just too big physically. cuellar has potential, but something tells me no.
would be nice to look at doing something different though. to be honest, it’s the only chance we have of crashing the top of the league since we can’t just buy the best players.
oh and yes, i meant to mention the diamond at times anchored by petrov.
exactly, just one more reason why the system demanded actual full backs.
Despite the ripping I’ve given you guys here about Newcastle humiliating Villa, I do really like your club. I want to see this manager problem handled quickly. Something has to happen. What is everyone’s take on Bradley coming in? I’d like to see it happen but from a selfish stand point. Bradley managing Aston Villa would generate tons of American support for the EPL which is what http://www.yankscallitsoccer.com are trying to do. What do you guys think of Bradley?
i’d never underestimate the value of picking up new fans in foreign markets and there’s some low hanging fruit in the US right now, but that will *never* be the basis for selecting the manager.
ever.
Oh I totally understand that. I just wanted to know what your thoughts on Bradley were. I personally think he is a fair manager. Villa could do better but they could also do a lot worse.
others are free to disagree with me, but this was my view
http://astonvillacentral.com/2010/08/a-little-on-bob-bradley-and-why-he-should-not-be-the-next-aston-villa-manager/
there is little support for him. mostly due to anti-american bias, but even those who appreciate his ability, such as myself i think, don’t think he’s suitable.
As an American Villa fan, I have no doubt that Bradley would instantly expand the Villa fan base here enormously. I also have no doubt that, if he were an ineffective manager, that fan base would contract again quickly, and perhaps go to support the team Bradley goes to afterward, or the one that comes after. As Dan notes, there is no substitute for winning.
As far as increasing American interest in the EPL generally, I don’t care, unless it contributes to a more equitable economic and competitive model.
They could have any manager in the world, but Wigan Athletic and Stoke City will never win the Premier League under the current system.
Good point. As a fellow American, I’d like to see Bradley have a chance but I don’t know if Aston Villa is right for him (or us). If we want to increase our American fan base why not loan out some of the youngsters to the MLS? They’d get playing time in competitive games (even if not as high a level as the EPL) and when they dominate locally the US fans will naturally follow them as they shift to the senior team in the EPL.
Its a good idea. Playing in MLS would develop following for individual players, which would translate to support for the loaning team. And I would be more inclined to watch MLS games if they featured Villa-owned players.
tottenham have some kind of relationship with san jose i think, not sure what comes out of that though.
i believe barcelona were very close to actually buying a franchise in its own right to play in florida, but pulled out deep into negotiations when it transpired that the players’ contracts would be owned by MLS as part of the usual single entity model.
this american socialist idea of “spreading the wealth” doesn’t sit so well with us capitalist europeans!
crystal palace have a looser connection than the name suggests with crystal palace baltimore, but there’s a connection nevertheless. they’re part of the new NASL of course, not MLS.
there’s scope there, but i think MLS want to build a league that stands on its own merits, not a training ground for foreign youngsters and a retirement home for the stars.
that said, i’ve thought for a long time that it would be great for villa to establish some kind of relationship with a MLS club and find ways for both parties to get something out of the deal. whether that’s players, training, medical, coaching, whatever, but there’s opportunities there i think.