The Good Bad and Ugly – Slow Motion
With games about to come thick and fast, Aston Villa have found themselves back in mid-table traffic. Can they get back in the fast lane?
The Good
While the results since Bournemouth have not been up to standard, the good thing is that the rest of the Premier League is also inconsistent.
Aston Villa’s 2024 calendar year form of 1.52 points per game compared to 2.02 in 2023 would not be enough to keep them in the European conversation if the rest of the league got their act together.
Currently, they have the same calendar year total as Manchester United, who have been abject to the point that they changed their manager.
While nobody is getting rid of Unai Emery, that form translated over a season will have you sitting on 58 points or 8th position and out of Europe.
For the money invested in Emery’s wages, new contracts for Martinez, Bailey, Rogers and others, to not make Europe would be considered a failure even if it is heaven compared to where Villa were when Emery took over.
It’s early days, but the performances need to improve before Villa fans can feel good about the direction of travel again.
Villan of the Week – Morgan Rogers
Signing a new contract is a bit of a double-edged sword at Aston Villa. It usually precedes a drop in form or luck.
With Rogers, however, the curve is one of meteoric improvement.
This time last year only fans who considered themselves scouts would have known much about the powerful forward. Now he’s one of, if not the great hope, among Villa fans for the season.
With two England caps in the past week, Morgan Rogers can now push on to be an England regular at the next World Cup.
The Bad
It’s not been a great few weeks. The Good, Bad and Ugly used to be up one week and down the next, with only the Premier League games contributing to the overall mood.
This meant a particularly bad performance could flip 180 degrees by the next weekend with nothing in between.
One of the problems with success is that a period of poor form which previously would have taken in two matches, now takes in up to six.
Aston Villa have picked one of the worst points of the season to have a lack of intensity and they have been punished for it.
Bournemouth, Crystal Palace, Tottenham Hotspur, Brugges and Liverpool have all taken advantage of a slower-paced Villa and reaped rewards. While it’s only been three weeks, it has dented Aston Villa’s challenge on three fronts.
If Aston Villa can’t get out of first gear after the break, then other bad few weeks in 2024 could extinguish the season.
The Ugly
While recent results have been ugly, performances have been worse.
The tactical analysts will give reasons for this, but those who use the eyeball test, will have noticed Aston Villa appear slow compared to other teams.
This seems ridiculous when you have Rogers, Watkins, Bailey, Ramsey and Maatsen to call on at any one time.
Those five players are as fast a set as Villa have had since Tony Daley down the wing.
So what’s the issue with pace? Why is there no press anymore? Ollie Watkins used to be known as a ‘one-man-press’, why do teams that have a high energy and direct style just cut through Villa at will?
Liverpool, Newcastle, Spurs and Chelsea are like Villa’s Kryptonite and that’s not a healthy scenario when they are four of your direct competitors for the top four.
They get the ball and drive at other teams with purpose.
Liverpool are currently the best team in Europe – statistically speaking of course, being top of The Premier League and Champions League, and when they get on the attack, they go into light speed.
Aston Villa’s attack is much more measured, but it borders on latter-day Arsene Wenger’s overplaying Arsenal side.
There’s just too much overplaying and intricate passing in the final third at present and while it’s not ugly on the eye, it’s ugly on the stats and league table. Villa can’t afford to keep playing in cruise control while all their rivals overtake them.
It’s vital for Villa to get their attacking tempo going again, as their defence isn’t to be trusted.
The defence has not been secure for a couple of seasons now. One clean sheet in the Premier League this season is the only stat needed for proof of that.
However, a team that can attack and score at will is the balance for a defence that is more about constructing attacks than defending.
Pau Torres, and whoever partners him, can have all the progressive carries and passes you want, but if the forwards aren’t firing, they aren’t the defence to keep you on level terms.
It might be time for Unai Emery to take the ugly approach and utilise the other qualities in his side, rather than trying to play the beautiful game, only to be punished for every individual error.
In the next few games, we will know if there has been a tactical change of approach and if Aston Villa have a chance of getting back in the fast lane before the turn of the year.
UTV
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