Long ball merchants – Pundits, fans and managers alike jumped on the bandwagon earlier this season by labelling Martin O’Neill’s side as a long ball team; Wenger did it after a 3-0 victory over Villa back in January and a national football debate was sparked henceforth. O’Neill fumed that it was “an appalling insult” and Captain Richard Dunne stated that “everyone is a long ball team compared to Arsenal.” So does the theory carry any credence? Well no is the answer. Villa are a direct side there’s no denying that, they get the ball out wide and into the box quickly to either John Carew or Emile Heskey, but whether this is long ball or not, I’m not so sure. They break at pace, but any side that contains the talents of Petrov, Milner and Ashley Young doesn’t have the need to play the ball in the air on a regular basis. They can unsettle teams with their constant bombardment of crosses and O’Neill’s sides have more often than not tended to go for a big man/little man combination up front, but it’s lazy and stereotypical to label this as long ball and an insult to their talents on the deck. There are far better exponents of long ball in the league, with Stoke, Bolton and Sunderland statistically the worst offenders this term when looking at pass percentages that can be considered a long ball. We then get into a whole debate about what classifies as a long ball – statisticians say it’s a pass over 35 yards, but Paul Scholes has been doing this for years, spreading and dictating the play, does anyone fancy calling him a long ball merchant? No, didn’t think so.
Do they miss Gareth Barry at all? – A lot of emphasis was placed earlier on in the campaign about the England midfielder’s absence and whether this would have a detrimental effect on the side. To be honest, Barry didn’t particularly shine in his final season at Villa and seemed somewhat distracted by a potential move away to a Champions League playing club, in the end he plumped for City, who weren’t even in Europe yet, smart move Gareth. Petrov has faded as the season has gone on, Delph has had a negligible contribution since his £8m move from Leeds and now faces a long stretch on the sidelines with an ACL injury, and must still be considered one for the future, but the real bright spark has been James Milner’s progression to an all-action central midfielder. A good tactical switch by O’Neill, many thought Downing was signed to play in the middle and dictate play with his left foot much in the same way Barry used to, but having been shifted out wide, Milner’s presence and form in the middle has been excellent and he’s gone from fringe player to Capello’s go-to man in SA this summer. To answer the question, perhaps they have to a degree, as most teams would miss a player of Barry’s quality, but on the whole they’ve done just fine without him.
Progress for the sake of progress – Villa finished 6th this season on 64 points taking exactly 32 of them at home and 32 points away. Last season they finished in 6th on 62 points taking 30 at home and 32 again coming from away Villa Park and in 2007/8 they again finished 6th on 60 points taking 33 at home and 27 points away. Just looking at the statistics it would appear very little progress has been made in the league in three consecutive seasons and that they have reached an impasse of sorts. Have Villa reached as far as they can go? Unless O’Neill, who just this week committed his future to the club, gets some serious funds to invest, they can keep banging their head against the top four glass ceiling all they like, but without a bit of extra quality on the pitch, they’re only going to be left with a sore head and tired legs to show for their efforts. Chairman Randy Lerner’s ambition may just about to be tested once more by their pushy and determined manager. Without the funds to push on the club may reach a standstill in terms of its development.
On a wing and a prayer – Villa’s side is built around getting the ball out wide to their wingers; it’s somewhat surprising then that their wingers have struggled in terms of end product when compared to past campaigns this season. Ashley Young, such a prolific wide-man for most of his time at Villa Park has had an indifferent campaign by his standards and seemingly played himself out of Fabio Capello’s England plans. Stewart Downing, although he has struggled with injury to an extent, only has 1 assist to his name all season, an extremely poor return considered the side is built to exploit their fine dead ball delivery and wing play. Two seasons ago Young set up 17 goals, Barry 10, and Agbohnlahor 8, last season Milner and Young got 9 apiece and Barry and Agohnlahor chipped in with 8 each. This season though, Milner has 12 and Young has 10 but it’s telling that there isn’t anyone else kicking at their heels in the assist department. Scoring goals has been a big problem for Villa both this season and last, their home form this term has been of mid-table proportions and perhaps they could do with another addition down the wings to truly get the best out of their side and lighten the load on their existing talent.
Bigger is better – Villa have quite a threadbare squad when it comes to depth, and the last three seasons have seen their early potential spoiled by O’Neill’s insistence on playing the same side week in week out despite there clearly being some tired legs on show. John Terry had this to say after Chelsea’s 7-1 league win over Villa in March “We knew Villa would tire after 55-60 minutes and that if we kept passing the ball, spaces would appear and chances would come.” It’s quite a damning indictment that the opposition has prepared all week on the basis of O’Neill’s side getting tired legs; it would appear that it’s an open secret now. Challengers for that crucial fourth spot Spurs have used 19 players who have played 10 games or more in the league this season, Liverpool and Man City have 18 each, whereas Villa have used just 15. It’s clear for all to see that Agbohnlahor could do with another striker to lighten the load and to give him a rest some weeks, as season on season he runs out of steam after the busy January period. Nathan Delfouneso would be a prime candidate, yet O’Neill seems reluctant to trust large parts of his squad, even players that he signed himself such as Nigel Reo-Coker, Steve Sidwell, Curtis Davies, Habib Beye and Nicky Shorey, all of which arrived for sizeable fees. Villa’s defence has been key to their success this season there’s no doubt about that, but it’s their inability to break sides down which has ultimately cost them this dearly this term and their 12 league draws and relatively average goal haul of 52 goals are a testament to this. Until O’Neill realises that squad rotation is a key component of the modern game, then Villa will continue to limp over the finishing line every season.
Heskey or Carew? – Ask most Villa fans this question and you’ll only get one answer. Carew has a great terrace chant in his honour to the tune of ‘the roof, the roof, the roof is on fire’ whereas Heskey’s introduction to proceedings is often met with either a muted response or a series of groans from the stands. Heskey is quite the anomaly, when he pulls on an England shirt and plays up front with Wayne Rooney, he holds the ball up brilliantly, acts as an excellent outlet for the back four with the option of the ball up top always available and he puts in an excellent shift. But at club level he’s a wisp of a man who spends more time falling around on the floor than doing anything resembling what a professional footballer should be doing. The contrast is startling and as much of a fan as I am of his inclusion in the national starting eleven, even with a manager that knows him well, Heskey struggles to make any telling impact whatsoever. Carew is much more like the Heskey we see with the national side and he cuts a truly intimidating figure. The real crux of the problem however is O’Neill’s indecisiveness to pick one on a consistent enough basis over the other. A certain amount of loyalty to Heskey and his international ambitions has often seen him included at the expense of the infinitely more effective Carew despite his performances barely meriting it. Carew has started 22 league games, Heskey 16. Heskey has come off the bench 15 times, Carew 11, more often than not in an uninspiring like-for-like substitution and indeed the stats bear this theory out as Heskey has trudged off the pitch 15 times to Carew’s 11. It’s time to decide who you prefer Martin, if not only for the sake of the team?
Carling Cup fiasco – Aston Villa were well and truly robbed in this year’s Carling Cup final defeat to Man Utd, with the game centring around Phil Dowd’s scandalously inept call, with Vidic cynically pulling striker Gabriel Agbohnlahor to the floor. By the laws of the game it was a straight red card, a penalty and Utd would have been forced to play the remaining 87 minutes with 10-men. Instead Dowd completely bottled the game’s biggest decision and Vidic only received a yellow card. Milner dispatched the resulting penalty, but as the game wore on Utd’s quality told with the introduction of Wayne Rooney sparking them into life. Had Dowd got the call right, as everyone else in the country and even Sir Alex Ferguson admitted that he saw it as, then Villa would be ending the season with their first piece of domestic silverware since their 1996 League Cup triumph over Leeds and Man Utd would be ending the season empty handed.
Spending taps are turned off – With manager Martin O’Neill desperate for reinforcements to boost his sides’ chances of breaking the top four next term, Randy Lerner’s words that “I gave him the assurance there’s money there to be spent. But I think its good business to try to sell to buy” before adding that “I just don’t think we could write a cheque for £30m. On budget, I think that would be outside of our means” will hardly be music to the managers or any expectant fans ears. Lerner, along with the money used for the takeover of the club itself, has spent £179m since becoming Villa Chairman in 2006 and after an unexpectedly heavy loss of £43m last financial year alone, just at a time when O’Neill would like some money to spend to strengthen their squad next season, the Chairman is sending contrasting signals that it’s time for everyone involved at Villa Park to start tightening their belts. Sound financial planning it most definitely is, but what Villa need right now, I’m not so sure.
A case for the defence – One of the bright spots this season though has been Aston Villa’s back five, but close attention must in particular be drawn to the central defensive partnership of James Collins and summer signing Richard Dunne, a player who Man City must regret ever letting go off. Villa have 15 clean sheets to their name this season, the fourth best in the league, and only Chelsea, Man Utd and Liverpool have conceded fewer goals. They do say that all great sides are built from the back first, with Dunne and Collins there and the likes of Carlos Cuellar and Stephen Warnock down the flanks and the ever-reliable Brad Friedel in goal, O’Neill has built an extremely formidable and at times impenetrable backline.
European adventure falters once more – If there’s one criticism that you could level at Martin O’Neill and his time at Villa, it’s that his sides have never really flourished in Europe. In 2008/9 O’Neill put the chase for fourth place in the league rather controversially ahead of any European ambitions the club and its fans may have harboured and a much changed side exited at the hands of CSKA Moscow at the second round stage 3-1 on aggregate. This year they exited in qualifying to Rapid Vienna after a lacklustre 1-0 defeat away from home with an overly negative five man midfield formation deployed. Despite their best efforts to turn it around at home, they exited at the first hurdle on away goals after a 2-1 at home. O’Neill has put all of his efforts into trying to secure Champions League qualification the past couple of seasons, but the disdain with which he treats the second-tier European competition for the sake of sustained league form, hasn’t reaped much actual success as a plan. The league should always be the priority, there’s no denying that and their form in it has been consistent if unspectacular, but a decent run in Europe wouldn’t go a miss for a club steeped in European history, otherwise, what’s the entire point of continually qualifying for Europe in the first place unless you’re going to take it seriously when you eventually get in it. Envious glances of what might have been must have cast over at Craven Cottage at some point this season.
Will O’Neill stick around? – O’Neill is as passionate a manager as they come, known for being headstrong and stubborn, once he gets something in his head, it normally takes some shifting. Rumours have persisted that O’Neill is unhappy with the lack of money and budget constraints that he has to work with next season seeing this as a perceieved lack of ambition on the Chairman’s part. A meeting with Lerner was said to have been tense, with Lerner stating that he’d been put through the ringer by O’Neill’s line of questioning. The fact that he’s signed a one-year rolling contract does show his commitment to the club, especially since he’s been told he’s going to have very little money to play with next season and will have to sell before he buys, but the worrying aspect of the news is that his contract is rolling and that he can walk literally any time he feels like it if he’s unhappy. With a fiery character such as O’Neill in charge, a situation like that is not wholly out of the realms of possibility.
Arbitrary marks out of 10 – 7/10 – Another decent campaign, they were robbed cruelly robbed in the Carling Cup final, but O’Neill’s and his squads consistency has to be admired. Whether they’ll be able to kick on with budget constraints now in effect though looks more doubtful by the day, with all around them keen to strengthen further.