Wobbles at the back for Villa
Firstly, that was cracking entertaining at Villa Park yesterday - a really good open and attractive game.
The big worry for me about Villa at the moment is the defence. Individually and as a unit they look totally devoid of confidence and are making very basic errors.
I’ll start with Brad Friedel. I thought he was a terrific signing in the summer from Blackburn. He’s proved for many years now that he ranks very highly as one of the best keepers in the Premier League. He’s proved this season that he’s still capable of making very good saves - but there’s no doubt that he’s slowing down. He’ll be 38 next month and I have serious doubts about whether he’s up to the task of regular football next season. He signed on a three year contract and several eyebrows were raised at the length of his deal. It’s hard not to look back to 2001 when John Gregory signed the 37 year old Peter Schmeichel as a replacement for David James. Schmeichel was a Manchester United legend and supporters expected the same type of amazing goalkeeping heroics from a man clearly at the end of his career. Friedel has been a great keeper but I think his time is running out and that Martin O’Neill may need to look elsewhere again in the summer to stabilise a position that has proved difficult to fill at Villa Park for a number of years now. Not since the days of Mark Bosnich have Villa had a really stable and outstanding goalkeeper.
Confidence affects the four defenders in front of Friedel. Luke Young had been one of my players of the season but his form at the moment is concerning me. He’s making silly mistakes and is being turned too easily. Nicky Shorey has done quite well since returning to the side but still looks little boy lost at times. But he does at least give natural balance on the left side. The big worry for me is the central defence. Any combination of Knight, Davies and Cuellar are looking vulnerable. Villa have leaked 20 goals in their last 8 games. That’s an ugly statistic and paints a worrying picture. Several times against Everton yesterday, players were given far too much space on the ball and the marking at corners and free kicks seemed non existant at times. Curtis Davies is really struggling for form. Without Laursen alongside him, he seems to panic and get caught frequently. He has suffered injury problems this season and hasn’t looked the same since he hurt his shoulder against Everton in February.
Zat Knight remains an enigma. He’s a giant of a man at 6 foot 6 inches tall and his signing effectively ended the Villa career of the popular Gary Cahill. Throughout his career, Knight has been hampered by serious lapses of concentration - even Martin O’Neill when talking about the signing of Knight said that one week he can be brilliant and the next shocking! Not exactly reassuring comments to Villa supporters. The jury is still out on Cuellar. He hasn’t had the most outstanding start to his Villa career but it is his first full season in the Premiership and he comes with a glowing reputation from Rangers. His distribution is woeful at times but I’ve also seen on a number of occasions late brave challenges from him to prevent goalscoring opportunites. Is he £8M worth of centre half? I don’t think so. Not at the moment anyway.
All of these things give O’Neill a summer headache. some reports have indicated that Randy Lerner will tighten the budget in the summer and that he’s keen to reduce the overall age of the squad. It’s a concern for supporters that players like Gareth Barry, Stilyan Petrov, Ashley Young and John Carew have all been linked to summer moves. With the exception of Young (who I cannot see leaving Villa Park for a number of years), anything is possible. Martin Lausen adds to the worry. The giant centre half has been badly missed and news that he is ‘struggling’ (possibly even fighting for his career) will chill every Villa supporter to the bone.
I can see Villa being in the market for one or possibly two central defenders in the summer. Brede Hangeland is a name that has been mentioned before and I like him a lot. Matty Upson isn’t very popular at Villa Park but I’ve always liked him (although I am not sure O’Neill would risk signing someone with a poor injury record in such a crucial area). Nicky Storey possibly has 7 games left to secure his position next season.
