FootballMattersMore - The only guarentee in life is death

Can it get any worse?

The Match

Did I really just pay to watch my beloved Aston Villa play like that?

A 93 minute game of football of the poorest quality and then to get suckered in the final minutes of injury time...gutted doesn’t cover it!

I will try and summarise the first half performance by saying the highlight was the half time whistle.  The passing was poor (as usual), there was a complete lack of flair and as a result the atmosphere was non-existent.  The same summary could be levelled at Crystal Palace - they looked like a Pulis team.

There was a glimmer of hope in the second half Gabby chased a few lost causes, Kozak won a few headers, some crosses found their way in to the box - but again there was no end product.  Palace on the other hand were starting to make Guzan work, there were great saves from Puncheon (x2), and the returning (eager to impress) Bannan.  A side issue - can anyone explain why he was booed?

The match looked likely to end as a 0-0 (would of been a fair result for two poor teams), and then the overpriced Dwight Gayle ran straight at the Villa defence, we backed off and BOOM! He unleashed a rocket into the top corner - queue a mass exodus.  Those that remained made their feelings known at the final whistle (quite rightly).

The Problems

Is it Lamberts fault? Is it Randy Lerner’s fault? Are we still blaming Martin O'Neill?

In my opinion it’s none of these things.  Ok Lerner has rained in the spending and Lambert has had to wheel and deal to try and move the club forward.  Lambert has decided to invest in youth, a bit of a gamble in modern day short term football but I feel it is the most likely way to succeed on a small budget in the long term rather than buying old (never) has beens.

I feel that the problem is there are a number of players that are getting too much game time at this stage in their careers.  Nathan Baker and Ciaran Clark aren’t a partnership to strike fear into Premier League strikers - where Ron (rarely fit) Vlaar and Okore and imposing figures.  If Vlaar and Okore can ever get fit and stay fit I think we are already looking like a more solid unit.

Although not bad players Westwood, Delph and El Ahmadi isn’t a midfield that anyone would fear, I would be happy with any two of these along with a Yaya Toure type player (I know Toure is not in our league in terms of transfers, but we need a player of his figure and ability).

Up front we have an issue with form rather than quality - get everyone else ticking and our front players will com good.

The Solutions

I am tempted to say sell Benteke and invest in a decent non injury prone central defender and central midfielder, if there is any money left over get a new left back.

I am sure Kozak will get goals, if not maybe Helenius might get a few minutes and as a result a few goals.  But at the moment we can’t get the ball to the strikers or keep the ball out of our own net so Benteke looks like a very disinterested luxury player.

If Randy is feeling flush keep Benteke and still fill the problematic positions.

Who we get is anyone’s guess? I am struggling to come up with realistic targets.  Shawcross? Barry? Diame? Jedinak? Olsson?