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How do you solve a problem like the Villa?
Versus Watford
Our once great club is in freefall and there is no denying it a win against Watford on Saturday is a MUST, I don’t care how good/bad we play, I don’t care how we score a goal (even a beach ball would be welcome) and I don’t care what we have to do to keep the ball out of our goal (even a Suarez style handball on the goal line).
We can all discuss the best players to pick, the best formation to choose and the best style to play but I am pretty sure every conceivable combination has been used this season between Tim, Remi and KMac. It’s time that we place the focus on whatever XI players take to the field - these are the people that can turn our season around - they are the only ones. As a minimum players should be running back to their own goal to defend with the same determination they run forward to attack. They should all leave the pitch needing inhalers because they have taken their bodies to the limit. If anyone (even Grealish) show early signs of not doing this then we need a brave manager to drag them off early, even if this is 5 minutes into the match because we cannot afford to wait until we are losing to make the changes. IF we are going to go down then we must go down fighting!
How did we get in this mess?
The problems for Villa began when O'Neill bailed on us on the 9th of August 2010; we were in the build up for a new season and the news came out of the blue. But our problems were not caused by MON, yes he overspent (show me a manager that doesn’t waste money on signings that simply don’t work out) and yes he walked out leaving us in a state of shock at the beginning of a new season but ask yourself why did he leave? We have had a series of managers since that all have brought in new players, different styles of football but there has been a common theme with them all and that has been cutting costs and buying cheap young players in the hope of selling for a profit. Randy Lerner is the man to blame; the years of under spending and cost cutting have lead us to where we are today.
I was impressed with the business done over the summer however it is proving to be "too much, too late" (is that even a saying?). What I mean by this is that if we had been adding the type of players we signed in the summer as a gradual progression - a few each summer added to an already stable squad with experienced Premier League players then we may be progressing up the table. To sign so many players with no Premier League experience is such a massive gamble, I recall when we first signed Petrov he was absolute garbage for the first 18 months then something clicked and he was a rock in the centre of our midfield. We could carry a Petrov with his hit and (mainly) miss performances because we had the likes of Gareth Barry marshalling the midfield back in the early MON years. I have seen glimpses from all of our new signings to suggest they have quality and could be good Premier League players but they need time, time that we don’t have.
Back to Randy, although he is to blame for our current predicament due a consistent lack of investment in hisdefencehe is open(ish) about his reasons for spending cuts - he doesn’t want to invest anymore of his own money and he wants to sell the club. He hasrealisedthat he is out of his depth because it is difficult to make money with a Premier League club andlet’snot kid ourselves that is why he bought the club. Also he bought the club at the time when the Premier League was changing from being a multi-millionairesplayground to a multi-billionaires playground. With the Mansours and Abramovichs of the world happy to wipe out a billion of their personal wealth to win a few trophies what hope does Randy have? If I was in Randys position I wouldn’t invest in Villa (and I genuinely love the club) because you need to accept that you are highly unlikely to see the money you invest ever again.
Boring myself now!
That’s enough of dwelling on the current state of play and it’s time to start picking up points one way or another starting with the Watford match! Get to January still in with a fighting chance of staying up then let’s hope the new lads all click and Randy backs a few panic buys and we roar like lions to the end of the season and survive at a canter.
UTV!
Barry'sboots
Posted at 2015-11-25 09:15:55
I think you are wrong on two points:
Randy has not underinvested, indeed this is the first summer that he has not had a net spend of circa £20m - a decent number for a club outside of the top 6/7. The big problem, IMO, is a lack of consistency in the footballing management - so money has been wasted with managers constantly switching styles of play - and poor development/utilisation of our youth - Gardner, Cahill and Steven Davis - are key players in PL squads that we have let go at an undervalue.
The other error I believe is your assertion on MON. I don't disagree with your statement that he didn't overspend BUT he did waste value opportunities. NRC was a classic - he bought him for £8m but rarely used him after that first season. He is not the first manager to pay for a player and change his mind. But where he did go wrong, IMO, is letting that player rot and run his contract (and value) down - he could have sold him for, say, £5m when he had decided he was not going to play him anymore and re-invested in a player that he could have used!
We are facing the same challenges as the likes of Newcastle and Sunderland - historically big clubs that are under pressure and struggling to find a solution. Many cite the likes of Southampton and Swansea as examples, although the latter is now starting to unravel somewhat, but I believe that they had the benefit of developing a team - and thus taking risks including blooding youngsters - outside of the pressure cooker of the PL. Everton is the better model imo. They have had consistency of management - with Moyes and subsequently Martinez who has not changed too much - and a seemingly strong youth development policy - that has enabled them to compete in the top half for most of the last 10 years.
We are in a tight spot now and it is critical that Garde gets his selection and tactics right IMO. We sat way too deep against Everton and the 4-3-3 leaves a massive gap between the CM and Ayew. We really need a 4-2-3-1 and, if he is going to play Jack (which I would) he has to be in the centre where he can have an impact - it is pointless trying to play him out wide as he doesn't have the pace to effect a game out there.
Lets hope Remi has learnt and gets it right against Watford. And, more importantly, that Troy Deeney doesn't score the winner! UTV
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