Villa’s defeat at Newcastle leaves Dave Woodhall wondering what the future might hold.
One of the many things we tend to think that the Fates have in for the Villa is that we invariably play struggling sides just as they start to find some form. In truth it probably doesn’t happen to us any more than it does other clubs but nevertheless, you could have guaranteed when Newcastle were struggling at the start of the season that they would have won a couple before Villa’s trip up there.
With the exception of Callum Chambers replacing the suspended Ezri Konsa it was an unchanged line-up, a brave shout for the manager given the disappointing performances from some of the team against Leeds and the intensity of that match. Having Emi Buendia in the team after an injury scare was a bonus, as was the return of Leon Bailey on the bench.
And that was about the only bonus of a match where Villa’s performance matched the weather. The team started off slowly, briefly got into contention but never really looked happy. Newcastle’s goal summed up the afternoon – a free-kick on the edge of the box went through the wall and gave Emiliano Martinez no chance.
The first-half had been dismal and it didn’t take long after the restart to see that this wasn’t going to be one of our games of two halves. Bailey and Danny Ings replaced Buendia and Watkins, not that it made much difference. Bailey, Buendia and Philippe Coutinho must provide more flair that almost any other team can manage but none of them were effective today. It wasn’t an afternoon for inspirational genius, but rather one for grinding out a result.
That’s what good teams do against poor ones, and while Newcastle are undoubtedly poor the problem is that the Villa aren’t a good team at the moment and we don’t have many players who can put in the necessary graft. Marvelous Nakamba’s continued absence leaves our midfield woefully unbalanced, without a tackle between them and with Douglas Luiz and John McGinn forced into roles where they are neither comfortable nor good enough.
On Wednesday Tyrone Mings took the brunt of the criticism for the defence’s poor display. This afternoon he was improved but the rest were dire. The full-backs were leaving far too much room and offered nothing going forward while that lack of cover from midfield meant Mings and Chambers were over-worked. I don’t usually take much notice of the plethora of stats being produced in matches these days but losing the ball 136 times in ninety minutes takes some doing and reinforces that fact that what Villa need more than anything is someone who can put his foot on the ball and dictate the tempo. I did think that Luiz would be just the player but he seems to have gone backwards over the past twelve months.
With fifteen games to go Villa are stuck in mid-table. It would take a miracle to move much further up and a cataclysm to be sucked into the relegation fight. What’s more likely is that we’ll allow the rest of the season to drift in nothingness, and while that’s a vast improvement on much of the past decade the progress that has been made can’t be allowed to stagnate. Steven Gerrard may have been the reason why Coutinho signed but if we want to keep him and attract others of similar status we have to offer more than md-table stability and rich owners.
