As Storm Eunice hit the UK this weekend, wreaking havoc and causing a lot of damage throughout the island, this suddenly became an appropriate metaphor for the disastrous performance that transpired at Villa Park.
It has been a topsy turvy season that has had some great moments but we have now, once again turned to the dark side and are spiralling into the abyss. So what have we learnt from our second defeat on the trot against a relegation threatened team?
Clueless as a team!
As the match kicked off it initially seemed like it was going to be a good day. Danny Ings was getting behind the Watford defence on numerous occasions and it looked inevitable the only change from the Newcastle defeat, Ings for Watkins, would bear fruit. However once he had a stonewall penalty turned down and a one on one come off the post, it was no surprise it wasn’t going to be our day.
The most remarkable thing was the longer the match continued and we dominated possession, the more clueless we looked, especially in the final third. It felt like some of the players were low on confidence and when that happens, hesitation creeps in and that fear made them look atrocious.
Getting in each others way epitomised this and it’s giving the perception that drills, formations, and tactics being worked on at the training ground, spearheaded by a coaching team, are just not registering with these individuals. Let’s make no mistake, we have a good squad of talented players. But when the worst footballing team in the league do the double over you – serious questions need to be asked!
Mings Frustration
I want to emphasise the team as a whole was the reason for this defeat but I have to allude to Tyrone Mings. What is currently irritating me the most about him is how poor his distribution is, the inability to play through the lines and how he takes far too many touches before playing it out from the back, which then just gets passed sideways, so you wonder why that can’t be done with far more urgency.
It’s hard to gauge where he is right now mentally. Is he too laid back? Does he require sterner competition? Or should we take him out and bring in Hause for a few games? I adore Mings and what he has represented for this great football club. But if we have serious aspirations to take the club back to Europe, sentiments have to go out of the window and difficult decisions will need to be made.
A tricky summer ahead for Gerrard!
A win at the 13th attempt!
Watford have been awful, not a single goal registered in 4 games, and no win in 12 – enter Aston Villa. This generates even more annoyance from the game. Even with Roy Hodgson being the shrewd manager we all know him to be, and the damning statistic that he has now won against Villa on ten separate occasions (more than he has against any other team), we should have won this at a canter!
It is difficult at this present moment to see how we’ll improve, but this is where Gerrard will earn his money. As stipulated previously, we have a squad of very talented players and there will be no excuses for not getting them back to their best!
Substitutions backfire
It was the 57th minute of the game and Gerrard made the kind of change we rarely saw under Smith. It’s easy to chastise in retrospect but I did feel it was a strange one at the time. To bring on Watkins seemed like a fine decision to make but it was very odd to take off Douglas Luiz, our only defensive midfielder. We were already dominating possession so I found it a hasty choice, which left us exposed with a backline that cannot be trusted right now. This proved deadly when Watford broke free on the counter attack. A horrible goal typical of our circumstances. A team who had gone four games without scoring and in the mire, it was a recipe for disaster.
I’m a typically an optimistic Villa fan and the only positive I can take is that there are still worst teams than us in the division. I therefore don’t see us being dragged in a relegation scrap. That’s the only positive i can take!
Fans must unite!
Players come and go, managers come and go, owners come and go but we, the fans, stay until the bitter end! We need to be in unison during this tough time and if the fans start to turn on the team then we will have no chance of achieving a top half finish, which I still believe is possible (I’m a positive Villa fan remember!). This is a rallying cry for all fans not to lose faith in the team at this critical juncture in the season. I appreciate this match was hard to watch but it shouldn’t be the reason for people to leave in their droves once Watford scored. It’ll not instil confidence in the players and if anything, their morale will only further disintegrate.
Let’s wipe this result from our memories and shout at the top of our lungs when we travel to Brighton. We have seen with COVID what football is like without fans, we make a difference so let’s do just that next weekend!
Thanks to everyone for taking the time to read this piece. If you enjoyed it please leave a comment or message me on my twitter handle – @Villa4LifeAlex.
Until next time, this is Alex signing off, UTV!
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