The start of a new year, and with it comes renewed hope and ambition for Aston Villa Football Club, under the tutelage of Steven Gerrard.
After a relatively positive start under the new boss, with four wins from seven, Villa headed to the Brentford Community Stadium looking to kick off 2022 with another three points.
The result wasn’t to be, as we fell to defeat in West London, but there was plenty to take from the game, so let’s have a look at what we learnt…
Squad Goals
For all the talk of Danny Ings ‘not fitting our system’ or failing to hit the expected heights, with even some suggesting we move him on already, it turns out we probably do need him after all.
With Ollie Watkins out, presumably due to Covid related reasons, Ings stepped in to lead the line and it took him just quarter of an hour to fire Villa into the lead. He’d already had a similar sniff at goal beforehand, with only a last ditch block preventing him from scoring.
But when Emiliano Buendia turned and played Ings through on goal, there was never any doubt and he finished with aplomb.
Ultimately, his well taken 15th minute strike may not have counted for much at the end, but from an individual point of view it was desperately needed. The sense of relief in his celebration was obvious for all to see, and hopefully that strike will give him renewed energy and confidence going forward.
In a more general sense, it highlights the need for top quality from the bench. The fanbase has been screaming out for us to improve our squad rather than just having a decent first eleven, and I feel we are well on the way to doing so. There are further tweaks needed now we are under a new regime, and I will touch upon that further into this piece, but strength in depth was clearly looked at as being essential last summer and I have no doubt that will continue in the upcoming windows.
Off Targett?
There is also some potential surgery required in our defence too. Matt Targett didn’t have his worst game ever against Brentford, but it certainly wasn’t his best, and he could be considered something of a weak link right now. It felt like he had that label hanging over him in his first season at the club, but he more than shook it off last season, earning himself the Player’s Player of the Year for 20/21.
His performances this campaign have been far removed from that, and it feels like he’s slipping backwards again, and Steven Gerrard might want to address that particular position as early as this month.
For me, it’s not even a case of straight up replacing Targett with someone better. I just feel he lacks competition at the moment, and that isn’t a healthy situation to be in. It can lead to complacency and, as a result, a lack of form.
Bringing in a top quality left back will not only give him the impetus to fight for his place in the side, but should he lose that place, the club will then have someone capable of stepping in and competing at the top level. It’s a win win situation all round.
It seems we have been most heavily linked with Nicolas Tágliafico so far, but there are other names floating about also, such as Lucas Digne and Aaron Hickey, so it will be interesting to see what moves, if any, Johan Lange and Steven Gerrard do make over the next few weeks.
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Captain Fantastic
Okay, so let’s talk about Tyrone Mings. The haters didn’t have him to blame for this defeat, so that particular corner of the fanbase has been eerily silent since the full time whistle blew on Sunday.
The fact is, we missed him. This isn’t anything that hasn’t been said already, but we missed his organisation, we missed his voice, and we missed his leadership.
Have we lost games with Mings in the side? Of course we have. Has Mings made mistakes that have cost us? Of course. But generally speaking, we don’t tend to give up points as softly as this when he is present.
There is no Kortney Hause slander here either. I rate him just as highly as most do and I’m glad we have him at our club. But he simply didn’t step up to the plate against Brentford and we were noticeably weaker for it.
Mings’s partnership with Ezri Konsa has grown significantly over the last few seasons, and that is an ongoing process with more to come I’m sure.
I always feel much safer with those two at the heart of the back line, and I honestly don’t think we would have suffered defeat on Sunday had Mings been in the team.
Despite Hause’s heroics at Old Trafford earlier in the season, I am firmly looking forward to big Ty’s return against the Red Devils (in both the cup and the league).
The Little Magician
It really feels like Emilano Buendia is finally starting to turn on the flair for Villa now, as we saw one of his better games in claret and blue so far.
I’m not suggesting he ran the show for 90 minutes, and put on an elite level footballing masterclass, but we did see flashes of his brilliance, and it seems he is much more settled at the club.
Similar to what I touched on with Danny Ings earlier in this feature, Emi’s assist for that opening goal was a sublime moment of individual brilliance. His spin and the inch-perfect pass that followed were a delight for the eyes, and if he continues to deliver in that way, we will be looking at his club record fee as an absolute steal in years to come.
I feel he may have tried a little too hard in his earlier appearances, seemingly desperate to make a big impression on the Villa faithful. But that mentality just doesn’t suit his style.
His impact comes from his natural ability to make things happen. He is creative, he has flair, and he can split a defence with rapier-like through balls.
The more he relaxes into his role, the more of this we will see. He’s improving game after game, and there is so much more to come from our Argentinian maestro.
Marauder in the Middle?
Yet again, I don’t feel like I’m being too radical with my fifth and (almost) final point, when I say that we are crying out for a solid general in the middle of the park. It was a sticking point in the summer, and now we are halfway through the season, our need feels glaringly obvious.
Our midfield is absolutely littered with talent, and that mustn’t be overlooked. We are blessed with the likes of Jacob Ramsey, John McGinn, Douglas Luiz, Morgan Sanson, and the currently sidelined Marvelous Nakamba.
But for all their unique attributes, none of them really possess what we need in the centre; brute force and that little bit of nastiness.
We were very sloppy at times against Brentford, and it isn’t the only time we have been guilty of that in the middle of the park. Luiz in particular struggled, and we found ourselves completely overrun more often than is acceptable at this level.
We are in dire need of a big midfield bruiser who simply cannot be bullied. Who that is and how they fit into an already crowded area of the park is something of a conundrum, but it is one that will probably need to be solved fairly quickly.
We have been linked with several names, namely a couple of Malian monsters in Cheick Doucouré and Yves Bissouma, both of whom seem realistically attainable, so it will be interesting to see if any formal approaches are made.
Sniped!
Before I sign off, I would like to make an honourable mention to the sixth thing we learnt from Sunday’s clash; and that is that there appears to be a sniper on the loose in the Brentford area.
I pray that Mahmoud Trézéguet makes a speedy recovery from his devastating hit, and I sincerely hope he never finds himself in those deadly crosshairs again!
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