After what felt like a long international break, with many regulars returning from their national camps, Aston Villa proved to be lethargic and uninspiring on their trip to the Molineux.
It was only last season that Villa picked up three points away at Wolves thanks to a late El Ghazi penalty to break the deadlock. Since then, Bruno Lage has arrived in the Black Country and massively delivered, boosting his side to the European challenger places.
Meanwhile, Steven Gerrard is battling with inconsistency in his Villa side, returning from the break on the back of two losses, which succeeded three emphatic wins. The clash away at Wolves this weekend proved to be yet another roadblock for Villa on their journey to consistent football, failing to test a Wolves side that didn’t particularly outshine in many areas of the pitch.
For Villa, a controlled first five minutes was tainted by a slippy ten minutes thereafter, as Wolves netted an early goal, dished up nicely by Jonny inside the box. McGinn slipped near the halfway line and Konsa followed suit in his own area, allowing the Wolves number 19 to finish confidently. The trouble didn’t stop there as Lucas Digne, freshly returning from injury and an appearance for France, went down with a grimace and limped off to make way for Ashley Young.
Villa certainly suffered for the following ten minutes as Wolves were left spirited by their visitors’ early collapse. After weathering the storm of pressure from Wolves for a short period, Villa grew back into the game slightly and rebuilt possession of the ball. However, in similarly frustrating fashion, Wolves bagged a second goal following Villa dominance, as Young flicked the ball in off the top corner of his own goal from a clean Marcal cross.
Facing a two goal deficit after 36 minutes meant that Gerrard’s team were fighting an uphill battle. Coutinho, Bailey and Watkins had been very subdued and possession, of which there was plenty, failed to curate any attacking threat. Bailey did have one long range attempt on goal, but this was turned over the bar by Sa. Once 2-0 down, the side looked keen to pile forward at times, leaving large areas of the field open and vulnerable on the counter attack as the likes of Podence and Silva ran at Villa’s defence.
The second-half was an improvement for Villa, who appeared slightly calmer on the ball and had a few more chances to build offensive play in Wolves’ half. However, many attacks felt stifled by Coutinho, Ramsey and McGinn dropping deep to collect the ball or protect the back line. Another thorn in Villa’s side appeared to be the slow movement of the ball from the back to the front, with too many passes attempted before a run was made or a shot taken on.
Watkins missed two one-one-one goal scoring opportunities as Sa made important blocks, and Coutinho also had a decent on-target attempt saved. Corners were similarly lacklustre, often reaching the keepers’ hands before a claret and blue shirt. Wolves had similar chances at the other end, notably one from Hwang Hee-Chan, who glanced the ball past the post around the 70th minute.
It was only then that Gerrard made his changes, with Douglas Luiz replacing Sanson and Buendia for Coutinho. Fans had been calling to see Villa’s forgotten number eight for many weeks, and his appearance was relatively solid considering the general disappointment surrounding the team’s performance. Buendia had a positive impact following his entrance to the field, but not enough to change the tide of this fixture.
Sa’s trip of Watkins in the 83rd minute was the first sign of Villa making a claim on the game, as the referee pointed to the penalty spot and Watkins pulled one back with just over ten minutes remaining. Though Villa were on top of possession and had some control over the game, it was not enough to cling back a point. The final moments of the game were plagued with time-wasting, scrappy set pieces and yellow cards aplenty.
While this performance wasn’t particularly worrying in terms of glaring troubles in the team, what it did demonstrate is the deep-rooted inconsistency at Aston Villa Football Club, and the frequent tendency to throw away good progress with silly errors and early goals conceded. Yes, this is very much a period of transition for Villa as Gerrard navigates the league and builds his dream team, but there are very much issues that need ironing out in the present day, rather than as part of the rebuild process.
Wolves may have been slightly lucky in some places, with a very slippy mistake and an own goal being the difference, but what the home side did have was a feeling of solidity, calmness and balance to the side. Villa can look erratic, panicked and disorganised in times of trouble, and it is rare that they seem to rebound from those moment to redeem points or pride. There is a polarisation at the club where they either earn three points or none – draws are very few and far between.
Gerrard’s biggest task at Aston Villa will not be retaining superstars like Coutinho, or carving out an exceptional style of play. His most crucial and time sensitive challenge is balancing out this team and instilling organisation, calmness and control, so that even when falling behind they have the core strength and belief to pull themselves back into games. Too often it seems that once this side falls behind, all hope of a points return fades away.
Fans are aware of the personnel that is needed to better this side, but there are issues that run deeper than names on a team sheet. Aston Villa need consistency, and they need it soon if they are to become a mainstay in the top half of the Premier League, let alone challenging for Europe.
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