As the season has developed McLeish has looked more assured and more comfortable rotating his team, he is however struggling to gel a few of his stars into the defensive force his pedigree illustrates.
An International centre back in his footballing career the anguish is obvious when teams attack his fragile Villa defence and he can only look on in disbelief as Villa defenders stray from their position and ready up the boo boys.
Big Eck as he is known has inherited an ageing stagnant defence that has little competition and a league position that cannot be experimented with. On paper the defence should offer a lot, two hugely experienced centre backs, a highly capped Scottish right back and a left back with strong Premiership experience, but in reality there seems to be a real struggle keeping out the opposition attackers and a lack of concentration that does little to help the sprawling defensive midfield.
He has options but they are in the way of youngsters with injury problems and little Premiership experience. Lichaj (right back) has returned from a long injury, Enda Stevens (left back) has only just arrived at the club, Baker (centre back) is untested and Clark (centre back) is filling in for the injured Herd as a defensive midfielder.
Carlos Cuellar has recently come in for Collins but looks every bit as fragile as his counterpart and just as frustrating a partner for Dunne; whose agitation on the pitch is evident as he plays at least 10minutes of the game covering his wandering colleagues.
Big Eck has little to work with at the back and making drastic changes could create a downward league spiral that could remind him of his Birmingham City relegation days. Many Villa fans have been calling for Collins to be dropped for Cuellar, which didn’t work out spectacularly, or Clark to return to his favourite position and play alongside his Irish counterpart Dunne but for now the fragility of the whole team is clearly stopping McLeish from risking his younger potentials.
This issue probably arises from the fact McLeish is a centre back; he understands the importance of a consistent tight unit and is searching for just that (trust put in Hutton perhaps), but this ability to understand a defence may be hindering him to create a balance of players who play well together in the modern game and are not simply committed to getting players behind the ball.
This could however be symptomatic of problems elsewhere especially in central midfield where there is little or no balance. In the last few games Petrov and Clark have played admirably with Petrov managing to sustain his fitness past 60minutes but they have offered little outlet in attack and found themselves almost sitting on their defence or playing within 10 yards of them. This defensive mentality helps get men behind the ball but it also allows attacking players time to commit two opposition players and create holes in an already confused Aston Villa backline.
The success and failure of Aston Villa probably relies on the dropping of their most consistent player; Petrov who has been magnificent for a few years does little wrong, he is however as ineffective as he is consistent and although he has incredible ability to keep the ball he also facilitates a slow game that usually ends up with him playing the safe, slow ball backward. Alongside him Clark has been covering for Herd but both have defensive midfield attitudes and lack the passing ability Petrov holds.
This is where McLeish is letting the team down, he has recently brought in Gardner but has been playing this central midfielder on the wing and not taking a gamble on a predictable Petrov.
There has been little in the way of central midfield experiments and it has been detrimental to the defenders; especially those who are already making mistakes. Central midfield is rarely available to win 50/50 clearances, they stand on their defenders pushing them back or forcing them to commit and infrequently become high line supporting players on the counter.
Unfortunately this problem has to be with management, either the tactic is wrong or they are failing to identify problems the current central midfield is having. A mix is available with Bannan, Gardner and Delph all able to play midfield but none of them really show the defensive duty that Herd showed in his brief spell; and even then his partner Petrov only played a few yards ahead of him.
This issue in midfield is certainly causing the defence extra problems and is affecting the mentality of a usually calm Dunne who has been caught out of position a lot this season; usually because he covers his straying defenders.
This central midfield problem can be highlighted in every game since Robbie Keane arrived; the intelligent player is dropping into positions that usually win him the ball but spends a lot of time dropping into the places central midfield should be. What seems baffling is how often he comes back only to see the ball fly over his head and into a 4 defenders vs Darren Bent scenario. His remonstrating arms do little to change the momentum and central midfield seems vacant and lonely for the striker as he gestures furiously at the tea party still happening in the Villa half.
In the last three games it seems McLeish has noted this and Villa have been playing with a much higher line, players are pressing and the defence is looking a little more comfortable. Newcastle who last week were lucky to steal all 3 points would most certainly agree, and most Villa fans, though disappointed, could see marked improvements in the way their team played as a unit.
Defensive issues still remain, Hutton needs a retreating winger, Warnock needs a midfielder to reduce the space attackers have in his defensive zone and Collins/Cuellar regularly need a dropping midfielder to play alongside Dunne.
The problem is either with the players or with the tactic, but adjustments are needed and consideration is needed for players to play their natural game.
Attack on the other hand has been hugely improved since the signing of Keane, and even before then Ireland was looking more dangerous and combined well with the likes of Bent and Albrighton. Agbonlahor has looked off form but close touch football and incisive passing on the opposite wing has created team chances in the final third.
Since losing Young and Downing the wings have been a problem for Aston Villa and Agbonlahor plays his best football up top; Albrighton has played sporadically and is now suffering a niggle, Bannan has not been thrust into a forward position with Heskey preferred on the flank and in the hole.
There seems to be little attempt to truly test defences and McLeish has often reverted to a strong man back to goal model with onrushing supporting players.; unfortunately he doesn’t play the right supporting players to get the best of this, which is why Darren Bent has been playing just outside the centre circle in Heskey’s absence to allow Ireland and Keane on the ball. This lack of tenacity and determination makes the team predictable, as Martinez will testify with Moses sometimes it is good to play a player whose first thought is to go forward and wants to make and score goals. As exampled with N’Zogbia it seems McLeish does little to encourage him to beat the man and usually has him taken off for losing the ball too often or looking out of touch with his team mates.
Aston Villa must be wondering how to get the best from their stars but using Herd and Ireland as examples probably gives us a clue as to how he should manage his ‘underperforming’ stars.
Very different players they have benefitted from belief when the chips were down and a sustained amount of football in a supportive tactic. Herd was allowed to defend and Ireland has been allowed to play a free role for more than the usual two games that McLeish allows his less known players.
Albrighton has come in and looked good but is rarely allowed to grow into games and is left isolated or retreating a fair amount of time. A good link up player and one happy to take on the opposition he is given very little in the way of one touch play and has grown into games a lot earlier since playing close to Ireland and even Keane, McLeish rarely plays to his strengths and he is expected to formulate and create attacks while covering Hutton or Warnock, depending on which wing he is switched to.
N’Zogbia suffers this problem too; though a very different player with great footwork and strong upper body strength he rarely has an overlapping player to complement his want to draw in a defender and rarely crosses early; something that must be picked up by management. N’Zogbia has looked isolated too but usually of his own making, though he has lost the ball a lot this year he still wants it and is happy to cover to make up for his mistake. Instead of finding a supporting tactic, playing him wider (or as a forward) or continuing to show belief for a sustained period of time McLeish has dropped him or taken him off early.
He has tweeted he is unhappy and it isn’t really much a surprise for this enigmatic player.
Over this season Big Eck has made many comments about his team that spoke truth, such as berating them for not being good enough at Spurs, but McLeish has made two comments that should concern most Villa fans, “I'm disappointed we didn't hold on” while 1 – 0 up at home to an injury plagued Everton, and against Newcastle on substituting Ireland "it was clear at half-time that he didn't have the capacity to get close to people. He had an ankle problem."
Everton are a difficult unit to break down but playing is your won half is no way to beat them and on Ireland, Petrov rarely has the ability to close down a player especially in the 70th minute but has been a consistent thorn in Aston Villa advancing forward.
Ireland on the other hand has really shown real commitment and defensively has been a different player; yes it was disappointing that he didn’t close down a cross that lead to a goal but Hutton makes this mistake at least 5 times a game and is punished fairly regularly, Warnock too misses tackles and leaves Dunne hugely exposed.
Ireland made life very difficult for Newcastle’s defence and his calmness on the ball was only matched by Keane who dropped out of the game after half time leaving Aston Villa looking fairly impotent. Bannan did a good job at linking up play but he has a long way to go and needs minutes to settle his desire to impress. McLeish has dealt with Bannan’s troubles well but the question of when he will get real minutes has been circulating for a while.
Substitutions have been an issue for many Villa fans and McLeish has been making changes to some of his policies, such as using his youngsters earlier, but he still remains steadfast in his last 10minute sub tactic usually wasted with the likes of Heskey and not Weimann.
Recently we have seen McLeish happy to remove a lacklustre Agbonlahor and try some youngsters but much of this feels like crowd pressure and not shrewd decisions, a little like the eventual dropping of Heskey. Gardner has energy and determination to burn and is finally getting some sort of chance, even if on the right wing, Delph was smartly dropped and sent out on loan to regain his confidence but players such as the hard working Weimann were overlooked by an infrequently used Delfouneso, who has looked assuredly arrogant of his abilities even at Leicester. Burke and Williams have made the bench but it is baffling that a very assured looking and in-form Daniel Johnson continues to gain his experience watching more establish youngsters warm the bench and not with playing a few minutes here and there.
McLeish and Grant clearly work well together and McLeish has been getting off the bench a little more instead of simply using Grant as his collaborator; but he needs to take more control. The board seem happy with the appointment and in truth Villa haven’t been any worse than under Houllier but as the season starts to conclude it has to be a concern to most Villa fans that new players will come in, the gelling period will continue and a season to test the younger stars will have vanished.
The answer is not easy but a radical approach to the way players get their chance needs to be established, younger players and those considered out of form need a real chance, tactics need to play to players strengths and the last 30 minutes of games should not be used to close out games, or improve how the tactic works they should change the tenacity of attack when down, or the way players are released from midfield when his team is in the lead. Gambles are needed, especially when so many of the squad have played together at youth and reserve level. Herd, Albrighton, Clark, Gardner, Johnson, Bannan, Weimann, Lichaj, Baker and Delfouneso all know each other’s games but they rarely get a match to test their abilities, or 20minutes to chase a game.
Aston Villa have showed quality in spurts; McLeish has helped some players develop and does deserve a proper transfer window to replace the less cohesive players but many recent seasons have been wasted, attendances are down and hopefully McLeish realises these next 6 months he can continue developing own his management technique as well as the experience of the next generation of Villa stars.
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