Chesterfield 3 - 1 Aston Villa (player review)

Aston Villa ran out with their youth team in full flight but it was the three older outfield players who really struggled to match Chesterfields excellent determination and teamwork. With a slow start from the Villa Chesterfield showed they're a team brimming with confidence as they dominated the first half, especially the opening 20 minutes of the game. The first Chesterfield goal by Darikwa was taken well but it was a mistake from a Villa defender and the lack of positioning which really told.

The three wiser heads on the pitch, Bennett, Lowton and Tonev clearly struggled to match Chesterfields determination and none of them really impressed. Tonev looked purposeful but struggled to either make or take chances, Lowton didn't struggle as such but some poor passing, slow reactions and wing back defending didn't make up for his ability to link with Gardner as the first half progressed, and Joe Bennett showed that even League 1 could be a struggle as he was constantly caught out of position and lacked any sort of bite in the challenge. Clearly targeted in the game Bennett showed Villa fans that a struggling season could be on the horizon and that the flying winger Richardson really has to play, despite his own defensive inadequacies. 

Despite the first 20 minutes of Chesterfield domination there was most certainly some positives in the next 25. The return of Gardner after a battle with injuries was great to see and the young central midfielder showed he hadn't lost his ability to spot a pass and switch the play, even if some of his passes were floated and not hit with purpose, his touch was decent and he managed to build a decent partnership with any player who was able to play one touch football but mistakes were made and he looks like a player returning from injuries rather than one with a new lease of life. The same could be said of Johnson who was extremely neat on the ball, happy to pass through the middle of the opposition and extremely useful getting up and down the pitch. Johnson built good partnerships with his teammates and although some passes went awry he showed he has the character and determination to be part of both defensive and attacking needs, his energy was a huge part of his good play but he's clearly trying to impress, sometimes to his teams detriment.

There were some eye catching performances from a youth perspective and Robinson looked lively and determined to show he had a good first touch and desire to go forward with or without the ball. Chesterfield were excellent at stopping him attack but it was clear that he wanted to push the defence backward and with Burke next to him they looked like players who are improving rather than stagnating. Burke especially was part of many good moves and his determination and strength allowed other players the opportunity to take better forward positions and build attacks. Though few and far between any chances created were due to Burke's good work and he should be proud of his ability to disrupt the oppositions defence. 

The second half saw a raft of changes but two players who started in the first were strong throughout, Donacien and Carruthers. Donacien started poorly and was at fault for Darikwa's goal but as the game progressed the young defender grew in confidence and started to show that he has the ability to make tackles, win headers and spot an interception. The central defender is blessed with excellent pace and this was of huge benefit both on and off the ball allowing him to either dribble out of defence or cover mistakes made by the likes of Bennett, Gardner or Johnson. Central defence is a very tough position but the youngster showed great signs of building on the minutes he's been given and is a definite option instead of Clarke and Baker when we need to dig for young replacements. 

Similarly Carruthers started poorly, with a few squeezed passes intercepted by a busy Chesterfield defence but the naturally offensive player showed real signs of class missing from previous Villa teams and deserved to play the whole game. He created many opportunities for attackers to move forward, his passing became creative and although he didn't make many chances for himself the Villa team would've looked flat and uninspiring without him. In his previous game the midfielder played as a holding midfielder and it really didn't suit him but as he pushed forward Villa did too and tactically the more advanced position helped the team look dangerous.

The second half also saw Grealish and N'Zogbia come on and the impact was immediate, N'Zogbia ran with the ball well, worked well with his team and constantly pushed the Chesterfield players out of position. The usually selfish player had a part to play in Villa's only goal and while one on one with the keeper he squared to Grealish who nipped ahead of the defence and slotted the ball into the net. Energy levels were much improved in the second half and Villa's trio of N'Zogbia, Grealish and Carruthers showed that together they could link up to good effect. Sadly tactical ineptitude reared it's head throughout the game and two goals were conceded from set pieces with a visibly frustrated Guzan confused at how stationary his defence could be. 

The positives were clear to see and although Chesterfield could have scored a few more the game was a good work out for the younger Villa players and the impact of the better players would have made Lambert a happy man. Huge problems remain, sadly Bennett was back to his worst and on set pieces nothing has improved but some of the Villa youth got important minutes and the confidence to play for the club.

An honourable mention for Herd who is back, lets hope in the long term as we need a central midfielder with bite (though he did play centre back in this game), and Okore, Herd's replacement in defence who looked a little rusty but confident on the ball and unfazed by any previous injuries.

Well done to Chesterfield who played good purposeful football and made Villa's trip a fight or get trampled affair.

Hopefully the future is bright but it will still require a lot of tactical consideration from the manager and personal development from the player, though only a friendly most Villains can count themselves lucky that Guzan is still a Villa player as once again he could be the difference between survival and relegation. 

The two halves of Lambert; the trouble with Villa

Paul Lambert is a manager in which I place great trust, he has a passion for tactics, shown by the variety Aston Villa have utilised, a desire to play passing football and a quality emphasis on trusting his players. He has developed over the last year and improved on player selection, tactics for players and changing things when the team isn't playing well but while all these positive occur they also exist as real negatives that could be adding to the struggles.

Instead of delivering countless match reports I wanted to deconstruct where I feel the manager needs to develop and why.

Player selection and trust
On the whole Lambert has come on a lot in this respect, below are some examples of successes and good decisions that have improved the side.
Last year Joe Bennet probably experienced the hardest part of his career so far, a huge amount of trust was placed in the young left sided player yet he delivered very little in the role Lambert gave him as left back. His defending was woeful, positioning very poor but attacking play showed promise. Lambert received a lot of criticism and finally when the year began we saw him dropped from the team.
Ashley Westwood also found some criticism but due to excellent passing, some Petrov like reading of the game, and a desire to put his mistakes behind him Lamberts trust was rewarded and he has become a key player this year.
Clark who saw favour at the start of Lambert reign has been replaced by the decisive, passionate Baker, and Luna who we hoped would solve the left back crisis was quickly replaced by the quality Bertrand.
Fabian Delph was considered a Championship player but trust and individual development has placed him as one of the first names on the team sheet and a quality member of the Villa squad.
These players have shown where Lambert has balanced trust with quality and has made important decisions to replace the less quality options, such as bringing in Luna and Bertrand as left backs but has Lambert also caused himself some headaches by ignoring fringe players that perhaps he hasn't placed as much trust in?

Two of these fringe players are Samir Carruthers and Marc Albrighton, while the later has found himself injured Carruthers has seen his Villa career stifled hugely and is finally getting some quality games while on loan. When he has played for the club he has filled a role Lambert wanted, a number 10. He plays behind the striker, takes on his man and has some good passing going forward, a role that doesn't suit any other player at the club. This role is imperative to breaking down stubborn defences and allows a new tactical approach to winning games yet we have not seen it utilised in any manner during Lamberts tenure. This is not to say Carruthers has the quality to make this role his permanant home but it's clearly a role he can play, something Bennett cannot as left back.

This fact brings us nicely to Marc Albrighton, the only wide player at the club. Though he perhaps lacks the quality to be a top winger he has the best cross at the club, a desire to help out all over the pitch, natural width and a passion to make run for through balls, qualities which endear him to fans and players alike. He however has seen his game time cut short mostly because of Lamberts desire for short passing tactics.
These two players can still improve but need games and a managers plan B, Lambert has either not considered how they could work or doesn't trust their qualities to deliver chances. I would chance at a combination of both but lead toward the latter as being the main reason.
Against West Ham Albrighton changed the game, the wide approach completely threw their defence and while we didn't score we did threaten, a lot, it seemed to take the team 15 minutes to realise that these crosses were actually real chances, by then the game was mostly over. This change of tactics were not down to manager tactics but down to player attributes, if only Lambert realised he also needed someone to poach a second ball/rebound. Weimann perhaps?
Weimann is an interesting player, trusted by the manager he is filling a role rather than playing to his strengths and it has shown as his few chances a game are usually spurned  rather than taken, if he was playing as a striker instead of a hardworking wide forward perhaps we'd finish the chances the creative Benteke carves out. Though a good player Agbonlaor isn't a poacher and he doesn't read the game like the little Austrian Weimann.
We have lacked a combination of player trust and tactical naturalness and this takes me nicely onto tactics.

Tactics
Lamberts 352 and 532 got us in a lot of trouble last year, he tried to fit a team to a tactic rather than a tactic to a team and over and over it caused us issues, as soon as we moved to 4 at the back some calmness came but certain players still underperformed. This year we have seen Lambert show real strength in this respect and we have seen a balance of good tactics against the right teams, however the balance of tactical personnel is still lacking. As mentioned the omission of Albrighton and Carruthers show Lambert hasn't considered width and a link man and player wise Lambert is struggling to find a quality balance, over and over this season certain decisions have confused the fans as well as lowering confidence within the team.

This weekend Newcastle scored a winner in the last minutes of the game and two players contributed hugely to our downfall. When Westwood came off we lost the only quality passer in the team with Sylla his replacement; though Sylla didn't do a lot wrong he also didn't add much to our play, didn't play box to box, or higher up and gave the ball away through poor crossing. This changed the way we attacked with no compensation in a tactical sense, the calmer passing dried up with Delph left doing the defensive and creative midfield work. For the next 10 minutes we looked impotent going forward but still had some counter luck on the right as Newcastle pushed forward, then in the final 10 minutes Lambert made his second error of the day and this was bringing on Joe Bennett as left back. In the weeks previous Bennett worked well as a left wing back and wide man but the problems he faced while defending came back to haunt us. Remy's goal was poor defending all round but Bennett was the real problem, his awful defensive header gave the ball back to the Magpies and they duly make their chance count. As soon as he came on, with Sylla on the same side, Newcastle attacked our left and we saw Villa's defenders looking nervously in order to cover potential defensive frailties; suddenly our defensive confidence was decreased and Newcastle drifted forward with ease.

But did Lambert have immediate options? Tactically perhaps not, the club has no depth in midfield; Gardner and Carruthers are out on loan, Johnson has not seen the bench in some time and there really isn't anybody else to mention. As far as left backs go perhaps Bertrand was injured but if not Lambert went for the win from left back and ignored both Albrighton and Tonev as attacking options. Tonev is really struggling but he doesn't lack confidence and has a lot of pace going forward and Albrighton who plays on the right could have exploited the passes Agbonlahor wasted. Even Bennett as left winger could have worked but instead we stuck with our impotent setup.
He could have gone to a natural 442 and pushed for a win with a solid back line, instead he gambled on a tactic that wasn't working and favouring plan A with plan A players.
Many of our poor performances and losses can be attributed to plan A, as well as a last resort desire to find Benteke with a long ball.

Lambert is a developing manager but he needs to understand what he has and where he can influence outcomes, if this means eating some humble pie by bringing players back into the team then he should do it, it makes him more flexible and more in tune with his players. He needs to place trust in all his players and not the ones he has brought in/nurtured and strike the balance between tactics and quality.
We all know he wants to pass to win, and I support that passion (even though at times we've had appalling pass completion statistics), but he needs attacking personnel plan B's and not just tactical ones.

The relegation zone is not too far away and so experiments will most likely not occur but perhaps the week in Portugal was as important for the manager as it was the squad; we can only hope.