Aston Villa’s most gifted player, by some distance, is Christian Benteke and at times last season he carried Villa. While the team as a whole is better than last season, its star player is not shining.
Lambert has a stronger squad that is better organised and more solid defensively. Additionally, individual players like Fabian Delph and Brad Guzan have improved greatly in the last year. The Villans have competed in virtually every game this season and have had a much better start to this season than last, in terms of results at least.
However, Lambert’s best player has not been performing at the level he was last season. It’s difficult to say exactly what the problem is but it’s clear that Benteke’s not at his best. It’s not like he’s getting loads of chances but not taking them. Whether the service isn’t good enough or he needs to get into better positions, he’s getting less opportunities than last season. He’s had 2.6 shots per game this season, compared with 3.1 last season (according to whoscored). His pass success rate is down and he’s won slightly fewer headers too.
Last season, without Benteke, Lambert’s Lions would have been in a lot of trouble. This season, with Benteke out of form and injured for a while, they have coped. I know that some fans have higher expectations and hopes than to be coping in the bottom half of the table but there have been clear improvements. Any team will struggle when its best player isn’t performing well but the Villans, while inconsistent, have generally done well (and sit only six points behind the Champions, I should add). They have shown they don’t have to rely on Benteke to produce something from nothing any more and now is the time for other strikers to take their chances and step up to the plate. Hopefully, Benteke will regain his form and then Villa can look forward to even further improvements.
