Last season Tim Sherwood came in, made a few changes to the team and we managed to alter our fortunes just enough to stay up.
We are currently in a desperate rut that cannot continue. Something, however drastic, needs to change.
Last year he chose to bring the young Jack Grealish straight into the team. He became virtually our best player and his exciting play contributed massively to our season turnaround.
What can Sherwood do this time that would have a similarly galvanizing effect?
The main issue for me is that we never look like scoring. We are promising up to a point and then the moves fizzle out with a depressing reliability. It is difficult to really get excited about attacks because something tells me that the likelihood that any given one will end in a goal is minimal.
We had very long periods without a goal last season and we do not want to see that pattern repeated. Perhaps the problem is that our players can’t score when they need to. Gestede netted twice against Liverpool but only when the pressure was off and the goals were essentially meaningless.
So how can we change that?
What seems to be the problem is that the strikers look isolated. There needs to be more of a connection between the midfield and attack without leaving gaping holes at the back. I am not saying anything that any football fan doesn’t know: it is basic but we cant win football matches without it.
So what is our saving grace going to be? What can Sherwood do to reverse his team’s fortunes, improve cohesion, ensure that his players start scoring when it matters and win?
I don’t think the answer is obvious. What is obvious is that all the players who can make something happen should play. Gil, Grealish and Traoré have not had a chance to start together in the Premier League yet.
Sherwood needs to take a risk and maybe the next match against Chelsea is the time to do it. Mourinho’s men are under massive pressure at the moment and we cannot let them off lightly. We do that too often, most recently against Liverpool. Let’s make sure we give Chelsea a game and the way to do that is by filling the team with exciting, attacking talent. Richards and Lescott have not been totally convincing of late but are experienced and that counts for a lot. Let’s just pack the attack, hope to add to the reigning Premier League champions’ misery and turn our own season around.
1 Comment
The faults are easy to spot but maybe one should also look at the positives as well . The match against the Foxes was one of 2 halves ! The 1st half Villa were very much what folk wanted to see and what it would seem the above is suggesting is how we should play .
But we lost ! Not because we slowed down or stopped playing , but rather because the Foxes changed tactics & stifled our play . And since then other teams have learnt that to beat us that is what they need to do !
Since then we have only beaten Small Heath using tactics similar to those used against us by the Foxes . But win we did !
And now Tim needs to find a formula that combines the style that had us outplaying the Foxes in the 1st half of that game , and that used to win in the cup unattractive as it was .
But until he does we are going to continue to struggle . But Chelski are not playing that well themselves so perhaps we will have the chance to play a full match of attractive footie and get a win