da imperador bet： The old saying ‘you’re never too good to go down’ will be a sobering thought for all those involved with Aston Villa this week as things are slowly starting to look desperate for Gerard Houllier’s men. For a side just last season billed as one of the most exciting attacking teams to watch in the country, their fortunes have taken a drastic turn for the worst this season as they sit this evening 16th in the Premier League table, just 2 points clear of the danger-zone.
da pixbet： There is some truth with the old sentiment of never being too good to go down however as Newcastle aptly demonstrated this two seasons ago when a final game defeat (ironically to Villa) resigned them to Championship football. It was undoubtedly a contender for the worst ever day in the club’s history.
It’s true to say Villas performances leave a lot to be desired this season as they too are becoming rivals to Wigan for being the most inconsistent club in the Premier League. Despite ripping their opposition to shreds for the majority of the match in their 2-2 draw against Manchester United last month, their nerves and inexperience got the better of them as they managed to throw away a comfortable two goal lead at Villa Park. Many thought they would take encouragement from their performance against United into their next fixture but instead they succumbed to a disappointing 2-0 defeat at Blackburn Rovers.
Gerard Houllier has coped alright so far considering the myriad of injuries he has had to contend with. But once the big names such as Stilian Petrov, Emile Heskey, Marc Albrighton and Gabriel Agbonlahor all return to the fray, Villa fans will no doubt expect results to drastically improve and quickly.
The Frenchman doesn’t mind ruffling a few feathers at Villa Park but his open criticism of John Carew and Stephen Ireland is no doubt having a detrimental effect on the club. Stephen Ireland especially is a player who on his day is nothing short of world class. He proved this at Manchester City and only a bout of misfortune and change of ownership at the club forced the Irishman to watch the action from the sidelines. Ireland is rarely featuring in Villa’s injury-ravished side at the moment which is worrying for a man who would no doubt consider himself one of the club’s biggest names.
For Houllier to turn things around this season he needs to regain the trust of proven entities John Carew and Stephen Ireland as well as rethinking some of his strange tactical decisions such as leaving Ashley Young to fend for himself in a central holding-strikers role. No doubt his biggest task will be sweet-talking owner Randy Lerner into funding some much needed January transfer window signings.
Written by Andy Macfarlane – an Aston Villa and football fanatic as well as the owner of football highlights site liquid football. Check it out!