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Most of you will know about the MOMS weekly column ‘Five Reasons to be Cheerful as a Villa Fan‘, which initially sprang into existence as a way to offer Villa fans hope and a few laughs in defeat. Having recently got so fed up with the team’s poor standard of performances and some of the straws we’ve had to clutch in the aforementioned column, here’s a version of ‘Five Reasons’ were we let off a bit of steam and say what’s really on our minds.
1. Villa haven’t scored in 7 out of the last 10 games. If the alarm bells aren’t ringing with that stat in the Villa camp, then there’s a real problem.
2. Villa’s performances in the past couple of months have been woeful. It’s not football, it’s hoofball. Apart from the Arsenal game, it’s hard to think of a performance that has been enjoyable to watch. Even against Manchester City at Villa Park, the team were lucky to escape that game without taking a beating. If City hadn’t been so gun-ho and undisciplined in their attacking (ala Southampton later on), leaving themselves open to Villa’s counter, it would have been a different story. The only passing Villa seem to do is across the back four, before one of the defenders gives it away. At least Villa supporters got value for money in terms of the result against Manchester City, but on the whole this season, they have been left short-changed when it comes to the quality of their team’s performances.
3. Before Christmas last year, Paul Lambert is on record saying that Villa lacked a presence in the midfield. A year later, seemingly nothing has been done to address this issue. Villa still have a midfield that struggles to protect the back four and offers next to nothing going forward. Which leads to point four.
4. Benteke has now gone 10 games without a goal. That’s over 11 hours. More alarming is on Sunday, he had only one touch in United’s penalty box, suggesting he’s getting useless service unless you count Brad Guzan’s goal kicks. Keeping Benteke for this season further offered up a reason to add a quality attacking midfielder to Villa’s squad to capitalise on the Belgian staying. After all, most defences would be now giving Benteke special attention, so fresh variation in creating chances for him would be needed.
5. Going back to Sunday’s game, Still no home win against United since 1995. This isn’t Lambert’s problem per se, but it’s a hoodoo that shouldn’t be accepted. It’s a bit like when Mike Tyson in his prime would win fights before his opponents stepped into the ring due to their fear and respect of him. Recently though, far from great United teams have turned up at Villa Park and literally walked away with the points. Must do better.
