English Premier League: Aston Villa headed downhill for the first time in three years
Last night must have been hard for Aston Villa fans all around the world. For a second when Petrov stepped up to take the penalty which was awarded to them during the match, Villains must’ve thought that their path to the group stages of the English Premier League had become clearer. Unfortunately what followed will always be remembered by the crowd at the Villa Park as a perfect example of bottling an opportunity.
Petrov’s meek penalty was saved by the Rapid Vienna goal keeper and then Vienna went on and scored two goals in two minutes to book their places in the group stages of the UEFA Europa League. But the question of how has Aston Villa turned into such a weak team arises. How have the likes of Ashley Young and Petrov lost their touch? How has the team that defeated Manchester United at Old Trafford last season taken a turn for the worse?
The answer resides in the management at the club. Some might underestimate a manager’s position at a football club. People do question as to why good managers are so hard to come by? They also make an inquiry as to how even the best in the game fail on certain occasions? Not only do these questions tell us that a manager’s job is a specialized one, especially when it comes to football but also that in some cases managers are more valued than players.
After winning their first game of the English Premier League around three weeks ago against West Ham United by a healthy margin of three goals, every Villa fan might have thought that the impending doom after Martin O’Neill’s departure from the club was just a false prophecy. However, the events that have unfolded for Aston Villa in the last two weeks have reaffirmed the worse years. Aston Villa are headed for a downfall.
After finishing for three consecutive years at the sixth placed spot in the English Premier League, Villa are looking quite frankly like lower mid league table material right now. Kevin MacDonald, who is in charge at the helm of affairs at Villa at the moment as a temporary caretaker manager has had a torrid time so far. Apart from the win against West Ham, Villa have lost two and drawn one and won one match out of their four matches of the season so far. In those four matches, Villa have conceded the astonishing amount of ten goals.
Last season when Villa almost piped Manchester City to the fifth place spot in the English Premier League, their pride lay in the solidness of their defensive line. The likes of Dunne, Collins, Davies, Warnock, Young and Cuellar were outstanding under Martin O’Neill. One can’t say that Villa’s self destruction against Rapid Vienna was not foreseeable. In their last English Premier League match against Newcastle United, Aston Villa conceded six goals which included a hatrick from a relatively inexperienced striker Andy Carroll. When a team such as Newcastle United score six against your football club, one should prepare themselves for a humiliating season.
There are ways in which this season can still be salvaged for Villa but for that to happen, Randy Lerner must act swiftly and correctly because the last thing Aston Villa need now is a bad managerial appointment. After Villa’s loss to Vienna, their captain Stilian Petrov came out and said that it would be nice to know who was getting the manager’s at Villa because of the uncertainty of the manager’s position it is getting difficult for the players.
Petrov couldn’t have put it any better. Players demand consistency when it comes to management, a manager who tells them about formation, informs them about the opposition and motivates them to give their hundred percent in every match. Villa don’t have a permanent figure in that position at the moment, something that must change for Aston Villa’s season to change as well. Meanwhile another test awaits the Birmingham club as they play Everton at home in their third league match of the season.
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