Aston Villa - Plugging the Gaps

Article by Stephen Attridge

Well things are certainly looking up for the villa. Two clean sheets from our last two away games and 7 points from our last three games.

Last seasons flirtation with relegation has certainly helped the mentality of the squad. Ron Vlaar looks much stronger for the experience, Guzan is doing the business between the sticks, Benteke started the season like he finished the last and Fabian Delph has been impressive to say the least. Now that he has had a full pre-season behind him and a decent run of games he is developing into something special.

If Delph has proved his doubters wrong with his all action displays, there is still one man in the midfield who divides opinion; Karim El Ahmadi. The majority of times I have seen him play he drifts in and out of games and seems too lightweight. The recent stats however (that get published on the Villa website after every game) are surprising. He wins tackles, in fact nearly every one he goes for. His pass completion also stacks up well overall.

These are factors that may at times go unnoticed but are vital in plugging the gaps and taking the pressure off the defence. All contributing to that all important clean sheet. It's clear to us all now that Lambert only wants players that work their socks off and are willing to track back like little whippets to help the team. This is partly why Gabby and Weimann work so well in our formation- they are happy chasing the fullbacks back into our own half then have the pace to break out quickly.

Also, it's interesting with Lambert's transfer policy that he doesn't seem go for anyone over the age of 24. What this means is that the squad are young enough to run all day. I heard a rumour that villa turned down the opportunity to bring back Gareth Barry during the summer and was initially disappointed. I thought he could guide young promising newcomers like the ever improving Leandro Bacuna through games and his experience would be invaluable.

Lambert has stated time and time again though that all his emphasis goes on intensity. From ALL is players.

Older players may struggle for 90 minutes with fierce pressing of the ball that he demands. We are going to play against quite a few teams that will dominate us in terms of possession so we need to make sure that possession doesn't hurt us.

This is arguably one of the problems Lambert had with Darren Bent. We keep hearing how he didn't fit in with our formation, but Lambert changes his formation from time to time and has for example suggested he may play both Kozak and Benteke.

He just wasn't happy with what Bent was doing when he didn't have the ball. It's a far more robust villa this year for sure. We have two tough games coming up in the name of Spurs and Everton, but you just feel we could get something especially as Benteke's injury has cleared up.

So it's very much a case of onward and upwards. What will be interesting is what happens in the January window. Lamberts plan is starting to work, so will Lerner continue to let him bring in new players at the rate that he has been? Or will we have to wait for the summer for his next little flurry of movement? Balancing the books is obviously high on the agenda, but we must be getting there now as so many of the big earners have moved on. As long as the manager and chairman's ambitions are in line with one another you will generally have harmony and it seems that way. For now.

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