Aston Villa have scored only seven league goals this season and are set to host a resurgent Chelsea side in front of the Sky Sports cameras on Sunday – but what’s causing the stagnant attack?
Villa appointed Steven Gerrard as boss 11 months ago. At the time it felt like something of a coup: Villa’s ambitious board convincing a title-winning manager to leave a club as big as Rangers so he could test himself in the Premier League. So what’s gone wrong?
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Based on the numbers it is hard to say that things have gone wrong, exactly – just that they have not improved all that much. Results are better – albeit not by a great deal – and Gerrard has tightened up the defence.
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Villa have finished with an average of 45 points across the three full seasons since promotion. Meanwhile, Gerrard has averaged 1.22 points per game – which equates to 46 points if maintained over a 38-game season.
The hierarchy has also backed Gerrard in the transfer market, sanctioning nine senior signings. Seven of those nine signings were aged 27 or older.
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Indeed, while many clubs are turning to youth, Villa have signed more players aged 27 or older than any other Premier League club in 2022.
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The Villans’ average age has crept up since promotion – despite a crop of highly-rated academy graduates, who won the FA Youth Cup in 2021.
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However, Gerrard has rarely been able to call upon all his signings at the same time: Lucas Digne, Ludwig Augustinsson, Boubacar Kamara and Diego Carlos have all missed considerable time through injury.
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Jamie Carragher analyses Aston Villa’s style of play under Steven Gerrard
Given the importance of the full-backs to Gerrard’s system, losing Digne’s creativity is a particularly big problem. But Gerrard has signed players to win right now, and Villa have won only two of nine games this season.
Philippe Coutinho was the headline acquisition but he has failed to return to the heights that made him such a star for Liverpool.
The Brazilian is yet to provide any goals or assists this season. Only two attacking players have played more minutes in the Premier League this term without registering at least one goal involvement.
Given Coutinho’s struggles, it is hardly surprising Villa are the second-lowest scorers in the Premier League with seven goals – only Wolves have scored fewer.
It does not help that Villa’s deeper midfielders are struggling to contribute, too. John McGinn and Jacob Ramsey – the one academy player to establish himself as a starter under Gerrard – can both be goal threats, but have struggled to pick up the creative slack this term in Villa’s narrow formation.
Four players have clocked more than 300 minutes in midfield for Gerrard’s side this season, but none of them rank highly for chances created.
Out of all Premier League clubs, only Villa Bournemouth and Nottingham Forest are missing a single player ranked in the top 25.
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Villa cited a desire for continuous improvement when they axed Dean Smith – who had secured promotion in 2018/19 and cleaned seats at Villa Park as a boy: it is unlikely the board had marginal improvement in mind.
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Sourse: skysports.com
