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Agbonlahor and Young miss final Capello cut

Last updated : 24 March 2008 By Tom Vickers
After Villa were chopped by Chopra on Saturday, Gabby Agbonlahor and Ashley Young were axed from the England squad by Fabio Capello.
Agbonlahor was widely expected to make his debut in France on Wednesday but his recent downturn in form has resulted in a downturn in his reputation.
Capello was understandably disappointed when the young striker missed the Switzerland game because of injury and the signs were good for Agbonlahor to make up for that in the Italian's second game in charge. However, both he and Young were particularly disappointing against Sunderland at the weekend; resulting in a rethink for Capello.
The question has been asked as to whether the pair, who have been driving Villa for most of the season, have simply run out of fuel.
Agbonlahor has lost his goalscoring touch and looks unable to get the better of his marker at times.
Young is currently showing no signs of the wing wizardry that helped the Claret and Blue to victories in crucial games at home and away in the first half of the season.
The lack of transfer activity at Villa Park in January has meant that both players have been forced into playing the majority of games. The squad lacks any real depth and relies on the utility factor, meaning key players are simply moved into problem positions rather than rested.
Of course, tiredness is not necessarily the only factor that has seen Villa falter in their charge for Europe. Players have genuinely been under-performing and with teams such as Everton and Portsmouth competing on more than one front, there is no reason why tiredness should be more of an issue at Villa Park than anywhere else.
The team was knocked out of both cup competitions at the third round stage and there is no European action to speak of so the players have to take a degree of responsibility.
Agbonlahor and Young must forget about England for now and focus on regaining their early season form otherwise England may forget about them, but more importantly so might the Villa Park faithful.