To say Paul Lambert has his work cut out for him might be the understatement of the year. His task is going to be enormous judging by Villa’s display in the season opener against an almost equally punch less West Ham at Upton Park.
Villa had their 4 new signings all making their debut, but none had any real impact and all struggled to adapt to the stronger faster Premiership.
The game was a pretty drab affair with very few chances created by either side and once the Hammer’s grabbed the lead 5 minutes before half time they were pretty comfortable for the remainder of the game.
So, I’ll go through the players and give my thoughts instead starting in goal, Shay Given had a solid game and it was god to see him playing the ball through the defence instead of hoofing up to the West Ham defenders to start new attacks. I will give him the benefit of the doubt on the goal, that he didn't stop when the assistant's flag went up, that none of the players did. If so, shame on them.
At right back, Matthew Lowton did okay in defence, but his crossing was abysmal and with Lambert not using wingers, his delivery is essential to Bent.
On the other side Baker is almost certainly a fill in at left back. PL likes to get his full backs up field and I am not sure he crossed the halfway line until late in the game when we won our first of 3 corners. Baker is built like a centre half, not a left back and seems more solid there than Ciaran Clark, who has seemingly regressed to the days when Andy Carrol was bullying him for a hat-trick at SJP. Clark gave away two poor free kicks in great positions for a Sam Allardyce side that thrives on the dead ball situations.
Completing the back four was newcomer Vlaar, who despite the fact he struggled with Carlton Cole at times; he was a warrior and our best player on the day. Trouble is he will face 15 better strikers than Cole this season. That is not a knock on the centre forward, Cole will be one of those better players as he will tell you himself; he was not his 100 percent self out there with the season so young, but the same can be said for Vlaar in fairness.
Midfield general was El Ahmadi ; whom everything went through and it worked well for 20 minutes. Then the Hammers pressed him and he struggled. This is when Villa needs somebody else to step up and grab the game by the neck and neither Delph nor Ireland was up to the task. Delph took 17 minutes to complete a forward pass and he actually looked confident after he did. Delph is like having a new signing too after spending so long on the treatment table. Ireland just wants to play the killer pass all the time. But, the through ball to Bent fooled nobody, especially a player who spent all but the last 3 weeks in our training camp. Yes, Collins got man of the match. While many criticized the Welshman and wanted him gone, the only thing wrong with him is his passing isn’t crisp like Vlaar, but he blocks every shot, causes disruption in both penalty areas.
N’Zogbia enjoyed more freedom but, after the 20 minute domination he disappeared. He tried to take on one too many players, but it was more than he tried last season Hollman looks the most out of his depth of the newcomers. He is a tad slow, his first touch, not crisp and he seems too slight to be of much value. Hopefully, he can live up to his potential.
I think Darren Bent is a luxury we cannot afford. I don’t recall Villa ever having a player like him before. He is too reliant on service and we don’t have the ability to provide it. We need players that can create their own chances, dig in and be as aggressive as West Ham’s Cole was, not just occupying two defenders and working off their shoulders. I am not sure of the answer, but this isn’t working.
The subs just illustrated how far PL has to go. Weimann is a decent prospect, but needs a season at Wycombe or somewhere to sharpen his skills. We need a 5 million quid forward coming off the bench like the Hammers had. Gary Gardner is a lightweight. He made 3 poor passes in a row and he had as much chance changing the game as I would. Barry Bannan can change a game and looked good when he finally got the ball in the final third, but could he have gone 90 minutes toe to toe with the physical Diame? I don’t think he could.
We need 4 or 5 players at least. Let’s hope he can unload Warnock and Hutton soon and get us some strength, skill and stamina. A goal would be nice.