Villaparkaphobia

Oh dear, oh dear, oh dear. It was all going so well wasn't it?

A crop of fresh bright talent bought from across Europe, complimenting the players who emerged from last season's nightmare with credit, a promising pre-season in which established first teamers dovetailed well with the rising stars of the development squad, all topped with a glorious three points in the season's opener at the Emirates; what could possibly go wrong?

Of course it can all go wrong. This is Aston Villa. There is always a point in the season where the phrase “wheels off everywhere” comes into play. Mid-September and we're there already. We're not quite crying like a gaggle of One Direction fans, but there is cause for concern.

The summer signings did add quality, but potential quality is probably a fairer phrase. The newbies are a skilful bunch and no mistake but you can't buy experience. (Actually you can buy experience but either Paul Lambert doesn't want to or Randy Lerner won't let him.) What we have spent a fair few millions pounds on are players that hopefully will realise their potential really quickly and the only way they can do that is by playing regularly. Snag is, they will have to force their way into the team first.

Even Spidey couldn't catch everything in time

What's stopping them then? After the Newcastle game that probably is a pertinent question.

Let's start at the back. Right at the back because a fair bit of criticism has blown Brad Guzan's way for Newcastle's second goal after the plucky American could only parry Ben Arfa's rasping shot. I think it's fair to say that a fair amount of that criticism has come from people who've never pulled on a pair of keeper's gloves in their lives.

People should remember that Brad is made of flesh and blood and is not a gaming avatar. Unless you've fingers like Peter Parker (Spiderman not the former head of British Rail) you can't hold everything, sometimes you just have to keep the ball out of the back of net as best you can and hope your defence is alert and agile enough to deal with the consequences. Alert and agile are words seldom used to describe our back line.

Peter Parker, Chairman British Rail

The tragedy of Okore's injury is that he has all the tools to be a great defender, needing in my view just a solid first season in the Premier League to add some better decision-making to his undoubted talents. Even having said that, we looked more solid at the back with him than without him, and with us seemingly unable to get through a match without a central defender going off injured, it's surely only a matter of time before we see Chris Herd pressed into service at the heart of our defence.

Sends shivers down my spine that.

It's more than fair to say that both full-backs were poor against Newcastle. Loic Remy had a field day against Matthew Lowton, in part because our right back needs to go back to school when it comes to positional play, often showing the tactical nous of a primary school defender. You certainly can't afford to give the likes of Loic a head start.

Tony Moon, meanwhile, was gaining a whole new education from the feet of Ben Arfa. The worrying thing here is that the rest of the team could clearly see what a torrid time our left back was having but did little or nothing to help him. It's a team game guys. Where was the support from midfield? Indeed what were the midfield doing for much of the game?

When a team mate is getting torn a new one, HELP HIM OUT!!!!

Against Arsenal and Chelsea, we looked impressive because our midfield three pressed the opposition on the ball, giving them no time to settle or find any kind of rhythm, hence forcing the mistakes which enabled us to counter with stunning pace. 

Back at Villa Park, we seem content to stand back and let the opposition pass as they please. Then when we do have possession - and believe it or not we had the lion's share of the ball against Pardew's men - there is a disconnect between the midfield and the attack, with hopeful rather than thoughtful balls pumped forward in the manner that made the Villa faithful turn venomously on Barry Bannan. When we have the sense to pass to feet accurately instead of playing aimless or speculative balls, we look something like a good side.

Against Newcastle, the midfield finally got it's collective arse into gear at the start of the second half, and for twenty-odd minutes, we were creative and dangerous. We were. Honest. It seems many people have forgotten this decent passage of play due to the direness of the rest of our performance, but things were swinging in our direction at one stage. Don't forget that if Gabby hadn't missed a sitter and Tony Moon hadn't crossed when it was ten times easier to score, we could have actually nicked all the points.

The decision by Lambert to bring on Kozak at expense of a body in midfield was a poor one and killed our period of dominance stone dead, though it could be said that the bouncing Czech's very presence in the box made it harder for their defence to deal with Big Chris for our goal. Sadly, we barely got a look in after that, Karim's exit leaving us totally overrun in the middle of the park and the move to swap the ineffective Weimann for the two-footed Tonev came far, far too late to have any impact.

It's interesting to note that Weimann was one of the names Paul Lambert mentioned when pressed on our lack of an attacking midfield playmaker. There's been precious little evidence of him looking like he could fulfil that role in the Villa Park games.

Against Liverpool of course, Lambert had tried something different in midfield by dropping El Ahmadi in favour of Bacuna. Here came proof positive that Villa Park isn't an easy arena in which to ply one's trade because the young Dutchman made an excitable and error strewn start. Shockingly, sections of our own support failed to realise that this was the young lad's competitive Villa debut in front of a packed Villa Park and instead of giving him chance to find his feet, wrote him off as "rubbish" straight away. Lunacy. This is one very talented player and even though he'd stopped making the silly mistakes long before the first half had even finished, many had picked him out as a whipping boy by then.

We really can be our own worst enemy at times.

So where do we go from here? The situation at Villa Park is likely to get worse before it gets better, with Manchester City looming, while the newbies at Spurs will undoubtedly have started to bed in by the time they rock up, and they have enough quality squad players to give us a tough time in the League Cup too.

The answer is not going to be an injection of new expensive talent in January either. The Okore situation may force Lambert into another defensive purchase, but certainly don't expect it to be the old head we need to steady the ship. It goes against his ethos and this worries me greatly.

The only way through the tough times is going to be hard work. The players that were rewarded with new shiny lucrative contracts have got to show that they are worth them. This means getting their heads down in training and striving to improve their games. With Bacuna prepared to play anywhere just to get into the team, no one should feel they are untouchable. If I was picking the team, I'd make abundantly clear to the likes of Lowton and Westwood that their places are in jeopardy if they can't find it in themselves to improve.

It's hard to judge how much the fringe players are pushing those selected when we can't see them play. The likes of Bennett and Albrighton aren't being given run outs in the Under 21s so we as fans have no way of gauging their form. Mind you, gauging the form of anyone in the Under 21s is difficult when games are played in far off Burton. It's a great pity that AVTV aren't providing live TV pictures from the games at the Pirelli, but will provide pictures from the Villa Park games that are far easier for most fans to attend.

It's also a crying shame that our young lads have been denied the opportunity to defend our NextGen crown due in no small part to the new ludicrous UEFA Youth League. While the Next Gen invite teams to play based on the quality of their academies, Michel Platini's new baby simply invites youth teams from those clubs that have qualified for the Champions League. Daft really.

Just another example of UEFA ensuring that the chosen few get all the gravy. 

The loan-outs of Burke, Carruthers and Grealish not only give them valuable first team experience but also allows some of the other lads their chance in the Under 21 league. Clearly the development of the players is more important than having success in this league but it's impossible to watch a team in Villa colours without being desperate to see them win.

Keep an eye on Kevin Toner and Riccardo Calder. Could be a big season at this level for those two.