Dear Mr Lambert, ‘Ever Heard Of Playing 442?’
Aston Villa seem to be cursed by dower Scotsmen as of late; first with relegation prone, Alex McLiesh and now with equally as dull, Paul Lambert. Lambert has baffled me with some of his decisions, dropping Shay Given, dropping Alan Hutton and the biggest mystery of all, dropping Darren Bent!
Paul Lambert, however,insists that Bent is not for sale. In The Mirror, Lambert said:“I’m not actively looking to sell him.” Bent who cost a staggering £24million back in January 2011, has started just six games in the league this season and has netted twice.
While his replacement, Christian Benteke has also netted twice. This has to put forward the questions why not play both of them… At the same time? A crazy idea I know! In all seriousness, Villa need to turn things around and soon. If they do end up losing Bent in January and there’s certainly a few clubs in the market for a striker; it could be the first sign of the end for Villa.
In his almost 2 years at Villa, Bent has netted 20 times in just 47 games which is quite a slim return for the money paid for him but he has spent all of his time in the bottom half of the table.
Lambert wants the striker to show: “desire and commitment on the training pitch”.
Ironically though, Alan Hutton was dropped and Lambert said this about the Right back:”“He’s shown a good attitude in training so there are no qualms on that front”.
So the Villa boss will drop you if you don’t show desire and work hard in training and will drop you if you show the desire and work hard in training…The scope of this is, Villa are in the bottom three, they’ve won just twice and they’ve conceded 22 times and only netted a 10 times.
And things won’t get any easier this weekend, as Villa take on Arsenal. Then their next two games could really be six-pointers as they take on Reading and equally as vacuous football side in QPR.
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November 24th, 2012
He has played 442 most the season, it’s miles more exciting than mcleish and Hutton is the worst player to play the game. Apart from that good article
November 24th, 2012
This is such an awfull article it’s unbelievable. I don’t think u have watched Villa play have u. Hutton is the worst RB I’ve seen at Villa.
As for 4-4-2. We don’t have the middle two to play it would get run over by teams.
Ridiculous article.
November 24th, 2012
If you can find anyone who’ll admit to watching Villa this season, do let us know. Actually… don’t.
November 24th, 2012
Couldn’t agree more Lionheart. Awful article. Hutton is a liability and we simply don’t have the central midfielders in order to play a 4-4-2. I’d much rather see the 4-3-3 or 4-5-1 (depending on how you look at it).
I’d also rather see Benteke up front, as playing with Bent is like playing with 10 men most of the match – Lambert is right to ask for more from him.
And as for Given, his time as our number 1 is up. Guzan is a better keeper now. I always though thought he deputised well and couldn’t understand why he didn’t get more of a chance, let alone why he was let go at the end of last season.
November 24th, 2012
Whadders… Nice to see a fellow fan who understands what’s going on. Plenty of fellow fans spout that Bent and Benteke should start but then can’t explain what formation we would play.
November 24th, 2012
What a joke article !! hardly any Premier League teams play 4-4-2 anymore ! is this really a football site ?
November 24th, 2012
Aston, given that next season your mighty Villa are going to be visiting a lot of new grounds (no, I don’t mean in Europe), I’d start thinking about embracing change. 442 might, just stop relegation. Or perhaps you could wave a bed sheet with ‘This season’s manager out!’ and that will save you. The arrogance is hilarious.
November 24th, 2012
Thanks for the constructive critism, I didn’t actually title the article and I certainly wouldn’t suggest 442 is the way. I think 41212 or even villa nova(no pun intended) 424. Also lets face it villa have been dire and Hutton is still a solid right back.
November 24th, 2012
Also another thing; Villa has played 4231 almost all season, 442 would save them no question about that. 424 would help them score more. Barry Bannan is good passer and Stephen Ireland can hold his own in the centre.