Heading into the 2012/13 Premier League season, Aston Villa manager Paul Lambert was keen to add to his defensive options, and did just that by bringing in Ron Vlaar from Feyenoord.
Vlaar, an experienced Netherlands international, arrived at Villa Park to strengthen the Villans in central defence in a transfer that supporters were delighted with.
@AVFCOfficial good signing, we need more #quality players though #AVFC
— Antony Jelf (@AJelf9) August 1, 2012
https://twitter.com/lionking260766/status/230655046059192320
@AVFCOfficial the guy is a beast lol
— Kevin Andrew Lyndon Prior (@Kevinprior66) August 3, 2012
@AVFCOfficial I'm getting more and more excited for the new season #LambertsLimes
— Kat 1874 🦁 🇬🇧 (@Boxy_83) August 3, 2012
@AVFCOfficial TAAAAAAANK
— Dan Henry (@DanHenry95) August 3, 2012
@AVFCOfficial great news about Ronny Vlaar! Do we know what number @chrisherdy will be wearing this season? Desperate to get new kit!
— Matt Caddy (@Matt_Caddy) August 1, 2012
And once the former Feyenoord man stepped foot onto the pitch, it was not hard to see why.
That season and during Lambert’s Aston Villa tenure overall, the team did not defend well as a whole. However, individually, Vlaar did not do his credentials as a defender any harm.
Unlike the majority of what Lambert was working with at the back, Vlaar was very much capable of putting in solid and authoritative performances not just for club but also country with the 33-year-old playing a starring role in Louis van Gaal’s 2014 World Cup Netherlands side.
That being said, it was not all positives for Vlaar during his time at Villa Park with the Dutchman having picked up an array of injuries.
Nevertheless, it would be hard not to consider Vlaar as one of the better signings made by Randy Lerner towards the end of his ownership of the club.
