Jack Grealish central to another Aston Villa victory
Before anyone chirps in with ‘Not more propaganda about Jack Grealish’, his influence on the Aston Villa side right now cannot be ignored – hence the headlines he’s courting. The ‘England or Ireland’ debate is certainly a prominent sub-plot but instead of focusing on that, it’s much more satisfactory and far less frustrating to simply admire his recent performances for his club.
On Saturday against West Ham, he made his 5th consecutive league start. In that time, the club has won three and drawn one, scoring ten times. He also shone in Villa’s FA Cup semi-final against Liverpool, having a crucial role in both goals.
Facing the Hammers, he popped up brilliantly on the half-hour to attack the space in the left channel, hold off Stewart Downing and drive in a low cut-back which Tom Cleverley tapped home for what proved the winning goal.
But dig a little deeper and the stats paint a startling picture. Grealish played two key passes in the game – one teed up the goal, another set Gabby Agbonlahor free late on for a great opportunity but the attacker scuffed his shot from close range. But his pass success was 93%, he had 62 touches in the 89 minutes he was on the pitch, made two interceptions, recovered possession seven times and was fouled five times – the latter figure proving just how much he was on the ball and how West Ham struggled to contain him.
Maybe it would be a lot easier to stomach if Grealish was a one-hit-wonder and the Cup performance against Liverpool was a stand-alone event. Instead, the 19 year-old’s star continues to rise and Martin O’Neill’s recent declarations that a Grealish call-up for the upcoming Euro 2016 qualifier against Scotland would be premature is starting to look a little foolish.
Three into one won’t go
With Burnley and QPR condemned to the second tier for next season, attention has turned to who will join them.
It would take an absolute collapse for Aston Villa and Leicester to get dragged into the dog-fight – both teams, particularly the Foxes, have found form at the perfect time.
It seems a straight shoot-out between Sunderland, Newcastle and Hull for that last relegation place and with Steve Bruce’s side suffering defeat to Burnley on Saturday, they have their work cut out for them to stay afloat, especially considering their remaining fixtures – away to Tottenham next weekend and then a final game against Manchester United. According to Steve Bruce, they have ‘a mountain to climb’.
Hull require snookers to stay up but Bruce’s local side, Newcastle, may just help them out. John Carver’s team managed a 1-1 draw against West Brom to stem the bleeding after a run of eight successive defeats. They’re two clear of Hull but despite having an easier fixture-list, you can’t back the Magpies to pick up points. Assignments away to QPR and home to West Ham remain and you’d do well to find anyone who’d feel confident of Newcastle getting results in either game, regardless of how ‘easy’ they look on paper.
For Sunderland, they have three games left – at home to red-hot Leicester and then two trips to London to face Arsenal and Chelsea. Failure to beat the Foxes and suddenly, it all gets very interesting.
Fellaini and Young prove that attitude gets you places
It wasn’t pretty but United pretty much ensured their top-four target was met this season with a 2-1 win over Crystal Palace.
Much was made of David de Gea’s remarkable save from Glenn Murray with twenty minutes left and how it was a defining moment of the game. It’s tough to argue given Palace’s pressure throughout the second-half and how they caused United so many problems. But when United’s winning goal came about, it made sense that a certain two players were involved.
For Ashley Young and Marouane Fellaini, this season has been about the long road back. Both seemed set to leave after a miserable time under David Moyes but in Young’s case, a strong pre-season gave Louis van Gaal food for thought. He was open-minded and took to a wing-back role with relish rather than suspicion. The Dutch coach was clearly pleased and has had little difficulty in repeatedly selecting the 29 year-old. Though certainly a limited winger, his purposeful running and energy has been a major positive for United and was on show again on Saturday.
It’s something similar for Fellaini – a running joke throughout last term. An injury suffered last August meant a proposed move to Napoli fell through and in many ways, his availability has been a huge bonus as Van Gaal began to recognise the importance of physicality in the Premier League and that the dainty sensitivity of Mata and Herrera had to be complemented. Fellaini, Van Gaal has consistently said, provides balance and having played such a key role in United’s big wins over Tottenham, Liverpool and Man City, he popped up with another match-winner against Palace.
Sergio Aguero will go down as a Premier League great
In his first season in English football, the Argentine scored 23 league goals, including the history-making, last-gasp one against QPR that ensured Manchester City were crowned champions.
In his second season, injuries curtailed his involvement but he still managed 12 in 22 starts.
Last term, there were more fitness issues yet he finished with 17 from 20 starts. And as of right now, he’s managed his best-ever tally of 25 from 27 starts – an incredible return.
That’s 77 top-flight goals in his four campaigns so far. You do the maths: it’s a magnificent scoring rate and should be lauded. His numbers point to him breaking the 100-goal mark next season.
Rather ominously, he turns 27 in a few weeks – with a footballer’s peak widely regarded as being between the years of 27-30.
Having claimed two Premier League’s in his stint in England, he arguably deserves more accolades. A relentless goalscorer, he also has that uncanny knack of paying little attention to a slump. This season, he went six games without a goal on two separate occasions. Yet, he didn’t dwell on his struggles. Instead, he played through them, confident in his own abilities.
City will go through a necessary transition in the summer but Aguero will remain the focal point.
Liverpool’s transfer strategy cost them Champions League football
Before today’s make-or-break clash with Chelsea, Brendan Rodgers was quizzed on why Mario Balotelli wasn’t part of the Liverpool squad. The response was beyond vague with the Merseysiders’ boss seemingly hinting that he preferred to give a number of young players a chance. It was strange. Admirable, yes. But there’s a time and place and his decision to leave the volatile Italian out of his plans is a damning indictment of his supposed man-management struggles. Despite missing some training during the week, he was fit.
Certainly, Balotelli is a handful for any manager and demands constant attention. He’s not a team player and shows little interest in being one. He is, quite proudly, an individual. So, either be open to managing him in a different way to everyone else or don’t sign him. Rodgers went into the deal with eyes firmly open yet he’d much prefer to allow Balotelli fade into the distance rather than try and coax performances out of him. Essentially, has Balotelli been given a fair shot? 10 top-flight starts would suggest he hasn’t.
It’s quite easy to lay all the blame at Balotelli’s door. He’s quite the easy target given his reputation. But Liverpool paid £16m for his services. Whatever Rodgers may feel about him, surely the striker’s ability counts for something when the team are chasing something in a big game.
Rickie Lambert was signed from Southampton because of his technical ability and how he could dove-tail with other players in an attacking unit. At Southampton, he revelled in a front-three, dropping deep and bringing others into the game around him. He also hit 28 league goals over two Premier League seasons.
Under-used and under-appreciated by Rodgers, he’s been a bit-player at Anfield and with the pressure on at the tail-end of the season, he was only thrown in to lead the line when Daniel Sturridge’s hip injury reared its ugly head.
Adam Lallana has also had his own injury problems this season but four goals in 24 Premier League appearances does not reflect well on the club who paid £25m for his services.
Ultimately, a lack of goals has cost Liverpool but Rodgers signed three attackers last summer, as well as a winger in Lazar Markovic. And ultimately, it’s the missteps in the transfer market that have proved decisive.
