From the moment the final whistle sounded on Saturday, you could sense the mood of Aston Villa fans shifting.
It wasn’t the manner of our latest dispiriting setback at Villa Park. We’ve all seen defeats to Stoke before. In fact, that’s the problem.
We’re sick of being stuck in a claret-and-blue Groundhog Day, where results and performances repeat on a loop. I’m half expecting the team to walk out to I Got You Babe.
With Sherwood’s early promise starting to fade, the Twittersphere is already talking about his potential successor. But given Villa are unlikely to jettison him just yet, here are some ways the boss can unite the fans again.
1) Start taking the blame
When Sherwood arrived, everything was a mess. We knew who to blame and so did he. It certainly wasn’t him. But now his own decisions are being shown up, he turns the heat back on to his squad.
The odd substitutions at Leicester, the Lambertesque display against West Brom, the Alex McLeish tribute team selection against Stoke – they’re not the players’ fault.
After benching Jack Grealish and Carles Gil on Saturday, he claimed: ‘we never had that one person who could show that maverick ingredient to do something really special’. Why was that, Tim?
I like the fact he seems genuinely hurt by defeat. But so far, he is pointing the finger in the wrong direction.
2) Create a Villa style
Sherwood may privately realise he is getting things wrong. His muddled thinking was symbolised by his sudden flirtation with 3-5-2 against Stoke. Afterwards, he claimed the experiment was to get the best out of Rudy Gestede – but it only served to confuse things.
I’m all for basing team selection and tactics to exploit opposition weaknesses or counter their strengths. But at home, we need to stick to one shape and adopt a style which suits the players we have.
This is Tim’s team. He should have the confidence and conviction to stamp his mark on it.
3) Sort out troublesome positions
The summer rebuild has solved certain things. Jordan Amavi is the club’s best left-back in a very long time, while Idrissa Gueye and Jordan Veretout will, in time, make us forget the fella who cleared off to Manchester.
But there remains a hangover from last season. Brad Guzan still isn’t instilling confidence, while Alan Hutton and Leandro Bacuna are both frustratingly inconsistent at right-back. The signing of Joleon Lescott has only provoked more questions, Ashley Westwood, Scott Sinclair and Gabby Agbonlahor also divide opinion and we are still yet to replace Christian Benteke’s goals.
A workaround needs to be found, particularly in terms of getting the best out of the attack, or it will be a very long season.
4) Demand more of the players
The most worrying aspect of the collapse against Leicester was how predictable it was. The substitutions played into the hands of a resurgent Leicester but also exposed how flaky our players are under pressure.
Tim Sherwood’s Villa are not the first to throw away 2-0 leads – but it surprised me how exhausted, both physically and mentally, some were.
The coaching staff have to work them harder and demand more of them. Their current quality, concentration and fitness levels just aren’t good enough.
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