Pre-Season comes and goes so quickly with new signings bedding into the team and the hopes of development for players who have played the seasons before, but who has impressed for Villa this Pre-Season? In the last few weeks, signings have been on the cards and we have barely been able to keep up with it all let alone Pre-Season – but one player that has managed to tick all the boxes for me is Ashley Westwood.
Ashley since arriving from Crewe in 2012 has been a constant in midfield, never really injured but never really a standout performer – always did his job and did it well. However, recently with the somewhat added responsibility of being at the club for a long period of time and Tim Sherwood hanging his arm over him – it’s seems he has come into his own. Westwood’s passing has always been a feature part of his play but it seems to have reached another level this pre-season with more freedom to create and explore under Tim Sherwood. The departure of Delph may have helped and convinced Sherwood to have to create a midfield around a strong pivot like Westwood, especially as he has been at Villa for a period of time and developed well in the Premier League.
Movement
One attribute that Westwood failed to really have under Lambert quality in his movement around the pitch, partly because Delph did a lot of it in previous seasons. You can see from Pre-Season that Westwood has obviously been working to be more agile of the ball which will ultimately help unleash those passes into the new attacking line.
This is key for a Premier League player is to adapt and be unpredictable, as before long, with analytics you can easy stop a threat of a player through tactics.Westwood is on course for a fantastic season with Villa and Sherwood and if he stays injury free, he could see himself getting a England call-up if he adds more to his game from midfield.
And at 25, he has time on his side.
