There is no doubt in any of our minds (well there shouldn’t be, anyway) that Brad Guzan has contributed hugely over the past few years towards ensuring our current Premier League status, however, over the past year or so, there has been rapidly growing concern and therefore debate over whether his performance levels have dropped sufficiently far so that it is time for a changing of the guard.
In my mind, Guzan’s biggest blunder would be his horror moment at the back end of last season. But this has become one of many that have gone on to cost goals and also matches, that have led to much controversy among the villa faithful. His strongest attribute has to be his shot stopping, which it always has been, there’s not much wrong in that department.
However, his distribution is noticeably lacking, in fact at times it’s diabolical. So much so that clearly it is not just us supporters that have noticed it, but Brad is conscious also, as we could see at Selhurst Park this season where he was so reluctant to kick long in the dying minutes to keep hold of a precious point, and instead chose to roll the ball out to Jordan Amavi despite him visibly being under pressure, consequently meaning the game was lost.
Now, picking a goalkeeper is not an easy job, far from it. Every player on the pitch makes mistakes, but unfortunately for those between the sticks, it’s their mistakes that more often than not are the most crucial and the most easily scrutinised. Perhaps we are being overly critical? Perhaps not? Would you really be that confident in backup option Mark Bunn to make a significant positive difference to our performances at the back? One thing’s for sure, we will never know until we try, and perhaps now is the time Tim has to take that gamble.
Brad’s performances have certainly been inconsistent if you look at the big picture over the years, but some would say his more recent displays have been consistently poor. Many suggest he is only getting in the team on merit, living off his past performances, you could say the same about a certain Gabby Agbonlahor also, although I personally can’t see any recent performances he would be living off.
Being a young supporter, and having only supported Villa for the past eight years, I have never seen the club without Agbonlahor. I’m sure readers of my age will be able to relate to my saying that Gabby has been one of, if not my favourite player for us growing up, and may even go as far as saying my idol. For this reason, it makes it very difficult for me, and I expect many others, to say that I want him out of the team, let alone the squad. It just doesn’t seem right. However, this does not mean that I don’t recognise his flaws, of which there are many. He is commonly noticed to be lazy and look disinterested on the pitch, loitering in an offside position whenever we attempt to form an attack, which is becoming increasingly frustrating to watch from the stands, I’m sure we can all agree on that one.
Gabby has offered very little in the past couple of seasons, he has shown glimpses of what he once promised as a youngster which raised so many eyebrows, but his goal return is becoming ever more unimpressive as the games go by, 10 goals in his last 67 games, for an attacking player that’s hardly prolific.
As I have done for a while, I do believe he contributes most to the team when acting as an impact substitute for the second half of games, that is where his pace can be most significantly utilised. Gabby does put in effective performances, not many, but as a believer of credit where it’s due I feel it is worth noting he had one of his better games at Leicester at the weekend, providing the assist for Gil’s majestic second goal, however this sadly won’t be remembered.
Also, the question remains, should you drop Gabby to the bench, who do you play in attack? Gestede seems to be offering very little, and is a very different player to Agbonlahor, looking at the team from the weekend, it seems obvious to bring in Adama Traore in Gabby’s place and start with an attack of Sinclair, Traore with Gil and Jack Grealish just behind them, but it’ll be interesting to see what Sherwood does in the coming matches.
