Libor Kozak was signed by Aston Villa in the summer of 2013 as one of Paul Lambert’s last minute deals. It was a move that excited the fans given the Czech internationals goalscoring exploits in the Europa League.
Unfortunately for Kozak he has not continued on the rich vein of form which saw Villa part with £7-million for his services. He started his time at Villa Park well, netting a winner on his debut at Norwich before continuing to impress while Christian Benteke was out injured.
After ten games in a Villa shirt it was heartbreak for Kozak when he broke his leg in training – keeping him out for the rest of the 2013/14 and the whole of the 2014/15 season after major setbacks during his recuperation.
In the summer, the hopes were high for Kozak. Christian Benteke departed for £32.5-million to Liverpool leaving a gaping hole in The Villans forward line. Manager at the time, Tim Sherwood said that Kozak would play his part – that was not to be.
The former-Lazio man went on to have a superb pre-season – scoring four times including a well-taken goal against local rivals, Wolverhampton Wanderers. The outlook looked positive with the Villa faithful belieivng that the loss of Benteke wouldn’t be to much to take.
What followed is a turn of events that baffled arguably every Villa fan. Tim Sherwood brought in Rudy Gestede and Jordan Ayew. Many believed that Gestede would be a back-up to Kozak and Ayew would partner him up front. This has never been the case with Kozak no where to be seen for large parts of Sherwood’s tenure as manager.
A changing of the Garde
When Tim Sherwood was dismissed as manager many believed that Kozak could return and come back, but that isn’t the story so far under Remi Garde with the 27-year old still seemingly frozen out of the Villa first team setup, failing to even make the matchday squad for Garde’s home debut against Manchester City.
Why no Libor?
Why Libor Kozak is not in the Villa squad is a question houdini can’t even answer. He is a capable striker who can do a job for Villa. Currently sitting in the relegation zone there cannot be any harm whatsoever in allowing Kozak a run in the side.
Rudy Gestede has proved to be fruitless so far with Jonny Wilkinson probably a more capable footballer. And Scott Sinclair’s early season form has dropped off quicker than his partner when she was in I’m a Celebrity.
Lobbying for Kozak is something many fans did, but now they seem to prefer Gestede. Gestede is lazy, and on countless occasions he is found in offside positions. Anyone would think he is trying to control a dead weight when he tries to control the ball.
@AVFCOfficial Any chance of Libor playing tomorrow? #naturalgoalscorer #utv #avfc
— Adam (@BoscoJankovic1) November 20, 2015
Kozak is a capable forward. Why is Gabriel Agbonlahor deserving of playtime and Kozak is not? Kozak has had to work incredibly hard to be where he is now after such a mentally grueling injury.
Read Aston Villa want to see what Kozak can give to the side. What is the worse that can happen? Kozak can use his head and feet. Think of him as the Czech Peter Crouch – apart from the robot celebration of course.
Give him some game time and then make a judgment on who should be frozen out and who shouldn’t do not make a prejudiced judgment.
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