Dan Bardell feels sorry for struggling Aston Villa players in wrong system
We’re delighted to welcome The Athletic’s Dan Bardell as our exclusive Aston Villa columnist each week he’ll be giving his views on the biggest talking points at the club…
Dan Bardell feels sorry for players like Philippe Coutinho and John McGinn who look lost an frustrated playing in an Aston Villa system that doesn’t suit them.
The Brazilian star hasn’t registered a single goal or assist all season so far, while the Scottish captain’s confidence looks shot as he takes increasing flak from disgruntled fans.
Bardell feels the huge difference in how Leicester’s James Maddison and Coutinho played against Nottingham Forest in consecutive games – Villa laboured to a 1-1 draw with on Monday night (10 October) a week after Brendan Rodgers’ lowly Foxes hammered them 4-0 (3 October) – shows there’s “something strange going on” with this team currently.
He said exclusively to Villa News: “I feel sorry for every player that’s out there at the moment because it’s tough to watch, and it’s probably tough to play in.
“I suppose they’re defending well but there isn’t anything going forward that you can say Villa are doing well, and that’s a problem.
“But Coutinho’s just on the edge of games. He’s not in the game and you know what a good footballer he is.
“I watched Leicester against Forest in the game before, two poor teams overall so far this season, and Maddison in that game took charge of it.
“I was sat there thinking, ‘Why is Coutinho not doing that for Villa?’. The difference between Maddison against Forest and Coutinho against Forest, it’s just night and day.
“I’m not convinced James Maddison is a better footballer than Philippe Coutinho so there’s something strange going on, I can’t put my finger on it.
“It’s got to be something to do with system, you’ve got to find a system that can get the best out of Coutinho.
“At the moment this 4-3-3 that we’ve been trundling out for a year is not getting the best out of anyone. It’s not getting the best out of the front three or the midfield three.
“I feel sorry for John McGinn as well. I think he’s been hung out to dry. He’s been made the captain and he’s taking way too much stick from the fans but he’s been asked to do things that are not his strong suit.
“All the things that he’s good at, Villa aren’t playing in that way. If you think about closing down, driving forward, getting himself into the box and onto the end of loose balls, McGinn’s not able to do any of those things in the system.
“It doesn’t suit him and it doesn’t suit any of the players, because Coutinho’s playing out on the left, he’s just not in the game.
“They’d be much better playing a 4-2-3-1 with Coutinho as a number 10 closer to the striker, but at the moment he just looks out there, he looks frustrated.
“And that’s the issue at the club at the moment, they look lost and frustrated.”
Coutinho is clearly out of form, but it’s not as if Emi Buendia came into the side and lit things up by comparison, as neither could produce anything against a pretty terrible Forest side.
The midfielders look static and unhappy while the attackers virtually vanish at the top end of the pitch, with nothing coming close to them in a dangerous area.
Although the club are four games unbeaten, the impressive performance at home to Manchester City on 3 September aside, it feels like the Lions are picking up their points despite the way they are set up rather than because of it, which is a big problem for Steven Gerrard.
In other Aston Villa News, Oliwier Zych has signed a new Villans contract.