View: Off-the-pace Aston Villa being dirtiest team in Premier League comes as no surprise
The fact Aston Villa have the worst disciplinary record in the Premier League shouldn’t come as a surprise to the Claret and Blue faithful – the team have been miles off the pace for large portions of the season.
The Yorkshire Post’s article detailing the number of cards each side picked up before the World Cup made embarrassing reading for Unai Emery’s side, who have picked up 37 yellow cards and a solitary red card in just 15 games.
This equated to over three times more than Manchester City (11 yellows and one red card) and almost double the amount of Midlands rivals Leicester City who have picked up just 19 yellows.
Although some fans may argue, ‘This clearly shows Villa are proving they have a mean streak,’ there could be a simpler explanation: The players haven’t been up to the pace and quality needed to compete fairly on a regular basis.
Yes, under Emery the side have seemingly completed a full u-turn, but these damning stats are another indicator of just how bad things were under Steven Gerrard.
When watching The Villans under the ex-Liverpool legend, they often looked leggy and outnumbered in the middle of the park, and several changes to his formation failed to reap any different rewards.
Too often, Douglas Luiz, John McGinn and Jacob Ramsey were left vulnerable in transition in midfield as Villa’s full-back bombed forward without any viable cover.
This left them with no other option but to hack down their opposite numbers as they were caught on the break for the umpteenth time on a weekly basis.
It, therefore, comes as no surprise to see McGinn, Ramsey and Luiz all pick up four yellow cards a piece, and the latter a further sending-off against Fulham for a failed headbutt.
If Emery can curb this exuberant side of Aston Villa then it could be turned into controlled and tactical used aggression.
Making fouls and taking cautions in the latter stages of games is fine – as proved in the 2-1 win over Brighton – but a check must be placed on this overzealous group of players before these disciplinary breaches come back to bite them.
In other news, Aston Villa Academy: Josh Feeney has ‘huge future’ after signing new Nike deal.