Villa's Premier League Gold

Talksport have recently been running poll’s about the best of the premier League era. Best British player, best foreign player, funniest moment, best kit etc. I have given it some thought and come up with my choice of the best XI to represent Aston Villa in the PL era. The only criteria I have set particularly is that they have represented Villa since the advent of the PL in 1992. I have also tried to pick a team that is balanced and would play the sort of football I would like to see if i were managing them. I have tried to keep emotion and sentiment (see Gareth Barry) out of the selection process. I settled on a 4-3-1-2 formation.

GK –Picking a goal keeper was a tough choice, with Nigel Spink, Mark Bosnich, Peter Schmeichel and Brad Friedel all appearing in Claret & Blue since 1992. In the end I picked Bosnich. In his Villa career he played  179 league games, 37 Cup games and 11 European games. Alex Ferguson considered him talented enough to replace Peter Schmeichel at Man Utd.

                                                                                    

FB – In looking at those who have played at fullback over the years it is apparent Villa have not been particularly blessed with talent. My choice came down to Mark Delaney or Earl Barrett on the right. Both are hard working, unassuming players and the strongest of the list. Mark Delaney has just edged it, representing Villa for 8 years and making 175 appearances in all competitions, scoring 2 goals.

As with the right back position Villa, there haven’t been a large number of outstanding left backs. It came down to a straight choice between Steve Staunton and Alan “Mighty Atom” Wright. Staunton is my pick. Villa thought so much of him they signed him twice! In all he spent 10 years at Villa, played 335 matches and scored 20 goals.

                                                   

                           

CB – Where Villa had a paucity in talent in the full-back areas there was a wealth of quality in players who played at centre back. After much deliberation I have chosen Paul McGrath and Martin Laursen. The word legend is all too often banded about when it comes to footballers, but in the case of McGrath if you ask any Villa fan who they would chose as their top players of the modern age, the Irishman is more than likely to top of the list. McGrath played over 300 games for Villa in all competitions, scoring 9 goals.

             

Laursen was unfortunate not to play more games for Villa and was sadly forced to retire following a persistent knee injury which restricted him to 89 games in all competitions. He chipped in 11 goals and is widely recognised as a cult hero on the Villa Park terraces. Other players who were considered for the centre back position included Gareth Southgate, Olof Mellberg, Ugo Ehiogu and Shaun Teale.

                                                   

MID – For my midfield three I have gone for Ian Taylor, Ray Houghton and Gareth Barry. Taylor was Villa through and through, another with cult hero status on the Holte. In 253 starts he scored 37 goals. In my midfield, he is the box-to-box engine. Ray Houghton is my creativity. He played for three years at Villa, scoring 11 goals in 105 appearances. Gareth Barry is my defensive, deep lying, midfielder. He played for Villa for 12 years, making 422 starts and scoring 52 goals. Barry has been one of Villa’s most outstanding players, which makes the circumstances around his departure form the club more difficult to swallow.  Whilst I include him in my team, I won’t be putting his picture up!

      

Other players considered for the midfield spots include Gordon Cowans (yes he did play for Villa in the PL era), Andy Townsend, Gary Parker and Steve Stone.

AM – There were also a number of players considered to fill the attacking midfielder role in my formation; David Ginola, Benito Carbone, Ashley Young and Patrick Berger to name a few. I ultimately decided on Paul Merson. Whilst arguably he had his better years at other clubs (along with Ginola) he provides my PL team with attacking flair and a touch of unpredictability in the “hole” behind the strikers. He made 125 starts scoring 19 goals.

                                                     

ST – I found picking my strikers relatively easy compared to other positions. My strike partnership is Dwight Yorke and Dion Dublin. Sadly neither came close enough to beat Peter Withe’s league scoring record of 20 goals in one season, however Yorke scored 97 goals in 247 appearances and Dublin 59 goals in 148 appearances. I also chose them for they way they would compliment each others style of play in the time-honoured “Little and Large” strike partnerships. Dublin’s size, strength and power in the air together with Yorke’s speed, agility and guile.

Bench - Peter Schmeichel, Gareth Southgate, Olof Mellberg, Steve Stone, David Ginola, Dean Saunders, |Ashley Young.

Shift in Power Won't Come Full Circle.

I recently finished reading a book written by Gary Imlach, the sports writer and journalist, called “My Father and other Working Class Football Heroes”. The book is a biography of his father, Stuart, who played football for a number of clubs in the 50’s and also represented Scotland in the 1958 World Cup.

In detailing his father’s career and ultimately the fight to have his and other players recognised with international caps (at the time the Scottish FA only awarded caps to players who played against England) it struck me how far player power has come.

In Stuart Imlach’s career he played for a number of clubs, starting as a part-time apprentice in Scotland with Lossiemouth. The book highlights how the clubs had total control over their players at this time and transfer deals between clubs were often done without the player himself even knowing let alone being consulted.

Imlach moved clubs on several occasions, playing for Bury, Derby, Nottingham Forrest, Luton, Coventry and Crystal Palace. He was never consulted on any move. At the time Imlach, and every footballers, contract  was only for 12 months. The clubs operated a “Retain and Transfer” policy. At the end of a season clubs could release a player, put them up for sale or retain them. This was often on reduced wages if the club had had a difficult year. Any player who refused to agree terms would be paid no wages. They would not be paid and sacked or not paid but still retained. Whilst on the transfer list the club would not be obliged to pay them. If a player walked out they could not play elsewhere as the club held his registration. With little option, most players gave in.

This stance gave the clubs  total authority and control over their players. Contrast that to today. There probably isn’t a professional club in any league in world football today who has not had a player force through a transfer to another club. Today football is widely seen as a business first and a sport second. A multi-million pound business at that. Unfortunately for clubs the accountants will not generally accept an “asset” leaving for nothing. Better to take a fee. The threat to run down a contract and leave for nothing is now a pervasive element of modern football.

Clubs, and managers in particular understand that keeping an unhappy player has the potential to adversely influence the playing squad. They are usually in an untenable position. They could potentially force the player to stay, as they hold his registration, and train with the youth team for the remainder of his contract. However Chairmen and owners don’t tend to like paying out high wages for no return.

 From a managers point of view, they are judged on results and performance. The income from the sale of said unhappy player could be re-invested in the playing squad and the resulting improvements could be the difference between staying in post and getting sacked.

Spurs Chairman Daniel Levy has told Luka Modric he is going nowhere. Would I like to see Levy stick to his guns and force Modric to stay? Yes! Do I expect Modric to still be playing for Spurs by the end of the season? No! I would love to see Modric see out the remaining 5 and a half years, of a contract he only signed six months ago, training with the Spurs u12s. The fact is it won’t happen. Spurs will end up having to cash in. Better to spend the £30+ million they would likely receive for him on players who want to play than keeping a world class (in Spurs’ opinion not mine) who will not be giving 100%.

Football will only continue to grow as a business and sadly, player power will only get stronger. The shift in power from club to player won't come full circle, particularly with the advent of the Financial Fair Play (FFP) restrictions which come into force this season. Clubs will be much more focused on their profit and turnover and won't be afford to take a hit on a players wages and/or transfer fee without it having a negative impact on their compliance with the FFP rules.

Carrott or Stick?

As pre-season training begins in earnest the boys return to Bodymoor Heath for their first taste of life under Alex McLeish. I await the inevitable press reports on how happy/unhappy the players are with the new regime and training methods. The arrival of Gerard Houllier last season saw the introduction of twice daily training sessions, complaints form senior players and the possible knock-on effect of numerous injuries, however that may just be co-incidence. Players wishing themselves to be considered at the elite end of their profession  shouldn’t have any difficulty in two sessions a day. Olympic track and field athletes train 6 hours a day, elite rowers put in three sessions a day.

I will be interested to see how Mcleish goes about his first few weeks with the squad and what sort of coaching philosophy he has. There have been several articles recently appear in print media regarding Andre Villas-Boas’ arrival at Chelsea and the immediate impact he intends to have on his squad. His intention to have the team train twice a day but stay at a local hotel between the morning and afternoon sessions may seem a little full-on but is clearly designed to bring the squad closer together. He has also removed the distractions of family, friends, agents and even hairdressers from their Cobham facility.

As with Fabio Capello’s regime with England, the players will be expected to eat and socialise together. Lateness to training and the use of mobile phones resulting in a system of financial penalties (however fining a player earning over £100,000 a week seems pretty pointless).

Will Mcleish feel the need to be so hard-line with his new charges? In some respects you would hope the discipline of a professional athlete would already be there and he would not need to. Which leads me to his philosophy.

Sir Clive Woodward, the World Cup wining England Rugby coach who presided over the most ever successful period of English rugby, holds the view that to get the best out of players they have to be treated like the best. To that end his squads were travelling everywhere first class and accommodated in the best hotels whilst touring. They had access to top quality facilities and unrivalled technical support. Would this approach work in B6?

To stay with rugby, Warren Gatland, whilst at London Wasps held a slightly different view. He and his coaching team kept their training sessions very short, intensive and specific. No individual session lasted longer than an hour and players were actively encouraged to follow other interests outside of the club. What resulted was the most successful period the club ever had, both domestically and in Europe.

It may seem pointless comparing different sports but it would take a short-sighted coach to ignore successful ways of working with players from other sports to get the best out of them. I hope Mcleish’s approach takes bits form each of the above. The direct copying of a certain model would probably fail as every club is different, however if he can strike the right balance of discipline, specificity and intensity in his training,  develop a strongly bonded squad and essentially have the workplace a professional but fun place to be I don’t think he can go too wrong. Woodward and Gatland achieved a balance of authority and approachability as coaches to which their players responded in spectacularly positive fashion. The same can be said in many respects of Ferguson, Wenger and Guardiola (Mourinho is just an enigma and an article all to himself!).

Good luck Mr Mcleish. I will be watching with interest.