Premier League wins are an increasingly difficult commodity to obtain, with a noticeable increase in competitiveness seen from teams in the lower-half of the division over the 2014/15 season.
The search for which, as a struggling manager, is met with admiration at the best of times, but thankless and lonely for the most part. Both elation and despair, is almost always followed by a swung axe, with another sorry soul in place to take the reigns. This is the harsh reality for top-flight managers.
Paul Lambert, Scotland’s first European Cup winner with a team outside of the United Kingdom (Borussia Dortmund, 1997 v Juventus), was unable to instil the same winning mentality and competitiveness during his time in charge of Aston Villa. After a winning percentage of 29.57%, Tim Sherwood’s appointment at the West Midlands club was one of little surprise.
Villa’s cup form would be considered an unwelcome distraction to some who, quite understandably, would like the Premier League’s run-in to be concentrated on with greater vigour than the previous eight months. A single win, plus a slightly superior goal difference separates Villa from the mire of England’s most dark, lonely and sorrowful destination – the relegation zone.
The 4-0 demolition job at the Stadium of Light followed twin-wins against old rivals, West Bromwich Albion, first, snatching three valuable Premier League points, and a date at Wembley in the FA Cup semi final against the victor of Liverpool and Blackburn Rovers’ replayed quarter final tie. A loss to Swansea City at home, who were coming off successive defeats, has not helped to allay concerns surrounding the possibility that Villa’s 27-year stay in England’s top-flight is coming to an abrupt end.
A visit to Old Trafford, seemingly, could not have come at a worse time for Sherwood. Louis van Gaal’s Manchester United are purring at the minute, after outclassing Tottenham Hotspur at home, before halting Liverpool’s top four bid in a 2-1 win at Anfield.
Wayne Rooney has reclaimed his preferred position as a central striker, and despite an anonymous display against Liverpool, the 29-year-old’s desire to trouble the scorers list remains.
The striker has underlined the importance of winning on Saturday, considering the challenge Liverpool faces in the early kick off – “that (win at Anfield) means nothing if we don’t beat Aston Villa on Saturday. Obviously Arsenal play Liverpool as well on Saturday, so if we can get the win against Villa that will be an even better result than Liverpool was for us.”
Michael Carrick’s importance to the fortunes of the squad have been in focus following the midfielder’s return from injury, something that has been lauded by Rooney.
“I think he is a fantastic player,” Rooney added. “He (Carrick) has been a big reason why, at United, we have won so many trophies over the last few years.”
If Carrick plays well, generally, Manchester United are able to showcase the expensively assembled talent in forward areas.
Villa’s combativeness in midfield has seen it concede the equal lowest tally in the Premier League’s bottom half (39). This equates to 1.3 goals conceded per game, and if this is bettered at Old Trafford, Sherwood’s men certainly have a chance.
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Rather than attempt closing Carrick down, something that helped Ander Herrera enjoy acres of space against Liverpool, a tactic that has seen greater success in recent times has been to deny options in advanced areas, forcing one of the division’s best distributors to pass backwards and sideways, and allowing the opposition midfield to capitalise on United’s stagnancy.
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