Aston Villa was still looking to pick up the last few points needed to drag it completely away from the relegation scrap.
Like all teams scheduled to play West Ham since the new year, Villa will have viewed this fixture as perhaps its best opportunity to collect said points. West Ham was more concerned with good behaviour than it was good football, with a place in Europe on the cards, literally, the yellow and red ones.
Tim Sherwood is not the first manager you think of when it comes to the intellectual titans of the Premier League, but the job he has done at Villa, a bloodless lot under Paul Lambert, has been stunning. A supreme man-manager he is, but it must be more than back-slapping and shouty-shouting that is spurring this run, mustn’t it?
What a difference some confidence makes
Villa had 71% possession in the opening 15 minutes, and seemed supremely confident, stroking the ball around and probing fealessly. Yes, a run of good results will do that, but more than this, the facelift the team has had since the arrival of Sherwood is remarkable. Under Lambert, Villa was the meekest of the meek, the most insipid, the least progressive side in the league. Remember that astonishing goal drought? No, neither does Tim. Sherwood, whether through tactical adjustment, or with good, old fashioned pep-talking, has revitalised Villa, and deserves all the praise that ought to be coming to him.
Benteke walking tall again
Christian Benteke has scored 11 goals in his last nine games for Villa, in all competitions. If you want to count international matches too, add one goal more, all coming since Sherwood’s arrival in Birmingham. Strikers, naturally, are creatures that survive on self-belief, but Benteke seems especially reliant on his confidence running high. His goals look sure to save Villa from relegation, something they were absolutely pinned on for in the final dog days of Paul Lambert.
For West Ham, it is most important not to see red, or yellow
With England announced as a recipient of an extra Europa League spot, and with West Ham second behind Liverpool on the Premier League fair play table, they look set to seize a wholly unexpected European place this season. Liverpool will probably secure qualification by virtue of their league place, so the fair play spot will go to the Hammers. With nothing really to play for, except this, for the remainder of the season, West Ham was watching its Ps and Qs here. Any disciplinary indiscretions now will be more costly with Europe at stake.
Cleverly’s resurrection continues
At United, under the doomed reign of David Moyes, much of the Manchester United fans’ ire was directed at young Tom Cleverley. Blaring, bitter, open-mouthed guffaws were heard, followed by repeated mutterings of “useless”-this and “how’s he an England international”-that… it was unpleasant. A scapegoat of sorts to be sure, but Cleverley had never really made good on the potential Sir Alex Ferguson must have believed he had. He was, by all measure, not particularly impressive under Lambert, but things are changing. Here he scored in his third consecutive game, and under Sherwood he too has blossomed visibly. He, alongside another young midfielder, Jack Grealish, were the stand-out players in the first half. A resurrection of sorts? Well, not completely, but these are steps in the right, redemptive, direction.
https://youtu.be/XQ9f49jyfyg
Once again, Allardyce’s tactics baffle
Sam Allardyce, after a largely listless first half display, decided to shake things up for the second period. He removed Kevin Nolan and replaced him with Alex Song, allowing for Stewart Downing to move into a central position. Yes, this is the position in which all of Downing’s best performances have come, and yes, that was the almost universally ineffective Nolan who made way to allow for it. So why did he not begin the match in this formation? When drastic personnel changes occur at half time, it usually indicates a terrible tactical catastrophe, that has to be rectified with the highly premature use of a substitute, or in this case, two (Nene also came on at half time). Except that the starting formation here was one that Allardyce has used and persisted with for months now, so how unexpectedly wrong could it have gone? Allardyce should know just what this formation, made up of these players, can and cannot do. What, we ask with wringing hands, was the point? Again, the mind boggles.
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Eventually, the team with something to play for won out
The match had every hallmark of an end-of-season affair. Villa, looking to confirm its escape from the gaping maw that is relegation, was fuelled by this task, and it showed. Even when West Ham improved in the second half, Villa fashioned the better chances, worked harder, looked hungrier. The pressure that the Hammers applied late, with substitute Carlton Cole playing the part of ‘The Lamppost’, even it seemed half-hearted. Really, the result had more impact elsewhere, with Villa’s win, along with other results, mathematically consigning poor Burnley to the Championship. West Ham picked up a single yellow card in the match, a good, restrained, meaningless loss for them.
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