Analysis: Blades defeat ramps up the pressure on Aston Villa as crunch festive period approaches

Yet now, after three consecutive defeats and six in their last eight league matches, it is a theory increasingly being called into question.

Certainly, it was difficult to find any evidence of forward progress during Saturday’s 2-0 defeat at Sheffield United.

A match Villa entered seeking a response to the previous weekend’s 4-1 hammering by Leicester City did not deliver the kind of performance to soothe the fears of supporters, who look at the league table and see their team still above the bottom three only on goal difference, while those above edge just a little further into the distance.

If anything, this was a display to heighten the concerns. Rather than discovering some momentum, Villa currently look a team stuck in neutral, lacking direction and - most concerning of all - belief.

It was the latter which ultimately proved the difference in a niggly, frequently ugly tussle. After a first-half in which neither team registered a serious attempt on goal, the Blades found inspiration in the shape of Chris Basham and David McGoldrick, who both produced surprise moments of flair to set up goals for John Fleck.

Villa, by contrast, conjured precious little in the way of creativity. Even Jack Grealish, so often their talisman, endured a serious off-day, aptly summed up when he sent a 78th minute penalty crashing off the crossbar.

Had the spot-kick been converted, then perhaps it might have sparked a comeback almost as dramatic as that which saw Villa overhaul a three-goal deficit with even less time remaining against the same opponents just 10 months previously.

Instead, it marked their last real act of aggression and leaves boss Dean Smith search for answers ahead of the campaign’s most critical fortnight, which begins with tomorrow night’s Carabao Cup quarter-final against Liverpool but continues, more crucially, with consecutive matches against the only three teams below Villa in the table.

A hefty return of points from those fixtures is now imperative if Smith’s team are not to spend the rest of the season embroiled in a relegation dogfight.

Not ideal, then, for Villa to be approaching the period with confidence brittle.

Smith, in the immediate aftermath of Saturday’s defeat, once again stressed the need for perspective and in some respects it is not an unreasonable request.

It is, after all, barely a fortnight since his team produced arguably their best all-round performance of the season in drawing at Manchester United and it is not as if the recent fixture list has been particularly kind. Villa have faced the current top seven over the past eight matches.

The counter argument is games are never won paper and the standard of opposition, while high, cannot completely excuse the downturn in results and latterly performances. This weekend saw Bournemouth, a team in even worse form, claim victory at Chelsea, while Norwich halted Leicester’s nine-match winning streak.

Neither can the season still be described as young. Villa have now played 17 matches back in the top flight and lost 10 of them. At some point - and Villa are nearing it - you are what you are.

Granted, the two teams they are still to face, Southampton and Watford, are below them in the table. But there is now huge pressure on both of those festive fixtures for a Villa team yet to prove they can put in consistent performances, week-in week-out in what is a relentlessly tough division.

Smith’s ability to remain calm when the heat is on is among his best attributes and the events of the past 10 months means there is surely no manager or club that knows just how quickly things can turn around.

That does not mean he is not aware there are issues which need addressing, or that it might be time for a tactical rethink. All teams evolve and there is a suspicion Villa’s current system, in recent weeks, has been found out.

Among the more frustrating aspects of Saturday was the fact that, for the opening 45 minutes at least, they did seem to be making a little headway when it came to their defensive discipline.

However, things quickly fell apart when the Blades upped the ante after the break and the visitors, despite creating a few chances, not for the first time in recent weeks lacked fluency in their play.

A midfield containing an off-colour John McGinn was devoid of drive, while Henri Lansbury failed to deliver a performance which might have justified Smith’s decision to hand him a first career Premier League start. For the hosts, meanwhile, McGoldrick provided a reminder of why strikers should not always be judged by goals. The Republic of Ireland international is still to find the net in the Premier League, but his overall contribution to the team more than makes up for it. McGoldrick delivered the deft flick which allowed Fleck to fire home his second at a time when the match remained in the balance.

How Smith must long for a comparable performance from Wesley, Villa’s record buy, for whom this was the latest in a series of tough outings. The Brazilian was replaced by Jonathan Kodjia with the visitors still only trailing 1-0 and the latter will now surely get a chance to further stake a claim against Liverpool tomorrow.

Under normal circumstances, a cup fixture at his juncture might be seen as a blessing. But the fact the visitors will be fielding a team largely consisting of reserves and youth-team players means the expectation is all on Villa.

The first of three consecutive home matches but arguably the least important, Smith will rightly view it as a chance to lift the mood ahead of fixtures which for his team are close to must-win.