Analysis: VAR controversy can't mask concerns over sliding Aston Villa
A day which began with Dean Smith making one of the biggest calls of his managerial reign ended with the Villa boss under increased pressure.
When Smith last week described Villa’s recent downturn as “nowhere near disastrous” it was fair comment, yet Sunday’s 4-1 home defeat to West Ham was about as close to a disaster as it is possible to get and an occasion when pretty much everything which could go wrong did.
Not all of that, admittedly, was due to Smith and his players. For the second week running, Villa were on the wrong end of a controversial VAR call, when Ezri Konsa was dismissed early in the second half. Any assessment of the match, not least the slightly harsh final scoreline, must take that into account.
And yet the brutal truth remains that, for the fourth match in succession, Villa were not good enough. At present they are a team lacking direction, too easily knocked off course and too easy to play and score against, having now conceded 12 times in the space of 360 minutes.
The final whistle was met by boos from those home supporters still left inside Villa Park and with Smith under no illusions this has to be the low point.
For the first time since March last year, Villa have lost four Premier League matches in a row. Back then a 4-0 defeat at Leicester left Smith on the brink of the sack, before the pandemic arrived to halt the season and provide valuable thinking time.
The Villa boss probably isn’t so close to the edge as he was then but the worrying slump since September’s win at Manchester United has eaten up a healthy chunk of goodwill.
Dissent on social media, rarely a good place to gauge the mood of a fanbase, has not yet spilled into the stands. On Sunday, supporters stuck by their team before late goals from Pablo Fornals and Jarrod Bowen made Villa’s task futile. Neither are the club’s board the type to disregard three years of considerable progress under Smith, due to one admittedly rotten month.
But it has now reached the point where every match Villa go without turning the corner the heat will only rise further. First up is Friday’s trip to Southampton and after Sunday, the answers Smith was seeking feel further away than ever.
The head coach’s big call was to ditch the back three used in recent weeks and more importantly drop skipper Tyrone Mings. And yet Mings was on the pitch within 10 minutes of the second half starting following Konsa’s dismissal, replacing Emi Buendia, the latter then proceeding to head straight down the tunnel in an apparent fit of pique which, in the context of the evening, felt like of one of Villa’s smaller problems.
The sending-off provided Smith with some mitigation and it was true Chris Kavanagh’s decision, following a VAR review, to deem the Villa defender had denied Jarrod Bowen a clear goalscoring opportunity appeared a little harsh.
But the build-up to the incident summed up the home side’s problems. Ashley Young, introduced off the bench by Smith after Jacob Ramsey was forced off early through injury, gave the ball away with Villa on the attack. Kortney Hause, handed the start in place of Mings, was fortunate to avoid more serious censure for a challenge on Pablo Fornals, with Konsa then losing a challenge with Michail Antonio before the ball ran to Bowen.
Villa performed adequately with 10 men and Smith was left pointing to another controversial moment when Fornals saw only yellow for a lunge on Marvelous Nakamba. When Fornals scored his team’s third soon after to kill off any hope of a comeback, it added more insult to injury in the eyes of the Villa boss.
Poor though some of the officiating undoubtedly was, it couldn’t hide the fact Villa were second best for long periods against an opponent who were everything they are currently not: Organised, efficient and supremely confident.
Smith might, with some justification, point out how West Ham boss David Moyes has been able to name a consistent starting XI for much of the season so far, a privilege injury and illness have frequently denied him.
Not even a first Premier League start for Leon Bailey could provide the hosts with the spark they needed. Expectations for the Jamaica international were high after some exciting substitute appearances but it was his failure to block Ben Johnson’s shot which allowed the Hammers to take a seventh minute lead.
Buendia, another big money buy, did better, setting up Watkins for the equaliser following a nice skip around Fornals. But within four minutes the visitors were back ahead, Declan Rice afforded too much time to shoot from 25 yards out with an unsighted Emi Martinez slow to react.
Smith later hinted Bailey, still getting up to speed following a quad injury, would not have started were it not for the absence of Danny Ings due to injury. Villa’s big trio of summer additions are yet to play any significant amount of time together but 10 matches into the season it is difficult to see how they might fit effectively into the same XI.
Smith spoke afterwards of the belief which still exists at Bodymoor Heath but currently precious little seems to be transferring itself to the pitch.
Relatively young the season might still be but Villa are already 10 points behind the Hammers, one of the teams they would have entered the campaign with ambitions of overtaking. More concerningly, they are now just three points above the bottom three.
Among the most concerning common themes of late has been slow starts. Smith had spoken in the week of his team needing to deliver a response to their Arsenal first-half no-show but once again they were slow out of the blocks and behind inside seven minutes.
Johnson’s strike, with his weaker left foot, was impressive but from Villa’s point of view the full-back was afforded too much space by Matt Targett after cutting in off the wing, while Bailey’s attempted block on the shot left much to be desired.
After Watkins had pulled Villa level, Declan Rice was then given too much time and space to beat an unsighted Martinez from distance.
When Konsa was dismissed, the hosts responded well and came close to drawing level for a second time when Fabianksi tipped Watkins’ header onto the bar.
Eventually the numerical disadvantage told but it is Villa’s issues when they have a full compliment on the pitch which currently pose the biggest questions.
