da bwin： As seen in Villas 3-1 defeat to Tottenham on Monday night, there is an awful lot for Remi Garde to do after he takes charge properly of the team in the coming days.
da cassino online： Lying bottom of the Premier League after 11 games with a mere four points, many have already written them off as doomed to relegation. They barely threatened at all in the first half, and throughout the whole game were repeatedly cut open by Spurs.
These issues will of course need to be addressed, as will more fundamental ones; the structure of the squad, what sort of future the host of summer signings, and what will happen to the coaching staff that served under Tim Sherwood?
With a list of problems as long as Patrick Vieira’s telescopic legs, he might want to take a look at our suggestions as to what problems he should tackle first.
Here’s five things he should try and do immediately….
GET THE SIDE PLAYING WITH CONFIDENCE
At the moment, playing for Aston Villa doesn’t exactly look like fun.
The goalkeeper and defenders all look terrified about the consequences of losing the ball, and the midfielders and forwards seem intent on always playing as safely and without risk as possible.
Garde needs to inject some confidence and belief back into the squad, or else the timid, nerveless style of this season so far will continue and inevitably lead to more disappointing results.
This caution may have been caused by what happened when they played Leicester – 2-0 up in the second half, they went on to lose 3-2. However, this must not inhibit them playing with confidence and trying to express their ability.
SORT OUT THE DEFENCE
Villa’s defence has been a shambles this year.
Joleon Lescott, Micah Richards and the full backs have simply not been good enough. Garde must build from the back, starting by instilling more organisation, discipline and cohesion in the defence.
January will of course be important, as Garde may choose to reinforce what is clearly a fundamental area of the pitch for Villa.
Another aspect of this is making sure that when out of possession, the two sitting midfielders can get back and help out the back four – this is vital in order to keep some clean sheets and give the beleaguered back line some confidence.
GET THE FANS BACK ON SIDE
In recent times Villa Park has definitely not been the fortress of old that Villa have so often used to their advantage.
The locals have got steadily more and more disgruntled under Gerard Houllier, Alec McLeish, Paul Lambert and then Tim Sherwood, with investment in the playing squad low and results on the pitch consistently mediocre during the last three or four years.
This used to be one of the most famed grounds in England to visit, with the knowledge that the crowd would always get right behind the team – it needs to become a unhappy hunting ground for opposition teams again.
SORT OUT THE SUMMER SIGNINGS
Villa brought in 11 players during the summer and let 13 go – even for an unstable club, that’s a very high turnover indeed.
So far, it could be argued that not one of the signings has come close to justifying their price tag, with Jordan Amavi and Jordan Ayew the only ones who have offered anything at all to the team.
The two experienced Premier League players (Lescott and Richards) have been disappointing, but with so few other options in the squad, maybe the signings simply have to play?
It will take all of Garde’s ability to sort out what happens to the mob of players that flooded Villa Park over the summer.
MAKE THE OWNER INTERESTED AGAIN
Slightly more long-term this, but starting immediately wouldn’t be a bad idea for Garde.
There is no doubt that Villas decline is massively linked to owner Randy Lerner seemingly giving up on the team and not being prepared to properly invest in the playing staff.
The spending each summer has steadily gone down since the days of Martin O’Neill, and so have the finishing positions each season.
Maybe Lerner will perk up if he sees evidence that the team could in time become an exciting one, but for that to happen they need wins – and fast.
Investment in the January transfer window is clearly desperately needed, so will Lerner open his wallet?