Villa’s Major Injury Blow

By: Johnny on the Spot | September 25th, 2007

Aston Villa striker John Carew expects to be out for at least a month after suffering a knee injury. This reduces the number of Frankenstein like forwards at Villa Park to one; henceforth, referred to as Marlon Harewood; during the next month.

While this would not be a problem for most teams, most teams are not managed by Martin O’Neill, who loves lumbering giants up front more than Paris Hilton loves attention. O’Neill has built his successful career on big target men including Carew, John Hartson and Emile Heskey . And it has worked wonderfully so far. While Celtic is fresh in our minds, I think we all forget how successful he was with Leicester City, a club with significantly less resources than Wigan, who had four top 10 finishes and two League Cups in O’Neill’s short tenure. So there would be no reason to change strategy at this point.

Carew was hurt during Sunday’s 2-0 home win over Everton, in which he had scored his first goal of the season in the opening half. He was replaced by Craig Gardner, early in the second period, who moved into the midfield while Gabby moved up. Villa has a very adaptable squad, with Maloney, Agbonlahor and Young able to slot up front or in midfield, Gardner to attack or play on the right and Barry to hold or play on the left. This allows O’Neill to switch from a 4-5-1 to a 4-4-2 or 4-3-3 as easily as any team in the Premier League.

No matter how interesting his flexibility can seem to a supporter or fan, it does not change the fact that O’Neill wants a big man; a bull up front to receive and hold, but also to wear down the centerbacks. It’s a necessity to his tactical plans. Can he adjust during a time when his preferred bull is out? Harewood was bought as backup but is he good enough to base a formation around for a team with Europe in its sights? And can O’Neill prefer him when there is a dearth of talent that far surpasses the forward? While I see him a cup player and reliable backup, there are concerns about his ability to play point for this team for over a month.

I would love to see Martin move to a 4-3-3 where he has a holder in Barry, a runner in NRK and a distributor in Gardner, while deploying the Gabby, Ashley and Moore/Maloney up front. It seems adventurous, expansive and exciting. But it also does not seem very O’Neill-esque. We’ll soon see.