RAMSEY ‘IS VILLA ANSWER’
EXCLUSIVE BY JOHN WRAGG ASTON VILLA have a gem in Jacob Ramsey – and Steven Gerrard should build a team around him, says former captain Dennis Mortimer.
Gerrard is struggling with Villa near the bottom of the Premier League after 10 months in charge.
And Villa Park is restless, with two wins in the manager’s last 11 league games and six defeats.
European Cup-winning captain Morty says Gerrard does not know what his best side is, but when he finds it Ramsey will be the star.
“I look at the Villa side and I think Steven Gerrard is finding it difficult to find his best team,” said Mortimer, who skippered Villa to the league title and European Cup 40 years ago.
“He’s got too many players and that’s causing him a problem. I don’t think he knows his best team.
“I look at the situation with Emiliano Buendia and Philippe Coutinho and I see two similar players, one younger than the other.
“I see one who has got more appetite than the other one.
“Buendia has the appetite, he wants to prove something. Coutinho has lost that edge from his days at Barcelona. It’s a dilemma for Gerrard.”
Mortimer has a book out, The Full Morty, and in it he talks about his career, his move to Villa and the unparalleled success that followed.
Birmingham-born Ramsey (above) got the winner in Villa’s last game against Southampton before the international break.
Villa are at Leeds a week today and then have what is already looking like a relegation battle at Nottingham Forest.
“I look at Ramsey and I see a player very similar to me,” said Mortimer, who revealed he never wanted to leave Coventry and had never been to Villa Park before he was sold by Sky Blues chairman Jimmy Hill.
“Ramsey likes to get forward, as I did, but the system Villa are playing makes it difficult for him.
“There are little things Gerrard has to do which are going to get the best out of Ramsey. He is a player of the future, a player the club can build on.
“I had Gordon Cowans to pick me out and Kenny Swain, too. Ramsey needs that. He is a great young player coming through – don’t waste it.”