Dion:Villa are tough watch but boss needs more time
FORMER favourite Dion Dublin says Villa are an “uncomfortable watch” at the moment as Steven Gerrard’s struggles continue.
Villa have made their worst start to a Premier League season since their relegation year and remain the secondlowest scorers in the division having managed just seven goals in well over 900 minutes of football.
And ex-striker Dublin told the Birmingham Post: “It’s uncomfortable for me at the moment to watch, if I’m being honest with you. They’ve not been great and have been inconsistent as usual.
“Individual performances haven’t been great but what they are doing is they are creating chances, which is very frustrating.
“They created about 18 chances against Chelsea and, as we know, it’s about that end product, which is so important, and they just can’t seem to put the ball in the back of the net. (Chelsea goalkeeper) Kepa was outstanding, let’s get it right, he was absolutely brilliant.
“But I’d be more worried if they weren’t creating chances. I just don’t know. I’m possibly talking out of turn here but I’m not sure if Stevie knows who’s best to play at what time. I don’t know who’s best to play; do you play Buendia, Coutinho, Watkins, Ings, Bailey at the same time? Because they’re all good players. We just haven’t got the right blend yet, I don’t know why.”
Dublin believes head coach Gerrard deserves more time to turn things around.
“The blame lies in both camps in terms of the players and manager,” said the 53-year-old. “Stevie G will
hold his hands up and will say, ‘Listen, I’m making my mistakes, I know I am’.
“But I want players to do that as well. They’re playing below par. Don’t talk about it, do it, or be brave enough to say, ‘Listen, I don’t think the gaffer should be taking all of the flak for this, to be fair.
“We’re the ones who go over that white line and aren’t performing at the moment’.
“I don’t think he should be sacked,
not yet, and I believe in that, definitely.”
Villa’s problems lie in attack with £60 million duo Ollie Watkins and Danny Ings managing just one goal each this season from their ten league games. Dublin, meanwhile, issued the following advice to Watkins, who he believes is thinking too much when chances come his way.
“I think Ollie’s got everything you want as a centre-forward,” he said. “I just think when he has a chance to finish he has to make his mind up quicker and how he wants to finish. If you watch Ollie Watkins, as a former centre-forward talking, he’s going through one-on-one and he’s still thinking about what he’s going to do as he’s running towards the goalkeeper. He needs to know what he’s going to do when the chance arises and how to finish it.
“He’s thinking about, ‘Shall I do this, shall I do that?’, just forget about that Ollie, be natural, do what you did when you were at Brentford, be natural, score goals, don’t think about it too much. He’s starting to analyse his finishing and when you do that, you try too hard.”