OPINION
Aston Villa supporters were left shell shocked by their side’s 3-1 defeat to Queen Park Rangers on Tuesday but they shouldn’t have been surprised to see their side lose.
Steve Bruce blamed himself for the heavy defeat stating that he really should have made “four or five” changes, as quoted by the Birmingham Mail, to his side in order to freshen his side up.
But the truth is the Villans don’t have enough first-team ready players in their squad to cover for their lack of young legs in the team.
Bruce could have opted to risk playing those who have proven not to be up to scratch to rest his tired players, after playing three days earlier against Wolves, but he would have still lost the game.
QPR stormed into the lead in 12 minutes as they ripped through a tired, dishevelled Villans team that contained ageing stars such as Mile Jedinak, John Terry and Robert Snodgrass.
The latter may only be 30, but he has clearly hit that stage of his career that after going all out on Saturday to secure a huge win, he doesn’t have enough in the tank to hurt a team on Tuesday.
When looking at the Villans’ starting line-up against QPR, there are only three players that are younger than 29-years-old.
The heart of the Villans squad is too old to be able to keep playing to their best ability as games come thick and fast.
It’s a miracle that the side’s aging stars haven’t been exposed on more occasions this season, and with the QPR defeat getting a lot of attention as it came after defeating the league leaders, everyone in the Championship will now be aware of how to beat the Villans.
This is why Villans supporters should brace themselves as more losses in the league are sure to follow the QPR defeat.
And there is nothing Bruce can do about it now.