Sky Sports pundit Charlie Nicholas claims that Aston Villa have a huge problem at the back, with slow legs and a goalkeeper their defenders are scared of.
Aston Villa lost 2-0 to local rivals West Brom at Villa Part this afternoon and Nicholas didn’t hold back after the final whistle.
Talking on Sky Sports live on Saturday afternoon (Sky Sports, 5pm) Nicholas said, “The legs are too slow. Hutton’s lost his pace. He still gives you every ounce of commitment but he doesn’t have that big gazelle stride he used to have.
“At the back they’re scared as a partnership. They’re scared about Kalinic in goal – he punched two when he could have caught them. He went to catch one and it slipped out his hands. Whelan’s had a lovely career but he’s slow. They’re in a rut and it will take a bit of time for the manager to change things.”
OPINION
Ouch. That’s a pretty damning verdict from Nicholas, but you won’t find many Villa fans in disagreement. Kalinic has looked okay since he arrived but he was shaky as hell today and needs to work on his catching. Several of tthe Villa defenders are too slow. Hutton has given his all, he still does, but he’s not good enough for Villa any more. Whelan is another who’s not consistent enough for a team who are hoping for promotion from the Championship. The annoying thing is that they were in this game for the first 40 minutes and then lost to two quick goals. They’re now seven points behind the play-off spots and Dean Smith really needs to look to the summer and some extreme surgery on the side. They’re not going to get promoted with the players they’ve got at the back.