Alan Hutton has raved about former Aston Villa teammate Jed Steer, claiming that the goalkeeper “outshone everybody” last season.
The 6’2″ stopper [Transfermarkt] has only played once for Villa so far this term, and has yet to appear in the Premier League, but Hutton has still been eager to sing his praises.
Speaking to Football Insider, he said: “He’s very good with his feet, very composed and him being like that allowed us to start attacks and play the way we wanted to play. I do think overall, when you look back at it, when he started playing we did calm down the team which helped.
“Maybe I was a little bit surprised at the impact he had, but not in his ability. We all knew he was amazing with his feet, he showed that all through training but he never quite got the opportunity that he was after for one reason or another.
“When he did eventually get the opportunity he’s grasped it with both hands and well deserved. He was another one that really saved us in particular games – the save in the West Brom game at home, there are certain moments that just he just outshone everybody.”
How good was Steer last season?
Aston Villa chopped and changed between the sticks last term, and as a result, Steer only played 19 times during the course of the club’s promotion campaign.
When he was called upon in the second half of last season, he averaged 1.7 saves per game and a Whoscored rating of 6.44.
In comparison, Tom Heaton, who has usurped him as Villa’s number one this term, managed 3.1 saves per game for Burnley over the course of 19 matches and a averaged Whoscored rating of 6.61.
It is fairly evident, therefore, why Dean Smith has elected to go with England international over Steer this season, but that shouldn’t necessarily detract from Steer’s achievements last term.
After his penalty heroics against West Brom in the Championship play-off semi-final, for example, former Villa stopper Mark Bosnich came out and hailed Steer as an “outstanding” player, as quoted by the Express and Star.
Clearly, the 26-year-old has plenty of talent, as shown by Hutton’s shining endorsement too, but sometimes talent is not enough, and it is perhaps understandable that Smith has chosen to go somebody a little more experienced at the top level.
Prior to this campaign, Steer had just one Premier League appearance to his name, and that came way back in 2014/15. By contrast, Heaton has 102 top-flight outings to his name [Premier League].
The main positive to be taken from Hutton’s comments, however, is surely that Steer will be a well-trusted and capable deputy should he ever be called upon.