Aston Villa fans have taken to Twitter to share their thoughts on their side’s defensive worries this season.
This comes after Villa Twitter account @villareport shared a post on their page relaying statistics from Sky Sports’ MNF programme that show Villa as being in last place in terms of goals conceded, clean sheets, conceded set-piece goals, shots faced per game and expected goals against per game.
Should Villa have signed a defender in January?
Yes
No
This post then gathered a lot of replies from Villa fans who were eager to share their thoughts on the situation.
Here’s a sample of Villa fans discussing the team’s defensive troubles:
#avfc defence in the Premier League this season
52 goals conceded (20th)
4 clean sheets (20th)
15 conceded at set pieces (20th)
18.2 shots faced per game (20th)
2.11 xGa per game (20th)[sky sports]
— villareport (@villareport) February 24, 2020
So what is John Terry doing with the defence?
— Stuart Jeans (@sjeans30) February 24, 2020
We probably should have prioritised a defender in January
— Villa Focus (@avfc_focus) February 24, 2020
18 shots a game makes me feel sick
— ??? ? (@bennnnAV) February 24, 2020
Shocking
— VillaAreBack (@RobertDerry1966) February 24, 2020
And yet we’re only 4th from bottom so there is more to the story than just these stats. Let’s keep the balance and stay positive.#UTV #VTID #AVFC
— ??Mark Branigan??????? (@81villans) February 24, 2020
Villa are currently sat in 17th place in the Premier League table, just above the relegation zone with 25 points (per BBC Sport). Now that more specific details have been revealed showing just how much the Villa defence has struggled this season, this has given some fans the opportunity to point the finger at Villa’s assistant coach John Terry.
Comes back to what impact is John Terry really having on the defence. He has been with the team for a while.
— Pard (@pardkhosah) February 25, 2020
Well our current league position is 17th and if it ends up that way we’ll be well happy. #AVFC
— Cratz (@HeatonSamuel) February 24, 2020
No wanting to point the finger of blame…but with stats like that..what exactly is john Terry offering?
— Rob Farquharson (@farky1210) February 24, 2020
What do we think?
For a team aiming to avoid relegation to the Championship, Villa will need to fix up their defence and stop letting in so many goals if they want to remain in the Premier League next year.