Speaking exclusively to This Is Futbol, former Aston Villa midfielder Lee Hendrie has highlighted a lack of leadership as an issue at his old club.
Villa have lost all five of their games at Villa Park when conceding first and picked up just a point when they’ve gone behind in the Premier League this season, and the retired Premier League footballer believes such a stat could be down to the type of characters in Dean Smith’s squad.
Jack Grealish is currently captain of the Midlands club and has done an excellent job spearheading the team’s attack this season. Prior to the 25-year-old attacking midfielder’s injury, he had scored six goals and provided 10 assists in English football’s top flight.
Are you confident Villa can regain their form now that Grealish is fit again?
Yes
No
Hendrie, however, does not view Grealish as the kind of leader that shouts and is vocal. Speaking about Villa’s struggles after going down at home, he told TIF:
“I don’t think he’s one of them that’s going to scream and shout on the pitch and get reactions. He’s one that’s going to lead by example. I think that’s where you need someone and this is where I always say that when you’ve got someone like a [Jordan] Henderson in a team, someone who’s got that sort of bit of nous, who can talk, I just feel that’s where maybe Villa are just missing something like that.”
Discussing the matter further, Hendrie added:
“That’s my only problem at Villa. You know, you look at Tyrone Mings at the back, he should be leading as a centre-half. [Ezri] Konsa is not going to really do that neither because he’s relatively young in that sort of sense. So looking through that squad of players, I don’t see someone who’s going to start pointing a finger and start getting a reaction out of the lads when they go behind.”
All in all, Villa’s stat of not recovering at home after going down is something Smith needs to address, especially if the Villans want to compete for European football on a consistent basis.