Aston Villa

Aston Villa: Gregg Evans reveals how Dean Smith keeps players ‘enthused and motivated’

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Football journalist Gregg Evans has explained how Dean Smith stops his training sessions feeling ‘stale’ and keeps the Aston Villa players ‘motivated’. 

Now into his fourth season with the club, the Villa manager seems to keep taking his club in the right direction. Indeed, after helping them achieve promotion to the Premier League in 2018/19, Smith then narrowly avoided relegation in the club’s first season back in the top flight.

Following that dramatic escape, the club haven’t looked back. Last term, they finished 11th in the league  – their best finish since 2010/11 – and this year they look set to possibly even better that.

Indeed, a recent 1-0 away win over Manchester United has helped cement the club’s credentials as one of the Premier League’s more difficult oppositions to face. 

While speaking on the 1874 podcast, Evans has revealed one of the ways Smith manages to maintain this level of success behind the scenes despite having been at Villa Park for a while.

He said: “There’s so many players that I’ve spoken to, past and present, who have said that the training sessions at Villa are so refreshing.

“Dean Smith always finds a way to keep them motivated and keep the sessions different. 

“And that’s a really tough job in itself, especially when you’ve been at a club for a long time, because it can get stale and the same voice can start to grind on you.

“And you have to find different ways to make the players enthused and motivated – and Dean Smith seems to do that really well. 

“I think what also helps is mixing up the coaching staff as well, which Villa have done.”

TIF Thoughts on Dean Smith and Aston Villa…

Evans references the club’s ability to change coaching staff as a factor that could be helping the club. This summer, assistant manager John Terry left, while set-piece expert Austin MacPhee came in.

The impact of MacPhee has already been felt, with his coaching playing a role in a spectacular goal scored by Danny Ings earlier on in the season.

Villa play Tottenham Hotspur next in the Premier League as they look to keep themselves challenging for a place in Europe.

Will Aston Villa make the top eight this season?

Yes

Yes

No

No

There’s a long way to go yet, but if Smith can keep his players motivated, they could well improve upon their previous league finish once again.

In other news: ‘Looks so assured’ – Journalist raves over 26 y/o AVFC ace who ‘dominates players’

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