Talking Points from the Aston Villa vs Liverpool FA Cup Semi-Final
Credit: @cfcunofficial | Flickr Creative Commons
II. Injuries Have Constrained Villa
If you assume that the back-line first choice is Hutton-Okore-Clark-Cissokho, Villa currently only have 25% of their back line.
— 7500 to Holte (@7500toHolte) April 19, 2015
That pretty much sums up how much Aston Villa’s lineup has been patched together all season. The only point I’d make is that Ron Vlaar would have been the first choice centre-back that I would count as the 25%. Nathan Baker’s injury early in the match only compounded things (as it may have directly contributed to the defensive lapse that allowed Philippe Coutinho to score).
Throughout the lineup you see the same story, with the absence of Gabby Agbonlahor (resplendent in his San Jose Sharks cap, though) and Carles Gil (who is either carrying some sort of injury, or out of favour, or both) limiting attacking options.
With Carlos Sanchez suspended for this match, in came Ashley Westwood (returning from injury) at central midfield.
As Jean-Baptiste Alphonse Karr might say: “la plus ça change, plus c’est la même chose”. I don’t know if he was an Aston Villa fan, but it wouldn’t surprise me.