Martin O’Neill has called for his Aston Villa midfielders to score more goals to help out their strikers.
He has come out and said that he wants goals to be shared more across his side and thinks midfielders such as Steve Sidwell, Nigel Reo-Coker and Stilyian Petrov should help to take more pressure off the forwards.
When Villa play with only one out-and-out striker then it is essential for their midfield players to bust a gut and get into the box, past the forward players and look to score, according to the manager.
O’Neill claims any successful team needs a “goal-scoring midfield” and that is essential if Villa are to mount a bid for European qualification this season.
His side currently sit in fifth place in the Premier League, only one point behind fourth-placed Tottenham, and face a battle with them, Man City and Liverpool to qualify for a European place.
“You would have to be exceptionally lucky to go through a season and not have someone scoring from midfield, and yet still be really successful. We should be sharing goals around more,” said O’Neill.
He called for his players to look to goal-scoring midfielders such as Frank Lampard for inspiration when he is playing with three across the middle of the pitch.
The Villa manager recently came out and said that his training field bust-up with Reo-Coker was now firmly put behind him and he was too old to hold grudges against any player.
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You’re too late O’Neill. Even if Sidfield and Petrov steps it up the overall quality of play just doesn’t deliver enough.
Villa needs to rethink more than just midfield. And, not likely that the wounds between O’Neill and Reo-Coker are fully healed no matter what he says. Just my thoughts tho.