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Club Focus - Aston Villa - Three points away from consolidating a third sixth-place finish
Aston Villa are three points away from solidifying their third consecutive sixth-place finish in the Premier League, providing they beat Blackburn Rovers at Villa Park on Sunday. The race for fourth spot has officially ended after Tottenham finally managed to edge out Manchester City in a close contest, achieving Champions League football next season. For the Villans, on the other hand, they must settle for Europa League football in their next campaign and due to their early exit in the Europa League play-off round last August, the Midlanders will be even more determined to succeed in the competition.
Villa’s hopes of strengthening their challenge for a higher position in the league next season has been enhanced by Brad Friedel’s decision to remain as the club’s No.1, despite turning 40 next year. Having nearly finished his 12th Premier League season, the American veteran has claimed that he is constantly improving with experience: “Every time you get a year older, people want to talk about you being in this form or that form and think it has to do with age.” He then added: “I feel fantastic physically. Age is no issue at the moment at all, except the experience helps.” The 39-year-old then emphasised the virtue of mental strength, an asset that has benefited the team throughout the season, particularly in scintillating performances in which Friedel has been almost unbeatable in goal. These performances have meant that Villa shot-stopper is still in the running for a three-way share of the Golden Glove award - an award which honours the goalkeepers in the league who keep the most clean-sheets. Going into the final day of the season, the evergreen Friedel is third with 15 clean sheets, narrowly behind joint leaders, Petr Cech and Pepe Reina, who each have 16. However, if both of these goalkeepers concede in their final fixtures and Friedel is able to prevent his former employers from scoring, then the prestigious Golden Glove accolade will have to be shared among the three shot-stoppers.
As the season draws to a close, another sixth-place finish is likely to draw differing viewpoints from the owner and fans alike. While on one hand some will argue that the season highlights steady progress at Villa Park, on the other hand, others may contend that there has not been any significant improvement and that the big spenders of the league have easily overtaken the Birmingham club in terms of quality and most importantly consistency. Take Tottenham for example, who in 2008, Harry Redknapp was able to take a side threatened with relegation to an eighth-place finish in the 2008/09 season and in this subsequent campaign, has ensured Champions League football for Spurs. Redknapp spent around £50m on new signings for the club, while Martin O’Neill was much more reserved in his spending, bringing in experienced centre-backs in the region of £10m. Even though, Richard Dunne and James Collins have provided stability at the back following the departure of Martin Laursen in the summer, O’Neill perhaps needed to gamble on bigger name signings in order to provide the squad with more quality, particularly upfront.
With Manchester City and Tottenham expected to spend more in the summer to strengthen their challenge for the next campaign, it is certain that Villa will need to spend big if they are to compete with their top four rivals in the future. While the Villa defence has been one of the most consistent in the league, it has been the lack of potency in attack which has caused the Midlanders to lose vital points, especially against the lower-placed teams. Although Gabriel Agbonlahor (14) and John Carew (10) are placed eleventh and fifteenth respectively in the league’s top scorers, Villa need a striker who is scoring around 20 goals a season, like Darren Bent of Sunderland who has already got 24 to his name. With Villa’s solid defence and midfield, their need for a clinical striker has certainly halted the side’s progress.
In the reverse fixture last September, Blackburn beat the Villans 2-1 at Ewood Park, but O’Neill’s men soon put the score right after knocking Sam Allardyce’s men out of both the Carling Cup and the FA Cup. This time, however, a win for the home side would prevent them from playing in an early Europa League third qualifying round match on July 29, just 18 days after the end of the World Cup. Along with this, if Villa win and Manchester City lose away to West Ham, the Villans would leapfrog the Citizens and end the season in fifth-place, perhaps taking the disappointment away from another sixth-place finish.
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