Aston Villa’s tough start to the Premier League season continued on Sunday as they were held to a 0-0 draw by Leeds United, despite the hosts having ten men for much of the second half.
Even with the man advantage, Steven Gerrard’s side struggled to break down the Elland Road outfit, with Philippe Coutinho’s volley that hit the post the closest Villa would come to scoring.
When Villa signed Danny Ings from Southampton last summer the Villans thought they were getting a striker who would guarantee goals but the fact that he was only brought on for the final ten minutes shows that he has fallen down the pecking order at Villa Park.
The former Liverpool man has managed just nine goals in 39 appearances for the Midlands club, including one in seven Premier League appearances this season, which suggests that he has lost his goalscoring touch in Villa colours.
Only West Ham and Wolves have scored fewer than the six Villa have managed in the Premier League so far this season, which suggests that Gerrard is missing a natural finisher in his side.
While Erling Haaland is currently dominating the top flight, Villa might be wishing they had another Norweigian striker in their side, as a prime John Carew would arguably be perfect for Gerrard’s current squad.
The powerful target man joined Villa from Lyon in 2007 and would go on to make 131 appearances for the club, contributing 48 goals and 12 assists, with Martin O’Neill’s decision to bring him to Villa Park proving to be an inspired one.
The former Villa manager was full of praise for Carew after a dominant performance against Manchester City in 2007.
He said: “John Carew was just immense, really immense.
“It was a world-class centre-forward performance. On that sort of form, he’s up there with any of them.”To say he bullied their central defenders suggests he was just a big physical presence, but he got it down, played, turned them and scored a wonder goal – and he hit another one that hit the post.”[freshpress-quiz id=“659225”]Villa are arguably lacking a strong target man in their side, as Ings has won just four aerial duels so far this season, so having the big Norweigian in the current squad would allow Gerrard’s side to hold the ball in attacking areas, before bringing talented midfielders such as Coutinho, Emi Buendia and Leon Bailey into play.Therefore, Gerrard may well be wishing that Carew had been born a few years later, as he would be a superb option to have at Villa Park right now.
