Aston Villa’s top-six chances took a massive blow over the weekend. Skipper John Terry confirmed on his Instagram that he had broken his fifth metatarsal in Villa’s home defeat to Sheffield Wednesday.
Yikes.
Aston Villa Football Club will be without captain John Terry for the better part of 2-3 months. Terry, who was substituted off in the 20th-minute, was arguably the club’s finest performer through the first quarter of the league season.
Terry played every minute of Championship football thus far through fifteen matches before the untimely injury. In his stead, center back partner James Chester is expected to captain the side. The question remains, however: who will be partnering the Wales international for the remainder of 2017 and early 2018?
The easiest selection is Chris Samba – who scored his first goal for Aston Villa, and first in England in over six years at the weekend:
Not the result anyone wanted on Saturday but good to see this man get his first goal in claret and blue 💪#PartOfThePride #AVFC pic.twitter.com/KUXyB0rtYY
— Aston Villa (@AVFCOfficial) November 6, 2017
Samba certainly has the pedigree and experience necessary to insert seamlessly into the Villa lineup. However, the drop off between he and John Terry is substantial; especially since it is compounded over several months.
Samba brings a physical game to Villa. The ex-Congo international is a beast in the air and a threat from set pieces. Terry might not be the fleetest of foot, but Samba’s speed makes him look like an Olympic track runner in comparison. To put it kindly, Samba is extremely slow. To make up for it, he needs to read the game a bit faster than everyone else. What we saw on Sheffield Wednesday’s second goal, however, was quite the opposite.
He missed a tackle, recovered, and stood a bit reactionary – unsure of whether to commit, before being nutmegged for Wednesday’s second (less than two minutes after Terry’s substitution). Aston Villa can’t afford that defending over two months. They sit in sixth place with a singular point cushion for a playoff spot.
To be fair to Samba, though, he recovered fairly well for the remainder of the match, even chipping in a consolation goal as a target forward in stoppage time.
He is not the only option at Steve Bruce’s disposal either. Mile Jedinak, freshly returned from a groin problem, played a decent amount of center back last year. If Samba struggles in a match or two, expect a short lease with Jedinak getting a chance to prove himself once more. Moreover, Ritchie De Laet is still kicking too. He has some center back experience.
Villa’s plethora of young options remain in play too. Though they are not expected to garner any starts, but they could appear from the bench. Easah Suliman, Jacob Bedeau, and Mitchell Clark all included.