Aston Villa player ratings at half-way point of season

Aston Villa lie 6 points off the play-off spots heading into Christmas.

This is definitely not a position the club were expecting at this point after a summer of heavy spending. When you add in the fact that the top 2 of Newcastle and Brighton look un-catchable then it doesn’t look positive for Villa. The appointment of Roberto Di Matteo as manager in the summer was met with relative optimism by the Villa fans and combined with Tony Xia’s takeover of the club, it was looking promising for Villa this season. Unfortunately the feel good factor faded after a series of poor results culminating in Di Matteo’s sacking.

Steve Bruce was appointed in October and has lost just twice in 11 games, including 6 wins. Here are my player ratings for this season so far:

Pierluigi Gollini: Early season mistakes have been fixed recently and has started to find his feet. A good shot stopper. 7/10

Mark Bunn: Came in last week against QPR and was rarely tested but that was a rare shut-out. 5/10

Ritchie De Laet: Injured for the season but had been decent in his few appearances. 6/10

Alan Hutton: Poor crossing ability but has plenty of energy and passion. Improving this last few weeks 6/10

Micah Richards: Also injured for a prolonged period but hasn’t impressed when called upon. 4/10

Tommy Elphick: Was promising in the opening weeks of the season but has been error-prone ever since returning from injury. 6/10

Nathan Baker: Forms a brilliant partnership with James Chester at the back. Turning into a fan favourite. 8/10

James Chester: Model of consistency. Hardly makes an error. 9/10

Aly Cissokho: Performed well early on but lost his place to Amavi after giving away 2 penalties. 6/10

Jordan Amavi: Pacy, defensively strong and great work ethic. Hopefully Marseille stay away. 9/10

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Mile Jedinak: Having 2 younger athletic midfielders beside him brings out the best in Jedinak. A real leader. 8/10

Gary Gardner: Aside from header V Blues, hasn’t imposed himself in this Villa team yet. 6/10

Ashley Westwood: Tries his best every game but little in the way of end product. 5/10

Aaron Tshibola: Frozen out at the moment. Was promising under Di Matteo. 6/10

Albert Adomah: A workhorse winger who chips in with assists and tracks back well. 8/10

Andre Green: Fleeting appearances so far. Will hope for more chances soon. 5/10

Jack Grealish: Still inconsistent but when he’s on his game, there’s not many better. 7/10

Jordan Ayew: Consistency has been an issue for Ayew also who has the talent. 6/10

Gabby Agbonlahor: Brought back by Bruce. So far it’s hard to see why. 5/10

Leandro Bacuna: In and out of the side. Performed well enough in different roles. 6/10

Rushian Hepburn-Murphy: 1 sub appearance V Newcastle and impressed. One for the future. 6/10

Rudy Gestede: Scored 4 goals but just 1 pen under Bruce. Needs to find consistency. 6/10

Ross McCormack: Very disappointing so far for a player who is usually clinical in this league. 5/10

Jonathan Kodjia: One player Villa can rely on for goals. Pacy, strong and clinical. 9/10

Libor Kozak: Has played just twice this season and didn’t impact either game. Likely to leave in January. 4/10

Definite room for improvement especially from the forwards in this Villa squad. The team will need to find a way of replacing the goals of Kodjia next month when he departs for the African Nations Cup!

Enough of the negativity for now. Happy Christmas to all the Villa fans far and wide and let’s hope a 2017 promotion is on the cards!

UTV!

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