Aston Villa: An Ode to Ashley Westwood

Ashley Westwood departs Aston Villa after 162 total appearances in four and half years. Westwood’s performances left much to be desired, but was he underappreciated during his claret and blue stay?

By now, you heard the news that Aston Villa transferred Ashley Westwood to Burnley for £5 million – an equitable sum for all parties involved. Burnley receive midfield reinforcements, Villa receive £5 million for a squad player, and Westwood returns to Premier League competition.

Ashley Westwood struggled at Aston Villa these last two seasons. His stagnant play in central midfield often left Villa attacks disjointed. Westwood modeled his play after Manchester United’s Michael Carrick: A deep-lying play-maker whose passing range and positioning make up for deficiencies in athleticism.

Problem was, he was not capable of carrying the midfield by himself, let alone Aston Villa. He never grew into the player we thought he could be after a stellar 2013-2014 under Paul Lambert. At the time, there were serious clamors for his inclusion into the senior England squad.

Westwood always gave full effort every Villa match; which leaves the comments below that tweet disturbing. No, Westwood was not a star, but he was a model of consistency (even if that consistency was mediocrity). Not bad for a player that immediately inserted into a Premier League squad at the age of twenty-two, after only ever knowing England’s fourth division with Crewe Alexandra.

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Westwood’s deficiencies are well noted among supporters, myself included: terrible shooting, complete lack of goals, and zero incisive passing.

But, was Westwood a victim under Aston Villa’s troubles these last five to six years? It should be noted the player was forced to play alongside a myriad of revolving players beside him.

Here are some of the names: Karim El-Ahmadi, Yacouba Sylla, Kieran Richardson, Charles N’Zogbia, and Brett Holman. Not exactly the most inspired list of ex-Villans.

Of course there were talented others as well: Grealish, Delph, Jedinak, Bannan, Gueye, etc.

Ashley Westwood never grew into the player many at Villa thought he would be, but what he is now is a respectable central midfielder. He gave everything he had and that should be celebrated by the supporters. Westy traded the claret and blue for a different set of claret and blue.

Good luck at Burnley, Ashley Westwood.