Steve Bruce Shows Consistency in Consecutive Victories
By Josh Tonti
Four days, two victories, two nearly identical formation variants. Aston Villa manager Steve Bruce showed lineup consistency in successive defeats of Derby County and Bristol City.
Heavy credit needs to be placed on Steve Bruce for finding consistency in an otherwise inconsistent Aston Villa squad this season. The re-addition of Australia international Mile Jedinak helped Bruce find his ideal pairing in central midfield.
Mile Jedinak anchoring the midfield frees up Henri Lansbury to play the box-to-box destroyer role. A role, so far, he has excelled at.
More from Claret Villans
- Aston Villa dismiss Everton for first win of Premier League season
- Tyrone Mings injured in Aston Villa’s season-opening 5-1 defeat
- Aston Villa draw Hibernian or FC Luzern for Europa Conference League play-off
- Aston Villa sign winger Moussa Diaby from Bayer Leverkusen
- Aston Villa close in on deal to sign Pau Torres from Villareal
Bruce’s consistency showed on other ends of the pitch as well. Alan Hutton and the remaining backline stayed the same for both matches; even in the face of adversity and ire of the supporters.
Despite James Bree’s recovery from injury, Steve Bruce stuck with Hutton, and the gamble paid off.
Furthermore, Jonathan Kodjia, Albert Adomah, and André Green served as the attacking triumvirate in both matches. The trio delivered one goal, two assists, and two crossbar strikes in the two matches.
In order to build cohesion in the squad, a system must be bought into, practiced with, and utilized in league matches.
Cohesion remains exponentially more important in a squad like Aston Villa’s. Heavy turnover in both the summer and winter transfer windows brought new talent, as well as an exodus of existing squad members.
To put this in context, Tuesday’s victory over Bristol saw four Villa players who had been with the club since before the summer window: Alan Hutton, André Green (extremely limited action at 17), Nathan Baker (spent the season away on loan), and Gary Gardner (did not see a single minute of action).
The remainder of the starting eleven? Summer and January recruits.
Next: Is Conor Hourihane Villa's Best Player?
It is probably too late for a last gasp Villa top-six push. However, we should expect to see markedly improved performances from here on out. Much of that praise can be heaped on Steve Bruce.