Aston Villa 2-2 Sheffield United: Thoughts on the performance

2 of 6

LONDON, ENGLAND – APRIL 17: Mile Jedinak of Aston Villa instructs his team during the Sky Bet Championship match between Fulham and Aston Villa at Craven Cottage on April 17, 2017 in London, England. (Photo by Alex Pantling/Getty Images) /

Central midfielders should not be played in defence

If one thing was blindingly obvious from yesterday, it was that Mile Jedinak is certainly not a central defender. Although he had a part to play in both Sheffield goals, Donaldson’s second came from an unforgivable lapse in concentration by the big Aussie. Instead of trying to take a touch when the ball was played forward, Jedinak should have just thumped it out of play and thus allowed the team to get back and regroup.

However, one could forgive Jedinak for these misdemeanours as he is a midfielder by trade, recently back from injury and being played hopelessly out of position by Bruce. The fact that a readymade centre-half in the form of Tommy Elphick was left on the bench defies logical belief, seriously questioning Bruce’s tactical judgement in such an important game.

The good news is that John Terry is only two weeks out from a return, and on yesterday’s showing, it can’t come soon enough. He is expert at marshalling the Villa defence and I strongly believe that the team would have defended its 2-goal lead much more effectively had Terry been playing.

Home/Analysis