Aston Villa: Who was the last great claret and blue fullback?

The hesitation to such a simple question is but one reason why Aston Villa have struggled in the last 8+ years.

Who was the last great Aston Villa fullback?

Did you hesitate?

Could you even come up with an answer that lasted more than one productive season at the club?

In reality it’s a subjective topic, full of interpretation. Does Jordan Amavi count, even though he lasted just 3+ healthy months at the club? What about Matt Lowton – who played every minute in the Premier League one season, drifted off to the second division, only to return years later on a European-qualifying Burnley team? Do we have to go back to Wilfred Bouma a decade ago, who, likewise, was undone by injury?

Aston Villa’s refusal to recognize and upgrade the fullback positions is the club’s largest on-field fault in the last ten years. We’ve seen the likes of Christian Benteke and Jonathan Kodjia at centre-forward, Jack Grealish and James Milner in midfield, Brad Friedel in net, Ashley Young on the wing, as well as James Chester and John Terry at centre-back. We haven’t seen anyone of similar quality at either fullback position in a long, long time.

And it’s but one reason why the club’s struggles have avalanched year after year since 2009/2010. To blame the likes of Alan Hutton, Aly Cissokho, Neil Taylor, Ahmed Elmohamady, Stephen Warnock and others would be unfair. But Villa’s countless chairmen, managers, recruitment directors, and football chiefs have failed to recognize the club’s No. 1 positional problem.

That Villa do not have the requisite fullbacks to play attractive, aggressive football both home and away. The whole perception of Steve Bruce’s “hoof ball” largely exists because Villa’s left and right-backs are unable to control possession in tight spaces, thus creating unnecessary turnovers at a high rate.

It’s especially damning when you consider the current fullback state has largely failed to contribute, or even be challenged by the club’s plethora of incoming transfers (a whole other issue, I’m afraid). Hutton, a right-back, is the starter on the left side despite contributing just 4 assists in 4 seasons. James Bree and Ritchie De Laet hardly feature, and when they do, it’s often not at right-back. Ahmed Elmohamady was nearly a free transfer after Hull deemed him incapable of playing the position at Premier League level.

It’s an honest question when I ask, who was the last great (even, good) Aston Villa fullback?