Team Focus: Are Doubters of Sherwood's Tactical Nous Being Vindicated?

The season started so well for Aston Villa. After a summer of comings and goings, with the likes of Idrissa Gana, Jordan Veretout and Jordan Amavi arriving at Villa Park in the wake of Christian Benteke’s big money move to Liverpool, fans were confident of bettering their 17th-placed finish last season. Tim Sherwood came in and steadied the ship following Paul Lambert’s dismissal, winning five of the 13 league games he took charge of last season, guiding the Villans to safety in the process, though signs were there come May that his influence was wearing off. 

Nevertheless, a 1-0 win at Bournemouth on the opening day of the season courtesy of a Rudy Gestede header raised morale that a successful campaign may be on the horizon. However, since the victory at Goldsands Stadium, Villa’s form has nosedived. Only Newcastle and Sunderland (both 8) are on a longer winless run than Villa (7), which sees them occupy 18th place in England’s top tier, four points from safety. 

Villa’s recent 1-0 home defeat to Stoke City was met with a chorus of boos at Villa Park, representing their fourth consecutive defeat in the Premier League - no team is on a longer losing streak in Europe's top 5 leagues at present. Such a dire run of form has heaped pressure on Sherwood, who has shown little in the way of tactical nous to drag Villa out of the mire. Since the 46-year-old took charge of the Midlands side, the Villans have a win record of just 28.6%. For a manager who talked up his win percentage during his stint at Spurs, it doesn’t make for good reading. 

“Tim Sherwood couldn’t have got his tactics more wrong at Villa Park if he’d researched how to get a result against Stoke then said: I’m going to do the opposite,” former Villa midfielder Mike Pejic wrote in the Stoke Sentinel following another underwhelming display from the Villans. It is not the first time Villa have lost a potentially winnable fixture, with defeats to Crystal Palace and Leicester City both stand out matches, the latter particularly unforgivable. 

Villa were two goals to the good with a little over 25 minutes left to play, which forced opposite number Claudio Ranieri into action. Sherwood’s substitutions, though, effectively cost his side a result. Carles Gil - Villa’s highest rated player (8.16) and best attacking outlet - had doubled the advantage away from home, yet Sherwood opted to withdraw the Spaniard from action, citing injury concerns, with Jordan Ayew his replacement despite Ciaran Clark and Veretout - both more defensive players - being options from the bench. 

The decision to bring on an attacking player in place of Gil ultimately left Villa exposed as Jack Grealish was moved deeper into an unfamiliar midfield role and it was little shock to see the Foxes work their way back into the game and come away with all three points. Similarly away at Palace, Sherwood’s tactical naivety was on show once more as the manager removed Carlos Sanchez - then Villa’s holding midfielder and arguably best performer on the day - and replaced him with attack-minded Adama Traore. Two minutes later, Palace took the initiative and came away with all three points with Villa overrun in midfield once more without a player to shield the defence. 

The gung-ho approach that was supposed to bring goals and excitement back to Villa Park is failing to have the desired effect. The Midlands outfit have scored just eight league goals this season, six of which have come away from home. Only Watford (1) have scored fewer goals in front of their own fans than Villa (2) in the Premier League this term. “I keep changing the system and formations in search of that spark,” Sherwood said after the Stoke loss. It’s a sentence that won’t fill supporters with confidence after eight games of the season. 13 new arrivals - coupled with the departures of Benteke, Fabian Delph and Ron Vlaar - will have ultimately hindered the side's early progress, but Sherwood gives the impression that he is as confused by his own decision making as the players. 

Statistically, they are not performing too badly, with an average of 11.4 shots per game and 13.5 shots conceded per game ranking 14th and 10th, respectively. Meanwhile, their overall WhoScored rating (6.87) is the 9th best in the Premier League so far. However, it’s when it comes to tinkering with the system that the going gets tough and Sherwood stalls. The Vine of him waving his arms manically on the sidelines in the 3-2 loss to Leicester drew laughs from all quarters of the game, but it unearthed a deeper lying issue in Sherwood’s ability in that he is a manager dangerously out of his depth. 

To his credit, Sherwood usually sets his team up effectively enough - an bemusing first half against Stoke aside - with their WhoScored rating in the opening 45 minutes a respectable 6.49. However, after the interval, the team struggles with that figure dropping to 6.38. Bard Guzan is called into action more - averaging considerably more saves in the second half (2.3) than the first (1.4). To make matters worse, of the 13 goals Villa have conceded in the Premier League this season, nine have come following the interval. While opposition managers have been able to change the game in their favour, Sherwood has been unable to do have the same effect, which has been to the team's detriment. 

When looking at Villa’s fixture list after the international break, it doesn’t make for good reading for the club or its supporters. Dick Advocaat and Brendan Rodgers were both relieved of their duties over the weekend and unless Sherwood can quickly stumble upon the right system to benefit the team; one would not bet against the Englishman being the next manager to be shown the exit door, vindicating those that doubted his credentials during his time at Spurs.

Can Tim Sherwood turn Aston Villa's fortunes around? Or would the club be wise to relieve him of his duties? Let us know your thoughts in the comments below