Carling Cup 2009
Aston Villa
vs
Cardiff
Match Schedule:
Date: September 23th
Time: 18:45 (GMT)
Aston Villa
vs
Cardiff
Match Schedule:
Date: September 23th
Time: 18:45 (GMT)
ASTON VILLA:
Nigel Reo-Coker is about to discover if Martin O'Neill is a man of his word and if bridges have been burned following their well-publicised training ground altercation. If the former England under-21 international plays against Cardiff City that will back up the Villa manager's assertion that the 25-year-old still has a future at the club.
Reo-Coker has trained for the last two days and has apologised for his part in the events that led to him being omitted from the squad for Saturday's game against Portsmouth. O'Neill had an excellent time in this competition with Leicester City, but has struggled to replicate that at Villa and bowed out at this stage last season against Queens Park Rangers. He only made it one round further the previous season, before falling to his old charges from the Walkers Stadium.
He is likely to rotate his squad, but striker Gabriel Agbonlahor believes it is time that Villa started taking the competition more seriously, like Manchester United and Chelsea. "Even though they are in the Champions League, they set out to win it. Maybe we have not taken it as seriously as we might have in the last few years, but we are trying to put that right this time," he said. Winning five games in succession will merely add to Villa's confident air.
Strategy: With Reo-Coker sat at home on Saturday, O'Neill altered his system to play with two central strikers, John Carew and Agbonlahor. To accomodate the repentent former West Ham United midfielder, in what should be a return to O'Neill's favoured 4-5-1 system, Agbonlahor seems the likely candidate to be rested, even if he does want to improve the club's Carling Cup image this season. O'Neill may also use the competition to give Fabian Delph some needed match time. The £6m signing from Leeds United has been noticeable by his absence since his disappointing debut against Wigan Athletic on the opening day of the season. This is an ideal opportunity to restore some lost confidence and Brad Guzan is likely to replace first choice goalkeeper Brad Friedel.
Nigel Reo-Coker is about to discover if Martin O'Neill is a man of his word and if bridges have been burned following their well-publicised training ground altercation. If the former England under-21 international plays against Cardiff City that will back up the Villa manager's assertion that the 25-year-old still has a future at the club.
Reo-Coker has trained for the last two days and has apologised for his part in the events that led to him being omitted from the squad for Saturday's game against Portsmouth. O'Neill had an excellent time in this competition with Leicester City, but has struggled to replicate that at Villa and bowed out at this stage last season against Queens Park Rangers. He only made it one round further the previous season, before falling to his old charges from the Walkers Stadium.
He is likely to rotate his squad, but striker Gabriel Agbonlahor believes it is time that Villa started taking the competition more seriously, like Manchester United and Chelsea. "Even though they are in the Champions League, they set out to win it. Maybe we have not taken it as seriously as we might have in the last few years, but we are trying to put that right this time," he said. Winning five games in succession will merely add to Villa's confident air.
Strategy: With Reo-Coker sat at home on Saturday, O'Neill altered his system to play with two central strikers, John Carew and Agbonlahor. To accomodate the repentent former West Ham United midfielder, in what should be a return to O'Neill's favoured 4-5-1 system, Agbonlahor seems the likely candidate to be rested, even if he does want to improve the club's Carling Cup image this season. O'Neill may also use the competition to give Fabian Delph some needed match time. The £6m signing from Leeds United has been noticeable by his absence since his disappointing debut against Wigan Athletic on the opening day of the season. This is an ideal opportunity to restore some lost confidence and Brad Guzan is likely to replace first choice goalkeeper Brad Friedel.
Posts
