This Is Not The Time To Panic

It's fair to say the early season optimism at Villa Park has dissipated over the last couple of weeks or so. A growing minority have turned on Tim Sherwood already and are beginning to make themselves heard and, worryingly, the oh so familiar booing has begun echoing around our great stadium once more.

Personally, I didn't imagine we would have such a poor start. So it is disappointing to see us languishing in the bottom 3 already.

A concern for me is that we have had a decent run of fixtures from which to pick up points. The Sunderland game is especially galling as they are displaying how abysmal they are every single week and we need to be winning those games. On the face of it, we're in trouble already and looking at yet another fight against relegation. Is there cause to panic? Or do we actually have genuine reason to continue trying to be optimistic?

In my opinion, I do not think we are as bad as the current table suggest. But this does not mean there is not some cause for concern. Firstly, individual mistakes are costing us dearly. And whilst it is unfair to blame one player specifically, Brad Guzan is certainly not covering himself in glory.

To be honest, I'm not surprised his form has dipped. I don't think he has been managed particularly well by Sherwood. Following his howler against Man City towards the backend of last season, he was instantly dropped from that point onwards. I think that set a dangerous precedent and sent out the wrong signal - make a mistake, and you will lose your place. With Tim's philosophy being that he wants his players to be free of the shackles and play without fear, this seemed a strange and harsh move, but he obviously had reservations from the moment he took over. Over the summer, it was clear a replacement was being sought after, with Asmir Begovic ambitiously targeted. As we know, the Bosnian ended up at Chelsea and with no suitable alternative found, and additionally with Shay Given departing for Stoke, Guzan was left as our default No.1. Knowing that he is not really wanted can easily have a detrimental effect and I think that it is showing this season. The flip side of course is that, as a professional, he should be using this opportunity to prove the manager wrong. He is doing his best to highlight Sherwood's evaluation of him is correct however. A lack of any real competition also cannot be underestimated and is surely contributing.

The cock-up towards the end of the game against Palace was instigated by Guzan. Whilst it was Jordan Amavi who ultimately lost possession, Guzan should be hoofing that ball as far as he can rather than a short pass out to a player who isn't really in any space. That turned what would've been a very good away point at a good side into a loss. Similarly, Guzan's decision to come for the ball in the game at Leicester in the last minute is equally as mind boggling. If he comes for it, he HAS to claim the ball rather than getting beaten to it by 5ft 5in Nathan Dyer. I imagine the shout which Guzan must've gave also caused Micah Richards and Alan Hutton to contribute to the calamity, allowing Dyer to beat all 3 to the ball. This would've yielded another valuable away point (although it should've been 3 by that point anyway).

However, the really inexcusable low point in Guzan's appearances so far, and for which I think he has almost completely gotten away with, was his positioning and the way he lined up the wall for Sunderland's opening free kick. At the time it just didn't look right. Yann M'Vila had an enormous amount of space to stroke his free kick home. Which of course he did. The focus from pundits will be on the brilliance of the kick, yet he was given a more than generous target of the unguarded net left open by Guzan.

There are other factors contributing to our defensive frailties also. I don't believe the chopping and changing at right back can be helping things as a defensive unit and this is another problem area. Personally, I think with Amavi on the left, Leandro Bacuna gives us more balance as an attacking wing back, but obviously he is not a natural right back. In saying that, I have no problem if Alan Hutton starts either and he isn't shy to get forward and would prefer a player who is a right back by trade. I don't think either of them are the answer to be honest, and I don't think there is much between them, but I would like to see Sherwood stick with one of them to give some stability.

Whilst musing over right back, Micah Richards at centre back is causing dissection in opinion also. While we are pleased to have him and he is undoubtedly good on the ball in possession, he is displaying tendencies to be drawn towards the ball whilst off it. He looked woefully out of position for Daniel Sturridge's second goal at Anfield on Saturday and this is not the first time this season it's happened. The feeling I get is that most Villa fans are hoping we can find a way of switching him out to right back and letting Ciaran Clark or a fit Jores Okore partner Lescott.

Which brings me on to the thing that has riled me most, which was Lescott's pathetic attempt at blocking Sturridge's 3rd goal. I was appalled to see a half hearted effort to close down the space and then, unforgivably, turning away scared of being hit by the ball. That is unacceptable. I can't help think that someone like John Terry, or even a Nathan Baker, would be giving everything into throwing his body in front of that ball. And I don't think there is enough of that from Lescott, and I don't think there ever has been over his career.

Sherwood himself is becoming something of an enigma. Firstly, his substitutions are a talking point and I do not think they are being used to full effect. Again, the games against Palace and Sunderland are particular cases in point. I agree with not making substitutions for the sake of it, but we have some great options on the bench this season. Against Palace, Agbonlahor was absolutely shocking and obviously struggling and missed two glorious chances. In 30 degree heat also, we used just one substitute - which admittedly was Adama who got us back into the game but Palace were all over us in the second half and we really would've benefited from a change. Likewise against Sunderland, whilst we were dominating, we couldn't break through and a change of ideas was needed, for example bring on Jordan Ayew to use some pace may have made the difference. Even Libor Kozak who was on the bench, for Rudy Gestede who was having no effect in the game. Sherwood then got the subs spot on against Birmingham and it changed the game and it seemed as if some notes had been taken on board. However things then took a turn for the worse against Liverpool when, at 2-0 down, Jordan Veretout was bought on for Sanchez a pretty much like for like sub, when we had Adama, Ayew and Gil on the bench to really have a go at changing the game. It was also a shame to see Jack Grealish sacrificed when Adama eventually did come on.

The thing which I am finding most difficult to understand in the middle three which Sherwood is seemingly in love with. Ashley Westwood, Idrissa Gueye and Carlos Sanchez. For a manager known for his attacking intent, I find this strange selection. For me, only two of these are needed, with Gueye certainly one of them; a midfield pairing of Westwood and Sanchez isn't good enough. Palace are an excellent example of what we should be trying to do - they have used Joe Ledley as a holding midfielder whilst Yohan Cabaye operates as a deep-lying playmaker. In front of these they often start with 3 from Yannick Bolasie, Wilfrid Zaha, Bakary Sako and Jason Puncheon behind a striker (which they chop and change). There is no reason we can't emulate this with the players we have and I would love to see a slightly more attacking line up with the players we have.

So we have negatives aplenty here. But is there cause for optimism?

I believe so. In fairness to Sherwood, these are still early days. The upheaval we have seen is unlikely all to marry together in little over a month. On top of this, we have been unable to field a settled team, let alone our strongest team. Gueye has been injured and is just returning but has been an instant hit and it's no coincidence that we have looked much weaker without him. Likewise for Adama, who has only been able to show in parts his pace, power and class thanks to injury. Veretout by all accounts has had a busy time with his partner giving birth just as he moved and so the effects of that won't have helped him to settle in, but I believe he is beginning to show his quality and be given a chance. Likewise, Ayew is beginning to show a better impact in his appearances and Gestede, whilst not having the proverbial good touch for a big man, is beginning to score goals.

Amavi has rightly been earning plaudits for his play so far and has hit the ground running. His crossing looks absolutely superb and he has grabbed himself a few assists already. This perhaps overshadows a few defensive frailties, but he can certainly be deemed as a success so far. Jack Grealish looks to have come on massively already from last season and is really looking the business and I don't think it is unrealistic for him to be aiming to claim at least 5 goals this season. I will also mention Carles Gil, and whether you would start him or not, he is certainly a great little player to have in and around the first team.

We look decent going forwards and we are creating chances. We are missing a clinical striker, but we have scored goals, albeit not enough to compensate for the defence so far. The anomaly is that we are not playing completely gung-ho attacking football where we commit so many men forward which leaves us open at the back but are still leaking goals. We should be well covered with the aforementioned midfield 3 and a back 4. It's not even as a result of Amavi and Bacuna/Hutton getting forward and leaving space - the goals we are conceding are largely coming through the middle rather than crosses from wide areas. This needs addressing.

As for Sherwood, we are still no wiser to knowing if he a maverick or a moron. There are moments of inspiration by him, undone by some baffling decisions. Some will say that this is what you get with a chancer. My argument at this stage would be that it's also what you get with a manager finding his feet in his first full season with a set of players just getting used to each other.

There is currently only one choice Villa fans have and that is to get behind the manager and the team. There is enough there to give plenty of optimism, and we certainly aren't in a castaway position to be turning on Sherwood at this early stage.

@lovespud83