The Technical Area – Milner in the Middle

Starting the season as a winger before moving into centre midfield, it has been James Milner’s versatility, in addition to his quality, that has been fundamental to Aston Villa’s impressive season to date. Fabio Cappello has also been suitably persuaded; not only is Milner nailed-on for the England squad, he has even been mentioned in some circles as a possible replacement at left back, if Ashley Cole fails to recover from his ankle injury.

With Aston Villa now looking at two consecutive double gameweeks following yesterday’s fantastic FA Cup win at Reading, Milner will now come under further scrutiny, with more FPL managers (30% and counting) looking to add him to their squads…

Closer inspection as to how Villa have performed in the 14 league games before his move to the middle to accommodate Stewart Downing in the first XI, compared to the subsequent 12 league games, reveals how Milner’s move has clearly affected a shift both in the team’s on-field stats and FPL points, with Villa becoming more defensively reliable as a result.

Goals Conceded

A quick glance at the Premiership table will tell you that Villa have the tightest defence so far, conceding just 21 goals to date. In FPL, Villa’s defence is the best value-for-money area of the team, and here’s one of the main reasons:

Pre Milner-to-the-middle switch, Villa played 14 games and picked up just 3 clean sheets, whereas post-switch, they have 8 clean sheets from 12 games.

Playing Milner alongside Stilian Petrov has clearly given them a steelier centre, which is a definite factor in making Martin O’Neill’s boys the only team left unbeaten in the league in 2010.

Scoring Goals

Villa’s improved resolve has came at the expense of them finding the net with less regularity. Pre-switch, they were far more likely to score in almost every game; despite failing to grab a goal in the opening game of the season, they still scored in 13 of the first 14. Post-switch, they have only managed to beat the opposition goalie in 7 games out of the last 12.

Richard Dunne

The star man at the back, with 40% of FPL owners, has caught the eye more than most in the Villa team. Due to the team’s overall improvement in solidity, Dunne has seen a downturn in Bonus Points since Milner’s shift, with the team perhaps not under siege at the back so much.

In spite -or because- of this, Dunne has seen his points per game average shoot up since Milner moved. Pre-switch, he averaged 4.7 points per game, post-switch he has averaged 5.6 points per game, even though his own individual performances have not been rewarded as much.

Gabby Agbonlahor

Tightening up at the back has seen Gabby’s goal output almost halving. Pre-switch he amassed 7 goals and 2 assists, scored over 9 games, meaning there was just 5 games out of the first 14 in which he failed to get amongst the points.

Post-switch he has managed 4 goals and 2 assists, scored over 4 games, meaning there has been 8 games out of 12 in which he failed to get amongst the points, with his average points per game dropping from 4.6 to 4.3 as a result.

Interestingly, Agbonlahor has scored just once in the 6 home games since the switch, with Villa’s counter-attacking play suiting him more, helping him net 3 times in 6 games away from home.

James Milner

With regards to overall contribution towards goals, there has not been much difference for Milner himself; 2 goals and 6 assists before the switch, 2 goals and 5 assists after. However, it is worth noting than since moving to the middle, he has failed to score or assist in 9 out of the 12 games.

Despite being the third highest scoring midfielder in the FPL game, Villa’s lack of goals means Milner has only scored or assisted in eight league games all season (even Stephen Hunt has bettered this). Instead, an increase in both clean sheet and Bonus Points have been the reason why his points per game has been boosted from 4.5 to 5.8 since the move infield.