After the acrimonious big money move from Sunderland last midweek, a debut goal in a 1-0 win meant Darren Bent was the natural headline-grabber for Gerard Houllier’s side in the home match with Man City, but closer inspection of the Villa game should perhaps offer up even more encouragement for Fantasy Owners of Ashley Young.

Slowly but surely, Houllier is shaping the team and redefining personnel rules according to his own preference, and playing in the hole behind a lone forward, Young looks as if he could reap the rewards. Villa’s 4-2-3-1 formation is not about possession play -they had just 31% of the ball against Roberto Mancini’s side- but the acquisition of Bent not only gives Villa the penalty box predator they were lacking, it allows them to utilise the pace of Gabriel Agbonlahor -wide left of the 3- and gives Stewart Downing a move to central midfield, where his creative guile can help on the counter attack, another feature the side were perhaps missing.

Average Positions

Bent may have only had 1 shot at goal on Saturday evening but his willingness to put in a shift for the team’s cause should not be overlooked; a look at this Average Position heat map from the Man City game shows just how much so. Bent (39) dropped deep continually and was, on average, level with Stilyan Petrov (19), who inhabited the defensive central midfield role.

The free role afforded to Young (7), however, allowed him plenty scope to roam and stay higher up the field and, as a result, he was far and away the furthest forward of any of the Villa players. There’s no surprise, then, that of the nine attempts on goal by Villa, Young had as many as four. Only three Joe Hart saves prevented him from finding the net, though Bent’s finish from one of those rebounded shots did mean he bagged an assist.

Passing Heatmaps

Being the furthest forward allowed Ashley Young to receive the ball more often, and as result, he made over twice the number of passes than Darren Bent. Young’s movement was without restriction and as the heat maps below show, he popped up on both wings as well as staying central for Villa. As a result, he made 55% of all his passes in City’s final third.

Bent, on the other hand, made just 21% of his passes in the opponent’s final third, with 35% of his passes being made in his own half, further indication of his solid, defensive work for the sake of the team.

With only one win on the road thus far, Villa will no doubt be looking at their home games to garner the points that would ensure their survival. They have seven league games left at Villa Park this term and all of them (FUL, BLA, WOL, NEW, STK, WIG, LIV) are definitely winnable. Providing he stays beyond the January transfer window and keeps his role within the current formation, Ashley Young looks as fundamental to their fight as the new boy does.