Aston Villa lay in 17th position and are only a single point off dropping into the relegation zone but I believe that poor management is not the cause of Villa's problems. I believe the problems lie within the failure of the previous boss Alex MacLeish combined with the tight spending of American owner Randy Lerner.
In Villa's last game of last season against Norwich, their starting line-up was: Given, Cuellar, Dunne, Collins, Lichaj, Ireland, Herd, Clark, Warnock, Agbonlahor, Heskey.
This team has an average age of 26.1.
In Villa's last Premier League against local rivals West Brom, their starting line up was: Guzan, Clark, Vlaar, Baker, Lowton, Westwood, Delph, Bennett, Benteke, Agbonlahor, N'Zogbia.
The average of this team is 24.
I know it doesn't seem like much of a difference but if you are look at the experienced head from last seasons team, they had 5 players above the age of 30 whereas this season they do not have any player who is a regular in the team above 28.
There has also been a drastic change in philosophy and tactics since the reign of Alex MacLeish. His team above shows a complete lack of ambition with the inclusion of 7 defensive players in the starting line-up with only Agbonlahor providing any sort of flair to the team.
Lambert's side shows so much more positivity a versatile selection which allows his team to play 3-5-2, 4-3-3 or 4-5-1. It enables Villa to switch to plan b if the initial tactics prove to be ineffectual.
Aston Villa's style of play last season was very rigid and disciplined with very little coming in the way of creativity. A huge reliance on set-pieces was required as the aerial presence of this Villa team was vast.
The Midland's side this season have shown that are capable of much more than that with glittering performances at Anfield and for the first hour of their home match against Man United. With the involvement of a young team, they have been playing a more expansive game with more expressive passing moves and a striker who gets more involved in the attacking build up in Benteke. Instead of heaping massive reliance on to Darren Bent, they now play with powerhouse Benteke and the flairy Weimann who together create more problems for defences than Bent alone.
All in all I believe Paul Lambert has changed Aston Villa's image as a football team. Now they try and play exciting football but currently lack consistency and a couple of signings who can add more control in midfield areas.
The team isn't too good to go down but I believe they will have just enough to keep afloat.
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