Medical expert issues ‘whirlwind’ Aston Villa claim as ‘nightmare’ explained
Aston Villa boss Steven Gerrard will be able to work on tactics in the 12-day gap between fixtures – a small silver lining to the club’s Covid situation.
That is the view of medical expert Ben Dinnery, who runs the Premier Injuries site and has a background in fitness and data analysis.
Villa have not played since a 2-0 victory over Norwich City on 14 November, with last weekend’s clash against Burnley called off amid Covid concerns.
Gerrard currently has just 14 players available ahead of the Boxing Day match against Chelsea, after which they are set to play six times in 27 days.
Per The Independent yesterday (22 December), the manager said it would be a “nightmare” if player availability stayed at that level.
But Dinnery claims that Gerrard will be making the best of a bad situation by working on his side’s strategic preparation with his remaining players.
“It’s not just fitness they can work on,” he told Football Insider‘s Adam Williams.
“Since Steven Gerrard has arrived at the club, it’s been a bit of a whirlwind. He has been thrust non-stop into Premier League action from day one.
“There hasn’t been a lot of opportunities to work with his players on the training pitch. He’s been fighting fires and working towards the next fixture.
“It’s an opportunity to sit down and work on the tactics of things. During these busy periods, there won’t be a lot of fitness work.
“We have heard from Gerrad how he’s raised those intensity levels. He will have seen his players, evaluated them and be ready to make choices.
“Having this slight break is afforded him the opportunity to address some of those weaknesses where he thinks Villa could do a little better.”
Anwar El Ghazi, Morgan Sanson, Keinan Davis and Jed Steer have all been confirmed as positive cases at Bodymoor Heath.
Their match against Leeds next Tuesday (28 December) is also a doubt amid an outbreak in Marcelo Bielsa’s squad.
In other news, Gabby Agbonlahor shares “unbelievable” claim after Aston Villa update on bid to sign Joe Gomez.