Aston Villa are lacking real creativity in the final third.
Aston Villa managed to move out of the relegation zone on Monday night, picking up a 0-0 draw at home to West Ham United to climb away from the bottom three.
Villa were solid but uninspiring, and even when Arthur Masuaku was sent off for West Ham, they didn’t have the necessary cutting edge to find a winning goal.
Dean Smith will be delighted with Villa’s defensive record, given that they have conceded just once in the last three games, but goals at the other end are a problem.
Villa haven’t scored in their last two outings, and didn’t particularly look dangerous against West Ham, meaning Smith has plenty to think about ahead of the January transfer window.
That’s still some time away, but it’s clear that big-money striker Wesley isn’t getting the right service. He hasn’t looked too great himself, but he feeds off supply into the box, and that hasn’t come from the likes of Anwar El Ghazi, Jota or Trezeguet so far.
Brentford’s Said Benrahma was a key target to play out wide for Villa, as reported by The Express, but they couldn’t get a deal done for the Algerian before the transfer deadline.
He’s exactly the kind of player Villa need. He not only hit 10 goals and 14 assists, showing how he can impact games going forward, but he also knows Smith’s methods having worked with him at Griffin Park.
The 24-year-old wouldn’t come cheaply, but Villa may need to splash out on a really creative winger having gone with mid-priced options this summer in El Ghazi, Trezeguet and Jota.
It’s clear that Villa fans haven’t forgotten about Benrahma either, as a host of supporters took to Twitter after Monday’s goalless draw to suggest that he must be a top January target, and Smith really must push to finally land his man having witnessed his wingers struggling.
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