Could Villa’s new signing be exactly what they need to gain promotion back to the Premier League?
Albert Adomah is no stranger to the Championship after helping Middlesbrough get out of it last season, playing an important part in their promotion campaign.
Adomah scored six goals to help get Boro back to the Premier League after a seven year absence and Villa will now be hoping he can do the same for them after signing in the transfer window.
Any fans of the Championship would be aware of what the Ghanaian can do with a real desire to hurt defences with his pace and trickery.
What are the three main things all Villa fans should be looking out for from Adomah?
Experience
The 28 year-old certainly knows the division well after spending six seasons in the Championship making 262 appearances with Bristol City and Middlesbrough respectively.
Manager Roberto Di Matteo has a side fuelled with quality and big names, but very few have experience of getting out of one of the most gruelling divisions there is, with Mile Jedinak, James Chester, Tommy Elphick, Ritchie de Laet and Adomah the only players having been promoted from the league.
In Adomah they will have another player who knows what it takes to gain promotion. We’ve seen in the past the difficulty some clubs have faced to get back to the Premier League at the first time of asking with Reading, Ipswich Town, Queens Park Rangers, Blackburn Rovers, Fulham, Birmingham City and Wigan Athletic all struggling after relegation.
Albert Adomah of Middlesbrough celebrates after the game
Natural width
Going through the Villa side you would struggle to find someone who is happy to play naturally wide throughout a game and it has been an issue for Di Matteo.
Jack Grealish has been at times shifted towards the flanks however it’s evident the midfielder is far better in the middle where he is the centre of the action, Leandro Bacuna flatters to deceive at the best of times which ultimately leads to inconsistency while Andre Green is a natural but the 18 year-old will need time to develop – it would be ludicrous to rely on the Villa graduate.
In Adomah they have a man who will give consistency, will be disciplined to stay out wide, and will handle having pressure put on his shoulders.
Middlesbrough’s Albert Adomah in action with Bristol City’s Joe Bryan
Unpredictability going forward
In recent weeks it’s been clearly evident that there’s a lack of invention in Villa’s attempts to break down rigid Championship defences.
Given the quality that Di Matteo possesses it’s natural for lesser sides to come to Villa Park and sit deep and soak up the pressure, hoping to hit them on the counterattack.
The current Villa attackers have seemed tenative at times to go forward although Adomah certainly has the trickery and boldness to attack defences, which could be the key to allowing the likes of Ross McCormack, Rudy Gestede and new signing Jonathan Kodja to score goals.
Middlesbrough’s Albert Adomah in action with Stoke City’s Erik Pieters
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