Aston Villa… ONE-2-ELEVEN – Midfield

In this latest post of my all-time Villa XI, it`s time to take a look at the engine room: the midfielders in my 3-5-2.

Previous ONE-2-ELEVEN positions:

Goalies: One-2-Eleven – Villa’s Best.. Goalkeeper

Forum thread: Click Here

Defence: Aston Villa – ONE-2-ELEVEN – Defence and forum thread: Click Here

Dennis Mortimer. Sir Dennis. The skipper. He was skipper in my first ever match, he scored that day and I fell in love with a football club. Committed, strong in the tackle, a real leader on the pitch. Softly spoken but nerves and determination of steel. There really is nothing to add here.

Down the right, it`s tough. Going 3-5-2, I need wide men who have defensive ability but are decent going forward and providing the ammunition for the strikers. Kevin Gage was always a favourite of mine from the promotion team of 1988, as was Mark Delaney of the more recent Villa vintage in the 90s. But injuries were unkind to Delaney, and he never really fulfilled his potential in that respect. SO I`ve gone for Earl Barrett. Earl was awesome, had the speed of a hare and was as solid as they come at right back. Good going forward, he could deliver a decent cross as well.

On the left, it`s the same sort of problem. Steve ‘Stan` Staunton was close, Wilfred Bouma too, but again he had terrible luck with injuries in his time with us. How about Ulises de la Cruz? No? Ah, ok then, I`ll get my coat. Controversially, I`ve gone for someone from the more recent past. And in fact, I`ve maybe cheated slightly because he`s only really come into his own in the left wing-back role since he departed B6. Step forward Mr. Ashley Simon Young. I know there is no love lost between Villa fans and Young (my God, how much abuse does he get when we play United?), but while he was with us, he was the man. The best crosser I`ve seen at Villa Park, he`s not too shabby defensively these days. If he could cut out the theatrics, he`d be set.

Alongside Sir Dennis, Ian Taylor. The man is Villa through and through, claret and blue blood runs through his veins. A strong, determined and skillful box-to-box midfielder, Tayls
scored some belters and was just inspirational. He also picked up very few bookings for such a combative player.

That only leaves one space. Paul Merson? Fabian Delph? David Platt? (Although Platt was better as a striker when he was with us in my humble). Garry Parker? Kevin Richardson? Nope. Gordon Sidney Cowans. Another true Villan, Sid was also another Villa legend who was unlucky on the injury front. But he managed to rack up 527 appearances in a three-spell career with Villa, including 168 consecutive appearances between 1979 and 1983. I never really saw the best of Sid, but when he played, he was magical to watch.

So there we have it. The team is taking shape nicely. Bosnich; Southgate, McGrath, Barry; Barrett, Cowans, Mortimer (c), Taylor, Young. Not bad, but who will bang in the goals?