Villa’s creative need can bring out best in Man United flop

The season is just three games old, but already there’s pressure on Aston Villa manager Paul Lambert following an insipid start in front of goal.

A win, draw and loss aren’t the worst set of results the Scot could have envisaged prior to the big kickoff.

But considering that defeat was in the Capital One Cup second round to League One’s Leyton Orient, it’s easy to see why there’s early chatter about the former Borussia Dortmund player’s Villa Park departure.

Over the course of the three matches, Villa have scored just one goal and have registered two shots on target, in total.

With the closing of the transfer window just a few days away, it’s clear that Lambert needs to bring in a creative spark quite urgently.

Finding men who can inject some imagination into matches is a tough task, as Louis van Gaal knows only too well at Manchester United.

But the Red Devils’ eventual capture of Angel Di Maria could allow Lambert to snap up a cast-aside creator.

Now. Calling Brazilian midfielder Anderson a creator after seven seasons of wooden ineptitude could be jumped on as false information at this point, but just bare with it.

Before arriving at Old Trafford, Anderson was a number 10 of pace, trickery, directness and substance, able to fashion chances for himself and his Porto teammates at will:

That was sucked out of him at United in a role too deep to allow him to naturally flourish, but those dribbling days could return if Lambert, like us, believes the 26-year-old is the man Villa need to find the target more consistently.

If played back in his more suited position behind the striker, Aston Villa’s 5/2 odds for a top ten finish could shrink.

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