Nakamba needs to up his game at Villa

Phillip Zulu in LEEDS, England

THE swift changes that swept Aston Villa’s coaching department is a wake up call for most senior players at the English Premiership football team and, that includes Zimbabwean midfielder Marvelous Nakamba.

Every new manager comes along with a new vision and plan, ultimately every player has to adapt or change. The buzz around Steven Gerrard’s unveiling brings forth excitement and hope in the corridors of Villa, the fans endearing to this new development positively thus triggering a huge interest in recruiting new players targeted for the January transfer window to help the club fight relegation. 

The writing was on the wall for Dean Smith as the results of the first quarter of the season have been disastrous. 

The key areas of interest in helping Villa steady the ship are in the midfield, both defensively and offensively, without any doubt  their attacking wide players who have been lacking in creating goal scoring opportunities for their new striker Danny Ings and record buy, Ollie Watkins. 

The conundrum at Villa is whether to go on the market for a top attacking midfielder who will be seen more as a replacement for Jack Grealish or, recruit a creative midfielder who will assist Douglas Luiz to complement Danny Ings and Ollie Watkins. 

This hugely possible scenario will automatically push the exit button on to eject Nakamba out of the club. 

Gerrard is well versed with that department and he has his targets either way, the urgent need to tame the midfield department comes along with radical changes that looks increasingly more on culling the size of the squad and Nakamba could face the axe if results and performances don’t improve.

The log doesn’t lie, as Villa are 16th on the table. The big question is whether everyone is prepared for another relegation cut throat fight witnessed in the last two seasons when they survived by a whisker. 

The hangover with old manager is gone, Nakamba has to improve in his forward offensive play to affect, and effect the game positively, he has to raise his confidence levels much higher and bring a much more impressive presence in tough games when he gets the chance. 

Working with Gerrard in midfield sessions will be a big challenge for him because the expectation will be far too high and that’s an area of Gerrard’s expertise. He has to show his quality in the first session or else, he is out.