If Jack Grealish refrains from doing anything to annoy Rémi Garde during – and after – his outing for Aston Villa’s under-21 team against Derby County on Monday night, he will be recalled to the first-team squad in time for next weekend’s match against Arsenal.
The talented 20-year-old has been banished since the manager found out about his late night revelling following the 4-0 defeat at Everton two weeks ago but Garde indicated the midfielder has nearly served his time. “Jack Grealish will play for the reserve team on Monday and will probably rejoin the group after that,” said the Frenchman, who knows he must embed good basic practices at Villa Park if his team are to stand any chance of becoming the first to avoid relegation despite gaining only six points from their opening 15 Premier League matches.
Garde does not expect any more of his players to do what Grealish did after the Everton match and, more to the point, nor does he want to see any of them repeat the non-performances they showed during that match. That inadequate display was particularly disappointing because it followed an encouraging draw with Manchester City in Garde’s first game in charge. Villa also lost at home to Watford, meaning this draw against Southampton was only the second point of Garde’s reign. His side were slightly lucky at St Mary’s, the result owing more to Southampton’s errant finishing than Villa’s fortitude, but at least the visitors played with commitment and punished lax defending when Joleon Lescott scored just before half-time. Oriol Romeu equalised for Southampton but Villa held on for a point. Garde now wants to ensure that the relief of avoiding defeat does not lull them into a relapse, which is what he thinks happened after the draw with City.
“The way the club is suffering since the beginning of the season meant that the point against City was like a breath of fresh air, so naturally you start slowing a bit on all the effort you have to do and probably that’s what we did,” said Garde. “And probably I was also responsible for one or two things that I want to keep to myself.”
Villa have some useful creative players – Jordan Veretout was particularly impressive at Southampton – and Grealish has the ability to boost their inventiveness when he returns but there are still serious doubts about their readiness to take chances. They are the joint lowest scorers in the league and nothing at Southampton suggested they are about to start blasting away opponents.
Rudy Gestede is magnificent in the air but Villa rarely play to that strength and the 27-year-old looked a poor fit for the side before limping off in the 75th minute with an injury that Garde believes is not too serious.
Garde insisted he was encouraged by Gestede’s performance. “Rudy didn’t play a lot in previous weeks and it was not easy for him,” said the manager. “When you are tall you need many training sessions to be fit. When you are small it’s easier to come in and start. I’m very pleased with the way Rudy coped. He was very helpful to the team, he held the ball up very well. The way he played with Jordan Ayew was also interesting.”
Southampton’s attacking players were far more effective, causing incessant problems to Villas makeshift defence, but their chance conversion was lamentable – and that is a flaw that risks undermining the club’s hopes of finishing higher than last season’s seventh place.
Man of match Jordan Veretout (Aston Villa)
