James Milner’s emergence as a creative central midfield player is offering Aston Villa the flexibility to prosper from the loss of Gareth Barry.
The England winger has moved inside to accommodate the speedy return of Stewart Downing from a broken foot and promptly scored a goal and made another in each of two free-scoring victories, away to Portsmouth in the Carling Cup quarter-finals on Tuesday and Saturday’s stroll over Hull City.
Martin O’Neill invested the £12 million he received for Barry in Downing and now the Villa manager is gratified that, for the first time in his three years in charge, he has greater capacity to rotate his squad and keep individuals at the top of their game.
Milner set up the first goal, à la Barry, with a slide-rule pass for Richard Dunne to crack the ball in off the crossbar, before scoring the second with an audacious finish. Steve Sidwell may not have appreciated being dropped to accommodate Milner but, even from the sidelines, he was able to claim a crucial assist.
Good footballers react quickly and the substitute, warming up on the touchline, returned the ball so swiftly after Matt Duke had run from his line to head the ball out of play that Gabriel Agbonlahor was able to throw it in for Milner to steady himself and lob the returning goalkeeper from 25 yards for his fifth goal of the season.
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O’Neill was enthused by a contribution that confirms the versatile Milner is booking his place in Fabio Capello’s World Cup squad. “The great thing is that James made a lot of things go through him, going into positions to receive and making things happen,” the Villa manager said. “If [the pass for Dunne] had been played by Frank Lampard or Steven Gerrard, you would have said that was magnificent.
“There is a bit of fluidity about the team [that also helps him]. Ashley Young can come in and when Stewart Downing is fully wound up, he’s going to be an asset. Our problem is that because we have got a lot of footballers, we don’t really have a ball-winner. Stiliyan [Petrov, the anchorman] would probably be the closest. The first-half performance is what these players are capable of.”
Hull were already struggling to live with Villa, for whom Luke Young and Emile Heskey could have capped lively performances with goals from flowing moves, when Jimmy Bullard withdrew injured. Craig Fagan, his replacement, struck the woodwork early in the second half but Ashley Young proved O’Neill’s point about flexibility by floating inside on to John Carew’s flick to win the penalty that Carew converted late in the game.
With Chelsea and Manchester United set for their personal title battle, the five teams beneath them — if Birmingham City will accept our apologies — appear to be involved in a contest for two Champions League places. Villa face Manchester United, Liverpool and Arsenal this month.
“Christmas is always a crucial time,” said Milner, who admits he still learns from Barry when on England duty together. “Look at the table now and in the new year; it always looks very different.
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“Old Trafford’s a difficult place to go. We’ve beaten top-four sides in the past so there’s no reason why we can’t go there and perform.”
Aston Villa (4-4-2): B Friedel 6 — L Young 8, C Cu?llar 7, R Dunne 7, S Warnock 6 — A Young 6, J Milner 8, S Petrov 7, S Downing 6 — E Heskey 6 (sub: J Carew, 78min), G Agbonlahor 6. Substitutes not used: B Guzan, S Sidwell, F Delph, N Reo-Coker, H Beye, C Clark. Booked: L Young, Cu?llar, A Young, Petrov. Next: Manchester United (a).
Hull City (4-5-1): M Duke 5 — P McShane 6, A Gardner 6, K Zayatte 5, A Dawson 5 — R Garcia 6, J Bullard 7 (sub: C Fagan, 20 6), G Boateng 6, D Marney 5 (sub: J Vennegoor of Hesselink, 77), S Hunt 5 — J Altidore 5 (sub: N Barmby, 54 5). Substitutes not used: B Myhill, Geovanni, K Kilbane, S Mouyokolo. Booked: Marney, Fagan, Duke. Next: Blackburn Rovers (h).
Referee: S Attwell. Attendance: 39,748.