It took a while, but gradually Tim Sherwood’s qualities as a coach are beginning to emerge from beneath the obfuscatory cloud of his touchline antics. He is a strange mix, funny and self-mocking in some ways, distractingly over the top in others, but the impact he has had with Aston Villa has been startling. On Saturday, against Arsenal, he could lead them to their first FA Cup success since 1957.
It is true that Villa were ripe for being startled. After months of soporific football under Paul Lambert, who was essentially an evangelist for dourness, almost anybody would have been a breath of fresh air.
The reaction of Aston Villa fans after winning their FA Cup quarter-final against West Bromwich Albion, pouring onto the pitch in delight, gave an indication of how deep the yearning for success there runs.
Sherwood and his ebullience have tapped into that: one club at Wembley on Saturday will be looking for the FA Cup to add a dash of sparkle to an otherwise largely ordinary season, the other is seeking a generation-defining success.
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It may be ridiculous when Sherwood stands in his technical area ostentatiously taking his pulse as a penalty is taken, and he may have come dangerously close to inciting Tottenham fans when his side won at White Hart Lane, but that is part of his appeal. He adds a little joy to football and in a club that has been as consistently mediocre as Aston Villa, that is not a quality to be casually dismissed.
Despite the surge of good feeling in the west Midlands, Sherwood’s league record with Villa is not impressive. Even taking into account that, since survival had been ensured, the club’s focus turned to the FA Cup final, a run of five wins and a draw in 13 games is only moderate.
But he did enough, effecting enough of a change to halt what had seemed an inevitable slide to relegation. His record as a tactician is debatable — although he’s certainly not the buffoon many have made him out to be — but where Sherwood has impressed has been in his ability to get the best out of Christian Benteke.
Given what he achieved at Tottenham with Emmanuel Adebayor, Sherwood appears to be some kind of centre-forward “whisperer”, capable of somehow relighting the fires in strikers who have lost form and motivation.
In both cases there have been specific reasons for the forwards losing form. Recent revelations from Adebayor have shown the pressures placed on him by his family, while Benteke was recovering from a serious Achilles tendon injury in the early part of the season and took time to rediscover the explosive burst of pace that makes him such a dangerous player.
But it surely is more than coincidence that he rediscovered his form just as Sherwood took charge: this season, he has 12 goals in 15 games under Sherwood compared to three in 17 under Lambert. More than that, Benteke has led the line superbly, dragging defenders out of position and creating space. The semi-final victory, probably Villa’s most impressive under Sherwood, was a case in point.
In that match, Villa lined up in a 4-3-2-1, using twin central creators, something Liverpool had done to great effect. Jack Grealish, in particular, dazzled in the space the system afforded him, easily picked up by neither Liverpool’s right-back, right-sided holding player or right-sided centre-back.
Arsenal, presumably, will not be so easily distracted by the tactic, although Grealish could exploit the space Hector Bellerin leaves behind him as he seeks to emulate the achievement of his great, great grandfather, Billy Garraty, in winning the FA Cup with Villa.
Villa must remember, too, how often Gabriel Agbonlahor has unsettled Arsenal with his direct running, most notably on the opening day of last season when they won 3-1 at the Emirates to provoke mutiny among Arsenal fans. That might be a nudge to start with a 4-4-2, although Benteke, equally, could take advantage of Per Mertesacker’s sluggishness on the turn if he can isolate him.
It has been reported this week that Benteke is a target for Liverpool, who reportedly are willing to meet his £32.5 million (Dh182.3m) buyout clause.
Sherwood, characteristically, has managed to turn the situation to his advantage, conceding he would be powerless to stop Benteke leaving if the clause is matched but telling the forward he should “aim higher” than Liverpool: if he can’t keep him, he can at least boost his confidence ahead of what might be Benteke’s last game for the club.
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