Aston Villa’s case of ‘Tortoise or the Hare’

Gabriel Agbonlahor has long been a mysterious player, capable of the sublime and the ridiculous, in fact even the anonymous. Yet his two goals against Fulham at the weekend point to a strong run-in for the World Cup hopeful.

Blessed with blistering pace, a strong work ethic and two good feet Agbonlahor has the potential to be a top Premier League striker. In Aston Villa he plays for an attacking team and a manager in Martin O’Neill who encourages flair from his star players. He is also surrounded by likeminded young English players, such ay Ashley Young and James Milner, all determined to be successful and forge a reputation at both Villa Park and for England. So everything seems to be in place for the former Villa trainee, yet this has been the case for the several seasons and Agbonlahor still only has 3 England caps.

So what is this promising player doing wrong? Goals. He just doesn’t score enough of them! In 140 games for Villa he has scored just 42 goals. An impressive tally for a club player, but someone with Agbonlahor’s potential and national ambitions needs to score more regularly, especially in a successful side.

Despite his searing pace Agbonlahor could be compared to a tortoise, choosing to hibernate for large periods of the season. He can quite easily go 6 games without a goal and his performances are instantly forgettable. He can appear to be going through the motions, which is made all the more frustrating by his potential. Fabio Capello must wish he could see more of Agbonlahor, who could frighten any defence at the World Cup with his pace.

So with all this criticism hanging over Agbonlahor it was great to see his performance against Fulham. In the space of four minutes just before half-time he stole the game away from the Cottagers with some devastating play. He out muscled both Brede Hangeland and Old Trafford bound Chris Smalling for his two goals. The first highlighted his aerial ability beating the young centre half to power home a header. The second, even more impressive, involved pushing the giant Hangeland off and curling a left foot shot past Mark Schwarzer. If such ability could be replicated more regularly then he will be sure to add to his caps total in the near future, as well as helping this Villa squad fulfil its combined potential.

The frustration though for some England fans is that Aston Villa started with two English strikers. Yet only one of them looked like he would score a goal, and it is the other one, Emile Heskey, who is most likely go to South Africa. Surely if Agbonlahor can continue in this vein then he can force his way into Capello’s thoughts, with such limited striking options.  Playing up front with Heskey can however only help. If he can form a good, dominant partnership with the England man then that must help his chances against the likes of Carlton Cole, Darren Bent, Peter Crouch and Michael Owen for the final strikers spot.

In the meantime though O’Neill will hope he can keep Agbonlahor fit and on form, so he can fire Villa towards 4th place. If however his goals do not come then you fear for Villa’s chances, with the likes of Heskey and the midfielders hardly being prolific.