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This article is part of Football FanCast’s Pundit View series, which provides opinion and analysis on recent quotes from journalists, pundits, players and managers…

Aston Villa's former captain Ron Vlaar has had his say on his time in the West Midlands, giving a damning indictment of the situation the club found itself in, speaking to The Athletic.

What's he said?

Vlaar joined the club in 2012 from Eredivisie outfit Feyenoord and soon became the captain after the unfortunate circumstances of Stiliyan Petrov who was battling cancer.

The 34-year-old, who is still playing football for AZ Alkmaar, made 88 appearances at Villa Park before leaving in the summer of 2015.

The following season, Villa were relegated from the Premier League after finishing bottom and it certainly wasn't a surprise for Vlaar who offered an incredible insight into what happened. He told The Athletic:

"I was fighting with myself because of the lack of direction and I wanted to see some more of my team-mates trying to improve their game.

"I missed the hunger from those around me to improve. There wasn’t much extra training or effort, and if some of [the players] didn’t play, they were disappointed and their laziness started to show.

"It’s not a coincidence Villa went down because there were no investments towards the end, either. It wasn’t going to change. I wasn’t surprised when Aston Villa were relegated."

Things are different now under Dean Smith

Vlaar's comments only highlight how things have changed in the space of just five years.

Lacking direction, laziness and no investment - three things you'd hardly associate with this current Villa crop and that's all down to Dean Smith and his team.

They are now playing a more attacking and direct style of football that requires the energetic sort of player - any laziness in this squad isn't going to get you very far.

The club's owners have also splashed out around £144.5m on 12 summer arrivals, demonstrating that a lack of investment now certainly isn't an issue.

Against Tottenham on the opening weekend, a team who themselves play a fast-paced passing game, Villa recorded 78.1% passing success rate which isn't too shabby considering the quality of opposition and ranked 13th for teams in the division last week.

The difference in their play was summed up by the 210 short passes they made against Spurs, detailing the hard work put in during training.

Last season in their Championship playoff-winning campaign, Smith's side were the third best in terms of passing success averaging 79.8% for the season so it only goes some way in showing how a lackadaisical attitude has been fully transformed in the West Midlands.

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