There is plenty of youth at Aston Villa these days, and the hope is that many develop into first team players. Here are a few players at Villa Park who are worth following this season.
Josh Webb – A right back, but also a versatile centre back, Josh Webb made his breakthrough during last season’s triumphant Next-Gen tournament, putting his name into Paul Lambert’s mind for the upcoming 2013/14 season. Lambert brought Webb on the pre-season tour of Germany, where he made his first appearance for the first team against Paderborn. Webb has the ability to become a real star and already has England caps at under-17 level. He was part of the winning England side in the Algarve tournament in 2012. Josh Webb will not feature much for the first team due to the strong season Matt Lowton had last season, but maybe a few cup games could help him start to compete with Lowton for the right-back position.
Samir Carruthers – He burst onto the scene in an exciting debut against Liverpool. He seemed on the cusp of breaking into the first team and being a definite name on the team sheet. However, soon after Paul Lambert was appointed Villa manager, Samir seemed to get on the wrong side of the new gaffer, with fines following for breaching Lambert’s new code of conduct for players at the club. Samir shows great leadership qualities and his explosive pace and determination are sure to make him an asset to the club. It seems this season may just be his season to make a name for himself, with Lambert picking him regularly for friendlies.
Michael Drennan – The goal machine for the development squad, Michael shows true qualities of a naturally gifted striker, banging in goals for many seasons at youth level. He will need some time on the pitch soon or else I can see him wanting to jump ship to be playing regular football at a good standard, perhaps in the Championship. If Villa send him out on loan he could soon develop into a great player or end up like the Moore brothers, who have essentially flopped after leaving the claret and blue of Aston Villa.
Jack Grealish – I really think Jack is a fantastic, energetic player. It is a shame he is Irish and not English because he will be good enough to play at the top of the Premier League. He has impressed me in the Next-Gen series and also in the development squad. I expect to see his name a fair bit in the future and he could certainly become an asset to the first team before long. The midfielder has always shone at the reserve level and, with a few appearances from the bench, who knows just how good he could be at the highest level?
Daniel Johnson – I believe people have not seen the best of him. He was poor against Luton, but people forget he is England captain at his level. He dictates play well and distributes the ball very well. He has a Paul Scholes manner about his play, scoring a few screamers in his years of reserve football. As for the future, he could be another Gabriel Agbonlahor and remain at the club for some time, but it just depends how quickly he can develop or else he may fester and become a flop. In a loan spell at Yeovil for a month he participated in every game and did not impress on all occasions, but maybe another loan spell in the Championship could help Johnson to hone his skills.
With Lambert’s interest in developing the youth, it’s an exciting time to be a young player at Villa. They just need to have a little patience, as the song goes.
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