The Doc's Diagnosis: Villa vs Portsmouth

There was more than a whiff of the future around Villa Park yesterday afternoon. With the threat of relegation gone for all but the most pedantic of mathematicians, Villa relaxed, played some football, got a point, went home and started thinking about the summer and next season.

A fairly undemanding Sunday afternoon crowd sat back, digested Sunday lunch, enjoyed the sunshine, gave David James a warm welcome and the applause he deserved for a very fine performance indeed, went home and started thinking about the summer and next season.

There's very little point in mentioning that Villa were over-casual at times. There's not much point, either, in writing that Villa must become much more clinical in and around the penalty area. There isn't even much point in repeating the point that Villa's use of the dead ball remains pretty pathetic (I excuse Shaun Maloney from the last criticism). All these issues will have been identified and will be the stuff of the full and concentrated pre-season Villa missed out on last time around. Let's hope the new signings come in early, whoever they are.

Who, at the start of the season, would have imagined Villa lining up with a four man midfield like this: Gardner wide right, Petrov anchoring, Barry in front of him and Berger wide left. That is how far we have come this season. McCann, though available, failed to make the bench. Steven Davis likewise. I don't expect to see either in a Villa shirt again - for very different reasons.

So O'Neill, a confirmed 4-5-1/4-3-3 man, surprised us all by playing a traditional 4-4-2 with the under-the-weather Gabby and the not-yet-fit Carew up front. I wonder to what extent he changed the formation to avoid choosing between them, given that Agbonlahor has played so well since his return to the middle. Whatever, on the whole it worked pretty well, and Harry Redknapp's wild gesticulation in the early exchanges confirmed what we all knew - that both Villa forwards were causing problems.

As you know, I am no statistician - and I don't keep tallies throughout games. But if Portsmouth brought the ball into the Villa half more than half a dozen times in the first forty-five, I would be amazed. What's more, I can't remember a Portsmouth shot in the first half. Sure, Villa need to learn not only to break sides down who come to defend and secure a point, but also to score against them and take control of the game's space and tempo. But there really was only one team playing football in the first half, and for the most part, they did it pretty well.

Villa looked fluid - a very positive side-effect of the midfield reshuffle. Petrov warms more and more to his duties in building the attack from the back, and is starting to look like a latter-day Didier Deschamps. Gardner, who I'm willing to bet we all had down as McCann's understudy, looks far more effective further up the field, especially - with Berger - given some "room to roam". Villa are narrower set up like this, and I did feel that full backs Bardsley (who didn't have a good game) and Bouma (who on the whole did) needed to get forward more and provide greater width in attack.

With better finishing, it wouldn't have flattered Villa to have gone in 2-0 up. Gardner should have buried Carew's pull-back from close range early on. However well James played, the youngster did him a favour by shooting straight at him from six yards. And with Berger clean through, fifteen yards out and with the ball on his favoured left foot, I expected better than a shot into Row K of the sparsely-populated lower North.

Berger was an enigma yesterday. Having won himself a guaranteed starting place with some excellent performances, trumpeted in these reviews as much as anywhere else, and presumably playing for a new contract, he largely returned to the fairly languid genius we know of old. He didn't compete enough, didn't dictate play enough - just didn't play with the verve, incision and sharpness of previous weeks. Strange - and nobody was altogether surpised when Maloney replaced him on 79 minutes.

The second half settled into a fairly soporific rhythm. Though Portsmouth showed a bit more ambition, Villa still made most of the play - Gabby looking increasingly dangerous and, at the other end of the scale, Carew getting no change out of Campbell and Primus, looking weary and then collecting a knock for his troubles.

It's probably worth ignoring the first 25 minutes of the second half. I really don't remember anything happening at all.

Once Luke Moore had replaced the struggling Carew and Ashley Young and Shaun Maloney, Villa's new Diddy Men, had come on for Bardsley and Berger (with Gardner going to right back), Villa's energy levels increased and I expected a winner to come. There was a great buzz about the side in the last quarter of an hour, with all the subs (especially, I'm pleased to report, Ashley Young) making real contributions. Maloney hit a swerving, dipping free-kick inches over from twenty-five yards and, before that, James made the save of the game from Gabby. Agbonlahor cut into the box with a great run and struck a fizzer from 10 yards, but James - who saw it late - turned the away.

The introduction of Lomana LuaLua suggested that 'Arry felt a smash-and-grab was on the cards, but - despite a few nervous moments late on - this was to be a sunny Sunday stroll in the Park.

Villa have avoided a relegation dogfight because they don't lose away. But we aren't challenging for Europe because we don't win at home. Nobody minded too much in the B6 sunshine yesterday afternoon, but that - above all else - is what's got to change next season.

But my money's on it.

Villa: Sorensen 6 - Bardsley 5; Mellberg 7; Laursen 7; Bouma 7; GARDNER 8; Petrov 7; Barry 7; Berger 6; Carew 6; Agbonlahor 7

Man-of-the-Match: JAMES - record-breaking display by ex-Villa keeper

Villan-of-the-Match: GARDNER - livewire, though should have scored