The mysterious case of the disappearing Bulgarian
Tuesday, 09 January 07, 06:05 AM · Comments (16)
I suppose the straws were in the wind as early as the game at Upton Park. Petrov looked for all the world the answer to Villa's creative deficiency in the first 45. And then, mysteriously, he disappeared off the face of the earth.
When a pattern emerged, with Petrov frequently vanishing into thin air in the second half, we all assumed that his pre-season had been affected by the transfer saga and that he was just a little off the pace. A matter of time, then.
He'd been close to scoring on a number of occasions, of course. And that led us to the next conclusion - he needs a goal. Once he's found the net, his confidence will return and there will be no stopping him. The thunderous free-kick that hit the City bar and then the City goal line at the end of November might have provided the turning point, but it wasn't to be. And we continued to see Stan floating in and out of games without ever making a real impression.
Of course, his big moment came only a couple of weeks later when Bramall Lane provided Stan with the moment to break his duck. And that should have been that, as far as most of us were concerned. With a load of games under his belt, fitness shouldn't have been an issue any longer. And with a goal to his name, his confidence should have been sky high.
But it hasn't happened for Stan. Instead of an upward trend in the impact he's having on games, we've seen him struggle more and more to stamp any creative authority on the midfield contest. His contribution with the dead ball has become poorer and poorer. He seems not to want the ball, isn't getting himself into dangerous situations and - which to me is the most worrying aspect of all - his body language is becoming more and more negative.
None of this is lost on O'Neill, Roberston and Walford: Stan has been taken off early in the last five or six outings, which is acknowledgement if any were needed that Petrov is indeed struggling.
Now there is a rather trite and overused answer to situations like these, and that is that the SPL is significantly slower, less skillful and less competitive than the FA Premiership, and that a strong track record at one of the Old Firm is no guarantee that a player has what it takes to succeed south of the border. Barry Ferguson, Glasgow Rangers' deposed skipper, is often the example used, having famously struggled at Ewood Park and hotfooted it back to Scotland as fast as his legs could carry him. Actually, it's pretty much the only example used, which makes it all but statistically irrelevant.
To choose a rather prickly example to illustrate the opposite, Henrik Larsson was a hit at Barcelona (ok, La Liga is slower...) and seemed to do reasonably well on his United debut on Saturday. And both Petrov and Larsson were prominent in the Celtic UEFA Cup run which took them to a final against Porto in Seville, ending in a narrow defeat to Mourinho's men. No, Petrov is an international-class player of skill, adaptability and repute and I think the SPL argument is an empty one in this instance.
I think to get to the bottom of this we need to look at a couple of areas.
Firstly, the term "midfielder" in describing Petrov isn't particularly useful, and hints at the problem. Petrov is a forward, whose best position is quite obviously at the front of a midfield "diamond". He's a midfielder in the way Joe Cole is a midfielder (though the latter is increasingly deployed wide by both Chelsea and England). If we take that into account, it's clear why Stan might be struggling at the moment: Villa lack the width and pace to stretch the game, meaning that a player like Petrov is denied the space he needs to create.
Equally, Villa's defensive frailty, with key players either missing or out of position, means that all four or even five midfielders are being called on to get behind the ball and protect a slow and inexperienced back four. I don't think, at the moment, Villa's inability to attack effectively is helping Petrov at all. Quite the opposite.
Secondly, if you read Petrov's autobiography "You Can Call Me Stan", you will notice that it took him a long time to settle in Glasgow after his move from CSKA Sofia to Parkhead. Stan strikes me as player who responds to certainty and stability both in terms of his domestic and footballing environment. I suspect that his move to the Midlands hasn't been without its difficulties, even if the naivete and financial discomfort of his move to Scotland would not have been replicated.
I believe the key to this is quite simple. I do believe that Petrov is a player who can do extremely well at Villa and I believe that history will show him ultimately to have been a key signing in Martin O'Neill's revival of claret and blue fortunes.
A strengthening of the squad, particularly in terms of its attacking capability, will reward Stan with the remit and the space to exercise his footballing creativity - and I think that will make all the difference to him. Once the service to him and the players he can service improve, I am sure we will see a different player.
In the meantime, let us take a degree of comfort from the fact that Martin O'Neill, Steve Walford and John Robertson all know Stiliyan Petrov inside out, and trust in them to get the best out of the player as the squad strengthens over the next year.
Like I have said before, it would do Stan a lot of good if he could hear the Holte End get behind him. I still don't believe that has happened.
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16 Comments · Add yours
I think he has been playing injured the last few games,he started amazingly well at west ham and watford and should have scored but we all have dips in form but im sure we will see the best of him soon. UTV!!
Petrov isnt the only one that hasnt performed Baros, Balaban and Angel to name but three havent warrented there price tags either. We seem to buy theses so called good players bur they never perform once they get here.
He has been struggling with hamstring problems and has not trained for months. That would probably explain all.
Great aricle Doc and is just the kind of thing that a player struggling for form needs to read. So get it to O'neill and get it to Stan and let him know we are behind him. He will shine I'm sure.
Firts of all it is clear he is not 100% fit and eventually he is being substituted. Also his position has been changing , from left to right and even central midfield. Sometimes he has played infront of Mellberg , another time Hughes, on the left sometimes it is Bouma another other time it is Barry. Even the forwards have been changing, we have had Sutton & Angel, Angel & Aghabanor, Baros & Angel, Angel alone etc, these continuous changes combined, not to mention the midfield combination, in the last matches in a such a short time make it impossible for any player to settle let alone a new player who is struggling with a hamstring injury. He is defenitely a very good player, but I think he will do much better when surrounded by players who can keep possesion of the ball, we tend to lose the ball very easily making it very frustrating for him.
Yea he's defo been injured all over the xmas period. i dunno about anyone else, but id prefer a 60% fit petrov in there for as long as he can last rather than have yet another youngster such as osbourne given a chance. in fairness to isiaih, his performance against united was much improved thou. id say now that the rush of games is over petrov (and gabby who also has a knock) will be able to get back to peak fitness reasonably soon. Up the Villa and MON (god)!!
I agree. Lots of unfair criticism of him.
He is new to the Premier League, carrying an injury, low on confidence and being forced to play out of position thanks to our threadbare squad. We have seen glimpses of magic, and I am sure more will come.
He needs rest for the injury and better players around him. Having McCann, Davis and Osbourne around would make Ronaldinho look a bit dodgy.
I think Stan needs to practice his free-kicks as well. I have seen far too many hit the defensive wall over the last few games. This is inexcusable.
I want to see Bouma take a few with his left peg in the next few games, he seem sto be finding his feet.
very good article though.
Good shout Doc. I agree he needs quality around him to shine. when we were playing better early season, so was he. his best position is just behind the front two and because of the inability of our midfield to retain pssession, he often has to track back.
Top quality players show their quality regardless of their surrounding team mates or tactics, even when injured Petrov blatantly hasn't. Whatever the excuse we have a player who has been known to O'Neill and his coaches for some considerable time, his performances against West Ham and Everton, showed no lack of talent, effort or effectiveness. He's either not motivated or not good enough and as O'Neill is supposedly a great motivator I wonder just how good he is.
My view is that he's a player who excels when he's being carried and not the sort of player able to imprint his talent on a match.
I disagree mgzt. There has been many many times when Petrov has made good runs to pull away defenders only for our useless strikers (Angel in particular) not to pick up on where the space has been created. Also many times when Petrov wants the abll it hasn't come. At all times, his touch on the ball is a cut above the rest of our midfield.
He is definitely playing with an injury, which won't help.
I think he will come good, and to be honest I don't think he has been as bad as some people make out anyway.
Is guilty of going missing at times, but then sometimes our games end up in a hoof-fest that bypasses the midfield, especially when Mellberg see's a lot of the ball ;-)
He is class. Luke Moore getting injured made us change formation which really harmed our season and harmed Stan.
He is only getting taken off in games recently as he isn't 100%!
Petrov is booked in for a scan on Thursday so he is definitely struggling with his injury
wow, what an insightful piece of writing! I am a supporter of the bulgarian national team and i totally agree with Doc's comments. I have read his autobiography, and yes he seems to be an emotional person, if a little fragile so it will take time for him tio settle as at Celtic. He definitely operates better in a more attack minded team - he is an attacking midfielder so asking him to be more defensive takes away from his natural leaning. Villa fans will see the best of him, and i am sure hw will be integral to the success of the team after the summer when O'Neill makes key signings and improves the defence
you dont have the players to match what petrov can do on the park at celtic he had qaulity all around him give him time he will come around maloney will sign with celtic in feb that is whn his contract with ex-agent expires doesnt want to pay both