Aston Villa manager Steven Gerrard has been urged to turn to a player in his squad that has not been particularly prominent in the team so far this season – Cameron Archer.
Speaking to Football Insider, prior to Villa’s Premier League clash against Nottingham Forest, talkSPORT pundit and former Villa player, Gabby Agbonlahor, had this to say on the matter after the striker was an unused substitute for the 0-0 draw against Leeds United.
He said: “When I was watching the Leeds game, I was hoping that Archer would come on. Could we have sacrificed a defender and put another striker on, we know how good he is in front of goal.
“I feel like it was definitely a game where everyone wanted to see Archer on the pitch.
“I don’t feel like it was a game where Buendia had to come on. He could have had Archer, Ings and Watkins as your attacking players on to try and get the win.
“Steven Gerrard is the manager, he sees them in training, he makes his choices and he didn’t think bringing Archer on was the answer.
“You have to trust the manager but I do feel as long as we keep failing to score then Archer does deserve a chance. You understand it but going forward, you want to see him given more time.”
This season has seen the striker play just 10 minutes of league action for Villa, coming across two of their eight league games.
This shows that Gerrard doesn’t always see the 20-year-old as a suitable option for him to either start a game or come on as a substitute.
With Villa having one of the lowest percentages of shots on target (30.6%) in the league this season, perhaps giving Archer, who had one of the highest percentages of shots on target (44.4%) at Preston North End last season where he had a spell on loan, a chance to shine in the Premier League could be just what the Villans need to get firing.
Therefore, we feel that Gerrard must act soon in terms of giving the youngster the opportunity to play, especially with reports of him being under pressure.
