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…
Dean Smith has stood up for Wesley following Aston Villa’s 2-1 loss against Chelsea on Wednesday evening, as reported by The Birmingham Mail.
What did he say?
The Brazilian striker’s inability to get a goal or assist against Chelsea extends his run of games without one to seven. He also cut a fairly anonymous figure at Stamford Bridge, failing to have a single shot, dribble or key pass to his name when the 90 minutes were up. The former Club Bruges man has already come under criticism from sections of the support for his lack of end product, but the Villa boss was quick to stand up for the club’s summer signing.
He said (as quoted by The Birmingham Mail): “He’s growing into what is a fledgling career in the Premier League. He’s just turned 23, a late comer to the game and a handful for centre-halves.
“Again, he went shoulder-to-shoulder with their centre-half and was given a free-kick against him. You come to clubs like Manchester United and Chelsea and, I’ll be honest, I don’t expect too many decisions and that’s been the case in both games.
“His contribution to the team is the most important thing. What are we? 15 games in. He’s scored four goals at a rate of one in three in a bit. He’ll score goals. We’ve just gone through a period of games playing Manchester City, Wolves away, Liverpool, United, Chelsea.”
An impact outside of goals
FFC looked at his performance in the 2-2 draw against Manchester United as an example of how Wesley can make an impact for Villa, even when he is not getting in and amongst the goals.
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However, it can also be argued that Wesley’s record isn’t too bad, despite his current dry spell, as Smith pointed out that his ratio is almost one goal every three games (he has found the back of the net a total of four times in 15 appearances across all competitions).
It seems as though Smith will be sticking with the 23-year-old as his star man, especially after The Athletic suggested Villa will be in the market for a back-up option during the January transfer window, rather than a marquee centre-forward.
In other news, one Aston Villa man was able to prove his doubters wrong despite the loss against Chelsea.
