Why Charles N’Zogbia Needs To Leave Aston Villa

I want to start off this article by letting you, the readers, know that I am in fact something of an optimist. I tend to see the positives in most situations, especially when it comes to matters regarding Aston Villa Football Club. Although I’m a ‘glass half-full’ kind of person, that’s not to say that I ignore the negatives.

So for me to come out and say what I’m about to just shows how much Charles N’Zogbia has pushed me to the limit.

Charles N’Zogbia is an enigma. We all saw what he was doing at Wigan a few years ago, picking up the ball in the wide channels (usually on the right hand side) cutting in, beating a man and getting his shot off, which resulted in a goal or, at the very least, a shot on target.

For anyone who watches the Bundesliga, this is pretty much what Bayern Munich’s Arjen Robben has perfected. Being a left-footed player, he starts on the right side of midfield, picks the ball up and runs at the left-back, cuts back onto his favoured left foot while driving into the opposition box, where he is able to do one of two things: set up an opportunity for a team-mate or set up a shooting opportunity for himself. It’s an effective tactic.

It’s not uncommon for players to do that in this day and age: at Real Madrid, Carlo Ancelotti has the right-footed Cristiano Ronaldo playing on the left and the left-footed Gareth Bale playing on the right, although they alternate whenever they see fit.

Back at Villa, N’Zogbia’s favoured position is on the right wing, although he can also be utilised in the second striker role. Recently, Paul Lambert has been playing N’Zogbia on the right of a three player attack including Gabby Agbonlahor and Christian Benteke. This season he has one assist – and that is poor.

His first touch is diabolical at times. He fails to trap the ball successfully when receiving a pass. There were some instances in the last few games when the team had just won possession in its own half and players were looking to break forward. After getting into the opposition’s half at pace, I was hoping that someone would not pass the ball to N’Zogbia because he was certain to mess it up – and that’s exactly what happened. Against Leicester City last week, it was the second half and the score was 1-1. Aly Cissokho had just nicked the ball off one of their players and passed it quickly to start an attack as Leicester were caught on the break. As Sanchez ran foward with the ball, he passed it to Gabby Agbonlahor on the left who then took it forward into the opposition half. At that point, it was three against three and it was looking like the Villans were going to score. As Gabby looked up for a pass, N’Zogbia was free on the right hand side of the pitch and was calling for the ball. At this point, I was praying for Gabby not to pass him the ball and to give it to Benteke instead, who could actually do something with it. Alas, Gabby passed it to N’Zogbia, who then, instead of cutting in and laying it off to Christian Benteke, ran down the channel for no reason, held the ball up and then got doubled up by the Leicester defence. Then N’Zogbia tried to turn with the ball, except he hit it too far in front of him and put it out for a Leicester City throw in. Chance wasted.

Zogbia_1671191a
N’Zogbia certainly carries a threat when taking set-pieces – but that is not enough

Where have his dribbling skills gone? He used to be able to take on players and beat them with ease with his quick feet and a trick or two. Nowadays though, he struggles to get the ball out of his feet and ends up shinning it too far in front of him, which results in him losing possession. Surely a player can’t become that terrible? It beggars belief how bad Charles N’Zogbia is for Villa.

Is it a confidence thing? Is his ego not massaged enough for him to perform? One thing is for sure: I’ve had enough of him and so have other fans. He’s turned into a useless acquisition and definitely a contender for one of the worst Villa signings I’ve seen. His £9.5 million price tag has not been warranted and I doubt it ever will be. If he’s one of those players who only turns up when his contract is about to run out then we should get rid of him next month if possible. There are players out there who are better for a fraction of the price as well. In fact, we have two players in our squad who can come in for him straight away in Leandro Bacuna and Jack Grealish.

If you think I’m just ranting on about N’Zogbia without any statistics to back it up, here are some statistics from WhoScored.com;

According to these stats, he can't hold the ball and he can't pass - simply not good enough
According to these stats, he can’t hold the ball and he can’t pass – simply not good enough

I’ve just become disillusioned with having him at Villa and I’m really biting my tongue because he’s so frustrating at times. I really hope we can flog him soon and get someone in who can actually cause defences harm.

All will be forgiven if you score a hat trick against Manchester United this Saturday though, Charles!

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4 comments

  1. I was deceived by the little I saw of him at Wigan, and then worried when I saw a few tweets to & from him concerning his social life, and that was compounded when he got censored by the club shortly after moving to Brum. Somebody recently suggested he’s lazy in training, and that would not suprise me as he looks as miserable as sin in training pics. To me he looks as if he’s not a team player but one who needs to be the star attraction in a weak team as he was at Wigan, and I suspect even they were glad to get rid of him as he only puts in a few “star performances ” per season in what could be descibed as “playing for his contract”.

  2. Total agreement, the other enigma is midfield ,start introducing Robinson, ship out Cleverly. Use his tranfer saving to acquire winger and bust the Lerner tight wallet for Ings frm Burnley..ship out Delph, Vlaar and get that attacking midfield player we’ve been waitng 3 seasons for. Put Grealish in now. And if we are not relegated sack Lambo and get Klopp from Dortmund. Next seaon will see 10,000 fans return and Europe a reality not the spin Fox is talking. Lerner must stop hiding and state what his position is. In or out.

  3. agree with Ings,,, plus lennon or townsend from spurs,,, could be loanable,,, dembele would please benteke

    i would keep cleverly,, he does the basics well, its just he needs to be more creative and get goals

    he could get much better,,, be a shame to cast him off,, delph and westwood have improved so maby he will

    time is closing in on zoggy,, it may be why lambert is playing him, just to make sure one way or another

  4. He had a great chance to snatch a win on Saturday but he bottled it cos he might if got hurt if he slid in with the defender to get a touch in the ball. Ship him out an bring in Townsend from Spurs if he’s available.

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