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Regardless of the position Villa find themselves in at the moment, the club has both produced and moulded talent that still find themselves playing top flight football today.
We’re going to take a look at our top players from each season since the 2010/11 season.
2010/11 – Stewart Downing
Before he wandered off to Anfield, Downing was a key component in the Villa side. In the 2010/11 season, he managed to play in 44 games of football and scored in eight of them, finding himself only a goal behind Darren Bent and Ashley Young who both scored nine. He was also the closest player to play 4,000 minutes of football.
Honourable mention: Ashley Young
2011/12 – James Collins
The then 27-year-old was a stalwart in defence, playing 34 games and just under 3,000 minutes of football this season. He only managed one goal from centre-back, but gave the likes of Nathan Baker, Ciaran Clark and Carlos Cuellar limited game time that season.
Honourable mention: Stiliyan Petrov
2012/13 – Christian Benteke
A new arrival at Villa Park, Benteke managed an impressive 39 games, 3,300 minutes of football and a lofty 23 goals, which nobody was close to in the two seasons prior. With competition from Darren Bent, Gabriel Agbonlahor and Andreas Weimann, the Belgian forward nearly scored more than Gabby and Weiman combined.
Honourable mention: Matt Lowton
2013/14 – Fabian Delph
Right, stop the hissing and bite your tongue for a moment. Yeah, what he did to the club is unacceptable, but you can’t deny that this season was anyone but Fabian’s. He played 36 games, notched up 3,152 minutes of football and scored four goals from midfield. Christ knows how many he set up too. This was more than likely the year that he was first noticed by an England manager.
Honourable mention: Andreas Weimann
2014/15 – Tom Cleverley
At this point, Cleverley had been somewhat of a regular for Manchester United but was loaned out as he was deemed surplus to requirements. The fact that he’s still playing regular Premier League football says something. Cleverley was an integral part of the squad that took us all the way to the F.A Cup final, playing over 3,000 minutes of football, 37 games and scoring three goals.
Honourable mention: Christian Benteke
2015/16 – Idrissa ‘Gana’ Gueye
Whilst Idrissa had a spectacular debut season in the Premier League, it’s a shame that his club really didn’t. Gueye played in 38 games that season, amassing 3,300 minutes of football and scoring one goal. His performances were a bright shimmer amongst a group of rather polished turds, and they saw him move to Everton the next season.
Honourable mention: Ashley Westwood
2016/17 – Jonathan Kodjia
Kodjia managed just over 3,000 minutes of football last season, during Villa’s first year in the Championship. He appeared in the first 11 each of the 36 times he was named in the squad and scored 19 goals. Without those 19 goals, Villa would have been dangling precariously close to where Sunderland are this season.
Honourable mention: James Chester
2017/18 – ?
We can’t really say until the end of the season, can we? In the running so far are James Chester, who has not missed a minute of League football this season, amassing over 3,200 minutes before the season’s even closed. There’s also Conor Hourihane who’s played 34 games this season and popped up with 9 goals. There’s also Albert, Snoddy and Johnstone who could be considered too. If the season had ended, we’d be able to give you an answer – but we simply can’t predict who will end up here. Big Chris Samba could pop up with a scorpion kick that sees us gain automatic promotion. It’s anyone’s game.
