Wednesday 11 November 2015 11:41, UK
Remi Garde's reign as Aston Villa boss began with a goalless draw against Manchester City at Villa Park. It's something to build on for the new manager, writes Adam Bate...
If Kevin MacDonald's team selection against Tottenham on Monday night was the sort of conservative line-up to only exacerbate the disillusionment among Villa fans, Remi Garde did at least brighten things up against the Premier League leaders.
Embracing the French foreign legion is clearly part of his remit. MacDonald had included only the experienced Joleon Lescott of the summer signings against Spurs, but Garde's first team was more Jordan than Joleon.
In fact, the new Villa boss picked all of his Jordans - Amavi, Veretout, Ayew - as well as Idrissa Gueye among six changes to the team that had come up short at White Hart Lane. Just as crucially, the other two returnees were captain Micah Richards and Spanish talent Carles Gil.
For all the fuss about local lad Jack Grealish, Gil is arguably the most gifted technician on the staff. However, the 22-year-old has been an unused substitute for three of the last seven games, starting only once. His inclusion was the right call.
Restored to the team, he looked a threat against City and helped Villa hint at a more possession-based game. Gil found a team-mate with 34 of his 35 passes in the opposition half - the best ball-retention figure on either side.
Of course, bottom versus top was never likely to be the easiest way for Garde to showcase a swaggering game, but some of the stats were as positive as the selection. Villa's improved passing accuracy certainly suggested at an intention to play some football.
Rather than playing too directly too quickly, Villa showed a little more patience. They put in fewer crosses than in any home game at Villa Park, but their passing accuracy was up above 74 per cent in the opposition half. It's not been more than 65 per cent against the rest of the top six this season.
The next challenge for Garde will be to find the goals that this team is so sorely lacking and the task of replacing Christian Benteke looks no easier. Villa created only two chances against City - half as many as their previous lowest tally this season - and failed to manage a shot on target for the first time since August of last year.
But the sight of their team scrapping, battling and blocking the ball to hold on to their point, was enough for a home crowd that saw Villa outrun City by a combined 1.9 kilometres - the first time they've done that this season.
It was Richards who claimed the man of the match award for helping his team to their first Premier League clean sheet since the opening day. "The lads were outstanding and fought for each other, but we played some good football as well," he told Sky Sports afterwards. It's something to build on.
