Friedel sure Aston Villa can fulfil top four dream, despite errors

Mar 27 2009 by Mathew Kendrick, Birmingham Post

Brad Friedel says there are a multitude of reasons for Aston Villa’s untimely stumble in the chase for a Champions League place.

Villa’s failure to win a game throughout the month of March has seen Martin O’Neill’s men slide out of the Premier League top four.

A dismal run which has yielded only a solitary point from the last 15 on offer is by far their worst sequence of the season.

Manager Martin O’Neill has attempted to identify the causes of a slump that has seen Arsenal leapfrog his Villa team into fourth.

As is normal practice the Ulsterman has made his players watch DVD re-runs of matches to pinpoint where they are going wrong.

However, Friedel reckons the sessions have thrown up a variety of mistakes rather than any specific areas for improvement.

“I don’t think it’s fatigue,” said Friedel, who is eligible to play in Villa’s next fixture against Manchester United at Old Trafford after his red-card for a professional foul at Liverpool was rescinded by the Football Association.

“I don’t buy that for a second to be honest with you. I can give you a whole host of clichés if you want them.

“We’ve watched videos incessantly on all of the games, which is sometimes painful. There’s a whole host of reasons for it. Some could have been helped couldn’t have been helped.

“There’s been some misfortune, some individual errors and some collective errors. It’s just been all encompassing in a sense.”

At 37, Friedel is, by some distance, the oldest member of the Villa dressing room with many of his colleagues under 25.

The experienced keeper believes the exuberance of youth will be crucial in Villa rediscovering their form for the run-in

“The great thing about us now is the age really, taking myself out of it,” said Friedel.