Jordan Ayew is a fantastic player. There's no doubt about it. He had a stellar game against Sheffield Wednesday, a good game against Luton and a decent match when we played Rotherham. However, when Villa faced Huddersfield at home last night, Jordan Ayew dropped the ball.
Now, the vast majority of you reading this won't have seen the match so unfortunately you're going to be the victim of bias. Radio commentators on local stations do have favourite players. They make mountains out of molehills and worst of all, they might even support Aston Villa and look away from serious issues that national commentators would criticise. It's either that or the local commentator will pick up on pointless issues in the style of Tony 'Jack's got to get it together' Morley.
And you know, the radio doesn't pick up on what's happening off-the-ball.
So, unfortunately you might not have seen Jordan Ayew last night. That might have been a blessing, because I'll tell you right now, he doesn't deserve a starting spot against Derby County if he's going to put in a performance like he did last night.
So, what was so bad? Well, there are a number of issues here. The total time that individual players generally clock up on the ball during a match usually times out at about two to four minutes each. You've got to make things happen in that time. Ayew surely knows this, so how did he manage to gather thirty seconds standing still? I counted and there were two separate occasions when he stood with the ball on the flank and just waited. Waited. Waited. No attempt to take anyone on, simply waiting.
That is an issue for a creative outlet.
Another issue is linked to his dawdling on the ball in that he failed to adjust to the high tempo play of Villa. On occasions he was lost, offside, out of position and looking increasingly like he had run out of interest.
There seemed to be no concentration in his game last night, because he might have noticed that Rudy Gestede was winning every single aerial duel coming his way. Ayew never tried to link up with the monstrous forward at all.
The worst aspect to Ayew yesterday was his seeming reluctance to shoot and score goals. He wants to glide around people as he did against Wednesday and score world class finishes. He doesn't want to ever take the simple option. He didn't play Jack Grealish through on goal and instead chose to wait for a time where Grealish could play the one, two.
The thing is about Jordan Ayew, is that he seems to play Jordan Ayew's game and is operating in a different plain of reality than the other men on the pitch. This won't end well at all.
That being said, it might just be bad form and at the end of the day, Ayew isn't a natural winger. He's practically being played out of position, but instead of adapting, he's trying to change the game to suit him. It might not be worth dropping Ayew, but he seriously dissapointed last night in a game he would have put to bed last year.
Pierluigi Gollini's mishap cost Villa two points, but his saves ensured Villa didn't lose. Ayew's reluctantce to adapt ensured Villa didn't win.