Crucial Carew

Last updated : 01 December 2008 By Tom Vickers
Arriving at Villa Park in January 2007, John Carew immediately transformed the Villa attack. The big Norwegian is blessed with just about every gift a striker could ask for. He not only has height and power in abundance but skill, pace and an eye for goal are also in his repertoire

The much travelled striker has the experience and the trophies to go with it, winning the La Liga title and a Champion's League runners up medal with Valencia and the French Ligue 1 Championship with Lyon.

Carew's career to date has seen him play in Norway, Spain, Italy, Turkey, France and England and according to the big man he is at his happiest where he is right now. Add charm to his list of talents.

Whether it's the adoration that regularly comes his way from the Villa Park faithful or the selection of gentlemen's clubs that Birmingham City has to offer is up for debate, but one thing is for certain his happiness is reflected by his performances on the pitch.

When in form, Carew looks like a 12 year old playing in a play ground against a team of six year olds. His physical attributes are genuinely that immense. Surely one of the more powerful and imposing strikers around the Norwegian is the very focal point of Villa's attack.

He can win headers without jumping, take balls on his chest that others could only look to flick goalwards and when he does decide to run with he can repel defenders with almost comic ease.

His hold up play and guidance on the pitch has seen Ashley Young and Gabby Agbonlahor flourish and develop into two of the best attacking talents in the country.

Carew is a clear leader on the pitch and it is obvious to anyone who watches football what an intelligent player he is. Whether it's his directing of the traffic, releasing on-rushing midfielders with well weighted passes or keeping Gabby tuned in when his mind begins to well…….wander.

Menace

The giant number ten has recently incurred the wrath of Martin O' Neill for breaking the club's curfew the night before the UEFA Cup home game against Ajax.

Once he regained his place, he then picked up a minor knock before kick off in the home game against Middlesbrough, which saw him miss another two matches.

Carew has a slightly worrying habit of picking up small knocks and for such a big man it can often take him some time to find his rhythm again. Though it can't be described technically as a fault of Carew, as a player his absence can have a devastating impact on the shape of the team.

Unplayable, is a word often used to describe the giant forward when he is on top of his game and anyone who witnessed his performances away to West Brom or at home to Manchester City this season will vouch that when at his awesome best Carew can indeed look unplayable.The only problem with this is that he clearly has the ability to do it more often than he actually does.

Inconsistent is another accurate observation that can just as easily be levelled at him.

Ex-Villa Striker Dion Dublin has also observed that Carew doesn't show enough hunger to get into the box and get on the end of crosses. Given the quality supplied form the flanks by Young and James Milner this would appear to be a massive oversight on the part of Carew.

His goals record for Villa has been excellent for a target man, 23 from 60 appearances but that could and should be increased greatly if he were to show slightly more desire and menace in and around the penalty area and get himself in the opposition penalty area with more gusto than he often shows.

Given his recent absences and the team's positive results in that period, it could be very easy to forget how vitally important Carew is but there can be no question that if this Aston Villa side to achieve success in the coming years he will be one of, if not the most significant contributor at the business end of the pitch.