Aston Villa: Why Richard Dunne believes they can make up for lack of summer signings

Oct 6 2010 by Mathew Kendrick, Birmingham Mail

RICHARD Dunne reckons Gerard Houllier’s passing philosophy could be the spark Villa were lacking during the Martin O’Neill era.

Houllier has placed an onus on possession football since taking over last month following the shock departure of O’Neill in early August.

Other than Stephen Ireland instead of James Milner, the new boss has inherited more or less the same squad his predecessor assembled.

But Dunne believes Houllier’s fresh approach of keeping the ball could be the missing ingredient to take Villa to the next level.

O’Neill’s side were sometimes accused of being a long-ball team over-reliant on set-pieces, counter-attacks and direct tactics.

“I think we played some good football over the last year, when the opportunity allowed us at times,” said Dunne. “But this is the new manager’s way and that’s what we have to settle into.

“I think as a team, as we progress and we see how well we do when we’re keeping the ball for longer periods, it will really make the team grow.

“We could become a team that can go on and dominate matches rather than be the team that always has to go and break.”