Source: Team_Talk
Defence must tighten up - Young
Young is full of praise for the expansive style of play installed into the side by manager Martin O'Neill, with wingers Ashley Young and James Milner providing the ammunition for John Carew, Gabriel Agbonlahor and Emile Heskey.[LNB]The benefits of that were highlighted by the way Villa managed to recover from a 3-1 deficit to share the spoils with Everton at the weekend.[LNB]But the England full-back concedes it also leaves Villa exposed to the same counter-attacking style which has been their own strength in sustaining a top-six spot in the Premier League this season.[LNB]Villa have failed to keep a clean sheet since the 2-0 win at Blackburn in early February and have now dropped nine points behind fourth-placed Arsenal.[LNB]Young said: "It is something that comes with the territory of the way we play. We are so expansive that at times we do leave ourselves so short and we get counter-attacked ourselves.[LNB]"At the moment we are not doing well enough as a back four or as a team defence-wise.[LNB]"We don't want to stop anything in terms of our attacking play because, at the minute, it is a joy to watch at times with the boys flowing forward.[LNB]"But I think there is a fine balance and we have maybe got to be a little bit more cautious at times.[LNB]"I think we are finding ourselves going a goal behind and we are trying to chase the game and then suddenly we are two behind and we are chasing it even more."[LNB]Young revealed there was little elation amongst the players in the aftermath of rescuing a point against Everton.[LNB]He said: "You would have thought we would have been pleased to get a point in the end but in the dressing room it was quite flat afterwards even though we'd come back from 3-1 down.[LNB]"The result kept Everton at bay a little bit but we wanted to win the game. We haven't won for a while so there were positives there - but we can't keep having to score three goals."[LNB]Young is hoping Villa can end the season on a high starting with Saturday's home clash with West Ham.[LNB]He said: "The season sorts of gets overshadowed with the bad run we've been on. A couple of months ago we were riding high and everything was positive.[LNB]"We were on such a great run and trying to get Champions League football.[LNB]"It has taken the gloss off the end of the season a little bit but, hopefully with the last six games, we can pick it up again and give a good account of ourselves."[LNB][LNB]
