In a recent interview with Football Insider, Gabriel Agbonlahor tipped Aston Villa forward Cameron Archer to push for a first-team spot at Villa Park this season. Agbonlahor said,
“You can see what can happen with young players like Archer.
“All it takes is Aston Villa to be losing 1-0, Archer comes on in the 70th minute, scores an equaliser and has a worldy of a 20 minutes.
“The next game, the manager has a decision to make, do you stick with the players that you’ve got or do you bring Archer in?
“I think he’s going to be that headache for Steven Gerrard this season.
“He’s going to prove that he’s good enough to start then it’s going to make it a hard decision for Steven Gerrard.
“That’s what you want, a young hungry player who’s good enough. You don’t want a young, hungry player who’s not really good enough and you’re just keeping him around the first team because you want to keep young players.
“You want ones that are good enough and Archer has shown that he’s got potential to be good enough.
“It’s definitely the right decision. If you’re not looking at any other strikers in the transfer window, having three strikers is perfect to have around the first team.”
Archer’s Recent Rise At Aston Villa
The 20-year-old has come through the youth ranks of the West Midlands club and deserves a lot of credit for breaking into Steven Gerrard’s first XI last season. Archer has banged in four goals in seven senior matches for the Villans thus far across various competitions.
The Walsall-born has already shown flashes of his true potential over the past couple of seasons. Hence, it makes sense for Steven Gerrard to give him more playing opportunities in the future so that he can nurture him into a prolific striker in Premier League football.
Should Aston Villa Boss Steven Gerrard Promote Archer To His First Team?
Archer can be a decent finisher in the final third when he is playing well on the field. He can even make some decent runs with the ball towards the opponent’s penalty box.
However, the lack of regular playing time is not doing the youngster’s confidence any good. Therefore, Aston Villa boss Steven Gerrard should think about promoting Archer to his first XI if both Ollie Watkins and Danny Ings fail to find consistency with their offensive numbers at Villa Park this season.
