My favorite player: Jordan Veretout

In a roster primarily made up of the worst Aston Villa side to ever feature in the Premier League, picking a favorite player doesn’t exactly come easy to most. Although many supporters have made the decision to support new signings in order to avoid awarding favoritism upon players who have relegated their club, I have chosen to support a player who was very much apart of that dismal campaign, and that player is Jordan Veretout.

Why Jordan Veretout?

The reason why Jordan Veretout is my favorite player is rather elusive and hard to definitively pinpoint. When he joined from Nantes last July, I really did not have an impression of the midfielder, but over the course of his Villa career Veretout soon became my favorite. I don’t know if it’s the potential he has yet, but still can, offer this side, or if it’s his occasional, adorable selfies he takes with his family, or if it’s his hilarious, yet distressed facial expressions during his appearance on Aston Villa’s Christmas message video, but I just really, really like the dude.

What does Jordan Veretout offer?

In spite of rumors that hint at the midfielder’s ambitions to move on elsewhere, Jordan Veretout can offer Aston Villa a lot more if he’s starting with the Championship side, opposed to being on loan somewhere else. With an unstable midfield that looks to become even more shaky, and the desperate need for reinforcements, Veretout still has the prospective talent to help this side succeed in its goal of promotion. Something that gets lost in the discussion of Veretout’s future with Villa, is that the French international was one of last season’s better performers.

Photo by Shaun Botterill/Getty Images

Statistically speaking, Jordan Veretout was Villa’s best creator during the 2015/16 season. Veretout lead the team in assists with 5 over the course of 25 league games, despite having to overcome unreasonable exiles that handicapped his playing time with the club by Tim Sherwood in the beginning of the year, and Eric Black at the end of the year. Something a Championship Villa side could use is a good set-piece taker. Although not perfect, Veretout’s set piece distribution is one of the best in the side. With 3 out of his 5 assists having come off of set pieces, Villa could use Veretout’s ability instead of forcing their most proven goal scorer on the team, Ross McCormack, to take corners and long free kicks.

What does Jordan Veretout tell about me?

Sometimes as fans the competitive nature of sports intoxicates us in our own insularity, and we lose track that these are actual people representing our teams. Although it may sound frivolous in terms of sports, Jordan Veretout is my favorite player, because he is also my favorite person on Aston Villa. I have mentioned a lot more about Veretout’s footballing ability above than his personality, but as a human they are equally as important to me. Sure, valuing talent over character when it comes to sports is a necessary evil, but making a connection with the human side of a player I recklessly spend hours watching every week means a hell of a lot more to me than any pass they make or any goal they score.