It was a familiar tale for Stewart Downing. With every passing transfer window came another missed chance of a real shot at the big time. There was no shortage of big clubs thinking about him as an option, but for one reason or another no one was willing to follow through on the bundles of pages of scouting they had done on him. Tottenham, before the days of Gareth Bale sought a left sided midfielder, Downing wasn't to be that man. Arsenal, managed by Arsene Wenger were known admirers of Downing, yet they like their London neighbours decided to look elsewhere time and time again. Then of course there was Liverpool, who had craved a genuine top class winger ever since Steve Mcmanaman had departed for the Bernebeu to join Real Madrid's legion of Galactico's. Circumstances dictate however, and the perilous ownership situation forced the then manager Rafa Benitez to delve into the transfer market with eyes on secondary targets seeking first and foremost to keep the transfer expenditure as low as possible.
16th July 2009 - The years of waiting for the chance to make the step up ends as Aston Villa agree a deal worth 12 million with Middlesbrough. The 16th of July was to become an important date in the career of Stewart Downing. On arrival at Villa Park, Downing talked of his relief to join a club with genuine aspirations of competing at the top end of the Premier League year in year out.
"As an outsider looking in, it was obvious Villa are a club on the up. I want to be part of that."
It was a fair comment from Downing. At the time of his arrival Villa had just come off the back of a 6th placed finish and had a European campaign to look forward to. Martin O'Neill was building a team around young English players at Villa, Downing joining an already impressive crop including Ashley Young, Gareth Barry, James Milner and Gabriel Agbonlahor.
Downing was signed by O'Neil despite the fact he was carrying an injury and wasn't expected to return to action until November. This tied in with the four year deal, pointed to Downing being a long term signing.
The 2009/10 season proved to be another positive step for Aston Villa as a football club, Downing spent a lot of his time playing from wide right and managed to help the club secure another 6th placed finish, as well as a Carling Cup final appearance, although Downing was to end up on the losing side as they narrowly lost out to Manchester United.
The whole outlook for Downing and Aston Villa flipped upside down when just days before the start of the 2010/11 season manager Martin O'Neill walked out on the club due to a dispute with the clubs owner Randy Lerner over funds for potential new players. Another blow came soon after O'Neill's departure, Villa's star player from the season previous James Milner finally completed his widely expected move to Manchester City. Milner's absence may have had a negative affect on the form of Aston Villa as a whole but it had the opposite affect for Stewart Downing as an individual.
Downing quickly stepped up and became the main man for Aston Villa post Martin O'Neil and James Milner. Whilst Ashley Young and Gabriel Agbonlahor struggled to regain their form form years previous, Downing was producing perhaps his best ever season, playing mostly from his favoured left midfield role. Despite the club going through three different managers during the season, there was a feeling that no matter who was at the helm Downing was playing with such confidence, a successful season was inevitable. Downing managed to contribute 7 goals throughout the season, despite Villa being a predominately counter attacking team. On paper, 7 goals may not be a figure to shout about, but for Downing it was a significant improvement on his previous seasons. In 8 years at Middlesbrough Downing managed just 17 goals, so a return of 7 goals for a team struggling at the bottom of the Premiership was more impressive than the figure initially suggests.
Downing's season culminated in a man of the match performance against....... yep, Liverpool. Liverpool's young full back John Flanagan had stepped in at the end of the season and coped with apparent ease, performing like a seasoned pro against the likes of Manchester City and Arsenal at just 18 years of age. On May 11th however, Flanagan finally got a taste of what it feels like to be a full back in the Premier League when he came up against Stewart Downing. Downing ended a superb campaign on a personal level with the winning goal to give Aston Villa a 1-0 win over Liverpool at Villa Park. Downing displayed all of his qualities to the young full back that day, cutting inside as easily as he could hit the by-line and whip in a typically threatening cross. I'm sure you could have put a smile on Flanagan's face had you told him that he would only be marking him in training over the coming years.
Exactly two years after Downing's move to Aston Villa he was on the move once again, and just like he took a step up to join Aston Villa from his hometown club Middlesbrough, it was the same situation again when he finally signed on the dotted line for Kenny Dalglish's new look Liverpool. It was clear from the outset that Downing was the man Dalglish and Comolli wanted as Liverpool's long sought after 'winger'.
In the days and weeks after Downing's move, there was much debate about the fee Liverpool had paid to prize Downing away from Villa Park, '£20 million'. Again, i would be tempted to use the phrase 'On paper', the reason being - 20 million pounds seems like a hell of a lot of money for Stewart Downing.... 'On paper' - but it's on the pitch that matters, and in that respect Downing will be worth every penny.
Does Downing typify the 'FSG' outlook on players? It would seem so. When the American Sports group completed their takeover of Liverpool back in October 2010, journalists and fans alike began to root around to find as much information as they could on Liverpool's brand new owners. One name that would have come up time and time again was that of Billy Beane. FSG were known advocates of Beane's system in Baseball 'Moneyball'. Put simply, 'Moneyball' is based around statistics and which individual's have the best stats. With that in mind, it didn't take a genius to work out why Liverpool's 'Director Of Football' Damien Comolli wanted to make Downing one of Liverpool's new summer recruits.
Downing appeared alongside new teammate Jordan Henderson in the top five of 'Chances created' during the Premier League from the 2010/11 season.
This kind of stat would have been a telling factor in Comolli's decision to go after Downing, but no more important than Downing's versatility, his ability to pass and move with ease, his excellent crossing and his underrated burst of speed, yes.... you can see why Downing was an attractive proposition to the Frenchman.
What can we expect from Downing in a Liverpool shirt? The first thing that stands out about Downing is his incredible consistency. He appeared in every single one of Aston Villa's league games from the season previous, and regularly did the same at Middlesbrough.
So far in his short Liverpool career, Downing has played from wide right to great effect, as well as his more natural wide left role. In the opening fixture of the Premier League season Downing started off from the left hand side of midfield, but it was on the right side of the pitch that he produced the moment of the match, and a taster of what Liverpool fans can expect over the rest of the season. Downing picked up the ball just inside the Sunderland half, and with one burst of acceleration the Sunderland defenders were backing away, Downing skipped past three players and unleashed a wonderful left footed shot from just outside the eighteen yard box that crashed off the bar and raised a huge sigh from all corners of Anfield. It was one of those moments where you turn to your mate on the Kop and think 'This boy can play a bit'.
In the first real 'heavyweight' game of the season down at the Emirates Downing again showed all of his footballing smarts in a highly efficient performance, the England winger more than playing his part as Liverpool ran out 2-0 winners. Downing was a vital cog in the way Liverpool set up, more often than not he led Liverpool's counter attacks, able to move the whole team 30 yards further up the field with one change of pace. It's something that Liverpool have lacked for a long time, someone with the ability to wipe out full zones of the field with just pure running. Manchester United have had it throughout the Premier League era, with Giggs, Ronaldo, Nani, Valencia all providing a simple but effective outlet. Despite all the qualities players like Maxi, Kuyt, and Benayoun posses teams could easily adapt to keep them as quiet as possible, typically by pushing up and denying them space in the middle third, because of course teams knew that there was no real threat in behind in terms of pace. With Downing, it's a lose lose (For the opposition!) no matter what tactics a team decides to employ, he's happy to come in off the flank and bump it off one and two touch, but if you squeeze up too much, then he has no problems running in between full backs and centre backs. It gives the side so much variety, and that's why he's a twenty million pound player, Downing does the small things that make a big difference for the collective. In theory, Downing will be able to do join in with the pass and move groove at Anfield, when teams are more likely to come and sit in, and then away from home look to open up the pitch a tad more and look for the run off the full backs shoulder. As Optajoe might say - options.
Does he have International credentials and do we care?Tom Cleverley was recently called up to the England squad after a 45 minute cameo against Manchester City in the Charity shield, 'This is England', though Capello is no Shane Meadow's and Wayne Rooney no Stephen Grah... *hem* *hem*.
The call up of the young Manchester United player encapsulated all that is wrong with English football, certainly at National level. For so long, Stewart Downing was playing for an unfashionable club - Middlesbrough. If only Downing had made one above average appearance in the Charity Shield then he may have aquired double the amount of caps he currently has.
Downing finally made progress on the International front when his former club manager Steve McClaren was appointed as England manager. This presented it's own problems however, McClaren's reign turned out to be a disaster from the outset and it didn't take long for the press to jump on Downing's inclusion as one of the contributing factors.
One of the major turning points in both McClaren's and Downing's England career was the 0-0 draw at home to Macedonia. Downing was played on the left hand side of the England midfield and didn't do himself justice. Predictably, England fans and press alike rounded on Downing, questions were fired at McClaren for including him, and there were even aqusations of bias because of the Middlesbrough connection.
This was one of the write up's Downing received in regard to his Macedonia performance.
England lacked pace and width - and those are two things that can be aimed at Downing. Now the crowd have turned against him, it will be a battle to save his England career.
So on Downing's third start for England, he was apparently fighting to save his England career, on Downing's third start for England the crowd had turned against him - 'This is England'.
Of course just a short time later Steve McClaren was sacked as England manager and Downing was seemingly back to square one.
If Downing ever was genuinely 'fighting' to save his England career then he seems to be winning. Downing has been a regular in Fabio Capello's England squad ever since the Italian's appointment in December 2007, Downing's finest hour in an England shirt came in 2008 as England beat Germany away from home when Downing put in a man of the match performance in England's 2-1 victory.
This was how The Guardian summed up Downing's performance;
Far more threatening than Wright-Phillips', swinging in the ball for Upson's goal and forcing Tim Wiese to save a second-half free-kick. A stinging half-volley on half-time from a newly confident player.
Unfortunately for Downing, England's next game came against the European champions Spain in Seville. It was a game that Spain dominated from the off and Downing could never really get himself involved enough to build on the Germany performance. He was subbed off at half time as England were totally outclassed in a 2-0 defeat.
The Spain defeat summed up Downing's International career to date, it was a case of the wrong game at the wrong time. The win in Germany should have acted as a building block for Downing and England, but that wasn't something David Villa and co were bothered about.
From the start Downing has made at Liverpool there is a real chance for Capello to hand him that prized shirt number between 2-11. Kenny Dalglish has done it, and in a short space of time we've seen how Downing rewards those who put their trust in him.
