By Ryan Ghee
August 8 2005

David O'Leary has challenged Olof Mellberg to regain his status as one of the best defenders in the Premiership. After an inconsistent 04/05 campaign, O'Leary has made it clear that he believes Mellberg can become the driving force behind the club's push for Europe. By his own standards, Mellberg had an inconsistent season last time round and it ended on a low note as he missed the last few matches with a knee injury. Throughout pre-season however, he has put in a series of solid performances and luckily for Villa fans, he looks like he is getting back to his best.

Speaking on the matter, O'Leary said, "I know he is a real quality player. I've got a really good skipper here and we are looking for him to reach some really high standards again - the standards he set in my first season.
"If Olof has a good season, then Villa will have a good season. That's what happened in my first season when, for me, Olof was as good as any centre-back in the country. Throughout that season he was also our most consistent player."

The Villa boss also sung the praises of Juan Pablo Angel, saying, "I've got players here that I know, if they perform, can be as good as anybody. One is the captain (Mellberg) and another one is Juan Pablo. If he performs like he did in the first season, Villa will do well. We need those players to play well."