Seven hours of non-scoring from the Villa is enough to send any Villan to sleep, but what a way to be woken up when Bacuna's finely judged free kick hit the net with their keeper rooted to the spot! And it was then good to see a player other than Benteke score from open play to provide a decent scoreline. Not that I don't want Benteke to score, but hype has led to the expectation of goals coming purely from CB, a situation that would not be ideal.
But the recent lack of goals has led to questions. Is it that Gabby and Andy have been off-form is perhaps the first obvious question. And I would say that there is an element of truth there as both players have missed chances that at the end of last season would have been put away. But the major issue for me has been the lack of quality (other than Delph) in midfield.
Against Cardiff yesterday, at a crucial point in the game, Lowton was brought on and Bacuna was given chance to move forward. That simple change seemed to make a big difference; Villa hit two goals in the ensuing 10 minutes - and might have added more. When Delph returns, perhaps his partnership with Bacuna might be more productive, at the expense of one of the other two.
We have been thinking that the fixture list has become a bit easier now, but we have difficult upcoming away games between now and December at Albion and Southampton, with potential banana-skin matches against Sunderland and Fulham. How well Villa do in these four matches before the visit of Man U will, in my opinion, be a good indicator as to what level we have really reached.
We can - as always - continue to hope!
.
But the recent lack of goals has led to questions. Is it that Gabby and Andy have been off-form is perhaps the first obvious question. And I would say that there is an element of truth there as both players have missed chances that at the end of last season would have been put away. But the major issue for me has been the lack of quality (other than Delph) in midfield.
Against Cardiff yesterday, at a crucial point in the game, Lowton was brought on and Bacuna was given chance to move forward. That simple change seemed to make a big difference; Villa hit two goals in the ensuing 10 minutes - and might have added more. When Delph returns, perhaps his partnership with Bacuna might be more productive, at the expense of one of the other two.
We have been thinking that the fixture list has become a bit easier now, but we have difficult upcoming away games between now and December at Albion and Southampton, with potential banana-skin matches against Sunderland and Fulham. How well Villa do in these four matches before the visit of Man U will, in my opinion, be a good indicator as to what level we have really reached.
We can - as always - continue to hope!
.
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