Solidity Is Villa's New Keyword

'Grit', 'tenacity', 'commitment', 'determination'. These are all apt words to describe the Villa's two second-half performances against Crystal Palace and Chelsea, leaving the opponents' team managers (Hodgson and Lampard) both looking fed up at the end of the two matches.

In the Palace match, their ageing defence was partly responsible for what looked like an unlikely Villa win after we were reduced to 10 men, but the commitment and skill of the entire Villa team was clear in that second half with the result that Palace had few chances to get a goal.

Against Chelsea it was a similar story of commitment by Villa, but against quite a different opponent, with Chelsea being quick movers and gritty themselves. The likes of Grealish and Traore had little opportunity to show their silky skills, but both played a solid part in keeping Chelsea at bay and trying to keep the Villa in with a chance of a winner. And then young Ramsay so nearly fashioned a winner after midfield dynamo McGinn had rocked the Chelsea bar from 25 yards.

Hause and Konsa were a solid central pair, and were ably supported by the two Villa full-backs. The only thing missing from the back was Mings's ability to play the ball out of defence, but the team's overall commitment was first-class, punctuated only by a silly rearguard pass across the edge of the penalty area from Jack that they nearly capitalised on. It's odd that arguably Villa's two most classy players in their respective departments - Grealish and Mings - manage to do silly things, but they do.

El Ghazi, having been eviscerated for his wastefulness against Burnley, is suddenly a darling of the Villa fans having scored 4 in the last 3 matches. He's certainly the man of the moment in goalscoring terms, and poor Trez must be looking on with worry. In fact, El Ghazi seems to fit in well with Jack and Traore right now.

With the ever-reliable Martinez behind this solid Villa team, things do look quite bright and I am sure they will give a good account of themselves on the first day of the new year at Old Trafford after 5 games undefeated. Mings and Barkley should be available for that match. 

The question then remains as to whether Villa can score another seven the following week against Liverpool in the FA Cup, but they, of course, should be much better prepared this time. Hopefully not, though!

UTV!