Reviewing The Season: The Upsides And The Downsides

Two straight wins against top-6 sides to finish the season must, I suppose, have fulfilled Dean's promise of a "strong finish" to the season, and have doubtless left all Villans with a good feeling. The return of Jack in the starting line-up surely contributed as inspiration to the team as a whole, with the marvellous Nakamba certainly living up to his name in both encounters, apart from the overall commitment, particularly by the Villa's defence.

I would be the first to say there has been some wonderful effort (and money) invested over the last three years to put the club into what seems to be a stable and very promising position, with the youth team highlighting the best of the planning by producing young players of the ilk that we have seen. This evening will hopefully top off their remarkable season by carrying off the Youth Cup.

So, we have really good young players coming through, we have owners who have very deep pockets, and there is a structure now in existence at the Villa which appears to be really up to the mark and working as a team. Their philosophy of imbibing a system of play through the club as the Villa Way must surely bring good results, hopefully coming to fruition for the club's 150th anniversary in three years' time, if not before. 

Yet dare I say that the late season could have produced more? We have finished in 11th position, the top of the bottom half, though 10 points ahead of the next club below us, yet we won the opening four games, with the trouncing of the then-current champions Liverpool, 7-2. A remarkable result, though contributed to by their defence seeming to be in a different world.

Then, following a 2-game blip, we thrashed Arsenal 3-0 on their own ground. And we were undefeated in December with 3 wins and 2 draws, including one at Chelsea. At the end of that month, we lay in 5th place.

In the season as a whole, we mostly did well against the top-10 clubs, with the exception (results-wise) of the two Manchester clubs and West Ham. We won more games than we lost.

So what happened after the New Year? 

Of course, Covid has been a perpetual worry throughout the season, and it seemed to threaten the viability of football, so that issue has to be taken seriously. But it was and is an issue that affects all clubs.

As we all know, the absence of Grealish for some 12 games was a serious blow, but his absence did not happen until mid-February, by which time we had already slipped since the start of the year, showing a record of P8 W3 D1 L4, including poor defeats against Burnley (away) and West Ham (home) before Jack began his absence. Against lowly Burnley we led 1-0 and 2-1 and should have put the game to bed a long time before that, but lost. The very same happened towards the end of the season at lowly Crystal Palace.

Injuries did play their part, with on-loan Barkley suffering a strange one and he never since really re-captured his early-season development, and has now returned to Chelsea. Other injuries apart from Grealish have affected Trezeguet and Sanson, both of whom were starting to make some impact at the time of their injuries, and Matty Cash, who is hard to replace.

So even with Grealish available, the team was faltering in early 2021, but without Grealish, the team seemed utterly lost until late on. Even McGinn, with all his energy, was not able to provide the inspirational drive. Others seemed unable to wear the mantle as leaders in the attacking half of the field, apart from Ollie.

The Villa defence, however, has mostly been without blemish. The odd wobble has been shown, but exemplary performances from all of them have usually been the case. Targett has been a revelation - I have rarely seen such an improvement in a player - and his full-back partner Cash was mostly great in his first season. And then there is Martinez. Wow.

The centre-backs, including (latterly) Hause, have generally been extremely good. 

So where is Villa's weakness? It has to be in midfield. Apart from Jack they seem not to be able to take command of the play. They often show promise but deliver too little in my view. And in the past two matches, Nakamba seemed to be mostly occupied in supporting his defenders.

So to the future. There will be constructive changes made, without doubt, and I hope that the midfield is strengthened. Perhaps Sanson may provide that commanding strength.

Meanwhile, supporters seem to be getting excited about the prospect of Tammy returning, but for me, that is the least of Villa's needs. While he was at Villa on loan he was playing in the Championship, and despite the 25 goals or so he scored, he must have missed another 15 good chances. Today it's about the Premier League, and if Chelsea cannot find space for him when they themselves are short of other effective strikers, then what is the point of Villa spending £40m on a player who has not shown himself to be effective in the top league?

And there is the matter of Keinan Davis. I do not think he's been given a proper chance. And Wesley?

Aside from all that, is the Villa midfield capable enough of getting the ball to their strikers? Of course, I may well be proven to be totally wrong next season!

But now to relax and prepare for the Youth Cup final! It should be good to watch.

Have a good summer!

UTV!

Well, At Least We Have The Youth Team!

The heartening performances this season by the Villa youngsters - including that performance against the Liverpool first team in the FA Cup - has been the real highlight of the season. Putting six past Newcastle and then four against the Baggies on Friday has put the Villa well and truly favourites to win the FA Youth Cup, but we have the not small hurdle of having to beat Liverpool Youth to achieve that. Can they stop the Villa steamroller?

That Raikhy feller can certainly hit a good pass, with Chuky and Barry doing their usual in the proceedings so far, and all three must surely breakthrough into the first team.

Talking of the Villa Youth causes me to recall way back to 1960 when the first really good Villa youth team emerged, containing the likes of Deakin, Sleeuwenhoek, and Baker, but they made mistakes in the quarter-final against Chelsea (whose players soon became big names in league football) and so did not progress any further. 

We then fast forward to the Youth Cup-winning team of 1972 (was it really nearly 50 years ago?) and the emergence of Brian Little and John Gidman. Then further good sides until well into the 2000s, that produced the likes of Vassell, Gabby, and the Moore brothers (Stephan and Luke). A lot was expected of the Moores but they somehow fell away after promising in the first team.

Another player that emerged from the Youth setup was Mark Albrighton, who really did seem to establish himself at one stage, but then fell away. Why was it that he fell away, I wonder, for look at him now! Not only a League winner with Leicester (2016) but also now gaining a Cup Winner's medal. When he left Villa at the time there were a lot of puzzled faces around.

Mark himself tells us a bit about that (with acknowledgement to the Birmingham Mail), when Villa did not make an offer to him to renew his contract:

I just totally loved the club. I knew no different. That was my life. Aston Villa was my life since I was young. I'd probably say I was getting a bit complacent there and never really pushed on as much as I could.

But whatever was on the table for me I would have accepted, 100 per cent; a one-year or even a pay-as-you-play or whatever. I didn't even think in my head that I would leave Villa.

Once I'd got to grips with the fact that there was no conversation to be had, I phoned my agent back and he named the clubs that were interested. I chose Leicester as my preference and I went there, spoke to the manager, spoke to Steve Walsh on my phone. He was singing my praises, he told me how good it was at Leicester and he sold it for me.

I'm not just blaming other people for that, that was down to me as well. I never kicked on as much as I could. [At Villa] I was always known as the kid from the youth team at Villa. That's how I felt. Once I had gone to Leicester I was a signing. I was brought in. So somebody along the way has gone, 'I like Marc Albrighton. We'll sign Marc Albrighton'. That sat well with me.

C'est la vie. It was the Villa's loss.

Back to the first team (groan!), the last two matches have been a wrench, with Villa today repeating their trick away against Burnley by leading 1-0 and then 2-1, but still losing 2-3. What is it when we play claret and blue teams? Er, Crystal Palace's colours were claret and blue until ca. 1967, and we did help 'em out a lot when they first got established in their current form (1905). 

So much for the "strong finish to the season" message from Dean Smith.

If it's any help, Dean, our recent performance away at Everton and in today's first half were a lot to do with being given space by the opposition. When we have space we look good, but, as Everton showed when they came to Villa Park a few days ago, when the opponents play it tight, Villa wilt. And again today.

Lessons are there to be learnt; I hope they learn them, for it's not about making more big signings but more (to me at least) a question about being tougher in their approach.

We shall see what next season brings. It will be better. I think.

UTV!

Heads Up Guys!

Well, one thing is sure is that Everton are not Man U! These last two games were a bit like the difference between chalk and cheese, or even the difference between blue and red.

As for Villa's performances in these last two matches, I am actually quite heartened, despite this defeat. For the first time since Jack took a back seat, in this past week I have seen movement and commitment in the Villa that shows a good basis for next season. At long last the look of reliance on Jack - the appearance that the rest of the team had lost their leader - had gone: they look as though they are a team though clearly there are two or three problems that need sorting.

Today we gave away an unnecessary penalty, as in the first game at Old Trafford, and with the same two players involved, Pogba and Luiz. And once that had gone in I felt something in my veins suggesting that they would grab a quick second. My veins are clearly a problem for me.

I have to say something about Traore. There are those that say he doesn't do enough, but if he can muster out of nothing a goal such as he scored today then for my money he's worth his place. And that wasn't the only thing he did: the way he stole the ball away from Pogba on the edge of our penalty area made me chuckle. Pogba didn't know what had hit him and clearly thought that he was about to score. Traore was also nicely involved in a few moves, but towards the end he could have done better with the final ball. Perhaps he was getting tired, poor feller.

Barkley was greatly improved against his old mates at Everton, but today he was not allowed to sparkle so much. He looked a bit flat, but still an improvement on a few games ago.

But we now have a very interesting situation with Watkins seeing red today. Surely Davis will have to start on Thursday versus Everton; Wesley doesn't look ready to me. Should Jack also be back for this one then the chances of Davis making his mark would be vastly increased. I also would like to see Sanson replace Luiz, though perhaps we'll only see him as a sub. Luiz is pretty tidy in his midfield passing, but I clench my teeth when he goes into a tackle in or around our penalty box. I remember thinking the same about Gueye.

But perhaps Ramsay will get the nod.

Anyhow, heads up! I feel the club will be more like what we hope for next season - and those long-named young players on today's bench will hopefully be part of Villa's resurgence.

UTV!

Villa For Europe?!

Was this the same team that we have seen labouring so much these past few weeks? Was this the same Barkley that seemed to have been stuck in left-over Everton toffee? Was this a resurrection of the players because they believe their skipper is soon to reappear?

Well, I'm not sure what the real answer is to any of those questions! All I know is that Villa could well have been 4-2 up at half-time, the woodwork having intervened twice, and Pickford pulling off 2 or 3 England-class saves, some amidst old-fashioned goalmouth excitement.

Apart from that, what about the crispness and fluidity of Villa's movement? This was another class of football altogether through most of this match, with Barkley suddenly finding his feet after weeks looking nothing like his early Villa form.

However - and there has to be a 'but' - was it partly due to Everton giving Villa the space they needed to gain confidence? Their central defenders certainly looked slow and ponderous and Watkins gaily took advantage of that, muscling his way past one to slip the ball past Pickford. And he very nearly repeated the dose not long after.

The second half was not quite so fluid as Everton seemed to have been told by their boss to not give Villa so much room, but after 15 minutes of not being sure of which way the match might go, Villa came back and were very much worthy winners. In fact, the scoreline should have been greater, with Everton hardly troubling Martinez in the second half.

Well done Villa. Even El Ghazi came back second half, after an indifferent first period, to trouble the Toffees' defence, and took his chance very well. Traore - the other wide man - also showed what a lovely player he can be on several occasions, setting up Barkley's run in the first half and then providing El Ghazi with his scoring chance. Ollie was - well - just Ollie.

After saying all that, I will add that I always feel that this fixture is always an interesting one to watch. I feel there is somehow an ingrained attitude between the two clubs that stems from the fact that this is the oldest - the most long-running - league fixture in the world.

From my deep researches into the Villa's history, I sense that there has been this respect (and also sporting competitiveness) that goes back 130 years plus, including that great Cup Final of 1897. Other matches, such as that wonderful match and last-seconds winner by Ashley Young at Goodison some 13 years ago, and a 3-3 draw at Villa Park in 2009, fairly took the breath away. The elderly distant cousin I took to that last-mentioned match (a Villa fan going back some 70 years) nearly had a heart attack, so much was he carried away by it having not seen the Villa play for 50 years.

There was even a match between the two clubs in the 1920s when Villa were down to 8 fit men on the field and yet held Everton 1-1, finally conceding two goals in the last few minutes.

Yes, I always look upon this fixture with some anticipation. Next week - against Man U - may be a different kind of match, but if Jack is back for that one, it will be all the more interesting!

Villa for Europe this year? Perhaps not, but at least a top-half finish looks more likely now.

UTV!

PS I was disappointed that Keinan was again benched, but the match was such that even that disappointment got lost in the moment.