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!
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