Did Villa Think That Bournemouth Were Pushovers?

Gerrard was facing Scott Parker today and is due to face Frank Lampard next week - both former England colleagues in midfield. And it was Parker that showed today that he could do much better with the limited resources available to him.

The new season opened so disappointingly, the Villa conceding a goal within three minutes. The defence did not look fully awake, not at all helped by the fact that Digne was off the field unloading jewellery he should not have been wearing.

Throughout the match, the Villa looked bereft of ideas on how to prise open a resilient Bournemouth defence utilising a back-5. 66% possession and 15 shots (against their 7) does not tell the story of how sluggish Villa were, while Bournemouth were dangerous on the counter-attack.

Villa's team selection, containing Coutinho and Ings, was not my best choice, but who am I to say. Bailey looked bright enough, but he was too well covered.

Buendia's entry at the start of the second half added a bit more brightness, but it was all just not enough, proving that even an ordinary side can win when there is both method and commitment involved. Villa gave the appearance that all they had to do was turn up to win. Bournemouth had other ideas and their second goal, like the first, was mainly down to bad defending by Villa, though credit to their players for being in the right place at the right time.

The question is, therefore, why change Villa's defence of last season, which generally did well apart from the odd Mings slip-up. Somehow, however, I think that Mings would have tried harder to prevent Bournemouth's two goals today.

It could well be that Digne and Carlos will turn out to be superlative acquisitions, but when I look at Coutinho, who has now had 20 appearances in the Villa shirt, I ask whether these three players are worth the hype that they've been given? Buendia still stands out as the better option for me compared to Coutinho, and if you are going to have Ings starting as leader, would it not be better to have a three of Buendia, Archer and Bailey in support?

However, I do wonder what Chambers has to do to earn a regular spot.

Further, I do think that we still need a dominating midfielder, but perhaps Gerrard knows that.

So, will Frank Lampard also score points against Gerrard next week?

UTV!