A Still Young Young Shows How!

I still rue the loss of Milner and Young back in 2010 and 2011 and both have shown over the years their immense value in service to other leading clubs. Barry's loss too was hurtful, but I feel the two previously mentioned players were the greatest loss. And we've never had their equal since.

During the time those players were at Villa Park, Gabby produced his best footie as well, but after they all went he did not re-ignite, except when Benteke was with us, and effectively fizzled out. But that's another story.

The point here is that we're now enjoying 2 seasons of Young's belated return in his renaissance as a Villa player, and what a corker he delivered last night!

Until he came on as a sub in the Man City match recently he rarely made any great impression. He has been very useful but - though working hard - always gave the impression to me that he was just playing a role in his journey towards retirement.

But from that Man City game onward - 4 games now - he seems to have become virtually undroppable and sets himself as an example. Is it because he was made Club Captain that he suddenly realised that others had confidence in him and that he could still play a significant role?

Whatever it is, the will and execution of that goal of his will long live in my memory. On top of that and his willingness to get forward, he did a tidy job at the back.

Who would have thought that nearly 16 years since he first arrived at VP, he would still get onto Villa's scoring chart? He needs one more for 40 goals for the Villa in his career, and many of his goals are truly memorable. Who can forget that last-minute winner at Everton all those years ago?

That's what makes football really live for me - memories such as that.

As for last night's game? Much of it was like last week's second half at Leeds: a good amount of puff and movement but no execution - apart from Ash the full-back showing how. Bringing on Cameron was far too late i.m.o., especially as I saw little from Ings.

Villa's lack of progress seems to reflect the fact that the policy of bringing in big-name attractions - firstly Gerrard and then Coutinho - is backfiring. Neither is performing at all well.

Well, next up Chelsea is a team getting its form back under a new manager - one that many Villa fans feel should be at Villa. And Chukky may be playing in this match.

Surely it's a match that Gerrard has to at least get a point from. What, another draw (you ask), but if obtained it will be well-earned, I'm sure. A win will surely save Gerrard's bacon.

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Puff, Puff But Nothing To Show

Boy, did they look rusty! An enforced international break seemed to have a dampening effect on the forwards in particular. Not that they were full of alacrity before the enforced break - they weren't - but when you are up against a 10-man team for the whole of 45 minutes  (including injury time) and not take advantage of the gaps with inadequate firepower was downright appalling.

I can fully understand Gerrard's pragmatic approach right now, but this was a match that was crying out to be put to bed and thus achieving 7 instead of 5 points in the last 3 matches.

All I can say is that we live in hope that these daydreamers wake up to take advantage of struggling Nottm Forest next week.

There's surely something wrong at Villa. The players seem not to be as 'free' in their play as they were under Dean Smith. Not that his era was perfect as the team needed more discipline, and he also lost Grealish, but now we seem to have gone to another extreme. I get the feeling that the players seem to feel the strain of this regime's coaching methods and react to playing circumstances rather than be sufficiently proactive. Other teams seem to find their players much better with their passes - even Leeds (first half). To me, it seems to be more of a psychological issue.

As to individuals, I would first refer to Bailey. He clearly has the capability of being a dangerous player, but I am unhappy with his continual unnecessary fouling, particularly after he has been dispossessed. 

Why was Luiz picked instead of Chambers or Dendoncker? I find that puzzling as I do not rate Luiz for the number 6 role, and Chambers in particular deserves more playing time.

As to Watkins, well when it comes to shooting he seems to be completely out of sorts, although his outfield play is mostly excellent. But we need goals. Ings seems not to be the answer either, but we have a certain Cameron Archer still not getting time on the pitch but who would, I am sure, liven things up a bit. Maybe Archer should play alongside Watkins, simply because scoring goals is the way to winning matches. We have scored just two in the last three matches, even though undefeated in that time.

In any case, surely Archer was the player to bring on yesterday after 70 minutes, if not before. 

Well, I suppose it could be said that Leeds' aggressive approach sublimated Villa's approach work, but I am still not happy.

Nope, as you might have guessed, I am now certainly not a fan of Gerrard. He may have great aspirations, but as various pundits have said, with the playing staff at his disposal he should be doing better.

I am happy, however, that Ashley provides a calming head at the back, with the two c-bs now playing pretty well also. But the fullback positions look decidedly decimated. Let's hope that Matty is available for the next match.

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Time For Another Break From Club Football

Aside from the COVID-hit season of 2020-21, this is perhaps the most peculiar football league season on record! Firstly the postponement of matches arising from the Queen's sad death, followed straight after (now) by an international break. And then we face the World Cup break in November and December. So from mid-September right up to Christmas it's a staccato fixture list.

Well, it gives injured players some extra room to get back into fitness.

On top of all that I see that the PL clubs are discussing the future of the FA Cup and League Cup, in particular, the removal of the replay idea. Clearly, Man U and such clubs do not like the idea of a lesser team getting a second chance after they have bravely fought for a draw! On top of that, it is being proposed that Champions League clubs play their u-21 sides in the League Cup. 

This is making a further mockery out of the League Cup, a competition that has never been highly regarded from the time it was instigated in 1960. Not many top-tier clubs entered the competition in its first years (the Villa being one of the exceptions and the competition's first winner) and it was not until 1967 that the League Cup Final was held at Wembley. Even so, it has always given the feeling of it being a lesser competition and the only major argument for its existence has been as another entry point for European competition. That was how the Villa first got into Europe in 1975.

The argument against the competition back then was that it was clogging up other fixtures and clearly that is the case now. Therefore, why not drop it altogether? Surely that's preferable to making a complete mockery of it as is proposed? However, perhaps the competition will eventually die a natural death as a result of such mockery. I for one am not unhappy with the idea of the League Cup's demise, or perhaps it should be competed for only by clubs in the Football League. We shall see what they decide, but the League Cup will remain with us for a while yet.

As to the state of the Villa, I now feel a sense of relief that Gerrard is showing signs of learning from his over-rushed changes, particular in his desire to quickly meet the target of NSWE to get into the top few. It's also interesting that the Villa's defence has partly reverted to "as you were" last season, with Konsa and Mings both starting to form the good partnership they had before Gerrard's arrival, a situation that has been brought about by the enforced absence of Carlos. 

The other major signing in the summer (Kamara) is also sidelined, but not so serious it would appear. And we have both Dendoncker and Chambers to cover that position, as well as Luiz, who looks as though he is on the way out of the Club. Anyway, Luiz is clearly better in a more forward position.

The big revelation has been Ashley Young since he took over from the injured Cash in the first third of the Man City match. Though I like Matty Cash, Ashley seems to add some authority in that position and has undoubtedly helped to galvanise better effort and method from the team in the last couple of matches. Having said that, the Saints match was not one for anyone hoping to see quality football. "Pragmatism" seems to be Gerrard's newfound word, and in the light of where Villa was in the table two matches ago, his approach is not easy to argue with.

Gerrard has still to get better input from Coutinho, who often shows flashes of brilliance but without doing anything to turn a match on its head. Meanwhile, the more direct Buendia is looked upon as a support player, even though he is still the club's most expensive signing and, arguably, achieves a lot more. It's often been the case of failure by Ings and Watkins to take advantage of Buendia's magical through balls that have stopped Buendia from acquiring more 'assists'.

Meanwhile, while Bailey looks as though he's a star in the making still, he is far from becoming a supernova.

I have a quiet confidence developing that Gerrard will do better than seemed to be the case a month ago, but how much better remains to be seen. Has he really got the ability to turn a sow's ear into velvet? We shall see.

Meanwhile, I am disgusted with the attitude of fans on some blogs (such as The Villa Blog) who this week were denigrating Gerrard by saying that "he had pushed his head coach under a bus" (and such statements) simply because Gerrard had mentioned in his after match interview that perhaps the new coach was keen for the Villa to be playing a better attacking game. But Gerrard said this while admitting that had been his attitude also, so he was hardly criticising only the coach.

While I am still not Gerrard's greatest fan, I feel that many football supporters just like to read the power of their own indictments while releasing their frustrations, supported by their own prejudice. Fairness goes by the board.

So, nearly two weeks before another football match followed by a month of fixtures before the long World Cup break. Where will the Villa be once we get into the New Year? Anything is possible!

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