The Winner That Capped The Great Pyramid!

Well, if our matches against Leicester are acting as a barometer, we seem to be improving! To go from a 1-4 home defeat through to a draw at Leicester, and now a win over a high-placed club under a good coach, has to be noted.

I still have the movement of last night's winner replaying in my brain ... the space that Leicester gave  Elmo to think out his pass ... the anticipatory run down the left by Trez ... the almost casual follow-through of the boot around the ball to send it on its way to its destination ... the almost-perfect execution and its delivery to the exact spot of Trez's arrival ... and the rather spectacular finish. 

Whether it was Egyptian to Egyptian via telepathy is a moot point, but the team certainly finished up in a pyramid of bodies to celebrate! 

I enjoyed that goal more so because it does demonstrate that we have players other than Jack who can thread a wonderful pass. Elmo illustrated that last night as Luiz did a couple of games ago to find Jack for him to score.

And it was good last night to see the striker spot properly filled! Although Samatta did not show much venom and missed a rather good chance to open his account, I felt that he showed a good footballer's brain and that he has the potential. But what I was more pleased about was Davis's return and, going by some of his play last night, I do hope he is given a proper chance to shine. He's now acquired good experience in the first team and shows the confidence to do well in the Premiership. Good luck to him!

But, let's not forget our reserve keeper's contribution last night. He was wonderful in that first half and reminded me a lot of our former great, late 'keeper of yore: Nigel Sims.

Now, Tyrone, get down to Bournemouth this week-end and show your old mates your true credentials!

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What A Way To Sting A Hornet!

Oh, my ...! What a finish, and what a strike!

On reflection, during the second-half Konsa seemed to be preparing himself for that final cracker. First, he headed a chance well wide, then he had a well-hit shot also go wide. And then that final effort ... However, I see that Mings was credited with the winner yet probably knew least about it! It's not fair on Konsa methinks - that shot was right on target, but it's true that Mings' deflection upwards stopped it from being saved by Foster.

But justice was done: Watford had been using all kinds of time-wasting tactics, and that just caused more time to be added on at the end and the cause of their eventual downfall. As Villa writer David Woodhall has mentioned, I wonder what Graham Taylor would have thought of his old club's tactics? Meanwhile, Villa just patiently - but painfully slowly at times - kept to their task. Was it deliberate - to keep the fans on edge?! Phew!

We have had just the one - but massive - defeat in the last 4 matches, and the next-up league match is versus Bournemouth, who we must see off as the matches after that just seem to get stiffer and stiffer.

But now we have a striker (!), perhaps he'll do the necessary to help keep us up.

A comment about Drinkwater. I thought I saw signs of him picking up his game at Brighton, and last night he was playing some superlative passes. He's still a tad slow though.

I was also glad to see Nakamba have a much better game, and, in successive games, Luiz has made a significant contribution as a sub.

Well, all we have to do now is beat Leicester to get to Wembley!

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How Much Does Commonsense Cost?

It's the kind of defeat that leaves you feeling red raw, isn't it? And this after the sloppy home defeats against Leicester and Southampton and then at Watford.

To go down in a fighting a spirit would be one thing, but at times yesterday - even taking into account City's brilliant play - the Villa players seemed as though they're still recovering from their Christmas pudding! Yes, Jack included. Despite his clever play he still has a great amount to learn. And Drinkwater was clearly not ready to step into a match like this - even Nakamba showed up better after he came on, and Trez also sparked some life in the last few minutes.

Having said all that, the Villa have been ravaged by injuries in key areas of the team, and that has had a significant effect on the situation. To my mind, it's down to improper planning at the start of the season. I felt then that we had bought well on the defensive side of the team, and still feel that basically we have a good defence - particularly with three at the back. But the Villa midfield is giving the defence the jitters, it seems to me. It is so glaringly short of a strong player. 

The defence seems to be so aware that having got the ball out, there's no-one up the pitch (at present) who is able to get hold of the ball and stick with it. The ball just comes back again. Yes, again even Jack doesn't do well enough in this department against teams like City, often meandering into corners that he can't get out of.

As someone on another blog has said, unfortunately, we (impressively) spent a significant amount of money before the season started, but a lot of that was spent on players who were inexperienced in the Premier League. Even Mings was short, though he clearly possesses quality. Players like Wesley and Nakamba have proved not to be quite ready at this level. And it surely has been a big error to place so much faith on Wesley taking his inexperience into account. We needed to acquire another - experienced - striker, yet we seem to shy away from bringing back Benteke, even on loan. And why more opportunity has not been given to Kodjia surprises me: is he really ill?

The mistakes made leading into the awful 2015-16 season have vividly been repeated in the summer just gone. Back then we invested in players like Ayew and Traore, but they were not ready for the Premier League: only now have they developed into players worth their place. Back then we also invested - as now - in a light midfield.

We were - and are - so close to getting things right at Villa Park with the kind of structure set up for life in the top flight. But are we still short of another commodity - commonsense?

Oh, dear. After saying all this, perhaps we might now start a run of 10 wins on the trot! But that's probably too much to hope for.

C'mon Villa! Wake up! With a highly remarkable average home gate of over 41,000 this season, the fans surely deserve better than this.

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We're Learning How To Play Away From Home!

The Villa look to be doing all they can trying to scrape a team together at the moment! Wesley being sidelined, Kodjia was apparently sick and unable to play, and Davis is still not ready to return it would seem. So, when the team was announced it immediately seemed that it would be all hands to the pumps!

But, lo and behold, in the first half - especially after we scored - Leicester looked out-Foxed and wondering how to beat the remarkable 5-man defence in front of the equally remarkable keeper Nyland.

Second half it was nearly a different story, but the Villa defence stood resolute apart from the silly give-away that led to their goal. And that was our trouble - and one that Dean Smith saw - that we were too easily giving the ball away at times with Nakamba being particularly guilty. But he was not the only one.

Nevertheless, to my mind, this match has to be classified as a great strategic triumph for Villa, and particularly the manager and his coaches. It nearly produced what might have been a great win, and with ever-decreasing resources gives us a chance to re-group and win the second leg at Villa Park. 

Drinkwater is cup-tied so will not be available for that match, so how we sort out the midfield problem for that match remains to be seen, while we may have a new signing available for the striker post, with perhaps Kodjia and Davis also both available.

So, we only have Man City to worry about in the next match! Should be a piece of cake to obtain at least a draw - won't it?

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Pouring Claret on Claret!

Incredible! We go through one of the worst periods of results in our history and then go and win at Burnley in the league for the first time since 1936 - more than 83 years ago - when Jimmy Hogan was in charge! And by the same score.

Dean Smith (having seen my last post's idea of putting Tyrone Mings in front of a back four 😎) made a wise team selection in the main part. While Dean did not want to quite copy the idea I put forward (!), he did the next big thing by having a defensive-five with Mings in central command.

In midfield, he persisted in selecting both Nakamba and Luiz, and while it worked out quite well on this occasion, I am still not convinced, but Luiz did look like something of a replication of McGinn at times. Apart - that is - from two occasions when I did expect him to score following the kind of shooting he displayed earlier this season.

This was a Burnley team that is not - by any stretch of the imagination - a team of quality. But they are known for their perseverance and determination. In Dean's selection, Villa mostly had that Burnley under control and it was they that looked mostly out of ideas, not us, with Westwood more than once choosing to pass to his old team-mates!

After that sorry display at Watford the three points earned are gratefully accepted - despite VAR trying to stop it happening - but I wait to see how the next league fixture pans out. We face Man City at Villa Park.

In the meantime, we have the opportunity to advance in cup competitions and if we can do so in style then perhaps the team's confidence will be at a high and good enough to give Man City a fright.

I hope!

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