Let me just apologise for the lack of a match report following the Chelsea game. Between a combination of New Year’s Eve frivolities, and the current cold I have, I didn’t have time directly after the match, and I was suitably inebriated before our usual 8am deadline.
Anyway, I digress. Enough about me, and firstly I’d like to wish you all a happy New Year. When Villa can deliver performances like the one against Chelsea, our time invested in watching them is invariably happier. Until the Villa game, I was fairly unconcerned about the New Year celebrations, but afterwards I was buzzing. Something I haven’t really felt in a long while from our beloved club.
Turning The Corner
So, in recent games, Alex McLeish has started to see things click. The first step towards it was the unlucky defeat against Arsenal, the second a well earned point at the Britannia, and the third was an unexpected late Christmas present.
Many had suggested before December kicked off that Villa might have got a grand total of “nil points” in a fairly challenging period of games for the club. As it happens, Villa took a respectable 7 points from 6 games. Considering the opponents, such a total is more than a fair reward for a team who have lost many of their star players in recent years.
I, like pretty much every Villa fan, enjoyed that game. The paraphrase what The Droyd said in a comment on New Years Eve, if you didn’t enjoy that win, and you’re not celebrating it, then I really wonder what would get a person like that excited. Beating Chelsea at Stamford Bridge hasn’t happend for us in a while, so a win away is a great sign.
The Importance Of Support
Getting on to the away aspect of the game, the fact that Villa have done better than average away from home shows just how much the support can affect the team.` I know there has been a perceived doom cloud sitting over the club after Alex came in as manager, but it is time that is just put in the past. We’ve heard a million time how none of us would have hired the man, but when he starts cultivating the recent performances we’ve had, it is counter productive to pick faults.
I know many have seen me as someone who has perhaps gone against the run of flow when it has come to Alex and the widespread criticism but, as I said, there are signs there. A season before this one that showed upheaval showed the issues that needed dealing with ran far deeper than any one man.
On that note, I think it is time we just forgot the disagreements that have sprung up. There’s literally no point cultivating fractious situations by jumping on individuals. I’ll admit that I have sat down and analysed Bent under a stringent microscope, but that was only because a) he came with a high price tag, and b) that his performances in certain games have not benefited the team.
Nobody is doubting Bent is worth his weight in gold when supplied well, so I am just hoping that the performance we saw from Stephen Ireland is a future indicator. When we’ve been desperate for a midfielder with skill, maybe we already have him after all.
So what matters now is getting behind the team, and cultivating the atmosphere that we want from the team. The team have showed in recent performances that they are honouring their side of the bargain, so we should do the same, and turn Villa Park into a place where Villa want to play, rather than seeking solace at the away ground.
Fans can and do make a difference to games. I’ve seen a massive difference between games where the support has been there, and when it hasn’t. I’m not sitting here suggesting we cheer every missed ball, but with performances that provoke the desire to get behind the team, such as the ones we’ve just had, then the players deserve our support. By all means criticise when players do badly, but cheer them when they do well. If you don’t, or won’t, then it just makes others perceive those people as bitter.
Shooting Down The Swans
Swansea will visit Villa Park today with the agenda of trying to keep the ball and pass it around. Whilst some may have said before the recent run of games that Villa may come off second best in such exchanges, I doubt many would say the same today. With the passing abilities that the team have demonstrated, Villa really should be a match for many of the teams around us. We won’t win every game, no, but we have a good chance to punch hard now we have team spirit firmly implanted in the team.
To keep Brendan Rodgers’ team from playing will involve breaking up the play with pressing. It will no doubt be a game that requires athleticism and effort, as otherwise a team who passes like Swansea will pass and attack well. Breaking up their game is the key to success.
As mentioned before, the other key to Villa’s success is home support. The team have shown you what they are capable of, so support them because you know they can do it now, don’t take the easy road and chastise the first missed pass – it’s easy, sure, but it’s of no long term benefit.
So with a new year comes new optimism. Continue the run of form that Villa have shown in recent weeks, and I would say they will finish closer to eighth rather than twelfth given my start of season prediction of between those two places. Villa will stutter on the way, I guarantee, but support is the key. Villa have shown us what they can do for us, now it’s our time.
Ask not what your club can do for you, ask what you can do for your club*
* Apologies to JFK for the blatant “inspiration” on that last sentence.
The Author
