So we finally have the football season back. Miss it much? I know I have. For our first real view of how the Paul Lambert regime is going to work out, we’re off to Upton Park and West Ham United’s Boleyn Ground.
It’s almost a cliche to say but promoted teams are the proverbial banana skin of many a team, and West Ham are not exactly your average promoted team – I’m sure many Aston Villa fans will envisage the East London team finishing closer to mid-table than the relegation zone.
In this week’s poll where I asked fans to pick what they thought the result would be, I went for a Villa win by a two goals or less margin. I know some may consider our strikers to be lacking the ability to score goals, but it doesn’t phase me at present. For the West Ham game at least, I expect our forward players, not just the strikers, to pose threat to their defence – this isn’t going to be a team relying solely on Darren Bent to score.
Villa Need Bent’s Goals But Also Need To Score From Other Sources
Of course, Bent getting goals will be good for Villa. Whilst I’ve been fairly critical of his lack of involvement in his teamwork, if he scores goals then I can’t complain – well so long as Villa are actually winning games too.
West Ham certainly won’t be there to just roll over as Sam Allardyce has a knack of making his teams hard to beat and plenty physical in the process. Fans of the London club were angry at Allardyce’s appointment last year because of his tradition for ugly football but, unlike Alex McLeish, his football provided what was needed to be promoted.
Some fans may well be worried that if Villa can’t be expected to beat a promoted team with any degree of certainty, that it indicates that we are a mess, a wreck, and destined to struggle. Villa aren’t that bad, despite our poor seasons in recent times, and the modern Premier League presents many competitive matches nowadays – there are no guaranteed games any team can expect to win by simply turning up.
Sure, the top teams will, more often than not, win matches but that is based on desire and the simple fact of having better players. Villa’s squad, whilst relatively thin, is still good enough to finish top 12 as it currently stands although injuries will invariably have an impact on whether the club finish higher or lower in the end.
Que Sera, Whatever Will Be, Will Be
So as we approach the opening game with a mixture of excitement and dread (depending on your thoughts), we have to remember that this is a long term project that we are embarking on. Villa may win, or they may not. What matters is the performance and how we go about settling into the new season – one win doesn’t count for any more than three points so don’t get too excited/miserable if we win or lose respectively.
For my prediction, I am probably going to go 2-1 Villa with Holman possibly getting a goal. Whatever the score, I just hope we can stop James Collins from getting a headline goal to shut up many of our fans who called for his sale following poor performances for us over the past two years.
West Ham will be up for it, no doubt, but I believe Villa have enough to take the win. What do you think?
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