After a weekend where Villa took three points, the “must win” game ended with a win. Whilst it was “only” Bolton, a team low on confidence and form at present, Villa can only beat what is put in front of them. It’s just a pity that we didn’t adopt the same tactic vs United.
Anyway, talk should be of the future now rather than the past, and the immediate future for Villa offers quite a challenge. In order, Villa face Liverpool, Arsenal, Stoke, and Chelsea during the remainder of December.
Of the four, many would argue that Stoke were the weakest link but, on the evidence of a win on Sunday versus high flying Spurs, they may not be as easy as many might imagine. Stoke are a Villa bogey team as well.
So of the four, what exactly is the aim in the eyes of fans? Even in an era where many have come to expect wins from a team the size of Villa, December could still prove to be nightmarish in the sense of final points total. What is the prediction then that Villa will take? 4 from dull draws? More? Less?
Taking Them In Order
For me at least, the best chance of a win comes in the next game vs Liverpool, closely followed by the Chelsea game. Liverpool are doing ok in terms of the current league, but they are far from flying. Downing, one of their big signings of the close season, has been what I predicted he would be after his sale – pretty flat. Of course, just watch him come along on Sunday and supply Suarez with a brace. Life can be funny like that.
Chelsea are also underperforming in my eyes this season although it would be a fool to write them off, especially at Stamford Bridge. What we know though is that they will need to be played to the end, as Ciaran Clark’s goal in the dying moments is testament to from last season. How the Blues will perform on Monday will be a sterner test of Villas-Boas’ men though, and their performance may show if Villa have a shout of getting something or not. Their recent Champions League performance shows the team is far from incapable.
The other two games – Arsenal and Stoke – are something of a 50/50. Ok, arguably everything is 50/50 (well not if you count draws), but these two games wholly depends on what team turns up. Play well, and attack, and they could well pan out. Play badly and/or defend, and I think it could be real trouble. Out of the two, I’d say Stoke at the Britannia poses more of a problem. Hardly what Arsene Wenger would want to see given Stoke and Arsenal’s diametrically opposed footballing ethea, but an honest assessment nonetheless.
Lessons To Be Learned
So if there were to be lessons learned from the weekend’s game, it is that Villa need to forget fear. Easier said than done as many may attest to, but a truism if ever there was one. You can’t score goals if you’re not attacking or, as it would seem in recent times, if you’re Darren Bent.
Bent has come under scrutiny in recent weeks with the common defence arising that he is “failing to be supplied with the ball”. As evident as that may have been in the games before Bolton, proof that Bent didn’t have his shooting boots with him slowly revealed itself on Saturday. Complain about lack of goals when you’re not supplied but when you are you are rapidly out of options. Even McLeish saw that with Bent’s substitution providing something of an illustration of how far the once iconic number 9 has fallen.
Most suggest Bent is there to score goals. In a period where he isn’t, then he is something of a pedestrian. The post-Manchester United analyses that occured in papers and on websites said that Bent was the player in the Premier League with the fewest touches of the ball.
This isn’t in itself an indictment of poor play (he is a striker after all), but the repeated belief that Bent is nothing but an expert finisher with clinical accuracy flies somewhat opposed to his current profligacy. Whether one wants to take the fact that Agbonlahor is more likely to convert nowadays than Bent is both a testament to Gabby’s improvement this year as much as it is to Bent’s one-dimensional game.
In recent years, Harry Redknapp was lambasted by many for his tongue-in-cheek comment about Mrs Redknapp being able to score where Darren couldn’t and, whilst I agree such a statement is not the primary one I would make to the public, it is showing as something with grounding.
What Happens Next
For Villa, it is very much a case of “more of the same, please lads” so McLeish doesn’t necessarily need to adjust a winning formula. Of course, Liverpool will provide a sterner test than Bolton did but, as we are regularly seeing this season (as we did last), wins are far from certainties. Just as Villa have underperformed in some games there is the potential, although some may suggest it to be slim, that they could take a big scalp this month.
Manchester United arguably provided a good opportunity, but they were afforded far too much space and far too much respect. McLeish will have learned from this mistake, and his team for Bolton proved he may well have more in his locker. It isn’t a secret that the fans aren’t his biggest, well, fans, but the team are pulling it together slowly, and teamwork is intrinsic to the future success of the club this season, whoever the manager.
Don’t get me wrong, it will still be a challenge as many of the teams we face in December are better on a man for man basis. However, if McLeish can instill a team spirit and cull some of the mistakes that are occuring, the future may not be as bleak as some had predicted at the start of the month.
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