They say a week is a long time in politics. Well, a weekend is even longer in the football world—just ask Arsene Wenger. At the start of the weekend, Villa went into the clash with Midlands’ rivals Wolves knowing a win would keep us right up there among the early pace-setters, and while I agree with many that the draw represented points dropped, we are still a point better off from the same set of fixtures last season—so it’s progress of a sort.
As for the game itself, Matt gave a really good post-match synopsis, and there really can be little to add. I hate early kick-offs, and without having all the stats at hand, we never seem to fare well in these games. Now, of course, I’m not using this as an excuse. It is, after all, the same for both sides. It’s just that they tend to be sluggish affairs, and they suit the away team more often than not, in my opinion. Not that I am criticising Wolves, they settled much better than we did, and for the first 10 minutes we barely got a kick and were often on the back foot.
First Half
It took about 15 minutes to get any kind of possession, and when we did win the ball too often there was little or no space, with Wolves being very organised. With little options or movement, the ball was too often lumped upfield, and this long passing suited the opposition, who have plenty of strength in the air. On the rare occasions we played to feet it was to a marked man, and quickly attacks became snuffed out before they really began. Not that we attacked much or with any real conviction.
I just feel we needed to be a little more clever in possession. Wolves, after a bright start, reverted to their game plan of keeping it tight, defending deep and in numbers, making it difficult for our attackers to get in behind them. This is where a little more craft and guile could have made the difference. We needed to draw them out and move their back line about more often than we did.
Delph made a very promising start but then got booked, which hampered his growing influence, so Petrov became the instigator and creator and, in fairness, I thought he put in his best performance for a long time. Heskey and Gabby also played extremely well and it was obvious that Gabby had the beating of his marker, Stearman. At the other end, Chris Herd limited Wolves’ danger man Matt Jarvis to virtual scraps, and Warnock, on the opposite side, also looked in good shape.
It was a scrappy first period in general with little serious goalmouth action at either end, and Villa, in particular, needed better ball retention. Most chances were half-chances at best and were often off target. Heskey was really unlucky with one effort that flew just wide with Hennessey beaten.
Second Half
With no changes in personnel, Villa started the second period with serious intent and controlled the early exchanges. McLeish obviously had a few choice words in his halftime assessment and this seemed to fire up the players, which, in turn, got the crowd involved. We saw a much quicker tempo and we began to look very dangerous again, with Gabby skinning Stearman, and N’Zogbia beating Ward all ends up. Indeed, Gabby was unlucky not to get on the scoresheet, drawing a good save from Hennessey, and Herd also worked the Welshman with a fine header from a corner.
It was all Villa at this stage and here’s where I think we missed a trick. Heskey, while hard working, didn’t seem very involved in the second period and seemed to be lumbering around without actually doing much to hurt Wolves. He would have been my first substitute—we were now moving the ball on the ground—so his aerial presence had become a moot point. I feel the craft of Ireland or even Bannan would have helped open Wolves up and would have given them much more to think about. Even Albrighton would have further stretched their now over-worked and tiring back line.
As it was, Wolves were the first to make changes, swapping Jarvis (who didn’t get a sniff against the impressive Herd) for Foley, and Hunt for Elokobi. Two defensive-minded players for their two wingers set the tone—they were looking to get anything they could. Villa responded a little too late when bringing on Bannan, and to take N’Zogbia off was the wrong move. N’Zogbia had improved greatly in the second half and he didn’t looked thrilled at being withdrawn. With five minutes left we then gave Albrighton a run-out for Delph, but by this stage we had missed our chance and any initiative was gone, with the game heading toward its now-likely conclusion of a draw.
The only real action to follow was when Bent headed over from Bannan’s cross in the 86th minute. Wolves had some late pressure, but had they snatched the win it would have been very harsh given our second-period improvement.
Overall
Overall, a point apiece was the fair result, with neither side really doing enough to win. Wolves got the result they came for, and we didn’t really show enough in the final third to take the three points. McLeish will be a little disappointed (as most fans are)—we saw plenty of possession in the second half, however, we didn’t often hit the target, and so this is something to work on in the weeks ahead.
Again our defence put in a great shift and this is a huge positive for me following last season. Dunne and Collins look tight again in the centre, and Warnock and Herd showed they can both defend and get forward to support the attack. Whether Herd can make the right-back jersey his remains to be seen—I personally favour Lichaj, however, the young Aussie can be immensely proud of his performance, and this bodes well for the future.
McLeish’s detractors will have loved this game—and this makes me sad and quite angry, also. Last season we were an absolute shambles defensively, and so sensibility is called for. It was obvious we needed to concentrate on becoming a little more pragmatic (yes even at home), and McLeish is only three matches and barely two months into his tenure—but the improvement in this department is there for all to see. When we have established a strong base we can look more to the creative side and Eck is aware of this.
With a bench comprised of Bannan, Ireland, Makoun, Albrighton, and Delfouneso, in addition to the starting attackers of N’Zogbia, Heskey, Gabby and Bent, we have plenty of options, and it’s about identifying the best personnel and the best system. This will come in time and I have no worries about Eck’s ability to get this right. The glass is always half full with me, but I’m not silly enough to think the answer lies at the bottom of it.
Other News
Only three days remain of the transfer window and we have moved Luke Young on since I last posted—I wish Luke all the best with the Super Hoops of QPR. Jonathan Hogg has also moved to Watford permanently, and he is joined there by Andreas Weimann, who has taken a loan spell at the club.
We may not see much more activity, however, Jean Makoun is still subject to rumour and we may yet see a deal. I don’t think this automatically means that we will sign another in his position, and personally I’m not bothered if we don’t, as we have plenty of options as things stand. One possible link that has been ongoing is a bid for Clint Dempsey of Fulham, and, if he was to join, he’d be a welcome addition and his wages wouldn’t be astronomical. A useful player who pops up with goals.
Villa have been handed another home tie in the League Cup, this time against Premier League opposition in Bolton. This game provides a great opportunity to progress, as I believe Bolton will be more concerned with securing their status in the top flight, so they’ll likely field a weakened side.
Look out later in the week for my preview on this week’s international fixtures highlighting the key fixtures across all the groups.
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