So after a series of, what some might say, easier games to start the season, Villa go into an international break with their next game away to Manchester City. If Villa were desiring a test of sterner terms than those undertaken recently, they don’t get much harder than Manchester City.
After all, here is a free scoring team whose only similarity to us is their unbeaten nature. However, by contrast Manchester City have two of the top three goalscorers in the league in their ranks in Edin Dzeko and Sergio Aguero.
Looking at the Villa squad, seeing the comparative pauper status that we inhabit, relatively speaking of course, it wouldn’t be unexpected to feel a certain jealousy about the methods that Manchester City use to operate. After all, who doesn’t want to have the world’s best players playing for their team? Who doesn’t want to indulge fantasies of free scoring matches? Who doesn’t want to compete for the title?
The reality is we all, as football fans, want success for Aston Villa. The sad reality though is that we engage on a level that is as far removed from Manchester City as a League Two side feel compared to us as a Premier League team.
Whilst the gap between us and Manchester City isn’t that of a few league tables, it is as significant. Without wanting to adopt an overly melancholy tone, the times of Villa competing at the very top of the table are, at best, quite a few years away or, at worst, consigned simply to the history books.
Now I appreciate that this is a bitter pill to swallow, especially for some of the older readers of this site who have, in their own youth, seen successes with Villa. For me, whilst I consider myself too young to remember the last league win and European Cup win, it is a lament to Villa to say that my last memory of any success was when I was still at school. I, by relative comparison, am now 32 years old.
Forwards, not back
So the question when we are looking forward now, not back, is what can be realistically and reasonably achieved by Aston Villa. We all know, and have been told thousands of times that we are in a period of austerity, so I won’t bore you with those details. However, the reality is this – Villa are a football club, not a faceless corporation.
Whilst I appreciate the need to run a club consonant with the demands of finances is a sensible choice, football clubs differ immensely from many organisations. After all, the mistakes that have been made financially are ultimately paid out of our pockets, albeit on a loan basis and a long term one at that. Whatever happens, unless debt is written off, Randy isn’t actually anything more than a bank loan for Villa, one that he hopes the club doesn’t default on.
But moving forwards, and without entrenching ourselves in the minutiae of spreadsheets and sales ledgers, Villa fans want to compete. The problem, however, is that every other team wants to do the same. It’s an endlessly evolving process that often means spending just to stay still, and we don’t even have that as an option.
So how can Villa improve? Far be it from me to be someone who is negative for the sake of it, I also am a realist and whilst attending Villa Park this year, it’s a sad sight to see empty swathes of seats. Who is to blame isn’t definitive but it is saddening nonetheless.
Villa need to do what they have done in the past game and a half – attack. As much as it pains me to say this, I actually don’t care if we lose against Manchester City. That’s not to say that I wouldn’t take a draw or win if it was on offer, but I’m not going to cry relentlessly if we do lose. After all, this is one of the best teams in the league, and one of the richest in the world. Context is relevant, and I am sure I am not the only one thinking it.
Don’t get me wrong, I know that points come first and that attacking isn’t always the answer, but in times like these, it isn’t too much to ask to expect something for your money. After all, when season tickets cost £500+ per person and additional seats near me are £43 a game, football isn’t a cheap hobby, and it certainly isn’t great value if it contains vast amounts of dour football.
Shame?
I can honestly say I was ashamed when I brought my Mrs to her first Villa home game against Wolves, given the lack of atmosphere, boring and uninspiring football, and lifeless crowd. It was with more regularity on that day that she would hear someone moaning about N’Zogbia than she would hear “Holte Enders In The Sky”. Sad, but I understand.
After all, we’re not morons and we won’t just sing for the sake of it. Pay money for entertainment, and expect to be entertained. Simple premise.
You wouldn’t expect to attend the Ritz Carlton and pay out £200 for dinner and get served up good, honest fish and chips. I like fish and chips, sure, but not when it costs a fortune. Fish and chips are great as a cheap meal, but haute cuisine they are not.
So all I’m asking from Villa is a little value. Context, sure, insofar as I won’t expect a win from City away, but I do want to see something approaching quality of play. Not tiresome football tactics that are, by all accounts, poor value for money.
On the positive side, the past few games have shown good hallmarks that buoy my optimism, so here’s to that continuing and to a solid performance against Manchester City, even if points don’t come with it.
Should we secure that with regularity, I am sure the crowds will return.
The Author
