Aston Villa start a challenging run of games against a team that the team from Birmingham haven’t beaten on home turf since August 1995. Back then, it was Mark Draper, Ian Taylor, and Dwight Yorke who took the points for Villa as the team ran out 3-1 winners. It was also my first game as a season ticket holder when I was just 16 years old.
To think that Villa have not beaten United in my adult life is quite astonishing really. Make no doubt about it, United are our bogey team if ever we have one.
However, being our bogey team doesn’t mean we have no chance of winning the game. I would be saying the same thing Paul Lambert will no doubt be saying if I was taking the team talk instead of him – make a match of it, don’t be afraid of them, and play the game the way we want to play it.
Whether Villa will stick with as much of the winning formula that took all the points at the Stadium of Light is debatable, as Karim El-Ahmadi will return to the team and Joe Bennett is unlikely to compete. I’m a firm believer in keeping a winning team together, but I’m also not Paul Lambert. However, I can’t imagine there will be too many changes – perhaps the inclusion of Enda Stevens at left back being the most likely given Bennett’s injury and Lichaj’s poor performance last week.
As I said in the comments yesterday, I’m hesitant to predict any kind of scoreline as there are so many variables involved. If I had to be pressed, I’d probably say a 1-1 draw would be a guess, but it could literally go in any number of directions – that unpredictability is what keeps us coming back for more, isn’t it?
A view from the other side – Welcome to the “Old Trafford Faithful”
As part of the build up to the game, I was contacted by Jordan Street of the “Old Trafford Faithful” blog – Site is http://www.oldtraffordfaithful.com, their Twitter is https://twitter.com/OTFaithful – to offer the opinion of a Villa fan on their site. In return, I’ve asked him some questions about United that you can see below:
Q: Much has obviously been made of Robin van Persie’s undoubted talents, and your capture of the Dutch international could well be seen as a step forward after missing out on the title last season. Do you think he is the missing piece of the jigsaw, and how happy were you when his signing was announced?
A: To be honest with you, when the deal was announced I was a bit skeptical, I thought it’d stunt the growth of Danny Welbeck (I don’t know what I was thinking!) but Robin is just pure class. His all-round game is absolutely wonderful to watch and he offers so much to the team. He looked right at home in our red shirt from the off, he could well fire us to the title this year, he and Rooney up front are a strike force to be feared.
Q: Titles and trophies are a regular feature for United under Sir Alex Ferguson. With that in mind, how many do you think you can realistically win this season, and what would you say is your top priority – winning the Champions League or nicking the title back from the noisy neighbours?
A: The league is always top priority, even more so this year as City won it last season. I think with the strength in depth we have in our squad we can potentially challenge on all fronts, but our focus has to be the league. Obviously it’s nice to win the Champions League as well, but I think it may be out of our reach this year, it sounds odd but I’d like us to win the FA Cup, we haven’t had a good cup run in a long time, and we’ve not won it since 2004!
Q: Sir Alex has made some varied purchases over his time as United manager, some great, some average, and some poor. Who do you think is his best purchase of the current crop of players, and who do you think is the worst? More to the point, why are they the best/worst?
A: Ha, Fergie has made some shockers over the years, the worst by far has to be Bebe; Sir Alex hadn’t even seen him play before splashing out £7.5million on him, he looks out of place on a football field and he has no footballing brain whatsoever, I honestly don’t know what he was thinking when he bought him.
The best has to be Rooney, we paid a lot of money for him but what a player he has been for us, he’s now fourth on the list of our all-time goal scorers and he’s still relatively young. When United are having an off day he drives us forward and often wins us points single-handedly. Two years ago he claimed that United lacked ambition and many fans were calling for his head (me included) but since then he has gone on to prove that he’d made the wrong decision and he’s certainly won the fans back over.
Q: For many fans of their club, it’s often hard to get a true sense of perspective on the club they support, largely because most of their friends and family will support the same team or a major rival. With United challenging on a different level to Villa at present, what is your opinion of the club, and are you happy, sad, or indifferent to the fact that Villa are suffering a poor period?
A: I like Villa, they’ve had some great players and managers over the years and it isn’t that long since they were a top 8 club. They go about their business in the right way and always have the potential to upset the so called ‘top teams’. To answer your question it is sad seeing Villa where they are at present, but I have no doubt that Lambert will get the club going again. He’s utilising the good youth players the club have, and it may take a bit of time but they’ll get there.
Q: Some strange situation arises, say Manchester City’s owners become indifferent to owning the club, and many of their players want to leave. Would you take any of them and, if so, who?
A: The only player I’d take is Yaya Toure, our midfield has been calling out for a player like him since Keano left, he’s great defensively and isn’t afraid to do the dirty work, and if it’s late on in a game and you need a goal he’s excellent going forward, I don’t think we’d ever get him though, there is sadly no chance that City would ever sell to us.
Q: Goalkeeping has often been an area that has been erratic for United ever since former great Peter Schmeichel left. The great Dane played for both our teams, but do you think you’ve ever found a long term replacement after years of keepers who have, if we’re honest, not been as good as Schmeichel? Is De Gea the answer?
A: Goalkeepers have been Fergie’s weak point. It seems to take him a while to find the right choice, after Schmeichel left we went through a whole host of distinctly average keepers before we found Van Der Sar. De Gea has the potential to be one of the best in the game, some of the saves he makes are truly world class and there has been many times this season already where he has rescued points for us, he just needs to beef up a bit and I have no doubt he’ll be great. My only worry is that Real Madrid or Barcelona will come in for him!
Q: Do you think you’ll win the league this season? If so, by how much, and do you think it will be City giving you the biggest run for your money? If not, who?
A: I think we’ll win it back this year, I’d like to say we’d win it quite comfortably judging by the start we’ve made coupled with City’s form and Chelsea’s lack of strength in depth. However as we all know it isn’t easy to win the Premier League, the fact that we went to Stamford Bridge and won certainly sends out a positive message, I think Robin van Persie could well be the difference.
Q: It’s got to be asked given the occasion, but what do you think the score will be at Villa Park, and who do you think will be the most influential players for United tomorrow?
A: Villa always have it in them to upset the odds, although I think we’ll be slightly too strong up front and on the wings, we still look a bit questionable at the back though, I’ll go for a 3-1 United win with Ashley Young coming back to haunt Villa!
If you’d like to read my view on the Old Trafford Faithful blog, you can here – http://oldtraffordfaithful.com/view-from-the-enemy-villa-fan-on-ashley-young-paul-lambert-selling-star-players/
The Author
