The League Cup starts up and poses a familiar test for Villa of late—that of focusing on the league at the expense of all other distractions. Once we’re back to mid-table in the Premier League, Villa can start taking cups seriously again, but not before. Unless of course we find the youngsters carrying us to an advanced stage.
The first home match of the 2018-19 campaign saw the Villa once again come from behind, this time eking out 3-2 result at the expense of visiting Wigan, who must’ve been gutted to to lose at the death. And once again for Villa, no recognized striker was on the score sheet. Still, two games, six points. Not bad.
There are a lot of layers here, so let’s start by saying I’m not looking to go overboard. It’s easy to do, especially at such a critical juncture for the club. So let’s just say I’m happy Jack Grealish is staying. The kid is Villa enough to stick with the side when it might go against his best interests, and how many times have we seen that over the last decade?
After a dizzying summer, all of a sudden Villa’s first match is upon us. And it seems almost like an afterthought, even thought it’s hugely important for any number of reasons. This is why a traditional season preview just hasn’t been working for me right now. So here’s the crap version.
Negotiating tactic, statement of intent, or both? The big talk for Villa late in the week was that now apparently no one’s for sale. Then, of course, there was the surprising tidbit that Villa had been under a transfer embargo. Which, in retrospect shouldn’t all that surprising. Since we couldn’t afford anyone anyway, doesn’t seem to have done much damage.
