Villa’s summer tour in America came to a close with another 3-3 draw, this time against Brentford. Good game for the neutrals, and a lot of hard minutes out there. So, three PL-level games and five points out of nine against Newcastle, Fulham and Brentford. Not the worst return from training, and Emery seems upbeat enough about it all.
It’s all been fairly quiet, though preparations are about to ramp up. Villa are playing with kangaroos and koalas in Australia as they settle in, then take on Leeds at the weekend. A a backup left back has been secured for the season in Ludwig Augustinsson, and rumors continue regarding Otavio.
I won’t say I was thrilled by the season or even satisfied. Far from it. But. I do think Villa have a real chance to make some telling strides this summer, and that the side will ultimately be better and deeper. And as Gerrard has seemingly shown a little more tactical flexibility down the stretch, I’m hopeful that we can see that depth used effectively.
We’ve all gone out and heard about a narrow 4-3-3. Forcing attacking play wide. Wide forwards tucked in and driving the channels, fullbacks overlapping for width. Wide midfielders tasked with pressing fullbacks, and a back line that supports attacking play. A ‘solid’ defense. Now, apart from the nominal distribution of players, I’m not seeing a huge difference in philosophy from the way Smith wanted Villa play. Perhaps the biggest difference will be that Gerrard can put a rocket up them and has no loyalties.
In the end, an excellent performance and Villa were perhaps unlucky not to win in regular time. For all the changes, absences, and youth, the team seemed to know what they were doing, and the mentality was really good. I expected more timidity and hesitation. It wasn’t there, or if it was, not for long. The set-up looks good.
