Aston Villa’s second XI comfortably disposed of Bristol City last night whilst removing an unwanted statistic. 26 Consecutive away games in all competitions without a clean sheet is not something to be proud of, certainly not for a club of our standing and ambition.
I admit to being rather concerned when I saw the team being fielded by Dean Smith – eleven changes from the line up that started against Sheffield United. Where would the goals come from and Elmo at centre back? I feared an(other) embarrassing result against lower league opposition particularly given our poor record against City who had started their season with four straight wins.
I was wrong; 3-0 and it probably should have been more.
We were on our game from the start, pressing high, moving the ball quickly and within 15 minutes 2-0 up and it should have been three. Davis or El Ghazi, on the rebound, should probably have scored but fair play to their GK who kept them out. The two goals though were classy efforts – worthy of a higher stage and both from open play – a refreshing change as the majority of our recent goals have come from set pieces.
Davis’ run into the box and along the goal line – dancing around several City defenders left floundering in his wake – before perfectly putting the ball at El Ghazi’s feet was a good example of why he’s so highly rated at Villa Park. If he can add 10 goals a season to the rest of his game he will be some player.
Two minutes later and Traore scores on his debut with a sublime cushioned volley from Jacob Ramsey’s perfect cross field pass.
We continued to press throughout the half and were, perhaps, unfortunate not to be awarded a penalty when Ramsey was brought down when clean through on goal.
Second half we opted to sit back more and play on the break – whether that was a deliberate tactical change by Smith or not is open to debate – but we still created a number of good chances – not taken – until Watkins came on to score with an accurate shot into the bottom corner from a cross field ball by Trezuguet.
Elmo was excellent looking like he’d played at centre-back for years with an assured defensive display and accurate distribution going forward (is he now the ultimate utility player?) but I made Ramsey man of the match. With his darting runs from midfield, so reminiscent of Ian Taylor, and his accurate passing, at 19 he looks every bit a class act for the future and I can see him challenging for an EPL start before the end of the season. I’m not sure that sending him out on loan would be a good move.
It’s been an excellent week for our three debutants and there may still be more additions to come. First impressions are that we have added real quality to the core of a team and are building on the work done over the last twelve months. The Lyon fans, it seems. were pleased to see the back of Traore – as they were when a certain John Carew joined us – and look how that turned out.
It’s been confirmed Samatta has left the club joining Fenerbahce on a four year contract for an undisclosed fee (rumoured to be in the region of £7m}. He was the first Tanzanian player to both play and score in the Premier League having netted on his debut at Bournemouth. Its fair to say that he probably didn’t get the best of opportunities given our position and the onset of Covid but Smith has presumably decided that he’s not going to make it in the EPL.
I wish him all the best at his new club.
So onto Fulham at Craven Cottage, on Monday night, as we continue to play ‘catch up’ in the league.
We haven’t managed an away win in the EPL since Burnley on New Years Day when both Wesley and Heaton were injured, nor do we have a good record at Fulham – last winning there in January 2010. Our last trip to The Cottage ended in a 2-1 defeat in the FA Cup, earlier this year.
Fulham have started with two defeats, shipping seven goals in the process, and will be looking to improve whilst Villa are on a five game undefeated run and will want to continue that and secure another away clean sheet.
A draw would be acceptable but, if we really are going to make progress this season, then this is a game we should be winning.
Samatta fee now reported at £5.5m rising to £6.2m – so his two goals cost us around £3m – perhaps another reason for the change in DoF?
Villa v Stoke in the sugary energy drink Cup on Thursday 1st October but is one of three matches not being televised.
You can watch it here https://carabaocup.live/ – there’s a £10 match pass charge.
I have a lot of sympathy for Samatta: he hardly had a settled time after he arrived because of all the Covid chaos, and I think many people wrote him off too soon. Best of luck to him in Turkey.
I see various rumour-monger sites are still linking us to Rashica – apparently he wants to get paid too much for Villa’s liking, even though the clubs have reached agreement on the transfer fee.
Also the Edouard link won’t go away – although that seems to be being driven mostly by B’ham Mail (as was)/B’ham Live. They’ve been peddling that story since at least the day after we finished playing last season!
Games coming thick and fast again already.
I’d be amazed if we were willing to take such a loss on Samatta and we either paid less or we’re getting more than the paper talk says, I reckon.
I agree that he hasn’t really been given enough of a chance, but hey ho, it is what it is.
Seem to be lot of rumours this afternoon re El Ghazi going to Notts Forrest ?
If true that would suggest we’re still trying to bring in Rashica. or another left winger (are they still called wingers? 🙂 )
I read that we’d agree to meet his buy out clause but he wanted to double his current wages to £80k per week which wasn’t acceptable to Villa who have (temporarily?) withdrawn from negotiations
Didn’t get to see last night’s game, but have seen a lot of very good reports regarding Lansbury’s performance against Bristol City.
Did anyone here who watched last night notice it?
Yes, he did play well and was a presence in midfield.
Made six key passes and generally passed the ball well although he did also give the ball away a few times.
I don’t think one performance against Bristol City is likely to push him up the order for a starting place Monday night but should earn him a place on the bench.
Hope you’ve managed to see the goals Ardent – if not try The Villa Informer through Facebook.
Thanks H60
Last seven games = W5 D2 L0
Things are improving. Clean sheet away to Fulham would be a very good start to the season!
UTV
Which would you take: a clean sheet (0-0) or 3 points?
I think we’ll do Fulham. I know football is fickle, but we suddenly have a spring in our step not seen since the MON days. 3 wins on the bounce, minimal goals conceded, coming back from behind, and although our opposition hasn’t been Liverpool or Barca, nobody has been a pushover.
And a B team that played like the A team (not that A-Team from TV). A class goalie, Jack signed up, a side that eventually battled to stay up and discovered they had a big pair of balls after all, players who now know each other, and a spine of truly high class players. And wealthy owners to boot!
Things may finally be looking up after a decade of false starts.
2-1 to the Villa. Olly to net again.
When the fans are allowed back into VP, the place will be rocking!!!!!!
Sky saying we are or have been in talks over signing Nice attacking midfielder Wylan Cyprien who (according to Sky) has attracted interest from a number of Premier League clubs.
I know nothing about him – anyone with knowledge of Ligue 1?
Only what I’ve just read on the “B’ham Live” site:
“Former France Under 21 Cyprien can play there(attcking midfield), as well as in a more withdrawn role – and last season contributed eight goals, taking his Ligue 1 total to 23. He also added five assists as Nice finished fifth.
Cyprien started out at Paris FC before moving to Lens and then on to Nice for €5m in 2016.
He is in the final year of his contract and has been recently linked with Newcastle, who are hoping to capitalise on a fee that is said to have fallen from €20m to €10m.”
Here’s an in depth article about Cyprien
https://underagaslitlamp.com/2020/09/25/aston-villa-linked-with-french-hourihane-upgrade/
Good piece that, Hitch.
i like your assessing of the Bristol game, for me the most pleasing part was the way the second string played like the first team. they mirrored the first team with and without the ball. so we are finally seeing that continuity we talked about. we finally got a settled management and nucleus of decent squad, all of which buying into the our philosophy.
also we only recruited 4 ish maybe more on way. but they are all adding to the squad and our style. quality players recruiting mean they improve our other players as they fight for their places, finally we can see progression on the field.
i think sammatta was a panic buy and did not fit in to the manager type of player. we had no strikers and sammatta was probably only one we could recruit in jan. we had to do something as we were looking dead and buried and needed a boost. so we probably paid over and sold a little lower to reach out to all parties
Villa have a few bogeys to lay tomorrow. Night matches in London have been fruitless for a while. Victories at Craven Cottage a rarity. At least we don’t have to beat the ref as well. Neither Moss nor Friend has the whistle so with luck it is 11 v 11. The 11 who beat Bristol City were so much more positive than the cautious “first team” that beat the Blades – I wonder how many of them will keep the shirt? The Bristol extended highlights are now on the AVFC site.
I know it is nothing to do with Villa but I really am sick of the sight and,more especially , the sound of Jose Mourinho.
To be honest, the moment he pronounced himself ” THE SPECIAL ONE”, all those years ago, I took a great dislike to him. He has also gone on record as saying, on more than one occasion, ”I AM EUROPEAN CHAMPION”.
It is always about him. You may recall him storming out of a press conference, raisng three fingers and saying the word ”RESPECT” several times, demanding it from the journalists.
What he completely ignores is that, to get respect, you have to earn it, by returning it.
Well, today, he has outdone himself. On a BBC interview, after the game against Newcastle, he was obviously asked about the controversial penalty at the end of the game that cost Spurs victory.
He made a point of avoiding saying what he really thought. He just loves to hold court and loves to think he is being mysterious in what he says.
He sarcastically said that, either the Newcastle keeper or”Someone who was not one of the players”, was man of the match, an obvious reference to the officals.
He then want on to go completely off topic by insisting that he is of the belief that Tottenham is not ”RESPECTED”as a club. This begs the question, What has that got to do with today’s game ?
Furthermore, when he talks about ”RESPECT”, as soon as the penalty was despatched by Callum Wilson, Jose ‘BILLY BIG BOLLOCKS’ Mourinho, turned and walked straight down the tunnel, failing, deliberately to acknowledge any of the Newcastle staff who, let’s face it, had no part in the penalty decision.
I totally agree that it should not have been a penalty, under the old rules and that we should get back to those old rules as soon as possible. This is, however no excuse for a man who thinks or ”SINKS” as he would say, he is bigger than the game. The sooner people like him and Guardiola seek employment elsewhere,the better.
Guardiola says that,due to fixture congestion, the League Cup should be abolished. Well, Pep or Pip or whatever your name is,the League Cup first took place before you were born. It is the creation of the monster that is the Champions League, with its Preliminary,Qualifying and Group stage rounds, that is the cause of fixture pile-ups. And another thing, if you don’t like the League Cup, why are you more than happy to keep winning it ?
End of rant.
Agree wholeheartedly on both points:
Jose is past his prime and has become a caricature of his younger self: arrogant with nothing to be arrogant about.
As for Guardiola (& others who’ve muttered the same about domestic Cup competitions since the advent of the greed-fest that is the “Champions League” – Ferguson & Klopp to mention just two-) yes the answer is simple: if you don’t rate domestic competitions as worth playing in, just put your U23’s into them in the first round that you’re drawn in and crash out.
‘Football has lost the plot‘ (over handball) said Steve Bruce after yesterday’s totally ridiculous penalty award – and he’s right.
Surely the test, for the referee, of whether the incident merited a penalty would be to ask himself ‘would I have given a free kick if it had happened outside the penalty area’? In my view it’s highly unlikely.
As far as I saw Dier was not yellow carded therefore the referee must have considered the contact ‘accidental’ – so why award a penalty.
Complete joke.
Defensive coaches will have to start teaching defenders Irish dancing so they can jump with their arms rigidly by their sides 🙂
Why is it that every time a new ‘rule’ is adopted in football, we see that for the first few months all common-sense goes out of the window?
Referees (& now the VAR squad) just lose any element of practical common-sense and apply the rules like some dort of unthinking robots until enough protest builds up, then they have a conference and decide to apply the rule a bit more reasonably…
Not just here Ardent.
This season there have been 6 penalties awarded for hand ball against a total of 19 for the whole of last season.
Spain and Italy adopted the ‘stricter’ rules last season with 50 and 60 penalties awarded for hand ball respectively..
Expect to see a strategy of smashing the ball into the penalty area hoping to ping pong it onto some hapless defenders‘ arm / hand.
I think that the blasting of random shots into the area hoping simply to hit a defender’s arm has already happened.
My suggestion is that the position of the hand/arm when the ball is kicked should decide. Crazy at the moment.
Same line up as started against Sheffield. On the bench Elmo preferred to Guilbert and Traore comes in for El Ghazi.
Was Lansbury on bench for the Sheffield game? If so Ramsey comes in for him.
Villa: Martinez, Cash, Konsa, Mings, Targett, McGinn, Luiz, Hourihane, Trezeguet, Watkins, Grealish (c).
Subs: Steer, Elmohamady, Hause, Nakamba, Ramsey, Traore, Davis.
Hmm, apart from Trezeguet/Traore, that team still very much picks itself doesn’t it?
Apart from the fact that we have a terrible record here, I’m very confident tonight.
I’m going for a 2-1 win.
We need this to put them under major pressure and to give us a confidence boost.
Agreed Badger – that’s why I think we might see 2 or 3 players come in.
It looks like John McGinn is returning to form. Assists and what a piece of beautifully skill, where he swivelled and flicked the balm from foot to foot to cut them open. Wow
And we’re off! Grealish 4 mins
yes!
I really don’t think Targett has one redemming feature when it comes to defending.
Hourihane! 2-0.
Ha, Fulham are shit.