Back once again for the Rengade Master; Young, There’s only Juan Pablo Angel and Bolton game
Hi all, sorry for taking a few days off, I’m back now and there’s plenty of Villa fluff around the internet that is worth a mention.
First off, Ashley Young has been crowned PFA Young Player Of The Year, which some may see as a bit of a shock as we have been off form of late and so has he. But the PFA Awards are actually decided around February-ish from what I hear and that would make perfect sense as up till then he was flying high and playing superb. There may be some detractors around who aren’t convinced he deserves the award but I am a big fan of the boy and though he may be in a bit of a lull, I believe he will come back and be great some more for us (that’s if he doesn’t trap to Chelsea).
Next up, our old friend Juan Pablo Angel has popped up on the Villa site talking of his delight for our recent success (y’know, back when we were winning games and in the top four). Angel says he still has a lot of love for Villa and has been watching us maintain a top five position with joy. It lead me to thinking;
How would Angel fit into the current Villa set up?
I began imagining a 4-5-1 with Barry, Milner and Young supplying the South American with some tasty balls… and I couldn’t help but like the thought. He could get on the end of the crosses from our wingers and also get hold of through balls from Barry and Petrov. Maybe I’m glorifying him in his absence; remembering the good seasons and forgetting the bad.
Finally, the Bolton game. It wasn’t great was it? We played ok. I won’t give them any more praise than that but I won’t be any harder on them than that either. We created chances but not in the abundance we often do. We scored what can only really be described as a fluke goal and we conceded another cack goal.
Cuellar’s marking is very poor and I hold it to blame for the goal and the dropped 2 points. Harsh maybe, but man-marking is the first lesson you learn when you are 6 and you say to the PE teacher that you want to play in defence. So with an £8m international centre back it should come as part of the package surely. Cohen was left entirely free in the box on the free kick, and as bad luck had it for us the ball fell to him. Maybe it’s not all on Cuellar, but as the senior centre half he really should be either marking loose men or organising the boys to get it done.
All in all, things still are in a lull for Villa but we are now unbeaten in 3 games, which is certainly an improvement after the 4 game losing streak. The ‘easy’ run-in we had doesn’t look so likely to help us beat Arsenal to 4th now does it? But as long the Gunners only gain1 point from their last 4 games and we win all of ours then 4th is ours. Easy.
Credit where credit’s due
Filed under: Ashley Young, Aston Villa, Player Profiles
Villa had a fantastic December, we reaped 4 wins and a draw in the Prem, earning us 13 points from an available 15 and made ground on all of the usual title chasers, finishing the month in 4th place. Villa had finally won over the doubters who didn’t think we could mount a serious challenge on the top four and much praise was coming our way.
Two of the key men in this success were the boss, Martin O’Neill, who has built a great team and a great atmosphere at Villa Park and Ashley Young, who has been up and down that left wing all season, showing deft touches and generally making Fabio Capello look like a total dillweed for ignoring his talents for so long.
The Premier League, however, are on the ball and have awarded O’Neill the Manager of the Month award for December, his sixth success in this award, and Young the Player of the Month award. Ashley Young was previously one of a very select elite, alongside Rooney, Gerrard and Ronaldo, who have won the award more than once, but Young is the only player to have ever won it 3 times in one year.
Congratulations to the pair of them for well deserved acknowledgement of their hard work.
D’ya want the good news or the bad news?
Filed under: Ashley Young, Aston Villa, International Football, Match Previews
Ok, I’ll make it short for this one, but I’ve just read the starting line-up that Fabio Capello has chosen for the Germany game and at first delight spread across my face when I saw Gabby Agbonlahor’s name up front… but then I saw another name and I swore out loud! Don’t worry I was alone, my four month old daughter wasn’t subjected to my double four-letter display, when I saw the name Downing in the line-up. Argggggghhh!!! What has Ashley Young got to do to prove himself?!
Let me state why I feel Young should be starting tonight; he has played outstandingly all this season and most of last; he makes the rest of the team play better due to his positive attacking play; he creates goal-scoring opportunities with his selfless passing and crossing game; he keeps possession of the ball better than Downing and his passes and crosses are much more accurate and decisive; blah blah blah… because he’s the dog’s banana’s! That’s enough!
I’m sure plenty of Middlesbrough fans out there would leap to their boy’s defence (and as hardened fans, so they should), but bear these 2 points in mind:
1. Read more
Gardner plays superb for England U21s, Agbonlahor and Young now with good chance of senior England action… at last and Barry remains regular in the national side
Filed under: Ashley Young, Aston Villa, Craig Gardner, Gabriel Agbonlahor, Gareth Barry, International Football, Match Previews, Match Reports, Player Profiles
Last night saw an England international friendly take place, not quite to the same media frenzy as tonight’s senior game against Germany, but successful all the same. Stuart Pearce’s U21 side took on the Czech Republic U21 at Bramall Lane and triumphed 2-0, thanks to goals from Manchester United’s Fraizer Campbell, currently out on loan at Harry Rednkapp’s Tottenham Hotspur, and none other than Villa’s own home-grown talent; Craig Gardner.
Campbell opened the scoring ten minutes into the game with a deftly taken goal, played through by Peterborough goalie Joe Lewis, who had a great game till he went off injured. The second goal came at the same length into the second half, from a free-kick by Gardner that you couldn’t quite tell if he meant it or not. It was a low free-kick, that went under the wall and into the bottom corner of the net. Through pride for one of our own, we’ll say: Played for… and got! Well done Craig.
In addition to the goal, Gardner also played a good commanding role in the midfield for the side, showing he could have potential to get back in the Villa side, but with our current crop of players you can only see him making it if injuries help him out. A loan move would certainly benefit him, but I doubt O’Neill would sanction letting players go when we still don’t have the largest of squads.
On to the senior England team Read more
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