Cuellar shut up!, Osbourne out, Wenger rallying cry and are Villa off the rails?
OK then, for today’s blog post, I promise I won’t mention Arsenal!
There’s been no shortage of press coverage for our beloved club this last week or two, and a lot of it has been pretty negative. A season that was powering forward at full steam, seems to have come off the rails in recent weeks. So is it time to panic? Nah, I don’t think so. Yeah we haven’t had much in the way of convincing results, but if you look at it closely it’s not panic time yet.
- Everton in the FA Cup was always going to be difficult; they had a point to prove after the previous meeting and let’s be honest, when Everton are on their game (and by Everton I mainly mean Arteta and Cahill), they are very hard to beat. And they wanted it more than us, because try as we might to convince ourselves, our mind was on the league moreso than the FA Cup.
- CSKA at home wasn’t bad and away the kids gave it a damn good go. We lost, but you can’t help but feel that MON engineered it that way.
- Chelsea were on their new-manager buzz, but we still made it very hard for them and if Young’s free kick had been an inch or two lower that may have given us a draw.
- And Stoke was going well for 88 minutes. Enough said on that though.
So yeah, whilst it’s all been a bit of a cacker, it isn’t time to give up yet. We’re still 4th and still 6 points clear of our nearest rival… errr… can’t think of their name at the minute.
Nobody panic, keep the love and keep the faith, we’ll get back to winning ways soon (Wednesday hopefully).
What else has been going on then?
Isaiah Osbourne is going out on loan to Nottingham Forest for 2 months. I think this is a good thing, as the lad is never going to improve or build his confidence by sitting on our bench (at best), and we have plenty of options in the middle of the park. Whether he will ever be good enough for the ‘new improved Villa’ is debatable, but I’m willing to give the guy some patience as he, like me, is a huge life-long Villa fan.
Sky Sports have reported that Carlos Cuellar thinks Ronaldo should stay with Man Utd, as a move to Real Madrid wouldn’t suit his style. My advice: Shut up Carlos, let the nob leave!
And finally, our last minute decaying against Stoke may have given that team in 5th a kick up the arse to drive the remainder of their season. So we need to get back on our game and quick, a 6 point gap can disappear quickly if you relax.
Sweet, I got through with no mention of Arsenal, well I mentioned them once but I think I got away with it 
Are Villa on a slide or is it just a temporary glitch in the programming?
?
From 18th December to 14th February Villa played 11 games and didn’t lose a single one. In the week that followed they lost 2 and drew 1. A definite dip in form is evident in the results, but is it time for us Villans to panic? Or is everything still gonna be hunky dory?
Everton in the FA Cup
The Everton game was always going to be tough, with no Gareth Barry and with them determined to make amends for our last-gasp, dramatic victory earlier in the season. Many were happy to be out of an extra bunch of games and able to concentrate more on the league and Europe, so the Everton loss didn’t ruffle too many feathers.
CSKA Moscow in the UEFA Cup
The midweek game against Moscow saw us apply plenty of pressure but only manage a draw. Moscow rode a storm from us and also managed a very good goal too, meaning we now have to go to their place and win on the plastic pitch. This will be a very tough task.
Chelsea in the league
Then Saturday morning saw us face a rejuvinated Chelsea side, who played very well, though we gave as good as we got. Sadly, it wasn’t to be and we lost the game, reliquishing our 3rd spot to the opposition and giving Arsenal a chance to close the gap considerably (which they blew!).
So with 3 poor results, is it time to panic? Are our top four ambitions evaporating before our very eyes? Or are people getting carried away and blowing it out of proportion?
Villa 0-1 Chelsea – I’m not p!#sed off. Are you?
As you can see, Guus Hiddink is over the moon with win
Before the game I felt confidence was needed for us to stand a chance and our boys went out with no shortage of it. We attacked Chelsea and passed it around their midfield and tried to carve out openings. I felt we played well and against most teams in the Prem that performance would’ve earnt us a win.
But Chelsea were back.
The Chelsea that won trophies and terrorised teams returned in terrible timing for us. The Chelsea that played Hull would’ve lost to us yesterday, but we had the misfortune to face them when they’ve just spent two weeks healing the cracks. Hiddink’s arrival, be it temporary or not, be it a good move or not, was just the kind of manoeuvre they needed to wake the team up to themselves and pull them together. We got unlucky with the timing.
When we faced them back at the start of October, we never expected to be above them by the next meeting, especially after how amazing they played that day. If Scolari could’ve kept them playing like they did against us, they would’ve walked the league this season.
Why we Villans should not be p!#sed off
Fourth: We’re still 4th in the Premier League table, with a 6 point lead over Arsenal, so after next Sunday’s game against Stoke, we’ll still definitely be top four. Even if we lose (god forbid).
Workrate: The Chelsea workrate that has been missing from their game for a while, was back in abundance. No matter where the ball went on the park, they outnumbered us. When we broke down the wings, they outnumbered us in the box. In the middle of the park, they outnumbered us. When they attacked, they outnumbered us. This is a large part of what makes them win so many games; they work so hard as a team. When they play like that we can’t be too ashamed to lose, especially to only concede 1 goal.
Previous results: Prior to this game we had not lost in the league for 13 games. It’s nothing to be ashamed of to finish such a run against Chelsea. If we’d got a result yesterday and then lost to Stoke next week, then I’d be annoyed.
Fear Factor: Villa can be proud to now be considered a team that Chelsea need to fear. Whether or not you believe that the timing of Scolari’s sacking was related to us, it can’t be denied that Chelsea feared our threat and upped their game considerably to get a win.
Ashley Young free kick: We very nearly equalised with a scorching Young free kick that cannoned off the bar. Cech was totally beaten, in fact he didn’t move a muscle it came in that quick. Had the foul been a yard further out, that would’ve dipped in and made it 1-1.
Arsenal drew: The Gunners are being a bunch of fools this season and they blew this golden chance to regain 3 points on us, with a goalless draw at home to Sunderland. That is ground that they may well rue not recovering come May.
Welcome to heaven: There was a banner hanging up at Villa Park yesterday which announced ‘Welcome to heaven’. It’s great to see how much the fans are loving this season.There’s no point moaning through our crap seasons if we aren’t going to enjoy this one, so fair play to the people who put this banner up, we’re with you.
So in the most part I think we can hold our heads high as Villans… and blame it all on NMS.
Where we need to improve
Ashley Young: Much like last time we played Chelsea, Young was not at the top of his game. Bosingwa seems capable of neutralising his threat very effectively. Steve Clarridge suggested that Ashley can’t play against the Big Four sides, and whilst that may not be entirely true, he certainly didn’t shine in either Chelsea game. Maybe this is why Capello doesn’t pick him.
Crossing: A lot of this will crossover with the previous point; all our crosses into the box yesterday went straight to Cech. At no point did we seem to notice this and correct it either, we just kept wasting attack after attack by giving it straight to the big man.
Chelsea haven’t won at Villa Park this Millennium, why would they start now?
Chelsea shalt not pass victorious (people spoke that way the last time they did)
Villa have made our home ground a fortress against Chelsea since the turn of the century, winning 4 times, drawing 6 times and not losing once. The last time they beat us at our place was back in March of 1999, with their rumoured next manager, Gianfranco Zola, on the pitch. Here’s a list of all our home results since 2000 (with their manager of the time in brackets) against Chelsea:
02.09.2007 Aston Villa 2-0 Chelsea (José Mourinho)
02.01.2007 Aston Villa 0-0 Chelsea (José Mourinho)
01.02.2006 Aston Villa 1-1 Chelsea (José Mourinho)
11.09.2004 Aston Villa 0-0 Chelsea (José Mourinho)
12.04.2004 Aston Villa 3-2 Chelsea (Claudio Ranieri)
17.12.2003 Aston Villa 2-1 Chelsea (Claudio Ranieri)
19.04.2003 Aston Villa 2-1 Chelsea (Claudio Ranieri)
09.02.2002 Aston Villa 1-1 Chelsea (Claudio Ranieri)
27.08.2000 Aston Villa 1-1 Chelsea (Gianluca Vialli)
22.01.2000 Aston Villa 0-0 Chelsea (Gianluca Vialli)
As you can see, Chelsea’s last 2 managers haven’t even stuck around long enough to make the trip to Aston. Jose Mourinho left a few weeeks after they last came to us and then Avram Grant was gone by the end of that season. Then Big Phil didn’t quite last it out there to reach our fixture. So it’s Hiddink who’ll be next on the list of Chelsea managers who fail to get a win at Villa Park.
Why so cocky?
Good question. Cockiness against Chelsea may seem like a strange concept, but if we want to emerge from this game unbeaten then confidence needs to be on a high. Both for the players and for the fans. We will need the team to believe they can win so that they play well and attack fiercely and the fans to believe we can win so that the cheering reaches full volume.
So come on Villans, believe in your team, believe we can win this one.
And if we don’t… we’ll blame it on NMS!
Will Villa be victims of NMS (New Manager Syndrome)
Guus Hiddink. Not reknowned for his jovial personality
It probably doesn’t appear in any dictionaries, encyclopedias or medical terminology handbooks, but it definitely exists.
Whenever a team gets a new manager it gives a lift in the dressing room, particularly after a period of disappointment and under achieving and the first game in charge is, more often than not, a victory.
Chelsea infamously fired Phil Scolari prior to this game and now we may fall victim to NMS, as Guus Hiddink takes charge of his new part-time job. The Chelsea team were clearly suffering confidence and morale issues as their multi-million-pound stars have dropped lots of points recently, but they will now be rejuvinated and ready for a fresh start. Sadly it’s against us.
Blackburn recently tasted the joys of NMS, when they fired Paul Ince and went on an unbeaten run under Big Sam. It was Villa who put a stop to that run though, so can we do the same thing to Chelsea, before their run even begins?
Can Villa overcome Chelsea’s surge?
Game against Chelsea is soooooooo much more than just another fixture in the list
Tomorrow morning’s match is massive. No scratch that… huge. Hang on, is huge bigger than massive? GINORMOUS then. Don’t look at me like that, it’s a word. I think it is anyway, well my mom says it so blame her if it’s not. Anyway…
The timing of this fixture has made it into the biggest game of the weekend and maybe the biggest game of the Premier League campaign so far. We’re still a bit away from the business end of the season, where results can define mathematical possibilities, but the psychlogical effects of this game may well shape how well both teams deal with the run-in to May.
Let’s start with the baddies
Chelsea, since Abramovich took over at least, are not accustomed to being as ‘lowly’ as 4th and they certainly aren’t accustomed to the team above them being Aston Vanilla. So there is a huge amount of pride at stake for the Blues of London.
They will be desperate to remain in the title race (’Too late’ I hear many of you cry) and a win against us is almost essential for that end. Man U are 10 points ahead of them and, in the form they are in, you just can’t see the Red Devils giving up that lead easily to Chelsea, which means they’ll need to win pretty much every game between now and the end of the season. A loss to us HAS to be seen as Chelsea’s title race over because you just can’t see United losing 4-5 of their last 13 games.
And the goodies
Villa will be desperate to show that they are real candidates for a spot in the top four this season and this is the game when people will be watching them and judging them most. A loss in this game will not just see Chelsea go above us and us relinquish some of the pressure on Arsenal, but also give out the message that we are punching above our weight and that it won’t last.
A win for the Mighty Villans will take us 5 points clear of Chelsea and lining ourselves up for a top 3 finish, when not too long back top four was still a pipe dream.
What timing
The fact that we are playing Chelsea in the league match that follows us going above them, sounds like Roys-Of-The-Rovers style fiction, and it will be a major grudge match. Both teams will vehemently deny that it has any more relevance than any other fixture but, other than mathematically, it’s bullcrap. This game means loads to both teams.
All eyes in the Premier League will be on this game, watching and waiting to see how the teams perform in this massive statement of intent. If Chelsea play poorly they will be written off by all and sundry. If Villa play poorly we will no longer be considered Champions League contenders, but just unwelcome visitors who briefly made people refer to the Big Four as the Big Five.
Ian Wright believes Villa set the standards by which the big teams should follow
Can you do that? I can. It's easy y'know
We all know that Ian Wright is real character and a goal scoring legend but now it seems he is a man of sound knowledge too as he publicly approves of the way that Villa do things.
He was actually speaking, in his column in the Sun, of the disrupt at Chelsea Read more
How would the ground lie if Petrov had got a red card?
You the man, ref!
Guus Hiddink may well have reason to be angry with a Premiership ref before he’s even managed a game in his new Saturday job. The Russian national manager has just taken on the Chelsea job part time to earn some pocket money for the summer holidays and he begins his reign at the greatest ground in the league; Villa Park.
…And he may well have a gripe with Martin Atkinson already.
It’s gonna happen, we all know that. Chelsea managers always seem to have some decision or another to complain about when a decision doesn’t go their way, so sooner or later he is going to get the hump with a ref or two. But this time they may have a point Read more
Two players linked with Aston Villa and guess what they both are… young and English
The window has only been closed a couple of weeks but the rumours are rife already. Two names are being linked to Villa, and they both fit in with 2 themes that run strongly through the Villa squad; young and English. They are both called Michael and would both be good additions if we wish to have good runs in a number of competitions next season.
Mancienne
The first name is familiar already in the Midlands Read more
A big, big, BIG 12 days for the boys in claret and blue
From now till next Thursday Villa have 4 games ahead of them and each one of them is of huge importance. At this point in the season, with just 13 games left in the league, the FA Cup into the fifth round and the UEFA Cup into the knockout stages, we need to get used to every game being of huge importance. And congested fixture lists are somthing we also need to get used to if we want to compete on a number of different fronts.
The small influx of just Heskey and Halfuid during the January transfer window may well come into some criticism now as we could really do with a larger squad and some more reliable back up players.
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