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.
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?
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
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