Arsenal 0 Villa 2…The Villa Lads gave their best performance we’ve seen for some time – certainly the best this season; in my opinion the first time we’ve given a ‘top four performance” (the effort at Tottenham was not as good as so many thought)…
Today all aspects of the game were played well – passing, closing down, battling, counter-attacking – and the Claret & Light Blues thoroughly deserved their win…The two central defenders were at the top of their game (Laursen in surely a starter in any All-Premiership eleven), the return of Petrov served to highlight his importance to the team in that role in front of the back four (something sorely missed against Blackburn, Newcastle and M’bro) and up front Agbonlahor caused problems all day, although why he can’t do this every week is beyond me – a very frustrating player indeed…
Friedel always looked comfortable and seems to spread a certain calmness in a defense known for its all too frequent “headless chicken” impersonations. The full backs were solid and the midfield four ahead of Petrov battled for everything, although Milner was poor on a few occasions when he was needed to hold on to the ball. I like this line-up in games against the top four – Carew was not missed.
I had spent the last few days, following the previous three league matches, thinking that we were nowhere near the top four (“Them”); that we had too many average players who lack the skill and creativity necessary to challenge the big boys on a consistent basis – I was of the opinion that we are at best a 5th-place team but way below “Them”…I still tend to think that but at times today it was obvious that O’Neil has the players believing that they can compete with the best and we thoroughly deserved our win. Nevertheless, being the Villa, we could take backward steps following today’s game and it would not be that outlandish to suppose that today ends up as the highlight of the season. However, if it is but we still end up 5th, with perhaps a few more points off “Them” and a good run in one of the two cups remaining (the league cup exit was ridiculous – the best chance we have of a trophy), then that is very good progress. Sir Alex has even gone as far as saying, “Villa are the one team who could break in to the Big Four”…But if we slip further down than 6th and go nowhere in the cup or Europe then O’Neil’s peculiar re-aligning of the team during games and the lack of quality in some positions will be issues he must deal with and, if he fails to do so before this time next year, then the criticism will no doubt start in earnest…
Meanwhile, the manager and his coaches along with the whole team should be very proud of themselves this evening. When Arsene “Mr Excuses” Wenger can only come with “I thought it was a foul for us before their second goal but Villa were the better side today” that’s high praise indeed and one hopes that we can learn and gain confidence from it and push on to greater glory – starting next week against “you know who” at Villa Park. I’ll certainly be there in spirit…
Hull 2 Man City 2…Having celebrated to excess I was a little groggy when the Hull v Man City game kicked off on Sunday morning. Not as ‘groggy’ as Man City’s Ben-Haim and Hull’s Zamruetta though. Their truly schoolboyish errors that led to the first two goals were gaffs of the highesy magnitude – and commentator Robbie Earl had just said that the Hull defender was a no-nonsense defender!…Anyway, Man City were second best for most of the first half but thanks to the defensive error and Irelands superb finish they went in to the dressing room 2-1 up. In the second half it was honors even and Hull managed a deserved equalizer albeit from a defelected free-kick. Not a good game, very scrappy and Man City, as predicted here not too long ago, are currently no more than a mid-table team – but with loads of money to spend in January…Hull will gardually slip down the table but their amazing start will ensure survival – for this year anyway…
