Spurs 3-1 Villa. Aug 10th
The football season seems to start before the previous one’s ended nowadays doesn’t it? Seems only five minutes since we won promotion at Wembley. When I was a kid it felt Autumnal when a season began, these days folk turn up licking ice creams and slapping on sun cream. That’s not a complaint, weekends without football are pointless, it’s just an observation.
Villa kicked off with a hugely revamped squad compared to the one which took us up in May, not a bad thing, we needed improvement, but the drawback is I don’t recognise half of my own players. This is a consequence of my living so far from the action, there’s no office gossip or local reporting to go by, so I watched my first game looking out at a bunch of strangers. I could have hammered online media to find out more about our new recruits but I’ve allowed myself an internet breather over the summer so go into this season somewhat blind. No matter, the new signings wear claret & blue and that’s all that counts. And none of them are Glenn Whelan.
An away fixture at Tottenham isn’t the kindest baptism for a Premiership newcomer but then again, the first day throws up random results, as league champions back in ‘81 for example, we started at home to Notts County and fluffed our lines, losing 0-1. I watched that game from a Trinity Road Stand seat opposite the Holte’s eighteen yard box, today’s league opener I watched from the discomfort of my Aberdeenshire home’s kitchen stool, taking advantage of my Dad’s SkyGo.
My hopes weren’t high, a draw the height of my expectation, rather like the unexpected 1-1 achieved when we were the first visitors to Arsenal’s spanking new stadium in 2006. Here’s a clip of Mellberg’s goal that day, the first ever scored at the Emirates..
After 73 minutes of today’s opener it looked like a draw was the worst we might expect. McGinniesta had opened the scoring early on, boldly latching on to a through ball to slot home admirably, and we went into the break feeling very pleased with ourselves. But it wasn’t to last, the second half proving a different story, Villa barely passing the halfway line as we were pummelled to within an inch of our lives, three quick fire goals whistling past our noses as we limped to a 3-1 defeat. Central defenders Mings and Engels stood firm in front of equally impressive new keeper Heaton, but the wall was breached by a twenty yard rocket and before you could say “our new striker falls over a lot for a big guy” we’d conceded two more, the second after some dilly dallying by Grealish who hadn’t been at the races all day.
All in all this was a 7/10 performance, perhaps a high score given the result but the quality of the opposition must be taken into account, Spurs were in the Champions League final a few days after we won promotion after all. There were promising signs; McGinn was his all action self, our central defensive partnership looked solid, Heaton seems dependable between the sticks. On the negative side, El Ghazi and Wesley really need to toughen up, it’s not acceptable falling to the floor with the slightest contact, or worse, no contact at all. Be men, we’re relying on you to score goals and keep the abject Kodja off the pitch.
Next up it’s Bournemouth, an easier fixture on paper but they’re smarting from the concession of a late equaliser in their first game of the season. That said, it’s still only Bournemouth innit.
Villa kicked off with a hugely revamped squad compared to the one which took us up in May, not a bad thing, we needed improvement, but the drawback is I don’t recognise half of my own players. This is a consequence of my living so far from the action, there’s no office gossip or local reporting to go by, so I watched my first game looking out at a bunch of strangers. I could have hammered online media to find out more about our new recruits but I’ve allowed myself an internet breather over the summer so go into this season somewhat blind. No matter, the new signings wear claret & blue and that’s all that counts. And none of them are Glenn Whelan.
An away fixture at Tottenham isn’t the kindest baptism for a Premiership newcomer but then again, the first day throws up random results, as league champions back in ‘81 for example, we started at home to Notts County and fluffed our lines, losing 0-1. I watched that game from a Trinity Road Stand seat opposite the Holte’s eighteen yard box, today’s league opener I watched from the discomfort of my Aberdeenshire home’s kitchen stool, taking advantage of my Dad’s SkyGo.
My hopes weren’t high, a draw the height of my expectation, rather like the unexpected 1-1 achieved when we were the first visitors to Arsenal’s spanking new stadium in 2006. Here’s a clip of Mellberg’s goal that day, the first ever scored at the Emirates..
After 73 minutes of today’s opener it looked like a draw was the worst we might expect. McGinniesta had opened the scoring early on, boldly latching on to a through ball to slot home admirably, and we went into the break feeling very pleased with ourselves. But it wasn’t to last, the second half proving a different story, Villa barely passing the halfway line as we were pummelled to within an inch of our lives, three quick fire goals whistling past our noses as we limped to a 3-1 defeat. Central defenders Mings and Engels stood firm in front of equally impressive new keeper Heaton, but the wall was breached by a twenty yard rocket and before you could say “our new striker falls over a lot for a big guy” we’d conceded two more, the second after some dilly dallying by Grealish who hadn’t been at the races all day.
All in all this was a 7/10 performance, perhaps a high score given the result but the quality of the opposition must be taken into account, Spurs were in the Champions League final a few days after we won promotion after all. There were promising signs; McGinn was his all action self, our central defensive partnership looked solid, Heaton seems dependable between the sticks. On the negative side, El Ghazi and Wesley really need to toughen up, it’s not acceptable falling to the floor with the slightest contact, or worse, no contact at all. Be men, we’re relying on you to score goals and keep the abject Kodja off the pitch.
Next up it’s Bournemouth, an easier fixture on paper but they’re smarting from the concession of a late equaliser in their first game of the season. That said, it’s still only Bournemouth innit.
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