Six Premier League (and 1 European) games into the season seems a good time to check out all things ‘Villa’, particularly as so many supporters were filled with optimism during the summer.
How have the Villans performed during the first few weeks of the season and has the fans excitement been vindicated, so far?
It’s been a slightly mixed bag for Villa fans in truth – losses at Newcastle, Liverpool and Legia Warsaw have been balanced by victories against Everton, Burnley, Crystal Palace and most recently, Chelsea, leaving supporters pleased and frustrated in equal measures.
The loss of defensive king-pin Tyrone Mings to a serious knee injury at Newcastle certainly rocked the rest of his team-mates and they never seemed to recover from it – conceding 5 in what was, frankly, a mauling. At Anfield they never really got going and looked a pale shadow of an Unai Emery side – but impressive victories elsewhere ensured Villa dragged themselves to sixth place in the Premier League, with 12 points secured – reason for optimism indeed – and it is worth noting that of the clubs 6 PL fixtures so far, 4 have been away from Villa Park… more reason for optimism!
Emery’s decision to play a weakened side in Warsaw seems to have backfired with a less than impressive 3-2 loss, but with 5 further European fixtures to come in the group stages, Villa are still favourites to top the group and progress into the knock-out phase. An EFL Cup, third-round game vs Everton is also imminent and with all things considered, I would suggest Villa have made a more than acceptable start to the campaign.
Emery’s squad will be tested in the coming weeks & months though, as the club attack 4 different competitions, but Villa’s squad seems to have far more depth to it than in recent years, despite Mings long-term injury and similar issues for Emi Buendía, both of whom would have been in Emery’s starting 11’s this season.
With no further injuries for a while, we certainly seem to have a squad with enough talent and experience to cope with demand and I’m certainly optimistic following the first couple of months of the season - confident Villa will push on again this year, maybe even securing some silverware in the process – now wouldn’t that be nice Villans!
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