The game was appalling. It never looked like being anything other than a 0-0, after a very conservative Newcastle team devoid of ideas didn’t seem to care too much about the prospect of ‘going down with the Villa’.
Villa looked content with keeping it tight and not allowing Newcastle any room in the Villa half, at times they should have pressed a little higher to win the ball in better positions, but going forward never really looked like an on-going concern of the Villa team. If one man typified this it was Ashley Westwood. Is the direction ‘forward’ an alien concept to him, or what?
Rather than pass it forward it goes slide ways or back. If a Villa player is on the counter, instead of running alongside him or overlapping, Westwood always drops back and calls for the ball. He offers no invention or possibilities in breaking down an opponent’s backline and in conclusion, is too much of a limited player.
Carlos Sanchez was tidy as a defensive midfielder today and Idrissa Gueye added his usual hustle and bustle, so with both of them playing as DM’s, perhaps a more forward-thinking midfielder would have helped Villa unlock a few more chances on their own turf, instead of Westwood. Especially, when you consider how poor the visitors were today.
Anyway, enough of the players on the pitch, yet again this season, they were secondary to the great performance in the stands from the Villa supporters. They pretty much provided most of the five reasons to be cheerful as Villa fans.
