Five Reasons to be Cheerful as Villans
Despite Unai Emery leading Aston Villa to a Champions League quarter-final within less than three seasons of taking over at the club, some fans are already calling ‘Emery Out’ after just five games. They’re being to sound like entitled Arsenal fans. Stay classy Villans. On the eve of the club entering into the Europa League this week, we try and dig up five reasons to be cheerful as Villans, after a disappointing draw against the 10-men Black Cats.
Invincibles
Arsenal’s ‘Invincibles’ forty-nine-game unbeaten streak had to start somewhere, and like little ripples in a pond, Villa have secured their second league game on the bounce without defeat in the Premier League. If we were to count the League Cup tie, then that’s three consecutive unbeaten games within ninety minutes. Throw in the fact we’ve only conceded the same number of goals (five) as the current table-toppers and league champions, Liverpool, and the foundation is set. First thing’s first. The goals will come…hopefully.
Finally, a Plan B!
Some have argued that after (almost) three years at Villa Park, the opposition have started to suss out Unai Emery’s tactics. Thankfully, thanks to the many coaches and analysts team at Bodymoor Heath, Villa have finally unleashed the fabled ‘Plan B’. When in doubt, give it to Matty Cash, to shoot from 35 yards out. So far, so good, as ‘Plan B’ currently has a 50% goal ratio following its deployment against Sunderland.
Premier League Keepers
Twice in one week, Villa were beneficiaries of the ineptitude of Premier League goalkeepers. The modern keeper may well be good with his feet, but thankfully for the goal shy Villans, they can’t catch for toffee. For Harvey Elliot and Matty Cash, it has meant a big reward for shooting directly at the keeper. As they say, if you don’t buy a ticket for the lottery… Without these goalkeeper gaffs, Villa would still be goalless and we’d all be even more depressed. Viva la Premier League keepers!
Home Comforts
OK. Let’s cut Emery and the players some slack. Villa have just played three consecutive away games. While they may have played poorly, they didn’t get beat in any of the 90 minutes. This either tells us that the standard of Premier League teams isn’t that great, or if Villa can go from a poor to simply average level, the points and goals should start to come.
Villa have managed to string two long unbeaten home runs under Unai Emery, and with the double header against Bologna and Fulham to come over the next seven days, there’s a great opportunity to get the season started in earnest. With back-to-back home league games also (with Burnley’s visit up after the Fulham game), in terms of gaining some momentum, the next couple of weeks are key.
W
Thank god for teams that begin with ‘W’, or Villa would be bottom.
UTV
Additional reporting MOMS
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