Five Reasons to be Cheerful as Villans
A late winner from Marco Asensio secured a crucial victory over Chelsea, following on from a hard-fought draw against Liverpool in midweek. It was hoped that Unai Emery’s men would build a platform to then push on in the league, but if a top five challenge was to become serious, they needed to beat Crystal Palace at Selhurst Park. That didn’t exactly go to plan with a 4-1 drubbing. So, here’s five reasons to be cheerful as Villans, after a week of mixed fortunes…
Chelsea Blues
A goal and assist double from Marco Asensio and Marcus Rashford powered Villa’s second-half comeback against a Chelsea side that had been in mixed form after a strong start to the season. For the second time this week, Emery’s side fought back from a deficit to claim valuable points.
Had Villa lost to Chelsea, it would have opened up a seven-point gap between the two clubs, soon to be 10 with Chelsea’s win over Southampton that was to come, three days later.
After Villa’s 4-1 loss to Crystal Palace, much was undone and you’re only left with the thought that at least the Chelsea win got Villa over the 40 point mark to make them safe from relegation!
New Blood
Monchi has, understandably, faced pockets of criticism for the club’s summer window, what with minimal contributions so far from the £87.5m pair of Amadou Onana and Ian Maatsen. While time will tell if the January signings are a success, there have already been positive contributions from the two big name loan acquisitions of Marcus Rashford and Marco Asensio. If they can continue to stay fit and motivated, then they can have a major influence in the cup competitions to come and hopefully still drag us into Europe next season.
Andres Garcia has already shown glimpses of his ability, with his attacking intent and crossing ability standing out. His error against Liverpool aside, the 22-year-old looks like he has the qualities to thrive under Emery, though he will naturally need time to adapt from Spain’s second tier to the Premier League.
Meanwhile, Donyell Malen has made a decent enough start to his Villa career, showing work rate and attacking thrust whenever he’s featured. The Dutchman has though, so far, lacked the composure to open his account at Villa Park. All in all, the side needed some fresh impetus and with a few more games under their belts, soon we’ll hopefully be able to say, the team is stronger than it was on the 1st of January.
In Bruges
If there’s such a thing as football purgatory, then Villa’s away tie at Club Brugge earlier this season would be on repeat. It was a poor performance, with a ridiculous defensive lapse gifting Brugge their first Champions League goal of the campaign. However, the new Chilean scheduling model has handed Villa a second chance, as they face Brugge again in the knockout stages.
Brugge’s strong showings against Manchester City and Atalanta prove that this is far from a straightforward tie. That said, Villa have a golden opportunity to reach the quarter-finals of the Champions League.
At full strength, Villa have the quality to beat Brugge over two legs, but that’s the main issue here with key injuries in both defence and midfield, meaning they don’t have a solid and regular defensive base.
Still, with Rashford and Asensio joining the ranks, you’d think Villa will be able to muster more than a single shot on target like their last visit. The March double-header provides a huge test but also the opportunity to reach the quarter finals of Europe’s elite competition, what’s not to like!?
Back in Time
As March approaches, several of Villa’s injured players are nearing a return, just in time to reinforce the squad across three competitions.
Axel Disasi, who was cup-tied against Chelsea, is once again available for selection against Crystal Palace. Ross Barkley, Boubacar Kamara, and Amadou Onana are all expected back within the next couple of weeks, providing much-needed depth in central midfield.
Meanwhile, long-term absentee Pau Torres is also scheduled for a March return. Given that he is a key figure in Emery’s tactical setup, his comeback cannot come soon enough – especially with Villa’s central defenders dropping like flies in recent weeks.
March also provides the extra rest period of a two-week international break (with Villa reported to be going on a Dubai warm weather training break), so if they can get through both of their last 16 tests, then they’ll be a lot stronger for the quarter-final challenges to come.
Listen to the latest MOMS podcast below
Semi-Automated Torture?
We have our fingers crossed on this one… After the bizarre initial ruling of Villa’s opener against Chelsea being offside — only for it to be overturned a few minutes later by VAR – followed by the injustice of VAR turning shady on us again by calling Ollie Watkins offside for a perfectly good goal against Crystal Palace, surely the semi-automatic offsides being trialed in Villa’s FA Cup 5th round game against Cardiff will lead to better decisions and less of our time being wasted?
Surely?
UTV
Follow Armen on Twitter/X here – @VillanArmen
Follow MOMS on Twitter/X & Facebook & Threads & Bluesky
