Chairboys Overcome
It took long enough but eventually Aston Villa managed to overcome Wycombe Wanderers at the second time of asking (although most of us asked them to do it the first time). As with most things down at Villa Park these days the value of this result will divide fan opinion. The mood among fans returning home from the stadium, or watching snippets of highlights after following the game online, will depend very much on whether they have a glass half full or glass half empty outlook.
The Glass is half full
All in all Villa got the job done on a chilly night at a half-empty Villa Park (Att: 20,706). We are through to the next round of the cup, unbeaten in four games, and we scored twice! In addition to that, several players returning from injury got much needed game time, youngster Jordan Lydon got a start, and this cup win is a nice escape from the gloom of the Premier League.
Garde also had the luxury to rest some key players meaning that come Saturday the squad should be at a good level of both fitness and freshness. Speaking of Garde his win percentage has taken a boost too after a slow start.
In terms of goals, it’s good to see the rest of the team easing the burden of goalscoring on the strikers by chipping in, with one goal from a defender and one from a midfielder in this game. Gana’s first goal for the club will hopefully spur him on to get on the score sheet more often in future. All of the above factors mean that Villa’s momentum is still intact and is building nicely ahead of the clash with West Brom this weekend.
Villa won and that’s all we want every week right?
Or….
The Glass is half empty
Aston Villa have little to no chance of getting past Manchester City in the next round, let alone going all the way in the cup. Progression in the competition is simple another unneeded distraction from the already enormous task of surviving the drop. Our already limited squad can’t afford to be further stretched.
Villa’s complacency, lack of desire for the majority of this game, and the amount of time that it took to actually get the goals needed to win are very worrying to see and served only to remind fans of past two game struggles against lower league opposition (Bradford anyone?) and highlight how ill-equipped this team is for a bottom of the table fight to the death.
The fact that Villa seem to be relying on defenders to score at the moment is a pretty damning indictment of the attacking players at our disposal. Our best chance at winning games, even against League Two opponents seems to be to lull them to sleep and hope that we don’t concede before we do that. We simply are not clinical and had spurned all of our chances before Wycombe’s late collapse. If we can’t take our chances what hope do we have in the top flight?
As nice as a cup run is it’s back to business this Saturday when we take on the Baggies. A win and we might just manage to gain some ground on those above us, a loss and any other results that go against us may be the final nails in the coffin.
What are your thought’s on the Wycombe result? Glass half full, or half empty? Let us know below.
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Interesting comments which don’t get to the heart of the matter. The problems at Villa are not about complacency or lack of desire, its the fact the players know they are not good enough and are afraid. The fear factor at Villa has been there for over five years and the need for a sports psychologist is clear. Garde can do nothing about the lack of quality, he did not buy the players, which is a different issue.
The reason they don’t play till the second half is they are terrified they will go behind, which they very nearly did courtesy of Guzan, and its only when they are not hanging for dear life that they start to play football. Cue a sports psychologist.
As for the empty seats, its regular for lower divisions clubs that half the ground is empty and some sections are not even opened. For lower division opposition the average is around 20,000, we are the real hard core of the home support.
Nothing changes except for one big thing WE ACTUALLY BEAT LOWER DIVISION OPPOSITION.
Get the champagne out and hope for a result on Saturday when we are not playing with the second string.
Oh And Lyden was rather good. Lets praise the kids. Jack is learning how hard the game is. Lyden could help him immensely.
trevor fisher
I have been watching Villa since 1970 & rarely miss a game. The first half performance was the worst I have ever seen, so poor I left in disgust at half time. From the eleven that started I would get rid of 8, the exceptions being Ayew, Sinclair & Richards. The rest are simply not good enough! For a man who is so good in the air – why does Gestede run towards the player with the ball every time we get the ball out wide? If he stayed on the penalty spot he would score more goals – think I am wrong? watch him! Jack Grealish is a spent force, if we can get a few million for him then get rid – he is lightweight & easy to shake off the ball – Ask Wycombe.
The empty seats say it all, this side is not good enough
AGM,21 mr Hollis. When are fans going to see quality signings
instead of dross
In simple terms, it’s better than losing. Lots of Prem teams get unstuck in cup runs against lower league opposition. In the past Villa have embarrassed themselves in Cup runs; Bradford, Sheffield United, Millwall. The squad needs confidence and even though this sounds like apathy in Claret and Blue for the first half, they got the result. Players are spurred on by getting a goal and our goals are now spread throughout the side. A variety of players will feel they can have a poke rather than pass it all the time. As long as it’s not Westwood, whose never going to score for Villa, power to them!
However, I agree it’s worrying they I haven’t seen Villa play to halfs of football for a long time. These days we play in the second half, and the first half’s about giving away a silly goal and taking for ever to get into the oppositions penalty area. If they could only play for 90 minutes, we’d have a chance of Premiership survival.