It's been a while since our last pub excursion. Since viewing Villa's 3-1 FA Cup Triumph at Bristol Rovers, Villa drew Everton at home, 1-1, before travelling to the Molineux and prevailing 3-2 through a pair of peaches from loan signing Robbie Keane. Villa continue the road show this Sunday, traveling to the Emirates to take on Arsenal in the FA Cup Fourth Round.
Villa will likely be without Emile Heksey, Carlos Cuellar, and possibly Stephen Ireland, with the trio suffering from Achilles, hamstring and hamstring injuries, respectively. Reserve striker Nathan Delfouneso has joined Leicester on a 28-day loan, while midfielder Fabian Delph has returned to Leeds for the same amount of time. Arsenal will likely be without any of their first-team left backs.
Capital Villans will be taking in the match at the Queen Vic, on 12th and H St NE. We'll see you there starting at 11 EST!
After closing out 2011 on a high note with a rampaging 3-1 victory at Stamford Bridge that saw Stephen Ireland finally break his claret and blue duck, Villa returned home to kick off 2012 by gifting visiting Swansea two goals, the first from a calamitous Stephen Warnock backpass in the 4th minute, the second from a shanked Brad Guzan clearance (followed by a sterling run from former Villan Wayne Routledge) 2 minutes into the second half.
Villa take a break from the league competition, in which they sit 13th on 23 points, to travel to Bristol this weekend, to take on Bristol Rovers in the third round of the FA Cup. Rovers sit 19th in League Two, and manager Paul Buckle resigned this week. Rovers will also be without starting keeper Scott Bevan, and could be missing leading scorer Matt Harrold. Villa, meanwhile, will be without Carlos Cuellar, who injured a thigh muscle while defending Wayne Routledge's run to set up the second Swansea goal on Monday, and keeper Shay Given, still recovering from the hamstring strain suffered in the defeat to Manchester United. Manager Alex McLeish has suggested that he will field a mostly full-strength side in this match.
On the transfer news front, Villa welcomed fullback Enda Stevens from Shamrock Rovers. Stevens was signed in the Summer, but loaned back to the Irish club for their participation in the Europa League. McLeish also confirmed that the club is in talks to loan in Irish forward Robbie Keane from LA Galaxy for a two-month period. The loan is expected to be either confirmed or dismissed on Monday, January 9th.
Capital Villans will be at the Queen Vic, and 12th and H NE, for the match. We'll see you at 12:30 p.m. EST on Saturday!
Last time Stan saw Rat-Faced Stewey in opposite colors, Downing left on a stretcher
Source: Daily Mail
Last week's 2-1 win over Bolton was a story of two halves, with Villa taking the match to the Trotters before retreating back into a shell for the second half. Against Kenny Dalglish's Liverpool on Sunday, Villa will need to press the attack the entire time, which won't be easy without runaway player of the season Gabby Agbonlahor, who picked up a very dubious fifth yellow card of the season late in the second half.
Last year, Villa ended the season by hosting Liverpool. The hosts came out 1-0 winners to claim ninth in the league in what would turn out to be the last match in Claret and Blue for the Houllier-McAllister management team, Nigel Reo-Coker, Ashley Young, Brad Friedel, Mikey Bradley, and Stewart Downing, who ended up posing in a Carribean bar with a Liverpool scarf not long after, announcing his intentions to leave a month after telling everyone "I'm happy, so there's no reason to change."
Downing will figure to take HEAVY abuse from the Villa fans in attendance, as several fan sites have begun distributing songs to welcome our erstwhile winger. A home win over Liverpool would be as redemptive as it was last year, as doubt has once again set in, talks of protest against the manager have emerged, and a poor run of form in December could see Villa starting 2012 the way they started 2011.
Capital Villans will be taking in the match at the Queen Vic on 12th and H Streets NE. Though their owner is a Liverpool fan, we will try not to gloat too heavily in the wake of a Villa win. We'll see you there from 9:00 a.m. EST on Sunday!
Before we get into a very long post, know that Capital Villans will be catching the match on tape delay at the Queen Vic on 12th and H NE, at 5:00 p.m. EST. We do hope to see you there!
With a frantic festive period coming up for Villa, and rumblings of massive protests of the current gaffer's regime to occur at next week's home match against Liverpool, I felt it might be a good time to dust off our post from June regarding Alex McLeish's appointment, and what positives he might have brought to the club this Summer.
As it stands, Villa sit in 9th place on 16 points. The worry, for Villa fans, is that this is exactly where he had Birmingham at this point in the season last year, and that ended in relegation. The other worry is that performances like the visit to Tottenham, where McLeish doubled down on right backs to contain Gareth Bale rather than having a more positive approach, will be the rule and not the exception.
Let's look, though, at those positive points I mentioned in June:
The man knows goalkeeping talent.
Shay Given was the odds-on favorite to come to Aston Villa and fill the void left by Brad Friedel joining Tottenham. But he wasn't the only name floated. Ali al-Habsi, Paul Robinson and Kieran Westwood were among the other names mentioned as possibilities for the vacant position. While Given is currently on the trainer's table having done his hamstring last weekend, few could argue that he's been anything but sensational for Villa. Point to Eck for picking the right man for the job.
He's good at organizing a defense.
He's actually not bad on this one, though set piece marking has been atrocious, and the goals we've allowed have been down to comically bad player performance (Big Ginger James, we're looking at you). Aston Villa have allowed 18 goals in 14 games, which puts us in 10th in the league in goals allowed; this is, by the way, an improvement of 2 goals over last season to this point (by date, though, it's an improvement of 10 goals, so either bad things are indeed on the horizon, or things will be looking up after the Liverpool match).
He's a tactically flexible manager-
I'm about to get my tin hat on for this, because I think I'm about to get a lot of opposition. The vast majority of Villa's matches have been played as a 4-5-1 (a formation, by the by, people CLAMORED for Martin O'Neill to use during his term at Villa, but I digress). The exact shape of that, however, varies match to match, and even half to half. The intent, as McLeish recently told the Villa official site, is to play a Dutch-style 4-3-3, with wingers serving as pincers to meet crosses at the back post. Villa supporters will recognize this tactic from Graham Taylor's time at the club, with Ian Ormondroyd serving as the main back-post target. While it's great to have that intent, I don't know if he can take credit for that vision if he hasn't communicated that well enough for players not named Agbonlahor to execute it.
What I CAN give McLeish credit for is the ability to turn a hoofing team into a passing team over the course of a halftime interval, as he's now done for the last two matches. And even the right-wing lock tactic against Tottenham, while extremely negative, showed some sort of tactical flexibility, as it pushed Villa into a 4-4-2. The struggle, though, is why the team begins matches hoofing the ball. Especially when McLeish seems outwardly to be pleading for his team to cut all that out during matches. But credit to him, he does always seem to have a plan B.
He's actually pretty good in the transfer market overall.
McLeish has made five signings during his first window at Aston Villa. Shay Given, Alan Hutton and Charles N'Zogbia joined permanently for a combined cost of 18 million pounds; Jermaine Jenas came in on loan, and has now gone back to Tottenham after injuring his Achilles on Sautrday; and Enda Stevens will be joining the club in January. We've already covered Given's excellence. N'Zogbia has struggled to find form to the point where he isn't even a regular selection, but many saw a move to Villa as the next logical step for a player of N'Zogbia's caliber. Remember that Stiliyan Petrov, Stewart Downing, and James Milner all struggled to find form in their first seasons at Villa, and all three eventually won Player of the Season honors for the club. Hutton has been, in a word, poor. While at times he's shown a real zeal to join the attacking play, his passing is also at times atrocious. His marking is inconsistent, though he did make Ashley Young a non-factor when Manchester United came calling. Jenas was a tough call. He was injured for most of his term at Villa, but when he did make the pitch, showed an incredible amount of industry and application for a player who basically missed all of last season at Spurs. Stephen Ireland might have done well to watch Jenas's performances in a Villa shirt. That said, 1 for 4 isn't a wonderful record, though N'Zogbia has shown bright flashes, as did Jenas before getting crocked.
He has won a trophy in England
And the team dropped out of the very same competition McLeish won away to our next opponents. But Villa do remain in the FA Cup- this one is to be determined
So that's a yes on identifying goalkeeping talent, tactical flexibility (though nous the jury is still out on), a no on the transfer market, and a maybe on trophies and the transfer market.
Now, to look at how McLeish has performed against the worry-points I mentioned in June:
Two relegations in three seasons is not a "proven record."
As mentioned before, the similarity in record between us now and Birmingham then is eerie; I have faith that our players are better than that, however.
His "big-name" buys (Arteta at Rangers; Zigic, Hleb and Beausejour) have all been flops.
I'd consider Given a big name buy, so he's hitting .500 on that at Villa until N'Zogbia improves
Again, while McLeish's formations may be flexible, his play is not, and there's a worry that his particular brand of kick-kick-kick-and-rush football will have attacking players like Darren Bent and Stewart Downing looking for the exits
Downing left in the Summer, so at least McLeish's tactics had nothing to do with that! But Bent does look worryingly unhappy on the pitch, and as mentioned above, there has been way too much hoofball thus far, though
He's brought Barry Ferguson everywhere he's been- and that's a player that's nowhere near good enough for Villa.
Well, McLeish has been asking for some January cash, but I don't think I've seen mention of Ferguson save for the opinion part of a James Nursey column. Please, feel free to correct me in the comments if you have (and in a real source- use the villatalk.com source blacklist for reference)
Of those worry-points, the only one that's looking realized is the level of the football.
In all, while the performances have been at times dire, I don't think they've been as bad as the O'Leary days or an O'Neill March. I do think the second half against Swansea and the last 20 minutes of the match against Manchester United light a way forward for Villa under McLeish, and I think he's smart enough to follow that light.
So while I don't think sunshine comes out of McLeish's back door, I'm not willing to join the protesting hordes of Villa fans, though poor performances against Bolton and Liverpool could rapidly change that. For at least the next two weeks, I'd urge the following:
After two straight losses to Man City and West Brom, with the latter including a dubious Phil Dowd red card (is there any other type of Phil Dowd red card?), Villa head to the Stadium of Light to take on Sunderland. Villa will be without midfield maestro Barry Bannan, who stupidly got into his car after a night on the lash and crashed the damned thing. Chris Herd, the object of Dowd's affection last Saturday, will be available as the FA overturned his red card ban. Alan Hutton may miss after donning the crimson mask during Saturday's festivities, and loanee Jermaine Jenas is unlikely.
Capital Villans will be at the Queen Vic, on 12th and H NE, at 10 a.m. EDT tomorrow. See you there!
Before the international break, Villa executed on their "must-win" match against Wigan, with Gabby Agbonlahor the star of the show. Gabby popped in a screamer from just inside the box after a lofted pass from Barry Bannan, then rampaged down the left flank before chipping an inch-perfect cross to Darren Bent for goal number two. A wonderful professional performance left Villa in 7th on 11 points with an extra week to prepare for Manchester City.
City come into the match second only on goal difference to their cross-city rivals. All hasn't been roses, however, as Roberto Mancini has squabbled at varying points with three of his main forwards (Carlos Tevez, Edin Dzeko and Mario Balotelli), and injuries have also decimated the forward line; superstar Sergio "El Kun" Aguero will likely miss this weekend's match.
Villa should have a mostly full squad to choose from, as Carlos Cuellar had his first full-match run out with the reserves this week, but loan signing Jermaine Jenas and reserve striker Nathan Delfouneso will both miss due to injury.
Capital Villans will be taking in the match live at the Queen Vic, at 10 a.m. EDT. Come on out and join us!
Villa saw out a gritty 2-2 draw at Goodison last Saturday, in which the team did not play its best football- in fact, Big Eck himself called the team's first half "insipid"- but excellent goalkeeping from Shay Given and last-ditch defending from Richard Dunne, James Collins and even Darren Bent kept the Villans in the game enough to equalize twice. The first Villa goal was an absolute beauty from skipper Stiliyan Petrov, the second a powerful header from Gabby Agbonlahor, who turned in an inch-perfect cross from substitute Marc Albrighton. And so Villa head into this weekend still undefeated and sitting in 8th place on six points.
Villa face Newcastle, who had their flying start cooled by a nil-nil draw with Queens Park Rangers yesterday, but are currently sitting fourth in the table. Villa will be without loan signing Jermaine Jenas, who has a "kicking strain" whatever that is, and man-mountain Emile Heskey, who came off at 18 minutes with a hamstring strain at Goodison and will be out for the next few weeks. Newcastle, meanwhile, should see a fully fit squad make the trip to the Midlands.
Capital Villans will be taking in the match at The Queen Vic, on 12th and H NE. It's also the day of the H Street Festival, so come out at 10 a.m. EDT for the match and make a day of it!
