Dave Woodhall watches as Villa lose to Chelsea.
Much of the talk leading up to this one centred on Steven Gerrard’s comments that Chelsea, because of the money they’ve spent, should expect to “wipe the floor” with Villa. That particular soundbite was, invariably, taken a bit out of context, but it still sounded like making excuses in advance, which is never good for a manager under pressure.
The team news was no great surprise, with the usual suspects taking up the first eight places and Watkings (down with the kids, me) once more shoehorned into an attack that also had Leon Bailey starting. No South American wizardry and with Cameron Archer unavailable, no strikers on the bench. Surely there was one in the under-23 squad that could have been given a chance, particularly with a host of midfielders there who you know from the off wouldn’t get a run-out under under any circumstance.
Still, hope springs eternal and Villa made a decent start only to be undone by a mistake from Tyrone Mings, whose misplaced header led to Chelsea opening the scoring after seven minutes. Not the best of omens, but Villa shrugged off this setback and rather than giving up, put on one of their best first-half displays for a long while.
Our wing play was dangerous, the three attackers supported well by John McGinn, and for long periods Villa were dominant. Only a string of world-class saves and the woodwork prevented at least an equaliser, but when your luck’s out, it’s out. One-nil it remained at half-time and Gerrard’s comments about resources were in part justified as Chelsea were able to bring on players better than the ones they replaced and close the game down in the second half.
Villa still had chances but the danger just wasn’t there and a free-kick that Emiliano Martinez seemed to cover wrongly wrapped up the game.
Philippe Coutinho came on and did little; he was followed by Emiliano Buendia, who did scarcely more as Chelsea knew they had little more to worry about. Villa’s lack of attacking depth was shown by the introduction of Leander Dendoncker, a defensive midfielder coming on with twelve minutes to go and Villa two down, simply because there was no-one else available. We might not have the resources available to Chelsea, but picking five defensively-minded players on the bench at home doesn’t help.
There were boos at the final whistle, which was perhaps unfair given the way Villa played and this being the first defeat in five. Then again, the facts don’t lie- nine points from ten games is unacceptable. We’ve got what should be a couple of easier fixtures coming up and if we show the same attacking flair there’s no reason why two wins shouldn’t give that points tally a much healthier look.
Then again Villa have had a habit for a long time of raising their game against the better sides, not quite doing enough to win and then going back to the old ways against supposedly inferior opposition. By the time we travel to Newcastle in a couple of weeks, one of two things could look a lot different – either the league table, or the Villa bench.
