Dave Woodhall remains optimistic despite Villa’s loss to Arsenal.
More years ago than I’d like to admit, someone whose opinion I respect told me that for the first two or three games of the season the performance is more important than the result. That was proved right after Villa lost at Newcastle last season and if there’s any justice in the world it’ll be the same story this time.
Villa lined up against Arsenal unchanged from the side who won their first game, a result that in itself had been made even more impressive by West Ham’s subsequent win away to a Crystal Palace side who many have tipped as an outside bet for Europe.
Villa were pretty impressive themselves during the first half, in front of a crowd that continued to grow as the queues at the turnstiles finally managed to enter the ground. The match kicked off five minutes late, although that was because the VAR machines weren’t working properly rather than the thousands still trying to get in, because getting it right for TV is more important than supporters being able to watch the match.
It’s ironic that as the football has been getting better, the way the club is run doesn’t seem to have improved since the bad old days of Dougonomics. The Lower Holte opened late, reportedly because there weren’t enough stewards, the late dispatch of the new digital season cards caused confusion and once inside there were still areas where improvements haven’t been made. Villa Park’s a Champions League ground now; we should be setting standards, not desperately running around in a last-minute attempt to meet them.
That aside, the team did play well in the first half and for the early part of the second. If Ollie Watkins hadn’t missed a couple of absolute sitters, if the Arsenal keeper hadn’t been on top form and then some, we’d have had it won before the substitutions that decided the game. Theirs worked, our didn’t. They took their chances, which meant they also took the points.
Despite the disappointments on and off the pitch there were still plenty of positives to come out of the day. Every so often you see a player who you know will be an England international before the end of the season. We saw it with Watkins and Ezri Konsa, now it’s the turn of Morgan Rogers. The sky really is the limit where he’s concerned. Leon Bailey always looks dangerous and Youri Tielemans has made me forget that Brazilian bloke already.
There were some downsides, notably those misses from a striker who has gone through bad patches before and always come out of them a better player, and a few defensive errors, but this is a squad that’s still evolving and learning how to play together.
Arsenal are the second-best team in the country. Villa matched them for most of the game and on another day could have taken the points. Where that puts us is something that will be answered over the coming months but if you do believe that wise old sage from earlier, we’re not far off at all.
