Villa’s poor form continues with defeat at Chelsea, watched by Dave Woodhall.
One of Villa’s big problems this season was predicted during the summer – the effects of he Champions League on our domestic form. And so it’s proving. Last Wednesday disappointment at only drawing with Juventus was seen as a sign of how much progress we’ve made so it’s only fair to say that getting thoroughly outplayed by Chelsea is an indication of how far we’ve still got to go, or how much we’ve gone backwards, depending on how you want to look at it.
As expected, there were a few changes to the team who had played midweek, with Philogene Bidace replacing the out of form Leon Bailey and Tyrone Mings again on the bench, which makes you wonder whether he’s fully fit yet or whether Unai thinks he doesn’t have a long-term future with Villa.
Bidace was presumably picked to provide the sort of defensive cover he gave against Bayern and it didn’t take long for him to make his first significant contribution. Unfortunately, it was at the wrong end as his error was instrumental in leading to Chelsea’s opener, on seven minutes.
That gave Villa a big enough task and it wasn’t help when Ollie Watkins missed a gilt-edged chance after a quarter of an hour. He had another opportunity before half-time but by then Villa were two down and defeat was imminent. It became even more likely when the teams lined up for the second half with Robin Olsen taking the place of Emiliano Martinez, who’d suffered an injured hand.
You really don’t want that particular substitution at any time, least of all when you’re losing two-nil to one of the most in-form teams in the country, but in his defence Olsen didn’t really do anything wrong during a largely uneventful second half and had no chance with the final goal that gave a final scoreline which, sadly, reflected the play.
Nobody needs reminding of Villa’s recent form, but there’s been a few times when the run of the ball has gone against us. We could have won a couple that were drawn and drawn one or two that ended in defeat. Sunday afternoon wasn’t one of those times – we were comprehensively outplayed from start to finish and there wasn’t a single player who you could say had even a half-decent game.
Villa are at the sort of point when perhaps it’s time to take stock of the situation. It’s been an incredible couple of years, with the team and, indeed, the club dragged along by a managerial genius. Maybe that’s blinded us to the fact that a few of the players aren’t as good as we thought. Maybe it’s time for a clearout and a re-build. Which leads us to the most annoying aspect of the current situation.
Our worst results recently have been away at Spurs and Chelsea, two places when we won last season and clubs we should be looking to compete with. During the summer we had to sell players to comply with rules that were brought in to help a handful of clubs that include Spurs and Chelsea. Not making excuses for the showing at Stamford Bridge but long-term, that’s what we’re up against.
There’s one aspect of the summer transfers that I’ve not seen mentioned, although that doesn’t mean that someone, somewhere, hasn’t similarly mentioned this. That is the effect that ‘shipping out’ two of the squads most high profile players has on the remaining squad players. Imagine that you see Luiz and Diaby having to be sold, and what it tells you about the ambition, viability, and, intent of the club. I fully appreciate the issue of FFP (or whatever it’s called this week) but when the guy sitting next to you in the dressing-room is shipped out I doubt if FFP is your go to thought process. I suspect, whatever impact it has on the remaining players, it’s not positive.
I think the players have bought into pre season predictions, that we would struggle with the workload, An easy ready made excuse, you hear our own fans trotting it out.