Post by tufc01 on Aug 30, 2010 22:37:05 GMT
I went to Villa Park yesterday to watch their game against Everton.
It’s the first time I’ve been to Villa Park, in fact it’s the first Premiership game I’ve ever seen. The last Top flight game I saw in England was at Anfield in the late 70’s where Liverpool won the old Division 1 title, ironically they beat Villa that day.
Villa Park is no Camp Nou, but I did think it was a tidy stadium although I didn’t think the atmosphere was that great, in fact I’m sure it was noisier at Vale Park on Saturday.
I was sat pretty much next to the dug outs so it was interesting to see the contrasting styles/behaviour of the respective managers during the game. David Moyes was constantly on his feet shouting instructions to his players or more often than not moaning to the 4th official about something, anything. Kevin McDonald on the other hand was the complete opposite, rarely got up and when he did it was ALWAYS to offer words of encouragement to his players, even when they made a mistake. When their young winger Albrighton gave the ball away mid way through the second half he repeatedly kept saying to him, “its OK keep your head up, don’t worry” and then when he then went on a run and beat a few players he really did praise him. It was like that with a few players, he is almost like a father figure giving them fatherly advice. He seems such a nice person, but just doesn’t look like it’s quite his cup of tea, not that I know anything at all about being a premiership manager.
I was impressed by Everton, heaven knows how they didn’t win this. At half time I was so sure they would come back and win it I had a few quid on them. Moyes really does get them playing football. The two fullbacks, Hibbert & Baines, were impressive. They were constantly pushing forward, always looking to overlap, got some great crosses in and defended well. Arteta also impressed, everything Everton did that was good went through him at some stage, he covered every blade of grass, never gave up and has a great range of passing. They kept their shape well and did everything but score and, in my opinion, here lies their problem. Beckford didn’t look like a premiership player, he looked a bit out of his depth. Rodwell was only slightly better. They looked more of a threat when Saha came on but they desperately need a goal scorer.
Villa on the other hand looked out of sorts. They didn’t have the shape or width and struggled to cope in midfield against Arteta & Fellaini. Richard Dunne looked no better than Guy Branston to be honest and against a more potent attack he would have struggled even more. Downing was quiet a was Carew. Albrighton was good going forward, less so defending. However when you have a keeper of the quality of Friedel then you will always be in with a chance of keeping a clean sheet. That said Villa got the important goal and hung on in for the three points.
As I touched on earlier the atmosphere was a little quiet. A few chants of “Villa, Villa” in the first half, but nothing like what I was expecting. Although it was quiet impressive to hear 30,000 people singing “we always get shit refs”. At least we aren’t the only ones who get shit refs then.
Overall I wouldn’t be too worried if I was an Everton fan, but I would be slightly concerned if I was a Villa fan.
It’s the first time I’ve been to Villa Park, in fact it’s the first Premiership game I’ve ever seen. The last Top flight game I saw in England was at Anfield in the late 70’s where Liverpool won the old Division 1 title, ironically they beat Villa that day.
Villa Park is no Camp Nou, but I did think it was a tidy stadium although I didn’t think the atmosphere was that great, in fact I’m sure it was noisier at Vale Park on Saturday.
I was sat pretty much next to the dug outs so it was interesting to see the contrasting styles/behaviour of the respective managers during the game. David Moyes was constantly on his feet shouting instructions to his players or more often than not moaning to the 4th official about something, anything. Kevin McDonald on the other hand was the complete opposite, rarely got up and when he did it was ALWAYS to offer words of encouragement to his players, even when they made a mistake. When their young winger Albrighton gave the ball away mid way through the second half he repeatedly kept saying to him, “its OK keep your head up, don’t worry” and then when he then went on a run and beat a few players he really did praise him. It was like that with a few players, he is almost like a father figure giving them fatherly advice. He seems such a nice person, but just doesn’t look like it’s quite his cup of tea, not that I know anything at all about being a premiership manager.
I was impressed by Everton, heaven knows how they didn’t win this. At half time I was so sure they would come back and win it I had a few quid on them. Moyes really does get them playing football. The two fullbacks, Hibbert & Baines, were impressive. They were constantly pushing forward, always looking to overlap, got some great crosses in and defended well. Arteta also impressed, everything Everton did that was good went through him at some stage, he covered every blade of grass, never gave up and has a great range of passing. They kept their shape well and did everything but score and, in my opinion, here lies their problem. Beckford didn’t look like a premiership player, he looked a bit out of his depth. Rodwell was only slightly better. They looked more of a threat when Saha came on but they desperately need a goal scorer.
Villa on the other hand looked out of sorts. They didn’t have the shape or width and struggled to cope in midfield against Arteta & Fellaini. Richard Dunne looked no better than Guy Branston to be honest and against a more potent attack he would have struggled even more. Downing was quiet a was Carew. Albrighton was good going forward, less so defending. However when you have a keeper of the quality of Friedel then you will always be in with a chance of keeping a clean sheet. That said Villa got the important goal and hung on in for the three points.
As I touched on earlier the atmosphere was a little quiet. A few chants of “Villa, Villa” in the first half, but nothing like what I was expecting. Although it was quiet impressive to hear 30,000 people singing “we always get shit refs”. At least we aren’t the only ones who get shit refs then.
Overall I wouldn’t be too worried if I was an Everton fan, but I would be slightly concerned if I was a Villa fan.