After stopping the rot with a relatively comfortable 2-0 victory against Brighton and Hove Albion last weekend, Aston Villa now hosted some south-coast opposition in the form of Southampton.
The boys in claret and blue were looking for back to back wins for the first time since November, against a club with a remarkably good record at Villa Park.
Not many predicted an afternoon like this, as the Villans ran riot and stuck four past the Saints in a thoroughly exhilarating encounter.
Let’s take a look at the five things we learnt from this thrilling tie at B6…
Watk-Ings
I have to start by holding my hands up and admitting I may have been a little rash in my previous analysis of Danny Ings and Ollie Watkins playing as a front two.
Many others have been guilty of the same, and we had already played judge, jury and executioner when it came to our strikeforce, after just a handful of games.
While it remains true that the partnership wasn’t working earlier in the season, I feel we should have been a little more patient in our approach.
We know by now that some things take time, and not every plan works immediately, and not all players hit the ground running.
How many times did we write players off in our first season back in the Premier League, only for them to prove us wrong the following year? Matt Targett was seen as a weak link during the 19/20 season, before going on to become the Player’s Player of the Year in 20/21.
Even in microcosm, during the first half of this season, we have seen big turnarounds from players. Emiliano Buendia had a slow start to his Villa career, but he has since begun to blossom as the weeks have passed.
Patience really is key, and now we’ve seen Ings and Watkins utilised slightly differently, the end product is starting to show. A slight tweak to the system has seen them bag five goal contributions between them in the last two games.
It simply cannot be said “they don’t work together” anymore when we’ve clearly seen that they do. Some of their link up play was sublime, and they felt more like proper team-mates in this game. It’s natural there will be a competitive rivalry there; goalscorers have a selfish side and want as many for themselves as possible, but an ability to feed off each other can only help them both.
I feel they are now starting to develop a much better understanding of each other, and the more time they have together, both in training and on the pitch, that bond will continue to strengthen.
Their renewed pairing up top has meant that the aforementioned Buendia has had to make way, which could be considered harsh given his recent form, but if it benefits the team overall then it is simply the right move to make. Little Emi will get his chance again, of course, and I’m sure he has the tenacity to fight for the shirt.
I’ve said it countless times that having a big squad littered with quality is essential if we wish to establish ourselves as a major force once again. We are well on the way to that.
We Knew This Would Come
Another thing we are well on the way to becoming is utterly ruthless. I concluded my last ‘Five Things We Learnt’ feature, from the 3-3 draw with Leeds United, by saying that when this team clicks, we are likely going to unleash absolute hell on a team.
Many have suggested this was the thumping we all expected to give out at some point, and in the main I’d be inclined to agree. But part of me feels we still haven’t seen anything yet!
We could have easily bagged another four or five goals against Southampton, and the 4-0 scoreline actually flattered the Saints.
Philippe Coutinho will have been disappointed he didn’t rack up a hat trick with a couple of glorious chances going begging, while Ings and Watkins also had shots blocked by the huge frame of Fraser Forster.
At times we were simply unplayable, and against weaker opposition you feel that four could have become five, six, seven…
We’ve done it before and we are going to do it again. Without naming any clubs, at the risk of making myself look silly, there are definitely a couple of fixtures in our run-in that could provide us with an absolute rout. Time will tell but I feel this quickfire demolition of Southampton was only a sign of things to come.
It has been suggested several times that we could very well finish the season strongly, after such a poor start, in a direct reversal of the previous campaign which saw us blow teams away early doors, before tailing off after the Christmas period and ultimately failing to make the top half.
A top half finish this season would be an incredible achievement, especially after a five-game losing streak in October/November, but it is entirely possible.
Again, without mentioning any names, I believe there are six very winnable games left for us at this stage. That would see us match our victory tally from last season, and I don’t think any of us could complain at that return. If we could throw in a couple of shock results along the way, that would be an incredible added bonus.
European qualification simply isn’t a realistic possibility now, but I do believe after the last two performances and results, that we are now in a decent position to finish the season well.
Classy Chambers
While absolutely none of us saw the signing of Calum Chambers coming, when he did land at Bodymoor Heath, there were definitely a few eyebrows raised.
Was he any good? Was he really what we needed? What role would he be expected to play? There were certainly more questions than answers.
It may still be too early to fully answer any of those questions, as he has only made four appearances for the Villans, but he has looked dependable when called upon, and against Southampton he really showed his class.
His appearance against the Saints was rather unexpected, as Steven Gerrard had waxed lyrical about the talents of Ezri Konsa in his pre-match press conference, but it is believed that a positive Covid test was the reason for the last-minute switch.
There were certainly a few ‘team sheet tantrums’ when the line-up was revealed at 2pm on Saturday afternoon, with many specifically bemoaning Konsa’s absence and Chambers’ presence.
I would hope the apologies were as loud as the disrespect come the final whistle, as Calum put in a solid clean sheet performance, topped off with an absolute diamond of a pass to set up the second goal.
He picked the ball up from Coutinho in midfield and, with the outside of his boot, lofted an exquisite ball back to the Brazilian Magician, who had timed a perfect run to the byline. Coutinho met the ball first time and played it into the path of Douglas Luiz to finish. A delicious move.
It gets better with every watch, and had a more ‘trendy’ player from any the alleged big six played a pass of that quality, Sky Sports would have set up a dedicated channel for viewers to watch it from every angle on a 24/7 loop by now.
If Konsa’s absence was indeed Covid related then Thursday night’s game against Leeds may come a little too soon for him, meaning Chambers will more than likely get another chance to impress. And if he has another decent game then Ezri will have a real battle on his hands to reclaim the shirt. Chambers definitely has a part to play at this club; his presence provides yet more healthy competition across the squad and yet more reasons to be cheerful.
Philippe Coutinho
That’s it. That’s the header. I will definitely be repeating myself from previous features here, but I honestly don’t care. Even though there isn’t much more that can be said about Coutinho that hasn’t been said endless times already, I still cannot believe he plays for Aston Villa and I want to revel in that for as long as possible.
I’m not sure we ‘learnt’ anything we didn’t already know on Saturday, but what we saw truly confirmed what a world class talent Coutinho is.
The man absolutely ran the show against Southampton, and the more game time he gets, the more he looks like the world-beater he was at Liverpool.
He seems to have settled very quickly and he looks like he’s absolutely loving his football again. He oozes class and quality, with both manager and teammates expressing their sheer awe of what he can do on the pitch.
Watkins said Coutinho “thinks quicker than anyone” and expressed what a joy it was to play alongside him, while Gerrard described him and Villa as a “match made in heaven”, and it would be very hard to disagree with that assessment.
One of the golden rules in football is not to fall in love with a loan player but it’s far too late for that now. We have fallen head over heels with Little Phil and I don’t think there’s a Villa fan out there who doesn’t want us to sign him permanently.
There are good players, there are excellent players, and then there are once-in-a-lifetime sensations that leave your jaw on the floor when they take to the grass. Coutinho is unquestionably in the latter category. To score from the position he did against Southampton was virtually impossible. He was absolutely surrounded by yellow and blue shirts, yet somehow wriggled into enough space to slam home the third goal. It was outrageously good.
It can’t be denied that he has had a tumultuous couple of seasons away from the Premier League, and perhaps hasn’t lived up to the hype or indeed the price tag. But I firmly believe that is a result of environmental circumstances rather than Philippe’s ability.
Now he’s found himself in a better place mentally, the game-changing performances are there again, and there are still levels for him to go to.
I don’t get to games often because of my geographical disadvantage and work commitments, but I am absolutely desperate to squeeze in a visit to Villa Park in before the end of the season (just in case he doesn’t stay). I need to see that Brazilian magic live!
The Future of the Forgotten…
The final thing we learnt from this game is there are three men waiting in the wings, who will (hopefully) be desperate to show Gerrard, and the Villa faithful, what they can do on the big stage; namely Leon Bailey, Morgan Sanson, and Bertrand Traoré.
All three are potential game-changers whose Villa careers have been frustratingly stop-start, as a result of both injuries and international commitments.
Bailey lacked match fitness when he arrived and has since suffered a couple of setbacks, Sanson seems capable of being injured by the weather, and Traoré was away with Burkina Faso at the AFCON for a month, before another hamstring issue kept him out of the side.
They are all back on the fringes now, with Bailey and Sanson making substitute appearances against the Saints, and Traoré included in the matchday squad for only the second time this calendar year.
There has been plenty of speculation about their futures at the club, with many suggesting they will be shipped out in the summer.
I would personally like to see them stick around for at least another season, as I believe they are quality players with points to prove.
In just a few appearances for Villa during this campaign, Bailey has shown both blistering pace and an ability to finish, and last season Traoré provided a number of classy ‘moments’ to win games for us. Sanson is more of an enigma, as we know there is a Champions League level player in there, but we simply haven’t seen it in claret and blue so far.
As I mentioned earlier in the piece, sometimes patience is required, and we can’t expect everything yesterday. We fall into that trap too often as a fan base and it’s something we need to try and shake off.
These players have plenty to offer, and they could be essential in Villa putting together a strong run-in, with a couple of rescheduled games potentially causing a bit of a fixture pile up during the last few months of the season.
Gerrard has already shown he is willing to tweak both the personnel and the system week by week, so he will need his deputies to perform when they’re given a run in the side.
Even Buendia has found himself on the sidelines of late, and he’s another player who will be itching to get back on the pitch and showcase his talents.
There are 12 games remaining now, and a top half finish is definitely achievable. If things go really well, we could even be looking at finishing in the top eight. Either would signify further progression for the club, with qualification for Europe being the target for next season.
Up the Villa!
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