It felt like a strange week in the Villa universe which is saying something. Endless dissection of the Crystal Palace debacle, coupled with Sarr coming to join the party and then not. Not unlike the emerging Bednarek situation, Villa fans couldn’t quite decide whether they were happy or not, generally occupying a territory where they were glad there was a signing imminent, but ‘just not him’. A jolly to the North West and a flattering Cup win at Bolton papered over some cracks but only the most ardent of Villa optimists could have pointed to that result as a signifier of wonderful things to come.
And so onto West Ham, back at Villa Park. A West Ham team bottom of the embryonic Premier League, losing all three of their games without scoring a single goal. Plenty of Villa wags keen to point out that B6 may be the ideal place to come and put that right. There was a point there – poor record against the Hammers (generally) and last season’s 4-1 hammering still fresh in the memory. Most Villa fans I spoke to – or read – seemed to be happy to sit on the fence and desperately hope that by predicting a draw then that would magically happen. As our own Justin Hawthorne said the first goal was crucial – either buoying West Ham into believing their run was at an end or sinking them further into malaise.
Team news broke largely as expected other than Tyrone Mings conspicuous by his absence. Illness was the reason given – cue the sages of VP recounting various spurious rumours as to the truthfulness of that. Let’s hope he’s OK and back soon. It did underline the lack of cover in that area as the ‘last men standing’ Konsa and Chambers formed a new partnership. I assume the plan would have been Kamara dropping back if necessary, with no centre back and both Marv and Tim on the bench. Two up to was the plan again, with Coutinho back behind. Right call to have Luiz back in as an 8 – although made what unfolded after 3pm even stranger.
Control and Shape you say?
Much criticism has been levelled at Gerrard and the team this season around a lack of control and certainly a lack of shape and organisation. The first half seemed to be suggesting that a penny had dropped. Villa looked solid and organised, keeping the ball well and, dare I say, looking in control. They were aided in this fight by David Moyes’ decision to play an unfamiliar formation which allowed Villa space – the West Ham manager may have been slightly over egging it post match when he said Villa ‘thrived’ in that space.
Blunt Attack
Control or not the attack was blunt. Coutinho seemed to be having better success at marshalling Declan Rice than creating chances and whilst Ings and Watkins were as usual tireless they had a limited canvas on which to work. Again, the width seemed to be down to full backs – although Matty Cash saw very little of the ball compared to Digne on the left. Digne’s corner was bundled in by Ezri Konsa in the 14th minute but the ball had already swung out of play. It was probably the Frenchman’s best delivery of the day, albeit an illegal one. Another trend of the first half was signaled directly before that corner when Watkins was forced to shoot from a tight angle as there was no one in the box for him to look for. This happens too much – just no options. Frustrating stuff.
As Fornals smashed a volley into the Holte End as the first half drew to a close it was clear that a single goal was likely to gain someone 3 points, assuming either could muster that.
Villa Fail to Respond
Part of the frustration of the first half was that West Ham looked so poor and yet Villa couldn’t take advantage. Moyes clearly agreed and changed things up over the break, reverting back to a more familiar shape. An improvement for West Ham followed but – not for the first time this season – Villa just seemed to have no response to that improvement either from within the team or from the coaching staff. Another poor Digne set piece and John McGinn dithering on the ball (themes here, I am afraid) resulted in Bowen streaming through the midfield wasteland towards goal before Digne raced back. Villa continued to ride their luck, with Callum Chambers doing enough to avert a further West Ham scoring opportunity.
Finally some substitutions from Villa – but again without the desired effect. Off went Luiz to usher in the usual chaos in midfield, and critically off went Coutinho. Not critically in the sense of creativity or forward momentum but in the fact that his replacement Buendia didn’t track Rice in the same way. Inevitably Rice surged through to set up Fornals’ winning goal and only a yellow card inducing tackle from Kamara him going all the way himself later on.
Villa huffed and puffed for the remainder without ever really looking likely to do what they hadn’t managed in the previous 75 minutes and score a goal. Cash blazed over before Ramsey gave Fabianski some easy shot stopping practice.
There will be other content on here that picks apart the bones of this performance and what is a ghastly start to the season but quite what happens now is anybody’s guess. There was an overriding sense of inevitability and deflation after the game which is nothing new at Villa Park. We will all be there again next Saturday (largely in trepidation) but the majority of fans will now strongly believe something has to give – either in terms of plans / tactics or with those devising and implementing those tactics.
As always, UTV.
In terms of a postscript as I was finishing this on Monday morning I caught MOTD2 and Micah Richards’ comments at the end of the highlights. Depressingly, it’s there for all to see – no plan, no ideas. It might be the most depressing thing ever that Danny Ings is overlapping Digne on the left as a tactic.
AUTHOR | IVAN MCDOUALL
Author’s UTV PODCAST archive Ivan McDouall
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