Players finally pulling in the right direction!
WHAT a difference a win makes. Dean Smith and his Villa players would have woken up on Monday morning with a spring in their step as they look to pull off the unthinkable.
Thanks to Trezeguet’s double in Sunday’s 2-0 win against Crystal Palace at Villa Park, Villa could find themselves within reach of safety if they beat Everton at Goodison tonight (Thursday).
We pick out some of the major talking points from a rare victory.
A happy camp
“We’re stopping at a hotel the night before and the night after games. We’ve all been together. As I’ve said before, we’re entering tournament football and we’ve made it so we’re together quite a lot,” explained Smith. There was a newfound togetherness on the pitch on Sunday. It’s like an England camp at a World Cup, if you like, with Smith himself concluding that their latest win was a ‘semifinal first-leg’ as he looks to have implemented a tournament mentality in a bid to stave off relegation.
The players enjoyed a barbecue together on Saturday and are looking much closer as a group. That could bode well for the upcoming games against Everton and Arsenal. A mention, too, for the head coach, who challenged his players prior to kickoff by saying their Premier League careers are on the line. They all stepped up to the mark and put in lung-busting shifts as if their livelihoods depend on it.
“We are fighting for our lives, the players know what it means and they know what is at stake,” said Smith. His players certainly proved that.
Familiar faces to the fore
Just like at St James’ Park the other week, play-off heroes Conor Hourihane and Ahmed Elmohamady came to the fore in a real time of need for Villa yet again.
Hourihane – my star man on Sunday – put in danger ball after danger ball and teed up Trezeguet for the opener. The Irishman was then prepared to go through a concrete wall and guide his header into the path of the Egyptian once more. Elmohamady let it run and Trezeguet poked home the killer second.
Elmohamady was also impressive from the outset and, like Hourihane, kept putting in telling balls from deep to give Palace all kinds of problems.
Elmo was readied for action at the 11th hour after Kortney Hause hobbled off just as Villa’s warm-up had concluded. The Egyptian showed his experience and oozed class all afternoon – up against two tricky wingers in Jordan Ayew and Wilfried Zaha. “I like the fact he has a point to prove because he hasn’t been happy not playing. I like how he’s come in and proved a point playing against Zaha, especially,” was Smith’s summary.
McGinn masking fitness issue
The only real negative was John McGinn’s bang-average performance. The Scot hasn’t looked like himself at all during Restart following his sixmonth lay-off. McGinn was slow, sluggish and a shadow of the player who starred brilliantly prior to his ankle fracture last December.
What was telling was how Smith kept McGinn on and, instead, took off Hourihane for Marvelous Nakamba.
It said the boss is looking to pump minutes into McGinn to help build him up as he’s clearly way off in terms of being at the levels he set before. McGinn just about got through against Palace and did okay at masking what must be a big fitness concern for his boss.
Everton are feeling blue “Shocking. Really, really bad. No hiding places.” That was Seamus Coleman’s brutally honest assessment of Villa’s next opponents after their 3-0 hammering at Wolves. The Toffees are in 12th place and the players seem to have downed tools.
Once again, tonight (Thursday) is pretty much do or die for Villa as they take on another side who might be ‘already on the beach’.
Smith must look to be aggressive once more and make sure Villa keep their foot on the gas by going at Everton full throttle.
If they don’t, they’ll be playing Championship football next season.