Liverpool dominated the first half and could have been out of sight. Yet in the second half you were hanging on and if villa had a better strike force you would have had a draw at best. I think your defence was held together by Toure and against a better team that defence may struggle. 2 wins out of 2 looks good but the team does not inspire that much confidence. We'll know more against United.
Benteke, one of the most in form strikers in the league this calendar year. 3 goals already against Arsenal & Chelsea... Agbonlahor in good form with a couple of assists, their forward line is pretty good. Our defence was held together by Toure? Possibly in this game it was.... Similar could be said about your forward line being held together by RVP though. What's your point? Why doesn't the team inspire confidence? compared to last year, we would have conceded when try to see out a 1-0 win however this year we've held on for both of them. That probably inspires more confidence in a group that an easy 4-0 win where the opposition put up no challenge at all.
I do understand you have very good reasons to feel confident. Especially when you look at last season. But before you get carried away, Villa unfortunately are one of the teams who play much worse at home than away. May be their counter attacking system, or the pressure from the home crowd? I would wait after at least 5 matches to make an early judgement (in the same way I would wait more than 5 matches to make a judgement on Moyes and United...)
Trust me, no one here is getting carried away thinking we'll win the league But to suggest if Villa had a better attack they would have won is doing a disservice to Villa's current attack. Think they'd scored the 4th most goals in the calendar year 2013, and Benteke is arguably the form striker in the league from last year and carrying on this year. To keep him contained to just 1 effort all game was impressive in my opinion. the main reason we're confident at the moment is the last 2 games are the types of games that last year we would have drawn, dominate for large parts, get one goal then fail to defend it. This year, already things seem different, and if they continue that way it could turn into a good season. However it's still a long way to go, and they'll be harder times when we go a few games without winning and we'll see how mentally strong this group of players are.
Completely agree. Last year it took us until October 7th to pick up 6 points. It took us 7 matches. This year, it's taken us 2 weeks and 2 matches. That's the improvement. Last year we would have dropped points, many points. We'd be on a draw and a loss possibly. Now we're grinding out wins. Sure, it's only 2, so hardly a trend. But the football we've seen since January has been positive and looks to be improving constantly. The players look focused, last year they looked nervous. The defence looks solid, even from set pieces (though my heart still sinks each time they get a corner). That's why we're excited, not because of the wins.
There are few other attacking players in form at the moment than benteke and his villain co. However, I do agree that for long periods in the 2nd half we were hanging on with luck and their wastefulness helping us massively. I was concerned that we couldn't keep possession in the middle of the park when villa looked hungrier. Coutinho and Lucas looked light weight today, even a little demoralized, perhaps by some wayward ref decisions? There were a couple of occasions when Stevie's grit got us out of some sticky situations! I would like to see a powerhouse central midfielder bought before the window shuts. On the plus. This is 2wins from 2, they have united next in the prem and should be more relaxed and confident for that test. Bring it on! P.s. sorry about grammar/spelling mistakes - writing a message on here with an iPhone 4 is stupidly hard!
I think yes we dug in... or most did... i think a couple of players vanished.... johnson did second half.. passing awful, afraid to tackle.... aspas was generally anonymous but second half it was obvious he was coming off. toure at least shwos not only will to do it but a bit of pace too so i think the only concenr is about him sustaining all year... mingolet is improving but he needs to think about a few things.... his passing out to the back 4 is nearly non existant andthis must improve and he could come out and collect a few more.. top saves again... the midfield duo did well, i thought henderson looked the least able player for us first half but he kept running.
