Villa have the Premier League in sight after Second City Derby win
In May 2016, it seemed like no joy would ever return to Villa Park. The Midlands club had just been relegated from the Premier League with a mere seventeen points. The club was in freefall, ‘turmoil’ was the most fitting word to describe the situation. It seemed everything was wrong; the playing stuff, the coaching staff and the board, nothing was right. Now, in February 2018, a good twenty-one months later, Villa fans can finally believe again.
One of the very few positives of Villa being relegated to the Championship the season before last was the return of the Second City Derby. Today was the fourth renewal of the clash since then. It was by far Villa’s most accomplished performance in what is invariably one of the toughest and scrappiest derbies in England. The 2-0 victory was a flattering results for the Blues with Aston Villa hitting the woodwork twice and generally dominating the game. It was a seventh league win in a row for Steve Bruce’s side and cemented their status as one of the teams to beat for promotion back to the Premier League this year.
There is no coincidence that this golden run for Aston Villa has coincided with the return to the starting eleven for Jack Grealish. Grealish is an interesting character. His socks are rolled down by his ankles and he has ridiculous styles of hair every week, he certainly wants to make it known that he feels he is a ‘cool lad’. These mannerisms lead many to dismissing the player for overconfidence. However, when watching him closely, you can not argue about the ability and skill that this young man possesses. Grealish has wonderful close control, great positional sense with his body and a natural ability to measure his weight of pass superbly. He is a progressive midfielder, never stagnant. Despite being a very young man, he does not ever shirk responsibility, he constantly wants the ball even at times he probably shouldn’t receive it. Villa have been a transformed side since ‘Super Jack’, as he is known to the Villa fans, has managed to get a foothold back in the team after injury. The creativity within the side has increased and therefore more goals are being scored.
An element to Villa’s game that has improved vastly this year is their defence. The addition of long time Chelsea legend John Terry has been a key reason why. His partnership with James Chester has been nothing short of superb all year round and the constant flow of clean sheets would tell you this. Today against Birmingham, there was only one notable defensive lapse, a lapse which was unpunished when Sam Gallagher rattled the inside of the post. It was a fourth clean sheet out of this seven game run, with just the four being conceded in the other three.
Despite their recent upturn in form, Aston Villa are still well adrift of tearaway leaders Wolverhampton Wanderers, who lie twelve points ahead. Wolves have benefitted from the influx of former Porto Manager, Nuno Santo and star player, Ruben Neves. Also, the addition of Diogo Jota on loan from Atletico Madrid has given them the power in front of goal that has been lacking for years. With both Wolves and Villa finally ending their respective times of struggle, it may well spark a revolution for Midlands football which has been struggling for too long.
The city of Birmingham is the home of four big football clubs, however only one of these is currently in the top division. And even in that case, it is West Bromwich Albion, who has been flirting with relegation all year. In Wolves, Villa and Birmingham themselves, you have three big football teams finding themselves floundering in the Championship, it seems like this trend is about to buck. If Wolves and Aston Villa were to be promoted this year, it would do nothing but good for the Premier League.
One thing that can be witnessed in the Premier League at the moment is the amount of sides who wouldn’t be notoriously renown for being Premier League sides. As much as one must appreciate the efforts made by Brighton, Bournemouth, Huddersfield and Burnley to get to where they are, for me, they don’t add to the league. Maybe one or two might be good for the division, but the fact that Villa, Leeds, Wolves and Sheffield United amongst others are in the division below simply does not make sense.
I understand that some of my opinions won’t be the popular opinion and perhaps I’m being slightly critical about these ‘smaller clubs’. I just feel that a team such as Aston Villa or Leeds United, who could easily sell out their 40,000 seater stadiums in the Premier League, could offer more for the league. However, unlike Leeds, Aston Villa have proper claims for Premier League promotion this year and can’t be looked over given their current form. They dispensed of rivals Birmingham with some ease, and while the Holte End belted out a terrific rendition of ‘Look back in Anger’ at full-time, one could just feel the energy in the stadium. It has taken twenty-one months, and probably another three or four years before that, but the Villa fans are finally back smiling and believing.