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TorontoVilla

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  1. Really hoped he would sign a new contract but after last summer's song and dance with the sly Rafa, it was a foregone conclusion that he'd waltz off either now or on a Bosman next summer. I am very happy that neither Liverpool or Arsenal got him, but pretty peeved by his decision. Give or take, if I am generous, I can suggest that City and Villa have equal ambition and equal managers. Neither team is in the Champions League (although we are in the Europa League). Both teams are outside the Big 4. Both teams have decent support and similar profile. We have a better long-term history, recent-history and current form. We have the best owner, they have the richest owner. If you take all those points into consideration there can only be one reason that Barry chose to join Manchester City: money. He can't claim Champions League and he can't claim ambition. He could have claimed he wanted a change. We gave classy Mellberg a classy send-off when he expressed a desire to play in Italy. If Barry had been honest and stated he simply wanted a change, we may have been more understanding, but for me there will always be the lingering truth that it was even more money than the respectable pay wages we paid him that took him away from the team that groomed him to be a star and which gave him a regular England place. I can't wait to finish ahead of City again next season.
  2. I missed most of the first-half yesterday because Setanta accidentally sent through Wolves v Watford for the first half-an-hour. I was not amused. My comments that follow are based on the last few minutes of the first half and all of the second. Firstly, as much I love Barry, in my opinion that was definitely a dive. There was one camera angle - straight on from the front - that clearly shows no contact at all. The best you can say is that he was avoiding an imminent foul. I thought we played very poorly today. We had no confidence and little cohesion. It was disappointing and frustrating to watch...but it was only the first match of the season and I'm trying to be realistic and not overly pessimistic. My biggest concern for the season remains as it was before yesterday's match: lack of depth. Liverpool were not as great and wondrous as many of the reports suggested. We had more corners and only one less shot on goal. That doesn't suggest all out dominance to me. Their goals came from an own-goal and a wrongly-awarded free-kick. Yes, overally they were the better team and we certainly didn't deserve a win, but although they dominated us periodically, we were never run off the park as you'd think from some of the reports. The officiating was appalling. This was a clear a case as any of a referee giving every 50/50 call to the 'bigger team'. It was nothing short of a joke and we were robbed of a point today by Mike Reilly. Yes, he gave us a penalty because he had no choice. That was as blatant and obvious a hand-ball as you will see - but three minutes later he made up for it, didn't he? Taylor, Gardner and Barry were our best players I felt. Young ran his legs off but never really got anywhere. Petrov continues to disappoint, although I now wonder if I'm being unfair to him and am making him a scapegoat - you have to have one, don't you? Most of the others were average and never really picked-up their game. However, it is early days yet. Carew was apparently ill yesterday, as was Laursen. Hopefully that's why Carew was out of sorts. He looked good late last season and made all the right noises pre-season so hopefully he'll be flying next week. Newcastle will be a struggle. They have a solid side, a decent manager and good depth.
  3. Excellent match report and pretty much spot-on. I was also at the game and must say that it was one of the more entertaining friendlies I have seen. Neither side wanted to lose and it ended up being a hotly-contested physical battle. I would expect that more than a few of our lads will have sore knees and ankles this morning from the artificial pitch. Injuries aside, I suspect Martin O'Neill will regard it as a very useful run-out. As gm villain suggested, we just sliced Toronto FC to shreds in the first half and it could have/should been 4 or 5. Moore was blazingly-fast and razor-sharp and clearly hungry and eager to prove a point. He's not going to sit back quietly and allow anyone to push ahead of him in the queue. Although it was clear that at 2-0 we eased-off after the break, I have to say that our midfield and particularly our defence early in the second-half was very worrying. TFC did indeed over-run us, scored twice and had two disallowed (one by Dichio was debatable in my opinion, although I haven't seen any replays). It was only when Laursen came on that our defence settled down again and when Reo-Coker came into midfield that we could move forward again. With Carew causing trouble for their defence, normal play resumed. Steiber was impressive on the wing. A very fast player with good control and he managed to get a few crosses in even though he was being capably marked by US international fullback Marvel Wynne. Not sure that he's ready for a regular starting spot with Villa yet, but he looks good for the future. Marlon Harewood missed a sitter but ran his legs off and you get the feeling that once he's scored a couple his confidence will be back and he'll be a good asset. Nigel Reo-Coker made an immediate impression. He didn't get much of the ball, but he was constantly running and causing trouble and never stopped talking. He's a great addition to our midfield. O'Halloran and Gardner looked composed. All in all, we looked good and there are a lot of positives to take away from our first pre-season match. Our midfield looks strong and our attack fast, but I am concerned with our defence. Our first choice defence might be fine (I'm assuming something like O'Halloran/Gardner, Mellberg, Laursen/Cahill, Bouma), but start chipping away at that and we have little depth...particularly at the back. A few notes on Toronto...the goalkeeper was their 3rd choice and started his first ever match. He looked a little shell-shocked after the first two quick goals and the constant Villa onslaught, although settled down a bit later. The man-of-the-match award to Carl Robinson was indeed a bit puzzling although I think man-of-the-match may always go to a TFC player - there were also rumours yesterday linking him with a move to Wolves, so maybe he wore the captain's armband and won MOTM as a farewell gesture? There was a full-house at BMO Field and a great atmosphere. The noise level wasn't quite as loud or as constant as at TFC's regular MLS league matches, but it wasn't bad. Columbus will likely be quieter on Saturday and although they are doing better than Toronto, TFC are a tough team to beat at home and I don't anticipate Villa having a problem unless we decide to take it a little easier than we did last night. EDIT: I didn't write the match report, gm villain did, I just posted it here - 306
  4. If we had already bought a quality right-back, midfielder and perhaps goalkeeper and then picked up Harewood, I suspect we'd all be sitting back and nodding our heads happy that we'd picked-up a half-decent player to fill out the squad. Somehow, I don't think there would have been very many complaints if he'd been our 6th signing instead of our 2nd (assuming that 3rd-5th were generally considered to be quality). Our squad was thin last season and since then we've lost McCann, Samuel, Hendrie, Sutton, Hughes, Davis...and probably Djemba Djemba. I am sure that MON and everyone else knows that our squad is way too small right now and that they're busy working on rectifying that as I speak - I can't imagine that someone as shrewd as MON would even consider campaigning the first half of the season on a team that small. The Harewood signing came quickly and virtually out of nowhere. A few pundits had connected us with him but I suspect that was luck rather than judgement. Likewise, our next signings could be similarly quick and unexpected. Personally, as much as I would love to see us get Wright-Phillips - as much for image as anything else - I really don't think it's going to happen. Luke Young is a possibility, but I think MON will assemble a very solid team that will finish next season somewhere between 8th-6th and have some good cup runs. Perhaps my expectations are too low, but if that happens, I will be happy. The following season I will want Europe, however, as will MON and Mr Lerner I suspect. With regards to Harewood, I think he is a good player. A good old-fashioned centre forward. He had a rough season last year but so did almost all of a West Ham side that had been very good the year before. I like Carew a lot, but I don't see him being at Villa in 2 years time as he tends not to stay with clubs for very long - either by his choice, the club's, or by mutual consent. Last season, if we didn't have Carew, we lacked strength up front and our attack became dangerous but one-dimensional. Harewood gives us that strength and I believe he could easily be with us for another four years. I don't believe he's a 20-goal a season player, but I do think he's a very welcome addition to the squad. Now...roll out our right-back, midfielder etc etc.
  5. Great article, but allow me to give the Toronto angle. This is Toronto's first season in the MLS and their arrival was greeted with some scepticism and even cynicism by the Toronto media. However, after selling 14,000 season tickets well before the season started (and 11,000 of those sold before Beckham announced he was going to LA), the scepticism began to fade. Six home games into the season and each one sold out along with all the remaining matches, by far Toronto sports' best and loudest atmosphere from an enthusiastic and knowledgeable crowd, and no one's mocking football's return after the demise of the Toronto Blizzard of the NASL some years ago. 1) Tailgating. There is tailgating in Toronto and I believe it's a new phenomenom for Canada as I certainly hadn't seen it at any other sporting events before - not that I'm in the habit of attending either baseball or the Canadian Football League (gridiron). There are usually about a 100 Toronto FC supporters in the car park having a good old booze-up and sing-song before walking into the stadium en masse. It doesn't seem to happen mid-week as everyone's too busy dashing from work through the rush-hour traffic just to make it in time for a 7pm kick-off, so I'm not sure that there'll be anything before the Villa match. However, check the car park on the east side of the ground. If there's a party going on, I'll be the one wearing the genuine 1982 Champions of Europe le Coq Sportif home shirt...even if it is now several sizes too small. 2) Lots of singing and chanting at TFC...admittedly most of it coming from the 'supporters end': the Canadian equivalent of terracing. Pretty authentic and knowledgeable too, including an abundance of "The referee's a w*nker" and tributes to TFC cult hero Danny Dichio! The rest of the crowd tends to be a little quieter, but the south end more than makes up for that. Not sure how much noise there'll be for the Villa match as not all of the TFC regulars may attend. 3) Food etc. All true...but you can also drink beer in the stands, and sometimes they even bring it to you. How's that for civilised! (Although two recent incidents of opposition players being pelted with beer after celebrating goals a little too close to the stands may curtail the flow of beer somewhat). The downside of so much beer is the queues for the toilets at half-time. TFC also offers chip butties which I am sure is unique at any North American sports stadium. 4) The officiating so far has been nothing short of abysmal and I don't imagine it will get any better. As for chants about referees, in addition to rousing references to them being self-pleasurers, there was a rather nice and more innocent "I'm blind, I'm deaf, I wanna be a ref " at the last match which had even the novices joining in. In short, there's good atmosphere at TFC matches and good passion but no one's taking it too seriously...yet. This is a brand new team in a very-American league and the supporters know they're destined to struggle for a while. However, under Mo Johnston's leadership there's no shortage of effort on the pitch. Although the passion is increasing, many supporters seem to treat it as an afternoon at the pub except with entertainment. The last match was against New York and there were quite a few Villa shirts around to see Juan Pablo. After attending approximately one Villa match per season while he was with us and never seeing him score in person, I suppose it was inevitable that I'd see him score twice against Toronto FC last week. He's a thought, a step, and a touch above the rest in this league. After the match he was quoted as saying: "I must say this is the best ground I've played in thus far in MLS. The atmosphere was terrific. That's what soccer's about, that's what we want to see here in this league: passion and stadiums full. It was great, I really enjoyed today because it was a very good performance on the field and the support was great." If this is a normal summer, expect a beautiful hot and humid evening with cooling breezes from Lake Ontario. With a nice view of the Toronto skyline and a few cold beers, there are far worse places to watch Villa...even if it is only a friendly.
  6. The two friendlies (Villa and Benfica) are included in the season ticket packet - but when season ticket holders realise how much Toronto FC are selling individual tickets for, I strongly suspect that more than a few will try to sell theirs.
  7. I already have my tickets for Toronto FC vs New York in June and I will wear my Villa shirt and give Angel a huge welcome. We would all have liked more goals, but we couldn't have asked him to be more professional!
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