Aston Villa - 2020/21 PL Season review & comparison

[MaVilla]

After a mix of the sublime and the not so sublime, but overall a very good season, we have finished in 11^th position with 55 points.

 

Overview:

• ·         Our best PL points tally since 2009/10 under MON (64 points).
• ·         The 2020/21 PL season, is also the first time we have achieved a positive goal difference since the 2009/10.

•        Overall, a brilliant season, lets push on next season and buy some quality players this summer (please Deano!!!)

Goals:

• ·         Ollie Watkins scored 16 goals in all competitions.
• ·         Anwar El Ghazi scored 11 goals in all competitions.
• ·         Bertrand Traore scored 8 goals in all competitions (and tbh, scored some of the most amazing goals I have seen from a Villa player in many a year!)

Assists:

• ·         Jack Grealish provided 12 assists in all competitions (even after missing 13 games)
• ·         Bertrand Traore provided 6 assists in all competitions.
• ·         John McGinn provided 5 assists, & Ollie Watkins provided 5 assists.

Clean Sheets:

• ·         Emi Martinez kept 15 clean sheets in the PL, which equalled Brad Friedel’s record which was set in the 2009/10 PL season.

 

Season Review:

• ·         Villa started off like a freight train, winning our first 4 games.
• ·         The first 14 games were the most impressive part of our season (W 8, D 2, L 4).
• ·         After Jack Grealish got injured, our season drastically tailed off which effectively lost us the chance of a top 8 finish.
• ·         Regardless, the season overall was a huge step forward, and it’s the first season in the last 4 where we weren’t sitting on the edge of our seats worried about promotion or relegation.
• ·         Compared to last season (game for game), we did better in 14 games, the same in 16 games, and worse in 8 games.

  

 

2020/21 versus previous years Top 7 / European qualification progress:

 

2020/21 versus 2019/20 points progress.

Edited May 23, 2021 by MaVilla

[Kuwabatake Sanjuro]

The covid outbreak and Grealish's injury were the big blows during the season, a case of what might have been. 

[villa4europe]

At the very least we're exciting 

Wonder what having fans in the stadium would have been like during the slump but also during some of the great wins 

Beating the "big" teams bar of course **** utd must be the best season for that for a long time? 

[It's Your Round]

Some great memories that have made this season:

7-2

The double over Arsenal 

Leicester away

Palace Boxing Day 

Everton away 

Spurs away

Chelsea unable to beat us twice

It’s been a long time since we took so many points from the top six.

[CosmicVillan]

Unlucky not to finish top half with our points haul...We have made great strides.  

[KAZZAM]

We would've made the europa league at a minimum without Jack's injury and the huge covid outbreak. 

Other teams just above us(Everton, Arsenal, Leeds) very fortunate it happend to us. 

[Phil Silvers]

FANS!!!!

Make all the difference, must have been 25000 there today because I haven't heard anything that loud at any of the other matches today, including citeh lifting the trophy they bought.

Edited May 23, 2021 by Phil Silvers

[Tommo_b]

7-2 against Liverpool... just beautiful.

[useless]

This is where our 55 points would have seen us finish each of the seasons since the league was reduced to twenty teams

2019-2020 ~ 9th

2019-2020 ~ 9th

2018-2019 ~ 8th

2017-2018 ~ 7th

2016-2017 ~ 7th

2015-2016 ~ 9th

2014-2015 ~ 9th

2013-2014 ~ 9th

2012-2013 ~ 8th

2011-2012 ~ 8th

2010-2011 ~ 7th

2009-2010 ~ 9th

2008-2009 ~ 7th

2007-2008 ~ 9th

2006-2007 ~ 8th

2005-2006 ~ 9th

2004-2005 ~ 7th

2003-2004 ~ 7th

2002-2003 ~ 8th

2001-2002 ~ 7th

2000-2001 ~ 8th

1999-2000 ~ 8th

1998-1999 ~ 6th

1997-1998 ~ 9th

1996-1997 ~ 9th

1995-1996 ~ 10th

As it happens it was we who finished sixth under John Gregory in the 1998/99 season on 55 points, but this season's 55 points beats that because we have better goal difference now than we had then, in fact in the premier league era no team that has finished with 55 points can the beat our goal difference of plus nine.

 

 

 

[Mark Albrighton]

28 minutes ago, HanoiVillan said:

One thing I will say though -

Every season, there is a conversation in the relegation thread. Someone will say 'I reckon 30 points might be enough to stay up this year!' And I, and a number of other posters, will reply 'People say that every year, but every year the teams at the bottom find a way to win some games when it matters'.

Well, I'm sorry to everyone I disagreed with. This year, 30 points would have been enough to stay up. The bottom three were *really* shit this year.

This post from HV in the other football section got me wondering, when did Villa (unwittingly) confirm safety, in hindsight.

Using @MaVilla‘s graph, it turns out safety was secured on 23rd January against Newcastle with a 2-0 win in our 17th league match of the season, moving us 1 point beyond the clutches of Fulham and their eventual total of 28 points. 
 

[fruitvilla]

2 hours ago, useless said:

it was we who finished sixth under John Gregory

So eight and half(th) on average ... what goes around come around  ... I suppose.

[Zatman]

Great season actual position isnt great but points total if asked we would have taken it

[maqroll]

We've won the bottom half of the league by 10 points. Not sure what the trophy looks like, but I'll take it. Weird season in so many ways. Our flying start really captured the imagination. The stretch of games up to the new year and the excitement the team were generating helped me get through the worst of the pandemic and upheaval. Tale of two halves, really. Disappointing dip in form and fortune with Jack and Cash going down.

Dean Smith is the boss, and I like it. He's a steadying force and has the respect of the players. He got things right most of the time again and I think as he grows into the job more he will become more agile in his in-game management. Big season coming up. He has a chance to consolidate his position but if the team struggles will NSWE stand by him even in a regression?

It was nice to sign Sanson, the jury is still out for now though. He seems composed enough, I wonder about his toughness. 

Emi deserving of all the plaudits. Targett was immense every time I watched him play. Intelligent, positive player who gets stuck in. Barkley seemed like weird business for Villa and it was. Not a good fit. The worst player of the season. Petulant, entitled attitude. Just go away. Ollie Watkins is my new Villa hero. Such a bright player and relentless. And likeable.

Hopefully things shape up so that Jack Grealish puts pen to Villa paper again. If he stays, it means he's been promised another few big signings. If he's sold, we will have a proper war chest.

We need better players at a few key positions. Let's hope we get them and depth as well for other positions. Should be an exciting summer. I'm going to try to get to VP next season. First time in 22 years. 

UTV

[OutByEaster?]

The 55 we scored this season is the second most goals we've scored in any season this century, we only scored more in 2007-08 when we scored an immense 71.

It's also more than twice the number of Premier league goals we scored in 2015-16.

 

[DCJonah]

11 minutes ago, OutByEaster? said:

The 55 we scored this season is the second most goals we've scored in any season this century, we only scored more in 2007-08 when we scored an immense 71.

It's also more than twice the number of Premier league goals we scored in 2015-16.

 

And whilst doing that, we equalled our premier league clean sheet record. 

And at times, some actually questioned our progress. 

[CVByrne]

Interestingly we managed nearly half our season total points (26 of 55) from the top 10 teams. As has been stated with Jack being injured it surely cost us points as it happened when Barkley had lost all form too. Jack fully fit hopefully and a couple of quality signings, players improving again and we can be hopeful of improving on that points tally by 5/6 at least next season. 

[HKP90]

On 23/05/2021 at 18:32, MaVilla said:

After a mix of the sublime and the not so sublime, but overall a very good season, we have finished in 11^th position with 55 points.

 

Overview:

• ·         Our best PL points tally since 2009/10 under MON (64 points).
• ·         The 2020/21 PL season, is also the first time we have achieved a positive goal difference since the 2009/10.

•        Overall, a brilliant season, lets push on next season and buy some quality players this summer (please Deano!!!)

Goals:

• ·         Ollie Watkins scored 16 goals in all competitions.
• ·         Anwar El Ghazi scored 11 goals in all competitions.
• ·         Bertrand Traore scored 8 goals in all competitions (and tbh, scored some of the most amazing goals I have seen from a Villa player in many a year!)

Assists:

• ·         Jack Grealish provided 12 assists in all competitions (even after missing 13 games)
• ·         Bertrand Traore provided 6 assists in all competitions.
• ·         John McGinn provided 5 assists, & Ollie Watkins provided 5 assists.

Clean Sheets:

• ·         Emi Martinez kept 15 clean sheets in the PL, which equalled Brad Friedel’s record which was set in the 2009/10 PL season.

 

Season Review:

• ·         Villa started off like a freight train, winning our first 4 games.
• ·         The first 14 games were the most impressive part of our season (W 8, D 2, L 4).
• ·         After Jack Grealish got injured, our season drastically tailed off which effectively lost us the chance of a top 8 finish.
• ·         Regardless, the season overall was a huge step forward, and it’s the first season in the last 4 where we weren’t sitting on the edge of our seats worried about promotion or relegation.
• ·         Compared to last season (game for game), we did better in 14 games, the same in 16 games, and worse in 8 games.

  

 

2020/21 versus previous years Top 7 / European qualification progress:

 

2020/21 versus 2019/20 points progress.

Even our ‘bad patch’ where some seemed to think the sky was falling was better than the same period the year before.