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S1 E30 Keeping up with the Villa
17 Plays1 month ago
On today's episode Joe and Craig review the 1-1 draw against Bournemouth and report live as Villa take on Crystal Palace in the EFL Cup.
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Transcript
Introduction to Daily Villa Podcast
00:00:01
Speaker
Every club, every day. The Global Sports Podcast Network. work like Hello and welcome to today's episode of the Daily Villa podcast as part of the Global Sports Podcast Network. My name is Joe Boone and I'm delighted as ever to be joined by Craig Burtwhistle to talk all things Villa. First of all, how are you Craig? Living the dream as always Joe.
00:00:30
Speaker
Excellent, really
Review of Aston Villa vs. Bournemouth Match
00:00:31
Speaker
good to hear. So first things first, we're going to look back at the heartbreaking one-all draw against Bournemouth in which it looked as though we'd managed to secure all three points after an acrobatic finish from an unlikely source in Ross Barkley until the sixth minute of added time where Iva Nielsen, hopefully pronouncing that correctly, made contact with a header from a free kick to snatch the two points away from us. When that goal went in, Craig, what were your your initial emotions?
00:01:00
Speaker
Well, initially Joe and I think like everyone like deeply disappointed the fact that I think it was literally 10 seconds left in the game. I don't even think we restarted the game or like we took kickoff and then he blew the whistle. So it was devastating to drop down those two points, if you will.
00:01:18
Speaker
um based on the situation. um The one thing I do want to stress though is that I think one of the worst things about social media is because of how active it is straight away. That people jump on board, they get very emotional straight away. And if you look at the actual game itself, I think Bournemouth played really well. And I think they did deserve something out of that game to be perfectly honest. and I think it hurt us more because of how we conceded, not that we conceded. So light in the game with a last minute free kick that should have been avoided. But to be fair to Bournemouth, they played really well.
00:01:59
Speaker
Yeah, absolutely. And I think kind of in terms of the way that Bournemouth played, you mentioned there that you kind of think that they they should have got something out of that game and they deserve to get something out of that game. Do you think it was a case of Bournemouth looking good or do you think it was a case of certain spells of the game, us making them look better than they maybe were?
00:02:17
Speaker
I'd actually give the credit to Bournemouth to be honest. Like when, when we spoke about the aftermath of the Manchester United game, for example, where we felt flat, we didn't feel sharp. We felt like it was the European, the continental hangover that it's called and everything like that. But I think to say any of those things takes the credit away from Bournemouth. I think they did really well at nullifying our threats from time to time.
00:02:42
Speaker
We tried our best to break them down. We had chances that we could have taken to kill off the game, but Bournemouth were in it all the way from the beginning to the end. Yeah, exactly. And you mentioned there that the chances that we had, we really struggled to...
00:02:56
Speaker
to take our chances over that the course of the game. Our clinical nature in front of goal is something that we've spoken about before on the podcast, being able to to punish teams when given those opportunities. Villa had 18 shots with eight of those being on target. And I suppose my question is, if we want to establish ourselves as a consistent top 14, surely we have to punish those teams that give us that that high number of chances, right?
00:03:21
Speaker
We certainly do. And the why, um although the Champions League is obviously very different to the Premier League in terms of the fact of the amount of clean sheeps we've just took, it's the fact that if we are going to consistently drop goals and lo let goals in, I should say, that we have to be clinical upfront in order to to counter that unless our defense starts solid enough. So we have to take those chances, but I would say With the exception of the Man United game, we have been taking our chances. I've been a little critical of say like Morgan Rogers, um, not finishing the inside, uh, in and around the box when he gets those opportunities. But if you actually look at the stats for Morgan Rogers, he's never been a clinical player. And this is probably one of his actual best seasons of actually putting the ball in the net. So this might be just the evolution of Morgan that like, he will get there. And I feel under Emory, he will. And in terms of the rest of the team.
00:04:19
Speaker
I think we have shown we do take our chances, but it does hurt you when, as you say, those stats don't don't really help us. Yeah, absolutely. I think we're in a a difficult position now, I think, as a a football club where we're transitioning from a team that have finished fourth to a team that want to consistently finish fourth. And I think that I suppose the expectations from from maybe supporters and from I think the players and the staff will be that we need to be punishing and putting away those teams um when they give us those those kind of high number of chances. But I also really do agree in the sense that this is
00:04:57
Speaker
something that we have been better at in recent weeks as you say with maybe the exception of the United game and a couple of others throughout the course of the season we have converted our our chances really well and I think that hopefully this is something that will be kind of addressed go moving forward in terms of creating clear-cut chances and then burying them when we get them because I think 18 shots is a ah lot and eight only eight of those being on target is I think something that they're going to look to address in terms of being able to to put ourselves two or three goals up and really kill games off. I think the Ipswich game, I think of this game here today and against Bournemouth even, sorry. And I think that, you know, that they're games that you need to be winning and they're your point builders if you want those kind of Champions League spots. I think, as you said earlier on in the episode about social media, the the kind of um
00:05:46
Speaker
the the availability and the accessibility to to to view things on social media. Do you think perhaps that there is potential overreaction to to games like this when we we drop points from a 96 minute um header in it a game that we really should
Fan Reactions and Bournemouth's Performance
00:06:01
Speaker
have won? Do you think there's overreaction from potential error from supporters in in kind of in terms of these games?
00:06:07
Speaker
i think if a lot of people would describe villa fans i think overreaction would touch sum us up quite a bit to be perfectly honest we have some of the best fans in the world we really do when villa park's rocking it's one of the best atmospheres i've ever been a part of that's for sure however we do have that small number that is very loud on the fan base that um just simply do do go over the top straight away. I can tell you the amount of times I've seen us lose two games and then suddenly they're calling for the manager's head or something along those lines and it's it's as if they forget the success is straight away. and
00:06:47
Speaker
Yeah, we saw that straight away after the after the game. There was a lot of passion ah misplaced at the end of the result. But as I said, Bournemouth were good. And why you got a look at it, Bournemouth passed two games. They took three points off Arsenal. They took point a point off us. They got four points out of six. With two teams, they're expected to be in the Champions League placements next season. So to to say it was just Villa,
00:07:15
Speaker
um No, Bournemouth have to be in the conversation. Yeah, absolutely. And we mentioned in our preview that the the kind of style that we expected Bournemouth to go into the game with, we meant we talked about Iraola, we talked about his kind of upbringing, his similarities with Emory in the Basque Country. And I think it's very important to give them credit for their performance. And another really interesting factor from from the game ah from the Villa Bournemouth game is that we were beaten in tackles one, blocks round joules one and aerial joules one as well.
00:07:46
Speaker
and we hear that term they kind of they wanted it more thrown around in football by pundits and journalists and it can often be quite lazy it can be a almost a bit condescending towards smaller clubs when they play those kind of media six sides but based off those statistics it did seem a little bit like Bournemouth were fighting that little bit harder for every ball they had a real point to prove and I think maybe the the question is do you think we went into the game in a similar vein to Ipswich where we maybe underestimated Bournemouth a little bit It's a tough one because I don't think a emery team would literally go out and underestimate anyone by the sounds of what they've actually been like when I've heard the conversations of players and everything like that, that they always have a game plan, they're always set. But it's one of those things that eight you don't always go into a game expecting
00:08:42
Speaker
to be bad. You don't go into a game expecting to have a bad game and everything like that. It just happens. Sometimes you're off your game and you hope sometimes that when you're off your game, there'll be three or four that will pick up pick up the slack. But I think there was a few players in key areas in the form of game that weren't really shining. And it was one of those things that just didn't go well for us that day. And you're not going to win them all.
00:09:08
Speaker
Oh yeah, you're absolutely not and I think, you know, we've still got to look at the the season with ah a very kind of a general sense of we have been really, really good and we've started this season and really, really strongly only losing one Premier League game against the Arsenal, picking up points in some some really difficult fixtures. So I think I think that the summary for me would be it's a a disappointing one, it's definitely two points lost but it's not it's not a time to kind of, it's not panic stations just yet for me. What what would your summary be Craig as kind of a general ending point from from this Bournemouth review? Yeah I totally agree with that. I feel like there's going to be points dropped whether you're Man City or whether you're Ipswich, it's as simple as that. It's um
00:09:52
Speaker
You've got to understand that there are going to be peaks and valleys at the end in every season. And we're very fortunate at the Villa that our valleys at the moment are draws against Man United, Bournemouth and Ipswich, which in previous years we'd have been celebrating the fact we got a point against Bournemouth and um overjoyed by keeping a clean sheet against Man United, even though they're not the quite the Man United, we we grew up I wouldn't say idolizing the opposite to be perfectly honest, but like as simple as that. um Yeah, so you've got to understand there's going to be those ups and downs. And the reason I'm like stammering over my words at the moment is because I've got the Crystal Palace game on and we just went one nil down. So I apologize.
00:10:42
Speaker
Absolutely and I was going to say we're going to try and put a more positive spin on the next section of the episode but that is correct we are currently 1-0 down but the games are coming thick and fast for Villa and as I'm sure you've noticed we're recording this episode as the EFL cup clash with Crystal Palace is is currently going on and that's exactly what we're going to be talking about after a short message from Zencaster.
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Speaker
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00:11:26
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00:11:48
Speaker
Welcome back and we're going to be focusing on the on cup football with the game against Crystal Palace that is currently going on in the EFL Cup.
Champions League vs. Domestic Cups
00:11:57
Speaker
It it seems weird asking this question while the game is going on Craig, but how big a game is this for us?
00:12:09
Speaker
Honestly, um if you'd have asked me at the beginning of the season what I would have took, I want Champions League football again the following year. So my priority is the top four, even though I agree with the majority of Villa fans that it would be so good to see us lift a trophy at the end of the season. But I'll tell you this, Joe, I've, when I was a kid, and I know it's not as much of a big deal anymore with Champions League overtaking, but my dream was always to see Villa win the FA Cup.
00:12:38
Speaker
always was, whenever I was playing in the school yard, when I was playing in the back garden, everything like that, I wanted v to win the FA Cup and I've seen them win the League Cup, seen them win the League took to the Cup twice, obviously I think that was before you were even born, that's how long ago that was. um So I've seen that and honestly the League Cup doesn't do it for me so I'm actually not that bothered about This game I every single time will apply I want them to win and I want them to go out to win But I do like the lineup tonight where it's giving our fringe players a chance to come out and impress um The only one thing that does bother me a little is When did it get fashionable where we had to play a secondary goalkeeper in the League Cup? I understand others that need resting and
00:13:27
Speaker
But it just shows that. i Yeah, just that's a really interesting point. And it leads on to my next question. Obviously, the team is out and there's a few surprise and inclusions in there. And I think Gauci in goal definitely being one of them. I think with the a lot of the um the kit things within the collaborations with Black Sabbath, I think a lot of people expected Martinez to be in there. But obviously the big one for me is Tyrone Ming's returning.
00:13:51
Speaker
and starting on on the kind of left side of of that back to the two centre halves. How good is it to see him back in ah in a Villa starting lineup?
00:14:04
Speaker
Oh, I think um I celebrated more than some of our goals when I saw Mings was back in the team. I just think he's such an integral part of our team. He's like the heart and soul, even when he was injured, like following him on Twitter, how positive he's been.
00:14:21
Speaker
and everything so to see him back and also to see Kamara and Buendia the three that we missed for a big po bulk of last season pretty much all all season is really good to see and that's what I mean that I'm probably going to get like slammed for this but that's why the score doesn't matter as much to me. It's about getting them the minutes, get them sharp, ready for what I consider the more key games of the season. I'd love to see us win the FA Cup as I just mentioned. It's going to be a long season with us hopefully now qualifying for the next round of the Champions League because it's looking so positive and obviously trying to aim for that top four.
00:15:02
Speaker
I have to put the lead cup as my last priority. And I think that kind of, the element of having Ming and Kamara both in that starting lineup, were you surprised, you know, we kind of questioned maybe whether they were up to that match sharpness that they need. Were you surprised they both started the game?
00:15:22
Speaker
I was, yeah, I was very surprised, but also pleased ah with it because I kind of knew deep down that Emery kind of agrees with me. Not that we had a chat or anything, but like as simple as that, it shows that the lead cup is his least priority, that he sent out a bunch of p players that need those minutes to look sharp against.
00:15:44
Speaker
a good opposition let's let's be fair and Crystal Palace haven't put their first team out either when you look at it as well. they've They've got some players missing and on the bench and rotation is definitely key there as well.
00:15:57
Speaker
But it's a good opportunity for the likes of Ming to give us a good, I would imagine, 45 to 60 minutes maximum. Kamara's obviously played a bit more, so has Buendia in the Premier League, so you might see them actually be given the full night. um And this just shows, again, like I said, when we did the rotation in the Champions League against Bologna,
00:16:19
Speaker
that we're not quite gelling in this game. I've only had it on in the background, really, but that's kind of the full process I've seen so far. But again, it's been a good reason because we've got players that aren't playing. And another one that that surprised me for a different reason was was Bailey being back in that lineup, yeah a man who's played a lot of football and has had quite a packed schedule playing lots of minutes across various competitions
Leon Bailey's Self-Reflection
00:16:46
Speaker
for us. Were you surprised to see him in there?
00:16:52
Speaker
Not after his comment in the week, I wasn't, um because he actually admitted, I don't know if you saw it, that he understands he's not playing very well at the moment, that he is trying his best, but it's not quite jelling for him. So I think it's as simple as he he and the coaches trying to alleviate these issues and trying to make sure that now,
00:17:18
Speaker
he can go past this bad spell and try and get it out. He might actually have been given a chance for a run out to literally say, listen, I need you to step your gear up or come to the next game. That's self-awareness from Leon Bailey. I didn't actually see the comments he made, but I think that's so important for somebody in his position because he's he's been open to a fair share of criticism from from sections of the fan base. And I think it's so healthy to see him come out and acknowledge that he maybe hasn't been up to the levels that we know he can be.
00:17:47
Speaker
with um with some of his recent performances. We know the quality that he has and we know the danger that he has to defenders in this division. So hopefully he can reach those heights again and maybe the minutes in an AFL Cup gamer are exactly what he needs to kind of to boost his confidence. So we are going to be back after a short message from the Global Sports Podcast Network to talk about our opponent's Crystal Palace.
00:18:14
Speaker
This podcast is part of the Global Sports Podcast Network, the only network bringing exclusive daily news and views on your Premier League team, the Premier League, women's football and fantasy football. A unique listening experience that puts the fans first, bringing you the very latest breaking news from your team. Subscribe wherever you get your podcasts and make us your first listen every day. The Global Sports Podcast Network, every club, every day.
00:18:42
Speaker
So our opponents, Crystal Palace, come into the game off the back of a much needed win at home to Spurs in the league. Prior to that, they had lost three of their last four matches and they sit just outside the relegation zone in the Premier League. They've got off to a good start with Everett Chiese putting them 1-0 up against Villa at the moment.
Does League Form Affect Cup Performance?
00:19:03
Speaker
But my question is, do you think league four matters in these cup competitions?
00:19:14
Speaker
I think any time you play it helps confidence or goes against confidence to be perfectly honest this whether you're winning or losing. However I do feel that when you enter a different competition it is kind of like a reset button that I think this will give Crystal Palace an opportunity to literally forget their woes of the of the season, forget their woes in the league and just go out there and understand that they can go and they can play against Villa because one thing that obviously we saw even this past weekend with Bournemouth, any team on their day can beat someone in the Premier League. That's what makes it one of the best tea ah best competitions in the world for me.
00:19:53
Speaker
So I think if Palace go into this and I've seen, as we're speaking, it's 1-0 to Palace, if they could go and get a result against a team fighting for top four, even if it is the League Cup, I think it just builds confidence and it could really impact their season going into back to the Premier League.
00:20:10
Speaker
Yeah, I think this this result, if it stays the score line, which obviously everybody listening to this podcast will not want it to, as we currently trail, I think it's exactly what Glassner needs at Palace. I think he needs a big result. Obviously, they had a really, really good win against Spurs in the league last time out. But I think beating us in the Cup is going to kind of give them a bit of momentum and hopefully kind of jumpstart their season moving forward. I think if he takes them far in this competition, which I think He will prioritise this potentially more than and we will in a sense in terms of what he'll be able to offer Palace fond throughout the season, not only keeping them up but taking them to the the latter stages of ah of a domestic Cup. I think that's definitely something he'll be looking to do.
00:20:54
Speaker
I think that in terms of the league form, they have struggled. I think Mateta hasn't necessarily hit the heights that we saw at the back end of last season.
Crystal Palace's Impact Players
00:21:02
Speaker
I was going to say, ironically, ever actually has a hasn't hit the heights, but he hopefully hopefully plays as he's been playing so far this season in this game because he's he's put Palace one that up. So we're hoping that he dies down after that. And that'll be enough of his his attacking talent. Obviously, they lost the Lee saying that in the summer, which was a big blow for Palace. But with it when When you're going into this game as Palace are, as a team that are struggling for goals, Mateta being their top goalscorer in the league with just three goals, in terms of the style that we play, do you think we we'll be looking to play possession football? Obviously, I know the game is verging on 20 minutes in now, but is that something you've seen so far, trying to control the ball and and move Palace around?
00:21:48
Speaker
Yeah i I'll be honest I think most people have seen this that Villa don't really alter the way they play much based on the opposition, it's more a case of you're going to deal with us. Obviously to the more trained eye there's little tweaks that Emery puts into every game.
00:22:04
Speaker
but it's um it's not a complete change round. It's not like you're away from home to park the bus. It's not like you're at home, so we'll go gun ho for it. So there's there's always those little tweaks, but so far I've seen and we're in the 21st minute um for the Villa game as we speak. It seems business as usual, but like I say, it's kind of get the Man United feel to it where we aren't quite clicking at the moment.
00:22:32
Speaker
Yeah, exactly. Yeah. And I think we what what we need is we need to ensure that the plan that we set out to play in the Premier League is carried across um various kind of domestic tournaments, because I think it's so important that, as you say, we don't alter the way that we play and that we really do stick to our game
Aston Villa's League Cup History and Tactics
00:22:49
Speaker
plan. I think it's funny. I mentioned, ever actually as a couple of minutes ago, he has just been brought off. So.
00:22:54
Speaker
that standards in good stead hopefully with Kamada coming on he's a talented player as well but Eze has gone off at the moment and Villa are looking to get to the third round of this competition for the first time since 2020. In 2019 we made the final and eventually lost to Man City in one of the most heartbreaking games of football I've ever watched. Last season we lost in the second round to Everton. Why do you think we've struggled in this competition in recent years?
00:23:25
Speaker
It's a funny one because like obviously this year I've said it's not really a priority but we've had no excuse previous years. um So it's one of those that I think it was just we weren't good enough ah to to so say it that like with we were more likely to lose games than we were to win.
00:23:43
Speaker
and you've named a couple of teams there where it's just a case of good Premier League teams have knocked us out um because they were better on the day. Whereas now, and I say that as John Duran scores, so that's 1-1 to the villa, so happy days. I love that guy. um So yeah, so I think it's just a case of we weren't good enough in the past and if now we take priority in a competition like we're doing the Premier League, like we're doing in Europe,
00:24:13
Speaker
We're a force to be reckoned with and it's very exciting to be a vilified at the moment. Absolutely. And I think it is, it's important that we, we kind of remember that, that we are now a team that we're going into games against these Premier League teams with maybe a different mentality to the one that we've had it in previous years. I think, as you say, we've turned up on the day against some of these, these Premier League teams in this competition and they have just been better than us. And I'm hoping moving forward in these domestic competitions, we, ah we we, we kind of show up and we assert ourselves as hopefully a team that can can go on and win this because it it's silverware at the end of the day and I think we're a long overdue a trophy and my final kind of point before before we end the episode is that more of a spontaneous one as John Duran has just equalized as you mentioned how do we now go on and win this game?
00:25:04
Speaker
I think it's essentially that they they always say whenever you're coming back from an injury or pre-season, you really need three games to get game shut up. And we found that with Ali right at the beginning of the season when he was really struggling, he didn't have a proper pre-season, he struggled in the beginning. So I think it's essentially gonna be, if we can hold on 1-1 until say like the 60th minute, and we start making those changes of players that are a bit more sharp,
00:25:32
Speaker
ah for example mings to go off i hope he gets a good 60 minutes but then you bring on say torres or someone like that and maybe even you see ollie for the last 30 minutes and so on i think it's a game that if we get into that 60 minutes and rather than the team getting weaker the team is now getting stronger coming on i think this game could be out of sight we could get three four or something along those lines and obviously we're talking about this game as it's happening and it all this podcast will go out the following day. I'm either going to look like a genius and or an idiot so we'll soon find out.
00:26:07
Speaker
Yeah, absolutely. Just a ah quick one before we finish. I am looking at the the bench as the game's going on here, and I'm seeing obviously Jacob Ramsey, obviously a senior experience now, i'm not an old player by any stretch, but I'm looking at the bench and I'm seeing a lot of the youth um a lot of the youth academy on that bench. Is that something that concerns you with maybe not having the kind of established quality to bring on?
00:26:31
Speaker
It concerns me more that I've looked like an idiot without checking the bench out first, to be honest. So ah yeah, but like the like of say, bringing on Jacob Ramsey, bringing on Maddie Cash, even even someone who's not really had enough experience, but Bugatti coming on and just giving us something a little different. um And I'm also a big fan of Patterson. I think he he's one of our next ones that will be coming through.
00:26:58
Speaker
um So yeah, so there could be some opportunities for some fresh legs to come on and really impact us in the 60th minute. But um I am surprised that we don't have any experience on that bench over the Ramsay to be honest.
00:27:12
Speaker
Yeah, I think it's a testament to the the great work being done in ah in our youth academy, but also it shows that Emory trusts a lot of these these young guys.
Conclusion and Listener Engagement
00:27:20
Speaker
Borland and Young are both highly rated young players and I think these types of competitions are are great opportunities for those guys to come on and really make an impact and establish themselves as players who should be in and around that first team squad.
00:27:34
Speaker
I think that is all we have time for on today's episode of the Daily Villa Podcast. Thank you very much to Craig for joining me as ever. Be sure to get in touch across all the socials that you can find in the podcast description. This has been a global sports podcast production. Thank you for listening and as always, up the villa. Up the villa.