De Laet’s Done

In main off-the-pitch news, Ritchie De Laet’s season is over. No deep details beyond “knee injury”, but the player himself said he’ll miss the season.

Fortunately there’s Bacuna, Hutton, and Richards to cover. Still, always a bummer when you bring in a player specifically for a position and you lose him almost right away.

Two Games, Two More Draws

It’s still early days, obviously, but we’re maintaining that point-a-game average. That’ll have us battling at the wrong end of the table, guaranteed.

Aston Villa 1 Brentford 1

Previews, Teamsheets, Reviews, Highlights available on the match hub page.

Jonathan Kodjia scored a fantastic goal inside the opening 20 minutes and things looked promising. Surprising absolutely no one, a failure to extend the lead was punished with two minutes of the 90 remaining.

It’s a now familiar story of the chances being created without being capitalised upon and later paying the price. The optimistic view is to believe that the quality and dominance will translate into goals and wins sooner or later. The more pessimistic view is that the longer it takes the larger the mental hurdle becomes.

We’ve already developed a reputation for conceding late goals. Our opponents know it and play to it. If our own players believe it and play to it it can become a self-fulfilling prophecy.

Case in point, here’s @avfcofficial quoting Ipswich’s Christophe Berra on Aston Villa’s vulnerability:

Opposition view: @CBerra1985 says @Official_ITFC are fully aware of #AVFC’s desire to click into top gear. #IPSAVL pic.twitter.com/QqHcHKA4nd

— Aston Villa FC (@AVFCOfficial) September 17, 2016

Ipswich 0 Aston Villa 0

Previews, Teamsheets, Reviews, Highlights available on the match hub page.

I wasn’t able to see this game live, but I followed along online whilst making do with Dortmund’s 6-0 drubbing of Darmstadt. From the sounds of things, that was just fine.

It seemed like a game short on action until very late on when the woodwork and a goal-line clearance or two saved the point. Given the recent habit of conceding late on, that’s a good thing. In fact, let’s be honest, a point away at Ipswich in this league isn’t terrible either.

However, it’s also natural to have hoped to be a little further up the table at this stage. And the pressure to turn potential into actual results continues to build.

Other Games

Upcoming Games

Two games left to close out September and they’re, how shall we say, challenging.

September 24th: Newcastle (H)
September 27th: Barnsley (A)