For all the questions regarding the strength in depth of the current Aston Villa squad, there hasn’t been a great deal of discussion, so far as I’ve seen, about the captaincy. In truth, the role of the captain is often overblown, and it has to be said that the other highly paid professional athletes on the pitch shouldn’t need any motivation or encouragement from a colleague, but a great leader can still be worth his weight in gold.
Or points. I
The game was only 32 second old when Josh McEachran thumped the ball into the roof of the net from two yards out. Shay Given stretched out a desperate arm, but wasn’t able to prevent Chelsea taking the lead inside the first minute. Not the ideal start to the Asia Cup final on a pitch that would provide almost as big a challenge as the oppressive heat.
The move had started in simple fashion; Jose Bosingwa sent a perfectly weighted long
It’s the final of the Asia Trophy and we’re taking on Chelsea for a chance to grab some pre-season silverware in Hong Kong. Like all pre-season games, it would be a mistake to read to much into performances, and the result doesn’t really matter, but doing well in this one wouldn’t hurt confidence.
Team news and full commentary coming up in the live blog below (hopefully it will go a little smoother than the last one!):
Aston Villa vs Chelsea – Asia
It’s official then, Charles N’Zogbia is a Villan. I’d assumed that it wouldn’t be completed, or at least officially announced, until after the weekend since just about everyone is in Hong Kong at the moment, but I guess it really was just a formality in the end.
It looks like N’Zogbia is going to have the number 10 shirt, the same number he had at Wigan, left behind by John Carew. He’s joined on a five year contract in a deal
I’ll be honest, I didn’t actually spot Nathan Baker dancing, but he was certainly there as member of the England squad landing in Medellin, Colombia ahead of the U-20 World Cup. So what? Well, just watch the video… let’s just say that airport security in Colombia is a little different.
¡Arriba!
England play their first group game against North Korea on Friday and will want make sure of a strong three points before facing Argentina and Mexico.
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Yes, it’s just pre-season. Yes, it’s still early days, there’s much to be done. Nevertheless, the positive signs continue. The green shoots of recovery are quite possibly poking their heads through the soil.
Darren Bent (who else?) got the only goal of the game in typically oppressive conditions in Hong Kong, but there were encouraging performances all around the pitch. Most impressive, perhaps, was the obvious communication between the players who were well organised and clearly playing for each other.
McLeish made
It’s not just the team who can test things during pre-season, it’s also a good opportunity to try a few new tricks here on the blog. Today’s live blog is just that; a test. The live blogs I’ve done in the past were hosted by an external company – the same one the official site uses – but I wanted to bring it in-house as it were.
I’m not sure of how many readers will visit, or the load it will
It’s a pretty rare event that we’ll receive official confirmation of an agreement being reached to purchase a player before the actual transfer itself is announced, but that’s apparently the situation with Charles N’Zogbia. It’s all over bar the shouting.
I’m sure such steps wouldn’t have been taken if it wasn’t a formality, it’s just a shame that the player won’t have the chance to hook up with his new team mates in Hong Kong due to a lack of work
Aston Villa are taking 24 players to Hong Kong to compete in the Barclays Asia Trophy and the travelling party are en route right now. As the strength and depth of the squad is a hot topic at the moment, I thought it might be interesting to compare this pre-season tournament squad with the squads from the last couple of seasons.
Asia Trophy 2011
Goalkeepers
Shay Given, Brad Guzan, Andy Marshall.
Defenders
Luke Young, Habib Beye, Eric Lichaj, James Collins, Richard Dunne, Ciaran Clark, Stephen