Charles N’Zogbia matched Darren Bent’s achievement of scoring on his debut in tonight’s final pre-season game in Braga; a 1-1 draw that would probably be given to the home side on points by the judges. If we did such a thing.
Vagner Love’s stunt double, Alan, opened the scoring for the home side with a wicked effort from 25 yards that nestled the top corner and left Shay Given no chance. Questions will be asked about the space he was allowed
I like pre-season. A lot. It frequently gives us a chance to see promising youngsters mixed in with the established senior players and can provide clues to what lies ahead. Notice the emphasis on the words ‘can’ and ‘clues’.
The truism I keep returning to is that more can be learnt from a failure than a success. Doing too well during pre-season can mask real problems that are subsequently exposed by the harsh competition in the Premier League.
Take summer 2009 as
Two second half goals gave Derby the win in a game missing a lot of our big names, including new boy Charles N’Zogbia, but provided a useful, if uninspiring, run out for a lot of young squad players.
This post is more a stake in the ground to record the result, I managed to pick up very little during what was very much a low key, perhaps even dull, affair. From pictures at the ground, and descriptions floating around the web,
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
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
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
McLeish’s first game in charge ended in a comfortable 3-1 at the Bescot thanks to a brace from Darren Bent and rare goal from Emile Heskey, but it could have been much more with several players going close throughout the game, notably Nathan Delfouneso during a strong second half performance.
Interesting to note the two Stephens coming in from the cold to make their first Villa team sheets in, oh I don’t know, ages to prove that McLeish meant it when