Liverpool destroy Villa
March 22, 2009
Steven Gerrard rendered the title race wide open after his hat trick helped see off Aston Villa at Anfield this afternoon.
The Liverpool skipper helped to ensure that his side’s poor home record did not continue against a Villa side who still have very real hoped of qualifying for next season’s Champions League.
The Reds have had a perfect weekend with both United and Chelsea slipping up which has raised their belief that the title race is still very much on. They are now just one point behind their deadly rivals although United do have a game in hand against struggling Portsmouth.
Realistically. Liverpool will pretty much have to win every game from now until the end of the season to see off their rivals at the final reckoning. But this afternoon will give them every confidence that they can go on and do that.
You have to say that after back to back defeats, United will come back strongly and are still the team to beat, but it is good for the neutrals if we have a genuine title race this season.
Liverpool could also go head to head with United in the Champions League final in May and realistically this could well be their only hope of securing a trophy this year.
Villa to win the League – surely not?
January 29, 2009
Laugh at this if you want to but I do not think I am on my own when I say that Aston Villa could well be title challenges in the coming weeks. Martin O’Neil’s side are playing with an incredible amount of confidence and flair at the moment and more important than any of that, the are winning football matches.
With both Arsenal and Liverpool slipping up in the week, the door is definitely half open for Villa to mount a serious bid for a Champions League place at the very least. They are five points clear of Arsenal who remain in fifth place, and looking towards the summit, Villa are only three points behind the leaders Manchester United.
It would take a brave man to bet against Fergie claiming his third title in a row, but Villa do have a chance and to write them off could be very dangerous indeed. This is something which they are thriving from at the moment – many people do not see Villa staying in their current position let alone furthering it – yet week in week out they are proving people wrong.
I think it is a good thing for the Big four to be broke and may even have a pound or two on Villa winning the league – just in case!
Young is not the new Messi
December 27, 2008
I do not think that I am the only one who has been impressed with Aston Villa recently. They are certainly a force to be reckoned with and they are surely a good bet to take that fourth Champions League spot come May.
As a result many of the Villa players have been receiving almost unprecedented plaudits – none more so than young hotshot Ashley Young. He has even been compared to Messi and Ronaldo by some, such is the high esteem in which he is regarded.
Yet we need to be careful with players such as Young, that we do not put too much pressure on them at an early age. Don’t get me wrong Young is a great player who has a vibrant talent – but to compare him with the likes of Messi and Ronaldo is wrong. The two aforementioned players are experienced at the highest level both within domestic, European and International football and Young to be fair isn’t.
Messi and Ronaldo also have proved that they can influence matches on the big stage where as Young as yet has not. So lets forget all these comparisons for the moment. The youngster is a great Premier League player who elicits fear in to most Premier League defenders but for now that is about it – lets just nurture his talent instead of placing too much pressure on him and hope that the best is yet to come!
Gareth Barry staying put claims O’Neill
November 30, 2008
England international Gareth Barry is staying put at Aston Villa, despite strong speculation that Liverpool will be back in for him in January, claims their bullish manager Martin O’Neill. O’Neill says that Barry will be at the club until the end of the season at the very least.
O’Neill says:
He is going to see it out here until the summer – at least – and see where we all are positioned.
So any speculation in January will be purely that. I couldn’t be more pleased. His form is very good.
It stands to reason that O’Neill wants to hang onto his prize asset, and captain, as Aston Villa are currently in a Champions League place after Arsenal’s loss last weekend. A top four finish for Villa would be worth millions next season, more than they’d get if they cashed in on Barry in January by selling him to Liverpool.
O’Neill is realistic though, and realises that Barry could leave next summer as he does have an option to buy out the last year of his contract, which would leave him free to join any club on a free transfer; which would surely alert Liverpool and Arsenal to the prospect of getting such a quality player for free.
Redknapp not happy with Liverpool performance
August 31, 2008
Liverpool and Aston Villa played out a rather drab nil nil draw yesterday which had former Reds midfielder Jamie Redknapp fuming. Speaking on Sky Sports after the game, Redknapp claimed that Liverpool played for nothing more than a draw and this is one of the reasons why the team will once again be a mile off the title celebrations come the end of the season.
Liverpool have actually got a very good record at Villa Park in the Premiership, but will point to the fact that Steven Gerrard was injured in trying to diffuse their at times woeful attacking presence.
Yet Redknapp was less than complimentary over the tactics of Rafa Benitez, claiming that going to places like Aston Villa are must win matches for the eventual champions and the fact that they seemed not to try to says so much about the club’s ambition.
He also stated that Arsenal, Chelsea and Manchester United all had better players than Liverpool and that the boardroom rift which is dominating the club is affecting progress on the pitch. It is difficult to see one of the three other teams in the top four playing for a draw at Villa Park, but are Liverpool genuine title contenders anyway?
City and Villa progress in UEFA cup
August 28, 2008
Manchester City have their young goalkeeper Joe Hart to thank as they edged past FC Midtjylland to reach the first round of the UEFA Cup.
Although City won the tie one nil, the sides went all the way to penalties after the Danes recorded the same score at the City of Manchester stadium a fortnight ago.
Hart arguably kept the Blues in the tie during the 90 minutes with a string of fine saves, although Ched Evans and Daniel Sturridge can both count themselves as unlucky not to send City through earlier.
Yet, the former Shrewsbury Town keeper saved spot kicks from Jonas Borring and Kolja Afriyie to send City through 4 – 2 on penalties.
Aston Villa will join them in the hat after they strolled past FH Hafnarfjordur 5 -2 on aggregate. Craig Gardner put Villa ahead with a top quality strike just inside the area. Yet within two and a half minutes scores were level when Atli Bjornsson sneeked through at the near post.
Yet Villa already held a 4 – 1 lead from the first leg and that never looked in any danger as they hardly broke sweat to see themselves through.
The draw will be made in Monaco at 12:00 tomorrow afternoon.
Barry plays, he scores, he ends hope of move to Liverpool
August 15, 2008
Gareth Barry looks to have put pay to any chance of his dream move to Liverpool by playing in Aston Villa’s UEFA Cup qualifier against FH Hafnarfjordur. Not only did Barry play, he scored, and after just 3 minutes!
His appearance in the game means if he were to move to Liverpool, or any club for that matter, he would be ineligible in the Champions League until February and unable to play in the UEFA Cup for another team this season.
By playing Barry, Villa look to have signalled their intent to hang on to the player, as playing him has reduced his value to any potential suitor, Liverpool included.
Even after playing the England international tonight, manager Martin O’Neill is still unsure of whether he’ll hold on to his star player:
I wouldn’t be sure until the transfer deadline passes what will materialise.
I had a talk with him beforehand. He was in the right frame of mind and wanted to play and there was nothing that would have stopped him which was very pleasing.
He wanted to play and he knew the consequences so the decision was very much his.
It really does look as though this saga is over.
Is Rafa at odds with owners over Barry?
August 10, 2008
Just what is the problem with Gareth Barry’s transfer to Liverpool? The player wants to go, Benitez wants him at Liverpool and Villa are resigned to losing him for £18 million.
So why hasn’t the deal gone through?
The reason seems to be the American owners of Liverpool FC, Tom Hicks and George Gillett. According to reports it is they who refuse to meet Villa’s £18 valuation, even though Rafa Benitez believes the player is worth it.
Rick Parry, the Liverpool chairman, confirms that the American owners don’t believe the valuation is fair:
On this occasion Liverpool think the price quoted is too high.
According to some reports from with Anfield, Benitez and the American owners of Liverpool have argued over the transfer, though Parry insists that both Hicks and Gillette are willing to trust and back the manager’s decisions.
This is not about questioning the manager’s judgement or the ability of a particular player.
The owners have clearly demonstrated throughout the year they are willing to back Rafa in the transfer market and will continue to do so.
It is obviously the selling club’s prerogative to put whatever price they want on the player, but on this occasion Liverpool think the price quoted is too high.
With just six days of the pre-season left, the summer’s most public transfer looks likely to run on.
Benitez drops hint on new arrival at Anfield
August 9, 2008
The on-off transfer of Gareth Barry from Aston Villa to Liverpool could still be on, despite the sticking price of the fee that the two clubs fail to agree on. Liverpool still want to sign Barry, Barry still wants to sign for Liverpool and Villa manager Martin O’Neill has admitted he expects Barry to leave.
Benitez said he still expects to sign another player before the Premier League kicks off next week, though refused to name the player.
When speaking about the transfer fee over Gareth Barry, Benitez stated:
The situation is not a question of money.
He is English and can play three different positions, but I am talking about someone who can play on the left.
I am talking about one player, but I won’t say the name.
It was thought that the Spanish international Xabi Alonso would make way for Barry at Anfield, but now it appears that Alonso will be staying.
We have a good player (Alonso) and we have another good player coming in soon.
We can improve the squad, so we will try to do that. We will bring in one more player if we can.
I do not know when but clearly we have problems on the left, Kewell has gone, Aurelio is injured and Leto cannot get a work permit.
The next seven days before the start of the season will be very interesting to see who comes in and who goes out for each Premiership side.
Barry could still join Liverpool
August 1, 2008
Aston Villa midfielder Gareth Barry looked all the way to be staying with the midlands club after suitors Liverpool failed to sign the player by Villa’s deadline of Wednesday.
However, it might not mean the deal is dead as Liverpool still want to sign Barry, and the player definitely wants to leave Villa Park.
According to reports, Villa manager Martin O’Neill and their chairman Randy Lerner will meet up with Gareth Barry and his agent this week to discuss the player’s situation.
Liverpool manager Rafa Benitez stated earlier this week that the club would need to sell before they could sign any more players, after the £20 million capture of Robbie Keane from Spurs.
After Liverpool failed to meet Villa’s deadline of Wednesday to sign Barry, Martin O’Neill said he was delighted that the player would be staying at the club:
Now we can all look forward to the season ahead with relief, anticipation and ambition.
The stumbling block has always been Liverpool failing to meet Aston Villa’s valuation for Gareth Barry. If they can agree on a fee, the player looks likely to sign for the Merseyside club.
