A welcome three points to start the season, but even more satisfying was the nature of the win, and the fluency of the football, particularly in the second half. The result was pretty much what I was expecting, as Villa are in something of a mess, but I was anticipating a tight, scrappy game, with us just edging it. The reason for that lack of confidence was partly due to our patchy pre-season form (patchy being very, very kind), and also due to Gerard's failure (thus far) to address the problem wide midfield positions. There hadn't really been much for us to get excited about prior to this game, with the main plus points from pre-season being the renaissance of Traore (excellent again today) and Baros, plus the arrival of the exciting El Hadji Diouf.
So given the downbeat mood of many of us going into the game, it was a very pleasant surprise to see this type of performance. Yes, it was only 1-0, but let's face it, on another day it would have been four or five, such were the number of clear cut openings we created.
As I said, Villa are a bit of a shambles right now, mainly due to their lack of a central midfield (Staunton? Do me a favour), but they're defence remains very sound, so we should take great encouragement from the number of openings we made.
Most pleasing of all though for me, had to be that the winning goal came courtesy of our problematic wide midfield positions. Scored by the left midfielder and created by the right midfielder. When Riise gets in that position, it's now just expected that he'll score. He simply doesn't miss when he gets a sight of goal, and once again he didn't disappoint. A fine low finish left the outstanding Enckleman helpless.
But the goal owed everything to the fine run and awareness of Murphy, who turned in a brilliant all round performance, full of skill, clever passing, strong running and a maturity which made him the best player of the field, just ahead of his best pal Stevie G, who was also exceptional, especially in the second half.
In a fine all round team display, these were the two players who stood out, alongside the tireless Diouf, who again impressed with his skill and workrate. Sadly for the Senegalese striker, his card appears to have been marked by referees already. Following on from last weekends stonewall penalty claim which wasn't given, 'Dioufy' once again encountered a referee who seemed to have decided before the game that our number nine was going to get nothing from him.
Andy D'Urso is basically just a shit referee. He regularly manages to infuriate both sets of fans with his ineptitude, although on this occasion I can't really see how Villa fans could have any complaints, as the official allowed their defenders to kick seven bells of shit out of Diouf. Even when our boy was crudely pushed off the field and into the Villa dug out by Gareth Barry, D'Urso disgracefully booked Diouf for complaining about it!
Alpay was the worst offender, and was eventually booked after about his third cynical hacking down of our number nine. By this time, the Villa fans were already booing Diouf for what they saw as him diving (You know the routine "Soym owld scoowwwsors, owlwoys choytin"). Both Alpay and Mellberg came up against El Hadji in the World Cup, with Mellberg in particular suffering terribly at Diouf's hands (or more specifically his feet). Alpay fared a lot better in Japan, as Turkey beat Senegal, but not today, as Diouf teased and tormented the Villa backline to the point of distraction. Luckily for Villa, D'Urso was quite happy for them to use any means, fair or foul, to stop him.
There's no doubt Diouf can be theatrical in his falls, but that doesn't mean he isn't getting fouled. El Hadji will be the most fouled striker in the Premiership this season, I guarantee it. He's so tricky and skilful, and it's almost impossible to get the ball off the lad. Defenders dive in him on him and bring him down.
It was something of a surprise that he started ahead of Heskey though, to me anyway. It was a decision I wholeheartedly agreed with, but it wasn't one I was expecting. A pleasant surprise nonetheless. A strike partnership of Diouf and Owen (the reigning African and European footballers of the year don't forget) is certainly enough to trouble even the best of defences, providing they get the service, and today the service was much improved on what we'd seen in recent weeks.
Owen could, and should have had a hat-trick, but I'm not worried about Michael at all. So what he missed a few chances? At least he had chances. He looked sharp today, and he isn't far away from being back to his very, very best. I've said so many times that it takes Michael about a month to get back to peak form whenever he has an injury lay off, and by around about next week he should be flying again.
The fact that he missed chances here, simply means that whoever is facing him next should be very, very worried. Michael worked hard, got into dangerous positions, and looked a threat all game. Compare this to last week against Arsenal. Granted, the service was non-existant that day, but Michael was clearly still finding his way back to fitness. He looked almost there today.
The only criticism I have of him, is that he shouldn't be allowed anywhere penalties. He was unlucky this time, but that's 6 penalties he's missed already, and he's only 22! I didn't fancy him to score this one, and would have been much happier for Murphy to have taken it. Danny wanted it, but Michael insisted on taking it. I admire his bottle, but would prefer it if he stayed away from spot kicks in future. Don't get me wrong, I love the lad, and I'm not knocking him, I just think he's shit at pens. Still, it was great to hear the fans singing his name after he missed it. Well done guys.
It was basically a game we dominated from start to finish. Villa had their moments, especially in the first half when there was an almighty scramble in our box and we somehow got it clear. It all happened so fast that I'm not sure what happened, as I haven't seen the highlights yet. From what I remember though, Steph blocked one on the line, then Jerzy tipped a header onto the bar, and then we somehow managed to keep the rebound out (probably another block by Steph, but that's just an educated guess).
That was Villa's best chance, although there was another pretty bad miss in the second half, from Allback I think. We definitely shaded the the first half, but hadn't created that much. Diouf missed an absolute sitter at the Holte End, much to the delight of the home fans, and Enckleman produced a fantastic save to deny Owen who had made something out of nothing for himself in the box.
The second half saw us really step up the pace. Whereas in the opening 45 we had seen plenty of the ball, the same old failings were in evidence. We were slow to get the ball forward, and a bit pedestrian in our movement. There were too many aimless passes, although there were still some positives. Murphy had used the ball very well indeed, Diouf had been a real handful, and Gerraard was becoming more of an influence as the game wore on.
After the interval, it became the Murphy and Gerrard show. Instead of passing the ball about and going nowhere, there was a genuine purpose about our play, and the passing was crisp and incise. Murphy and Gerrard interchanged positions regularly, and most of our best moves came down the right flank.
The goal was no more than we deserved, as we were dominating the game at that point. We could have been in front earlier, when Platini's, sorry, Murphy's (!!!!) brilliant run and intelligent cut back found Owen in space. Michael did everything right, cutting inside a defender before seeing a defender get the faintest of touches to push the ball just wide.
After the goal, we had more chances to kill the game, with the penalty miss (after a brilliant surging run by Gerrard had been halted by Barry - a carbon copy of an incident here last season involving Stevie and Boeteng. Ironically that pen was also missed - by Jari), a rasping left foot drive from SuperDan which hit the side netting, and then Gerrard being denied by Enckleman.
The missed chances are a bit of a concern, but I can live with that. It's much better than not creating anything, and on another day we'd have got a bagful. The only worry is that despite the quality of the performance, Villa could have sneaked a flukey goal towards the end, and we'd have been left ruing those missed chances.
Thankfully, that never happened, so we can all look forward to the next game now with a renewed sense of optimism. Of course, some fans never lost that optimism. I did however, and there are still things which I'm not particularly happy about, but frankly I'm sick of listening to myself moaning (legitimate though I believe my grievances to be) and it's nice to be able to write something positive for a change. Having said that, here's where Gerard will go and do something else to piss me off this week, probably selling Carragher or Murphy!
As for Villa, I feel sorry for their fans to be honest. They have a reputation for being moaning bastards, but who can blame them? Villa are a massive club, who were European champions 20 years ago. Now they're just seen as a mid-table outfit with no ambition, and they've actually seen players join Middlesboro claiming it was a step up!!! No wonder they're pissed off. Several of their fans bought the fanzine outside the ground (other fans buying the mag always makes me feel a bit uneasy in case I've slagged off their team!), and they were all expecting us to give them a hammering. There's no optimism there, and having Graham Taylor as manager can't help either. They have my sympathy, despite the fact that they are one of the most prolific exponents of the oh so witty and original Harry Enfield "Calm Down"taunt.
One final point. Abel Xavier. Now I've said some very unkind things about him lately, and I'm not taking any of it back. I don't think he's good enough to play right back for us (although he may provide decent cover at centre back), and still find it appalling that Stephen Wright has had to leave the club due to Xavier's arrival.
However, I'm big enough to give the guy credit when he plays well, and overall I thought he was very solid today. Much improved on last week anyway, although the sooner Carra and Markus are fully fit, the happier I'll be.
TEAM: Jerzy Dudek; Abel Xavier, Stephane Henchoz, Sami Hyypia, Djimi Traore; Danny Murphy, Steven Gerrard, Didi Hamann, John Arne Riise; El Hadji Diouf (Jamie Carragher), Michael Owen (Emile Heskey):
