A Villain from Virginia - Inaugural Blog
Aston Villa Footy Fans,
I’m new here! I broke away from my Liverpool brothers last year to spread my wings in search of a new team to support in the Premier League, and I’ve found a great home in the Villains of Birmingham. A team with tradition - a founding member of the Premier League, 1982 Champions Cup winners (Champs League before Champs League), but not as of recently so I could avoid the bandwagon label. Growing up with soccer my entire life, Steven Gerrard was always a guy I loved watching, the Villains current manager and former Liverpool legend in the midfield, which helped the decision as well. I’d be remiss to leave out the fact that I’m a big fan of the Shelby Family and Peaky Blinders which is based in Birmingham, a town with grit and a blue collar attitude that’s easy to get behind. That all being said, I’m excited to continue the journey of fanhood and learning more about this squad and the history of Aston Villa - here’s why I’m excited for this upcoming season:
New Additions & Changes
High level Summary:
Lost: Matt Targett, David Trezeguet, Lovre Kalinic, and Conor Hourihane.
Gained: Coutinho (loan to transfer), Robin Olsen (loan to transfer), Diego Carlos, Boubacar Kamara, Augustinsson (loan from Sevilla)
Great job with this window so far having an overall net spend of $36.85M and some real quality players coming in. Coutinho quickly became a Villa favorite, providing a spark in the midfield with 5 goals and 3 assists in 19 games. Diego Carlos is another great addition given some of the issues at center back with Mings and Konsa having some shaky appearances towards the end of the season, most notably allowing 3 goals in six minutes to allow City the Premier League title. Carlos, from Sevilla, played in 34 matches in LaLiga and can give reliable minutes and should be able to displace Mings or Konsa from the starting role. Kamara signed with Villa after being let go by Marseille on a free transfer, a young central defensive midfielder who can step in if Villa decides to let McGinn or Douglas Luiz go in this transfer window, both have been rumored to be moved. He’s played as both CDM and CB so he provides another option at Center back along with Diego Carlos.
Watkins and Ings up top together?
In the last few weeks of the season, we saw Stevie G go with both Ollie Watkins and Danny Ings at forward and it provided a nice change of pace and allowed Watkins a little more freedom while Ings maintained the traditional center striker role. Watkins was able to come outside and made some great crosses in, some coming to fruition. With more time to gel with Coutinho as the attacking midfielder sitting under the two, we should see more magic from those three this season and make for a fun team to watch!
That’s all I’ve got for now, more to come soon, talk soon Villains!
A Villain from Virginia
