da aviator aposta： Four games into the Premier League and still Aston Villa refuse to follow the script. After two successive seasons of 15th-placed finishes under Paul Lambert, patience was wearing thin among Villa fans prior to the start of the new campaign.
da bet vitoria： Despite some high-profile scalp-taking, the football was at times dire last year – especially at home – and in his first two seasons in charge Lambert has seen his side finish just five points above the relegation zone. Understandably, the fans demanded more from a team who until relatively recently were regarded as a top-seven, European-standard team, though with the arrivals of the experienced yet unremarkable Kieran Richardson, Joe Cole and Philippe Senderos proving to be the highlight of Villa’s summer transfer activity, the Midlands club were expected to struggle once more this season, with some believing them to be strong candidates for relegation after two years of near-misses.
Three wins and a draw from Villa’s opening quartet of fixtures proves either that even football in the Premier League era can still be unpredictable or that supposed experts understand the game as well as the average fan, or indeed both. Yet Villa’s unexpectedly stellar start to the season suggests that the club is endowed with something, or rather someone, that has been missing in the past; that small addition which can transform a struggling team into a cohesive, competitive unit.
While the world of football preoccupied itself over the long summer months with the majestic arrival in English football of Louis van Gaal, the saviour of the stricken Manchester United, Roy Keane’s appointment as Paul Lambert’s deputy was greeted with little fanfare in comparison. However, a large part of Villa’s early success can be attributed to the Irishman.
Though it is Lambert who picks the team, and it would be foolish to argue that he has played no role in his side’s impressive start, it seems that Aston Villa have inherited a degree of resilience, competitiveness and, to put it bluntly, nastiness that has been absent in the past. The former Manchester United midfielder was notorious for having these three qualities in abundance during his playing days, and it may very well be that his influence has permeated the Villa dressing room.
This was none more so evident than in Saturday’s brilliant victory against Liverpool at Anfield. Gabriel Agbonlahor provided Villa with an early lead, and for the duration of the game the Midlands side frustrated their opponents by defending stoutly and stifling effectively. However it is Senderos’ cynical, unpunished off-the-ball trip of Mario Balotelli which encompasses the club’s newfound sinister side, a savvy trait which every club needs to survive in the unforgiving world of the Premier League.
After two years of preaching the benefits of youth, fielding talented yet unproven lower-league imports such as Ashley Westwood and Matthew Lowton while disregarding top-flight veterans in the form of Darren Bent and Charles N’Zogbia, Lambert seems to have acknowledged that experienced players streetwise in the ways of the Premier League such as Senderos are needed if Villa are to improve on their previous league positions.
That this revision of policy has coincided with Keane’s arrival implies that the Irishman’s input has been both welcomed and effective at Villa Park, and although Senderos’ flash of malice is not to be condoned, no team is immune to it. Ultimately, the Swiss’ sly transgression had the desired effect, as an exasperated, goalless Balotelli was substituted.
The result would have been especially satisfying for Keane given that it came against Liverpool, though what was most heartening about the victory was Villa’s dogged determination and fierce desire to win, for which Keane was well-known as a player.
Conceding just one goal so far in the league, Villa have nevertheless scored just four times. Chelsea, the team which separates Villa from the top of the table, have already scored fifteen. However with Christian Benteke soon to return to the fold following a lengthy injury, Keane may be the one to reinstill a fearlessness into the Belgian striker which made him so prolific during his debut season but which was somewhat lacking last year.
Nominating Aston Villa as the Premier League’s surprise package may be premature given that the season is still in its early stages. However in Roy Keane, Paul Lambert may have found the ideal partner, the bad cop to his good cop, to take Villa to the next level. The real signing of the season could very well turn out to be someone who won’t set foot on the football pitch as a player at all.
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