Close Menu
  • Home
  • Opinion
  • Match Day
  • Fans
  • Media
  • Aston Villa Women
  • Podcast
  • Prediction League
  • Contact
What's Hot

AVLPL Prediction League Table – Game week 36

May 13, 2025

Aston Villa confirm European football for the third season running

May 10, 2025

AVLPL Game 36: Bournemouth v Aston Villa

May 8, 2025
Facebook X (Twitter) Instagram
Facebook X (Twitter) Instagram Threads RSS
AVFC – Avillafan.com – Aston Villa Fansite, Blog, & Forum..
  • Home
  • Opinion

    Aston Villa announce redevelopment plans of North Stand

    April 24, 2025

    A call for calm

    November 22, 2024

    A week to forget or a blessing in disguise for Aston Villa?

    October 31, 2024

    Podcast: Positives despite Arsenal defeat, Leicester Preview and issues off the pitch

    August 28, 2024

    A look back at Aston Villa’s weekend

    August 27, 2024
  • First Team

    Pau Torres to return for Club Brugge

    March 3, 2025

    Aston Villa will face Preston in FA Cup Quarter Final

    March 2, 2025

    Asensio double is enough for Aston Villa as they see off Chelsea

    February 23, 2025

    Champions League draw see’s Villa vs Brugge rematch

    February 21, 2025

    Boubacar Kamara ruled out for two weeks

    February 17, 2025
  • Match Day

    Aston Villa confirm European football for the third season running

    May 10, 2025

    Aston Villa beat Manchester City to win the FA Youth Cup

    May 5, 2025

    Youri Tielemans goal keeps Villa in the hunt for Champions League

    May 3, 2025

    Where can Aston Villa supporters drink on the East side of Wembley Stadium

    April 25, 2025

    Champions League qualification twist as Villa lose to late goal to Manchester City

    April 22, 2025
  • Media

    Champions League draw see’s Villa vs Brugge rematch

    February 21, 2025

    Iling-Junior and Nedeljković set for loan departures

    February 2, 2025

    Marcus Rashford undergoing medical ahead of Aston Villa move

    February 2, 2025

    Villa close to signing Marco Asensio from PSG

    February 1, 2025

    Bayer Leverkusen close to signing Emi Buendia

    January 28, 2025
  • Prediction League

    AVLPL Prediction League Table – Game week 36

    May 13, 2025

    AVLPL Game 36: Bournemouth v Aston Villa

    May 8, 2025

    AVLPL Prediction League Table – Game week 35

    May 4, 2025

    AVLPL Game 35: Aston Villa v Fulham

    May 2, 2025

    AVLPL Prediction League Table – Game week 34

    April 23, 2025
  • Podcast

    Podcast: Aston Villa top of the Champions League pile

    October 24, 2024

    Podcast: Bayern Munich preview special

    October 1, 2024

    Podcast: Four more wins, fighting on all fronts and Bayern Munich on the horizon

    September 28, 2024

    Podcast: Champions League excitement vs Ticketing row, Villa Park future and Everton Preview

    September 11, 2024

    Podcast: Positives despite Arsenal defeat, Leicester Preview and issues off the pitch

    August 28, 2024
  • FPL

    FPL: AVillaFan.Com Update – Nathan Fossey leads the way

    November 20, 2024

    AVillaFan.Com Fantasy Premier League – Join Now.

    August 11, 2024
AVFC – Avillafan.com – Aston Villa Fansite, Blog, & Forum..
Home»First Team»Better than last season? Here are the facts…
First Team

Better than last season? Here are the facts…

Jatinder GadarBy Jatinder GadarOctober 8, 2013No Comments5 Mins Read
Facebook Twitter Pinterest LinkedIn Reddit WhatsApp Email
Share
Facebook Twitter Pinterest Reddit WhatsApp Email LinkedIn Copy Link

Last season was a roller-coaster ride – and it wasn’t your boring ‘local fun-fair’ type of roller-coaster, but one you would stand in line for hours at Thorpe Park or Chessington to go on!

We saw it all. We had some great victories and some shameful defeats. We had injuries, shocking decisions, inexperienced debutantes and individual errors which nearly cost us our Premiership status. On the other hand, we had some outstanding goals, brilliant passages of play and some great performances by the team and certain individuals.  One thing you could never call last season is ‘boring’.

Compared to last season, have we improved?

We’ll look at the figures and compare last season’s opening fixtures against this season’s opening fixtures and see if we can definitively conclude that there’s been an improvement.

When I saw the opening fixtures last season, I thought we were extremely lucky that did not have to play a ‘top 4’ side in our opening nine games; it’s certainly something that happens very rarely. With a new manager and new signings, a new sense of optimism surrounded Villa Park. But that all changed.

2012/2013 Opening Fixtures

12-13
There are no easy fixtures in the Premier League.

Looking back at those games, I am reminded of how badly it started for Paul Lambert. What is worth bearing in mind though is that he didn’t know who his best eleven players were and still had the cast-offs from Gerard Houllier and Alex Mc(*cough*). Still, one win in nine games was certainly worrying as we were expected to beat some of those sides. Apart from Everton and Spurs, I think on paper we should have done much better, especially against the likes of Newcastle, Southampton and Fulham.

We all know how the season turned out. We struggled defensively most of all but the emergence of Benteke and the newfound sense of togetherness saw our fortunes turn around after December, when we went on a roll to secure our Premiership status.

Roll on the 2013/2014 season.

As the fixtures were released this year, my first thought was “I can’t believe this is happening! Why, god? Why?”

Yes, I was angry.

We had to face Arsenal, Chelsea, Liverpool and Manchester City in our first six games. Someone at the F.A. hates us! I was scared. Looking at the fixtures, it wasn’t hard to see us sitting bottom of the table come mid-September, if things didn’t go our way. The players must have felt the same and it could have been disheartening for them.

But what followed was a sign of not only improvement but quality too. We went to the Emirates and beat Arsenal 3-1 after a tremendous performance. We sent Arsenal into turmoil. Fans starting revolting against Arsene Wenger, who then had to publicly apologise to all the fans in his post-match interview. Yes, we made Arsene Wenger issue an apology!

Luna Goal

Next up was a trip to Stamford Bridge. I don’t really want to talk about this game because, in a game in which even the neutrals saw how poor the refereeing decisions were, we didn’t get what we deserved out of the game. The performance we put in was great. Despite being furious at the referee, I was still happy with the way Villa played and that wasn’t often the case when we played last season in matches we lost.

We lost 1-0 to Liverpool but the only goal of the game by Daniel Sturridge was a goal good enough to win any game. It was a superb solo effort and, unfortunately, we just couldn’t break down the Liverpool defence at home.

The next game against Newcastle was a game I honestly thought we were going to win. We were very poor that day and lost 2-1. Again, the other team’s most effective player, in this case Hatem Ben Arfa, was on fire. He had a great game and helped his team win by putting in a man of the match performance.

Beating Norwich has become a bit of a habit for us so I was quite confident we’d go there and get a win, which we did.

The result of the next game against Manchester City was one I probably never would have predicted. We beat Manchester City at home, where we’ve been struggling all year. This was a City team that had thrashed Manchester United 4-1 the previous week. The best thing about this game was that we beat them without Benteke and Agbonlahor! It was quite unbelievable.

Oh yeah, we also drew last weekend to Hull in a goaless draw but the less said about that game the better!

Soccer - Barclays Premier League - Aston Villa v Manchester City - Villa Park

In terms of stats and figures:

13-14
That’s more like it!

After seven games, we’ve had three wins, one draw and three losses.  I can definitely live with that, considering the wins were at Arsenal away, Norwich away and against Manchester City at home.

In Conclusion

I think it’s fair to say we’ve definitely improved this season, compared to last.

After seven games in the 2012/2013 season, we only had five points and all those points were earned against mid-table teams. P7, W1 D2. L4

After seven games in this 2013/2014 season, we’ve got ten points and that tally was achieved by beating two of the top four teams in Arsenal and Manchester City, as well as beating Norwich and drawing to Hull. P7, W3, D1 L3.

We’re currently sitting in 10th position and I’m hoping that if we can sustain our away form and improve our home form we can finish comfortably in mid-table. If we could finish 10th this season, I would honestly consider that a big step in the rebuilding process we are currently undergoing at the club, which will mean we will push on from there. It’s like a house: start with a solid foundation then you can really start building.

Onwards and upwards. UTV!

AVFC Chelsea Christian Benteke Gabby Agbonlahor liverpool Manchester City Official Paul Lambert Premier League
Share. Facebook Twitter Pinterest LinkedIn WhatsApp Reddit Email
Previous ArticlePositives and negatives to take away from the KC Stadium
Next Article Fantasy Football Update
Jatinder Gadar

I'm a massive Villa fan and you'll find my match previews on Avillafan ahead of every game. Follow me on Twitter: @jSG50 After writing this preview, I'll pick myself up and go again next week...

Related Posts

Aston Villa beat Manchester City to win the FA Youth Cup

May 5, 2025

Aston Villa announce redevelopment plans of North Stand

April 24, 2025

Pau Torres to return for Club Brugge

March 3, 2025

Aston Villa will face Preston in FA Cup Quarter Final

March 2, 2025

Asensio double is enough for Aston Villa as they see off Chelsea

February 23, 2025

Champions League draw see’s Villa vs Brugge rematch

February 21, 2025
Add A Comment
Leave A Reply Cancel Reply

Our Picks
  • Facebook
  • Twitter
  • Instagram
Don't Miss
Prediction League

AVLPL Prediction League Table – Game week 36

By AVillaFan. ComMay 13, 2025

The results for Week 36 of the AVLPL AVillaFan.Com Prediction League are now in. Result:…

Aston Villa confirm European football for the third season running

May 10, 2025

AVLPL Game 36: Bournemouth v Aston Villa

May 8, 2025

Aston Villa beat Manchester City to win the FA Youth Cup

May 5, 2025
About Us
About Us

AVillaFan.Com is an Aston Villa fansite. The website is run by Villa fans, for Villa fans and try to offer the latest original content.

This website is not connected in anyway with Aston Villa F.C.

Our Picks

AVLPL Prediction League Table – Game week 36

May 13, 2025

Aston Villa confirm European football for the third season running

May 10, 2025

AVLPL Game 36: Bournemouth v Aston Villa

May 8, 2025
New Comments
  • Medium on Aston Villa beat Preston to secure a date at Wembley
  • Colin on Huge blow for Aston Villa as they come unstuck against Monaco
Facebook X (Twitter) Instagram Threads RSS
  • Advertising
  • Contact
  • Privacy Policy
© 2025 AVillaFan.Com.

Type above and press Enter to search. Press Esc to cancel.