THRILLER AT THE VILLA
While Aston Villa showed a deficit of class by gouging their supporters when it came to the admission fee, the club got pretty much everything else spot on ahead of last night’s win over Bayern Munich. Off the pitch, their Big Cup Boys of 1982 were hosted at an official function held to honour their historic achievement, while their recently departed comrade Gary Shaw was remembered on the front of yesterday’s matchday programme. In another classy touch, the former striker was also listed one last time on a team-sheet, his name appearing at the bottom of the list of current squad of Villa players trying to emulate the achievements of he and his teammates.
Having paid through the nose for their tickets, the home fans were absolutely determined to get their money’s worth and with the visit of such exalted opponents, Villa Park was rocking to the kind of raucous din you just don’t get for the visit of the likes of Fulham. Following a tentative start that suggested they were playing the occasion rather than the game, it took a disallowed Pau Torres goal on 22 minutes for Villa’s players to realise Bayern were in fact fallible and they went on to win courtesy of another supersub Jhon Durán’s goal-of-the-season contender, as well as several breathtaking saves from Emiliano Martínez, who with each passing match appears to grow at least two extra tentacles. “It’s the loudest Villa Park I’ve heard since I joined the club, that’s for sure,” said the Argentinian keeper after the game. “It was hurting my ears at some points. It’s a club that’s moving forward. That’s the main reason why I want to stay at this football club.”
A club that are moving backwards, Manchester United are in Portugal for a comparatively low-key Bigger Vase adventure tonight as they try to bounce back from Sunday’s embarrassment at home to Tottenham, and it seems inconceivable that their owners haven’t noticed how Villa have been utterly transformed under Unai Emery. Appointed before Emery, Erik ten Hag continues to bleat incessantly about needing more time and of player knack, while the Spaniard leads Villa from strength to strength, just getting on with his job without so much as mentioning the rotten run of knack with which he has had to contend.
“As always when we are not winning, we are very disappointed and we are also mad; mad with ourselves and especially when you lose a game like Sunday,” said Ten Hag before United’s match against Porto. “We are mad and from the madness we have to get motivation and go on to the next game.” And while the Dutchman may have channelled his inner Howard Beale by announcing that he and his players are as mad as hell and not going to take this any more, one suspects it is a sentiment that is increasingly echoed by the high-performance boffins and marginal gains enthusiasts who currently stalk the Old Trafford corridors of power.
LIVE ON BIG WEBSITE
Join Scott Murray for early Euro Vase fun with Ferencvaros 1-3 Tottenham, while Tim de Lisle will mop up the later action of Porto 1-1 Manchester United.
QUOTE OF THE DAY
“My wife made broccoli. Maybe that’s why” – Borussia Dortmund’s Karim Adeyemi was keen to pay tribute to vegetables when asked what inspired him to his hat-trick heroics against Celtic.
RECOMMENDED LISTENING
The pod squad are back for the latest episode of Football Weekly, with Max Rushden, Barry Glendenning, Lars Sivertson, and Nicky Bandini chewing the Bigger Cup fat and looking ahead to the Premier League this weekend.
FOOTBALL DAILY LETTERS
“Don’t worry about Sergei [Baltacha], Jon Millard [Wednesday’s letters], he was happier than he looked with his wheels. When he rocked up to Perth in 1990 and St Johnstone offered him any car of his choice (subject to full terms & conditions, max value £8k, etc) he opted for another Samara. Again with full Sergei Baltacha livery, always a thrill to spot it in the Tesco car park or outside the bookies” – Martin Fisher.
“Cuban taxi drivers would agree with Jon Millard that the Lada Riva was a reliable motor. Much better than the Russian Moskvichs, some of which are still haplessly lumbering around the island, they told me. The cabbies’ opinion on the Chinese MGs was somewhat surprising: good engines but dodgy electronics. The most dependable rides in Havana are the 1950s American cars, but only because they’ve had their knackered V8s replaced with Toyota engines. Is there a vacant slot on Top Gear or do I have to make do with a letter of the day prize that won’t be sent?” – Alex von Fintel.
“I was reading the article ‘Players want to fix the broken football calendar’ by Jonathan Liew, and I can’t think of any other responsible men than the managers and coaches. I remember a time when Premier Leagues top clubs played mostly reserves and youth players for their Carling Cup fixtures, and lower league teams in the FA Cup, and occasionally rested a couple first team players, when playing the bottom of the league. But not any more. Klopp and Guardiola’s greediness for getting at least 95 points a season has changed the game. The number of matches is not the problem. Managers are” – Kenneth Mortensen.
“Anyone familiar with Lewis Carroll’s Alice’s in Wonderland will realise that there is a perfectly simple solution to the letter o’ the day prizes controversy presently simmering in Football Daily Letters: ‘Everybody has won and all must have prizes’. Or is this concept now as dead as a Dodo?” – Adrian Irving.
Send letters to the.boss@theguardian.com. Today’s prizeless letter o’ the day winner is … Martin Fisher. Terms and conditions for our competitions can be viewed here.
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