Opposition View: Aston Villa

After three years in the Championship, Aston Villa are back in the big time. When they tumbled out of the top flight in 2016, it was as a club on a downward spiral who had rattled through more managers than Steve Bruce has had hot dinners and incompetent owners at the helm.

Now though they’re a very different proposition. Dean Smith’s astute management secured promotion last season and despite accusations of taking a throw-as-much-money-at-it-as-possible approach to the transfer window like Fulham did, Villa are currently on course to stay up.

We caught up with Daniel Horton from Villa blog Heart of the Holte to find out how they’re finding their Premier League return, what’s changed in the past three years and whether those comparisons to Fulham are fair.

Welcome back to the Premier League! Are they any noticeable differences between the top flight in 2019 compared to when Villa were last in it in the 2015-16 season?
The biggest difference is that we actually have a team to be proud of! There is such a strong connection between fans, manager, staff and players that wasn’t there when we were last in the top flight. Back in 2015-16, there was a massive disconnect and mass fan discontent with an owner that didn’t want to be there and no less than four managers. It’s amazing to see what a few years in the Championship has done to the club.

In terms of the league as a whole, it seems much more open, aside from the likes of Liverpool and Man City. There are many teams which are perceived to be slightly smaller, who are currently challenging towards the top end of the league. It’s much more exciting and, as of yet, we have matched almost every team we have played very evenly. Long may it continue!

Dean Smith wasn’t the biggest name when he was appointed as Villa boss last season, but from the outside he looks to have done an excellent job. What’s been the secret to his success?
He has shown that he understands the club. He has been a complete breath of fresh air and everybody has bought into his philosophy. He tries to actually play football, has an attacking mentality with young and exciting players and he actually cares about tactics – this is a far cry from the days of Steve Bruce.

It’s also worth noting that our success is also down to our new owners. They saved the club, brought in a proper infrastructure with footballing brains in charge and then hired a great, forward-thinking manager. Regardless of what happens this season, I hope Dean Smith is in charge for the foreseeable future as, if given time, he could make a real success story of our great club.

Villa have been labelled in some quarters as this season’s Fulham due to the money you’ve spent since winning promotion. Is that fair?
I don’t think that is fair, no. I understand the comparisons but it’s solely on money spent and nothing else. We did our business early and had a fairly settled squad for most of pre-season, where Smith could embed his players into his system. Fulham on the other hand brought in six players in the last tjree days of the summer transfer window, with five of them coming in on the last day.

We kept our best players from our Championship squad, then re-signed a few of the players we had on loan (Tyrone Mings, Anwar El Ghazi, Kortney Hause) and some players Smith had worked with before (Jota, Ezri Konsa), as well as bringing in some young talent and proven Premier League players. When looking at Fulham’s transfers, they took apart their Championship team, as well as signing some players who arguably weren’t the right character for them at the time, such as Ryan Babel and Andre Schurrle.

Who’s been your star performer so far and is there anyone who’s disappointed to date?
Jack Grealish is an obvious one, as he has had a good start to the campaign and has got better as the games have gone on. Tyrone Mings and Bjorn Engels at centre back have been great so far too. But I’d probably go for John McGinn. He has been brilliant. He is great at retaining the ball and despite his size is really strong, using his body well to hold off other players. McGinn drives the team forwards and his best attribute is his powerful left-footed shot. Hopefully we can keep hold of him, as there will be many suitors.

We haven’t had too many disappointing players so far this season but one who has paid the price for weaker performances is Neil Taylor. He started the season as left-back but his lack of attacking ability has meant that he has been replaced in the side by summer signing Matt Targett, who has proved to be a much better option.

If you have to give Graham Potter one piece of advice as to how to beat Villa, what would it be?
When we are given time on the ball, then we can play through any side in this league and cause problems with the likes of Grealish and McGinn. Hopefully we have learned by now, but our weaknesses and mistakes so far this year have come from wanting to have too much time on the ball. We’ve made errors when teams have pressed us high, because we like to play out from the back. So if a lot of pressure is put upon us at the back or in midfield, we are prone to giving the opposition chances on goal.

What are Villa’s realistic expectations for this season?
For me, 17th is a successful season. Our only target should be to stay up and we shouldn’t expect to be any higher in this very difficult league. That being said, we haven’t been taken apart by any side and have held our own in every game. Therefore I think we should be aiming slightly higher. I think we will finish 14th this season but anywhere above 17th and I’ll be happy.

Who do you is winning the Premier League title and who is getting relegated?
I think that this is Liverpool’s year. They have been known to bottle it in the past when it comes to the Premier League, but with Jurgen Klopp in charge they are a completely different outfit. I expect them to hold on to the top spot, despite late pressure from Man City. In terms of relegation, I worry for Norwich and Southampton especially, as it isn’t looking great for them. I think that it will be those two and possibly Newcastle, due to the large amount of negativity surrounding the club. It will be close between a lot of teams though.

Finally, your prediction for Saturday?
It will be a really tough game but I think because of the home advantage and our big result in our last game against Norwich City, we may just win it. Although you had a brilliant 3-0 victory against Tottenham last time out, I think being at Villa Park will just edge it our way, so I am going for 2-1 to Villa.

Thanks to Daniel for answering our questions. He’s predicted a 2-1 win to Villa, which seems sensible given that we’ve never won at Villa Park. Should Brighton make history on this occasion, then you can remind him over on Heart of the Holte’s Twitter page.