Match Preview

And so an Everton team shorn of the blond bombshell that is Xavier travels down to the Midlands to play a Gregory-less Villa.

I think I was quite clear last week that I wasn't sad to see Xavier go but I must admit to being surprised to see him heading over Stanley Park.  Why on earth is he moving there?  Oh yeah of course they offered him more money and the Champions league (but not the FA Cup this season).

Actually I don't really mind him going there anyway.  Yep, no doubt he'll put a few good performances in and when he does it will hurt but in all honesty can you see him getting into that team very often?  Played anywhere other than centre-back I personally consider him a liability due to his frightening lack of mobility and pace.  

At centre-back he is a decent player, maybe better than decent, but he is not better than Henchoz and Hyppia or even Babbel who will be back at the end of the season. Which means he better get used to warming the bench a lot and if they are happy to give us 800k for a player with 3 months left on his contract to warm their bench (next to Nicky) then thats fine by me.

Villa however will (at least for a short time) miss Gregory.  Most definitely a "character" is our John and whilst he has made quite a few questionable purchases most of them seem to come through eventually - lets wait on the £6M signing of Baloban which does seem an odd one.

Angel started very slowly but is starting to look Premiership class and Boateng is a superb defensive midfielder (81% of tackles won and 83% of passes completed).  At the back they have been unlucky to not be able to play Mellberg and Alpay together for the last 3 months - and fortunately won't be able to do so against us as Alpay still won't be back - and Schmeichel is not as good as he was could still teach most Premiership keepers about positioning.

They are a very strong physical side with their creativity coming through a combination of Hendrie, Hadji and the old man Merson.  Upfront Vassel is destined to play for England and as I have said Angel is starting to score.

That said they do not appear to be the "sum of their parts" at the moment and that perhaps is why the Villa "faithful" (yeah right!) have been deserting Villa Park and aren't too shocked by the loss of Gregory.  On paper they look a comfortable top 6 side to me but too often their performances don't match that.  Let's hope against us they let themselves down again.

What of us?  Well if we can all stop drooling over Gazza's performance against a 3rd division side (well it was good though wasn't it!!) and dreaming of our next cup game at home to the mighty Crewe then we can again get something out of this.

The natives will be very restless at Villa Park.  A protest is being called for by the shareholders and Supporters club before the game.  If that does take place then it will only benefit one team - Everton.

The first 25 minutes will be crucial.  The crowd will be well up for it and we must watch Vassels speed.  Merson and Hendrie will both try and slip him in behind us and Angel at the back post can be deadly.  But our back 4 with Hibbert at right back does look settled and if Gazza and Gemmill can keep working then we should be able to see out those first attacks.

My biggest concern is our lack of width. With Alexandersson out (and lets be frank most of the time even with him) and Blomqvst again likely to be missing our one route will again be right through the middle to Dunc and Campbell.  Villa will love that.  Mellberg is massive and whilst Staunton is a weakness he is shrewd and experienced enough to cope with route one.

A game of attrition is likely to result and two things will swing the match.  How will Villa's supporters react if we can dampen their initial support?  How will Gazza's, Dunc's and Campbell's legs cope with games this close together?  We really are down to the barebones in midfield and Gemmill and Gazza will have to get through the full 90.  Maybe Chadwick will replace one of the front two - probably Dunc.

If we get through the first 25 mins then I can see us sneaking a draw.  Rumours of Walter switching to 5-3-2 and bringing in Peter Clarke for Alexandersson wouldn't surprise me, in fact I might support it as Villa play the same system.  We will need to score but from set pieces we can trouble any team and if Gazza can just give us one more of those runs then Kev will gladly finish it.

1-1 I reckon but when is the dosh coming Bill?  We need cover in midfield!

BlueForEver