VAR stands for Video Assistant Referee. But after Villa’s defeat to Crystal Palace on Saturday afternoon, that quickly changed to Villa Absolute Raging.
More on that to come, but Dean Smith’s side, who were down to 10 men, suffered a 1-0 defeat at the hands of Crystal Palace.
It now means that Villa head into the international break with three points from their opening four matches, as life in the Premier League starts off in a tough fashion.
Here we take a look at the three things we learned from Villa’s defeat to Palace:
VAR steals the show: It seems as though whenever VAR is spoken about this season then it’s all for the wrong reasons rather than the right reasons… that was the case with Jack Grealish. In the dying moments of the game, Grealish made a run into the penalty area and was fouled just as he released the ball to Henri Lansbury, which he finished into the bottom corner.
But referee Kevin Friend ruled that Grealish had dived during that incident, which meant that the goal couldn’t stand. Understandably, those associated with Villa were absolutely fuming because replays proved that Grealish was actually fouled. So if anything, Villa should have been awarded a penalty or the goal should have stood, but neither did.
Grealish needs to play further forward: In the Championship, a lot was made of Grealish’s positioning. It is quite clear that he likes to have the ball at all times and wants to ‘run the show’ for Villa. But in the Premier League that is becoming a problem.
Whilst in England’s second-tier he can prove his worth by collecting the ball from deep, he’s not going to do that in the Premier League. As was seen against Palace, and during previous games, Grealish’s starting position now needs to be further up the pitch. Villa aren’t going to see much of the ball like they did in the Championship, and of what they do see of it in the Premier League, Grealish needs to be making the ball talk. He’s not going to do that by constantly sitting deep. Therefore, the less he drops deep, the less he asks of the ball then the more effective he can become in the final third.
Villa need to be smarter: Whilst VAR stole the show and stole a point for Villa, they will look back at that Palace game with disappointment. Roy Hodgson’s side, albeit only scored one goal, aren’t known for their attacking play, especially at home. But at the weekend, Villa allowed them to create too many chances.
It is still a learning process for Villa, but they need to start learning quickly because sooner rather than later the gaps in the table will begin to open up. Not only that, players need to cement their place in Smith’s starting XI because whilst a number of them have shown what they are about, they haven’t really stamped their authority on the team.
