I haven't had chance to pull together a proper preview for Bolton's visit to Villa Park, but
this game is definitely more about various intertwining story arcs off the pitch than tactics and
strategy on the pitch.
It is, of course, Kevin MacDonald's final game in charge and it goes without saying that he and
the players will want to both finish on a high note and attempt to atone for the slip-ups in the
past few weeks.
I haven't had chance to pull together a proper preview for Bolton's visit to Villa Park, but
this game is definitely more about various intertwining story arcs off the pitch than tactics and
strategy on the pitch.
It is, of course, Kevin MacDonald's final game in charge and it goes without saying that he and
the players will want to both finish on a high note and attempt to atone for the slip-ups in the
past few weeks.
Gérard Houllier and Gary McAllister watched their new charges labour to a disappointing draw
from the stands today and will know that they have an awful lot of talent at their disposal, but
also have their work cut out for them.
It started extremely brightly with Villa absolutely dominating the opening 30 minutes or so,
much like the first game of the season against West Ham.
I've talked about this many, many times: possession football is all well and good, but if you
don't move the ball into position to score goals often enough, you don't win many games. Our home
record was 13th best in the league last season as we consistently struggled to roll inferior
opposition over and that was to be the key challenge to address this season.
Gérard Houllier and Gary McAllister watched their new charges labour to a disappointing draw
from the stands today and will know that they have an awful lot of talent at their disposal, but
also have their work cut out for them.
It started extremely brightly with Villa absolutely dominating the opening 30 minutes or so,
much like the first game of the season against West Ham.
I've talked about this many, many times: possession football is all well and good, but if you
don't move the ball into position to score goals often enough, you don't win many games. Our home
record was 13th best in the league last season as we consistently struggled to roll inferior
opposition over and that was to be the key challenge to address this season.
