Vernal Villan - Week 15: Setbacks

Firstly, a note on this column. I've come to realize that writing about fanhood every single week may become a bit grating. So while I will still do that from time to time, you'll see this column shift to a more regular Villa column. I'll talk about the match, Villa's situation, soccer in general. You'll still be getting it from someone just immersing himself in the game though, so the title stays. Anyhow, onto the column!

This weekend. Aaron prepared us for it, and he came to terms with it. But is it a moment of panic for us? I certainly don't think so. We're a team wracked by injuries. I said last week that Villa have a ton of potential, and a few good breaks could still see us qualifying for Europe somehow. But I tried to temper my enthusiasm a bit. This is a team that has almost no limit on its potential. They held even with Manchester United and Chelsea. But, as it's such a young squad, they also have almost no limit to how much they can frustrate us.

Despite the heinously boring and depressing game, we've still got a lot to look forward to. Houllier seems to be willing to do everything that we want (though I would love if he could follow the advice here), and there were even glimpses of the great boys this weekend. In the first thirty minutes or so, I really felt like the attacking players displayed a ton of swagger. They look exceedingly confident, which, given how young they are, is shocking. This is a group that knows how good they are. 

So yeah, this weekend was rough, but keep your chin up. We're in for a lot of games like this, but we still have a shot at great things. It can start again this next weekend against Arsenal. Another good showing, and I bet we all forget this weekend happened. And then, when we beat the Scum, we're onto the next round of the Carling Cup. Despite some bumps in the road, it's still better to be a Villan right now than anyone else alive.