How many times have I written what I'm about to write? I don't know what to write about that. There has never, in Premier League history, been a better time to go to Old Trafford with hops of a win, than there is this season. What happens? We go there and get spanked.
But we started okay. I even Tweeted that we were not playing the way we win games i.e. sitting back. We we're actually trying to play against them, then we scored. Then it all went wrong.
We should have just sat back for 80 minutes. Defended and played the way we know we can. Instead, we went to Old Trafford, off the back of two good results, thinking we could beat them. Thinking, there has never been a better time to go to Old Trafford and that we can win.
And because of that, we changed how we play. We decided, against Manchester United at Old Trafford, to have a go at them. When what we really should have done was sit back and wait for the counter. We took the counter to them and it was wrong. And it was. We scored, annoyed them and continued to play like we had a chance.
We got spanked. We got it handed to us. Sure,. you could, like the manager, say it was a bit harsh (United only had six shots on target in ninety minutes) but we only had one shot on target in ninety minutes. We were never going to score more than one if we only had one on target.
The manager
I thought 4-1 was harsh on us. We started the game great and scored a really good goal and we were looking pretty good. But then we conceded a pretty poor first goal and it was a clear penalty to United, no arguments about that. Just after the restart we had two incredible chances to peg it back and you have got to take chances like that. That is no criticism of Christian Benteke because he has scored vital goals for us and he will continue to do so but, on another day, we score a couple of goals and it becomes a different game.
And you know what, I tend to agree with him. I don't agree with starting with Albrighton though. But I like Albrighton and while I don't think he's going to make it with us as a first team player, I think he's the perfect impact player and I don't think he should think that a bad thing. Many great players have been known as impact players.
For me, if he wants to play regularly, he will have to go to the Championship. If he wants to play for his local side and in the Premier League, he has to accept he comes on when needed, with twenty minutes to go, to try and make a difference with his blind crossing and enthusiasm. But this isn't a pop, it's just a thing I'm pointing out and is purely opinion. If you disagree and think Albrighton is a Premier League starter, let me know below.
I'm Dag the Wise
But now I've got to leave Aston Villa. The season is nearly over, we're safe and as long as the manager gets the right support and guidance in the summer, we should do a lot better next season. Look at what Liverpool have achieved this season. Last time out they finished seventh, this time out they'll finish top four and the Premier League is now theirs to lose and it's not as if they've spent over the odds to achieve this.
I'm not leaving Aston Villa full time, just for today. You see, I can speak to birds now and the birds tell me that you're not football. The birds tell me that this is a campaign and that now is the time to use your voice. They're frightened and they're not really doing anything for you. If you were football, don't you think they'd listen to you?
Soon, they'll ask for your stories to then they can really tell you that we're football together. Sadly, there are enough people out there that suck it up.