It’s been an uncommon Premier League season in a variety of methods, however we put it to you that Marco Asensio popping up with a matchwinning double in a sport between Aston Villa and Chelsea, and people objectives being in opposition to Chelsea is correct up there.
Asensio being within the Barclays simply doesn’t really feel proper, someway. It’s off-brand for all involved, however it’s doable right here that basically what we’re doing is simply projecting the weirdness of this sort of participant turning up at Aston Villa. It’s not that Aston Villa aren’t ok to have glorious gamers, it’s simply… the improper kind of glorious participant, isn’t it?
It’s not that he’s too good for the Barclays, or too good for Villa, or that Villa don’t deserve good and thrilling gamers – they’ve a great deal of these anyway – it’s simply not what any of us would’ve anticipated to occur to any occasion concerned throughout 2024/25 is it?
Mainly what we’re saying right here is that if Asensio was going to have half a season right here in any respect then it ought to have been at Chelsea or at Man Metropolis. That might have felt extra appropriate someway.
And actually it must also have been a deeply underwhelming and massively forgettable stint, which this already seems unlikely to be on the proof thus far. It ought to have been the kind of factor that you simply spend smugly stating that ‘this isn’t as straightforward as being at Actual Madrid is it’ whereas it’s occurring, after which overlook about it totally to the extent that it causes you all method of heartache on Sporcle seven years later.
As a substitute, he’s rocked up at Aston Villa and is taking part in actually and has simply turned a Premier League sport on its head by scoring two objectives, each of which have been assisted by Marcus Rashford which is an entire different incongruous element we don’t even have time for proper now.
Allow us to overlook for now the numerous gambles Villa have taken with an already PSR-baiting wage invoice and simply take pleasure in this whereas it’s occurring. Villa’s array of attacking expertise is now delightfully deep and rounded, and there’s a very actual prospect of a spectacular finish to their season. It’s already obvious that the assorted new arrivals are bang up for proving one level or different, with Villa set to reap the advantages.
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Villa’s late turnaround right here additionally leaves us with the potential for one of many nice battles for Champions League locations. That’s simply as nicely, actually, as a result of right this moment did seem to even be one that drove significant nails into the coffins of both title and relegation battles. However the Champions League battle? That’s a belter.
If Newcastle beat Nottingham Forest tomorrow, we’ll have 5 factors separating third place from eighth and an epic struggle to see which three (and nearly definitely it is going to be three) be part of Liverpool and Arsenal in subsequent 12 months’s Champions League.
And there’s nonetheless an opportunity for Brighton and even Fulham to but insert themselves into this equation.
Chelsea, regardless of a current return to absolute antics, stay firmly within the combine. This was a difficult Chelsea efficiency to put. They began the sport nicely and deserved their lead. In the long run, although, it was laborious to suppose they didn’t additionally deserve the final word defeat.
However whereas that conclusion may also have led just lately to excited ‘Maresca sack’ discuss that doesn’t actually really feel fairly proper right here both. He set the group up fairly nicely, they performed fairly nicely, after which they didn’t after which yet one more goalkeeper made yet one more bollocks of issues. It simply seems like that’s what Chelsea are presently.
Goalkeeper and striker are such apparent positions the place Chelsea are poor that it’s not possible to not be drawn to them. How do you spend all that cash and look so restricted in these famously necessary and simply recognized spots, the place the distinction between success and failure is so cruelly seen.
The very fact stays, although, that they’re simply two of the locations the place Chelsea are poor. Are their centre-backs any good? Not likely. Not for all the cash that’s been spent. Chelsea had an unexpectedly good begin and an unexpectedly sharp fall, issues which have left them largely the place they may have anticipated to be discovered when the season started.
That’s undoubtedly the improper strategy to go about doing that, and Maresca – who has not dealt with current setbacks nicely, it have to be stated – now finds himself in issue due to issues that aren’t notably his fault.
We all know Chelsea aren’t good at constructing a wise and even vaguely coherent squad. That’s high quality. But when they’re additionally now being mugged off by Villa on the extravagant Hollywood January mortgage entrance then what even is the purpose of something?
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