Exclusive: Dan Bardell optimistic ahead of Aston Villa opener against turbulent Bournemouth
We’re delighted to welcome The Athletic’s Dan Bardell as our exclusive columnist each week he’ll be giving his views on the biggest talking points at Aston Villa…
Aston Villa are playing their opening Premier League opponents Bournemouth at a good time due to the teams’ contrasting preparations says Dan Bardell.
The Villans travel to the south coast to face the newly promoted side off the back of a transfer window that has seen high profile arrivals such as Diego Carlos and Boubacar Kamara come through the doors and lift expectations around the club.
Manager Steven Gerrard will want to get off to a strong start as he bids to lift the Lions to a far higher finish than last season’s 14th, and Bardell feels that the Cherries represent probably the best possible opportunity to do that, and is looking forward to seeing the tactical identity become clear.
He exclusively told Villa News: “I’d love to see a semblance of some playing style. When Gerrard first came in I thought, ‘Right, I can see what his playing style is’. Then it kind of got lost a little bit. I don’t know why that is.
“So I’d like to go back to being able to identify what I think Steven Gerrard’s playing style is in that first game.
“I think it’s a good fixture to have in the first game. I think Bournemouth have had a bit of a turbulent summer.
“It’s a good time to play them because they haven’t got all the players that they need through the door. The manager’s visibly upset by that.
“They’ve got a few injuries as well. A couple of players that they have signed in [Ryan] Fredericks and [Joe] Rothwell, they’re unavailable to play.
“So I think it’s a good time to play Bournemouth, whilst Villa have had a good preseason as well. We haven’t really got any injury worries, I think everyone’s fit from what I know at Villa.
“So going there after having a good preseason, with players like Leon Bailey on good form and confident again, I think it’s a good time to play Bournemouth.
“But saying that, if you expect Villa to win, they won’t.
“But I think it’s as good a start to the season as we could hope for, with Bournemouth being in a mess and Villa feeling in a good place.
“So that probably means Bournemouth 2-1 Aston Villa.“
On the subject of big name new signings Carlos and Kamara he added: “Yeah they’ll both play 100%. I would be absolutely shocked if those two weren’t in the starting XI.”
Gerrard has raised the stakes since he arrived part-way through last season, and the club have backed him with heavy spending in the transfer market.
Pushing for a European place is not out of the question and the manager has already said seventh is the goal [The Athletic], but a win against a team that has just come up and is experiencing preseason difficulties surely has to be a must to open the campaign.
Fans will be eager to see the new arrivals feature for the first time in earnest, and will hope this is the start of a season that matches the ambition that the club has shown.
In other Aston Villa news, Bardell is fully supportive of the club’s strategy up front after Cameron Archer’s new deal.