Exclusive: Ty Bracey desperate to see improved Aston Villa performance against Everton
We’re delighted to welcome Villa View host Ty Bracey as our exclusive Aston Villa columnist each week he’ll be giving his views on the biggest talking points at the club…
After a disappointing opening loss against Bournemouth Ty Bracey is looking for a much-improved Aston Villa performance for the visit of Everton.
Despite a summer of increasing expectations there was a hard return to earth on the south coast with the 2-0 defeat at the Vitality Stadium, but the Toffees arrive at Villa park for the Saturday lunchtime kick-off (13 August) having suffered a loss in the first game against Chelsea, and with injuries in defence and attack.
The decision to take the captaincy off Tyrone Mings was compounded when manager Steven Gerrard left him on the bench and then saw the team lose, but while a return from the former captain could be on the cards it is all about performance and showing a reaction to the first game for Bracey.
Speaking exclusively to Villa News he said: “There’s rumours that Mings has got a little bit of an injury so I’m not entirely sure to what extent he’s going to be match-fit.
“We have to react to that Bournemouth game in the right way. I would be hugely, hugely disappointed if we come out as the same team that came out against Bournemouth.
“We just don’t have two 45-minutes of football in us where they are consistently good. Against Bournemouth we didn’t have either 45-minutes that was good.
“But against Everton I’d like to see 90-minutes of good, strong defending, and good, attacking teamwork football.
“So I’d like to think that we’re going to react in the right way. I think that’s really important and I think I’m a little bit nervous. The performance has just got to be right against Everton.
“We’ve got to come back and react in the right way, and we’ve got to bounce back and get three points on Saturday. There’s no reason why we can’t win on Saturday.
“We struggle against a five at the back and I think Everton have adopted a five this season. And obviously they’ve just signed Conor Coady who has a good record against us.
“So let’s see if we can break them down well and just play some good, attacking, creative football. That’s all I ask for.
“And as fans we really need to get behind them, and I understand that that’s hard to do after watching 90 minutes of dross against Bournemouth but we really need to bounce back against Everton.”
Frank Lampard’s side brought in Coady because they lost two of their three starting centre-backs to long-term injuries in the first match of the season, and are already without key striker Dominic Calvert-Lewin.
That should really offer an opportunity for the Lions team to take advantage in their first meaningful action in front of the Villa Park faithful this term.
Lessons need to have been learned from opener, so the hope has to be that new signings are more settled and John McGinn is better accustomed to the armband next time out.
In other Aston Villa news, Paul Merson has backed the Villans to record a win against the Toffees.