Carew charged by Villa's electricity
Only Manchester United can boast a better goals record than O'Neill's men
'We are surfing on the wave - now we just have to not fall off the board.'
'Ashley's got a diamond in his foot.'
John Carew offered a chuckle at himself following the first of these remarks. But these lines from the striker, who has scored 12 goals this season, offer a fair assessment of why Villa visit Everton this afternoon well placed in their quest for fifth place and a guaranteed Uefa Cup place.
Ashley Young has been doing much of the creating for Carew and Gabriel Agbonlahor to do the scoring, says the striker. 'This is a six-point match and a great opportunity - every footballer wants to play in Europe. It was not looking so good, but suddenly everything is fantastic.'
Four matches ago Manchester United trounced Martin O'Neill's team 4-0. Since then it is 15-1 to Villa. Bolton had four put past them, Derby six and last week Birmingham were embarrassed 5-1. 'That was electric,' Carew says of the atmosphere at the derby. 'And only Manchester United have more goals than us in the league.'
He is correct. It is a telling statistic, giving Villa a one-goal edge over the 66 scored by Arsenal, who have spent this season monopolising the praise for their free-flowing style. Yet Villa, when they break through Young and Agbonlahor, have arguably more pace than even United, and are certainly quicker than today's opponents. Yet while David Moyes's team have scored 50 in the league Villa's defence have conceded 16 more to leave Everton - who are three points ahead - edging the goal difference. Portsmouth, who host Blackburn in the earlier match today, are four points behind Everton so the FA Cup finalists are also still in the hunt for fifth.
Last week Liverpool's Fernando Torres claimed that La Liga has greater strength in depth than the Premier League. What does Carew, who won a Spanish championship and lost a Champions League final against Bayern Munich during four years with Valencia, think? 'It's difficult to say. When I was in La Liga they had [many] teams in the semi-final,' he says of the 2001 and 2002 competitions when there were two Spanish clubs each year. 'Now it is English clubs so that's the first proof of where the strongest league is.'
Carew is 28-years-old yet Villa is his seventh club. He began at Valerenga and Rosenborg in Norway before spells with Valencia, Roma, Besiktas, Lyon and Villa. Carew says this was because of differing circumstances each time that included a loan spell at Roma [in 2003] 'when they were nearly bankrupt. It took five or six months for the salaries to come. I went to Besiktas [from Valencia in July 2004] because of Vicente del Bosque. He was then the hottest manager in Europe almost because he won everything with Real Madrid. Then I was happy to leave for Lyon [a year later] because they were one of the strongest clubs.'
Gérard Houllier, the Lyon coach, 'tried to get me to go to Liverpool when I was at Valencia,' he says. 'But I've no regrets. Valencia were a better team and I thought we were going to win the Champions League.'
Rafa BenÃtez, Del Bosque, Houllier and O'Neill are among the more impressive managers of recent years. Who did Carew learn the most from? 'Actually it was Nils Arne Eggen at Rosenborg,' he says of Norway's most successful coach. 'I was up and down while at Valerenga, but suddenly I scored 20 in 18 games. He was easy to understand.'
Carew learned another lesson in 2003 on being sent home by Norway ahead of a friendly against Portugal. This followed a fight with John Arne Riise, now with Liverpool. 'The fight was a long time ago. Sometimes you're just in a bad mood. I felt it in my stomach [when Riise scored his own goal against Chelsea last Tuesday] - I sent him a text to say just forget this.'
Carew will be hoping to score at the correct end today.
Guardian
