<p><br></p><p>A new year, the same authority.</p><br><p>After the winning run ended at Arsenal, Aston Villa returned to Villa Park and did exactly what mature sides do. They took control, strangled transitions, and dealt with Nottingham Forest without drama.</p><br><p>Forest pulled one back, but it never felt like a turning point. Villa remained composed, dictated the tempo, and reasserted themselves through midfield dominance, intelligent pressing, and clinical moments at the right time.</p><br><p>This post-mortem focuses on the substance rather than the scoreline. Kamara’s immediate impact. Tielemans running the game. McGinn delivering again. Watkins trusting himself and finishing instinctively.</p><br><p>More importantly, it examines the bigger picture. Villa absorbed the Arsenal defeat, learned from it, and moved on. No overreaction. No hangover. Just control.</p><br><p>This is what good teams look like at home. And Villa Park is now very clearly their ground.</p><br><p>UTV</p><br><p><br></p><h3>Get a Great NordVPN Deal</h3><h3><br></h3><p><strong>Get a cracking deal on NordVPN with four months FREE &amp; a 30 days money-back guarantee here:&nbsp;</strong><a href="https://www.nordvpn.com/moms" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank"><strong>nordvpn.com/moms</strong></a></p><h3><br></h3><h3><strong>GET AD-FREE SHOWS and JOIN MATCH CLUB</strong></h3><p><br></p><p>Get ad-free shows and extra shows, and join My Old Man Said's 24/7 Villa community, Match Club.</p><br><p>For more details and to become a member, click here:<a href="https://www.myoldmansaid.com/moms-patron-membership/" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">&nbsp;<strong>Become a MOMS Member</strong></a></p><br><p>Join the show’s listener facebook group&nbsp;<a href="https://www.facebook.com/groups/1856530967778349" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">The Mad Few</a>.</p><br><p><br></p><h3><strong><em>Credits:</em></strong></h3><p><br></p><p>David Michael -&nbsp;<a href="https://twitter.com/myoldmansaid" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">@myoldmansaid&nbsp;</a></p><p>Chris Budd -&nbsp;<a href="https://twitter.com/BUDD_music" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">@BUDD_music</a></p><p>Phillip Shaw -&nbsp;<a href="https://www.twitter.com/prsgame" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">@prsgame</a></p><br><p>Music production &amp; creation - David Michael</p><br><p>My Old Man Said -&nbsp;<a href="https://www.myoldmansaid.com/" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">https://www.myoldmansaid.com</a></p><br><p><strong><em>This Podcast has been created and uploaded by My Old Man Said. The views in this Podcast are not necessarily the views of talkSPORT</em></strong></p><hr><p style='color:grey; font-size:0.75em;'> Hosted on Acast. See <a style='color:grey;' target='_blank' rel='noopener noreferrer' href='https://acast.com/privacy'>acast.com/privacy</a> for more information.</p>