Wednesday evening was a mixed night for young Aston Villa Academy graduate Cameron Archer. With us facing off against a very experienced Chelsea second string, the 19-year-old striker was given another chance to lead our frontline by head coach Dean Smith and anyone who says he disappointed is being harsh in the extreme.
The youngster more than built on the promise he showed against Barrow in the second round of the EFL Cup, and the only possible disappointment is that he didn’t help himself to another hattrick because the chances were there – but the quality of the opposition was obviously stronger.
He did, however, get himself on the scoresheet to register his fourth goal in only his second senior appearance with us with an absolute bullet of a header as he connected to a Matty Cash cross.
What a header. 😤 @CameronArcher_ pic.twitter.com/FtgtFlOFrK
— Aston Villa (@AVFCOfficial) September 23, 2021
Speaking ahead of the game, Birmingham Mail journalist Ashley Preece was speaking on the
Claret & Blue podcast to discuss Archer’s rise under Smith this year and the clear development he’s made after last year’s spell with Solihull Moors.
“I think his deal is out this summer coming now. He wasn’t tied down to a long-term deal, so Villa were unsure on him, given he’s a couple of years older than (Louie) Barry and (Brad) Young and others. I think he’s taken his chance in the Cup, he looks at real finisher. I see him warming up, he looks a good size now, he’s matured, got a good pace about him. The young lads call him a little Tevez. Dean Smith likes him because he wouldn’t have picked him two years ago at Crewe, so he’s well-liked in that sense, so he deserves a chance, for me.”
"It's amazing when you have that faith from the gaffer. It boosts your confidence even more." 🗣️ @CameronArcher_ pic.twitter.com/NraUxCLSLn
— Aston Villa (@AVFCOfficial) September 23, 2021
Preece went on to say that given we were facing a side with the quality and depth of Chelsea, he expected Archer to get at least half an hour to test himself against a higher calibre of defender, but as we now know, head coach Dean Smith placed his faith in him 100% and he got all 90 minutes under belt.
If anything, Smith’s faith extended to not naming a senior striker on the bench so the message to Archer was ‘see what you can do for 45, then I expect more after the break’ and if that was the message, that can only have done wonders for his confidence.
Preece continued.
“I think Villa turned away countless offers for him on deadline day, so they think highly of him and it’s up to him now to take his chance. I mean, from what I’ve been told, he’s been really impressive in training, he scored a hat-trick in behind-closed-doors games as well so yeah, good finisher as we’ve seen at Barrow, real fox-in-the-box finisher.”
Vital Villa’s Cameron Archer Love In Forum Thread
Coming more regularly to a bench near Villa soon.
(ps I can watch that goal all day long!)
🤣🤣🤣 with saves like that he could rival Martinez 🤣🤣🤣
— Chippie (@Chris54115093) September 23, 2021
Spot on.
— Daymo (@The_Daymo) September 23, 2021
Never been as excited about a crop of youngsters as I am with these guys. Archer, Barry, JPB, B.Young, Kaine Kesler, the Chukwuemeka's and the Ramsey's have all shown maturity beyond their years and have all looked exciting when given their chance. Bright future indeed 🦁
— James Courten (@JamesCourten) September 23, 2021
Can’t over state enough how impressive it was for him to keep getting into goal scoring positions vs a very strong Chelsea team. Never let his head drop after the misses and got a deserved goal. Very good signs.
— Daniel H – The Real Football World 🤟 (@danielhavfc) September 23, 2021
Well done Cameron 👏🏻👏🏻👏🏻👏🏻 you’ll learn so much from these opportunities
— nicknackjames (@nicknackjames1) September 23, 2021
Some future he’s got
— joseph (@josephavfc) September 23, 2021
We’ve got some incredibly exciting players coming through the academy – Archer looks something special
— Rob Horthorn (@tavtips) September 23, 2021
If you’re going to score a goal like ….. has to be in front of the Villa faithful and importantly the future king !!!
— Matt Randall (@mattrandall75) September 23, 2021
When you see teams like Wolves spend £35m on Fabio Silva and we have a player like Cameron coming through scoring goals shows the strength of our squad and how well the club is moving forward.
— Rob (@Robdw1983) September 23, 2021
Gutted not to progress in the cup, thank you to the travelling fans great feeling to score infront of you 💜🦁 #utv @AVFCOfficial pic.twitter.com/RbeKk9TKww
— Cameron Archer (@Cameronarcher_) September 22, 2021
Cameron Archer
Patience, Patience
100% Bench Option Now
