BMJ: Villa a better side than Arsenal

[JamesTheYiddo]

Hamburg boss Martin Jol got in a dig at his old rivals on Tuesday as he claimed Aston Villa "are better than Arsenal''.

Jol will face Villa on Wednesday night in the UEFA Cup, and the ex-Tottenham manager is predicting a tough game against a team who leap-frogged the Gunners into fourth place in the Premier League at the weekend.

Both sides have already qualified for the next round of the competition but this final group game will determine the standings and seeding for the knockout draw, and Jol is not expecting Villa to take it lightly.

"The question is whether they will play with all their regulars,'' he said. "The first-team of Aston Villa are better than Arsenal and, next season, Villa will be playing in the Champions League.

"They have a very clever manager and I cannot imagine him not wanting first spot. Villa are perhaps one of the best teams in England.

"We were interested at Tottenham in signing Ashley Young. He was a bit too expensive in the end at £9million. But he has gone up a level since then, Agbonlahor is one of the quickest players in the Premier League while Milner is also an excellent player.

"They have got the talent, as we had a couple of years ago at Spurs, and the future is for them. You need a bit of luck as well but Arsenal are not doing as well and Villa can get into that top four.

"Arsenal are not so good now and are no longer automatically a top-four side.''

Hamburg's director of sport Dietmar Beiersdorfer added that beating such a strong side as Villa would do his club the world of good.

"We desperately want to win this game,'' he said. "It would be good for HSV's reputation on the European stage.''

Jol should recall defender Guy Demel to his defence after he was suspended in the Bundesliga at the weekend while there is a doubt over the fitness of David Jarolim, who has taken a knock to his knee.

This is Hamburg's last game of 2008 before they break for almost seven weeks.

A 1-0 win over Eintracht Frankfurt on Saturday ensured they will spend the winter break lying in fourth position in the Bundesliga, just two points behind leaders Hoffenheim and Bayern Munich.

Jol also hinted that whether he stays at Hamburg for the long term may depend on whether he is able to sign a couple of quality players.

He said: "I want to go all the way here. One or two good players will make my team good and I will stay here for a couple of years.

"But if not, I will think about moving. They have not got a lot of resources here so I have to develop young players and I did that at Spurs.

"Hamburg is a big club and maybe there are only four or five in England who are bigger. I am fine where I am now but who knows (for the future)?''

Jol insisted that he wants his side to end their group programme with a flourish by overcoming Villa, although Villa counterpart Martin O'Neill has also omitted Gareth Barry and captain Martin Laursen from his squad.

Jol said: "We want to win and we want to win the group. There is not so much pressure now because we have already qualified for the later stages.

"But we want to give our fans a good finale to the season, in this competition and when the Bundesliga re-starts.''

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