Aston Villa’s forgotten man netted a goal in their 3-0 victory over Minnesota United on Wednesday as Dean Smith’s side made the perfect start to pre-season. The surprise name on the scoresheet was Birkir Bjarnason, a regular for his international side Iceland but an anonymous figure amongst The Villans starting eleven in recent times.
Bjarnason joined the club in January 2017, signing a three-and-a-half year contract from Basel and only featured in 17 matches as Villa won promotion from the Championship last term. The 31-year-old played in the second-half of their pre-season opener and headed home the final goal from an Andre Green cross.
Many fans at Villa Park went to Twitter to share their thoughts on Bjarnason’s contribution with one supporter unable to contain his delight that the Icelandic international was still with them – saying he’s Villa through and through. Another fan claimed that the midfielder would deliver for the club if he were played in the right position.
Others even commented saying he was the stand out in the second half which was echoed by one member of the Villa fanbase who said he had written him off until last night; where he was one of the better players in the match.
You can read the best selection of tweets from Villa supporters below:
Hope he takes preseason well and puts himself into contention. He's shown for his country he can play well on the wing!
— Bowkaaa (@bowka13) July 18, 2019
top guy
— ᒍOE ᗯ ???? (@Joey_mlw) July 18, 2019
BB is Villa through and through. Happy he is still with us.
— steve Povey (@sjpovey) July 18, 2019
Play him in the right place he will deliver
— June Mynard (@kelwell16) July 18, 2019
Thought this man was good last night????????
— Matt (@MattyMcAVFC) July 18, 2019
I know it was a preseason game against Minnesota United but Birkir Bjarnason was one of the stand out players for sure!
He looked as good as he was in that purple patch when Steve Bruce was using him as a holding midfielder and was a revelation! ???? #avfc pic.twitter.com/6vl6f59UgB
— Total Villa (@Total_Villa) July 18, 2019
Thoughts on bjarnason? I'd written him off but seen that he was one of the better players last night. He always plays well for Iceland and showed us glimpses of what he can do under Bruce without ever having a decent run of games. Could he still do a job as a squad player? #AVFC
— John carews big vein (@holtenderbenny) July 18, 2019
Bjarnason and Lansbury both looked sharp when they came on yesterday I must say. Jota impressed enall.
— Cameron McKenzie (@cameron_av) July 18, 2019