[ad_pod ]This article is part of Football FanCast’s Pundit View series, which provides opinion and analysis on recent quotes from journalists, pundits, players and managers…Adrian Durham has given his opinion on Aston Villa following their opening day defeat to Tottenham Hotspur.

What's he said?

Villa faced one of the toughest possible tests for the opening game of their Premier League return by travelling to the Champions League runners-up Tottenham last Saturday evening.

They held their own for the majority of the game with John McGinn's ninth-minute goal looking like it would be enough to cause a major upset - but then came their record signing Tanguy Ndombele who unleashed a stunning strike which shattered those dreams.

Harry Kane made the scoreline look flattering with four minutes to go as the England star netted a brace to secure a late 3-1 victory.

Discussing the game on talkSPORT, Durham said:

"That's as well as Tyrone Mings is going to play - and it was brilliant by the way.

"[He was good last season] In the Championship. It's another level. There's a reason why, and it's not just injuries, why Bournemouth were okay with letting him go.

"I look at it, and yes he's a very good player, I think they had to sign him but there's an ability to crumble that we saw on Saturday with Aston Villa that will send them down."

Naive, lazy comment

That's just the easy thing to say isn't it? That the newly promoted side will struggle and go straight back down.

It's not as if Villa were playing a fellow relegation candidate or a solid mid-table side, they were playing a side who's last competitive fixture was the Champions League final. A side that perennially contends in the top six.

Their business this summer has been calculated and rather shrewd.

12 new arrivals, totalling £144.5m is quite the amount when you consider Fulham's exploits last season who were relegated after spending £100m plus on the same number of players.

But, it's smart activity.

You have a handful of players who were at the club on loan last season or previously managed by Dean Smith - Mings, Kortney Hause and Ezri Konsa for example.

There's also a further sense of familiarity that could well aid team chemistry going forward - Wesley Moraes joined from Club Brugge but so did Marvelous Nakamba whilst Egyptian ace Trezeguet was added to the side and he will surely be helped by the fact that a fellow countryman is already at the club in Ahmed Elmohamady.

This group of players showed up against one of the best teams in the Premier League for 73 minutes in a game that is more or less a free-hit.

Their season won't be defined by this overly flattering scoreline but whether or not they can sustain that sort of performance from here on out remains to be seen.

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