Aston Villa (A) | PL | Post-Match Thread

Whilst we were lack lustre today and there was some poor performances (Foden, Mahrez etc). I don’t get some of Peps tactics and would have brought Alvarez on).

However I don’t get some of the over the top reactions.

Every season we’ve win the league we’ve had performances like this. (Didn’t beat Palace last season, lost to a rubbish Sunderland under Bobby). Villa ran us close last season and Arsenal only just beat them

Even under par we dominated the match. So what if Utd go just 2 points behind us or Spurs are up next. If we don’t play well we will have problems. But we have a manager and a squad of players who are winners.

Even Bayern Munich have drawn their last 2 league games I think. It happens

On to the next game. Let’s keep the undefeated run going.
 
Absolute dross. I can't believe that Pep changed the team from Wednesday night. Foden needs a break and Alvarez needs to start as often as possible. Perfect chance wasted to get another 2 point cushion over the dippers.
Phil definitely in a fight for his place. Which is good
 
I’m so fed up with Walker. He has been with us for five years yet continues with his brain farts. Wasted a wonderful chance today trying to prove something. Wasted a chance to score a 4th goal against Newcastle with a shocking cross in the final minute. He continues to ruin things for us.

I want to see Gomez and Cancelo going forward.
 
If I am brutally honest, I put down these dropped points to some bizarre decisions from Pep in the second half.

Obviously the team was not good in the first half, and even with our goal in the second, the energy and decisiveness was not there, and he chose to bring on Mahrez and then Ake, pushing Cancelo—who had been off for most of the match—up as our deeplying playmaker.

That in the face of what seemed to me a game screaming out for Alvarez’s energy and thrust, in place of Phil, rather than Bernie.

Even Pep will get it wrong every now and then, and I am not *that* upset about it. It’s just difficult to see him do it when there seems to be an obvious solution to the issues presented.
I thought we were fucking abysmal.

Too many negatives to go into.

Our defence were all appalling - Dias And Stones treated Watkins like he was prime Ronaldo, and Stones should have just headed it back to Eddie when they scored, so the goal was on him. Kyle was embarrassing, just let him concentrate on defending. Cancelo just wank.

Phil bullied by fucking Ashley Young, pathetic.

No way on planet Earth should Gundo have finished 90 mins, his legs just can’t do it now.

Then on to Pep where most of fault lies, was crying out for Sergio Gomez on the left and for Alvarez to replace Gundogan.

All in all, I’ll take a point as we were that bad.
 
same every week.....it's laughable some of it.
It is but, at the same time, it isn't. If you get where I'm coming from. Hey ho; it's a forum, and some people will be more strident in their views than others. We all want what's best for the club, don't we? And we're all disappointed at the lacklustre performance this evening.
 
It's one of those I had a feeling about before the game. Villa are absolute shit and Gerrard begging to be put out of his misery....up step good old City with the reprieve ffs. Onto the next.
 
I think so far each game we are watching a team trying to get used to a new way of playing. Last season, playing with a false 9 meant we outnumbered the opposition in the centre of the pitch. We often would play as a 325 in possession and with the false 9 dropping in it meant we had 5 midfielders in the middle of the pitch. With haaland in the side we have lost a midfielder and Pep seems to have reacted to this by pushing Walker into midfield and changing to a 235 in possession giving us 5 midfielders again.

The issue this brings is that I think it makes us easier to counter against as we don’t have Walkers get out of jail pace in a back 3 and Walkers lack of passing ability makes it harder for us dominate opponents in the middle.

Pep recently has started to play Bernardo and Foden as wingbacks but I think that means we have too many penetrative players to far away from the opponents goal. I assume it is with the idea that they drop to allow gundo and KDB to get near to haaland but where they inevitably pick up the ball it is so much harder for them to have an impact.

It’s a learning process for the players this year but I’d be much happier if we went back to the 325 and took the creative burden off Walker.

The quality we have is unreal and when the kinks are ironed out and we get the control of games back and then add Haaland on top… WOW!!
 
I am not sure he will do. Honestly do you think he would? Not at all.
Literally all of the players stopped and went casual right before Coutinho struck the ball because the whistle was blown. It was a bad call by the linesmen, but saying Eddie couldn’t have saved a shot that didn’t actually go in to the top corner after he only casually jumped from a upright standing start is OTT.

(And it’s easy to put a shot on target when everyone has stopped trying to close you down.)
 

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