Aston Villa (A) | PL | Post Match Thread

b6_brum said:
Just from the other side of the glass, I agree with a lot of this. I believe football is often about timing & everything was in place for us last night. City without Rodri is a different proposition and him alone would have probably changed the dynamics of the game last night - he is that good.

But we were brilliant, it sounds a bit extreme but I'm genuinely not sure the last time I have seen a Villa team play that well. Maybe even in my lifetime. I know watching City you've seen some ridiculous heights of late (and it's often been a pleasure to watch as a neutral), but I couldn't have envisaged seeing a Villa team play at that sort of level. There is no point getting too giddy, we will inevitably drop off and there is a long way to go, but I'm not sure there is a more difficult away game right at this minute.

I don't see any great panic at city, I'm convinced they'll still be title contenders (if not winners) once the squad settles again and Pep finds a way again (he always does). Let's be honest, you should have been 5 up v half time against Spurs & Liverpool hung on 2nd half. Last night was different, but like I said a few things fell into place for that to happen.
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Villa were excellent. Very, very fast. Some people on here habitually claim that our keeper doesn't know how to shot-stop. Without Ederson, that's a thrashing. We're looking at 3-0, even 4-0. How often do you see anybody do that to City? All being well, you can certainly stake a claim to top four, even top three. Title? That's a stretch.
 
balotelli's back pocket said:
Villa are a very good side, but that doesn't make our performance tonight any less embarassing.

The worst we've played under Pep. We did one good thing in 98 minutes.

Physically and mentally weak. Squad might be the same size as last season, but with a noticeable decline in quality (and hunger).

Walker, Dias, Bernardo letting us down right now.

Taking Foden off was bizarre.

Kovacic and Nunes looking like a cheap backup and a panic buy respectively.

Gvardiol is being badly exposed playing out wide. Play him inside and put Ake on the left.

Time for another tactical tweak, because playing this system is suicidal when we're second to every ball.
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Pep is not keen on a standard back 4 it ain't clever enough. Not having a decent left back doesn't help.

Anyhow the problem is quite simple, the players sold, suspended or injured are much better than the replacements . I think pep needs a lot of luck for the remainder of the season.
 
It’s funny how Nunes & Kovacic are suddenly the worst players on earth because we aren’t in form, both have spent spells on the sideline with injuries and were rushed back more than likely in order to scrape together a midfield for probably the most energetic midfield opposition in the league.

I remember prior to his injury how everybody was singing Kovacic’s praises for slotting in perfectly and looking like he’s been here for years, now all of a sudden he’s the worst signing we’ve ever made, who cannot do anything is lazy etc etc.

I also thought Nunes played excellently against Forest when in the correct position and he hasn’t had a look in since due to injury mainly.

Simple fact is we’d have lost that game with Rodri playing and dare it say it even KDB, there was zero creativity without Doku and Alvarez through the middle we couldn’t seem to even make a 5 yard pass, couldn’t beat the press, looked shaky at the back, midfield was makeshift and Haaland couldn’t hit a cow’s arse with a banjo.

But all that aside we’ll still be there, I just hate to see individuals called out when clearly the whole system isn’t working.
 
City_Sean said:
For me the biggest issue is that in a must win game last night the manager opted for a midfield that featured a RB, a CB and a #9.

That's a pretty fucking damning indictment of this summers window. The fact that there were three midfielders on the bench worth a collective £125m yet none were seen as solutions sums up the piss poor summer window.
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Decent point.
 
It's hard to argue we deserved anything from this game, Villa played at their absolute maximum and we looked well short of our level.


However, as I've mentioned throughout the last few weeks, we are severely hamstrung with injuries and how this affects the quality of our football & style.

To give a numbers perspective;

- Villa have 10 players with 13 plus starts in the league, all of whom are nailed on first choices.
- We have 9 players with 12 plus starts in the league, of which 5 are from our starting XI toward the end of last season.

It isn't just the affect on the starting team, but the lack of rotational depth too. We've had to run Haaland, Alvarez, Foden, Walker, Dias & Akanji into the ground, they all look tired and in need of a break.

How can Kovacic & Nunes adapt to our playing style and build any confidence with 590 & 225 league mins across the season so far? Some of the comments on Nunes are completely unfair.


Pep doesnt know our best eleven yet. We've had to refresh the squad and then cut & shut teams together most weeks, it's not conducive to playing at our best.

There's no scope to change set up when we play every few days either.


It's immensely frustrating, but there's still time to fix this and kick on. Can we get back to being more confident & aggressive with a settled team and a bit more depth?

One of the world's best players is due back in the next couple of weeks too.



My final point, think how this team would compete with Villa last night;

Ederson

Walker Stones Dias Ake

Rodri

Foden Bernardo KDB Grealish


Haaland
 
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