Aston Villa (A) | PL | Post Match Thread

[The perfect fumble]

 

[OB1]

They weren't lucky though.

They were the better team on the night but they needed a lucky break to win.

 

[jimmygrimblesboots]

Cant't remember the last time we were so comprhensively outplayed , Villa were good but we are threadbare at the moment , we usually have a couple of game changers on the bench togight we had nowt , the subs tonight made us far worse.Would excuse Oscar Bob he showed some nice touches in a struggling team ,

 

[cleavers]

Their goal was lucky.

It was, but their win wasn't, for most of the game they dominated, and Ederson kept the score down.

 

[Damien10]

They were the better team on the night but they needed a lucky break to win.

That’s football. They deserved the win. Doesn’t matter how the goal come.

 

[Bluefen]

Struggling to comprehend that tonight. I’m not even pissed off, it was just numbingly shit.

Players not running, losing the ball then walking back, arms being thrown about, shit body language, panicking on the ball, no forward movement, no evident game plan, nothing. Passing the ball around the back and wait to either be dispossessed or play a hopeful long pass for it to inevitably be cut out.

Players out of position, Gvardiol isn’t a left back while you have Akanji bottling out of 50/50s in midfield. Gvardiol‘s main strength is his ability to pick a pass yet he’s shoved out wide limited to cul-de-sac passes down the line. Fuck Akanji off out the midfield role, out Gvardiol there and we won’t turnover cheap possession every 5 minutes.

Every time we were defending too it was panic stations, our treble win was built of being comfortable at the back and allowing teams onto us. Stones was doing cryuff turns in his box in the Champions League fucking final 6 months ago now we have Akanji battering rebounds out to the edge of the box so Ederson has another shot to save.

Walker seems to gone into poser mode too, rather than actually defending and circulating the ball he’s standing 5 yards players to show his speed off or he’s doing dreadful 6-point turns with the ball in stupid areas. He needs to get back to the basics of his strengths. Nothing intricate.

We should be shooting on sight too, we’ve got the deadliest striker in world football up front collecting dust and feeding off scraps. Have a shot, let him follow in and get a rebound. Or play the ball to him when he makes a run. Must be so frustrating for him to play without anybody behind him willing to take risks on the ball.

Alvarez is being shoehorned into the team and we’re forsaking control by doing it. Start of the season? Fine. He was delivering. Now he’s a passenger in most games and the benefits of his role are far from outweighing the negatives. He needs to be left out and fucking asap.

Foden had a stormer playing centrally against Newcastle early in the season and hasn’t been played there since. He has the right to be pissed off IMO. Same with Haaland. They have an understanding up there but it’s not being unleashed. KDB being out should’ve seen Foden stepping up but Pep isn’t letting him and is instead sticking with Alvarez. Why? On the off chance we get a free kick in a dangerous area? Do me a favour.

And this isn’t a spoilt post - by no means is it - it’s that we have a team out there with Haaland (best forward in the world), Foden (fabulous player), Walker (best right back in the world), Gvardiol (second most expensive defender in history) to name a few and none of them are being asked to play to their strengths.

It’s just poor. All these players but without two - Rodri and Kev - they’re rabbits in headlights. Baffling really.

Then you have Pep seemingly making more negative comments about fan performance than his own team - who have no league win in 4 games. He needs to look closer to home and sort it out rather than asking for a few extra decibels inside the ground.

Ederson the only player who can come out of tonight with any credit. Been fantastic all season amongst a sea of relative, panicky shite in front of him.

Onwards and upwards.

Can’t argue with much about of this

 

[Blue tiger]

Paying for a piss poor summer, lost a lot of goals and assists in Gundo and Mahrez.

Gvardiol has in the main been poor, but is still a young kid so needs time.

Kovacic is what he is, hardworking but limited and not creative.

Doku, has bags of ability and speed, but again is a young kid and us going to be up and down.

Nunes, hasn't looked great in the limited time he's played and always seemed a panic buy.

6 points off the top isn't insurmountable, but the scousers look strong this time too. Like a few have said hopefully this World club cup might be what is needed for a refresh.

 

[argyle]

You hope so, But a long layoff can be hard to find your form again and his age is not on his side when you are looking to recover quickly,

He won't be match fit until end of February. That's if he's back in Jan and doesn't pick up another injury which is normal after a long layoff.

 

[Asa's left peg]

Well done Villa,played really well. John and Rods back together with maybe Jack and Doku will get us back to competing again, but will paper over the cracks
Julian shouldn't be that deep. It used to be that it was just the odd signing took 6/12 months to settle and contribute but now it's everyone which leaves us really short.
We also need to accelerate the search for a playmaker whilst Kev is still around.
We've come back from worse.
BTW, Ruben still needs a reverse samson haircut.

 

[Bluefen]

He didn't like Palmer it seemed ..always a bit cold. Pep is the best ever but can come across as a bit stubborn...Palmer being let go so easily is one..ok he wants to play but you do your best to re assure him, especially when he would have made the squad better for a year

I don’t think Palmer changes anything tonight - similar performance to foden