Aston Villa (A) | PL | Post Match Thread

[ShaunMCFC]

Shit that.

Savinho and Bobb offer zero attacking threat.

Gvardiol is not a full back, Reijnders isn’t a DM.

Need Rodri back asap.

Cherki and Marmoush have to start, how the fuck can a genius like Pep honestly think we’re better with fucking Championship level soft arse Savinho than them? It doesn’t make sense.

Apart from Haaland this team is fucking soft as wet shit. I want players with a John Terry-style attitude to the game, not these soft cunts.

January - sell Savinho, buy Semenyo.

We got a golden ticket in the summer when Spurs offered 70 mill for Sav, only we could fucking turn that down

 

[Cuban heels]

We played chess whilst Villa just sat back and played it simple .its fucking boring to be honest .Earlier in the season we played more direct and it was exciting to watch .The possession based shit has been found out .
Pep terrible team
Selection

 

[Goaters]

Going to Villa Park is never an easy place to get a result. So It’s not the end of the world.

But some of the decisions by Pep have been fairly odd to say the least.

We went through a section of games with a fairly settled team, Nico O at Lb and bit more structure, where relationships have slightly been built up.

Today’s team was a carbon copy of the pick and mix selections of last year, players pushed together without any obvious reason.

Gvardiol is a much better cb than lb and had formed a relationship with Dias. o’Reilly and Doku seemed to compliment each other well, as had Nico with Reijndeers.

You can’t really say the changes today made sense and just seemed like pep massively over complicating things.

I think the team v Swansea could be a really fun team though so not long until we can get back to winning ways.

 

[kanovic]

You try and remain positive but as soon as I saw that teamsheet pre match I just knew we were getting nothing. It's just not good enough. A Mish mash defence, weak midfield and nothing upfront, Haaland aside,well nothing good enough to compete at the highest level.
Savinho and Bobb should never be starters in a serious side looking to compete for honours but there they were. Nor should Nunes but we're stuck with him because we didn't buy a right back. Gvardiol isn't a left back but again we're stuck with him if O 'Reilly is injured. Even then he's not really a left back but filling in for one. Stones has been great for us but injuries and age are hindering him. Foden is just not consistent enough to fill the likes of David Silva or De Bruyne's shoes. Too many games he's anonymous. Bernie works hard but is a shadow of the player he was. We haven't really seen enough of Cherksi or Marmoush to form an opinion if they'll help take us back to the top. Sadly we are a top six side atm fighting for top four.

Weak midfield has been our downfall last season.. the players that could have help were in the bench.. not playing Nico or even kovacic was criminal

 

[Phil1]

This team isn't winning anything this season,

Tell me how it isn't then? Silva and Reijnders in midfield, Nico and Kovacic sat watching whilst we got overran in midfield. Doku sat next to them watching Savinho sleepwalk his way through the game. Half time comes and goes, no changes, brings O'Reilly on, who looked like he was still asleep. It's all on Pep

If Pep picked that team because he thought it was the best and most effective to get a win then I’d say he got it seriously wrong and deserves his fair share of (constructive) criticism.
If he was told by the medical team that certain players could only be risked for a certain amount of minutes and had to shuffle accordingly then I can forgive it slightly.
We will probably never know so it’s just easier to call him shit and blame it all on him…

 

[pauls]

Shocking performance. Wrong team started

On Pep, not got a tough game for a week, no need to put out a team like that , team that finished would have been good enough.

 

[WesthoughtonJohn]

And Christ Almighty listening to Andy Hinchcliffe co commentate on our games is like listening to someone drag their nails down a chalkboard, with his one “idea”repeated over and over.

If they have that chunt on in future I'll be muting the TV - you'd think we'd sent someone round to run his dog over the way he commentates on us.

 

[Big Yaya Wilko 12]

Just as shit as last year.

No fight in this team. Bunch of fucking wet blankets in midfield.

Our wingers are dross. Savinho should never step foot on a pitch for us again and only giving Cherki 15 minutes is laughable.

Pep fucked us again with his shocking team selection.

Haaland: if you’re going to have 3 touches a game you have to score your 1 v 1s. And not turn your back when defending shots.

Fucking fuming.

Level on points with United. 6 off Arsenal. Gonna be a long fucking season.

Fuck off, Pep, again. ‘It’s gonna be different this season’… bullshit. Just as fucking toothless as last year.

Pathetic.

 

[Ken92]

Very disappointed in Bobb , he doesn’t look strong enough against a physical team like Villa.

Onana showed Dias how to bravely defend a shot in the box, not turning your back on it.

Savinho very unlucky when Torres luckily deflected his shot over the bar.

Midfield was way too light with Stones trying to support Reinders . Why was Bernardo the furthest forward

I dont think a 1.60 player weighing 58 kilograms can ever be a strong player, nothing much to do really, nerds to find other ways to be helpful or get a better player in. Winger position is quite a worry.

 

[Axel Freed]

Here we fucking go, another 150 page post match thread after a narrow defeat to a very good team

There should be a kind of entry policy applied to post match threads whereby if you don’t comment in one after a victory then you’re not allowed to comment after a defeat.

It would keep out all the rags / dippers / various player fanboys / tourist / JCLs etc who just flood it with tantrum inspired nonsense, the vast majority of whom are nowhere to be seen when we win

 

[dadnlad]

Fuck me, a bit early in the thread for the “all on Pep” comment.

i want that bloke that cant set team up but won 3 on trot

 

[pavelsrnicek]

Poor starting line up. Never had the right balance in midfield. Once we went behind we struggled. Villa defended well but we didn’t test them enough.

Bobb was poor, playing Reijnders deeper doesn’t work and left Haaland without support. O’Reilly had an awful cameo, he had 4 touches in their box and gave the ball away every time. Doku has had 2 quiet games in a row. Need to use Cherki and Marmoush more. Savinho flattered to deceive. We really really need to do better on set pieces between Stones, Gvardiol, Dias and Haaland we have real threats but our delivery is never good enough.

Aldo another poor refereeing performance. Missed a clear penalty and constantly bought dives and missed loads of niggly fouls.

Has to to be said that Hinchcliffe is just awful to listen to. He never fails to crap on us while waxing lyrical about the opposition. Is he still bitter about being sold?

 

[jimharri]

Wasn't it around this time last season that we turned to shit for most of the winter?

 

[paulchapo]

Weak midfield has been our downfall last season.. the players that could have help were in the bench.. not playing Nico or even kovacic was criminal

I can only think they mustn't be 100% fit. We should have set up.like Arsenal away and hit Villa on the break.

 

[Cuban heels]

Lightweight that. Said for years we should have signed Onana. He plugged their midfield.

We need a beast like him
In our midfield

 

[wolviedinho]

Same stale problems exist.

That’s ok we won the lot.

Whole club needs a shake from the board down to the players and pep.

It’s not good enough to win leagues and a champions league. It’s good enough for top 4/5 and a cup run.

All this wait and see if players come good is bollox. Donna is the real deal and it showed on his first game.

Time we all see that the players are not up to the required standards. Rodri can’t stay fit, Foden is hit and miss.

Only for Haaland we would be mid table.

Charges, and our world class departures has left us in a meh state.

3 world class players changes everything. You lose them bang you suffer, you buy them and bang you rein for the next 4/5 seasons.

Arse miles ahead. Maybe it’s finally the bridesmaids turn.

City have to get serious again.

 

[bitterblue78]

Were what arsenal were in arsene wengers final few seasons

 

[Blue Hefner]

They ran all over us like they have done for the past few years at their ground

Go and have a look at the last 3 times we’ve played them away and look at our midfield players - in each game the midfield has been beaten up

 

[eyalluvitt]

the closest to the Wolves away win we will get all season, unless we get West Brom in the FA cup

 

[Millennium]

From the start of the first half, it was clear that there was a major error in City's formation. We lacked solidity, no pressure on the Villa players, while the Villa players moved the ball freely, and City were absent for most of the first half. Therefore, should Pep delay correcting the error? Why wait until the second half? And why bring on O'Reilly instead of an attacking midfielder capable of creating play? Pep bears responsibility for the performance and the result.