bannedfromHandV

Loved Luiz telling the ref to just get out of his face and blow the whistle for his penalty last night, and then still doing his customary thing of waiting until he was ready to start his run up - that pause he does after the refs whistle seems to me to be psychological and all about him taking it when he’s ready, not anyone else. Watkins’ effort, I’ve rewatched it a few times to see if the slip affected the trajectory of the shot, it’s hard to tell as the slip seems largely to occur after the strike but who knows, I wrote in the match thread that I wondered if whether he scored or not would have a bearing on his selection for the Euros and it’s a shame he slipped as it may cloud safegates (already clouded) judgement. What a buzz it was though to win that way, Martinez is such a character and such a good keeper, we are so so fortunate to have him, long may it continue.

But SD was never this bad?!

Duran played well, good discipline off the ball, decent on the few occasions he had possession, competed well in the air and was somewhat unlucky with the effort on goal (which required really good technique to be fair). I feel like he’s maturing in his play and approach, he’s much less of a hothead lately.

Anyone watching the fenerbahce game on TNT through the red button? Why da fuq is the picture so bad?!

Yeah poor performance generally, though I thought Duran did well coming on. That being said we still missed the chance of the game through Luiz. Absolutely buzzing with the win, who’d have thought we’d be the last English club standing in Europe?! Martinez is an absolute legend, sincerely hope he goes on to see at least the majority of his career out here, top, top goalkeeper. Do we dare to dream?

I wonder if whether Watkins scores or not will impact much on safegate’s selection for the euros?

Oh Dougie, that was the game right there buddy. When was our last penalty shootout? Seems like a long time ago

It’s hard sometimes to not think we’re intentionally understated in the media, sky sports app right now, Villa in a euro cup final and what’s the headline story? Emma Raducanu playing tennis. Yeah okay.

No real intensity to our play, they have space whereas we’re closed down quickly every time it reaches one of ours. They get away with quite a lot to be honest in the contact, always grabbing shirts etc. Wouldn’t be surprised to see Martinez not return for the second half. Need a big effort this half to get back on top.

The irony, I haven’t given a shit about European results for English teams since as long as I can remember to be honest, the one year I/we have a vested interest in them doing well and they all have a bloody mare. Oh well, extra incentive and impetus for us to try and make sure we finish fourth now!

He’s just settled in really well hasn’t he? Looks a Villa player already, some of his showings have been a bit iffy but that’s been in line with team performances during that time, he’s drifted out of matches but I thought it was an incredibly mature performance yesterday. The early indications on this one is that we’ve done well, fingers crossed he’s got another few levels in him for Unai to unlock because on top of what we’ve seen so far, plus his raw attributes, any improvement would see him become a real player.

Outstanding yesterday and my MoTM. Put a great shift in, was cool and calm on the ball, often receiving passes inside our own area, almost scored a worldie, perfect pass over the top to assist Watkins’ goal. I think that’s his best performance in a Villa shirt and he’s starting to look like he’s enjoying his football again.

I feel like the results yesterday gave us a lift going in to today, I thought we were close to being spent after recent showings but today we got stronger as the game went on. It’s a massive step toward securing 5th at least but fingers crossed it gives us the platform and energy to go on and match/better Spurs’ results.

Would be a damn shame to lose this game now because up to now we’ve played well and like a team pushing for champions league football.

Yep, there’s not many people I truly envy on this planet but Ryan Reynolds is definitely one of them.