ozvillafan

Doesn't get a lot of plaudits and - I'll admit - I thought he was done about 12 months ago.

He was excellent today, both in and out of possession. His partnership with Mings and Martinez is superb.

Looking forward to this. I don't see it anything else than a draw and a cracking game.

Early kickoff is excellent too - that equates to a 9:30pm kick off down here. Might get some sleep for a change.

45 minutes ago, tomav84 said:

surprised no one has mentioned this today. The guys at claret and blue podcast have really stepp up their game in the last year or so. This is a great watch. Sounded like he wanted to talk for even longer 

 

Came here to post that.

Fantastic listen. Quality person is Alan Hutton. Excellent interview. Well worth your time just for some of the behind the scenes stuff that goes on

21 minutes ago, LondonLax said:

Are you sure about that? We do have a thread about them nearly 600pages long. One of the biggest threads on VillaTalk for an opposing club. I do think quite a lot on here have an issue with them. 

... and I don't get it.

The Dyer/Bowyer handbags

Nobby Solano.

James Milner.

Sob on the Tyne

... I can't think of anything else. Even their current sportswashing is not a good enough reason

Lies, damn lies and statistics.

I'm certain many will fly to the defense of xG and how important it is, but I'm not convinced.

We lost 4-2 to Leicester in a game where our xG was 2.38 and theirs was 1.35 (source: https://footystats.org/england/leicester-city-fc-vs-aston-villa-fc-h2h-stats#2782255)

We defended poorly that day: Martinez with a poor pass to Kamara for their first. Moreno missing a simple clearance for their 2nd.

Now compare that to Chelsea where we won 2-0. Their xG was 2.77 and ours was 0.77 (source: https://footystats.org/england/chelsea-fc-vs-aston-villa-fc-h2h-stats#2782323) - but we never looked like losing that game.

43 minutes ago, icouldtelltheworld said:

I'm really not sure that is how the original poster intended his comments to come across at all

Hmm...

Quote

I find it difficult to watch a Villa podcast run by a guy who has only just attended his first Villa match. Much rather watch UTV or Claret & Blue. 

I find that hard to take any other way than: "You've never been here, so you don't get it".

Which irks, since I've never been to Villa Park - and, likely, I never will. Something I share in common with a LOT of posters here.

31 minutes ago, VillaJ100 said:

Not a fan of them but fair play to Liverpool gave it a big effort in the 2nd half while Arsenal looked timid.

I'm only going off the small amount I paid attention in this match - but rather than timid, I thought they were frantic.

Whenever they finally got the ball back off Liverpool in their own half they treated it as a transition and immediately pumped the ball forward....

... even when it was Martinelli or Saka vs 3 defenders. They squandered so much.

I noted how little in control of the game Arsenal were compared to how we were against Forest. Different clubs, different grounds, different abilities yes - but no less headless than we were in possession under our former manager.

Emery really is a cut above

For me, this game is telling.

We are expected to win fairly comfortably against a team that is struggling - especially away.

The old Villa would come in full of confidence - and get humbled in a spanking loss....

... but are we still the old Villa? Or are we going to rise to expectations?

I'm confident.

11 hours ago, bannedfromHandV said:

Smith could be a good shout actually, Maddison can be his new Grealish, albeit I don’t think he’s as good nor do they have the same qualities.

I’d be surprised if they go down but at the same time not. They’ve not done well in the transfer market since winning the league and now that Vardy is essentially finished (totally anonymous last night) they don’t look that good a side, on paper or in practice.

They could do a lot worse. Smith's resume is pretty good:

• knows how to stave off relegation from the PL?
• knows how to setup a strong culture within a club?
• knows how to go on a run of good results?
• will engineer a way to lose whenever they play Villa?

1 hour ago, TreeVillan said:

Gotta start somewhere.

I mean we gave Sherwood a job after he was a caretaker once. 

Gotta finish somewhere too.

I hope it isn't us. After enduring his management, we definitely need to "share the love" to other clubs. Hopefully a PL club.

32 minutes ago, Nigel said:

I know people view performances differently but to describe luiz's game yesterday as poor and untidy is just odd.

His ability to create space yesterday was brilliant. His control of the ball in tight situations meant that Ndidi, Mendy and Dewsbury-Hall stopped trying to press him which gave us freedom in the middle of the pitch.

He became much more of a metronome than usual which allowed us to dominate the centre of the pitch. 

I thought he was outstanding 

There was a period around the hour mark where Leicester had a lot of the ball in our half.

We struggled to retain possession, and when we did, Luiz turned over possession on his next 4 plays:

- Missed a pass to Moreno which went out for a throw (the beginning of this period)

- Twice sprayed poor passes in our own half, finding opposition players instead

- Took a free kick just over half way that ended up at the feet of the first defender, where they started a counter attack.

To his credit, he got his head back in the game. I put it down to fatigue.

But outstanding? Not for me.

Manager performance: Good

Referee performance: Good

Commentator performance: Dire. I'd rather drown myself in an unflushed toilet than listen to Tony Gale again.

Bailey trying too hard - and making it worse.

Case in point: Receives the ball on the edge of the box, sees Luiz square as an easy pass - goes for a shot through 5 bodies instead.

I'm not sure we'll get Europe - but I know that it's going to part of Unai's conversations with the players.

I suspect if we keep up our current form we will be denied only by unfavourable results from other European-vying sides.

It's a little out of our hands since we started this run after reaching the heady heights of 17th under the former manager.

On 29/03/2023 at 08:35, fruitvilla said:

Any thoughts?

 

It's not a bad idea.

Handball in the box - accidental or not - means a foul. The only thing left is "Was this intentionally stopping a shot going in?". If so, penalty. If not, indirect free kick.

It's no less unlucky than the kind of handballs they are giving as penalties now (or not, in our case vs Bournemouth) and a little clearer on the punishment.

1 minute ago, fruitvilla said:

What's left of the opponent's toes?

Ah... the instep on his boots doesn't match the outstep. So that's his left foot with the blue and white stripes.

Was doing my head in. Thanks.

9 hours ago, DJBOB said:

Continues getting rave reviews for Luton Town.   Hope they buy him whether they go up or not. Seems to be a good fit. 

That photo - what is that between the 2 players boots?

Looks like Marvelous took a trip to the lavvy in his studs and has some toilet paper stuck under his boot.

Please be Gerrard. Please be Gerrard. Please be Gerrard. Please be Gerrard.

1 lap restart - Alonso to repay Sainz?

23 hours ago, leemond2008 said:

**** sake, Australia, god damn Aussies should work to our time, I completely forgot about it this morning.

at least it was only the quallies that I missed, I'll get up for the race (hopefully)

Soft.

Every Villa game is on at 2 or 3am in the morning here. Jog on.

He does some wonderful things when given space.

However, when under pressure as soon as he receives the ball - and especially with his back to goal - he turns possession over far more than he should and often immediately

Needs to learn from McGinn on first touch and ball shielding in central midfield.

19 minutes ago, rodders0223 said:

He has two players marking him, often 3 because he takes 18 touches to do anything.

By that logic, he'd require zero markers.

Better than more recent outings. Excellent for the assist and he rarely (if ever) turned possession over today.