chips'ngravy

All set for Tielemans to have a shocker

In a funny way I think I'd fancy our chances more if we kept it 0-0 till half time than going 1 up early on. We don't want it to turn into another ding-dong of a match. If we went 1 up around the 60th minute they would probably be of the mindset of 'we're nearly there', and try and defend it out which could suit us.

Obviously, if we do get an early goal I'll be screaming from the rooftops

Why not give Duran at least half an hour in a game we've been so poor in? 

Chelsea will be well up for beating Spurs on Thursday, and if they play anything like they did last night they surely will.

It could be effectively all done and dusted by Sunday if we beat Brighton.

On 25/04/2024 at 23:08, sidcow said:

Managed to get my lad a Terrace View ticket for £90.  At least he won't kill me. 

Could only get the one for some reason. 

Now I've got to decide if I buy myself a lower Ground for £120 or just not go. 

****, I'm so bloody angry with myself. 

In a couple of years you'll look back, misty-eyed, to the time when you could go down the Villa for only 90 quid

5th story down even on the football only content page, behind a couple of articles each on West Ham and Liverpool.

Incredible. You'd think they'd want to embrace the one positive English outcome amongst all the other disappointments.

3 hours ago, PeterSw said:

IF we do move, I wonder if Villa Park would be renovated into apartments etc. like Highbury was.

 

The East and West Stands at Highbury are Grade II listed buildings (designed by a Brummie, no less).

The only stand left with any architectural merit is The Holte, which in itself is a mock version of the old Trinity, so not really worth preserving anyway.

There's no logical reason to move anyway so I'm not sure why this is still a topic of discussion.

Didn't have to be like this. City have shown enough vulnerability tonight for us to have made a decent fight of it. Too many changes

12 minutes ago, villan95 said:

Beat us in the play off final which led to NSWE taking over.

Got Gerrard sacked.

Have lost to us all 3 times under Unai.

Beat Man Utd and Spurs this season.

Gotta love Fulham.

 

Our Guardian Angel

3 hours ago, Tom13 said:

He didn't lose the ball. He didn't have it under control and it was played to the side of him, not to him.

Whilst it wasn't a great ball from Konsa, if that had been Luiz then I don't think we'd be talking about having conceded from the incident. Tielemans is static whenever he receives the ball rather than playing on the half turn. Not pinning it entirely on him but he certainly could've done better.

7 minutes ago, Jas10 said:

 

Exactly. It came just after he'd busted a gut to lay on, what looked like, a great chance for Zaniolo at the near post. Didn't get to see a re-run of it as the red card took all the air time afterwards. But you can understand his frustration. I thought he was our best player today. The double bum-roll being the highlight of his performance.

Lots of talk in the media of this being a high scoring game between two sides that employ a high line but I'm wondering if we won't see a more cautious approach from Unai. 

On Thursday we probably witnessed us play more long balls in 90mins than in all the time since Emery arrived. Was this a blueprint for tomorrow?

I think it could be a 1-0 Villa with a return to a miserly defence just when we least expect it, just as was the case against City and Arsenal.

The argument for him to start over Digne has been based on his attacking contribution, but that's not been up to the same standard of last season since his return. Defensively, he's a liability. Man goes past him and he often elects to push him with both hands. Thought Digne would start today after the Forest match. Has to start v Spurs

3 minutes ago, JAMAICAN-VILLAN said:

Man U losing

Anyone got a Gary Neville gif?

Disagree with Emery when he said we controlled the transition. I thought that was where we were at our most vulnerable. 17 shots from them seems evidence enough that we got caught time and again.

Also, is it me or has the meticulous line drawing for offsides suddenly disappeared? I thought there was a chance their winner might be chalked off when the ball was played through to Mainoo (I think) who then knocked it back for Dalot to cross. 

During yesterday's Arsenal v Liverpool game, Neville referred to Alisson as being the 'best keeper in the league'. I thought...'hold on a second there, Gary. I think you've forgotten there's a current World Cup winner and holder of the Yashin Trophy playing in this league who also happens to be playing out of his skin at the moment'

Even when we're in the top 4 our players aren't afforded the recognition they deserve. He's imperious at this current time. 

7 minutes ago, Dillon66 said:

If you think Newcastle's tactics were 'anti football' you probably need to start watching another sport......they were excellent tonight and had us figured out from the kick off.

Couldn't agree more. Someone else compared then to Sheff Utd as well! Who, for what it's worth, will bully us off the pitch if we play like that on Saturday. 

1 minute ago, Brumstopdogs said:

From the first minute it didn't feel like we were at it and the balance of the team didn't feel right and was a poor performance and we deserved to lose.

Diaby needs to be taken out of the team as he is woefully off form and Bailey surely must start.

Would also prefer Ramsey over Tielemans in the next match.

Plenty for Unai to sort out. UTV!

Thought Ramsey was anonymous after coming on, to be fair, but was worth bringing on to try and shake things up. Zaniolo was woeful. Either lost the ball whenever it was passed to him or gave away idiotic fouls to help them see out the game. Bailey looked like he was on another planet to the rest when he came on.

On 14/01/2024 at 20:20, rodders0223 said:

Probably off to Southampton again or a team of that ilk.

My gut says Luton

Some have described Everton's tactics as low-block, but that wasn't how they played. The periods they had every man behind the ball were when we pushing them back with our possession play. 

We had plenty of space to attack them and did so on numerous occasions through Moreno on the left. They actually played into our hands by trying to press us but not doing it well enough which enabled us to play through them and spark the kind of attacks we were accustomed to seeing a month or so ago. McGinn was off it today but it largely broke down up front with all 3 nowhere near sharp enough. Hard to be too tough on Bailey as he's been in such sparkling form of late so he was due a bad one. Ollie's touch wasn't good enough on a number of occasions and Diaby put in another insipid showing, his lack of confidence highlighted in the move when he was put through down the middle but checked back. 

As for the disallowed goal. Was it clearly offside? Clearly not, as it wouldn't have taken 4 mins to decide. They drew a line which was their ultimate response but you couldn't even see the player making the pass in the frame they used. So how could we tell if that was the right moment to freeze it? Very unsatisfactory to say the least. The fact they show them looking pretty clueless as to what or where the infringement took place only further underlines how confused the whole process is.

2 minutes ago, claretman said:

You know Smith is a Villa fan?  His problem is he tries too hard to overcompensate. 

Pretty sure he grew up as a bluenose

We were uncharacteristically sloppy in possession from the beginning. The real surprise was that we actually went 2 up and managed not to concede by half time. At no point were we ever controlling the play. This was most evident after scoring the second goal and Utd had the crowd on their backs yet twice in quick succession they had opportunities straight down the middle through a gaping hole in our defence. 

Konsa was visibly exhausted which got me thinking on the relative demands of playing centre-back to right-back. It's like switching from being a 400m runner to a 100m sprinter these days. We're in danger of burning him out if he continues to switch from one to the other. And as good as he is, he offers very little in the attacking areas of the pitch. The restoration of Cash, for all his faults, will be to the benefit of the right-hand side and the centre of defence.

As much as I like and admire our willingness to play out from the back under pressure there has to be an acceptance that it is not the ONLY way to move the ball out of defence. If you have had control of the ball for the majority of the game it's a simpler task than if you've been run ragged and are mentally and physically tired. It was a frustrating sight watching us persisting with this tactic boxed in our own corners with the clock ticking down. My only explanation as to why this was the case is that to achieve the radical turnaround in style that Emery has in such a short space of time is that you have to be absolutist in the implementation of your demands. In doing so you eliminate any free thinking that could see us switch it up when required. Our lack of urgency to get the ball forward and in the opposition's face more when we are looking to save a game or grab a late winner is frustrating for us fans to witness. That said, I'm sure Unai would argue that applying patience and eliminating the emotion will reap more rewards than not. Personally, I'd like to see a shift to being a bit more direct when we are looking for a late reprieve.

Couple of relatively minor things that wound me up the other night at Villa Park, after my first visit for a while. 

From where I was sitting I wasn't sure who'd scored for Sheffield Utd, of course my assumption was that it would be Archer, but nevertheless would've have appreciated some confirmation. I was amazed that none was forthcoming. Is this now standard when the opposition score? If so, how petty.

And what's the deal with not announcing the attendance? It seems that they don't even release it to the media. Weird.

Oh, and one other thing. As the teams scrolled across the scoreboard at the beginning of the match they'd spelt Konsa wrong! It appeared as Konza ffs

My Arsenal supporting mate reckons they'll be quite cautious and go with Jorghino rather than Havertz in the middle. If so I can see us forcing mistakes from him if we're on it like we were on Wednesday.