Grunthos

Uneasiness from the Old Trafford crowd... they can see we're playing even or better right now.

Well, if we make Young-Milner-Downing our standard (and we should on the available evidence), then we're going to need a different d-mid than Petrov. Petrov works great in the 4-5-1, but he hasn't the pace or the balance to be the sole holder behind this trio.

Of course! Manchester United are legally immune to dropping three points at home.

Oh, that's fair, then.

This triple threat midfield Young-Milner-Downing is growing on me very quickly.

WTF? This is Old Trafford. In what fantasy world do you expect that Man U aren't going to threaten the whole match? So far it's a very good performance from our lads, we're creating chances for ourselves and not making mistakes at the back.

You know one of the things I like best about our Villa squad? We don't have any of these ********* prima donna ******** who have to yell at the ref every three seconds and can't admit they've ever committed a foul.

Brilliant play by Rooney. Pity he's such a word removed. Oh, and thank you, Mr. Crossbar.

Argh, argh, argh. Should have had that one.

Now, there's a proper booking. Pity the color man can't handle the fact that it was completely justified. But that's a Man U broadcast for you.

Ag-bon-la-hor... Ag-bon-la-hor... Ag-bon-la-hooooaaar.

YESSSSSSS!

Well, it's official, I think. Our defensive half has reached Champions League quality. Most teams would have conceded a threatening shot or three already against that kind of ball movement. Now, our attacking half, OTOH...

Pretty much a clinic on bad defending from Notlob, start to finish.

Carlos!!!

There's one of the easiest penalty calls Clattenburg will ever make. IN... after three tries!

THAT is why diving is such a curse upon the game. How many goals do forwards give up every week by flopping in the box at the first hint of contact, rather than fighting through and finishing their chances? Quality, entertaining goals, too. Ash needs to be shown a running loop of that goal every day for several months, until he learns to play an honest game.

Bilyatdinov definitely deserved that red. I'm not sure why anyone would think that was just a yellow. Deliberately lifted his studs and brought them straight onto Petrov's ankle. Cullar's second yellow was dodgy, but at this point the ref, having bolloxed things up, doesn't have much choice but to clamp down over-zealously.

Angry? If you mean to suggest that I am, well, you're as off target as you were in the first post. I find your perspective increasingly completely divorced from reality, but that's hardly exercising. Slagging me off for being unconstructive is even further removed from sense, but we needn't get into a tit-for-tat battle on anything. If you are the one who is angry that others have a different opinion, well, I'm sorry, but I don't believe I can help you. Although I would suggest sitting down with a video of the '82 final and a pint of your favorite, since the current squad isn't doing it for you.

Ask your doctor if Zoloft is right for you.

Seriously? I'm not on here to attack Heskey - I think people were way to quick to savage him when he arrived - but I simply didn't see this. At all. His touch was poor, he wasn't in the right position to receive balls... Carew wasn't very useful in this match, but Heskey was still a downgrade.

Yes, this was a good measuring stick. We've managed to avoid going backwards after losing Barry and Laursen, but the consistent quality just isn't there in the attacking half. Friedel 7 Very solid as usual, not at fault on the goal. Cuellar 6.5 About as good as we can hope for from him as a RB, strong defensively, didn't kill us badly with his passes. Dunne 7.5 Would have been a 9, but he got out of sync when they made their scoring move. Collins 7 See Dunne. Warnock 8 Didn't put a foot wrong that I could see. Excellent tackling and energy, good movement out of the back, corners well taken. Petrov 6.5 Made some good plays, but was inconsistent. Sidwell 5 Energetic, yes. Effective, not so much. Milner 6 Mostly anonymous. His lack of pace stood out in a game full of track stars. Young 7.5(defense)/5(offense) A split rating to try and capture his game... did everything you could ask of an offensive winger in his own end, did almost nothing you could ask of an offensive winger in the attacking end. Carew 6 Tried to catch the muse, but wasn't quite there. Agbonlahor 7 Always tantalizingly close to being a game-breaker, never quite showing that extra bit of class to get it done. Heskey 4 Useless. Reo-Coker nr Showed his usual energy, but the game was degenerating into a draw by the time he arrived.

First opportunity I've had to see the Villa on a full screen this season. Warnock, Dunne, Collins are a wonderful surprise package together, very happy with the defense overall. Still think the midfield could do better, but can't fault the work rate. It will take me a while to get the bad taste of that dive by Young out of my mouth, though. It's one thing to flop on a light touch, it's quite another to give up on an open scoring opportunity in the box so you can try to deceive the ref.

Not if he keeps picking up injuries by mugging opponents, getting his legs tangled with them, and tearing up his ankles when they fall on him.

Obviously an excellent effort by the team. Lots of energy, great teamwork. Some thoughts on what was addressed this evening: “Carlos Cuellar is shite” Well, no. You can’t seriously make this claim. The man is an excellent, excellent 1v1 defender. He has the strength and pace to cope with any forward at this level. “Carlos Cuellar should be a regular starter for us long-term” I can’t agree with this end, either. His passing is abysmal. Highly competent when the play is clear and the ball is in front of him, he too often fails when he is asked to defend in a scramble. An excellent #3 center back, but not a first XI guy where we’re trying to go. “Brad Friedel ought to be replaced by Guzan sooner rather than later” Um, no. Reports of Friedel’s demise are greatly exaggerated. “We should play 4-5-1 regularly” At least when we’re talking about the 4-5-1 we saw tonight, no. This was an excellent call for this type of game, against a classier opponent on the road. We saw some really impressive defensive midfield play, with NRC, Petrov, and Sidwell covering for each other in an energetic dance that may not be considered the beautiful game, but certainly brought its own charm. But… those same three players are too erratic in the offensive half to allow us to play this way all the time. This was a 1-1 game, but we got the benefit of an OG and a stupid, stupid tackle by Gerrard in the box. Aside from that relative good fortune, we just weren’t any kind of serious threat in the attacking third for most of the match. “Vindication for Martin O’Neill” Not quite. The team he has assembled so far has a limited ceiling. Most every player we fielded tonight has some significant flaw that holds them back from consistent success. Petrov doesn’t have enough pace in transition to dictate play as a Gerrard, Fabregas, or Lampard can. Sidwell’s inconsistency has been remarked upon elsewhere. Agbonlahor never has developed truly top-flight technique. NRC’s enthusiasm remains a double-edged sword. Cuellar I discussed above. The team still lacks elements of class that are needed if we want to enjoy this kind of result on a week in, week out basis. “Liverpool are a bunch of precious prima donnas with no shame” Absolutely spot on. Couldn’t agree more.