PompeyVillan

It is totally unfair if it is not applied consistently and pointless if the VAR referee's unwilling to overrule a bad decision. It's appalling at the moment, and will only improve when the league figure out that this half way house approach to VAR will never work. Check everything, all the time, or barely intervene.

Played Spurs perfectly, it was probably the only way they were going to beat Spurs and they did it. Bruce is a half decent reactive manager, and is capable of nullifying opponents strengths. I was particularly impressed with how we played against Wolves two seasons ago. It will be interesting because Benitez played exactly the same sort of football as that and got lauded as a hero by the Newcastle fans. It's shocking to watch and it'll only get you so far with it. I also think it is risky because if you do happen to concede early in a game you're not prepared to go on and win the game. I can see Newcastle being better away from home this season.

Wolves hitting a few roadblocks. They're finding out that the Europa League is domestic league curse and I think suffering from a bit of second season syndrome. They seem to struggle against bottom 10 opponents, who play a more physical game and don't allow them the space to counter them. They're outstanding at playing counter attacking football against strong opponents. I've read Wolves fans saying Neves needs a pure destroyer next to him because he isn't physical enough. Nuno Espirito Santo is a manager that seems to value the synergy that playing a consistent 11 brings, and is reluctant to change that dynamic. If they have a decent run in the Europa League and/or a domestic cup their domestic form could be quite interesting. They're an interesting club, some of their fans have got wildly carried away with their relative success so it will be interesting to see what happens if they don't match what they did last season.

Credit to VP tonight as well. I wasn't there, but the atmosphere deemed great. I really feel that VP need to be packed and behind the team this season, and I think it will be. Having been there over the crap years, you can sense when things aren't right. Carragher just said he can see Villa Park having a hostile atmosphere this season. That's what we want! For too long VP has been an easy place to play. Last season VP was excellent to be fair, bit we tended to win alot more than we lost. I really believe that home advantage is mostly down to vociferous home support. Let's continue to give our lads that advantage, from what I've seen so far they really deserves it.

Is that Boris Johnson on the right, the blonde coqoque?

The thing with Labour and anti-Semitism is that Labour like to hold themselves to higher standards than their main rivals. They claim to be the party of anti racism so any level of racism in the party is embarrassing hypocrisy. It undermines their message on pretty much everything else. Because if the anti racist party cant be trusted to deal with racists, then what can you trust them with? The Tories are borderline racist, but they don't pretend to be the party of anti racism. In fact they revel in being a little bit racist. UKIP or the Brexit party vet their members to ensure they have problematic attitudes to anyone they consider 'others' before they join. So yeh, if a Tory/UKIP/Brexit party person (they're one and the same) says something a bit racist then it's naughty, but it's not entirely unexpected is it? So it doesn't undermine their message on other issues. They're also quite clever with their problematic views, they wrap up their idealogy in the union jack and 'working class values' to justify it. Plenty of people like that sort of thing. Because of this they can be 'tough' on things. Tough on crime, tough on the deficit, tough on benefit cheats, tough on illegal immigrants and the backstop and Merkel. Or whatever. When this spills over into hateful twitter messages then its easy, blame the individual not the idealogy. Ban them, distance yourself and bobs your uncle continue to be 'tough' on the snowflakes. When a Labour person is racist, then that's it, it shows how ridiculous the whole house is. And it is, it shouldn't be particularly difficult to ensure you don't get a reputation as being anti semetic, should it?

NO JACK GREALISH IS BETTER THAN A BAD JACK GREALISH!!?!

I think you misunderstand. I dislike the implementation of VAR, not the concept. How can anyone dislike a replay? I agree, VAR can help correct decisions that are incorrect. At the moment we have VAR ruling on some game changing incidents and not on others. There is high sensitivity to error on some issues and not others. It's a mess.

As in don't 'review it' unless someone is two foot offside and the linesman doesn't flag. You probably wouldn't need to actually review it because it is such a clear error that everyone in the stadium can see that it is a mistake. To me that would be a clear and obvious error. I can't understand how being mms offside is 1) a clear and obvious error or 2) gives an attacker a significant advantage. Linesmen have a pretty good success rate, to me an acceptable margin of human error. As you can tell, I am not a fan at all of VAR. I'd rather have refs make poor calls than see some things reviewed and not others.

I think the implementation is rubbish. If it is there to only correct clangers then why use it for razor edge offside decisions? They'd be better off saying "VAR is there to correct any obvious wrong decision or one missed but the referee and won't intervene in any decision that is open to interpretation or an acceptable margin of human error (IE narrow offsides or not seeing a ball brush an arm)". For example, it should be used if the ref books the wrong player or for an incident that the referee doesn't see. Everything else just leave the same, including offsides and penalties because it's tedious having this ridiculous check to only then back a potentially incorrect decision. Then rule out a goal because it has brushed an attackers arm. Or allow Billing to stay on the pitch when quite obviously he should have been sent off. I hate it, either check absolutely everything that could impact the game or don't.

I've just watched the extended highlights from the official YouTube account. We dominated that game and the chances we created were better than I thought they were live. Grealish should have scored a heade and he had a shot just wide, Trezeguet had a chance he should have burried. A better player would have scored the chance Taylor had. We had a few efforts from range, but we didn't get the benefit of a fortuitous deflection like Bournemouth did or Spurs last week. Of course, we have ourselves to blame for missing those chances. However I would be much more worried if we didn't create anything. We played alright and we can better. Oh and Douglas's goal was a peach.

I was saying to my mates after the game, how good he is with both feet and this heat map bears my point out. There was a moment in the second half where he picked the ball up in midfield and had an option to the left, but it wasn't an easy angle. He shifted the ball onto his left foot and stroked it to El Ghazi, he even bent it around an opponent. It wasn't an obvious stand out moment really, but it stood out to me. It looked like a pretty standard pass, but so many players would not have had the technique to pull it off, or even attempt it on their weaker foot. As we saw for his goal, his right foot is pretty good too. So exciting to have such a gifted player to see develop. I'm confident that within a few months we won't consider a starting 11 without him.

I can't see this happening. Grealish has played wide for us before (under Bruce though mind) and it didn't suit him. However I see him be able to do a job there, although it isn't his best position. I think you probably lose more than you gain. I don't think the midfield blend is a problem so far, so I don't see why that dynamic needs to change. It's strange for us to have options in midfield, but we don't know much about Nakamba or Douglas, I'm sure we'll get to know them as the season progresses.

Ahead of Douglas? It's interesting because if Nakamba is getting in the team then that probably means Douglas on the bench. Or, it won't be popular, either Grealish or McGinn lose their place, Douglas plays further forward and Nakamba plays deeper. I don't imagine Nakamba will play anywhere but in the deeper defensive position based on what I know about him.

We queued for ages in the upper Trinity for a drink too. They would make so much more money if there was quicker service. The staff were pretty slow, but there didn't seem to be enough of them. Like yourself, if this doesn't improve I'll go elsewhere. The Purity Pale was nice though.

Quite a surprising mistake from an experienced 'keeper. "Villa Analytics" on twitter wrote when we signed him that over the past few years he has reduced the amount that he rushes out of goal to make clearances or tackles. Based on his decision making yesterday I can see why. It was totally unnecessary. I'm expecting better to be honest, I'm sure he will be also.

It was clear how genuinely gutted the players were when they walked off at full time. The fans clapped them off and rightly so. That seems important to me. Losing should be devastating, and I think it will spur us on for the game against Everton.The attitude of this group seems good, it's early days of course and if we lose against Everton you might expect a few heads to drop. I think Smith will have a long hard thing about a few things over the next week: *How do we cut out the mistakes. *Full back selection * How to get more from El Ghazi, Trezeguet and Wesley. Ultimately, I think we were a bit unlucky. As much as the current thinking is "If you make a mistake you will get punished in the Premier League", the second goal was deflected, and Bournemouth barely worried us apart from their two goals. Their midfielder Billing could have been sent off too. We didn't get the rub of the green against Spurs, but we can't have too many complaints about that result. Everton game will be have a different dynamic, providing we don't go two nil down so early on. Bournemouth gave up playing after 10 minutes and wasted time and dived all over the place for the remaining 80. Honestly, I thought their performance was embarrassing, if I were a fan of Bournemouth I'd be delighted with the result but dissapointed in the manner of the victory. Eddie Howe isn't quite the purist he is made out to be. We're very much a 'work in progress 'and we're learning a lot as we go on. But we need to learn quickly and hope we won't be punished every time we make a mistake. It's going to be a rocky season. We need to stay with the team and pack out VP each game and support this lot all the way.

I tend to agree with this. It isn't a criticism of Taylor or Elmo, just an acceptance of their limitations. Taylor is the better defender and Elmo is the better crosser. Actually Elmo has a decent delivery on him, Taylor however offers so little going forward. Even when they do come forward and support, Taylor and Elmo are predicable, they make the same runs. Which then makes our wingers easier to play against because we limit our attacking options. With a bit more variety in attack and hopefully more quality going forward, we may be able to cause teams more problem. I think it's one of the nuances of the Premier League, in the Championship you can get away with so-so, solid full backs. In the Premier League, there's so little space to play in the full backs play a key role in supporting attacks. That said, I thought Elmo did alright yesterday, it's Taylor I have more of a problem with. Like you say, the full backs are important to service Wesley, who will be outnumbered most of the time. I thought Wesley was okay, he worked hard, but he didn't really have that much of an impact.

People that go in to the 'exit' door to the toilets in the Trinity Upper. It doesn't help that the toilets are badly designed. But anyway, come on, your need for a widdle isn't any bigger than anyone elses. Wait like everyone else.

He obviously has a huge amount of potential. His mistake for the goal is something he can learn from, he was obviously trying a bit too hard. It took him a while to grow into the game, but I thought he was impeccable second half. He had a metronomic passing style in general, but has good range. What a strike for the goal. I liked his composure on the ball, his confidence and his celebration. He'll get better.

There's never a bad time to send a private portrait. In fact, these days it's an expected part of the courting process, perhaps this is why the second date wasn't forthcoming? Is this the new DHUTWU?

Anyone speak Portuguese and want to tell us what his Instagram stories are all about? It looks like he's been chosen for some sort of award in Brazil. Or that he has been nominated for an award along with a few other Brazilian players, all look quite young. Edit: looks like he's been called up for the under 23s I think. As an aside, I've noticed that's he's actually quite small.

Morrisons self service tills. "Surprising item in the bagging area". What's so feckin surprising about my shopping? Are you judging me? Oh god, here comes the teenage shop assistant who smells strongly of cheap aftershave, what is he going think about my choice of groceries? Is he going to judge me as well. I'm sure he looked at me with a funny expression. I need to get out of here. Help! No, I don't have a Morrisons More card. Gaaaaahhhh. Take my money, all of it. Here have a tenner, ah crap it's all crumpled. What do I do? It won't go in. Ah no the teenage shop assistant is coming over again. He must think I'm really stupid. Thank god, give me the change. Yes I do want a receipt, when I'm getting home I'm instigating a root and branch review of my groceries and shopping policy. Back to Lidl, and the shame of having to use a bagging area with the other plebs. I refuse to pay 5p for a bag, so I'll have to pinch the little box that the baked beans are stored in. Oh the shame.

I'm not sold on this theory, but I think he's a 9 and a half target man. I've not seen enough of him to say for sure, but I don't think he always takes up typical target man positions and likes to drop deeper and get more involved in play than a typical target man. I've said this before, but he reminds me a bit of Giroud at Arsenal. Powerful guy that uses his strength to drop deep and play tidy first time passes to allow his teammates into the space he creates by dragging defenders out of position. Because he's powerful I get the sense that center backs will want to follow him when he wanders to try to pressure him when he receives the ball. I think we've bought him because he can hold up the ball, of course, but I also think he's seen as someone that can join in and facilitate some tidy counter passing moves and counter attacks. We'll see, like I said, I don't think I've figured him out just yet. I'm happy to accept him as a pure target man, but I'm hoping that he's a bit special with it.

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