AV82

Before I get too anxious my eyes are firmly on the bench. We had no-one other than Bailey who's fit, confident or settled enough to come on and change the game. Both in terms of quality or player profile. Credit to Newcastle, they did a brilliant job nullifying our play last night and I don't think we had any real way to change it. No adequate replacements for Moreno, Cash or Lenglet. No attacking, dynamic players (other than Bailey) to change our shape or our approach to the game. Could we have played better? Sure, I guess, but I do not trust Lenglet at all, Moreno and Cash look shaky, I'm not sold on Tielemans in that position (at specific times against specific opponents), Diaby did more damage than good and other than Bailey we had no-one to confidently bring on to change our approach. At HT he could've changed things around and got Bailey on the pitch a bit sooner but would that really have changed the course of game? Even when Leon did come on Howe reacted and put Livramento on him and that was essentially all of the aces up our sleeve spent. Of course I'd like to see a response after time on the training field but we've all been saying that for weeks now and unless our injured players come back soon (Pau, Buendia), others sharpen up (Ramsey, Moreno) and the guys like Zaniolo and Diaby suddenly settle in I can see our disjointed performances continuing. We have a game plan. A risky one. One that requires the right pool of players and our already exhausted group is now as depleted as it gets.

This is what I'm starting to find difficult about criticising player performance. When we don't have an insight into player instructions it can be unfair to go in on them for 'playing poorly'. It could be said that Cash isn't the reason we're playing poorly nor is he the reason he's playing poorly but on the other hand the player could also not be executing the manager's plan.. and Emery sure does cut a furious figure on the sideline at times which says a lot. F*** knows.

A corner and a deflection. Let the meltdown commence.

It's a right shame that FFP encourages you to sell your youth products. Ramsey epitomises the profile of player we should be keeping so I hope we tell anyone and everyone to f*** right off.

While his build up play isn't particularly inspiring I'd be looking at the lads behind him before criticising his stats of late.

It's really hard to pin down why it isn't clicking at the moment. I thought McGinn was poor, when our backs are against the wall we really need his hustle. Safe to say we're sorely missing Pau's ability to break the lines and give our midfielders a chance to receive the ball, turn and run at the opponents which in turn is cutting off the supply to our forwards and might be why Diaby and Watkins seem off the pace. Hopefully we can work this out quickly as being so reliant on one player is a risk.

I'd rather that than spunking 90m on Antony. We can draw comparisons all day.

Is there any evidence pointing toward him simply not settling well in England/Midlands? That could've been his banana skin.

Are we talking about the same ultra-focused, detail obsessed Unai Emery? There is not a chance on earth he'd sign a player on a whim imo.

Both.

Social media is a cesspit of vitriol. I'd be more surprised if he wasn't being abused on a daily basis.

It's ok to separate the ability from the mentality. His behaviour on the pitch can be concerning and unfortunately that type of attitude does trend towards players not making it. If anyone knows how to handle this situation it'll be Emery and we'll know more in about 2 weeks time.

If he was quicker he'd be back at Barcelona. What a player to have as backup.

It shows that he's not smart enough to be the covering defender that plays in a high line. He absolutely needs to be composed and cover Lenglet as much as possible... and then decides to dash forward into the opponents half in a sloppy attempt to cut out the ball. That's disastrously poor decision making and very nearly cost us the match.

Lucky to be walking after that horror tackle. Yet another baffling refereeing decision.

I'd much rather have Cash playing (Konsa at CB) than this guy.

I also like that he was ruffling feathers without looking too invested himself. Calm and collected.

Played two(?) brilliant passes into the box but it wasn’t capitalised on by our misfiring front line. I hope he sharpens up quick and doesn’t miss another minute for the rest of the season. Critical, and just what we’ve been missing these past few weeks.

We’re desperately missing JJ/Youri/Buendia in between the lines, evidently as Tielemans made a big difference once he came on. On top of that we need much, much more from Watkins and Diaby.

I partially agree with you but he’s a top assister in the league so you’re being harsh.

Watkins FFS..

I see it. I still hate it.

Utter shit. I'd be completely bewildered if that even gets close to being the real, final Villa badge. There is no conceivable way this is not a prank.

At least it's nice to see VT united for once.

Ding ding ding. We have a winner. I'm a graphic designer and cannot wrap my head around what the club have produced. Amateurish beyond belief.