juanpablosaliceband

This co-commentator is an idiot. You can’t rely on VAR if the whistle has already gone and denied a goal.

Well this takes the biscuit. In what world could our XG be less than 4 today. We should have had 6 or 7. If I needed an excuse not to look at XG, here it is.

Traore?

We are almost as close to 3rd place as we are to Chelsea.

Absolutely over the moon for Bertie.

That right there is why VAR is a good idea.

It really is such a wasted opportunity having Bailey in our attack.

I would go with a back 5 again a la spurs and Chelsea. Choke the game and sneak a winner.

I don’t think our owners would let Emery leave for any money. And he wouldn’t kick up a fuss if he even wanted the job. No chance of him going to Chelsea I say.

I think we are going to be a lot closer to qualifying for the champions league next season than most people will expect.

His left leg is in a boot.

Thanks. Disappointing but a good day out. At least we got a few cheers.

I was at the game today. I don’t make many because I live far away. You see things differently when at the game and a few things struck me. Martinez is way over used in open play in my opinion. Not only in playing out from the back but I was surprised how often we worked the ball back to our goalkeeper from advanced positions in the field. Furthermore, I don’t rate Emi particularly highly with this role. He’s not terrible but his distribution isn’t brilliant. Same for Konsa and Mings. Too much of our play seems to revolve around triangles between Emi, Mings and Konsa. I thought Ben White was very impressive and superb on the ball. Villa Park is an amazing place. And you can sense the hunger of the crowd for success. My overriding feeling is positivity in spite of today’s disappointment. It feels like Martin O’Neill’s first season to me. We have a leaner squad primed for reinforcements and you can tell improvement is coming. Or we can hope at least. On a side note, I thought Douglas Luiz was a joy to watch. As was Kamara. I also thought Coutinho played well.

Just saw that Gary Cotterrill on Sky Sports trying to get the Everton owner and chairman to sack Frank Lampard in front of the cameras. Absolute low life. These guys have no respect for anyone.

Do you think they were hard done by though? I thought all the big decisions were right on both sides, although many were close calls. And we had the better of the play overall.

Sell and take the 15 million. He’s 31 in July. I don’t see us getting the chance again to make good money from him. There are some big clubs in a relegation scrap at the moment. They’re desperate and panicked. They’re likely to be less desperate in the summer. He has a decent goals per minutes ratio for us but we’ve used him sparingly. And he offers little from open play. He was terrible against Leeds for example. His legs are totally gone. Add the money to the summer kitty or better yet, spend it now.

Yeah we have no presence up front without him and struggle to get territory in the final third. He’s not perfect but for now he’s still very important for us.

Loved that win. Leeds are always horrible to play against. They’re like the boxer that comes out swinging. We stood up to them well but struggled to get any control in a chaotic game. We rode our luck at times but got our goals at the right moments. We could easily have been 3-0 up with some better finishing so I’m not having any of the unlucky Leeds talk. I think our defence and midfield could now be quite solid but we do struggle in the final third. Bailey and Ings were frustrating to watch in the second half. They struggled to hold up the ball and relieve pressure at key times. Unreal win. 13 points from 6 games is champions league form. We will have more comfortable games ahead where we can impose our style on the game.

I wouldn’t say it was undeserved. We led for almost the entire game and ultimately kept Leeds out when it mattered. We could have been 3-0 up with better finishing. It was far from a fluke.

Absolutely. Digne was a horrendous signing. Possibly our worst of the lot considering his performances, age, resale value, wages, etc. He’s looked like a major defensive liability this season. Being subbed for Augustinsson in the Wolves game spoke volumes. Hopefully Moreno alongside Carlos coming back will strengthen us nicely.

No offence to Lange because it’s not all his fault but this feels like a good place to vent after today’s game. I thinks it’s actually underestimated how disastrous our recruitment has really been. All of these players have fallen short of what I would have expected when we signed them, some by a huge margin: Trez, Wesley, Bailey, Buendia, Coutinho, Digne, Nakamba, Sanson, Olsen, Samatta, Engels, Traore, Jota, Ings (not used properly in his defence). I think we have spent over £230m on these alone. Our better signings have probably been Kamara, Martinez, Cash, Watkins, Konsa, Mings, Luiz, Targett. And many of those have had their critics. Martinez and Kamara are probably our only two knock out signings. Our flop rate is far too high. I can’t believe we need to spend again on another left back.

I think this is a terrible take. Sanson has hardly been given any games to p*** away. He’s been as good as and better than the likes of Dendoncker, Buendia, Bailey and Coutinho tonight, all of whom have actually been given plenty of games to p*** away. I’d rather give an expensive player a proper chance against a good side in our true first 11 in the league than just discard them for a youth player.

Sanson terrible? This has to be some sort of joke. He got on tonnes of ball and mostly used it well. He made some good runs in behind and constantly made himself available for the ball. Scored a goal obviously. If I had a criticism, it would be that he was a bit soft in the 50/50 challenges but I thought he was excellent for a player who has had no game time.

We played the game like a friendly and ultimately got caught out. Crazily casual from Dendoncker, which summed up the attitude on the day. At 1-1 and 10 men, you’d take a replay which you’d expect to win, so no major problem in the long term. But up steps Buendia, when some calm and composure is needed, to give the ball back to Stevenage TWICE WITHIN 30 SECONDS of the restart, leading to a corner to Stevenage. Ollie Watkins decides now is a nice time to go for a slow casual jog for his warm down. Thinking the game is already over, Olsen has removed his contact lenses so unfortunately can’t see the ball at it goes through his body. I wouldn’t give appearances to Chambers and Bednarek in games where we have any remote interest in the result. Hause was a much more solid option. Olsen can’t be relied upon either. Bailey is a calamity. Buendia would be the first out the door for me. He just loses the ball too much and has too many weaknesses. I think the championship is his level. Doubt we will have many buyers. Sanson my MOTM.