juanpablosaliceband

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.

I would normally agree but that team was more than strong enough to beat Stevenage. The main problem was that we played the game like a friendly.

Twice within 30 seconds of the penalty. Just when we needed some composure to see out the game for at least a replay, he somehow manages to give the ball away twice within 30 seconds of the restart. I’ve had enough of looking at him give the ball away. He has to be out on his own on stats for losing possession. It’s infuriating.

I noticed that. What the hell was he doing? Walking around in an offside position with his head down when we were pushing for a winner.

I think we need to stick with him. Just a few games ago he was starting to look quite good. He has lots of ability but he looks like a player who hasn’t been properly coached. He makes the wrong decision so often. Maybe Emery and co can help him improve. He is so lightweight though that he can’t rely on his body to get himself out of trouble. If his touch or run isn’t perfect or he runs into traffic, he just gets swept aside. He’s 25 so I don’t know how much more he can bulk up. But I think we need to keep the faith with him. We don’t exactly have many better options.

Not a bad result all things considered. It had a feeling of one of those nights so rescuing a point, and almost three, from that is not terrible. Awful first half. Better second half but overall we need to be better. Cash and Young looked the wrong choice down the right. Digne and Buendia on the left really struggled. Digne being subbed is quite telling. It’s rare you see a full back subbed for another full back. I thought Mings and Konsa were fine. I gave Konsa MOTM. There was a noticeable return of the Mings to Watkins long ball as we struggled to make any progress through the midfield or the wings. We really need to start getting our signings right. Digne looks like a major flop. Buendia is not showing enough and continues to give the ball away carelessly. Bailey looks poor. We rarely even use Ings although his goals per minutes ratio is actually quite good. That’s on top of a stockpile of additional poor signings. And most of our signings are worryingly slow. It’s a serious problem. We can’t afford to keep wasting money and expect to improve.

Rightly booed off. The lack of effort is just not good enough. Villa has been an easy street for players for too long. The players need to put in maximum effort every game. Not every second game or three out of every five. Every game. Most of them are just going through the motions.

Cash and Young just looks wrong.

Madness that he doesn’t warrant a starting place. Utter madness.

He wasn’t at his best today but some major overreactions here. I still thought he showed good enthusiasm to try to get on the ball, particularly early on. He’s been consistently good for quite some time. Accusing him of not caring is extremely unfair. He generally goes crazy whenever we score. He even celebrated like crazy during one of the games when it looked like he was going to Arsenal. He stayed out on the pitch and sang songs with the fans after we beat Man United recently. He was literally chanting “Villa” as he walked off the pitch into the tunnel. He’s Brazilian. What more do people want.

We need to see more from him in the new year. He was in and out of the team at first but he’s had plenty of game time now and he’s really starting to look like bad value for money. He’s slow, small, relatively weak, his passing is often wayward, he makes poor decisions and doesn’t score many. Feels like we’ve wasted an opportunity with the Buendia and Coutinho signings.

What a player and I suspect he is only getting started. He’s so strong on the ball that it’s reassuring when he gets it. And some of his lay offs, flicks and back heels were almost Zidane esque. So good at finding a five yard pass in a really difficult situation.

Sign more player of Kamara’s standard. Otherwise, don’t bother signing anyone. One or more two players of that standard in key positions would improve us hugely. Having said that, it would be nice to have a better back up than Olsen.

No. We are losing aren’t we?

Agreed. Very poor sportsmanship. A lot at stake so it happens but definitely not something to be celebrated. Delighted for him though.

Brazil Ronaldo. He could have retired at the age of 21 and been remembered as one of the three greatest players of all time. Easily the best player I’ve ever seen and I just don’t see how Pele could have been as good. He could do everything I’ve seen any other player do and more. He was the true once in a lifetime talent.

Xavi.

We don’t need to throw the baby out with the bath water. Martinez, Cash, Digne, Carlos, Kamara, Luiz, Ramsey, Bailey and Buendia is a decent core. Add more quality to supplement them, along with good coaching, and we can feel positive.

I’m not trying to call people out but I’m genuinely curious about why some people think that game didn’t matter. City and liverpool just got drawn in the next round. We had a great chance to win that cup.

I knew he was slow but was shocked to see just how slow he was tonight. It must be hard to get to a standard when you’re not playing but I don’t think we can rely on him.