onmeedson

Good to have our back four together again and McGinn in his right position plus Ollie getting his goal.

So we are parking the bus today.

Leadership on the playing field was non existent against Watford and when you need battlers and fighters we tend to fall short.

Did we miss Konsa?

Maybe nostalgia tends to sway us with the likes of Chris Nicholl, Ken McNaught, Paul McGrath, Olof Melberg, Martin Laurson and Allan Evans men of steel on a conveyor belt in those days. Today the quality of centre backs is lower in the whole Country and we just yearn for that part of the game to go back to the levels we once witnessed.

Thought we were far better organised yesterday, with players covering each other and willing to be open for a pass. The coutinho and buendia partnership looked promising and time will see the blend with watkins develop into a potent force i hope. That was mings best game for time and when he is in that mood we have the captain we want and the defence to keep a clean sheet. We played as a team and were hard to break down for a change i think stevie is starting to make his mark.

Merseyside Police have raided food banks in the area after a tip off the pop bottle came from that source.

How we missed the work rate of McGinn in that first half and it seems we still have a way to go to play the intense stevie g football that we all want. Emi was at fault for the first goal but we had a silly tackle for the free kick and then we do not know how to play offside for the ball in, we have to be smarter in our play and decision making has to be far more focussed as the second goal shows. The manager got into them at half time and it was game on to show what we can be, the youngsters were a delight to see and led the way showing the energy needed at this level providing the perfect game for Coutinho to shine in front of the Holte.

This lad is years ahead of his age group, what a privilege to watch.

The amount of players we had in the box for the goal and the need for three of them to mark Varane cannot be replicated saturday and a bit of organization should see a result.

We were the better team but you always know man u have the refs on side and you get nothing at old trafford. We were victims of our system and every team knows that a massive hole always appears between our central back two, put the ball in that area and run from deep into the gap, villa's folly but that's always been my beef with zonal marking if you are given man to man the gaps should not appear.

Wow,

Maybe the data led program doe's not account for grit or character and the ability to battle on a Monday night at Burnley, we seem to have many players of the same ilk and spirit. Could the data be to narrow in its scope.

Dire game and and back to our old selves with being able to drive a bus through the centre of defence, as soon as Ramsey went off we had no engine in midfield to plug the gaps and the result was just waiting. The commitment of a Pontus Jansson was needed.

Missed McGinns support

I think we just expect more from our captain, Hause might have been the sub to bring on in front of Konsa and Mings when Lukaku came on for power and aggression because Luka at his best is something to watch.

Lukaku was the difference and bullied our defence so easily, we came gift wrapped with glitter and admired the luka show. The messiah arrived and the three wise men presented gifts, our innkeeper was not at home and Luka shone as the brightest star.

Was a nice touch last night with the away fans chanting Dean Smiths name, he left us with a club in a reasonable state and an Academy that Gerrard can take to another level as we are starting to see. We have seen many promising kids come through over the years but they have faded and lost their way, i think we are in a better place to bring these kids on and reap the reward we saw last night.

Think we can allow Stevie G to show a little respect on his first game back to his home turf, but next time.

We are not quite savvy enough to steal a point yet and players like Salah are masters at luring a tackle that is not needed. The Anfield crowd were so relieved at the end they celebrated like a cup final and were grateful to get the result .

The relevance of the hand of god goal by Sqealmichal was important for the villa, last year it would have been the incident that cost us the win. Now we have improved and can overcome these moments to grab the win and raise the roof of villa park.

Stevie Gs engine

We gave them a game and had a few teething issues but a month ago we would have been chasing shadows. The progress under the new coaches has led to us being able to stay in a game against top sides. We found playing out from the back in the first half a step to far and hopefully we can work on that, the extra training may have been baileys problem but we have to live at this level and build the legs that can cope with this intensity. The goal shook them and that was another sign we are a better side who under this set up will not be allowed late mornings and lax attitude towards your profession.

You can only heap praise on a lad stepping up.

Sweet Stevie G da da da