Ratings and Reactions: Villa - Man Utd

[jjaacckk91]

The players deserved better than that.

[CarewsEyebrowDesigner]

Good point.

[KSV]

Nzogbia shouldnt play premier league anymore. Hes past it. Bacuna made a real difference in the second half. Should start in midfield. I love the fact that he can shoot............. unlike some other midfielders.

 

Sanchez was brilliant once again. I dont think he ever lost the ball in that match. Really becoming a big player for us.

 

Proud of the boys.

[icouldtelltheworld]

Excellent point for us, albeit frustrating. Benteke is back to his best, Clark and Okore brilliant again, Sanchez improving all the time. Half way to 40 points, with winnable games still to come, we could be in a very good position by the end of January. Well done Villa.

[Villanun]

If you'd told me before the match that we'd get a point I'd have snapped your hand off, so it's telling that post-match I feel so **** angry. I don't know that the referee cost us the win - after all, United had equalised before that - but his absolute joke of a decision cost us a player and meant that the end of the match was more fraught than it should have been. Okore was a monster today, not only in defence but also bombing forward to offer another attacking option. Still too much space between the defence and the midfield, and not enough off-the-ball movement, but it was a decent enough performance all round. Lowton was the weak link for me today. And hopefully the Man U team bus will reverse over Ashley Young and the ref will get hit by the ambulance. 

[mjmooney]

I hope Utd lose the title by one point

They won't be anywhere near the title.

[VillanousOne]

Guzman - 7 - Dependable

Okore - 9 - MOM - world class
Vlaar - 7 - Solid as a r... some concrete

Lowton - 5 - Can't defend, no pace at all

Clark - 8 - Superb again
Cissokho - 6 - Defends well but is a bit slow and doesn't cross enough when needed to
 

Delph - 8 - Showed why we missed him
Sanchez - 8 - So composed and has stopped giving the ball away needlessly

 

Weimann - 6 - Worked hard but did little else
Gabby - 7 - Never a red card, had some good spells and some bad
Benteke - 8 - Superb goal, some good moments after

 

Subs - Zog - too late to rate but did get involved at the end

Bacuna - same as Zog - want to see more of his energy though

Edited December 20, 2014 by VillanousOne

[flamingsombrero]

Excellent performance and an excellent unexpected point. We should be confident going into the Swansea game.

[F-87]

Wonder what everyone is talking about

 

[chappy]

Okore excellent. Benteke excellent. Vlaar excellent. Clark excellent. Cissokho excellent. Guzan excellent. Delph excellent. Ref rocket polisher.

[KitKat]

Pleased for the team today. Commited and stuck to the plan, ultimately frustrating United.

 

They've been criticised for letting the opposition/ref get to them vs Spurs, but I've been absolutely livid about it since it happened, and they just used it like some kind of fuel to see them through.

The fact we were competitive until the end and had the better chances shortly before the final whistle is a really good change.

 

Bacuna to start next game please, Lambert!

[mjmooney]

Gabby getting suspended might be a blessing in disguise, though. <cough> Grealish...

[kevpants]

The Russian commentator on my stream kept saying "machine, machine, machine" whenever Benteke was on the ball.

Okore is an unbelievable find. In two seasons Lambert spotted Benteke then Okore, most managers won't uncover two like that in a career.

We're becoming a decent team lads.

[weedman]

Gabby getting suspended might be a blessing in disguise, though. <cough> Grealish...

Surely that'll be overturned?

[VillanousOne]

If we can play like that every week we will start getting points on the board.

 

I actually thought we played better with that formation than we normally did with 10 central midfielders!

 

Only issue seems to be that neither Weimann or Zog offer a lot presently, time for Bacuna or Grealish!

 

If the red isn't overturned then I hope Robinson gets a shot! Won't happen but you never know.

[supernova26]

Gabby getting sent off bizarrely may have helped us because the crowd came to life.

 

Pragmatic question requiring a pragmatic non-extremist answer. Will he get the card rescinded? 

[Khizzy]

Played really well today considering we were without a lot of first team players. Lambert got the tactics right in some respects but I would have liked to have seen Lowton taken off at half time for Bacuna. Happy with the point now but if the referee decided to keep his red in his pocket then it could have been a different story - I was hoping that we'd hold on for all three. Young is an absolute dick and I hope he's considered surplus to requirements by United soon and gets shipped off to some League One club where some thug can kick lumps out of him.

Okore, what a beast - what footwork as well. So impressive. Pretty much everyone bar Lowton had a good game, especially Guzan and Benteke (amazing goal). Honourable mention for Delph, who showed some good touches in midfield. Now that we're without Gabby for the next few games, I wonder if Lambert will play Weimann and Benteke up front together? Maybe not but it could be worth a go.

Finally, I think if we continue to play the way we have been playing in the last few games then we should comfortably stay up. The way it's looking, the bottom three will be decided pretty soon I think (Leicester, Burnley and maybe Palace/Hull/West Brom/QPR) but I don't think we have anything to worry about.

Edited December 20, 2014 by Khizzy

[Niall]

That was a fine performance. Showed great spirit and commitment when they equalized and Gabby was sent off. More of the same, please.

[PieFacE]

Can't fault anything today other than the ref. Thought we did really well. Loving our new approach.

Edited December 20, 2014 by PieFacE

[pacbuddies]

A good point considering. Quite happy.