RR Ratings and Reactions: Villa v Sunderland

[GeordieVillan]

Very unlucky today I thought, but I would much rather draw a game like that i.e. by playing some good football, trying to take the game to opposition and looking like the better team. In the past we have drawn home games when we have played poorly, and either not scored or been lucky to get a goal and then not looking like scoring again ever. The fact that Sunderland were trying to waste time and hang on for point says it all - we were piling the pressure on to them.

 

My observations in no particular order -

 

Guzan - didn't do anything wrong, and kicking was better.

 

Richards / Clark - thought both were ok, Clark obviously got done on the second goal, but other than that he was very dominant in the air.

 

Amavi - looked good going forward again. We are going to have to get used to him being exposed and our left back area being a vacant space sometimes - this is the price you pay when you have a full back that attacks like him. At some stage our central midfielders will learn that they have to cover him.

 

Hutton - had a lot of space but didn't do much with it , solid otherwise though.

 

Bacuna - look decent in the free hole in the first half, without ever really creating much.

 

Sinclair - we have got to find a space for him the team. He has goals in him, even when he is not playing well, and he has a good habit of getting into dangerous positions.

 

Gana - looks very good, he must play every game.

 

Sanchez - very good first half, second half not so much. The Sunderland sub sat on him for the first 15 minutes of the second half and it prevented us from getting anything going. It was only when Gana dropped deeper that we got control of the game again.

 

Westwood - showed he is versatile, beyond what I ever expected. Looked like he could pose an attacking threat when not playing as the holding midfielder.

 

Gestede - poor in the first half, but his hold up play in the second half was much better. He reminds me of Benteke in his first season - he's very Jekyll and Hyde. Not sure he will become as effective as Benteke (I suspect not), but it might be a bit much to expect him to score all of our goals this year. I think we need Adebayor. Or at the very least give Kozak a chance.

 

Gil - looked great, don't think he gave the ball away once. The dive came from the fact he mis-controlled the ball when running into the box, if he had kept the ball close to him then he shirley would have scored.

 

Sherwood - don't think he did much wrong today. On another day we would have won comfortably.

 

Gabby - he can't play in this team now, it has outgrown him.

 

Grealish, Adama, Gil - we will be fine if we play at least 2 of these, maybe all 3 of these in our home games.

 

Overall - plenty of positives.

Edited August 29, 2015 by GeordieVillan

[weedman]

Am I the only one that thought Gestede did alright? Some nice lay offs which really got us going attacking wise a number of times, should have done a bit better in front of goal really but otherwise a solid enough performance.

I think there are plenty of positives today for sure, lots of chances created but just that final ball lacking but with some of our main attackers out (Gabby, Grealish and Traore with Ayew still settling) that are will surely improve once they're fit? Worldy free kick for their 1st, not much anyone can do about that and Clark at fault for 2nd but only in via a deflection.

We will continue to be inconsistent for a good few months while everyone adapts and gets up to speed but on that showing they are beginning to settle a little. Onwards and upwards

I completely agree with your whole post barring the Gestede part. We are certainly improving, and we were missing key players. I don't want to jump on Gestede's back too much as he may come good given time, and it is early. But a lot of his flick ons went to nobody, and as others have pointed out, the amount of times he was on his heels and was beaten to a pass by the defenders was infuriating. In fact that very thing was what got them the ball to attack for their second goal, if he's not gonna score and is gonna cost goals too then I think he's gonna struggle to be a success.

You may be right, the stream I was watching on wasn't great so I may have missed some things, he did have a few neat touches though, which is a little promising considering he's still adapting to the league and our team. Hopefully he will improve as the team gels

[VillanousOne]

Guzan: 6 - Distribution was better, I honestly have no idea if he could have saved either goal as the stream was so bad

Hutton: 6 - Did ok

Richards: 7 - Solid

Clark: 5 - Not his best performance at all

Amavi: 6 - Gets caught out of position a lot, but still decent going forward

Bacuna: 5 - A funky haircut doesn't hide a bang average player

Sanchez: 7 - Bosses Midfield

Gana: 6 - Put in a good shift

Westwood: 6 - Some decent moments

Sinclair: 7 - Needs to start every week up front

Gestede: 6 - Mixed performance, sometimes looked poor othertimes he looked a threat

 

Subs: Gil - 7 Our most creative force, needs to start everyweek

 

The ref was poor and Sherwood should have brought Kozak or Ayew on.

 

two points wasted against a dog awful team

[7392craig]

Am I the only one that thought Gestede did alright? Some nice lay offs which really got us going attacking wise a number of times, should have done a bit better in front of goal really but otherwise a solid enough performance.

I think there are plenty of positives today for sure, lots of chances created but just that final ball lacking but with some of our main attackers out (Gabby, Grealish and Traore with Ayew still settling) that are will surely improve once they're fit? Worldy free kick for their 1st, not much anyone can do about that and Clark at fault for 2nd but only in via a deflection.

We will continue to be inconsistent for a good few months while everyone adapts and gets up to speed but on that showing they are beginning to settle a little. Onwards and upwards

I completely agree with your whole post barring the Gestede part. We are certainly improving, and we were missing key players. I don't want to jump on Gestede's back too much as he may come good given time, and it is early. But a lot of his flick ons went to nobody, and as others have pointed out, the amount of times he was on his heels and was beaten to a pass by the defenders was infuriating. In fact that very thing was what got them the ball to attack for their second goal, if he's not gonna score and is gonna cost goals too then I think he's gonna struggle to be a success.

You may be right, the stream I was watching on wasn't great so I may have missed some things, he did have a few neat touches though, which is a little promising considering he's still adapting to the league and our team. Hopefully he will improve as the team gels

Hopefully he just needs a goal or two to give him the confidence to really take the game to the opposition. As I've said, I don't want to judge him too harshly too soon, he needs to be given a fair chance. But I will be a little concerned if we don't bring in another striker, putting so much pressure on Gestede will not help him get going at all.

[villan-scott]

Just got back and thought overall we did more than enough to win the game.

Richards looked good and did well. Amavi looked very good again and did well for the second goal.

I was very impressed with the midfield trio of Gana, Sanchez and Westwood. Bossed it in there, just wish we had Traore on the right and either Gil or Grealish in there. Sinclair did well for his goal and the pen.

I'm not convinced by Gestede at all, first half didn't hold it up enough and touches were poor. He got better in the second and a few nice lay offs and set up play. Should have been replaced by Kozak on 75 minutes for me.

There was enough to make me believe we will be more than fine this season. Some real positive and good play. Just a shame Traore wasn't fit as he would have had a field day down their left.

[OutByEaster?]

I thought we lacked a little invention - we've got two players who can add that and I'm confident it's in the locker, but we really needed to win this one, we're becoming what they say we are rather than what we want to be and I'm not looking forward to another long season looking at the bottom of the table - plenty of time to fix that.

 

Guzan (6) - not at fault for either goal and looked solid enough.

 

Hutton (6) - a 7 in the first half when he got forward really well, but he dropped off as the game went on.

 

Richards (6) - still not sure how he managed to keep out that wonderful chance he had in the second half, if he'd just fallen over it would have hit him and gone in - looked reasonably assured at the end we defended.

 

Clark (6) - ditto for the most part, allowed them too much room for the second.

 

Amavi (7) - slightly shaky start, then excellent for an hour but tailed off toward the end, looked tired and didn't want to take the full back on in the last twenty minutes - which was a shame as his great low crosses from the byline were our best chance of scoring.

 

Sanchez (6) - some good, some bad, he's not going to win you a game, but he diligently recycles possession and sets things going.

 

Westwood (7) - worked really hard and tried his best to provide some urgency and spirit, but breaking down defences isn't his forte.

 

Gana (6) - lots of energy, but he gave the ball away a lot and looked to me like he had more in the tank - I think we can get more out of him than this.

 

Bacuna (5) - looked lost at times, he's developed into a reasonable full back this season, but I think as a midfielder he's much less assured.

 

Sinclair (7) - not at his sharpest with the ball, but getting on the end of things - five goals in a week is pretty difficult to argue with.

 

Gestede (5) - it's all very well being great in the air, if you win things in the air - he's been dominated by Kabul today and by Smalling against United - if he's not winning the ball in the air, he's not good enough to be in the side. He also makes it too easy for the rest of the team to lazily lump it forward.

 

Gil (6) - we looked better with him on as it gave us someone that was comfortable with the ball in their half, the rest of the team looked tired by the time he got on and there wasn't enough movement for him to be fully effective. That's not his fault.

 

Overall, I was disappointed by how badly we started the second half, we came out all smiles in the sunshine like we thought all the hard work was over and the game was won - Sunderland outworked us and taught us a lesson in application over ability. I was also disappointed with the lack of urgency in the last ten or fifteen minutes and I thought we should have brought Kozak on.

 

Thus far in his career, one of the things I've liked most about Sherwood was that he has always seemed to be able to get everything out of the players - I'm not sure that was the case today.

 

Two points squandered.

[R.Bear]

Sunderland today were one of the worst PL teams I've ever seen. Yet we conceded 2 and didnt even win. It's absolutely disgraceful.

[One For The Road]

Also, why are our midfielders always ******* useless at shooting. We hardly ever get goals from the midfield and now we have no good strikers. A season of struggling awaits. Again.

Edited August 29, 2015 by One For The Road

[Spoony]

Very unlucky today I thought, but I would much rather draw a game like that i.e. by playing some good football, trying to take the game to opposition and looking like the better team. In the past we have drawn home games when we have played poorly, and either not scored or been lucky to get a goal and then not looking like scoring again ever. The fact that Sunderland were trying to waste time and hang on for point says it all - we were piling the pressure on to them.

 

My observations in no particular order -

 

Guzan - didn't do anything wrong, and kicking was better.

 

Richards / Clark - thought both were ok, Clark obviously got done on the second goal, but other than that he was very dominant in the air.

 

Amavi - looked good going forward again. We are going to have to get used to him being exposed and our left back area being a vacant space sometimes - this is the price you pay when you have a full back that attacks like him. At some stage our central midfielders will learn that they have to cover him.

 

Hutton - had a lot of space but didn't do much with it , solid otherwise though.

 

Bacuna - look decent in the free hole in the first half, without ever really creating much.

 

Sinclair - we have got to find a space for him the team. He has goals in him, even when he is not playing well, and he has a good habit of getting into dangerous positions.

 

Gana - looks very good, he must play every game.

 

Sanchez - very good first half, second half not so much. The Sunderland sub sat on him for the first 15 minutes of the second half and it prevented us from getting anything going. It was only when Gana dropped deeper that we got control of the game again.

 

Westwood - showed he is versatile, beyond what I ever expected. Looked like he could pose an attacking threat when not playing as the holding midfielder.

 

Gestede - poor in the first half, but his hold up play in the second half was much better. He reminds me of Benteke in his first season - he's very Jekyll and Hyde. Not sure he will become as effective as Benteke (I suspect not), but it might be a bit much to expect him to score all of our goals this year. I think we need Adebayor. Or at the very least give Kozak a chance.

 

Gil - looked great, don't think he gave the ball away once. The dive came from the fact he mis-controlled the ball when running into the box, if he had kept the ball close to him then he shirley would have scored.

 

Sherwood - don't think he did much wrong today. On another day we would have won comfortably.

 

Gabby - he can't play in this team now, it has outgrown him.

 

Grealish, Adama, Gil - we will be fine if we play at least 2 of these, maybe all 3 of these in our home games.

 

Overall - plenty of positives.

This post deserves more likes.

[AVTuco]

No blame on Tim from me, we did easily enough to win. Just didn't score (enough).

Richards is so good, I love him. Feel so sorry he didn't score, he would've deserved it.

Sanchez was very good aswell. He made one mistake, got to the wrong side of his man, and boom it's a goal.

Ciaran, I'm sorry to say this but you need some time off. Come back stronger.

Sinclair, Hutton, Amavi, Gana, Westwood all did well.

We need a goal scorer, as we all know. Adama would've won us the game, but we ahould've won it anyway.

[weedman]

No blame on Tim from me, we did easily enough to win. Just didn't score (enough).

Richards is so good, I love him. Feel so sorry he didn't score, he would've deserved it.

Sanchez was very good aswell. He made one mistake, got to the wrong side of his man, and boom it's a goal.

Ciaran, I'm sorry to say this but you need some time off. Come back stronger.

Sinclair, Hutton, Amavi, Gana, Westwood all did well.

We need a goal scorer, as we all know. Adama would've won us the game, but we ahould've won it anyway.

I think Grealish would have done more than Adama to win the game, they defended deep so guile would have been more likely to "unlock" them than pace

[Arj Guy]

Credit to the Sunderland fans for bringing 3k today. Impressive when you think about the distances which they travel to watch that team

[NoelVilla]

Shots on target is an abysmal stat

Bacuna had a shot that almost didn't reach Pantilimon. Im sure thats in our Shots on Target - total. Gestede had a header from a long way out so yes its not a good stat.

[Fab]

From my really poor stream, it looked like he did dive after over running the ball. We'll hopefully see on motd!

 

Watched it on tv here in the US and sorry to say it but it looked like an obvious dive.

[benireduk]

From my really poor stream, it looked like he did dive after over running the ball. We'll hopefully see on motd!

Watched it on tv here in the US and sorry to say it but it looked like an obvious dive.

He did dive. Took a bad touch and tried to get a pen.

Better control and he's got time to pick his spot.

[thunderball]

Getting better every game, with players coming back from injury. An experienced CB coming in, not missing Delph or Cleverly and scoring goals. We didn't lose. All positive for me.

[Arj Guy]

Getting better every game, with players coming back from injury. An experienced CB coming in, not missing Delph or Cleverly and scoring goals. We didn't lose. All positive for me.

We didn't lose against arguably the worst side in the league at home!! Magnificent!!

[rjw63]

 

Getting better every game, with players coming back from injury. An experienced CB coming in, not missing Delph or Cleverly and scoring goals. We didn't lose. All positive for me.

We didn't lose against arguably the worst side in the league at home!! Magnificent!!

 

Yep.

 

Against a decent side I'd be happy but Sunderland are pants with skids in 'em.

 

Sanchez played well, Sinclair looks like he can stick 'em away, but we still look average in a lot of positions. Gestede is a bit immobile, bacuna was substandard, Westwoods corners are still shit. Guzan has got the kicking that Bosnich used to have (poor).

 

Glad I got in free for this one (cheers VillaninIreland)

[foreveryoung]

Getting better every game, with players coming back from injury. An experienced CB coming in, not missing Delph or Cleverly and scoring goals. We didn't lose. All positive for me.

You do realise Sunderland are probably the worst side in the prem. We should have won, there are gonna be many times throughout the season we are without our best players, especially how Sherwood uses our subs. Needed the win, but we can't finish, the likes of Grealish is not gonna bring us this, disappointing for me very disappointing.

 

Leicester is gonna be interesting, I wonder if the same old excuses will come out then, when we lose 3-0. Still need time???

[Marka Ragnos]

So, we've had a few matches at this point. And it turns out that we're shaping up to be a robustly mid-to-low table club. 

 

You beat Sunderland. You don't forsake those three points. You just don't!

 

It's gonna be a looooooooooooooooooooong year. Better get the grease handy as we're going to be grinding out the bearings until next May.