Ratings and Reactions: Villa v Wigan

[Mantis]

We didn't play great yet still won (again). Wigan clearly set up to defend and we broke through. It is about the win and right now we're getting those at home at least.

Edited December 10, 2016 by Mantis

[Bottle Maker]

Struggled to decide who I thought was man of the match had to start with who I thought did the least.  First on my list was Gardener would rather had Westwood.  Second was Ayue  never seemed to be in the correct position and did not know when to pass.  Have voted for Amarvi thought he played brilliantly both in defence and going forward.   

[Ingram85]

2 hours ago, sidcow said:

I don't think I have ever seen a team as "there for the taking" as Wigan today.  Not to have won this game would have been an atrocity. 

I think our awful awful midfield means that until January we can forget about it "clicking" and us giving someone a stuffing. There is just not enough creativity and craft in the team to ever put loads of goals past someone. 

Like today it's generally a moment of brilliance or an error which results in us scoring.

The difference being, compared to the last few years, is that it's us doing the scoring and benefitting instead of being on the receiving end.

[Mantis]

33 minutes ago, Bottle Maker said:

Struggled to decide who I thought was man of the match had to start with who I thought did the least.  First on my list was Gardener would rather had Westwood.  Second was Ayue  never seemed to be in the correct position and did not know when to pass.  Have voted for Amarvi thought he played brilliantly both in defence and going forward.   

Amavi would be my pick. Looked like a man on a mission.

Although special mention to Gollini for taking a throw-in.

[ChrisVillan]

1 hour ago, Bottle Maker said:

Struggled to decide who I thought was man of the match had to start with who I thought did the least.  First on my list was Gardener would rather had Westwood.  Second was Ayue  never seemed to be in the correct position and did not know when to pass.  Have voted for Amarvi thought he played brilliantly both in defence and going forward.   

Three for three. Bravo.

[jackbauer24]

Ultimately great to get the three points.  It's all that matters.

But we're that breed of fan that doesn't just go home and forget about it til next week. We discuss it, analyse it and look at our strengths and weaknesses. And today there were quite a few weaknesses. Yes, Wigan came for the draw/counter attack but we were severely lacking in ideas and had little strength in midfield. Gardner was appalling, Jedinak was lazy, Ayew offered little and Bruce got pulled in to the easy mistake of just playing all the strikers. As an aside, my view is MoTM goes to the player with the greatest contribution to the match, not one moment in the entire match and therefore Amavi should be miles ahead of the 80minute poor to average Grealish despite his individual wonder goal.

But play badly and get three points and it's a great sign. Delighted with the points, horrified by the performance! Fortunately points beat performance every time!

Gollini - 6 - Little to do, doesn't command area enough.

Hutton - 7 - Solid today, poor in attack as usual but deals with physicality better than any of our players

Elphick - 6 - Couple of the usual sliced clearances but good enough for Wigan attacks.

Chester - 7 - Mr Dependable, fantastic signing for the club.

Amavi - 9 - Outstanding. Defensively much better today and, as always, exciting going forward. We don't go up this year and someone will be in for him.

Gardner - 1 - I was trying to decide if 1 was harsh but it really wasn't, can't think of a single decent pass, tackle or shot. Offers absolutely zero.

Jedinak - 5 - Another sloppy performance, his distribution is awful. When he's on form he's fantastic but that consistency has gone from his game.

Grealish - 7 - and that's extra point for fantastic goal. But the other 80mins offered little.

Ayew - 4 - Too selfish without talent to back it up. Should have been off earlier to strengthen midfield.

Adomah - 5 - Game largely passed him by, another who needs to add consistency to his game.

Kodjia - 6 - Great first half but changes made him ineffectual on the wing. Should be burying his earlier chance though.

Subs: Gestede; woeful, Bacuna; no time, McCormack; severely lacking confidence/ spark.

Bruce - 5 - It's working but feel that might have been more comfortable with a few tweaks to lineup and subs. Can't see how Gardner gets in over any player in entire squad. Ayew should have been pulled earlier. Stay in touching distance of playoffs and hope for at least two CMs and a striker or that our non AFCON players hit form.

But go home with three points and I'm smiling!

[flamingsombrero]

**** me some of the comments on here as we continue our best home form in years...

 

cheer up!

[Harry]

95 minutes of turgid crap saved by one moment of brilliance from Grealish is my summary of the game.

Wigan were easily the worst side I have seen come to Villa Park for years. We should have thumped them by a margin of three or four goals but we played so badly that they were unlucky not to get a point. Our problem starts and finishes with the midfield. OK they played 4-5-1 which often became 4-6-0 so we were often light on numbers but we so lacked any creativity and our build up was laboured and turgid. We have to sign a couple of decent central midfielders in January.

[carewjust4u]

How good it is to love football again. I've long rated/defended Amavi, really chuffed it sounds like he had another great performance. I fully expected us to not deliver on the back of the Leeds result, but Brucey just keeps on surprising me. Finally, how long has it been since we actually won a game where the other side has parked the bus? I can't help but have that promotion feeling...

[Richard]

I don't know why it continues to amaze me so but it does. I never cease to be amazed how for some fans a goal two minutes before the end of a very poor performance against a dreadful Wigan side can paper over the cracks and mask a very very poor performance . It is most definitely not just about three points, especially against the likes of Wigan against whom three points should be the minimum.  We will face much better sides than them and the same performance will result in heavy defeats . I'm grateful that the manager shares my opinion and disagrees with the thought that it is just about three points

[fightoffyour]

It hasn't papered over the cracks though. We all know it was a poor performance. Literally everybody is saying that despite the poor performance we are happy with the three points, the maximum possible to be attained in one match and the cumulative total of which that will ultimately count at the end of the season.

[Grasshopper]

16 minutes ago, Richard said:

I don't know why it continues to amaze me so but it does. I never cease to be amazed how for some fans a goal two minutes before the end of a very poor performance against a dreadful Wigan side can paper over the cracks and mask a very very poor performance . It is most definitely not just about three points, especially against the likes of Wigan against whom three points should be the minimum.  We will face much better sides than them and the same performance will result in heavy defeats . I'm grateful that the manager shares my opinion and disagrees with the thought that it is just about three points

I hear you.

The only thing is, we dont have a full team let alone a squad.

So SB has to make a decision. Does he try to get the shite to play football, or does he send em out with the best chance to get 3pts?

He's choosing the right one for me atm.

Even in the JanWin he wont be able to transform us into a playing team.

We really will be lucky to get 1 or 2 who can effect us positively.

Bruce is a perfect match. He'll get us out of here.

I have no other expectations other than that.

[Godders]

57 minutes ago, Richard said:

especially against the likes of Wigan against whom three points should be the minimum. 

Ah, perhaps this is where the confusion arises.

Three points is the maximum available against any team in a match this season.

Edited December 11, 2016 by Godders

[robby b]

I'm happy that we've won five of our last eight league games... five of the last eight !  Yay !   When did that last happen? Maybe with Martin O'Neill, I don't know. Tim Sherwood went close, he managed four out of eight, in his first season.

So apart from the first 15 minutes, the performance was poor overall but against Brighton it was good and there have been two or three games where overall it was quite good, or at least not poor anyway (I'd suggest Reading, Blackburn and Cardiff).

 

[NurembergVillan]

I've been Googling trying to find the league table based on subjective opinions of performance rather than points, but I can't seem to find it.

Can someone do me a favour and post a link?

[blandy]

43 minutes ago, NurembergVillan said:

I've been Googling trying to find the league table based on subjective opinions of performance rather than points, but I can't seem to find it.

Can someone do me a favour and post a link?

 

[StefanAVFC]

It's so short-sighted to say 'it's not about 3 points' and then say 'we will face much better sides than them and the same performance will result in heavy defeats'. We have faced MUCH better teams than that and outplayed them.

It's so simplistic to take this performance as a microcosm of us as a team. They were a team that got battered for 15 mins then shut up shop. Better teams won't do that and the game will be more open as a result.

As it stands, our weakness under Bruce is breaking defensive teams down. We've played against teams not interested in going for the win 3/4 of the last home games, and guess what? We won all 4.

The moaning here is nonsensical. 

[Godders]

I've just watch Chelsea struggle to break down West Brom. they won thanks to a brilliant finish from Costa late on in the game. Chelsea created less than we did against Wigan, and allowed West Brom more chances than we did Wigan. Does this mean then talking about Chelsea as genuine title contenders is misleading, and that actually, they'll be lucky just to qualify for Europe? I mean they will face much better sides than WBA during the season, so obviously based on the performance today they'll get absolutely battered against some of the better sides. 

[dont_do_it_doug.]

8 hours ago, Richard said:

I don't know why it continues to amaze me so but it does. I never cease to be amazed how for some fans a goal two minutes before the end of a very poor performance against a dreadful Wigan side can paper over the cracks and mask a very very poor performance . It is most definitely not just about three points, especially against the likes of Wigan against whom three points should be the minimum.  We will face much better sides than them and the same performance will result in heavy defeats . I'm grateful that the manager shares my opinion and disagrees with the thought that it is just about three points

I find it astonishing that you are not able to separate peoples delight at winning a game of football and their opinion on the performance itself. 

I doubt you'll find many Villa fans who will say yesterday's WIN was a great performance, or even a good one. We smashed them for 15 minutes and they adjusted their game plan and played for the point, we laboured in the second half in particular, it wasn't pretty. The weather was atrocious, we all got pissed on, our extra bit of quality shone through and we won the game 1-0. 

I agree with you and the manager that we need to play better than that if we are to maintain this form, we have and we will I'm sure. However no matter how much you might want it Richard, we can't get more than 3 points from a game. So 3 points from Wigan is, in fact, the maximum. 

[Morley_crosses_to_Withe]

We played badly, but we STILL won the three points. Well done Villa. 

It's funny because if we'd have played well and lost, I'm sure it would've been entirely about the three points.