Ratings & Reactions: Villa v Brighton

[villadude]

One of the best performances I've seen this season, I bet the ref must be gutted, he clearly wanted the visitors to win.

[TRO]

4 minutes ago, a m ole said:

Yep.

Looked to me like Bacuna wanted it, but Hourihane was reminding him that he takes the free kicks as instructed by Bruce.

I have heard many managers say, they usually sort it out themselves, whoever feels most confident on the day.

to keep defaulting every error to the manager is just, tedious and desperate.

[a m ole]

8 minutes ago, TRO said:

I have heard many managers say, they usually sort it out themselves, whoever feels most confident on the day.

to keep defaulting every error to the manager is just, tedious and desperate.

agreed, and either way it's not fault of the managers

[Farlz]

I thought we were really good today, we deserved a point at the very least. Our midfield were actually shooting/having chances, Davis was superb on his own up top. Really really impressed with him. I much preferred Bree at RB as well but that might just be me, I'm not a huge fan of Hutton.

Adomah was pretty crap again and well Elphick done his best to gift Brighton a second but other than that I'm pleased. The hoofball wasn't as ridiculous either. There were signs today we can be a good side. 

[Dodgyknees]

We were a referee away from a win today.

[It's Your Round]

The referee was awful today. Their penalty was harsh, the player had already had his shot saved when Baker made minimal contact. A red and a penalty was extremely harsh. Then Davies gets dragged down at the other end and the ref doesn't care. 

We were better today, deserved more than a point I thought. Still not perfect but not too bad a performance to sign off with. 

I quite enjoyed spoiling their party, their keeper did well up until our goal and you can see how gutted he was. 

A lot of work to do now to be ready for next season. 

[Stevo985]

Probably the best performance of the season.

We were the better team for 90 minutes, despite going down to 10 men. THis is against the best team in the league (arguably) who were playing for the league title.

Hourihane MOTM. He was very good.

[sidcow]

I was shocked at how poor Brighton were. They deserved nothing out of the game not even the draw and judging by how their players collapsed at the end of the game they wanted it for sure. 

We were miles better, and we were not very good. 

Why can't I vote Keinan Davis as my man of the match? Best player on the pitch by a country mile after he came on. 

[Harry]

Definitely should have won that and bizarrely we looked better with ten men. Midfield looked excellent today with Hourihane the stand out player for me. The refereeing was worse than park football with clear bias to Brighton. How Brighton got promoted is beyond me based on seeing them today, they will struggle big time in the PL I could not see what Baker did to get a straight red as all I could see from the Holte was an excellent save by Johnstone. For once Bruce played players in their right positions and boy did it show.

 

[Stevo985]

1 hour ago, KJT123 said:

Hourihane and Bacuna arguing over a free kick. Sign of a poor manager? Surely everyone should know their roles. 

The only thing it's a sign of is that people are trying to blame absolutely everything on the manager.

Here's what happened.

Hourihane was on free kicks. He'd been on them all day and had taken some very good ones.

For some reason, Bacuna wanted to take this one, when Hourihane tried to take the ball off him Bacuna had a little paddy fit and kept it.

The team turned to the bench and appeared to be instructed that Hourihane was the free kick taker. Bacuna gave the ball back and went and had a little sulk on his own, throwing his arms up in the air.

Hourihane then produce a great save from Stockdale to cement the fact that Bacuna shouldn't have been anywhere near it.

 

The only thing it showed is that Bacuna is a prick.

[Xela]

Is that twice we've outplayed Brighton this season?

There's a good team in there somewhere 

[Harry]

3 minutes ago, Stevo985 said:

Probably the best performance of the season.

We were the better team for 90 minutes, despite going down to 10 men. THis is against the best team in the league (arguably) who were playing for the league title.

Hourihane MOTM. He was very good.

Totally agree with that.

[It's Your Round]

Shame we couldn't win but still nice to finish with a decent performance. I thought Davies looked lively, would much rather see him and RHM get some game time ahead of Gabby. 

[OutByEaster?]

And so it ends in the most fitting way possible - with a slight confusion of feeling. All sound and no substance. Good and bad.

We've spent much of the season sucking the fun out of football, losing is no fun and we've done some of that, not scoring is no fun; there's been plenty of that, and over the last couple of months we've worked hard on finding ways to suck the fun out of winning too. Really, the only thing left was to suck the fun out of somebody else's football; mission accomplished, sorry Brighton.

I thought we were the better side with eleven men and I thought we probably edged it with ten. Given what was at stake, I thought they'd be better with twelve.

There were defensive mistakes galore, none of which we took advantage of, a penalty, a red card, a goalkeeping howler and plenty of shots - but ultimately this one was played with the ferocity of a friendly in very pleasant sunshine refereed by a man who seemed to have a bet on.

We moved the ball well at times, there were signs we could play a bit, individuals performed well, individuals made mistakes, but it was better than we've seen of late - which as anyone who follows us will know means we couldn't win.

There's a good side in there somewhere, weaker without Kodjia and Jedinak but still more than capable - there's just something not quite working, a rhythm or a balance somewhere - and once again we've relied on a bit of luck to get us what we more than deserved. A bit of luck, taking advantage of others mistakes and occasional individual brilliance has been the tale of the season - today we suggested there could be some football next year instead. I hope so, there was promise in today's performance.

 

Johnstone (7) - some good stops today and generally looked very solid. I'm going to miss him. Strange considering he was pretty poor for quite a while. 

Bree (6) - a couple of mistakes, but also flashes of the player he will be - he's solid defensively and on a couple of occasions he showed he can be a very good footballer too - he's still got mistakes and still made some today, but he's a very good prospect. Another season as Hutton's apprentice will do him good I think.

Baker (6) - I am convinced that the sunnier it is, the more likely Nathan Baker is to be sent off - this might just be the vagaries of my memory, but it seems that way in my head. He was good before he departed, I didn't see the challenge for the red and won't comment (from our end of the ground we initially weren't sure if it was for Johnstone or Baker ) but before it he'd showed why he's had a good season - he's a mature centre back now.

Chester (6) - had a couple of wobbles today which was unusual - but he's such a good solid defender that even when he does, you expect him to be okay. He was.

Taylor (7) - I thought he was very good today - he had a lot of the ball and used it well. For me this was his best performance for us at Villa Park to date.

Adomah (6) - he's run out of steam a bit as the season went on and today he occasionally looked a little tired. He'll be back.

Lansbury (7) - I thought he started badly and then played very well - he was in the box a lot which is good to see, especially when Davis came on and needed a little support. Aggressive, mobile and decent with the ball. A lot of next season will rest on his shoulders.

Bacuna (7) - I'm not going to lay into him for his hissy fit; he'll know he's been a prat. Either side of it, he actually had a pretty good game - a lull at the start of the second half notwithstanding - he got around the midfield and did a pretty good job I thought. He could do without the hair and the attitude.

Hourihane (7) - very good I thought, in general his energy was excellent, he was involved in everything and he did some nice things - like Lansbury though there wasn't an end product - next year we need these two to start scoring and start making goals - there are signs they're starting to find their feet.

Amavi (6) - bright going forward and supportive of Taylor in keeping Knockaert very quiet. Unlucky to be the man to make way after Baker's red.

Hogan (5) - if it wasn't for bad luck he'd have no luck at all, he's found himself in a team that don't play to his strengths and he's adjusting - it'd be easier if people stopped kicking bits off him.

subs

Davis (6) - promising in lots of ways, he's a decent size, he holds the ball up well, he's quite intelligent in the way he uses it and he's keen - but - he doesn't seem to have a change of pace and he might have done better with the couple of chances he had. Unfinished product.

Grealish (6) - what we needed with ten men - someone who can keep the ball and let others join into the attack. Great/terrible goal which suited him.

Elphick (5) - presented them with a chance soon after coming on - where Baker has matured this season, Elphick has declined - with the looming threat of Micah Richards, i think it's important we get another centrback this summer.

Well done to Brighton, their fans are resolutely nice, the type of people that put their change in the charity box at McDonalds and hold doors for you, they won't worry too much, the big prize was already won. I felt a bit bad about laughing my head off at our late equaliser, which we deserved but didn't deserve to go in, even though I also felt a little sad that it meant Newcastle were champions, even though actually Newcastle's fans have always been alright or at least were until they started hating us, which maybe now they'll stop. It's that sort of day, I'm not sure if I'm looking at clouds or silver linings. That sort of season.

Anyway, today I thought we were good.

Or at least not bad.

Probably.

 

 

 

 

[Ponky]

We actually played football along the floor today and it was pretty decent to watch.

Jack is a much different player when he backs himself. Hope we see more of it next season.

Davis looked quite good. Better than what we have seen from RHM (which is admittedly not much).

[StefanAVFC]

just saw the red.

My word, the refs are poor in this league.

[Nigel]

Was lovely to see Lansbury playing ahead of the strikers in the first half, he seems far more comfortable this end of the pitch and it's where he should be.

We actually looked a far better balanced unit today, which may be down to Jedinaks absence, allowing another mobile body to get forward binging the whole team further up the pitch. Or maybe simple demands were changed.

Such a shame hogan had to go off early as this would seem to suit his needs far more than the usual lump ball he usually receives. He looked OK in the few moments he was called on and was only going to benifit from a bit more of the same. 

Must say Davis looked like a decent enough option when he appeared.  Must be a nightmare to defend against as he's so in your face, and a bit of strength with it. If hogan needs a partner next season it may be worth a shot sticking the 2 of them together late on in games to bring him on a bit.

result didn't matter a jot today, far more important was how we played and in that respect today was a success.

[theboyangel]

Having watched the match I can see that there is still a lot of work to do and players that can be improved on.

However, there were also glimpses of a team playing together and fashioning decent chances.

We were undone today by the referee who must've been a Sunderland or Boro fan as he desperately wanted Brighton to win and become champions ahead of Newcastle.

 

The Defence:

All played ok today, Johnstone didn't really have too much to do today (compared to his counterpart who pulled off some cracking saves - only to have a mare for the equaliser).

The back four of Bree, Chester, Baker and Taylor all played their parts too - my only gripe was the hoof ball tactics that was partially down to Brighton pressing highly and not giving anyone much time to pick out a pass.

My thoughts on the penalty and sending off are that both were very harsh. The striker actually managed to get his shot away before being impeded but I've seen them given. However, giving the additional red to Baker was too much.

 

The Midfield:

A mixed bag really, both Lansbury and Hourihane looked very good going forward and the latter was unlucky with several well struck free-kicks and shots (Lansbury also should have scored in the first half).

Both wingers did ok - Adomah pushed on a lot more and Amavi also got into some good attacking positions.

That leaves Bacuna... How any player can be equally decent and shite in one match is beyond me. He has some engine and got around the park, getting moves going. But... then he gives the ball away over and over again - straight back to opposition who flood forward putting us under pressure (no wonder the defence hoof it over the midfield!)

 

The attack:

Poor old Hogan - I thought he looked bright, always wanted the ball but then got chopped by the ginger ninja sidwell, who managed to evade the ref's book all match despite 3-4 nasty fouls.

As for Keinan Davis, there is praise for the youngster for managing 60+ minutes leading the line. He worked very hard and held the ball up ok but his shooting wasn't happening today and to me, he looked a little sluggish. I'm afraid I don't hold any hope that he will become a first team regular (I don't want to be hard on the lad, I just don't see him becoming a prolific striker).

 

The subs (other than Davis):

We were forced into bringing on Elphick when the ref mistook Baker for Attila The Hun and sent him off. He instantly brought panic into the back four and we nearly conceded a second within minutes. However, we did improve as a team after the initial collywobbles and didn't look like a 10 man team.

It was another typical Jack Grealish cameo, in that he came on, drifted about the pitch occasionally showing glimpses of brilliance before disappearing or slowing up a promising attack. Then he scores from outside the box (in fairness to their keeper, he saved much better strikes this game but let this one in) continuing the Grealish myth that he will be outstanding. I think Jack needs to work on his pace and directness over the summer, he has all the attributes to scare defences but too often takes the easy option.

 

Manager:

A difficult one, on one hand we matched one of the top 2 in the league but in all honesty, we should have won the game. Bruce needs help with our attacking game - too many times we got to the final third and looked bereft of ideas and the players couldn't read each others movements. This needs addressing.

 

 

[TRO]

2 hours ago, sidcow said:

I was shocked at how poor Brighton were. They deserved nothing out of the game not even the draw and judging by how their players collapsed at the end of the game they wanted it for sure. 

We were miles better, and we were not very good. 

Why can't I vote Keinan Davis as my man of the match? Best player on the pitch by a country mile after he came on. 

Now that IS encouraging.

[jackdaww]

4 hours ago, JAMAICAN-VILLAN said:

Hopefully good signs for next season, it's clear we have some good players in this squad.

i dont think the signs are good at all .

there are some able players but they just do not deliver often enough.

some  of the new signings are duds -- but kodjia jedinack taylor ARE good.

we are desperately short of strikers , so we MUST keep on to agbonlahor and just hope some of the youngsters step up .

bree has a lot to prove so we must also hang on to hutton another year .

also bacuna should stay - he is versatile but needs to grow up fast .

its possible we may sign some great players in the summer - im not holding my breath .

ps. its remarkable how many of the players we gave away are now in the PREM!!  

Edited May 7, 2017 by jackdaww
ps