Ratings & Reactions: Villa v Rotherham

[brummybloke]

1 hour ago, Junxs said:

Sorry but thats exactly the type of thinking that has kept Bruce in the job.

We have by far the superior squad in the last 2-3 seasons every time we play another team in this league, there are so many shit teams in this league that of course he will win a lot of games, so results like tonight are always around the corner due to this reason - and it just buys him more time yet again.

You are right though, at the end of the season its points that matter, the last 2 seasons we haven't accumulated enough points and this season is heading the same way. Before you say he made the play off final, we are the biggest spenders in this league and should be finishing in the automatic places not 4th. Would Man City settle for non champions league qualification?

? The most superior squad the last 2 or 3 years you say ?

Biggest spenders in this league you say ?

 

 

Like to know where you are getting your magical 'facts' from because you are talking rubbish.

 

 

[Michael118]

Bolasie a class above and it showed.

[Spoony]

1 hour ago, Enda said:

Mad to think it's the first clean sheet.

[TheAuthority]

Not happy with the Mail is he?

 

[JB]

1 hour ago, briny_ear said:

Can you explain what this means? I’m mystified.

Mystified? Come on. Really? I think you’re being slightly disingenuous or at least exaggerating.

To clarify just in case - I think that another draw or, dare I say it, a loss tonight would’ve seen Bruce on his way. I think that with a better manager, we would pick up significantly more points over the course of the rest of the season and the 2/3 dropped tonight would be insignificant in the long run. Perhaps even cancelled out in the next 4/5 (or fewer) games. Yes, it’s hypothetical but based on performances/results this season, and the players at our disposal, I think there’s a fairly strong case for it.

I would never, ever want us to lose but we won’t get anywhere while he remains in charge. He’s holding this team back and clinging on to the job by his fingertips.

Edited September 18, 2018 by JB

[BOF]

2 hours ago, Rugeley Villa said:

Thought we played well tonight, but Rotherham made it so easy for us. Will probably not have an easier game all season. Abraham has impressed me a lot since his move. Great touch, great on the ball, and will score plenty of goals. Kodjia played well too. The midfield was very strong tonight, but it was too easy tonight. You can only beat what’s Infront of you though. 5th in the table, and confidence should be high for saturdays game. 

Another thing I will say is, that I thought the crowd tonight were very positive with the team, and even Bruce. 28k which was more than I was expecting, and a bigger crowd than what Leeds got. Was expecting a negative atmosphere, but it was positive. 

Good to be back Mr Ruge?

[The Fun Factory]

A standard home win. Dominated the game, could have killed it earlier. As usual second half made it slightly more uncomfortable than we should have done but the second goal finished the game. Abraham  should score close to 20 this season if he stays fit, quality. Bolaise should be good value this season as well as he is clearly a league below his ability. In fairness to Bruce at least he started with a more attacking XI this time.  The defence still worries me versus better sides.  I thought El Ghazi was a tad disappointing. I was a bit surprised that Hourihane appeared to do all the set pieces today and not just the ones from the left as McGinn could have done a few today I thought as well.

Overall more postives and negatives but the big test will be on Saturday. UTV.

[Hornso]

Only saw the 2nd half so can't comment too much. Thought Kodjia/Abraham & Hourihane/McGinn worked well together and overall thought we looked pretty comfortable. Although started to get concerned when a couple of their headers late just went past the post. Thought we'd thrown it away for another draw after being the better side.

Happy for Nyland to keep a clean sheet, although I didn't see him tested hopefully it gives him some confidence to build on. Also good to see both the new guys on the scoresheet.

Much bigger test on Saturday I fear.

[fifamad]

Bruce in!! 

[Hornso]

Forgot to say, Villa Park sounded like a library coming through the stream.

[SirSteveUK]

3 hours ago, JB said:

 

?

Edited September 19, 2018 by SirSteveUK
n/a

[briny_ear]

1 hour ago, JB said:

Mystified? Come on. Really? I think you’re being slightly disingenuous or at least exaggerating.

To clarify just in case - I think that another draw or, dare I say it, a loss tonight would’ve seen Bruce on his way. I think that with a better manager, we would pick up significantly more points over the course of the rest of the season and the 2/3 dropped tonight would be insignificant in the long run. Perhaps even cancelled out in the next 4/5 (or fewer) games. Yes, it’s hypothetical but based on performances/results this season, and the players at our disposal, I think there’s a fairly strong case for it.

I would never, ever want us to lose but we won’t get anywhere while he remains in charge. He’s holding this team back and clinging on to the job by his fingertips.

Oh I see. I was actually genuinely mystified but I should have realised it was just anti-Bruce stuff.

I have to say that makes it less interesting to me. Wish someone could change the Villatalk broken record.

[One For The Road]

6 hours ago, smg said:

3 points, clean sheet, two new players score. What is there to moan about ? Keep reading. At the end of the season it’s points that matter we can moan about playing style and exciting football when we are an established premier league team until then it’s all about the points total.

The point people are making, is that we didn't look convincing against the poorest team in the league. That does not bode well for playing the better sides.

We will never be "an established premier league team" under Steve Bruce and better sides, like ones who know how to score goals, will punish us.

Edited September 19, 2018 by One For The Road

[Demitri_C]

Solid win. I'll be honest that Rotherham team wasnt as bad as people say. They were organised and hard to break down. They countered pretty well for a team with such a low budget.

We didn't play that great but it was pretty comfortable. Tammy and kodjia looks promising. Mcginn looks superb. Love his energy. I thought el ghazi was great really created a lot.

Defensively we still look a mess at times

[KevinRichardsonsMoustache]

Agree with Bruce that it looks like a good team in the making. I hope we can keep building the relationships between them.

 

I enjoyed some of the free flowing stuff we played last night. Hope we get more of it. Also pleased to hear Bruce say that he wants to play two up top. I definitely want more of that.

 

At times, I was frustrated by how we struggled to control the game. For a thirty minute stretch in the second half, it was like basket ball. Better teams will take advantage of our lack of cohension if we don’t improve in that area. Also, movement off the ball didn’t seem particularly good beyond the first goal.

 

Overall, I expected a win last night and I’m pleased. I hope we can build from here because our offensive threat has the potential to tear the league apart. 

 

 

Edited September 19, 2018 by KevinRichardsonsMoustache

[JB]

5 hours ago, briny_ear said:

Oh I see. I was actually genuinely mystified but I should have realised it was just anti-Bruce stuff.

I have to say that makes it less interesting to me. Wish someone could change the Villatalk broken record.

I’m not anti-Bruce; I’m pro-Villa and anything that makes Villa successful. But there’s a significant overlap in the two positions. 

[Skills]

9 hours ago, terrytini said:

Goodness me there’s some talent in this team.

Well, he finally ditched the DM - only took 2 years !

I thought we played some good stuff but as everybody be can see when it’s good it’s by virtue of the ability of the players only.

How much better we’d be if those players played to a meaningful plan is anybody’s guess, but it’s s shame for them and us we won’t find out.

I had my fill of hollow victories a year ago, since then I’ve tried to just enjoy whatever I can, but it’s tough going.

this is what got me excited from the line up, didnt watch the game and unfortunately im not going to get a feel of how it went amongst all the negative posts.

From the few games ive seen McGinn, i see him developing into a DM in the mould of Petrov particularly if we go up.    It allows us to play two up top, i just hope its not a once off against a poor Rotherham team

[Skills]

7 hours ago, JB said:

Mystified? Come on. Really? I think you’re being slightly disingenuous or at least exaggerating.

To clarify just in case - I think that another draw or, dare I say it, a loss tonight would’ve seen Bruce on his way. I think that with a better manager, we would pick up significantly more points over the course of the rest of the season and the 2/3 dropped tonight would be insignificant in the long run. Perhaps even cancelled out in the next 4/5 (or fewer) games. Yes, it’s hypothetical but based on performances/results this season, and the players at our disposal, I think there’s a fairly strong case for it.

I would never, ever want us to lose but we won’t get anywhere while he remains in charge. He’s holding this team back and clinging on to the job by his fingertips.

kinda comes across you're unhappy that we won to be fair

i would prefer another manager to Bruce, but i rather him not get the ass as that would mean we're doing alright!

[wilko154]

Good result, and a better performance but far from perfect still.

To be fair to Bruce his team selection was spot on, Jedinak played as they had a target man up front that they looked to all game and he dealt with him very well. This is exactly the type of change he should be making when required.

Tactically I am not keen on the 4-4-2, a 4-2-3-1 would have suited the players in that side a lot more and created a lot more attacking intent. Kodjia and Abraham work very well together, but are too similar and static at times meaning the midfield struggle to find players to build up the play. The 4-4-2 is also taking Grealish out of the position he has excelled in and stops him running at defences through the middle as he did to great effect last season.

 

Nyland - 6/10 - Solid perfomance from him, he didn't have a lot to do but was good when called on. Came out for a few crosses which was good to see, and dealt with a horrible backpass well. Slowly improving.

Hutton - 6/10 - Decent enough performance from him, a pretty typical Alan Hutton performance. Solid at the back, hassled their wingers enough to stop them going past him. Going forward he is all intent with no purpose, but you have to love him for that.

Elmo - 6/10 - Thought he was fairly poor last night, but gave himself an extra point with a fantastic cross to Bolasie to kill the game off. As we saw last season though he does have off games. If I was James Bree I would be seeing an opening coming up at RB soon.

Jedinak - 7/10 - Played very well, dealt with all of the long balls forward as you would expect. He will get caught out against teams playing the ball on the floor but last night was the perfect game for him.

Chester - 8/10 - Solid as always, dealt with everything perfectly.

McGinn - 9/10 - Superb last night, a typical battling display wins the majority of 50/50's and is always a threat going forward. Linked up very well with Hourihane and between the two of them they ensured our midfield wasn't overun. Played a cross field ball in the first half with the outside of his foot which was sensational. Looked back to his best last night after a few shaky performances.

Hourihane - 7/10 - We've missed him in the middle of the park. Pure energy for 90 minutes, harries players at one end and then pops up at the other end to help out play though the middle or out wide. For me he's like a Petrov, you miss him when he's not there. Linked up well with McGinn and it looks as though it could be a very good partnership.

Grealish - 6/10 - Quiet game from Jack but played in the wrong position. Played on the left he doesn't see enough of the ball and can't impact the game in the same way he does through the middle. If he were to be played ahead of McGinn and Hourihane we would dominate possession through the middle. Glimpses if what he can do when in posession out wide though, and did well to create Abraham's goal.

El Ghazi - 6/10 - Another quiet game, nothing seemed to come off for him first half and lost his patience with a stupid challenge to pick up a booking. Wasn't really helped much by Elmo behind him, and we looked a lot better on the right when Bolasie came on. Glimpses of what he can do and he's not afraid to take on a man.

Kodjia - 7/10 - Linking up well with Abraham and looks back to his best taking on players. Rolled a player easily in the first half and should have scored, fantastic pass to set up Abraham. Not sure if anyone noticed the Rabona cross he tried in the second half... everything that's wrong with him as a player, he could have easily slotted it across the box to put us 2-0 up. For me he needs to played out on the left as he can be too static up front alongside Abraham.

Abraham - 8/10 - Exactly the striker we have been crying out for. Brings the ball down well and is physically imposing, great with his feet. Took his goal well and looks as though he will bag a load this season.

 

Bolasie - 7/10 - Looking like he will soon be on the pace. Constant threat in the time he was on the pitch and will terrify defences. 

Adomah - 6/10 - Did well when he came on, chased down every ball and moved up top when required.

Bree - 6/10 - Did enough when he came on.

[KenjiOgiwara]

7 hours ago, Hornso said:

Forgot to say, Villa Park sounded like a library coming through the stream.

To be fair supporting Bruce's Villa is a bit like being in a library. Everything exciting happens in your mind.