Ratings & Reactions: Villa v Bolton

[Brumstopdogs]

 

 

[The_Rev]

re: Nyland 

Is he on a mission to make Villa fans pine for the days when we had Peter Enckelman in goal?  

[OutByEaster?]

Interesting game that, we were the better side by a distance and I was confident we'd win from the opening minutes - but we played like a pre-season game - it was sometimes slow, sometimes disjointed, sometimes slick, sometimes excellent - we look like a team that are trying to figure ourselves out - we're having a pre-season during the season and it'll have done our players some good to have gotten another ninety minutes under their belts in a win.

Neither full back excelled, but neither let us down - Hutton played a couple of bad balls early and a wasted a cross, but he settled and did okay - he's one where you can sometimes see him fighting against the urge to whack it into the corner for a striker to chase - he's not natural yet in this system. Frankly I think he's earned a little time to get used to it. Taylor looks more comfortable game on game - now he has to prove he can be more than that. 

The centre halves look like they're getting to know each others games - Chester scored and his goal line clearance was outstanding but for me Tuanzebe just edged him for man of the match, I thought he was excellent, he's good on the ball and in the second half his recovery pace was really good.

I thought all three of the midfielders did well, Jack catches the eye with his ability on the ball and the way he moves the team around the park, McGinn with his dogged bursts and ability to suddenly hurry a game, but I also thought Hourihane was decent in a controlled role behind them.

Grealish's goal, whilst not a flashy one was a goal full of real quality, the little bit of shoulder movement from Abraham to turn and the finish from Grealish were both out of a division one higher than this one.

I was impressed with Abraham - he didn't have a great game - just couldn't quite find that last bit of luck, touches went the wrong way, a defenders thigh deflected a flick, the ball fell just where he couldn't hit it - all that stuff - but he never stopped and right through he was alway exactly where you'd want him, showing for the ball, occupying defenders and presenting a threat. If he keeps up the good habits, the little bit of luck will find him.

I thought Adomah worked hard and seems to be bustling himself into some sort of form - he needs a moment of his own to spark his confidence. Kodjia is full of confidence and moments of his own, he just needs to keep bustling - defensively he can be a liability, but occasionally he can do things going forward that other players can't - it's a balance for him. The moment at the very start of the second half when he ran through and squared the ball for Abraham then stood in front of the Holte End after the miss with his arms wide as if to say "See, you want me to pass it and we don't score" was just odd, a little bit too ego for me - I'd be interested in the opinions of those that were in front of him. Late in the second half, his dribble and seventy yard burst was brilliance - taking all the pressure away from our defence - even if the free kick he won at the end of it was laughable. One of a number of hilarious decisions on the night and a few that weren't at all funny.

Fpe example, our second goal I'm not sure was a free kick, but Chester bundled it home well - he can't stop getting on the end of things at the moment. Still, the Bolton players were incensed.

One day we'll play a game with a referee who protects Grealish and Mcginn - today it was McGinn's turn to be the subject of some really unpleasant lunges - one in the first half I thought could have been red - it happened right in front of the referee who let play go on before coming back to McGinn later, confused as to why he was on the floor - the two footed high lunge from ten seconds before already gone from his teeny tiny brain. There were a number of dangerous challenges on McGinn in the first half and he insisted in showing his cuts and lumps to the ref as he went off at half time - I'm surprised he still believed the ref could see. Mr Langford can go on the list of people who'd be better suited to other work. He was horrendous throughout and what resulted was a game in which a player might have been hurt.

Thankfully no-one was, despite the best efforts to persuade us otherwise of the All-Lancashire face grabbing display team. I don't think I've ever seen a team so keen to roll around covering their faces with their hands, I counted about eight, none of whom were touched. I wonder if they play pee-po in training.

This week's winner of knob of the day - Craig Noone - fouls, moaning and rolling about constantly. Mentions for Joe Williams and Pawel Olkowski - good effort boys but it was Noone's night. Bolton are horrible - there's just nothing to recommend about them. I'd sooner watch four hours of Judge Judy.

In the end we never looked like losing, we looked like we're trying to do something we can't quite get to grips with, yet there's enough there to suggest we might click at some point and hopefully we will - we'll have to do it quickly though, the fixture list gets a bit more serious from here on in. 

If I had to sum us up on tonight's performance I'd say we played a little bit like Arsenal would if they were pissed as farts and had spent much of the night in Snobs.

 

 

[turvontour]

How have people got Abraham motm? Chester scored twice and kept a clean sheet.

[OutByEaster?]

Oops - I forgot Nyland. 

Oops and Nyland might belong in the same sentence. 

He made a couple of reasonable stops in the second half, he's okay at that, it's catching any sort of cross that's concerning. The one in the first half where the Bolton player got under his cross a bit and the ball ballooned toward the far post was just horrendous - I think it was going wide and over - but Nyland seemingly had no idea where his post was, where his crossbar was or what he wanted to do - in the end it looked like one hand wanted to catch it and one wanted to punch it - I think finally he grabbed his own wrist and the ball hit his arms and went behind for a corner. It could have gone anywhere. It might be the worst effort at catching a dropping ball I've ever seen. 

He's a worry.

 

[fifamad]

I thought the performance was not convincing and Bolton could of been at least level at HT, second half we seen it out, we need to be far better, Bolton are a woeful team in freefall, unconvincing imo. 

Edited November 2, 2018 by fifamad

[AVFCDAN]

Entertaining match. Sustained pressure. Controlled possession.

We all see things differently over a 90 minute football match but those are 3 things I can’t remember getting from Bruce since that Wolves game, the signs are positive.

[Rugeley Villa]

Quite a few had good games. Chester, Hutton, McGinn, Grealish . Can’t help but love McGinn, a proper old school footballer. Delightful to watch . 

[Rugeley Villa]

20 minutes ago, fifamad said:

I thought the performance was not convincing and Bolton could of been at least level at HT, second half we seen it out, we need to be far better, Bolton are a woeful team in freefall, unconvincing imo. 

Some proper games coming up, so we shall see how we hold ourselves against some of the better teams in the league. 

[Brumstopdogs]

 

 

 

[TheMelvillan]

Tuanzebe may be our best centre back which makes the decision to play him at right back all the more baffling.

Honourable mention to McGinn. You often see players "pressuring" the man with the ball but so very few do it with actual purpose. Often it looks like they are doing it to appease the crowd and/ or the manager. But McGinn does it to actually win back the ball. I love it. Such an earnest and unique player and we are lucky to have the lad imho.

As for Kodjia. He tried so hard tonight to be a team player tonight and that is to be applauded. But it is so far out of his comfort zone lol. Maybe we should just cut him loose to do his own thing and see what happens. Dudes a maniac

[Rugeley Villa]

I like Kodjia. It doesn’t go his way a lot of the time, like tonight, but he tried, and that’s all you can ask. When he’s on his game, he’s very good. 

[rodders0223]

Referee will get away with it because we won and everyone went home happy but again, it was another laughable performance. Every gust of wind that hit a Bolton player was a free kick. It was embarrassing.

Bolton knew what they were doing, and it was a good gameplan. Win free kicks and put ball into box. Goalkeeper is a sunday league clown.

On another day they would have scored a couple.

[WakefieldVillan]

Extremely happy to start the weekend off with 3 points and hopefully tomorrow a few of the other results go our way.

Actually thought we played better against QPR than we did tonight, this was a bit of a mixed bag for me, started well, but could have been level at HT, had a good spell second half where we could have hit 3 or 4 then saw the game out well.

Chester MOTM for me, he needed that performance to give him a bit of a lift, ably supported by Tuanzebe who also showed more promise, with Grealish instrumental in both goals. 

Highlight for me though was listening to Dean Smith honest post match verdict, really refreshing to hear, I think we've got a good one here lads!

 

 

 

[briny_ear]

57 minutes ago, turvontour said:

How have people got Abraham motm? Chester scored twice and kept a clean sheet.

Er, Chester scored TWICE?

Damn, I missed our third goal! 

[briny_ear]

So happy to see Jack score & get an assist (I think? Only seen the Sky highlights).

Damn these Friday matches. Missed another Villa game on telly ‘ cos I was out ‘cos it’s what you do on Friday night.

 

[QldVilla]

I think the manager getting a full week with the players showed tonight. There's still a lot of work to do, but you can see we are better tactically. We could of scored 4 or 5, but they also could have scored 1 or 2. We look a threat going forward from both touch lines and through the middle, even if the last pass or touch is still going astray. THe back 4 look a lot better, although looked exposed a couple of times, maybe the manager plays a DM in front when we are away from home. There's small improvement each week and that should continue, very promising.

[roonst83]

Great to win. We simply needed those three points. Fully deserved. Chester stepped up and did great. That clearance was nothing short of incredible. We’re still shakey at the back but that’s not something new and something we need to work on. But we defended well second half. Tuanzebe is getting better all the time and looks more settled. McGinn was fantastic throughout. Absolutely love him. Grealish was great too. Can’t stand Kodjia, he can have a moment of brilliance but most of the time he’s absolutely woeful and doesn’t have a brain. Taylor and Hutton not good enough atall really. Keeper is an utter liability. Haven’t trusted him from the start. I think Smith recognises this and will make a change in January. We still perpetually allow the opposition decent chances and I feel better opposition would have punished us for sure. 

Needed the win. Especially with tough games ahead. We’re far from comfortable defensively but we’re playing in much more of a positive and entertaining way, the way I hoped (and expected) under our manager. Next few games will be an almighty test and it’s a great shame Smith wasn’t afforded the “luxury” of the previous fixtures we’ve had to date as I’m absolutely certain we would’ve taken full points from the likes of Reading, Ipswich and Preston. But the past is in the past and we’re growing in confidence, have a shape about us now along with a plan and style of play that suits our players’ capabilities. Big test over the next couple of months but we’re all backing Smith, we’re all behind the boys and feeling united as a fan base. That will help us I’m sure. If we can stay in and around the hunt for playoffs through the remainder of the year then hopefully we can be a well oiled ship ready to make an assent and a big push from there. 

 

[fifamad]

I think Bolton will go down 

Edited November 3, 2018 by fifamad

[Ouchmefoot]

Highlights:

https://www.skysports.com/watch/video/sports/football/11543251/aston-villa-2-0-bolton