Ratings & Reactions: Villa v Middlesbrough

[LxYoungAVFC]

1 hour ago, Brumstopdogs said:

Man of the match today and really playing well!

 

 

Wish they would have posted those heat maps when Barry Banan was around. Would have showed how valuable he was for us

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[Stratvillan]

Thought the midfield 3 were magnificent!

[screwdriver]

This Villa team is the real deal.

In november when we destroyed boro and derby their fans were saying we just been whacked by the future champions.

injury to JAck blew the wind out of our sails. Now he's back he doesn't even have to do much to run the show. His presence alone has made players like Taylor and Whelan 8 out of 10 jobs.

We took pulis's team to the cleaners today. The amount of ball we nicked in the midfield  was immense.

El Gazi gave a performance of classic wing play today. He should of had a hatrick.

Green was disappointing but give him a break he was up against george friend who looks an old skool 80's style hard man. I bet he gave him the verbals.

Tammy was also poor he's turned into rufus smalls

[Brumerican]

We have avoided all the big guns in the Champions League draw so you'd have to fancy us in that too  based on current form. 

We are probably a good E/W shout for the Grand National right now as well.

[TRO]

2 hours ago, lapal_fan said:

We're a funny old club.. why do we batter rivals - when we absolutely have to - but lose silly matches against really, genuinely poor teams, or win 5 on the bounce, and then draw against bottom of the table?

Why can we go through great purple patches, when it already looks like there is no hope, then when there finally is hope, we crumble back into annoying shitness again?

Why do we look formidable against great individual players, but play like turkeys against run of the mill, over the hill strikers and attackers?

How can we look so comfortable one week, with 3 games played, but look tired and lethargic after an international break?

Why do we always score so many goals against league best defences, but go on to score naff all against teams who ship at least 3 a game the rest of the season?

Why the **** **** have we drawn 16 times this season?!

Why why why why why why why why why why?!!!!???

Anyway that was nice wan'it? 

perhaps losing too many key players has a lot to do with it.

[Hanky]

Great performance. Could have been more as well. 

[TRO]

2 hours ago, terrytini said:

Fantastic performance.

Energy, passing, movement, hit it long, Play it short, overlapping fullbacks, interchanging midfield, and granite at the back.

As well as I’ve seen us play.

Last 5 games, including 4 Midlands derbies, 13 Points, Scored 12, conceeded 2.

The thing I liked best ? Watching Brentford the last couple of seasons what really stood out was how they could play the ball without looking, because they had been coached to expect players to be doing certain things. We had that in abundance today.

I didn't see the overflapping full backs.....i thought they played quite well.

[villabromsgrove]

I wrote in the pre match thread that Whelan was too slow and negative, quoting statistics to back up my view.

Statistics didn't play today .... Whelan did. Congratulations on a really good MOTM display Glen.

[ciggiesnbeer]

"I'm really disappointed. Villa have had five shots on goal and scored three goals."

Oh come on now Tony.

 

Delighted with today. Great job all round.  UTV!

[terrytini]

Did he really say that ?

Im not sure when I last saw a team so comprehensively outplayed.

I suppose to be fair he does love clean sheets, and they did manage a nice big fat Zero, just like up at their place.

[Brumstopdogs]

 

 

[Ouchmefoot]

Never been a Whelan fan and used to sigh when I saw him on the team sheet, but today he was immense.

Nice to see a cameo from Davis. Would like to see him get the nod ahead of Kodjia.

Was pleased to see Uncle Albert get on the team sheet and showed class by not celebrating against his old club, despite him leaving 3 years ago.

So good to watch a match that was so comfortable - never worried at all. UTV!

[Xela]

4 in a row - against sides that started the day above us

[turvontour]

Two of the sweetest and most convincing back to back home wins in recent memory. Maybe others can think of better? but given Derby and Boro could well be playoff oponents, thats some psychological advantage.

[villan-scott]

Great win. Watch out Tony, we’re coming for you!!

Edited March 16, 2019 by villan-scott

[The Fun Factory]

Never in doubt. I will scrap my tip for Boro to win the playoffs- they offered nothing. Started playing for time after about 5 minutes and looked so ponderous. But enough about them, Villa were excellent.

In such a short time we seem to have  a balanced side. It probably helps we have two more natural left foot players in the team. Grealish back is a huge bonus and in the long run the suspension for McGinn has given him a good rest. It doesn't matter that Tammy is struggling a bit when we have a midfield that can't stop scoring. 

Whelan- a regal performance. An imperious display from Glen. He read everything and totally bossed it. Well done sir- I forgive you for the Preston penalty.

Its  a shame we have the international break, I  hope we can keep this performance level up for the rest of the season. If we do this then who knows where it will take us. But for now I am just pleased to see the improved performances compared the winter period and that Villa Park is buzzing after that.

[OutByEaster?]

I thought we played very, very well. Dominated from start to finish. We've made several decent teams look very average over the last few weeks and I'm increasingly convinced they've not all just had bad days. 

What I like about us at the moment is how balanced we've been, yes, "Jack's back" and all that, but the whole team is contributing, the much maligned (by me) Elmohamady has been coolness personified at right back, Taylor has added a bit of drive to his game, we've got two big, strong physical centrebacks, at least one of whom is absolutely top quality, McGinn looks unstoppable after his little suspension break and El Ghazi is looking dangerous and confident.

I'd pick out a couple today - Whelan firstly, he was very good on the ball and in the tackle, but it's his defensive positioning that I can't help but notice. Every time a team breaks and we have a man missing - a full back up the field, a midfielder caught in the opposition box or a centre half gone for a wander, I worry, I look at runners from the opposition and then when I look back, Whelan is there, filling in. Not every now and then, not often, but each and every single time - he gives our back line the freedom to try things - it's a massive asset to us. He's in great form and loving his new cult status.

The other one is Andre Green - he's not quite quick enough and he doesn't have a trick as such, which means he can at times look a little disappointing - but what I've noticed about him is how smart he his - for a young footballer, he makes good decisions, he's where his team mates expect him to be, he makes the runs they want and he understands what's happening around him - it's not going to change the world, but it means we have a balance up the right hand side that works for the team.

Abraham looks a little tired and I hope his calf is okay, but he's not playing badly; he's working his socks off, leading the line and occupying defenders - creating space all over the place. Hopefully he'll get a little rest, we need him.

The manager got everything right, Terry gave us a wave, the players did the right things very well, the crowd was excellent and it's hard not to feel very positive about things - at the end when the players applauded the fans, you got a sense of togetherness and alignment - it feels good at the moment. Good things can happen.

Bring on Blackburn.

 

 

[Stevo985]

4 hours ago, Made In Aston said:

I've just watched the sky sports match highlights. Middlesbrough fans might as well not watch it as their team have zero chances on the clip

No surprise. They were utterly woeful.

Not to take anything away from us, as part of why they were woeful was because we were so good.

But they were very poor. Like I said in the match thread, they play football like people think Bruce plays football.

[sidcow]

I was about to say to my son earlier that I felt a bit sorry for their fans having spent the money and come all that way to see such a dreadful display from their team, but then I remembered that I went to Wigan so thought "no, sod them" and kept my mouth shut. 

[a m ole]

2 hours ago, ciggiesnbeer said:

"I'm really disappointed. Villa have had five shots on goal and scored three goals."

Oh come on now Tony.

 

Delighted with today. Great job all round.  UTV!

Yeah, really odd how you lost Tony, you’d have never guessed the result from the stats.

Shots

18 - 5

On Target

5 - 1 (a nothing effort straight at Steer)

Possession

61% - 39%