Ratings & Reactions: PO Villa v West Brom

[KenjiOgiwara]

Should have won that with 2-3 goals. But can't complain. Turned it around. 

Whelan was piss poor. Hourihane did well. McGinn was really quiet. Grealish turned up one half. Abraham was poor as well methinks. He needs to finish those chances. 

El Ghazi MOTM for me by some distance. In the first half he looked like the only player on the pitch who realized we needed to turn up today. 

Green > Adomah for me. 

Oh and Gayle is a clearing in the woods. 

Edited May 11, 2019 by KenjiOgiwara

[LondonLax]

Albion will have to get forward more in the next leg. Could create more space for us. 

[thunderball]

Still a lot to do though. Hasn’t realised what a physically big team they are.

[foreveryoung]

Need to be better second leg, sure we will be, an hopefully it was the plan not to tire to much first leg. Without Gayle will certainly be easier. I'm on hols for 2nd leg, so see you at the final.

[villa4europe]

Baggies mate straight in the WhatsApp group that the ref was bent and we are a team of cheats and divers

Not sure what he's on about, the Abraham push was about the only contentious decision

As for the game, baggies were very good for 60 minutes, defended excellently and threatened on the long ball in to space, gayle **** up an easy pass to win them the match, I think their undoing was their own shit housery, became a case of cling on rather than actually do anything and we upped the tempo, hourihane coming on made a massive difference, we don't need Whelan for games like today

[JAMAICAN-VILLAN]

3 minutes ago, A38villan said:

Apart from.that one tackle I thought Taylor had a shocker

It is why i've been calling for Hause to replace him.

[vreitti]

Albion made it tough for us. Think we played well. We can do better though. Nothing to fear, just play our game. We have enough quality. 

Expecting big things from McGinn in the return leg, seeing as he was a little off today. Both Adomah and Green are shit. I'd be tempted to start with Jimmy Danger on the wing. Whelan keeps his place. Hourihane is a great sub to have. 

[Zatman]

Best comeback this week

[sharkyvilla]

Love it when clearings in the woods get sent off having got booked for time wasting.  Great result, it's not a big enough deficit where West Brom have to go gung ho from the kick off and potentially panic us, instead we can hopefully just pick them off gradually.  

[JAMAICAN-VILLAN]

Just now, villa4europe said:

Baggies mate straight in the WhatsApp group that the ref was bent and we are a team of cheats and divers

Not sure what he's on about, the Abraham push was about the only contentious decision

As for the game, baggies were very good for 60 minutes, defended excellently and threatened on the long ball in to space, gayle **** up an easy pass to win them the match, I think their undoing was their own shit housery, became a case of cling on rather than actually do anything and we upped the tempo, hourihane coming on made a massive difference, we don't need Whelan for games like today

Just send him this.

[kiltorken]

2 minutes ago, KenjiOgiwara said:

Whelan was piss poor. 

Apart from the absolute howler in the first half I thought Whelan was good, but Hourihane was definitely more suited to that type of game. 

[Ingram85]

A bag of nerves all round today. Smith, Players and the fans. You could feel it.

Poor team selection initially but Smith eventually made the right changes just about in the nick of time. Needs to be a touch more reactive a bit quicker next time. 

Ref was a mixed bag too. Gave too much leeway for a bit to their dirty challenges but made the right decisions when it counted.

AEG, Mings, Hourihane etc... Class. Grealish needs to step up in the 2nd leg as does McGinn, they both need to be more creative when Tesco Bags shut up shop. But can’t moan too much overall.

A few of our other players need to pull it together in the 2nd leg too and if they do and we’re all singing of the same hymn sheet then we will absolutely destroy them. If not then it’s anyones again much like today.

Massive game next. Massive. Hourihane simply has to be in for Whelan and please god no more **** Adomah.

Edited May 11, 2019 by Ingram85

[KenjiOgiwara]

I want a picture of Grealish prior to his pass to Hourihane at 1-1. Swear there must have been 4 WBA players marking him. Looked like kids playing

[rjw63]

69% possession and 21 shots for Villa.

Olbiyun are wank.

[djdabush]

7 minutes ago, A38villan said:

Apart from.that one tackle I thought Taylor had a shocker

Not his sort of game. Had pretty much unlimited opportunities going forward but very little defending to do. His nosebleeds near the opposition box were evident

[KenjiOgiwara]

2 minutes ago, kiltorken said:

Apart from the absolute howler in the first half I thought Whelan was good, but Hourihane was definitely more suited to that type of game. 

I thought he was slow and error prone. His passing was often behind the man he aimed at as well. Not his best game at all. But it might be a better match for him on Tuesday? Guess we have to sit a bit deeper then and counter. 

[Zatman]

4 minutes ago, sharkyvilla said:

Love it when clearings in the woods get sent off having got booked for time wasting.  Great result, it's not a big enough deficit where West Brom have to go gung ho from the kick off and potentially panic us, instead we can hopefully just pick them off gradually.  

He should have been sent off 20 minutes before for deliberate obstruction. Deano was pissed at ref

[matteyp]

Gayle out for the second leg is like an extra goal.  We are in the box seat now.  And Grealish was fantastic.

[Jas10]

8 minutes ago, KenjiOgiwara said:

Should have won that with 2-3 goals. But can't complain. Turned it around. 

Whelan was piss poor. Hourihane did well. McGinn was really quiet. Grealish turned up one half. Abraham was poor as well methinks. He needs to finish those chances. 

El Ghazi MOTM for me by some distance. In the first half he looked like the only player on the pitch who realized we needed to turn up today. 

Green > Adomah for me. 

Oh and Gayle is a clearing in the woods. 

Yeah McGinn was disappointing for once. El Ghazi was great but didn’t have enough support, hope his injury is not serious, we desperately need him for these games. Our weakest area appears to be on the wings.

Feel so fortunate to have Jack, such a wonderful footballer and what a sweet strike by Conor - he should have started the game.

[AVTuco]

Hourihane came in and did what was expected of him. Good man.

Other than that, El Ghazi was good, and Jack was productive instead of his usual good.

McGinn didn't make any of his trademark runs, or anything else either. Did WBA defend him so well, or was it just a bad day at the office?