Ratings & Reactions: Spurs v Villa

[Rugeley Villa]

4 minutes ago, Stevo985 said:

I forgot what it was like to lose. 

I also forgot how irritating VT can be when we lose. 

I saw enough to be encouraged today. People expecting a lot in a game away against Spurs are ambitious to say the least. 

God forbid if we lose to Bournemouth next Saturday . 

[Dr_Pangloss]

7 minutes ago, Stevo985 said:

I forgot what it was like to lose. 

I also forgot how irritating VT can be when we lose. 

I saw enough to be encouraged today. People expecting a lot in a game away against Spurs are ambitious to say the least. 

If we have this sort of result next week then I'd understand, but away to pretty much a nailed on top 4 side who got to the champions league final? No, not having it. There's this bizarre expectation that we would be able to go there and play really expansive football, but against a side who are far, far superior both in terms of athleticism and technique, I fail to see how that would be possible without getting annihilated. 

[foreveryoung]

3 minutes ago, Rugeley Villa said:

God forbid if we lose to Bournemouth next Saturday . 

Nearly £150 million spent, says we shouldn't be losing to Bournemouth, but who knows, according to some the money means nothing.

I'm expecting with the coach we have, to do a Wolves, not a Fulham.

[Rugeley Villa]

1 minute ago, foreveryoung said:

Nearly £150 million spent, says we shouldn't be losing to Bournemouth, but who knows, according to some the money means nothing.

I'm expecting with the coach we have, to do a Wolves, not a Fulham.

Losing to Bournemouth is perfectly plausible though. It could quite easily happen. It’s one of those games I’d avoid on my Acca because it can go either way. I just think people losing their shit because we lost our first two games won’t do us any good at all. 

[HKP90]

9 minutes ago, Dr_Pangloss said:

If we have this sort of result next week then I'd understand, but away to pretty much a nailed on top 4 side who got to the champions league final? No, not having it. There's this bizarre expectation that we would be able to go there and play really expansive football, but against a side who are far, far superior both in terms of athleticism and technique, I fail to see how that would be possible without getting annihilated. 

I think we get that. I also think that the team selection is open to criticism.

[terrytini]

1 hour ago, a m ole said:

It’s interesting to compare with what the rest of the football world has said.

Interesting is one way of putting it.

I don’t ever remember feeling so angry reading VT.

Its taken 90 minutes of football for some to find fault here, dismiss a player there, criticise a mistake here, and all the rest.

Absolutely flaming ridiculous.

[terrytini]

17 minutes ago, Dr_Pangloss said:

If we have this sort of result next week then I'd understand, 

It really worries me that a guy who’s Posts I enjoy/ appreciate would understand this reaction if we lost 3-1 next week......or any week.

Surely we all know we are almost certainly going to lose at least half of our games, which, by definition, means we will lose both home and Away, and to teams outside the top 6 ?

Bournemouth finished closer to 7th than relegation last season.

We will be finding our way for some time yet, and a similar result next week shouldn’t prompt the negativity any more than it should have this week.

[terrytini]

12 minutes ago, HKP90 said:

I think we get that. I also think that the team selection is open to criticism.

If you’d said “ debate” I’d have agreed.

Debating the pros and cons of, for example, keeping some continuity, putting Elmo and a player he knows together, putting a left sided combination together, whilst giving newer signings time, is great. 

Saying “ he got it wrong” / “ why spend all that money then not play them”/ “ Taylor is shit” etc.......nah.

[VillaCas]

2 hours ago, AVTuco said:

If you read through the thread, most think subbing Trez for Jota was a mistake, in hindside of course. Jota was just completely out of his depth. Same for Kodjia.

I don't agree that Wes and Trez were necessarily a must to take off, but who knows.

Two points 1) “most thought” Jota was a stand out during pre-season so it’s not surprising DS gave him a run and 2) I would argue that the coaches who work with these players day in day out, have live performance monitoring data and can speak directly to the player have a better “opinion” than a fan watching on TV (or even watching live)

2 hours ago, AVTuco said:

So you're saying they're above criticism. I'm sure you're not saying that, but your comment suggests so.

Not above criticism but I back the coaches to make a better decision on whether a 100% Kodija is better than a 80% (or 70% or whatever Wesley) than a fan can

[Stevo985]

24 minutes ago, foreveryoung said:

Nearly £150 million spent, says we shouldn't be losing to Bournemouth, but who knows, according to some the money means nothing.

I'm expecting with the coach we have, to do a Wolves, not a Fulham.

It also means we shouldn’t be expecting instant results. We’ve got a lot of players who need to bed in. 

I said it in a few other threads a couple of weeks ago. We may well be quite shit for a while. But we’ll get there 

[VillaChris]

Bournemouth is a banana skin. Increased expectations after yesterday's first hour and also the perception Bournemouth is still a plucky minnow at this level (even though they've spent over 200m since coming up in 2015).

They went to West Ham for their first away last season and won 2-1. Indeed West Ham lost their opening four and finished comfortably mid table. Wolves didn't win any of their first three but sparked into life in September.

Of course any newly promoted side needs a win quickly. You don't want to get to October and still be winless.

Have a feeling Palace might be the game where it all clicks. They looked pretty poor yesterday against Everton. See if Zaha gets into form again.

[The_Rev]

We will be looking to beat Bournemouth but yesterday we were up against a phenomenally good team in Tottenham, I think only Liverpool away or Man City away would have been a tougher welcome back. Spurs kept the ball really well and we just ran out of steam, which is going to happen when you are constantly chasing shadows.  There are a handful of clubs which can routinely have 65-70% possession  and it's knackering to play against, especially when nobody is match fit.  It's frustrating to lose so late on but that's football. I'm sure when the lads are back in tomorrow Smith will be pointing out all the positives we can take from the game. I don't think our confidence will be knocked one bit. 

[Only2McInallys]

There is often a lot of knee jerk reaction on here after a game.We win a game 1-0 and we are world champions lose a game 1-0 and we are relegation fodder.We could have drawn that game if we had held out for the last 5 mins and on here it would mostly regarded as a brilliant performance.

Our big game is actually next week against Bournemouth.They are an established premier league team with a very good manager who have actually spent quite a lot of money .Some on here will expect us to win that game.I am not sure.

We are a team in transition that is going to need time to gel.Instant results are not going to happen.Weneed to be patient with all our players.I remember when Bergkamp was signed by Arsenal he took quite a long time to settle.Wes was playing against some of the best central defenders yesterday ,he will time to adapt.

if fans get on the backs of players this early we are in trouble.

[Dr_Pangloss]

42 minutes ago, terrytini said:

It really worries me that a guy who’s Posts I enjoy/ appreciate would understand this reaction if we lost 3-1 next week......or any week.

Surely we all know we are almost certainly going to lose at least half of our games, which, by definition, means we will lose both home and Away, and to teams outside the top 6 ?

Bournemouth finished closer to 7th than relegation last season.

We will be finding our way for some time yet, and a similar result next week shouldn’t prompt the negativity any more than it should have this week.

Not saying I'd agree with it, but it would be more understandable to me, if that makes sense. Ultimately for us to stay up, home games against the likes of Bournemouth are going to be vital. If we lost 3-1 at home to Bournemouth with the same sort of performance as yesterday (i.e. ~20% possession) then it'd be a lot more worrying than what was a spirited display against a side a number of levels above us in Spurs.

[TRO]

1 hour ago, terrytini said:

Interesting is one way of putting it.

I don’t ever remember feeling so angry reading VT.

Its taken 90 minutes of football for some to find fault here, dismiss a player there, criticise a mistake here, and all the rest.

Absolutely flaming ridiculous.

Terry, I think there is a difference between making observations and Criticisms.

There was much to be positive about yesterday......For 60 minutes we was leading by a well taken goal, in a fantastic new stadium against a team that has been developed for over 6/7 years by a world class manager. We were 5 minutes or so of securing a draw and only a lucky ricochet and tired legs denied us.

There were some really outstanding performances in our ranks and if we think we are going to come up from The championship  and out play teams Like Spurs Liverpool, etc in terms of ball control and positional play....we are deluded.In that respect they are years ahead of us and have had the advantage of spending big on one player at a time to escalate the team quality.....We just need to stay up and then perhaps do the same buy better quality in the fullness of time.

We rattled Spurs make no mistake, Poch was uncomfortable for long periods of that game....and we seen that running without the ball for long spells, wears you out.

Dean Smith was as clear as a bell in his summing up, there's no need to dwell on it from me, He knows and he knows what he has to do. Its still so,so early in our Premiership development and what a Baptism.

All I was hoping for was to make a good account of ourselves.....and I think we done that. The parking of the bus as some criticise was mainly tired legs, against better quality opposition, but yes, that is something we can work on.....There was half a team still gelling, what do folk expect?

Some forget Dean is still learning too, first game in the Premier league. for him and Richard O' & JT as a coach.

In many ways.....I think we were far better than I expected.

PS Hats off to Heaton, Mings and Engels.....****ing amazing.

PPS In some ways the worry will be hanging on to those players that shone in that company....cross that bridge when we come to it ,I guess

 

 

Edited August 11, 2019 by TRO

[Dr_Pangloss]

1 hour ago, foreveryoung said:

Nearly £150 million spent, says we shouldn't be losing to Bournemouth, but who knows, according to some the money means nothing.

I'm expecting with the coach we have, to do a Wolves, not a Fulham.

This doesn't really stand up to rational thought. 

Bournemouth have been established at this level for 4 years now and have made continual and sustained investment, know what this league is about and have a clearly defined philosophy, benefiting from the continuity of having a capable manager at the helm throughout their premier league journey (and obviously well before that). 

The £150m outlay is required for us to simply have a chance of survival, that's it. Had we spent a fraction of that and entrusted the remaining players who got us here we'd be looking at going down with one of the lowest ever points totals IMO.

I agree that Bournemouth at home should be considered somewhat 'winnable', but it's clear that it's early days for this side and it will take a few games to get going. What I'm looking for is a better attacking performance and far better ball retention than yesterday, that for me would be a good signal, rather than getting doom and gloom over the actual result (as long as that isn't a heavy defeat of course).

Edited August 11, 2019 by Dr_Pangloss

[TRO]

18 minutes ago, Dr_Pangloss said:

This doesn't really stand up to rational thought. 

Bournemouth have been established at this level for 4 years now and have made continual and sustained investment, know what this league is about and have a clearly defined philosophy, benefiting from the continuity of having a capable manager at the helm throughout their premier league journey (and obviously well before that). 

The £150m outlay is required for us to simply have a chance of survival, that's it. Had we spent a fraction of that and entrusted the remaining players who got us here we'd be looking at going down with one of the lowest ever points totals IMO.

I agree that Bournemouth at home should be considered somewhat 'winnable', but it's clear that it's early days for this side and it will take a few games to get going. What I'm looking for is a better attacking performance and far better ball retention than yesterday, that for me would be a good signal, rather than getting doom and gloom over the actual result (as long as that isn't a heavy defeat of course).

its still a bone of contention, for me.....It was in the championship too.....work to do on this IMO.

still very early days....The gelling will help enormously.

Edited August 11, 2019 by TRO

[terrytini]

37 minutes ago, VillaChris said:

Bournemouth is a banana skin. Increased expectations after yesterday's first hour and also the perception Bournemouth is still a plucky minnow at this level (even though they've spent over 200m since coming up in 2015).

They went to West Ham for their first away last season and won 2-1. Indeed West Ham lost their opening four and finished comfortably mid table. Wolves didn't win any of their first three but sparked into life in September.

Of course any newly promoted side needs a win quickly. You don't want to get to October and still be winless.

Have a feeling Palace might be the game where it all clicks. They looked pretty poor yesterday against Everton. See if Zaha gets into form again.

Only an ignorant fan would see Bournemouth as a “ plucky little minnow”. Sadly, it seems there are a few about.

[The Fun Factory]

I think we are harder on us than the general football media from yesterday. However I don't  think I can put up with Villa being labelled as plucky and underdogs for that long!

First half excellent against one of the best sides in Europe. Six months ago we were treading water in the Championship. Second was a tad disappointing as we sat back too much and it was inevitable they would score. I hope that we could hang onto a point but not to be. The defence was organised and very solid. Midfield was decent for about 60 minutes. 

Only nagging point is Wesley. It his is first game and he did not have much of the ball but he looks far more like a deep lying forward than a striker. Will he get doubles figures?  Kodjia was useless when he came on he failed to hold up the ball and he is clearly a championship player. And the only option is Davis who has some strengths but goal scoring is not one of them.

Bournemouth is going to be a completly different game with the onus for us to attack and have the majority of possession so will be interesting to see how that pans out.

Thoughts on the new ground- I thought it was impressive on the outside, though  it looked somewhat incongruous when next to a run down part of North London.  Compared to Arsenal the concourses were pokey. I also didn't understand that weird staircase section. It only needs one 'refreshed'  away fan to fall down those flights and that could be a problem. Liked the rail seats- basically safe standing for the away end.

Overall postives to take and on to Bournemouth next week. UTV.

[TRO]

7 minutes ago, The Fun Factory said:

I think we are harder on us than the general football media from yesterday. However I don't  think I can put up with Villa being labelled as plucky and underdogs for that long!

First half excellent against one of the best sides in Europe. Six months ago we were treading water in the Championship. Second was a tad disappointing as we sat back too much and it was inevitable they would score. I hope that we could hang onto a point but not to be. The defence was organised and very solid. Midfield was decent for about 60 minutes. 

Only nagging point is Wesley. It his is first game and he did not have much of the ball but he looks far more like a deep lying forward than a striker. Will he get doubles figures?  Kodjia was useless when he came on he failed to hold up the ball and he is clearly a championship player. And the only option is Davis who has some strengths but goal scoring is not one of them.

Bournemouth is going to be a completly different game with the onus for us to attack and have the majority of possession so will be interesting to see how that pans out.

Thoughts on the new ground- I thought it was impressive on the outside, though  it looked somewhat incongruous when next to a run down part of North London.  Compared to Arsenal the concourses were pokey. I also didn't understand that weird staircase section. It only needs one 'refreshed'  away fan to fall down those flights and that could be a problem. Liked the rail seats- basically safe standing for the away end.

Overall postives to take and on to Bournemouth next week. UTV.

The hold up play was the biggest downer for me....but early days.