Ratings & Reactions: Crewe v Villa

[wilko154]

Really enjoyable night, great performance on the pitch and great banter in the stands with the Crewe fans.

Dean Smith proved himself once again as the changes he made had absolutely no effect on the performance. It's refreshing to see that even with changing 10 players we still play the exact same way.

Defence was a little shaky at times, Targett was poor before his injury but Guilbert was impressive once again when he came on.

Midfield was strong. Marvelous grew into the game second half, Hourihane was fantastic and Lansbury showed glimpses of what he can do.

Keinan Davis was very impressive, his hold up play throughout was really good and nice to see him cap it off with a goal.

It's nice to go into these games and not slip up, the way Smith sets us up with his philosophy throughout the squad is exactly what the club needs.

 

Roll on Saturday to a very winnable game in London.

[TheStagMan]

It was obvious at the start that these players were not match fit and had not played competitively together. Crewe started well, even after our first goal they looked good, but our players grew into the game well and their class showed. 

Special mention to Davis - looked excellent and ran them ragged. Looking forward to seeing him in the prem this season. Great for him to get a goal.

Hourihane, Lansbury, Marv all looked good. Jota faded towards the end but he did play at the weekend and looked busy and threatening until then. Konsa took some time to get going but looked decent, Hause was the weak link IMO.  Steer also looked good, made some good saves and came out to claim the ball well.

Targett looked shaky - wonder if he was carrying that injury earlier in the game? Bad news that he went off injured, let's hope it is not too serious (although it looked like a hamstring). Guilbert looked good again when he came on. 

Shame they got one back, but it was a good run and shot by their guy and to be honest I think our defence had switched off a bit at that point.

Also, excellent man management from Smith, bringing Jack on for 20 mins, give him a run out and some confidence. An assist within 30 seconds and a goal later should help him in the league.

Overall lovely to be able to put away a lower league team in a professional manner with minimal drama using our squad players. We haven't managed to do that in years. Well done Deano.

[rubberman]

34 minutes ago, TheStagMan said:

Also, excellent man management from Smith, bringing Jack on for 20 mins, give him a run out and some confidence. An assist within 30 seconds and a goal later should help him in the league.

Overall lovely to be able to put away a lower league team in a professional manner with minimal drama using our squad players. We haven't managed to do that in years. Well done Deano.

Exactly this.  Was surprised that Jack came as I thought he was on the bench in case it was going tits up like it has in the past, but that could be a masterstroke in building his confidence.

[Kingman]

11 hours ago, ferguson1 said:

Palace out on pens tonight.  Wonder if that result will carry over to Saturday? 

They also made 10 changes from the team that beat Manure, Should be a good game. 

[Ponky]

2 hours ago, SuperTed said:

Haven’t seen a number eleven with trickery like this since Agbonlahor.

 

 

 

Edited August 28, 2019 by Ponky

[TRO]

2 hours ago, rubberman said:

Exactly this.  Was surprised that Jack came as I thought he was on the bench in case it was going tits up like it has in the past, but that could be a masterstroke in building his confidence.

I don't quite understand the manager speak/approach i.e fitness......as a spectator/fan unless you have been in the game, its hard to know that kind of detail.

but Dean was talking in terms of "minutes".....He said certain players needs "minutes".....I guess they know exactly how much players need, as they probably missed "minutes" of training due to a game.

I think that is what influences their decision to play players as much as the score at the time.

 

[bannedfromHandV]

7 hours ago, wilko154 said:

Really enjoyable night, great performance on the pitch and great banter in the stands with the Crewe fans.

Dean Smith proved himself once again as the changes he made had absolutely no effect on the performance. It's refreshing to see that even with changing 10 players we still play the exact same way.

Defence was a little shaky at times, Targett was poor before his injury but Guilbert was impressive once again when he came on.

Midfield was strong. Marvelous grew into the game second half, Hourihane was fantastic and Lansbury showed glimpses of what he can do.

Keinan Davis was very impressive, his hold up play throughout was really good and nice to see him cap it off with a goal.

It's nice to go into these games and not slip up, the way Smith sets us up with his philosophy throughout the squad is exactly what the club needs.

 

Roll on Saturday to a very winnable game in London.

Were you down the end where the mega-fat Crewe fan was? That was funny

[bannedfromHandV]

15 hours ago, The Fun Factory said:

Well my earlier prediction was wide off the mark so pleased we have got through with a good performance. But I can't take much pleasure from this tonight after hearing that Bury FC have been expelled from the football league. It must be terrible to be a Bury fan at the moment and we were sailing close to the wind barely a year ago.  So just be thankful we have a football team to follow tonight.

Not much fun coming out of the factory at the moment?

[Xann]

Can't remember being so calm watching Villa.

Almost Zen like at half time.

[wilko154]

32 minutes ago, bannedfromHandV said:

Were you down the end where the mega-fat Crewe fan was? That was funny

Yeh I was just past the halfway line, second row back. It was hilarious 

[bannedfromHandV]

4 minutes ago, wilko154 said:

Yeh I was just past the halfway line, second row back. It was hilarious 

Must have been pretty close by then as I was around there somewhere, 3 or 4 rows from the back.....proper shed of a ground ha 

[Vive_La_Villa]

7 hours ago, Kingman said:

They also made 10 changes from the team that beat Manure, Should be a good game. 

Results last night may indicate we have a stronger squad than the likes of Palace and Norwich which may be telling later on in the season when injuries and suspensions kick in. 

Should both have the best 11 available on Saturday though. 

[bannedfromHandV]

8 minutes ago, Vive_La_Villa said:

Results last night may indicate we have a stronger squad than the likes of Palace and Norwich which may be telling later on in the season when injuries and suspensions kick in. 

Should both have the best 11 available on Saturday though. 

For the record it wasn’t Crewe’s strongest side, they rested a bunch of players including their number one keeper, and they had a fair few chances too they should have done better with.

Then again, I don’t think we ever really got out of second gear so swings and roundabouts I guess 

[Vive_La_Villa]

1 minute ago, bannedfromHandV said:

For the record it wasn’t Crewe’s strongest side, they rested a bunch of players including their number one keeper, and they had a fair few chances too they should have done better with.

Then again, I don’t think we ever really got out of second gear so swings and roundabouts I guess 

Fair enough. I guess their priority is promotion.