Ratings & Reactions: Villa v Sheff United

[Vive_La_Villa]

I think they should have both been yellows personally but you can also understand why he sent him off. It’s a frustrating one for Sheffield United but they can hardly say they were robbed. Just a bit unlucky. 

Edited September 21, 2020 by Vive_La_Villa

[Monsieur Hazdazler]

It would be easy to be critical about a lack of creativity and so forth, but that’s probably harsh on Sheffield United. I thought it was an excellent 3 points and here’s why:

- Historically we’ve not played well against them going back a few years. They’re an awkward team, extremely well drilled and hard working, and when you have that with 3 at the back and 3 in midfield, you’re always going to get forced wide and struggle to create.

- When we went a man up their plan was straightforward. They went to two deep lines of strong, well organised physical players with one lone striker. They forced play wide and let JOC and Basham in particular deal with the aerial balls. With a front 3 of Grealish, Watkins and Trez we were unlikely to win those balls anyway. We probably could have focused on sending the balls into the box hard and low, but then you’ve gotta get through a congested area. Basically it was always going to be very difficult for us to break them down and our shot maps and shots on target vs shots taken shows how effective their defensive unit was. 

- Last season against ten men a couple of times we didn’t even look like we had a man advantage. This time we looked more composed, relaxed and controlled. Aside from the penalty they didn’t really threaten us. Interestingly their pen was from one of their CB’s being on the back shoulder of our full back which is classic Sheffield United really.

- Cash, Martinez and Watkins all looked good. Cash was solid, Martinez just looked superb and Watkins put a good shift in...his movement got us the man advantage and while it wasn’t his busiest game, you have to view that in the context of how busy their penalty box was and how little space he had. We will see more from him. Superb addition.

- Once we had scored and they had to push out a bit we created a couple of potentially very good chances. Watkins had a nice curler just over and Grealish had the deflected effort, that with a slightly better pass from Watkins he can hit first time and likely score. If you want a fairer reflection of our likely attacking style and output for this season honestly I think the last 15/20 mins is probably more representative. 
 

I think anyone here being negative about our performance just simply isn’t taking into account what we actually had to play against, sometimes you just have to credit the oppositions qualities and organisation and move on. If we were Sheffield United fans we’d be praising how organised our defence was and how well we shut them out. Can’t have it both ways! Last season we probably don’t win that, instead this year our new keeper saves a penalty and we score from a set piece. Fine margins that we weren’t the right side of last season.

Given that was our first league game of the season it was a good start and will be a good confidence booster. Hopefully we see McGinn back to his pre lockdown form sooner rather than later, and Traoré makes an impact. 

[Kingman]

Unlucky Punks! 

 

[ozvillafan]

4 hours ago, OutByEaster? said:

McGinn wasn't as busy as he can be, he wasn't the hassling force we want him to get back to, but what he did do he tended to do very well, some of the passing was excellent.

He just needs more games

 

 

4 hours ago, flashingqwerty said:

McGinn - 4 - passing was terrible, rarely tracked back, constantly lost his runner in defence.  Shocking.  Carrying far too much weight and is clearly unfit.  No idea how he stayed on for full 90.

 

Hard to believe you 2 were watching the same game.

For what it's worth, I'm in agreement with the latter. If we ever turned over the ball cheaply in that game, McGinn was the culprit.

Still:

• A clean sheet
• A penalty save
• A goal from a corner
• Good game management at the end (we kept the ball! And in the corner even!)
• Martinez (MOTM), Watkins and Cash all looked good.

All up, a positive result if not the slickest Villa performance on record.

[Mantis]

Is it just me or are were Sheffield United incredibly dirty? Even before their sending off they just seemed quite thuggish.

[Icarium]

Good to get a win to start the season, we seem to have tightened up defensively which is good to see, however our defenders still seem to have the one mistake a game which gifts a great chance in them. Somewhat concerningly we struggled to get the out of defence effectly against 11 men. Couldn't seem to play it out from the back, and no one up front or in midfield to trap the longer goal kicks. We also still seem to be light in midfield and bereft of ideas up front. If we take 15 shots in a game we need to have more than 2 or 3 on target

[Hornso]

Very happy to walk away from the game with 3 points. Thought the new boys in Watkins & Cash started positively and we were the better side whilst it was even numbers. The red card saw a return to troubles from last season of struggling to break teams down despite having a man advantage and being too predictable. Sheffield United are a well drilled and organised team so they were never going to be easy to break down but you would expect us to create better chances than we did.

Then we got caught with the ultimate sucker punch. Basham was looking for the penalty, but it was there. Thankfully Martinez became an instant hero on his debut. What an amazing start to his career at Villa Park!

Like against Burton, I thought we were too passive at times and just 'going through the motions'. Thankfully the goal came and they had to come at us a bit more but we still weren't able to kill the game off and our defending late lacked some urgency. Good result but plenty to work on.

A couple of interesting tidbits from the BBC:

Quote

• Aston Villa have won three consecutive Premier League games at Villa Park for the first time since October 2007 under Martin O'Neill.
• Seven of Aston Villa's last nine Premier League goals have come from set-piece situations (four corners, three free-kicks).
• Martinez became the first goalkeeper to save a penalty on their debut for Aston Villa in the Premier League.

https://www.bbc.com/sport/football/54142832

P.S. What is it with our defenders playing through hamstring injuries?! Credit to Konsa for getting through the game and getting the winner, but I thought it was going to be Mings against Leicester all over again.

[sharkyvilla]

I think the red card kind of ruined it for both teams.  You do all that work in albeit a short pre-season and gameplans changed inside 15 minutes, defence v attack almost.  We got the points but it highlighted the need for a bit more creativity and dribbling ability, hopefully Traore and Rashica can provide it.

[Hornso]

Oh and Sheffield United must hate coming to Villa Park. Last three visits have seen them throw away a 3 goal lead in the last 10 minutes, the hawkeye malfunction and now playing with 10 men for 78+ minutes and missing a penalty. 

[granto]

Couldn't care less about the performance, just happy we got the three points. Last season we started well and kept losing, then it became a habit.

UTV!

[rjw63]

3 hours ago, Hornso said:

Oh and Sheffield United must hate coming to Villa Park. Last three visits have seen them throw away a 3 goal lead in the last 10 minutes, the hawkeye malfunction and now playing with 10 men for 78+ minutes and missing a penalty. 

Good.

I enjoy the salty tears of their whiny manager.

[chappy]

Great to start with 3 points. We’re notoriously bad against ten men so surprised at the general mood on here being down on the team - not sure what was expected?! We were playing against one of the best defences from last season with 9 men in their box for the most part. I think the Burton game was good prep for this as we just had to stay patient and eventually we were likely to break the deadlock.

Suddenly we’re looking at a game against Fulham that could put us in a very healthy position going into the international break (after the Liverpool game).

Three very assured debuts I thought. Nice to see Watkins keep them busy even if we couldn’t get the ball to him as often as I’d like. Not seen Cash before other than against us and liked what I saw today. Martinez looked excellent, great penalty save too! Voted for Doooogie as man of the match, oozes class.

[Five Ken McNaughts]

Love the way Cash covers ground with such ease. Great acceleration and top speed. Looks a real athlete.

On another note, how good was it to see the stadium banners changed to actual Claret & Blue after all that “mauve” crap last season? (It’s the little things in life that make me happy).

[AvonVillain]

2 hours ago, rjw63 said:

I enjoy the salty tears of their whiny manager.

Personally, I just wish there was a greater degree of honesty, and a more philosophical attitude from managers. I know they are under enormous pressure. Absolutely huge. But any of those decisions going the other way, what would Wilder say then? Would he still be as angry and confused with the rules?? Surely he would as they would have been interpreted the exact same only for his team and benefit. It's the same injustice to the game, isn't it?

So frustrating and transparently disingenuous.

[WakefieldVillan]

8 hours ago, Monsieur Hazdazler said:

It would be easy to be critical about a lack of creativity and so forth, but that’s probably harsh on Sheffield United. I thought it was an excellent 3 points and here’s why:

- Historically we’ve not played well against them going back a few years. They’re an awkward team, extremely well drilled and hard working, and when you have that with 3 at the back and 3 in midfield, you’re always going to get forced wide and struggle to create.

- When we went a man up their plan was straightforward. They went to two deep lines of strong, well organised physical players with one lone striker. They forced play wide and let JOC and Basham in particular deal with the aerial balls. With a front 3 of Grealish, Watkins and Trez we were unlikely to win those balls anyway. We probably could have focused on sending the balls into the box hard and low, but then you’ve gotta get through a congested area. Basically it was always going to be very difficult for us to break them down and our shot maps and shots on target vs shots taken shows how effective their defensive unit was. 

- Last season against ten men a couple of times we didn’t even look like we had a man advantage. This time we looked more composed, relaxed and controlled. Aside from the penalty they didn’t really threaten us. Interestingly their pen was from one of their CB’s being on the back shoulder of our full back which is classic Sheffield United really.

- Cash, Martinez and Watkins all looked good. Cash was solid, Martinez just looked superb and Watkins put a good shift in...his movement got us the man advantage and while it wasn’t his busiest game, you have to view that in the context of how busy their penalty box was and how little space he had. We will see more from him. Superb addition.

- Once we had scored and they had to push out a bit we created a couple of potentially very good chances. Watkins had a nice curler just over and Grealish had the deflected effort, that with a slightly better pass from Watkins he can hit first time and likely score. If you want a fairer reflection of our likely attacking style and output for this season honestly I think the last 15/20 mins is probably more representative. 
 

I think anyone here being negative about our performance just simply isn’t taking into account what we actually had to play against, sometimes you just have to credit the oppositions qualities and organisation and move on. If we were Sheffield United fans we’d be praising how organised our defence was and how well we shut them out. Can’t have it both ways! Last season we probably don’t win that, instead this year our new keeper saves a penalty and we score from a set piece. Fine margins that we weren’t the right side of last season.

Given that was our first league game of the season it was a good start and will be a good confidence booster. Hopefully we see McGinn back to his pre lockdown form sooner rather than later, and Traoré makes an impact. 

Perfectly said 

[The Fun Factory]

9 hours ago, pacbuddies said:

Sorry but I don't accept mediocrity, maybe you do. When we play well I will say so and when we play shit I will say so. Sheffield Utd are a workmanlike team but they have no class and will struggle this season. Not one of their players would walk into our team.

A workmanlike team that finished eight places over us just two months ago. Er ok.

[HKP90]

18 minutes ago, AvonVillain said:

Personally, I just wish there was a greater degree of honesty, and a more philosophical attitude from managers. I know they are under enormous pressure. Absolutely huge. But any of those decisions going the other way, what would Wilder say then? Would he still be as angry and confused with the rules?? Surely he would as they would have been interpreted the exact same only for his team and benefit. It's the same injustice to the game, isn't it?

So frustrating and transparently disingenuous.

He’s already under pressure after losing two on the bounce. I guess he’s gonna try and deflect that by blaming luck and circumstance. There is no patience in the game any more. If there ever was.

[It's Your Round]

10 hours ago, PieFacE said:

 

omg hahaha... sooooo salty 

Just listened to this, he’s raging but I can understand that as it’s not just about Egan’s red. He rants about a load of referring decisions and VAR from the other games, he’s right in that it’s a bag of shite. 
 

What I can’t approve is him calling Douglas-Luiz, David Luiz! That’s not acceptable pal.

[Sulberto21]

I genuinely don't understand why there's so many negative comments on here. We did what we had to do against a very negative team. Before the sending off they were having a go and we were pinning them back. We looked like we were going to beat them.

As soon as they went to 10 Wilder knew we had their number. The fact we should have scored 4/5 more after our goal proves this. They went ultra defensive because our performance up until then showed wilder we're going to be very dangerous in our attacking play.

Already I can see there's more confidence in our play. Things didn't work out all the time but in reality we're an average squad who hopefully will improve with each window. Our business isn't done yet so I'm confident that we'll bring in two more.

I'd like to see someone like Grayson who can play in 5 positions and still look comfortable. We're a work in progress and we've improved from last season. We might have drawn or lost last season. 

[Zhan_Zhuang]

In retrospect I actually think Villa would have played better if it was eleven v eleven, the likes of Watkins, Grealish and Trezeguet would have had way much more space to move into.

It was a tight game because Sheff. Utd made it that way from the beginning even before the red card.

A game we'd have draw or lost last season is now a game we win so it's some progress.

Starting with a win and a clean sheet builds confidence too.

Next PL game replace Trezeguet with Traore (if he's fit) and we have improved again.

The question against McGinn is a consistent one and I'd love him to be a success but he looks too slow for me and is constantly caught in possession. If we can get Rashica, and then a deadline day deal for a better CM wold be the icing on the cake. Someone like Sander Berge alongside Luiz would be very strong, Berge was by far their best player last night and had the beating of McGinn at every turn.

Edited September 22, 2020 by Zhan_Zhuang