Ratings & Reactions: Villa v Sheff United

[VillaCas]

5 minutes ago, rbcuk said:

There’s been plenty saying after the post lockdown games they want him to stay

Yes, I like many others want him to stay for the time being. A good option to help close out the last 15 mins of a game - if not him, who?

Ive seen literally no one who says he should be a starter

[Johnnyp]

Just now, striker said:

Thought the newbies did well but Villa still lack a midfielder that runs beyond the strikers and can create.

Build up play also far too slow and better teams will allow Villa to that then break on them.

Overall three very welcome points but some of last season's problems remain despite the spend. However, Villa have finally got themselves a class keeper who has already earned Villa an extra two points with his penalty save.

Ramsey could be that guy. They just won't roll the dice. Instead we get Hourihane who treats the ball like a bomb. Petrified of the ball.

[the_eristic]

Masterful debut for Emi, and grateful for the points, but we had to make hard work of it! Constant crossing against a team like Blades, organized and sitting deep with a pile of defenders, was never going to be too effective, especially since we have no one to get into their box and win aerial duels unless we're gonna try that overlapping CB thing as well. Letting nerves creep in and rushing last 25 minutes or so, too, when we just needed to be keeping the ball. Still too easy to work through when they really pressured our defense, too, though that was the softest of pens.

[striker]

3 minutes 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

 

Disagree with this. Gave the ball away far too many times and was generally poor.

[tonyh29]

Same old same old , but glad to see that one out as I’m sure we’d have conceded at this point last season 

Not sure that was ever a pen but good debut for the keeper and also a good debut for my heart as for the first time in ages I didn’t have to squirm in my seat every-time the ball went near our area .

Targett worried me though , he always seems to be wrong side of attackers and switches off , time we upgrade on him at some point 

Trez showing why we seem to be signing 2 wingers , hopefully we will only see him coming in from the bench from now on

Luiz ended the season well and spent pre season practising his swagger , he looked classy today , but we need better than Hourihane and (current) McGinn alongside him

Jack still needs a bit more match sharpness and Watkins did enough to suggest he’s going to score goals at this level given time 

up and running so points over performance at this stage 

 

 

[darrenm]

That was a really good performance against 2 coaches, a bus and a train parked in their area.

To be that dominant, even with a man up, against another PL side, especially Sheffield United who are very strong and physical shows that we have some very talented footballers. 

Because they had 10 men behind the ball, incredibly deep in the area, there was no way to thread balls through or to get people running behind. No overlaps possible, everyone had to turn back and go across.

That said, we looked a bit short of ideas on how to break them down. Grealish was a bit disappointing and might have given Southgate a bit of reason to believe he was right. Martinez incredible even without the penalty save. Douglas looks like he'll be amazing again.

McGinn needs to find some form and I'm not convinced Hourihane is now at the level we need. We could do with an AM and winger to replace him and Trezeguet in the first team.

We'll look much better when we have space to attack and overlap into. It's difficult for any team to attack a well organised deep sitting defending team.

[Xela]

Chuffed with the result

[rayk]

Absolutely buzzing with the result. With our delayed start to the season it was SO important to get off to a good start and we did!

Delighted for Martinez.

We’ll get better, we’ve got Bertrand to come in, we’ll go into the market still for a player or two.......but today was really about the result for me.

UTV!!!

[villalad21]

22 minutes ago, jim said:

A win is a win but too many of last seasons problems. 

Our biggest problem is not having a bench.

Keinan is the only player Dean trusts. It's a massive problem.

Traore won't be enough. We need 2-3 more players.

Edited September 21, 2020 by villalad21

[Chindie]

Martinez - MotM. Resolute. Immense penalty save, confident and calm on the ball even when we were desperately trying to invite pressure on him, and knows how to catch and hold the bloody ball. Top man.

Cash - top drawer crossing and looks a player.

Konsa - he sets off the comedy of errors that leads to the penalty, but made up for it with the goal. He looked pretty solid otherwise.

Mings - good solid defensive display 

Targett - weakest link defensively, gives away the pen and just wasn't really at the races today.

Luiz - excellent. Less of the commanding defensive display due to the nature of the game, but still some lovely touches and passes. Lost his shooting boots though 

Hourihane - a true Hourihane performance. He's got a great delivery. Otherwise anonymous.

McGinn - rusty. Very rusty. Lots of over hit passes, and some bustling about. To me looked like he was trying to get some of the magic back with him trying to break forward more and trying to make more dynamic passes, but it's not quite there though.

Trez - we know what we get with Trez. He looks a bit fitter and stronger, but he's still not that good. Can't fault his work and he's the kind of guy that can pop up with something. But he's never going to be a great player.

Watkins - difficult night for him but not much he could do more - he spent all game having aimless crosses thumped in to a packed box. You can see he's got something about him though and nearly had a beauty placed into the top corner late on.

Grealish - everything we do, it goes through him. A weaker night by his standards but still he was in on everything. Could have had a couple of goals had shots not whistled just wide.

Davis - exactly as expected. Comes in, works, anchors the attack, could still be playing now on his own and not score.

[a-k]

What are people complaining about? A win, a clean sheet, and good performances from all our new signings, and all of this after being a game behind. Yes, we looked toothless at times, but come on, that was a triple-decker parked bus by one of the most organized teams in the league. Look at their starting XI...would any of them get into ours? The reason they finished so high in the league last year is because of their organization, which was already going to be hard to break down when they didn't have 10 in the box. Let's just be happy about the result!

[MCU]

What on earth is wrong with McGinn? How can a player look like a world beater one game and so sloppy the next? 

Not to sound harsh as it’s the first game after the break but he was showing hints of inconsistency in his game last season. 

[VillanousOne]

Not at easy watch, still need to attack with more urgency.

[markavfc40]

I thought we did well. We looked solid defensively which is a continuation from the back end of last season. Good debuts from Watkins, Martinez and Cash.

Going forward we were too pedestrian at times and really struggled to break Sheff Utd down at 0-0 but you have to give credit to them as they defended really well and allowed us no space. As soon as we scored the game opened up and better use of the ball and we could have had another couple.

That is now 5 league games unbeaten, six if you include the cup. Three good debuts in the bag, more to come and plenty of improvement still within us certainly attacking wise. I think there is much to be positive about.

 

[Philosopher]

Thought it was quite a solid display, although rather uninspiring.

Martinez looks very assured and a safe pair of hands. MoM.

Cash look like he will be a good signing a a solid display.

Konsa looks to have picked up where he left off last season. Good game.

Mings was solid.

Targett was sloppy and looked vulnerable as usual. Poor crossing apart from the corner for the goal. 

Luiz picked up from his last 10 games. 

Hourihane was pedestrian. Decent set piece delivery. But too slow in moving the ball. Should've been looking to get in the box more.

McGinn was average, almost every good thing he did was was followed up with a mistake.

Trezguet was hard working as usual, offered no penetration.

Grealish this was a game where Jack Should've been playing in midfield. Having said that things didn't really come off for him today. 

Watkins worked hard looks sharp, didn't have one decent chance.

Sheffield United packed the box, always had 2 men marking Jack plus a third backing them up. If we had a couple decent wingers around Jack they would've have a field day. 

Need Rashica and Henry move Jack to the centre, and then that team looks good. 

[Lerner's Driver]

Just now, MCU said:

What on earth is wrong with McGinn? How can a player look like a world beater one game and so sloppy the next? 

Not to sound harsh as it’s the first game after the break but he was showing hints of inconsistency in his game last season. 

His injury.

[pacbuddies]

12 minutes ago, KMitch said:

Everyone who is bashing the squad needs to keep in mind that this is a side built to counter attack and we played well leading up to the sending off.  When the opposition stick 10 men behind the ball for 65 minutes, you're not going to counter much, which is why we looked like scoring a few in the dying minutes.  

Martinez - MOM just for the penalty save.

Cash & Watkins also looked like huge upgrades and Mings was outstanding today as well.  

Trezeguet is still complete garbage.  I'm so glad we signed Traore just for the fact that I don't have to watch this headless chicken run about week in and week out anymore.  

Lots of work to do still, but we've won 2 on the trot this season and I'm looking forward to us progressing past Bristol City and kicking Fulham next weekend.  This will give the team some confidence to run riot over Fulham before a tough couple of matches against Liverpool & Leicester.  

Smith should have changed tactics after they went down to 10.

[RobSpain]

As said by many before me: 3 points is All that matters. When you can play badly and still win!!. UTV!!

[BG_Villa_Fan]

Good 3 points against a tough team. Looked rusty but wouldn’t have won it last season so clearly an improvement.

[Lerner's Driver]

1 minute ago, markavfc40 said:

I thought we did well. We looked solid defensively which is a continuation from the back end of last season. Good debuts from Watkins, Martinez and Cash.

Going forward we were too pedestrian at times and really struggled to break Sheff Utd down at 0-0 but you have to give credit to them as they defended really well and allowed us no space. As soon as we scored the game opened up and better use of the ball and we could have had another couple.

That is now 5 league games unbeaten, six if you include the cup. Three good debuts in the bag, more to come and plenty of improvement still within us certainly attacking wise. I think there is much to be positive about.

 

Agreed, I'm confident we will improve significantly with more attacking options.