Ratings & Reactions: Villa v Arsenal

[turvontour]

Just brilliant! Now go have a well deserved rest ahead of next Saturday.

[The Other Mat]

7 minutes ago, One For The Road said:

I thought it was 2-1 away?

Just checked both were 1-0

[AvfcRigo82]

Great 3pts today and we needed to battle for them. Well deserved win.

[Zhan_Zhuang]

Great result and team performance!

Watkins MOTM for me but yes Mings was Awesome too as was all the back four.

Thought Nakamba was good too, we needed to make our midfield a little stronger.

Ramsey looked bright in his little cameo.

Oh, and Arteta, Xhaka are 'words removed'.

Edited February 6, 2021 by Zhan_Zhuang

[OxfordVillan]

1 minute ago, KentVillan said:

Good result, okay performance. Thought McGinn really stepped up after a disappointing couple of games.

Barkley for me is a bit of a liability. Excellent at times in attack, but I think he makes our midfield very loose. Difficult to watch teams just playing through our midfield with ease, even if our defence always seem capable of dealing with the threat.

Mings was **** superb. Whole defence had a good game, although Konsa was *possibly* lucky with that challenge on Saka. How different was it to the red card for the foul on Watkins earlier in the season? But never mind, good 3 points, well fought start to finish.

I’m very much on the same page as you with regard to Barkley. I think opposition teams have worked Villa out a bit with regard to our attacking potency, and they hustle around Barkley in particular, who doesn’t really have the work rate/tenacity to mix it with them. He’s beginning to look quite a frustrated player, unable to really create much  going forward at the moment. Fortunes can change quickly, of course, but as things stand I don’t envisage a permanent move. The rest of the team were fantastic in terms of tenacity, that was another dug out win rather than a champagne show. Thankfully we have a full week before our next game, and then another 8 day gap after that. We need it. 

[Annoyman]

Traore has settled into the team nicely - really direct, positive play by him to seize on the mistake for the goal and with his chance later in the half.

Watkins is great to watch, even aside from the increasing goal return he just leads the line really intelligently and tirelessly. Disciplined performance from McGinn too, and he still managed to pop up with a good long range effort.

Is Jack suspended because of that bullshit yellow at the end?

[markc]

28 minutes ago, Brumstopdogs said:

LOL

the one area i see them a little bit weak in is defence

[The_Steve]

Just now, Annoyman said:

Is Jack suspended because of that bullshit yellow at the end?

It reset after the Southampton game, thankfully.

[AVTuco]

Mings, Emi, Cash and Ollie all deserved MotM.

McGinn, Nakamba, Targett great too.

Konsa, Traore and Jack good. Barkley was mad when subbed off, I'm ok with that too.

So, all in all, a great win I didn't expect us to get. Now a little bit of rest will do good for everyone.

[osmark86]

28 minutes ago, The_Steve said:

I counted so many fouls not given, which really benefited Arsenal in the turnovers.

Xhaka is totally allowed to karate kick Jack though.

it's just a casual dojo special, nothing to see here...

[OutByEaster?]

It must be very frustrating being an Arsenal fan, they play good football, they're packed with talent, they have attacking intent, there are good strikers on the pitch, but it just doesn't seem to quite work - no wonder they're all so grumpy, it doesn't seem to make any sense.

 

[ferguson1]

[NewportStu]

What a difference a few days makes. Villa back to the side we've loved this season. Hard working, difficult to beat, switched on. I thought the whole side were brilliant today. The whole back line were incredible, Mings is back to to player we know and love. He just needs to alleviate the cocky element of his game and focus like today and he's immense. 

McGinn had a good game today as well for the first time in a while and I'm so thankful for Dean for trusting his bench and making changes. We didn't miss Luiz at all, Nakamba came in and really staked his claim.

Early kick offs can go either way, so pleased it's set our weekend off to a good one.

UTV 

[The_Steve]

The Grealish booking summed up how awful the referee was today. None of it made it sense.

Edited February 6, 2021 by The_Steve

[robby b]

Is this really happening?!

 

( * hint: I've set someone up nicely here for one of the classic Villa Talk gifs).

[Ouchmefoot]

[Five Ken McNaughts]

It seems Jack was booked for telling the ref that a game stopped for a head injury is not restarted with an opposition free kick. A yellow card for saving the officials and PGMOL from another “we-don’t-know-the-laws” calamity. There’s gratitude for you.

[maqroll]

Great response after Wednesday's flame out. Thought we should have gone for the jugular after the goal, but the whole team defended well and deserved to win. Big time result. 

[The_Steve]

 

[lapal_fan]

Absolutely solid performance and after our pretty abject midweek game, we looked much better.

Thought the subs were good shouts and all contributed.  Shame Ross felt the need to be arsed, despite not doing too much.

I gave Watkins MOTM, which is incredibly tough on Mings, who made some really cruical blocks and interceptions, but goals win games and Ollie is looking good, maybe unlucky not to have had a second too.  The thing that tipped him for me was his tracking back on a couple of occasions where he sprinted 70 yards to cover jack when he was left up the pitch, and he chases everything.  Don't know how he covers the ground he does!

Thought Marv was ok coming in the Luiz, but felt Luiz should have had the nod over McGinn at the start!

Enjoy the weekend now