Popular Post John Posted February 7, 2021 Popular Post Share Posted February 7, 2021 1-0 to the Arsenal has been sung at Highbury since the days of George Graham. Their team used to go a goal ahead and then shut up shop, leaving it to their watertight back four (that comprised of Tony Adams, Steve Bould, Lee Dixon & Nigel Winterburn) to secure their win. Yesterday, we turned the tables on our visitors from North London. Had we been at Villa Park, it would have been us that were singing that song, as our own magnificent defensive performance, secured our first double against our visitors since the inaugural 1992/93 Premier League season and cemented our place in the top half of the table. We now sit four points ahead of yesterday’s visitors with two games in hand of them, having recorded our third successive win against them and we have put ourselves in a great position to finish above them in the league table for the first time since season 1995/96. Our current points total matches the number of points that we gathered during the whole of last season, so there will be no relegation struggle at Villa Park this season, it seems one will be held on the other side of the city again though, instead! Villa bounced back well yesterday afternoon, after our disappointing mid-week home defeat. The whole team worked exceptionally hard and this time pressed our visitors when they had the ball and put in a series of solid challenges. Arsenal had started the game slowly and we took advantage of some early casual defending to go ahead after just two minutes. Our visitors took some time to really get into the game, they played a nice passing game, but they did not have the goal threat, that I would have anticipated Aubameyang might have offered had he not spent two thirds of the match on their bench. Our visitors had the lion’s share of the possession, but Ryan was the busier of the two keepers and it was Villa that created the better scoring opportunities. We were sitting on the edge of our seats, particularly in the second half, but their equalizer that seemed destined to eventually come, thankfully never did. My player ratings from a game that made me wish we were there to join in, with “Sweet Caroline” at the final whistle, are: Emiliano Martinez – 8 – He will have enjoyed this win against his former club. Emi was back to his best after a mid-week hiccup. Moved quickly off his line to his left, to claim the ball ahead of Saka on 21 minutes. Caught a 27th minute Pepe shot that had taken a deflection off Cash underneath the crossbar. Did very well to get across and dive to his left, to push a 29th minute 30-yard Xhaka free kick, that was bound for the left-hand upright out for a corner. Dived to his left to hold a 56th minute Bellerin shot from outside of the box. Did well to block a 69th minute Pepe shot from just inside the left of the box, at his near post, that had taken a deflection off Konsa. A 92nd minute cross bounced off Odegaard’s chest, but Martinez sensing the danger claimed the resulting loose ball off the same player’s foot on the right-edge of the 6-yard box. Matty Cash – 8 – His was the flank from which many of their attacks came from, but they did not result in goals and he played a key role in that. Ezri Konsa – 8 – He was determined to record another clean sheet and did his fair share alongside Tyrone in the middle, to make it happen. Tyrone Mings – 9 – MOTM – Made several important blocks and was often our last line of defence. He was the defensive rock on which so many of their attacks foundered. A tremendously solid performance from Tyrone. Matt Targett – 8 – Made an important block on a 57th minute Saka shot, that sent the ball wide of goal and out for a corner. Did very well at the back, where he was so reliable. John McGinn - 7 – Powered a 54th minute shot from outside of the box that Ryan saved diving to his left. A much better performance from John, who chased and closed-down his opponents throughout. Marvelous Nakamba – 7 – Gave a good solid defensive performance, worked hard, and made a couple of nice passes too. Back to his best. Bertrand Traore – 6 – Claimed an assist for our early match winner, when he claimed the ball following some early casual Arsenal defending and hit the cross, from which Ollie scored. Barclay found him on the edge of the box on 30 minutes, he turned between two defenders and tried to dink the ball over Ryan, who managed to block it, with his outstretched left hand. A good display. Ross Barclay – 6 – Picked up the loose ball (following Traore’s dink above) inside the box and hit an on target shot that was well blocked by Gabriel on the left edge of the 6-yard box. Had a 30th minute shot Jack found him inside the box on 48 minutes, but he failed to get a decent strike on the ball, which was easily collected by Ryan. Jack played the ball into the box for Ross, but his 52nd minute shot went wide of the left-hand post. This was an improvement on his mid-week display and he will be fitter for some training next week. Nice to see a player, so unhappy to be substituted, by the way. Jack Grealish – 7 – Watkins found him on the edge of the box on 79 minutes, he then moved into the area before hitting a shot that Ryan saved well, diving to his left. Not quite as influential on the game as he usually is, but he was involved in much of our positive moves and put in a shift for the team. This was a marked improvement on his mid-week display. Ollie Watkins – 8 – Worked tirelessly as the lone striker and scored the 2nd minute winner. Traore pounced on a poor back pass from Cedric that had been intended for Gabriel, before crossing to Ollie on the edge of the 6-yard box. Ollie turned the ball towards goal and the ball took a touch off Holding on its way past Ryan and into the left-hand corner of the net. Barclay played the ball across the edge of the box to him and he hit a 50th minute shot that Ryan dived to his right to parry away, a few seconds later Ollie headed a Targett cross on the far edge of the 6-yard box, that Ryan gathered at the post. Jack won the ball about 40 yards from goal and ran forward before finding Ollie running into the box, who hit an 83rd minute shot inches wide of Ryan’s left-hand post, with the keeper beaten. Won the ball in his own half and ran towards their area, before switching the ball back to Jack and continuing his run. Jack then played the ball back to Ollie just inside the left of the box, who hit an 86th minute shot, that Ryan saved diving to his left. Substitutes: Mahmood Trezuguet – 6 - Replaced Traore on 66 minutes. He made us more solid as we dropped back under pressure in the closing minutes and he worked hard, as he always does. Jacob Ramsey – Came on for Barclay after 78 minutes, to offer some fresh legs and with a view to holding on to what we had. Jacob picked up the ball in the middle of their half, ran towards the edge of the box and attempted to curl an 89th minute shot in, that Ryan dived to his left to save. Not on quite long enough to gather a rating. Up the Villa! John Lewis 9 4 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gwi1890 Posted February 7, 2021 Share Posted February 7, 2021 Good review ,analysis again John agree with all bar Traore I thought he was again much improved and deserved at least a 7 rating . 1 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
John Posted February 7, 2021 Author Share Posted February 7, 2021 2 hours ago, gwi1890 said: Good review ,analysis again John agree with all bar Traore I thought he was again much improved and deserved at least a 7 rating . Yes, it was a tight call and he was very close to getting a 7 . 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mazrim Posted February 7, 2021 Share Posted February 7, 2021 Made our only goal, some nice play, brilliant turn and shot. I'd have given him a 7 or 8. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
John Posted February 7, 2021 Author Share Posted February 7, 2021 14 minutes ago, Mazrim said: Made our only goal, some nice play, brilliant turn and shot. I'd have given him a 7 or 8. Two good pieces of play, I agree. 6 is a "good" rating by the way. I would not say he was on a par with the players that I gave an 8, but as I have said above he was close to a "very good" 7. It is all about opinions and I thank you for taking the time to read my ratings and for adding your comments. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MrBlack Posted February 7, 2021 Share Posted February 7, 2021 Not sure if intentional and there's an in joke I'm missing but it's Ross Barkley. As for the review, very accurate, and a good read. Tend to agree with the others above that Traore was better than a 6, and certainly better than Ross. Could have done better with his chip, but its fun to watch. Difficulty with a 10 point rating scale i guess, all subjective. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
robby b Posted February 7, 2021 Share Posted February 7, 2021 And an honourable mention to Lawro for predicting we'd win! He can have an 8 as he got the result right but not the score (he went for 2-1). I was very surprised he backed us to win actually, given Arsenal's recent winning run and a few good perfomances from them. We give him stick but Lawro's pretty good at predicting. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
brommy Posted February 8, 2021 Share Posted February 8, 2021 4 hours ago, robby b said: And an honourable mention to Lawro for predicting we'd win! He can have an 8 as he got the result right but not the score (he went for 2-1). I was very surprised he backed us to win actually, given Arsenal's recent winning run and a few good perfomances from them. We give him stick but Lawro's pretty good at predicting. I suspect that Lawro was aware his result predictions had us 7 places below where we actually were in the league prior to Saturday’s game and probably thought he needed to address his imbalance. 7 places was the joint highest error in his prediction table. Only matched by leeeeds who were 7 places higher than their actual league position. Seems to support the overhyped theory! @John thanks for another great match and player review. For me, Traore’s assist, occasional threat and reasonable defensive tracking was enough to earn a 7. Even if a 6 is still a ‘good’ rating, I think most would think Bertrand deserved one point more than Barkley’s rating. 2 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TRO Posted February 11, 2021 Share Posted February 11, 2021 Good read John...agree with all the other posts. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dont_do_it_doug. Posted February 12, 2021 Share Posted February 12, 2021 Even though I rarely comment, I love the fact that I still have these to read John, after all these years. Keep it up pal. 1 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts