Ratings & Reactions: Villa v Brighton

[srsmithusa]

loved the end.  until then I was mixed, I could see that we were containing them while letting them have possession.  We were pushing them wide and then either stopping or dealing with the cross.  good solid defensive plan.  executed well.  but I wasn't at all clear about what we were trying in the attack.   Honestly  because i couldn't discern a consistent attack plan, it made me wonder if the defensive strategy was clearly executed well, or if was just random as well.  I finally decided that the defensive plan is easier to put in place on a short calendar, so well done to the new team.  Now I want to see what they will work on in an attack.   

thrilled with the result, optimistic but not 100% convinced about the progress.

[skell]

58 minutes ago, mykeyb said:

Well today proved again he can't. Central or nowhere for me which is a problem for Ings

If only he had picked up the ball in a winger position and cut inside and scored.

[roonst83]

We needed a win today. Any way we could get it. We stood up to a hugely pressured game today and came through it. After an initial period of intensity for first ten mins Brighton were much more comfortable on the ball than us first half and pressed us very well to stop us building out from the back. They linked well from their back line to attack which is something we massively lacked. We had glimpses of moments of good play in the opening 45 but lacked fluidity from midfield to attack.  Martinez saved us at the end of the first half. 

Second half we looked much more composed. Targett and Nakamba, in particular, improved vastly in the second half and enabled us to get forward and rotate the ball better. McGinn put himself much more about in a similar vein to how he plays for Scotland. Watkins looked unfit and off the pace throughout the first period. He seemed more interested and sharp in his preferred role and scored a great goal. Hope that catapults him into some form but he needs to improve his fitness and involvement during games. I suspect a run of games in his natural position as the lead striker in the 433 would be his best chance of achieving that. Although I’m not convinced Bailey should start right now. He seems better suited as a sub. Buendia is massively lacking confidence and it shows. I’ve always stated he tries too hard and holds onto the ball too long and gets caught in possession. We have an unforgiving home crowd at times and you could see he was very tentative and nervous. There’s a player there. Competition for places is rife now with new management so hopefully that’ll be the motivation he needs going forwards.

We made the right subs at the right time. Similar to the Everton game earlier in the season. I’m always disappointed when Young is brought on but he was composed and did great for the first goal. The subs changed the game. 

Big big three points and credit to Gerrard for getting a tune out of the players with so little time. I’ve liked what I’ve heard and seen of him so far. Today’s performance wasn’t great but it was effective. Stayed tight at the back, rode our luck a couple of times but stayed in the game so we could take advantage. Gerrard under no illusions there’s plenty of hard work needed but he’ll have leant a lot today and will do so throughout the week when he spends more time with the full squad. 

 

[romavillan]

33 minutes ago, villalad21 said:

No I am happy we won.

Finally got something to believe in and get behind.

So believing in having the captain and manager as both brummies and villans was a bit much for you? Needed s Sky face to support?

Well done you.

[romavillan]

27 minutes ago, villalad21 said:

They created very, very little.

Apart from the 2 or 3 dead cert goals that Emi saved. Nothing at all.

[Nigel]

Thought there were some really good performances today but i want to highlight 2 that seem to have not been mentioned much.

1st was Targett, who produced a brilliant defensive performance against Lamptey, so much so he had to be taken off as he was so ineffective. Considering Brightons game seemed  to be built around isolating him against Targett this was doubly impressive.

2nd was Ramsey, this was his best game for us tonight IMO. He was our most dangerous player 1st half with a fine all round display. He really is getting comfortable carrying the ball. Think Gerrard will be a perfect mentor for him.

 

[romavillan]

13 minutes ago, skell said:

If only he had picked up the ball in a winger position and cut inside and scored.

Shhh

[dappadan]

Cracking result. Not been able to get down Villa Park for some time now but I can still remember that feeling of a Villa player jinking towards the Holte and smashing it past the goalie. Everyone in unison rising up off the seats! Absolutely magical moments. 

[MakemineVanilla]

A small step for Villa but a mighty leap for a team which had lost five on the trot.

Nobody can say that Villa were great but there is nothing like winning.

The team's failure to transition from defence into attack on too many occasions was frustrating but there were enough moments of quality to balance things out.

McGinn's magnificent pass which arrived at the feet of Targett would have had the pundits drooling, had it been delivered by De Bruyne.

Ashley Young's contribution in the build up to Watkins' beautiful goal, showed that class is permanent.

Mings' killing finish with his wrong foot was a real stunner - his goal against San Marino must have given him a taste for that goal-scoring lark.

Brighton's collapse after Villa had scored, illustrated how fragile confidence can be and how it can even desert a team who believe they are in total control of a game.

 

[JAMAICAN-VILLAN]

[Brumstopdogs]

 

[Brumstopdogs]

Just got back. Thought the substituions made all the difference and we really stretched Brighton at the end.

Special mentions to Mings, McGinn and Ramsey who I thought were our best players. Also a cracking finish from Watkins.

UTV!

[Brumstopdogs]

Love it!

 

[villakram]

Clean sheet, lovely. 

More of that please.

[TheLegendOfLeonBailey31]

Something I've noticed this year, is when we are attacking, our pitch awareness in the final third is generally poor.  For instance, Ollie's goal was a beautiful strike...  but if he's aware of his surroundings and where his fellow attacking teammates are, he probably lays that off to Bailey who was WIDE open for an easy goal.  There have been other instances including Cash's beauty against Everton as Bailey was also wide open far post.  Plenty of other examples of that where the results didn't end in goals and those are obviously the more important ones.  I'm sure that's something that Gerrard and the rest of the staff will try to improve.  If they do we are bound to score more goals because the opportunities are there, we're just not always seeing it.  Not sure if anyone else agrees.

[bannedfromHandV]

1 hour ago, romavillan said:

Apart from the 2 or 3 dead cert goals that Emi saved. Nothing at all.

When were those? The regulation save at the near post in the first half?

The save from lamptey was good but there were players on the line and I can’t remember Emi making any more saves.

Dont know where people have got this idea that he kept us in the game as though we were under the cosh.

[Keener window-cleaner]

I really liked that formation and shape of the team, it was like all the players that I thought couldn't be fitted into the same team just melted together in that christmas tree formation. Also lovely to have seen the last of the 3 at the back failings.

Very impressive how he players responded so fast to the new system, they looked well drilled right away. I very much liked how the front three worked and pressed as a unit. Also how McGinn and Ramsey directly gave defensive support on the wings.

One thing that worried me a bit though is that this formation with the front three pressing leaves us open and leaves much space in the middle of the pitch. Nakamba rushed forward to cover there at times, but if he is overplayed the opponents have a free run at our backline. Perhaps it may be solved by the two behind the striker droppes a bit deeper, or that the two other midfielders go more narrow in front of the sitting midfielder.

All thumbs up to Gerrard after this performance! Good subs as well, changed the game.

[macandally]

Still not getting ahead of myself, today was decent but the first goal was key, we scored it  and won, if they had I think they would have won.

I do agree with the thoughts that Deano was “one of the boys” and the whole club seems too relaxed.  The Norwich video showed it too, Dean is a nice guy, Gerrard has a steely eye!  The whole debacle at United shows how important the percentage drop offs can be in elite sport.  
 

Making sure we optimise everything, standards, rules and performances to deliver expectations is critical if we are to step forward again.  I am not sure that we wouldn’t have gotten that from other top managers, but the fact Gerrard is implementing a different regime is a positive 

[macandally]

3 minutes ago, Keener window-cleaner said:

I really liked that formation and shape of the team, it was like all the players that I thought couldn't be fitted into the same team just melted together in that christmas tree formation. Also lovely to have seen the last of the 3 at the back failings.

Very impressive how he players responded so fast to the new system, they looked well drilled right away. I very much liked how the front three worked and pressed as a unit. Also how McGinn and Ramsey directly gave defensive support on the wings.

One thing that worried me a bit though is that this formation with the front three pressing leaves us open and leaves much space in the middle of the pitch. Nakamba rushed forward to cover there at times, but if he is overplayed the opponents have a free run at our backline. Perhaps it may be solved by the two behind the striker droppes a bit deeper, or that the two other midfielders go more narrow in front of the sitting midfielder.

All thumbs up to Gerrard after this performance! Good subs as well, changed the game.

They pushed Nakamba onto Bissouma to counter Brighton using him as they way out, prior he sat in a narrow three behind out of possession 

[Keener window-cleaner]

3 hours ago, nick76 said:

Wasn’t excited this morning

Was excited when I sat in the ground

Game was mixed, really good first ten minutes, similar 70 minutes to what we’ve seen recently, excellent final 10 minutes.

Delighted for Gerrard on a first win and at home.  Couldn’t really take much from the game and as I said before if he won or lost I wouldn’t make a judgement based on one game.  What I will say is his subs made the difference in the game.

I’m feeling more enthused this evening about him, probably because of the win.

He does have a lot of work to do, there are many issues with this team as he would’ve seen.

I think improvements we could see already was that we were more disciplined in defence, and we tried to play our way through the middle more than before, with Douggie coming back that will improve massively.