Ratings & Reactions: Crystal Palace v Villa

[IrishVilla10]

2 hours ago, TomC said:

 

 

OK, I guess my post isn't too popular, but the last 30-35 minutes didn't look as good as the start...we have a lot of work to do given our next three opponents. I wasn't trying to be overly pessimistic, but let's not get carried away with the euphoria either.

 

We’ve just come from watching 5 straight defeats to seeing a new coaching team come in and two wins on the bounce against two very well organised teams performing much better than us this season. I’d say the majority of us spend 6 days a week thinking about the next game and if you don’t enjoy these wins what’s the point 

[Vive_La_Villa]

6 minutes ago, Davkaus said:

Did anyone feel confident we'd win after their 1st goal? We've seen some shit, there's a collective trauma shared by our fans

Ain’t gonna lie. Even thought it was 94 minutes in I shit myself. Loved how we saw the minutes out though. 

[romavillan]

45 minutes ago, Zero7 said:

The wheels didn’t come off, they went more attacking and we were tired due to playing more intensity that we are used to 

We were toilet with the ball for half an hour, we were all over the place. 

[bobzy]

9 minutes ago, Davkaus said:

Did anyone feel confident we'd win after their 1st goal? We've seen some shit, there's a collective trauma shared by our fans

After their goal in the 94th minute? Yes, 100%.

To be honest, we looked like winning after the first goal. 

[BigJim]

Gerrard definitely working wonders by the look of that first half at least. Some really splendid passing and movement.

I was worried by his subs though. Was JJ injured or did he just run out of steam?

I thought Dougie was a very lucky boy, could easily understand why the ref gave the red immediately. I've said it before, he's a liability in the tackle.

Then Anwar didn't do too badly, at least for the goal, but was his usual wasteful self on other occasions.

[smg]

3 hours ago, TomC said:

A strangely unconvincing victory against a poor Palace side...

Martinez: Didn't have to make any saves until 80', but got the job done when he had to, as usual.

Defence in general: No, they didn't give up a shot on target until 80', but Palace had good opportunities on many occasions and were just too poor to take them. City or Liverpool would have destroyed us. This is the part that was the least convincing. Still work to do, even if they looked better than during the five straight losses.

Mings: Caught ball watching for Palace's goal. Konsa was furious with him. As he should have been. Too bad, because he was the best of the four for most of the match. Those concentration lapses...

Targett: Much better under Gerrard, and I'm not saying that just because of the goal. Like last week, our tactics never left him isolated one-on-one against faster players, which is his weakness.

Ramsey: Didn't do anything brilliant with the ball today, but I'm happy to see his defending developing. He will need that to be a complete midfielder.

Midfield in general: Good at keeping the ball when we got it, which is why we had long spells of possession. Had a hard time winning it, which is why Palace had long spells of possession. I was shocked to see Palace hog the ball after Dougie came on, because Dougie, McGinn, and Nakamba are all capable of winning the ball. We still need a better ball winner in midfield.

Dougie: Either wasn't fit or was just plain rusty after a few games out.

McGinn: MOM for me. Seemed to be playing more towards the centre in attack today after playing wider last week. But then, the attack seemed to favor the left this week.

Young: Excellent again. Underused under Deano.

Bailey: Has talent but likes to play hero too much. Has learning to do.

Buendia: Made McGinn's goal. I still have faith in him.

Watkins: Disappointing. All the people blaming Ings for Watkins' regression this season can be quiet now. He had the middle to himself for the entire match and all his problems were still there. Yes, he did some nice work holding the ball up. But he is still overthinking and overelaborating. His chance in 2nd half stoppage time summed up his entire season. He should have one timed it, but decided to play with it and lost the chance. I think Ings would have buried that. I'd be starting one striker next week and it wouldn't be Watkins.

Gerrard: The tactics seems to be working, don't they?

Ref: Poor, but I'll cut him some slack because it was his first PM match.

Best of Palace: Gallagher was excellent. I would be happy to see him in a Villa shirt.

 

Was going to comment on this but to be honest can’t be arsed.

[MakemineVanilla]

It can't be denied, Villa were pretty good in that first-half. Palace won their last seven home games and have been pretty decent, and the fact that Villa made them look second best, is all credit to the team. With Villa's best defensive unit back in place, there was never much space behind them for Zaha to exploit, and he played a largely ineffective role out on the left. Palace didn't defend the corner very well but Targett finished well, and Villa looked well worth their lead. As is their habit, Villa went off the boil in the second-half but that is not unique to Villa, and only the best teams tend to play well for the full 90. From build-up to execution, Villa's second was a real peach and McGinn's wonderful curler crowned a fine performance. Palace earned their goal, given the balance of play, but Villa definitely deserved all the points, which they will need as a buffer as they face the prospect of playing two of the Premier League's big-hitters in the weeks to come. There were several stand-out performances for Villa and for Palace Conor Gallagher proved he is well worth the many accolades he's been getting.

[roonst83]

Fantastic win against a tough team thriving in confidence. There was a remarkable difference in composure on the ball from last week. The key difference in this game was how our midfield won the first and second balls and controlled the play. We found our midfielders in space when we played out from the back and that changed things for us today. We could build our play effectively without being under pressure. The players played with confidence today, brave on the ball and physical without it. Nakamba had his best game for us and played well for 90mins. Had the odd moment giving the ball away but more than made up for that. 

Ashley Young was great too. I’m never a fan of starting him but he put in a great performance today. We had some really nice intricate play at times, particularly from midfield to the front three. Again, the finding of space and confidence on the ball was telling.

I was massively disappointed with Ollie Watkins today. Spent the whole game appealing to the ref and his first touch was poor and he would lose the ball way too often. Doesn’t look as sharp as we’ve seen before. Better suited in this position probably but needs to improve massively. 

I gave Targett man of the match. He’s received lots of unfair criticism this season from lots of fans and I’ve always defended the fact that as a left back he’s excellent. He didn’t suit the wing back position but as a left back he’s a big asset for us. He’s much better on the ball than people give him credit for. Today he was great. Confident with his passing and looked great going forwards.

it was really disappointing to concede at the end as we deserved a clean sheet. Slightly took the gloss off a great win, but only a minor issue. We defended so well, as a team. Mings a real leader out there and much more composed and assured on the ball. Cash and Konsa also played very well. 

So so good to see Super John McGinn get our winner. Fantastic finish after great build up play between Buendia and Anwar. McGinn’s passing has been excellent of late, he really has a good eye for an accurate cross field pass. He put himself about well today and grew much more into the game in the second half when it got scrappy. 

Huge win today and so good to have two wins on the spin. Huge credit to Gerrard and the coaching staff. Given the tough batch of games coming up these past two games were crucial. Gerrard has instilled belief back into the team and for that he deserves plenty of credit. Very tough upcoming fixtures but these last two wins will instill lots of belief for us going forwards.

 

Edited November 27, 2021 by roonst83

[Hank Scorpio]

If we get battered the next few games i hope people don't turn and start slagging the staff off. I can see the improvement regardless of the results that may come.

The confidence must remain either way!

 

 

[Kiwivillan]

1 hour ago, roonst83 said:

He didn’t suit the wing back position but as a left back he’s a bug asset forfeiture us.

We need to introduce a bot challenge for the site. 

[Kiwivillan]

1 hour ago, Pissflaps said:

If we get battered the next few games i hope people don't turn and start slagging the staff off.

[Newry_Villan]

Hope the ref enjoyed his first and last Premier League game (we wish!).  7 people need to go to specsavers based on that vote.

[KMitch]

2 hours ago, Zero7 said:

How was it bruce ball, why so negative. They didn’t have a shot until 80 minutes, we defended out 18 yard line perfectly. 

I mean...  We put 10 men behind the ball, hoofed it forward when we had possession, and hoped Ollie would make something happen on the break.  We were lucky Palace were so poor and didn't look dangerous until the last 12 minutes of the game.  I'm happy we won, and we were the much better side in the first half, but there is still a lot of work to be done.  

[ciggiesnbeer]

Happy with that!

The referee was embarrassingly bad.

Ashley Young played very well.

Edited November 27, 2021 by ciggiesnbeer

[Talldarkandransome]

Some proper miserable ***** on here

[OutByEaster?]

Looking at Zaha turning round and throwing his gloved hand into Cash's face, I'm increasingly convinced that's a straight red.

Not sure why it wasn't talked about more.

 

[bannedfromHandV]

MoTD (Micah Richards) highlighted a good point about our players, namely the midfield being closer together.

I’ve long lamented how spaced apart we were under Smith, made it difficult for any intricate passing.

Edited November 27, 2021 by bannedfromHandV

[briny_ear]

Only Chelsea and Liverpool had beaten Palace in the PL before today so I think that shows the quality of our play, particularly in the first half. Great goal by SJM. I have always thought he has more goals in him than he has been delivering for Villa, so let’s hope this marks the start of a new phase. 

Only saw this on MOTD but I was pleased in the analysis they highlighted how well Ramsey played again. He rarely seems to get a mention in the highlighted commentary but he seems to be getting better match by match.

Great performance from the defence.

Now let’s see what we can do against Man C!

 

[Peter Griffin]

25 minutes ago, bannedfromHandV said:

MoTD (Micah Richards) highlighted a good point about our players, namely the midfield being closer together.

I’ve long lamented how spaced apart we were under Smith, made it difficult for any intricate passing.

You called it right. The change to our midfield is quite amazing with a few small changes and Nakamba, who was considered a Championship player is now our MOTM and I suspect most on here want to see him start against City

[OutByEaster?]

Just seeing on the replay of the Luiz red card, the Palace player actually told the ref there was no contact.

Fair play to Kouyate on that.