Ratings & Reactions: Crystal Palace v Villa

[Tomaszk]

Absolutely **** great stuff.

[Adman]

1 hour ago, OutByEaster? said:

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.

 

I thought it was at the time and then no replays...

[Ponky]

I must say I didn't enjoy that as much as I should have, as I kept expecting the worst case scenario unfolding. I think it may be PTSD from our last two away games against them. 

But this seems to be a new Villa, mentally as well as tactically. We have have a few games coming up now though that will test both mettle and nerves. It's great having 6 more points in the bank coming into them. 

[TRO]

5 hours ago, chappy said:

Nakamba MOTM, excellent. Ramsey and McGinn very good. Dougie has a job to get back in the team! And Sanson!

Very annoyed about the late goal as I have Emi in my fantasy draft side but thought we defended well all game.

First half was fantastic. Palace to their credit turned up in the second but we rarely looked troubled.

How strong do we look when we can bring Buendia, Luiz and El Ghazi off the bench btw, with Ings and Traore still not involved! 

Our second goal might be my favourite of the season so far, stunning build up and finish (Bailey vs Everton is my other contender).

Really looking forward to Wednesday night under the lights now!

Up the Stevie G’s Slippy Villans (still v conflicted as I hated him his whole career but he hasn’t put a foot wrong so far!)

I find it hard to hate one of the best midfielders of his generation, even before he joined us.....sometimes in football you just have to admire players,for what they are, even if they don't play for your team.

I felt the same with John Terry.....masterful leaders.

To have him now, as our manager, makes it easy for me.

[TRO]

1 hour ago, briny_ear said:

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!

 

I never thought we could get 6 points from those 2 durable sides.....just shows what, we have under the surface.

second half was a bit flaky, but we have to give the opposition some credit for that, even though they was very physical.

Those performances after 2 weeks is remarkable.

[Hornso]

We played some really nice stuff at times. Amazing the difference compared to away at Arsenal where it felt like we barely touched the ball.

[Tom13]

8 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.

This post isn't as bad as it's made out to be, you said we were lucky to win but then praised most of our players, so maybe our performance was better than you think?

However, one bit that confused me is how you say we have three good ball winners but need another one? What we would want in an ideal world is some sort of Nakamba and Dougie hybrid. But IMO there's nothing wrong with our ball winning ability in midfield and a lack of it wasn't the reason they kept the ball so well, we just didnt keep it so well ourselves when we had it as we naturally sat deeper.

And we did limit Palace's clear cut chances, only one I can think of in the first half (which Mings stopped anyway) was the Benteke chance that came from Watkins losing it yet again.

You should still have faith in Buendia as it's extremely early in his Villa career and he's a very good player.

Oh, and Ramsey was very intelligent with the ball today (again IMO)

[nick76]

7 hours ago, MaVilla said:

Although i accept you have your view, to say we were expected to beat both is just not true at all.

We had lost 5 on the bounce.

The only team to beat Brighton in the last 9 in the PL was Man City, they had only lost 2 games all season until we played them.

Crystal Palace were unbeaten at home, hadnt lost in 7 games and had only been beaten by Liverpool & Chelsea in the PL so far this season (both away), while picking up draws at Arsenal & Leicester, and beating Spurs & Man City.

We just beat them both, right on the back of a 5 game losing streak.

I agree we shouldnt get carried away, but to say were were "expected" to beat Brighton & Palace, would be doing a huge dis-service to Gerrard and the team.

I meant that generally we expect to beat them, I thought that was obvious when I said about our bad run and those teams doing well. Generally or at the start of a season, you’d be expecting to beat the likes of Brighton and Palace more often than not.

You highlighted 

Quote

We’ve beaten two teams we expect to beat

But completely left the context off that followed

Quote

We’ve beaten two teams we expect to beat, all things being equal but both those teams have been doing well whereas we haven’t.

It completely changes the context of the point. I completely agree with your following point in the comment and I was actually being positive in that normally we would be believing this is the chance for 3 points unlike, say, the Man City game but we haven’t been playing well whereas they have so to get the 6 points is fantastic and great confidence boost as I said in my next sentence.

Quote

There is a confidence starting to build.  It’s all good news, in fact great news

So not sure why you took a snippet out of my words without the context around it. Maybe I just wrote it wrong but @Mark Albrightonbetter than me a few posts on from my comment.

Edited November 28, 2021 by nick76

[DaveAV1]

It’s great to see us ending sides good runs, as opposed to ending sides bad runs, which we seemed to have developed a habit of doing in recent years. 

[StanBalaban]

11 hours ago, BigJim said:

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.

All 3 of the sub we're involved in the build-up to the winning goal - especially AEG and Buendia.

[It's Your Round]

MOTD is on in five mins for anyone that missed it. I must admit I very rarely watch it, but I will this morning. I’m keen to soak up any Aston Villa praise and positivity! 

[tommytenjobs]

Went yesterday with my dad and had to sit in palace end with him. Poor view as low down and behind goal, but my take was…. 
-we held them at arms length for most of the game, let them have the ball and play in front of us. We weren’t worried by any of them except zaha and after cash incident he seemed distracted and riled anyway. 
-Watkins played better than many think, gave Tomkins a torrid time, but needs to pass on the ball quicker, shoot quicker and be more decisive. 
-Bailey needs to do all the above. Too much an individual still, but did attempt more defensive work. Still think that there’s a player there! 
-el ghazi should always play at least the last 25 mins. Stretched play by hugging touchline, attacks oppo by running straight and direct. Gets fouls and always looks like he’ll contribute. Not sure he ever does this when he starts. 
-mings, in control of benteke for 90 mins. Don’t understand the flax he seems to get sometimes 

-cash really solid and great decision making. Kept a really dangerous weapon under control. (Like targett last week against lampty) 

- motd….no clue on at least three penalty shouts so was really looking forward to seeing them, Luiz red and cash/zaha spat to clear them up in my mind…..not on highlights at all really. It’s not like they had much else to show and yet nothing. Who the hell edits the program? 

Edited November 28, 2021 by tommytenjobs

[Talldarkandransome]

11 hours ago, OutByEaster? said:

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.

 

And Cash got a yellow for it

[The_Steve]

Zaha is a vile, petulant bloke. Caught the clip of his attack on Cash, the most obvious red all season and he gave a yellow.

Luiz's tackle was reckless, but never a red.

Felt like Emi should have saved it for Palace's goal, but I think he's anticipating the defender getting ahead of the attacker so has his feet planted, and cannot react quick enough.

Two very good goals today. Can't complain given our dismal away record.

Big shout out to Mings for how he marshalled Benteke. Cash again solid.

JJ is growing into every game.

A different shape and style, it's a work in progress, but very encouraging stuff.

[robby b]

Just watched the extended highlights on the official site, I counted 11 (eleven) passes for our 2nd goal.   Like Man City or Liverpool. And the highlights don't even show the start of the move !

"Smooth. Nice."      

Edited November 28, 2021 by robby b

[fightoffyour]

Here’s the Zaha on Cash incident. Might need to VPN to Aus to watch it.

 

[TheMightyVillans]

24 minutes ago, fightoffyour said:

Here’s the Zaha on Cash incident. Might need to VPN to Aus to watch it.

 

And cash got a yellow card.... Criminal refereeing in the game. Zaha the most annoying player in the Premier League. He seriously needs anger management. 95% of his reactions to challenges are way over the top. He needs to get punished more for his baby behaviour.

[OutByEaster?]

56 minutes ago, fightoffyour said:

Here’s the Zaha on Cash incident. Might need to VPN to Aus to watch it.

 

Sadly that one comes up as "video not available in your region" for me. 

What does it show?

For me from the coverage I've seen, I think Cash comes into the back of him and probably fouls him, I'm not sure it's a yellow, but there is a foul I thought, but Zaha just turns and push/slaps him in the face. It looked a red for me. Not mentioned on MotD, barely mentioned in the live coverage of the game and not mentioned in the papers as far as I could see - yet we're looking at them going down to ten men early in the game, it could and should have been a pivotal moment - strangely ignored.

He's got problems that boy - he's petulant, spoiled and overly aggressive.

 

 

[villaglint]

25 minutes ago, OutByEaster? said:

Sadly that one comes up as "video not available in your region" for me. 

What does it show?

For me from the coverage I've seen, I think Cash comes into the back of him and probably fouls him, I'm not sure it's a yellow, but there is a foul I thought, but Zaha just turns and push/slaps him in the face. It looked a red for me. Not mentioned on MotD, barely mentioned in the live coverage of the game and not mentioned in the papers as far as I could see - yet we're looking at them going down to ten men early in the game, it could and should have been a pivotal moment - strangely ignored.

He's got problems that boy - he's petulant, spoiled and overly aggressive.

 

 

Zara does stuff like that every game. Skirting a red himself, winding defenders up and using his strength and trickery to get people sent off. It’s all an act but he’s very very good at it. Thankfully it seemed the Villa had wised up after the Mings red last year. It was noticeable how they just ignored him after that incident. 

[The_Steve]

2 hours ago, OutByEaster? said:

Sadly that one comes up as "video not available in your region" for me. 

What does it show?

For me from the coverage I've seen, I think Cash comes into the back of him and probably fouls him, I'm not sure it's a yellow, but there is a foul I thought, but Zaha just turns and push/slaps him in the face. It looked a red for me. Not mentioned on MotD, barely mentioned in the live coverage of the game and not mentioned in the papers as far as I could see - yet we're looking at them going down to ten men early in the game, it could and should have been a pivotal moment - strangely ignored.

He's got problems that boy - he's petulant, spoiled and overly aggressive.

 

 

Zaha shoves Cash with both arms in the chest

 

Edited November 28, 2021 by The_Steve