Ratings & Reactions: Villa v Man City

[punkiller1981]

6 hours ago, Davkaus said:

There were three or four occasions where players were literally just grappling and Mike Dean ignored it

I actually thought he did a decent job of not making the game all about him for once but I am amazed he didn’t book anybody. The was a foul on the touch line of the witton lane stand I think by cancelo on Watkins which was a clear yellow for a normal ref so for Mike Dean I thought it was nailed on yet he did nothing 

[villa4europe]

6 hours ago, TomC said:

But he was consistent. We got away with some of the same stuff. Furthermore, it's not just Dean. All the refs seem more lenient this year.

agree, he let a lot go, maybe he thought thats what would make it a contest and to an extent it worked

man city fans are going tits about him on blue moon saying we got away with murder but like you say i think he was fairly consistent

would say that he missed the old pep trick of the holding midfielder committing 17 fouls with no yellow card but thats normal, the mings foul on the keeper from the long throw was bizarre and the penalty decision i understand what hes thinking as he gave the corner so he thinks ake got the ball, if thats a pen then its up to VAR to give it, if he'd have given a goal kick then it would be something different 

[alreadyexists]

Great to see Gerrard absolutely fuming at them in the first half when I think a few of the players were shell shocked… much much better second half. If we’d played like that all game who knows. 
A narrow loss to the champions isn’t the worst one to take. 

[thunderball]

6 hours ago, ciggiesnbeer said:

 

Hahah, this is exactly what I thought too! 

Would’ve been great to hear that ringing out at the end but not many of the younger generation would know it!

[thunderball]

It’s worth underlining that in a season that will have a hell-of-a-relegation scrap, this team now has a steel that should keep us out of trouble, and I couldn’t say that 3 weeks ago. Without jumping on Smiths grave, I really think we would’ve had a complete hiding under the last regime.

[JAMAICAN-VILLAN]

7 hours ago, TRO said:

The 3 are very good sides.....but I have to say, tonight, I was surprised by Man City's physicality, which was brutal at times and playing the man, not the ball.....they should have received more bookings than they did.

Indeed, they look a strong team in every facet.

Skill , precise passing of all ranges, tactics, intensity, and strength.

As I mentioned, I reckon that's the best performance I've seen from them all season.

[villalad21]

2 minutes ago, JAMAICAN-VILLAN said:

Indeed, they look a strong team in every facet.

Skill , precise passing of all ranges, tactics, intensity, and strength.

As I mentioned, I reckon that's the best performance I've seen from them all season.

I don't think Chelsea have enough goals in them.

It would surprise me if City or Liverpool isn't a fair bit ahead of the rest come May.

[villalad21]

7 hours ago, The_Steve said:

 

Biggest contribution to the game was crying 

Lol.

But was smiling when City scored.

[cyrusr]

8 hours ago, Peter Griffin said:

It must have been more than 400m. Jack 100m, Diaz 60m, Sterling 50m, Rodri 56m, Cancelo 58m, Mahrez 60m. That's 380m and only 6 players

Rough figures of 1st 11 (not including add ons etc.)

Ederson: £35m

Cancelo: £60m (part exchange included in figure)

Zinchencko £1.7m (!)

Dias: £61.6m

Ake: £41m

Fernandinho: £34m

Rodri: £62.6m

Sterling: £44m

Mahrez: £60m

Silva: £43.5m 

Jesus: £27m

Total: £470.4m

Every player that started bar Zinchencko and Jesus cost more than our most expensive signing (Bailey - £30m?). That’s not a bad “2nd string” which still includes your first choice goalkeeper and captain. That’s not including the bench we has a £100m player on it.

Thought 1st half we were very poor and gave Man City far too much respect. 2nd half though infinitely better and such a better performance. Shame we couldn’t get the 2nd goal but glad they kept trying. Luiz in that 10 role could be a fantastic, he really was a star performer.

VTID sung proudly by those who are VTID. To be honest he didn’t deserve any sort of reaction, he is now an opposition player who had a 5 minute cameo. Would have almost been funnier if the entire stadium just went silent but there we are. Onto Leicester and we can get the 3 points.

[VillaFaninLondon]

I thought Sanson did well when he came on and hopefully he gets more chances now. Something was definitely up between him and Smith.

 

Carney was a surprise sub but had the best chance of the 2nd half, it was a good save but he hit it straight at him. 

 

Ollie's goal was brilliantly taken and Luiz had a very good game. Nakamba did well again and Buendia was better in the 2nd half. 

 

Disappointing to see Bailey get injured AGAIN, McGinn didn't have his best game, and Targett struggled. Thought Emi should have saved Diaz's shot too.

 

Clearly much better 2nd half but could only create one good chance. My disappointment is how many games we've already lost this season (8), only Watford have lost more. If we'd drawn a few of those games instead of lost we'd be in the top half.

 

Four games up to Christmas are Leicester (h), Liverpool (a), Norwich (a), Burnley (h). Need to be looking at 7-9 points from those IMO. 

[BleedClaretAndBlue]

Targett really should have got his head on that Dias goal

[Vive_La_Villa]

I’m not sure why Sterling is underrated by so many. He’s class. Even with so many players out the quality they have is unbelievable but on top of that they work so hard.  We gave them a good game and unlucky not to get a point in the end.  Just glad we don’t play them every week. 
 

A fan at the end was moaning they are nothing but mercenaries and players only join them for money.  I didn’t bother telling him they actually win things as well. 

[Philosopher]

So my MotM was Luiz. Thought he was good in a more box to box role, and equally good when moved to DM. Felt Sanson Improved the midfield when he came on. The midfield is suddenly looking a lot less problematic. I think we are well stocked in terms of box to box operators. But would still like top class DM. I like Nakamba as our back up.

I'd be very interested in seeing Nakamba with Douglas and Sanson in front of him. I noticed last night that Douglas and Morgan are both pretty quick, and they are both very composed. I think that could be quite tasty. 

Carney did well when he came on, linked up well with Buendia. Buendia improved after Carney came on, not a coincidence. They seem to have a good understanding.

Targett's lack of pace and agility (for a fullback) is still an issue, Mahrez had his number, to the point where he could just run past Targett, like he wasn't there.

Cash did well against Sterling. Mings had a mixed game, however part of that was having to always cover for Targett. He was doing to job of 2 players at times.

Konsa looks dependable again.

McGinn was dogged, but he seems to lack that bit of quality against opposition like this.

Bailey was always going to have problems with fitness this season in hindsight. He arrived injured and no preseason, but still has to get fitter than ever before in order to play in the fiercest league in the world. He need to be treated with kid gloves and be brought back slowly. Looks like his hamstring, so at least 4 weeks out. Explosive athletes like him are always susceptible to muscle injuries.

Ollie worked his arse off as usual and scored a good goal. I feel he needs to be a bit better in possession, as has been losing the ball a lot this season.

Buendia had his best half of football in a Villa shirt. Looks to be close to getting upto speed.

I would like to see the team that finished the game start the next one. But Sanson probably isn't ready to start matches, and Carney is a risk (worth taking imo).

Edited December 2, 2021 by Philosopher

[Made In Aston]

1 hour ago, thunderball said:

It’s worth underlining that in a season that will have a hell-of-a-relegation scrap, this team now has a steel that should keep us out of trouble, and I couldn’t say that 3 weeks ago. Without jumping on Smiths grave, I really think we would’ve had a complete hiding under the last regime.

If it carries on like this it will be. Practically every team in the bottom half is averaging no more then 1pt per game, which is borderline relegation form. 

[Vive_La_Villa]

7 minutes ago, Made In Aston said:

If it carries on like this it will be. Practically every team in the bottom half is averaging no more then 1pt per game, which is borderline relegation form. 

Top 3 aside the games are all close. You expect Spurs and Arsenal to pull away plus maybe Leicester and West Ham.  Beyond that not so much between teams. 
 

Newcastle, Norwich and one more most likely.  I don’t think we’ll get dragged in to the one more battle. 

[chrisvilla4]

Who'd have thought at the beginning of this year we'd love Mike Dean more that Grealish? Crazy times! 

[HKP90]

Very close MOTM for me between Watkins and Luiz. I went for Ollie, but I thought both were excellent, and I must say I prefer Doug a bit further forward and able to dictate play. Watkins held the line superbly, and it was a great finish. 

 

Also credit again to Young, whose just oozes commitment and guile. He's going to have been a great signing this year, and hope he's got one or two more in him. 

Edited December 2, 2021 by HKP90

[lapal_fan]

I only saw part of the first half and all of the second, but there are real signs there for me, maybe for the first time, which thought "maybe it was right to change manager".

The first half is how I expected to be honest, we looked out of it after the second.  I don't think under Smith we'd have seen that bit of grit and fire in the second half we saw.  Villa's biggest problem under Smith was always "we're too nice".  It was a second half performance representative of the Gerrard as a player to be honest.  "We might be losing but **** that, I'm going to give it a go in the second half" - a bit of nastiness to go with the hard work, don't respect the opposition and prove you're able to go toe-to-toe.  

City are by far a better technical team than we are, but we showed that we can mix it with them.

I hope Carney regrets his contract issues after he missed a golden chance as well.  Maybe working on his game more than refusing to develop his game with us might have seen that go in.  Didn't think he was much to shout about and I even thought his effort levels weren't enough, which are usually enough to take a youngster through.  Sanson came on and did 5x the stuff, looking forward to seeing more of him.

The whole team played well, Konsa should have scored and Carney should have scored.  Could have been a very different game! 

[The_Steve]

3 hours ago, Rds1983 said:

They've been doing and getting away with tactical fouls for years. Exactly as you say, whenever they lose possession, they take it in turns to make a small foul to break up play and stop/slow the counter. Doesn't get cards as looks small and is cycled between players, isn't a threat from the set piece as usually way too far out. Very cynical side. 

It’s another reason why I despise them 

[Wainy316]

The Citeh fans are absolutely seething about how Mike Dean absolutely did his best to screw then over.  What are they even on about?