Ratings & Reactions: Villa v Man Utd

[Villa87]

I was very critical at points in the match thread - first 30 mins with good reason. However, that second half was brilliant. Clear game plan and some of the interplay was a joy to watch. Buendia ran the show today A involved in absolutely everything and he is not afraid to get stuck in. Great cameo from Coutinho. Ramsey absolutely bossed that second half - nothing better than seeing an academy lad come through if his calibre. Chuk impressed as well - really hope he signs the contract. Mings colossus. Digne very encouraging apart from his pass into Sanson (didn’t look that rusty to me!) I though Sanson was playing a blinder to be honest. Hope his frustration on the touch line was due to his error and not being subbed off. UTV!

[macandally]

1 hour ago, Dale said:

Watching back the second Utd goal. Can't put that on Sanson, Digne dropped him in it. 

As mad Roy said, Mings should have wiped him out.  Too passive,  Digne and Sanson are new Villa.  Mings needs to start acting like a big club player, he is not there yet.  Konsa has more game awareness than big Ty.

Arguably difference between growing and playing in London and Gloucester! 

[stegzy]

32 minutes ago, gaffer85 said:

Carney changed the game, not only did he play well the system suited better when we only had one striker on the field, hopefully Ings Watkins experiment is now done

 

Interesting how he had his first game (of the Gerrard era) playing as an 8, which is where he normally played for the youth teams. Think it suites him much better as he is tanacious, a big lad to get around, has great passing but can also drive with the ball. I really hope he has a change of heart and decides to stay with us, for ours and his sake.

[briny_ear]

10 minutes ago, tinker said:

Our attack looks lost tbh , not sure if it's playing Ings and Ollie together but whatever, it's very frustrating. We have some great possession in dangerous areas but then the options disappear as we approach the final third.

The defense is still the same, looks a little shaky at times and doesn't look comfortable in possession, Ming's and Konsa/ Hause tend to linger on the ball looking for options , this needs to be cut out ..players need to show for the ball more once we have it at the back. 

Hmm, two excellent goals and a raft of chances and our attack is “lost”? Looking forward to when it’s “found”!

Defensive errors continue to bedevil us - without two ridiculous mistakes today, we are comfortable winners.

Edited January 15, 2022 by briny_ear

[Phil Silvers]

1 minute ago, Jono62 said:

Thought Hause played some decent balls when he came on.

He did but I think Mings and he are used to spraying it a bit, have been told not to and so they seem to hesitate. They are never going to be Dias levels but can improve, they need too because that hesitation lets the opposition set themselves ready for whatever.

[briny_ear]

4 minutes ago, Jono62 said:

Thought Hause played some decent balls when he came on.

I agree, he did well against all my worst expectations.

Edited January 15, 2022 by briny_ear

[thunderball]

42 minutes ago, gaffer85 said:

Carney changed the game, not only did he play well the system suited better when we only had one striker on the field, hopefully Ings Watkins experiment is now done

 

Haha! That’s a strong assertion, but would agree he looked very comfortable (he always does). I would like to see him have some meaningful game time, I think he has a lot to offer and would kick on as Ramsey has, and give Gerrard some real decisions to make. Really hope we keep him, and TBH I think any youngster owes a parent club a reasonable first contract after they turn 18.

 

[Mantis]

In a way it's promising that a lot of our goals conceded seem to be coming from individual errors rather than being outplayed. Hopefully something that can be cut out.

[MaVilla]

i thought overall we were very, very good (interlaced with some super infuriating moments and idiotic mistakes)

The biggest issue, aside from the silly goals conceded, was that we huffed and puffed a lot and once again lacked the clinical finish (we could have had a couple more goals imo if we were clinical/composed), however the two goals were brilliantly done.

One big thing for me to note, is that we had 55% possession over the course of the match, even if historically we lucked a draw, or a win , or whatever versus a team like Manure, our possession would be down in the low 30%'s, a scrappy lucky win tbh, but the fact we can have a game like this where we have more possession that Man Utd (55/45), is a huge step in terms of progress, it shows we can control the ball, and if we get a little more clinical in the final third, we can really hurt teams.

I think Buendia was brilliant, this is the player that we knew was in there, quality quality player, Buendia & Coutinho together are going to be just magical.

I though Sanson was our second best player overall, i hope he isnt judged for the mistake because i thought he was very good overall, very composed, and can play the system Gerrard wants, lovely composed passing.

Digne looked a little rusty, which is to be expected, but once he settled it was clear how much more he offers compared to Targett, and that even with Digne falling to bad cramp 10 mins from the end, clearly a quality player, some lovely touches and attacking impact.

Ramsey was good in the second half, but poor in the first half, Luiz was decent without being spectacular.

Mings was also decent, but maybe could have done more to recover Sanson's initial mistake...nice little run for the goal tho...

I thought Watkins was really poor, im not sure if Grealish made him look better than he was, or whether this is Watkins, but he is really poor imo, lacks vision, lacks in game intelligence, has bricks for feet, which is even more apparent when he has Coutinho & Buendia buzzing around him.

Cash, decent defensively, but seeing Digne on the let hand side, highlighted just how poor cash is going forward and linking play, so man times he gets the ball, he stops, turns back and passes backwards, the attacks dowt the right break down so many times with him, or when he did cross it was the usual "aim for the stars" type cross, i think if he isnt careful, he will be replaced in the summer (or maybe Hayden replaces him if he shows he is capable).

And finally.....Coutinho.....I though he did ok, nicely taken goal, it was easy to miss that he lifted that over De Gea and if he had just gone low the keeper may have got to it, he showed some nice touches etc, but tbh as much as the goal and the intricate touches, the fact is, just having his presence on the pitch aided us in going from 0-2 to 2-2, the aura of him alone makes a difference, and that great!

[villaslash]

14 minutes ago, nick76 said:

Just got back from the game.  

We are determined to make things hard for ourselves.  

Disappointing first half, a lot better second half.

Watkins continues to frustrate, no idea what’s wrong him. Ings pressed hard but got no chances, surprised he got took off instead of Watkins

Buendia had some frustrating moments but otherwise I really liked him and gave him MOTM.

Ramsey poor first half, great second half

Liked the look of Digne

Coutinho is going to be magic!

Mings lost the plot several times

Felt so sorry for Martinez

Ref was incredibly poor

Yeah Watkins just didn’t really try for any of those loose balls or 50/50 till Ings went off and he went front.

[macandally]

I don’t think you break this down to individuals, fact is the whole tempo was low first 30, the players thT stood out were those that weren’t passive and looked to play forward.  There were not many initially.

Second half the tempo was higher, and further up the pitch.  I don’t blame Sanson or Digne, Mings was on the back foot and should have worst case taken the yellow.  Instead we conceded.

We are hopefully over a challenging run of games and should look to push on, the signs are there we are heading in the right direction. Like Dean, Steve G needs to work out how he gets 90 out of this team, we currently go from woeful to wonderful.  Need to play the 90!

[gwi1890]

10 minutes ago, briny_ear said:

I agree, he did well against all my worst expectations.

He’s always better next to Mings ,  walking disaster next to Konsa

[GingerCollins29]

As soon as phil is fit enough to start games, drop either ings or ollie. pair of them were useless tonight

[El-Reacho]

27 minutes ago, Vive_La_Villa said:

I think Gerrard is demanding a style of play from the players that some just aren’t cut out for. Slowly those players will get replaced. It will take time and while it’s not a rebuild, there’s a lot to be done. 

I think the Bissouma type signing in front of the defence will solve a lot of his problems. It will allow Ramsay/Sanson/Luiz to move into wider positions when we don’t have the ball which seems to be key to how he plays. When Countinho is up to speed he’ll come in for Watkins I reckon. Cash and Digne don’t need replacing. Definitely not a rebuild required. DM and maybe a CB similar to White at Arsenal.

[useless]

If we and Man Utd were the only two teams in the league we'd top on with four points and they would be bottom on one point, with fifteen minutes to go today they were top of this mini league on goal difference, but our comeback changed that. Or in other words we've taken four points off them this season.

[MaVilla]

havent seen any praise from Gerrard for Buendia in the Manure game, i hope he does somewhere in his interviews, cus Buendia was immense.

[Vive_La_Villa]

32 minutes ago, hippo said:

That sounds like a rebuild to me.

A rebuild for me is what Smith had to do one when we first got promoted. I don’t think we require anything that dramatic.

[JAMAICAN-VILLAN]

My Dad just called me to ask me " Do you see Leon Bailey getting back into this team " ? And to say that he loves Matty Cash.

He seems to think we are showing signs of going to the next level with a few more tweaks and additions.

We think we are shite, football is a weird game. lol

[Vive_La_Villa]

3 minutes ago, El-Reacho said:

I think the Bissouma type signing in front of the defence will solve a lot of his problems. It will allow Ramsay/Sanson/Luiz to move into wider positions when we don’t have the ball which seems to be key to how he plays. When Countinho is up to speed he’ll come in for Watkins I reckon. Cash and Digne don’t need replacing. Definitely not a rebuild required. DM and maybe a CB similar to White at Arsenal.

Yeh it’s key, it’s why we have missed Nakamba so much. We need a play that stays deep and mops up.

[skell]

1 hour ago, CVByrne said:

Coutinho had a good debut. Buendia is brilliant. We are soft soft soft

Gerard knew we needed a left back attacking mid and a defensive mid. one more togo! If we get the right one we will be in a great position