Ratings & Reactions: Villa v Southampton

[Brumstopdogs]

 

[tomav84]

Brilliant display. Best since Gerrard came in

[foreveryoung]

Now we know we have got it, a loss against Leeds will be meltdown.

[mikeyp102]

4 hours ago, villa4europe said:

I'll moan for the sake of it

4-0 up and brought on sanson, Bailey and Buendia rather than the really high potential youngsters that we have waiting to break through 

What a time to be alive

Did think it seemed the perfect game to bring them on. 
But then Sanson and Bailey need minutes so who are we to argue 

[Zatman]

1 hour ago, VillanousOne said:

Young did brilliantly today but he is by no means better than Digne is.

Chambers could prove to be better than Konsa, but needs to prove that in a Villa shirt. Konsa was superb vs Brighton.

Fair play to Gerrard we've had two games where you can really see what he wants from the players, tactics and formation.

Konsa is a better player than Chambers but on form Chambers didn't deserve dropping and gives us more options on the ball

 

[Sid4ever]

Great performance today, but a quick note on the Southampton scarves during the Ukraine appreciation, bloody impressive and well done Southampton.

[WallisFrizz]

1 hour ago, DJ_Villain said:

My family and I have lived in the New Forest since the Mid-90s - so we have been surrounded by Saints fans for nearly 30 years.

Ive got a soft spot for them and like to see them do well and win - unless it’s against the Villa or Villas best interests…

So for us to hammer them and me to be humble has been a pleasant but challenging day

Excellent, hope it’s been sweet!

[Talldarkandransome]

Not good enough for 1st or 2nd on MOTD 

[WallisFrizz]

3 minutes ago, Talldarkandransome said:

Not good enough for 1st or 2nd on MOTD 

I’ve watched today especially. So Chelsea won 4-0 against Burnley, so what? You’d expect them to. Annoying.

[MaVilla]

2 hours ago, Annoyman said:

Aside from adding numbers to the score, that couldn't really have gone any better, including three players everyone wanted to get game time getting a run-out off the bench. I thought Calum Chambers was a comically underwhelming signing but he was good today and that pass was outrageous.

That feels like the first real all-cylinders excellent whistle-to-whistle performance we've had for ages, at least going back to the United win in September.

Also: not even the slightest requirement for VAR to intervene, although I had already wrongly mentally noted Coutinho as being offside for the second and didn't celebrate.

 

 

that picture is gold lol.

[PieFacE]

One thing that I thought worked really well today is that both Mings and Chambers just didn't let the ball get to the feet of Southampton's forward players. Every time a pass went into them they would step out in front of them aggressively and nick it back. 

[El Zen]

Well, that was a bit good. Just as swashbuckingly sexy as almost anything peak Dean Smith era. 

Coutinho was phenomenal. Just utterly outstanding. That’s the kind of football you pay good money to watch. 

But the rest of the boys were absolutely terrific as well, many of them giving as good a performance as they have all season. Everything kind of clicked. I’d like give special credit to Ashley Young. He was more or less flawless at LB. 

[Xela]

1 hour ago, foreveryoung said:

Now we know we have got it, a loss against Leeds will be meltdown.

We're not going to win every game, thats why we are a mid table team. Some people don't see that though. 

[theboyangel]

Genuinely could’ve been 8-0!

 

terrific display of fluid attacking football! 

[Xela]

2 hours ago, Brumstopdogs said:

 

Dougie looks very excited there! 

[The_Steve]

1 hour ago, Xela said:

Dougie looks very excited there! 

Vasco da Boner

[Sam-AVFC]

Excellent performance. Few more of these please 

[Shomin Geki]

Honestly, we have a squad of real potency, with abundant quality and versatility, and more of our games should reflect this.  There's no reason we can't casually dominate slightly rudderless entities like Southampton more often than we do.  Our ability SHOULD shine through.  It SHOULD be utilised.  That ability was caught here in glimpses, admittedly against a thoroughly anaemic Southampton, in one of the more polite rogerings you'll see this season.  If we had hot blood in our veins it could have been double digits.  But we didn't need that.  And what perhaps underpins that is a greater core stability than anything I've seen from Gerrard's Villa thus far.  We made it look pretty easy, always unassumingly comfortable, a laidback heavyweight neatly jabbing his way to victory.  That assurance at the core, personified by the towering Mings, wasn't really tested, whilst the moments of flair and cutting thrust promise something more devastating if we need to reach for higher gears.  I'm very intrigued to see if these two qualities, today confidently suggested more than territorially stamped, will be more fully realised against opponents that put up a meatier fight.  We shall see.

MARTINEZ 8 Did everything that was asked of him with typically unfussy ease.

MINGS 8 A proper oak tree out there today.  Commanding, aggressive and dominant.  A leader.

CHAMBERS 7 A few clumsy moments, but more than good enough as back up.  His assist of the assist for Luiz' goal was an unexpectedly cultured treat.

CASH 8 Back to the precision-marauding consistency he's well capable of.  Finds space well, uses space well.  Yapping at, and past, heels like an excitable dog.  Tireless.

YOUNG 6 Never had the most elegant feet, and today was no exception, but has maintained an admirable graft to his game.  Put in a proper shift.  Clearly a very fit 36 year old.

LUIZ 7 Seems to be relishing Coutinho's presence, their wavelengths connecting for a couple of jazzy interludes.  Good decision making today, efficient and productive.

MCGINN 8 A decent go at being Fat Aggressive Pirlo, spraying balls one moment and charging down players the next.  And it wouldn't be a McGinn performance if at least at one moment each game you'd swear he'd downed a bottle of Scotch off camera.

RAMSEY 6 Struggled to weave his surging swagger into the game.  Not that it was really necessary anyway.  You feel that Ramsey, keen player that he is, is learning and improving with each game.  Even those he doesn't shine in.

COUTINHO 8 Absolute silk.  The boy glides.  A butterfly that you always trust will outmanoeuvre the net.  Beautiful feet, his speed of thought and switch of the hips can turn the game in a heartbeat.

INGS 7 Finally a little chemistry with Watkins! Constant, impeccably-professional endeavour.  And a clinical finish too.

WATKINS 7 Yup, his touch is still a little off and his finishing in need of a bit more oomph, but a Watkins at 70 or 80% will still harry defenders, run the channels and offer options for days.

SUBS

SANSON 6 Looked stylish, I suppose.  In a game that had been killed off well before he stepped onto the pitch.  Nonetheless still looks, to me, a touch too slow, of thought and action, to demand a starting place.  And the clock is ticking...

BAILEY 5 Still looking worryingly raw for a 30 Million pound player..

BUENDIA 7 The footballing equivalent of a mischievous grin: Always on the cusp of making something happen, and relishing the panic and uncertainty such threat affords him.  But his cameo today was essentially skipping alongside a victory lap.

Edited March 6, 2022 by Shomin Geki

[Robtaylor200]

Signal so bad in the North stand I couldn't cash out at 4 up.

[A'Villan]

Great display!

Got to keep the momentum going as we are playing for keeps when it comes to Coutinho and the like come season's end.

We have some challenging fixtures on the horizon, and it will be a test of out togetherness and game plan, no doubt.

I have no questions about the abilities of individuals and the personnel we have. It's how it comes together and how often that is the case that will reveal if this team is ready for challenging silverware or European placing.