Ratings & Reactions: Villa v Arsenal

[Demitri_C]

Just now, NurembergVillan said:

If it makes you feel any better, that is equally true of any other 90 minute period you've lived so far

Yeah but other 90 minute periods ive enjoyed  this was quite torturous at times!

[Sulberto21]

12 minutes ago, tezzaleed said:

jesus.  cash motm are you having fing laugh he was total shite.  kept running down dead ends when he should have made a 30 yard pass.  luiz was the only player from the original 12 who was trying to pass the ball forward.  coutinho was awful.  Bailey looked promising when he came on.  watkins poor ings looked more of a threat.  in summary.   p poor.

I agree with what you say about Cash. He doesn’t follow in and just waits to be instructed or for something to happen to follow in. 

Arsenal are better than us off the ball and on it. Coutinho is always goal side of the opposition DM’s but rarely do we try and find him.

We had enough opportunities to pull it back to him for an easy tap in but nope we diddle and doddle and dilly n dally and lost it.

Coutinho wasn’t at his best but he was constantly on the move and was the only one following up play. They won every second ball. The cross Bailey dug out was the perfect example of our players not following it in. Cash had 10/15 yards on Tierney it would have been a tap in. Same with Watkins from the Young cross he could have nipped ahead of Gabriel. 

We need to improve off the ball in both defending and attacking. Also Emi got a hand to Diving Saka’s shot should be saved BUT an Arsenal player would have tapped in the rebound. 

Aston Villa V Arsenal - normal service resumed.

Edited March 19, 2022 by Sulberto21

[MakemineVanilla]

Arsenal were better but not by much, and look worthy of 4th or 5th.

Villa were okay but failed to create what you might call a chance.

Villa's lack of proper cover at left-back was key to the outcome.

[Sulberto21]

5 minutes ago, NurembergVillan said:

We've lost to a very good Arsenal side who attack and defend as a solid unit. It's taken Arteta a while, but he's shaped them how he wants them.

That said, for as much they kept us at arms length, there wasn't really a sustained period where I could sense an Arsenal goal coming.  I think for the most part (and especially given we had Young at LB against Saka) we defended them very well.

Gerrard will still be learning a lot about his players. He's stress-testing his own system against other teams rather than changing formations and personnel all the while, and I think that's the right approach. It might cost us a few games this season, but we're not going down and we need to see who will stay and who will go in the summer.

Ramsey played like he was knackered again, McGinn gave one of his infuriating performances and Luiz looked far better when he was allowed to step into central midfield rather than having to protect the defence.

Watkins was back to the frustrating form we've seen too often this season.

Cash had another good game and largely kept ESR quiet, but Coutinho and to a lesser extent Buendia were anonymous.

Ings looked a threat when he came on, whilst Bailey showed the benefit of having explosive pace with his little burst and cross from the byline.

Traore didn't offer much and made a couple of bad decisions, but his close control remains as good as anyone else in the squad.  Certainly far better than that of Watkins who seems to trip over the ball a lot these days.

Another learning curve for coaches and players alike, and proof that if you can see glimmers of what a manager is trying to achieve, give him the time and eventually he will achieve it. Arteta is quietly doing a very good job there.

I think if we’re going to play with two 10’s we need someone like Traore or Ings up front because as you say Traore has an excellent first touch. Ings too is better than Ollie in that regard.

[KentVillan]

Cash and Luiz played well, as did Ings when he came on. Everyone else was poor.

[PaulC]

They got to back him. Look at Arteta, it wasnt that long back many were saying he was rubbish. Gerrard needs time. Today the better team won. 

[Lochheads twin]

18 minutes ago, Talldarkandransome said:

Dont think we need the MOTM poll

We need an extra option.

• None of the above!

 

[CVByrne]

16 minutes ago, kevpants said:

JUST STOP PLAYING WITH 2 NUMBER 10S

It was the right call today I feel. I can't see Gerrard ditching the formation this season. I would prefer a proper 4 3 3 though. Coutinho in the wide left probably wouldn't be as effective though. Nor Buendia on right.

[VillaParkAvenue]

But nice to see Bert is alive!

[matteyp]

How did Coutinho play 90? Why didn't Gerrard bring subs on earlier?  It seems like we shoe-horned Buendia in for a well-deserved start.  And the ref was quite frankly rubbish.  The Mings' yellow card wasn't actually a foul at all and kinda set the tone.  Martinez probably should have saved the goal but he was wrong-footed.

[PieFacE]

Just now, matteyp said:

How did Coutinho play 90? Why didn't Gerrard bring subs on earlier?  It seems like we shoe-horned Buendia in for a well-deserved start.  And the ref was quite frankly rubbish.  The Mings' yellow card wasn't actually a foul at all and kinda set the tone.  Martinez probably should have saved the goal but he was wrong-footed.

Coutinho was poor today. Couldn't influence the game at all. But arsenal were good. 

[briny_ear]

 Never dreamed a year ago I would be writing this but somehow Coutinho and Buendia  don’t work in a 4-3-3.

Some poor performances, Watkins and Ramsey in particular, but in general we were much too overawed and respectful of Arsenal in the first half and while it was better in the second it was nowhere near good enough.

Subs were a bit late and I don’t think Traore was the right guy to bring on given the need for us to buckle down and apply ourselves better.

Sad to say I had to give MOTM to Martinez - it’s been a while since I did that.

Gerrard got things wrong today in selection, tactics and substitutions.

If you wanted a measure of how far we have to go to challenge for top 6 you got it today.
 

[Lerner's Driver]

What is so annoying is the predictability of it all. I was certain we'd lose today because we rarely, if ever, look like we are ready to kick on to the next level. The occasional spurt of positive momentum is always fairly swiftly squashed by an inaccurate pass, slow, timid approach or stupid error at the back. We are capable of some very good football, but not against the top teams and not consistently enough to be relevant. Aston Villa are mid-table also rans.  Yawn.

[picicata]

Expected result. Previously we always looked like we could win (or lose) against anybody. Since Gerrard has come that's no longer the case.

Meh

[Farlz]

Really shit today, Arsenal bossed us about. The brief times we even had the ball they would just get it back, ping it around us with ease and be on there way again. I feel like our results against anyone in the top half are just shocking. The whole game plan was just a shambles, if we can even call it a plan. Pass it between the defence and then hit and hope for Watkins, what is all that about? 

Gerrard's fetish to play such narrow systems annoy me. I'm never gonna love the bloke but he's here for the long run so I need to back him. He does make it hard though I'll be honest. 

[Lerner's Driver]

5 minutes ago, VillaParkAvenue said:

But nice to see Bert is alive!

And back to not having any meaningful impact.

[A'Villan]

Didn't like how deep we started and invited Arsenal to come up with something. They did, albeit a fairly scrappy strike, it was on target and enough to catch us off.

As soon as we went to pressing higher and playing with some offensive intent, we came into the game and arsenal's hold diminished into nothingness. 

We severely lack quality and identity in the final third, personally I feel that's on SG and not the players.

Poor game from both teams.

On to the next one.

[Xela]

I see the knee jerk reactions have begun again. 

 

[bannedfromHandV]

Tepid and tentative, improved second half for sure but never really looked like scoring, we seem to be very streaky under Gerrard, hopefully this is just a two game losing run and we turn it around against wolves after the break.

[tinker]

Pitch looked perfect, groundsman doing us proud.