Ratings & Reactions: Villa v Southampton

[sne]

Watched it now, far from the worst game I've ever seen. Sweden-Turkey from the 2000 Euro's still has that honor by a huge margin.

3 points but sadly a injury to Kamara is pretty much all I take from it. That neither team managed to have even 75% passing accuracy says it all really.

[Adam2003]

39 minutes ago, meregreen said:

The guy hasn’t even been here a year yet. Take a look at Alex Fergusons results in his first two years at Utd. They were really poor, can remember singing you’ll be sacked in the morning at him at VP

Maybe you need to question your judgment of managers then if you thought Fergie was that bad

 

[Adam2003]

1 minute ago, sne said:

That neither team managed to have even 75% passing accuracy says it all really

I saw someone online say “this is Southampton’s annual 9-0 loss performance, but the Villa team they are playing is so bad it’s only 1-0” - made me laugh.

[Lupinthe5th]

Payed over £40 for my ticket to watch that rubbish last night. Yeah we won and im happy we won, but dont charge £40,£50 for that sort of football. Gerrard must improve the style in my opinion otherwise we gonna get on his back even when he's winning games!

[sheepyvillian]

1 hour ago, TRO said:

Do you think formations are the only thing, to constitute change.

He changed the approach, the mentality....less gungho, injected industry, quicker to the ball, more inclined to mix it....showed a points savvy mindset.

They pressed us, we showed more resistance to the press, than in the earlier games.

Watkins was holding the ball up better against 2 brutes, and winning more headers....worked damn hard with his running.....how he got one vote, is beyond me.

Mings was once again error free, maybe the captaincy was a shrewd move,after all,  allowing him to concentrate on his own game.

......thats what he changed.

Absolutely this. 

[The Fun Factory]

It's quite impressive we got over 40,000 in last night given it was a televised match on a Friday night and we knew we won't really be entertained. Plus Southampton must barely taken more than a thousand.

[meregreen]

37 minutes ago, Adam2003 said:

Maybe you need to question your judgment of managers then if you thought Fergie was that bad

 

Like I say, his results were terrible. The papers reckoned he was one bad result away from the sack. He saved his neck with a good cup win at Forest. Then, never looked back. It certainly showed me that things can change quickly in football.

Edited September 17, 2022 by meregreen

[desensitized43]

Horrible performance last night. Just about got the job done and deserved against a really poor side. That’s 2 wins this season, both where you can say that the quality of the opposition had more influence on the outcome than anything we did.

At this stage I’ll take points on the board as results can breed confidence which breeds performances but **** me he needs to sort this out and fast. It’s an entertainment business and I don’t think a single villa fan can have walked away last night feeling they got their moneys worth.

[Zatman]

I will be shocked if a poorer team than Southampton visit Villa Park this season

[Nigel]

By god that was tough to watch.

Credit where its due, there was a reason why Southampton were so bad; Really good defensive performance.

Mings was MOTM

I just hope that an equally good attacking performance can start to appear now the pressure is starting to wane a bit.

[Nigel]

1 hour ago, TRO said:

Do you think formations are the only thing, to constitute change.

He changed the approach, the mentality....less gungho, injected industry, quicker to the ball, more inclined to mix it....showed a points savvy mindset.

They pressed us, we showed more resistance to the press, than in the earlier games.

Watkins was holding the ball up better against 2 brutes, and winning more headers....worked damn hard with his running.....how he got one vote, is beyond me.

Mings was once again error free, maybe the captaincy was a shrewd move,after all,  allowing him to concentrate on his own game.

......thats what he changed.

Ill also add hes slightly tweaked the full backs rolls with one sitting now. Much better shape.

[MrBlack]

14 hours ago, CVByrne said:

Gerrard out army you have the floor. You have taken over all of VT already. 

Even when we win you'll trot out the same shite as always

What about this display gave you encouragement that we've turned a corner and will win our next game?

We won't face any worse sides than that Southampton team this season.

We're in trouble if that's all Gerrard can get out of our players after nearly 10 months with them, including the last two weeks focussed training.

[Zatman]

Just now, Nigel said:

Ill also add hes slightly tweaked the full backs rolls with one sitting now. Much better shape.

I am not sure he intentionally tweaked it. Young can't get up the pitch as he could before which helped us

It worked last season also when Young replaced Digne for a game or 2

[Nigel]

Just now, Zatman said:

I am not sure he intentionally tweaked it. Young can't get up the pitch as he could before which helped us

It worked last season also when Young replaced Digne for a game or 2

It was digne that was sitting far more when ash was carrying the ball forward 

[El Segundo]

3 hours ago, briny_ear said:

Definition of a Pyrrhic victory is 

A Pyrrhic victory (/ˈpɪrɪk/ (listen) PIRR-ik) is a victory that inflicts such a devastating toll on the victor that it is tantamount to defeat. Such a victory negates any true sense of achievement or damages long-term progress.

So, kindly explain the devastating damage that was done to the team last night. 
 

Not sure all those talking of Pyrrhic victory have quite got the meaning right.

I'd say it's potentially a pyrrhic victory but it remains to be seen.  If it means Gerrard stays too long and takes us down - as some, including me,  fear he might -  that would be pretty devastating, and would clearly demonstrate damage to the long term progress of the club.  As for the rest of the definition, I certainly felt any sense of achievement last night was negated by the latest in a long-ish line of dreadful, boring , clueless performances that really do not offer much promise of an enjoyable or successful season ahead. 

In response to other posts, comparing our situation to pre-Wenger Arsenal, and Gerrard's to Ferguson's in the late 80s is ridiculous, unless you are happy with 90's style dinosaur football and happy to ignore the changes in the financial structure of the game since those days.   Ferguson's situation was a massive exception at a time when financial pressures were nowhere near what they are today, and unlikely to ever be repeated.  If we want to play like Arsenal in the late 80s and early 90s we may as well just get McLeish or Bruce back.  And just which top players is Gerrard going to get through the door by playing shite football and hovering around the lower reaches of the table? 

Edited September 17, 2022 by El Segundo

[Rugeley Villa]

First game I’ve been to under Gerrard. Was like pulling teeth for the most part. We got the job done though against a side which were poor on the night but have showed a lot of resilience so far this season . I’m still in the Gerrard in camp at the moment . Imo the fans on here are turning against him quicker than usual because of the dislike of him from before joining the club . Give him more time. The home support haven’t gave up on him yet judged by the reactions last night .

[El Segundo]

16 minutes ago, Rugeley Villa said:

First game I’ve been to under Gerrard. Was like pulling teeth for the most part. We got the job done though against a side which were poor on the night but have showed a lot of resilience so far this season . I’m still in the Gerrard in camp at the moment . Imo the fans on here are turning against him quicker than usual because of the dislike of him from before joining the club . Give him more time. The home support haven’t gave up on him yet judged by the reactions last night .

You do know how many games he's had right?  30 odd games is not turning on him quicker than usual,  plenty of managers have been binned for far shorter periods of ineptitude. Reverting to his favoured midfield three last night after seeing how much better we looked with Luiz in the team against City smacks of him not being able to learn and adapt. If that's his approach, how is more time going to help? 

[Rugeley Villa]

23 minutes ago, El Segundo said:

You do know how many games he's had right?  30 odd games is not turning on him quicker than usual,  plenty of managers have been binned for far shorter periods of ineptitude. Reverting to his favoured midfield three last night after seeing how much better we looked with Luiz in the team against City smacks of him not being able to learn and adapt. If that's his approach, how is more time going to help? 

I’ve always been over patient with managers which goes against the grain nowadays . I’m far from happy with Gerrard but not ready to hound him out yet. 
 

Who do we replace him with ? 

[stewiek2]

15 hours ago, Talldarkandransome said:

Are you allowed to cheek kiss the presenter?

Didnt someone get in trouble for doing that

I would guess that Gerrard and her go way back, considering who her dad is.

[roonst83]

Massive three points given our very poor start to the season. Utterly horrible  game but we were easily the better team. Saints we’re woeful. Worst I’ve seen them. They posed no threat to our goal. Coutinho looked class and sharp and was his best game since United at home. Best McGinn’s played for us for ages too. He’s very limited, especially on the ball, but in a scrappy game this suited him and he put himself about for 90mins. He was long overdue due that. 

Thought we looked very solid defensively all game I felt and first clean sheet of the season. All four defenders did well. 

Watkins worked hard but as always offers no real threat in goal. He’s better used wider I think but he didn’t have much help in the forward areas. Ashley Young was solid again and our two CB’s did well. 

Lots of lumping it up top and our players seemed clueless a lot of the time on the ball. I would like to see us use and keep the ball much better but ultimate result was all that mattered tonight. Lots to improve still but massive three points.

Bailey looked really poor again. Im just not convinced he’s good enough to start for us most of the time. He’s too weak, has very poor decision making and can’t seem to get past his man. He was awful on the ball last night too and lost possession so much. 

It looks like Gerrard has gone back to keeping things simple in the same way he did in his first batch of games. It’s not pretty but it makes us harder to beat and I think that’s probably his limit as a coach (at present). Our central midfield is still an issue. Luiz should be starting  with Boo Boo - although looks like we’ll be losing the latter for a period of time. Typical. 

So, it was a vital three points for us but an utterly forgettable game. I’m confident we can play better so better to be the team that takes three points in such a poor game so we can hopefully move forwards. Winning is a good feeling and we need to try make that into a habit. Whether Gerrard can achieve that I’m not so sure but we needed that win tonight desperately and it adds more value to the point we gained against City.