Ratings & Reactions: Man City v Villa

[Genie]

That game genuinely felt like it was about 2 weeks long.

[VillaParkAvenue]

2 minutes ago, chrisvilla4 said:

Thought we were going to get pumped after the first half apathetic shambles. Much better 2nd half albeit dull. Bright points being Duran and the other subs, we don't seem to be shifting from 11th. Likely our position at the end of the season.

This may sound defaitist but I’d be happy if we finish 11th. Leicester look almost reborn with their new signings and Wolves keep improving too.

[PaulC]

First half passive poor. City eased off second half but overall not a good performance 

[TomC]

I missed the first 25 minutes, but from the 65 that I saw...

It was kind of the opposite of last week...last week we dominated, this week we got dominated. But it was also kind of the same as last week...individual errors undid us again.

I commented last week how much more comfortable we looked playing one touch than we ever had under SG. This week, we simply couldn't cope with their press. We aren't ready to play one-touch at that pace yet. City seemed to back off the press around 55', whether because of fatigue or because they got complacent, and that's when we started to get a foot into the game.

Unai has developed a favorite starting XI, but I agree with the first few comments...the second half should make him re-think it. Moreno looks better than Digne to me now that he's begun to settle. Coutinho has had two solid appearances in a row; I can understand why Unai didn't want to start both Coutinho and Buendia against City, and probably won't against Arsenal, but I would like to see them start together against Everton. If you're not going to start Coutinho, then McGinn seemed to offer more than Ramsey when he came on.

And Duran? You can see his talent. He was fearless, too. I'm not so sure I'd start him yet because I don't want to put pressure on the kid to be saviour of our attack. (Which some around here will do.) But I like that Unai brought him on much earlier than the 82nd minute. Let's see more. With Watkins getting into gear, those two just might be a handful for opposing defences.

EDIT/P.S. Haven't we learned to watch for Gundogan at the back post yet?

 

Edited February 12, 2023 by TomC

[IrishVilla10]

Poor from Unai to start Digne again, really poor actually. Baileys played himself onto the bench. Duran needs to start next weekend and coutinho could be a shout too 

[AntrimBlack]

Coutinho, Moreno and Duran deserve to start next game in my opinion.

We definitely need better players brought in, in the summer, to enable us to compete with the likes of City.

We were very poor in the first half, and they were out of sight by halftime. Now let's see what we can do against Arsenal.

Watkins my MOM for a well taken goal and his constant harrying throughout the match.

Coutinho was brilliant - he might yet become the player we thought we had bought.

Duran is a big guy for his age and a very useful outlet instead of relying on Watkins all the time. That was a sublime goal attempt - we may just have got ourselves one of those much vaunted `hidden gems'. 

[AVFCDAN]

Regardless of who you are playing, conceding 7 goals in 2 games is not good. 
 

This was never a winnable game really so to win the 2nd half after that awful first is about the most positive thing you can take from it.

Well probably lose against Arsenal and that’s 3 in a row and you start to realize the team is not good enough for a top half finish.

[foreveryoung]

At least the girls had a good win today.

[Lerner's Driver]

Admin, please can we have 'nobody' as an option for MotM? This isn't the first Villa game where no-one deserved that accolade, yet the scoring system won't allow you to progress to the comments unless you choose someone.

I was able to rate the referee and the manager, but no player played well enough for long enough to earn a standout rating.

That said, we did 'win the second half', partly because City knew the job was already done, but also because we took the game to them and were competitive.

The first half was pitiful and we fully deserved the pasting we got. Duran looks decent, Digne looks finished. Encouraging cameo from Couthino.

Marking at the first half corners was wank. We are very much a work in progress, we just need more and better players, obviously!!

 

 

 

[TomC]

1 minute ago, AVFCDAN said:

Well probably lose against Arsenal and that’s 3 in a row and you start to realize the team is not good enough for a top half finish.

 

Top 6? No. Top 8? Probably no. Top 10? Sure we can. After next Saturday, we don't have to play the top two teams again.

 

[smg]

4 minutes ago, foreveryoung said:

At least the girls had a good win today.

I was there and can confirm they were very good.

[est1874]

Today confirmed we are still pretty shite.

[Marka Ragnos]

Didn’t get to see the match. Small point: ManCity shouldn’t even be in the league. That’s all. 

[Nigel]

Coutinho started where he ended up against Leicester. The more I see the more I think its important to find a way to get him in the team.

He is just what we are missing too, someone to link the attack, to act as a focal point.

 

[markavfc40]

3-0 down at half time we could have easily completely folded at lost by 6 or 7. We were obviously helped by City taking their foot of the gas a little in the second half but I still felt we showed decent character. 

Positives were Duran who looks to have something about him and certainly doesn't lack character and Coutinho who again showed he, at least for the last half hour of games, can still make positive contributions. As I say though the biggest positive was that we showed some back bone in the second half. 

 

Edited February 12, 2023 by markavfc40

[smg]

7 minutes ago, est1874 said:

Today confirmed we are still pretty shite.

We are not though, certain overhyped players are holding the team back.

Bailey

Buendia

 

[stewiek2]

Oddly enough I think we'll get something from the Arsenal game. Pep had them up for today with everything going on. I think considering it's his former club and the treatment near the end that Unai and his staff will have us right up for it. 3 points from these two games will be seen as a result 

Edited February 12, 2023 by stewiek2

[briny_ear]

20 minutes ago, foreveryoung said:

At least the girls had a good win today.

Yah, I think the fashion these days is to call them women.

Edited February 12, 2023 by briny_ear

[El Segundo]

Woeful defensive performance and very little offered up front in the first half. 

Kamara lost his man for the first, and Martinez has to do better with that header.  He was close to it and got a good hand on it - top keepers don't let that in. 

Not the best from Chambers for the second but that cross should never have reached Gundogan  - Young fell asleep at the back post. 

Ramsey was a bit naive and a bit unlucky for the penalty. 

Great finish from Ollie but didn't really do a lot else. 

I've come to the conclusion Bailey is no better than Trezeguet or El Ghazi - the occasional important goal, the occasional period of decent play but generally anonymous or ineffective.  He's so weak in the challenge and always seems to stay down injured when tackled.  Perhaps the PL is too physical for him. 

I liked Duran's directness.  

The subs made a big difference but I suspect City were in cruise control mode second half with half an eye on their game on Wednesday. 

 

[est1874]

4 minutes ago, smg said:

We are not though, certain overhyped players are holding the team back.

Bailey

Buendia

 

Jesus if only that was the sum of our problems.

It's far, far bigger than that, surely everyone can see that.