Ratings & Reactions: Man United v Villa

[tinker]

On a brighter note.......we will beat them home and away next year, their a decent team but they aren't great, give Emery a transfer window and a bit more time.

Their main tactic was a long diagonal ball over the top( very 80's) once martinez pushed up abit they was a busted flush attacking wise. 

[TRO]

4 hours ago, nick76 said:

Dougie had two shots on targets in that melee that Lindelof cleared off the line with his head

Lindelof had one of those charmed games, where he got a little touch on quite a few of our chances.

[Zhan_Zhuang]

8 minutes ago, srsmithusa said:

On US TV only showed Rashford's run on the goal one time, with no little lines.  He truly looked off on the very limited view we saw.

I also thought it was offside. 

Barely a replay and quickly brushed aside, Hmmm.

[romavillan]

The ref was a clearing in the woods, repeated fouls by Fred playing the man and not the ball. Should have got a yellow for any one of 5 fouls. As far as I know two yellows make a red too.

 

We've gone to old Trafford an made them shit it. Should have scored, Emery's post match was perfect, he thinks we should go to places lo Iike that and do better and we can play much better. Fair enough, if we do, if he can do that then next season we're going to be incredible.

[TRO]

I was not surprised, with the result, the edge has come off us a bit since Newcastle....thats an observation, not a criticism.

I thought Man U just about deserved it, as much as it kills me to admit.

I think UE's quote after the game was apt...when he said " We didn't meet the demands that the game required"...sadly, we didn't.

Don't forget guys, we are talking about the game not the season.....the run has been fantastic.

I think we are running on fumes, right now.

I also think it shows, where we need strengthening.

[TRO]

4 hours ago, TomC said:

I'm a Bueni fan, but a match like this where the ref lets everything go is not going to favor him. He fought as always, but he was up against bigger players who bullied him off the ball.

 

That pretty much, sums up the whole division....If you are going to be lightweight in stature, you have to move the ball quickly, be nimble and beat opponents with guile and football IQ.....If you can't/don't do that, the being knocked off the ball easily, stands out.

[tmavfc]

I thought that Casemiro was the big differentiator for Man U today. I hope that Jacob learned a lot from that experience.

With Casemiro all over Jacob and Emi 2 being very quiet meant that we didn't have the nous to create opportunities for Ollie to keep the run going.

We stuck to Unai's plan and frustrated Man U for much of the game, defensively very impressive, considering how rapid Rashford and Sancho are.

We didn't get in their faces as much as I thought we could, maybe due to energy levels with an unchanged team for 4 games on the trot.

Unai has clearly demonstrated that we need active summer transfer activity, hopefully early on, so he has time to work his magic on building a 20 - 24 player squad that can all contribute.

7th looking risky now but thank you Unai for giving me hope for the future.

It might all depend on the last game of the season to determine whether we or BHA finish 7th and qualify for European Conference.

Who would have thought that after Slippy's last game at Fulham?

 

 

[TRO]

4 hours ago, MikeMcKenna said:

I expected the loss but we came close to nicking a goal in the 2nd which would have been a great result. We have done absolutely fantastic to be unbeaten in 10 and a loss was inevitable. Also we have to be realistic,  we have too many ordinary to ok players and Man Utd have much more quality. Unai has done amazing stuff in a short time and hopefully when he strengthens the squad in the summer he will bring in more quality to enable us to compete more effectively.

I think the loss, was likely, but not inevitable.

I agree with all the rest.

We are pushing our luck, with this first eleven, and running on fumes.....but the turn around has been mind blowing, we most definately have our credibility back...but the edge has gone in the last 3 games.

I think the new expectation is weighing on some of our players.

Edited April 30, 2023 by TRO

[Follyfoot]

2 hours ago, chips'ngravy said:

As some have said perhaps it was a game too far. I felt for Unai in that he knew he had to try and change things up and he did, but bringing on Chambers and Digne is probably not going to make things any better. And therein lay the issue. Nothing of comparable quality to bring off the bench. Kamara, Cash, Coutinho and Bailey all out for an extended period is what has ultimately done for us. 

But it did make it better 

[MaVilla]

1 hour ago, TRO said:

I was not surprised, with the result, the edge has come off us a bit since Newcastle....thats an observation, not a criticism.

I thought Man U just about deserved it, as much as it kills me to admit.

I think UE's quote after the game was apt...when he said " We didn't meet the demands that the game required"...sadly, we didn't.

Don't forget guys, we are talking about the game not the season.....the run has been fantastic.

I think we are running on fumes, right now.

I also think it shows, where we need strengthening.

why are we running on fumes?

We arent playing any more games than anyone else, we got knocked out of the cups super early, are these players not capable of playing a 38 game season?

Manure played last on Thursday, we played last on Tuesday, i know the players may be a little tired, but saying the team is running on empty and unable to compete because of this feels like a big stretch to me?

Rat boy Fernandes has played 52 games / 4545 mins so far this season, Watkins has played 36 games - 2958 mins (i guess Watkins is one of the highest numbers in our squad?), so ratboy has played roughly 50% more minutes this season than our highest minutes players?

How does that stack up to us being exhausted or running on empty?

 

Not having a go, its a general observation that many are saying we are tired, but i honestly doubt any of our players have played more games/minutes than the average PL player?, feels a bit like its words we banter around than have no basis/evidence to back it up?

 

edit:

had a look at some specific data, of the top 50 players in terms of minutes played in the PL, Villa have 4 players in the top 50:

13th - Konsa - 2963 mins

32nd - Mings - 2790 mins

37th - Martinez - 2780 mins

38th - Watkins - 2778 mins.

even in the top 100, we only have Luiz (59th), McGinn (90th), Ramsey (95th).

Only 8 of our players have played over 2000 minutes  in the PL (22 equivalent games) - in order, highest to lowest - Konsa, Mings, Martinez, Watkins, Luiz, McGinn, Ramsey, Buendia.

 

I cant see how an argument can be made for running on empty, fatigue, blowing out of our butts etc, the data doesnt back it up.

 

 

Edited April 30, 2023 by MaVilla

[sheepyvillian]

6 hours ago, nick76 said:

Dougie had two shots on targets in that melee that Lindelof cleared off the line with his head

The same Lindelof that many panned in the pre - match thread. So much for being a weak link. He was excellent. 

[smg]

4 hours ago, TreeVillan said:

On reflection the referee wasn't bad today he just didn't give any soft fouls. We were guilty of going down quite easily.  

But some fans want to see our players practicing the ‘ dark arts’ and apparently ‘shithousery’ is something that our goalkeeper excels at and should be practiced by the rest of the team if we are to join the elite. Alternatively we could just focus on outplaying our opponents by following the instructions of our outstanding manager.

[robby b]

2 hours ago, srsmithusa said:

more degea saves would have been good, but factor in two goal line clearnaces when he was beaten.

Fair enough, it is a good point and I've calmed down now. (Sorry for being in a post-match bad mood earlier VTers.  I'm not a very bad loser but I admit I'm not always a good loser either!) :s I just really, really wanted us to do the double over Man Utd (for the first time since 1953/54). With their pending takeover who knows if we'll have a better chance than we had this season? I can't help wondering if we will ever double them again! 

Years and years and years and more years and years of us not beating them and usually losing to them, often thrashed, made me just so sick of them in the end! Similar to how I came to feel about Arsenal in the last decade.

Today I was hoping we might somehow be somewhere near our Newcastle performance, e.g. with attempts in double figures and two or three on target in both halves. Oh well, 'it's only a game', although sometimes it doesn't feel like only a game to me. 

Edited April 30, 2023 by robby b

[Zhan_Zhuang]

49 minutes ago, MaVilla said:

why are we running on fumes?

We arent playing any more games than anyone else, we got knocked out of the cups super early, are these players not capable of playing a 38 game season?

Manure played last on Thursday, we played last on Tuesday, i know the players may be a little tired, but saying the team is running on empty and unable to compete because of this feels like a big stretch to me?

Rat boy Fernandes has played 52 games / 4545 mins so far this season, Watkins has played 36 games - 2958 mins (i guess Watkins is one of the highest numbers in our squad?), so ratboy has played roughly 50% more minutes this season than our highest minutes players?

How does that stack up to us being exhausted or running on empty?

 

Not having a go, its a general observation that many are saying we are tired, but i honestly doubt any of our players have played more games/minutes than the average PL player?, feels a bit like its words we banter around than have no basis/evidence to back it up?

Perhaps the notion of "running on fumes" is due to our current injury situation and relatively small squad. When Man Poo for example have a few injuries they have a much larger group to fill in.

Cash would be ideal in rotation with Young.

Coutinho was looking decent in his few games before getting injured, I'm certain he would have started a few games.

Kamara is immense, no need to elaborate.

Even Bailey would of been an extra body at the very least, although he was looking pretty rubbish for the most part.

Villa in contrast are 'are bones' in contrast to the top four teams.

[Vive_La_Villa]

We can lose and not score 

[Vive_La_Villa]

16 minutes ago, Zhan_Zhuang said:

Perhaps the notion of "running on fumes" is due to our current injury situation and relatively small squad. When Man Poo for example have a few injuries they have a much larger group to fill in.

Cash would be ideal in rotation with Young.

Coutinho was looking decent in his few games before getting injured, I'm certain he would have started a few games.

Kamara is immense, no need to elaborate.

Even Bailey would of been an extra body at the very least, although he was looking pretty rubbish for the most part.

Villa in contrast are 'are bones' in contrast to the top four teams.

It’s quite amazing you even have to explain that. Especially when we’re talking about a squad that cost ridiculous sums to assemble.

[Vive_La_Villa]

1 hour ago, MaVilla said:

why are we running on fumes?

We arent playing any more games than anyone else, we got knocked out of the cups super early, are these players not capable of playing a 38 game season?

Manure played last on Thursday, we played last on Tuesday, i know the players may be a little tired, but saying the team is running on empty and unable to compete because of this feels like a big stretch to me?

Rat boy Fernandes has played 52 games / 4545 mins so far this season, Watkins has played 36 games - 2958 mins (i guess Watkins is one of the highest numbers in our squad?), so ratboy has played roughly 50% more minutes this season than our highest minutes players?

How does that stack up to us being exhausted or running on empty?

 

Not having a go, its a general observation that many are saying we are tired, but i honestly doubt any of our players have played more games/minutes than the average PL player?, feels a bit like its words we banter around than have no basis/evidence to back it up?

 

edit:

had a look at some specific data, of the top 50 players in terms of minutes played in the PL, Villa have 4 players in the top 50:

13th - Konsa - 2963 mins

32nd - Mings - 2790 mins

37th - Martinez - 2780 mins

38th - Watkins - 2778 mins.

even in the top 100, we only have Luiz (59th), McGinn (90th), Ramsey (95th).

Only 8 of our players have played over 2000 minutes  in the PL (22 equivalent games) - in order, highest to lowest - Konsa, Mings, Martinez, Watkins, Luiz, McGinn, Ramsey, Buendia.

 

I cant see how an argument can be made for running on empty, fatigue, blowing out of our butts etc, the data doesnt back it up.

 

 

You do know ‘ratboy’ is one of the best players in the league right ? I get your sentiment but you have to use a different player for your comparison to give it more credibility.

[MaVilla]

7 minutes ago, Vive_La_Villa said:

You do know ‘ratboy’ is one of the best players in the league right ? I get your sentiment but you have to use a different player for your comparison to give it more credibility.

tbh i was solely talking about minutes played, nut maybe as you say, higher quality layers can handle fatigue better in terms of output.

fyi, players in the top 50 were players like Kane, Ward-Prowse, Rice, Tarkowski, Guehi, Bowen, Iwobi, Henry, Ream, Toney, Lerma, Saka, Dunk, Schar, Burn, Gross, Pereira, Botman, Palinha, march, Johnson etc etc.

[tomav84]

better 2nd half but to be honest never really felt like we were going to get a goal. tough afternoon and hopefully we'll have 1 or 2 more players available vs wolves

[jim]

Pretty poor overall. Had our moments but would have been more had it not been for Emi.