Ratings & Reactions: Chelsea v Villa

[sheepyvillian]

Loved McGinn's attitude when coming off, no sulking, just encouraging his replacement to do his best. A proper team player 

.

[Farlz]

Just now, maqroll said:

Are you expecting a loss at home vs Brighton?

Not expecting a loss that would be silly considering we're at home but Brighton clearly are a very strong side though and will be a tough game. 

We just have a nice run of fixtures up until about December after that point. 

[tinker]

12 minutes ago, TRO said:

..........because they have the ability to exploit our weaknesses....and sadly, they know exactly what to do.

We're not at 100% thats clear. We have a new CD and 2 new players in the final 3rd. In the middle Kamara and McGinn have struggled. Today was better, the new CD has started to compete physically and Kamara finally found his feet defensively. McGinn did struggle to impose himself but battled through and made himself a pest.

Chelsea are no mugs, as a team they look disjointed but as individuals they are top top players, Sterling was on form and they had some great battle in the middle and we struggled to compete there. Our forwards and midfielders could get closer to the opposition and try and cut out the balls over the top or at least pressure the ball more to make it harder to pick  the pass, 2 new forward players doesn't help that, Buendia did it very well. They did however create chances for us and on another day we could have scored 2 in that firsr half, their keeper made 2 fantastic saves.

The ball over the top is a concern but it's how Emery wants us to play, a high line. It's getting us top 4 points over his reign, sometimes it's hard to watch as we know what's coming but it's working, you can't deny that as the points don't lie. 

[Jas10]

 

[Jas10]

 

[StefanAVFC]

33 minutes ago, TRO said:

We are making it hard for ourselves imo....by neglecting some fundamentals.

You should let Unai know, with your advice perhaps we'd be 2nd, or even 1st in the overall points table in 2023 instead of 3rd.

Edited September 24, 2023 by StefanAVFC

[thunderball]

2 hours ago, briny_ear said:

OK , now you’ve said that, I feel emboldened to ask - thought it was just me who didn’t know - who the hell is Luke Robinson? @thunderball

A super upbeat Villa vlogger. You’ve got to love him!

 

[DJBOB]

What I liked about today was that number one - we didn't give up a goal in the first ten minutes so that's always a positive!

But we looked ready to battle. Part of it is that it's a pretty dysfunctional Chelsea side but some players, like Kamara, Digne, Watkins, even Pau got his shirt dirty. They were getting physical against a Chelsea side, who despite their dysfunction, have a lot of individually talented players. This is what Unai has talked about in recent weeks about competing. These away games, bar the relegation sides, will be a battle and that battle will earn you the right to progress up the pitch or slow them down.

[TRO]

2 minutes ago, tinker said:

We're not at 100% thats clear. We have a new CD and 2 new players in the final 3rd. In the middle Kamara and McGinn have struggled. Today was better, the new CD has started to compete physically and Kamara finally found his feet defensively. McGinn did struggle to impose himself but battled through and made himself a pest.

Chelsea are no mugs, as a team they look disjointed but as individuals they are top top players, Sterling was on form and they had some great battle in the middle and we struggled to compete there. Our forwards and midfielders could get closer to the opposition and try and cut out the balls over the top or at least pressure the ball more to make it harder to pick  the pass, 2 new forward players doesn't help that, Buendia did it very well. They did however create chances for us and on another day we could have scored 2 in that firsr half, their keeper made 2 fantastic saves.

The ball over the top is a concern but it's how Emery wants us to play, a high line. It's getting us top 4 points over his reign, sometimes it's hard to watch as we know what's coming but it's working, you can't deny that as the points don't lie. 

Don't, get me wrong, I love the result, and quite frankly didn't expect it....tough away game at any time....so over the moon, with the result, but cautiously optimistic, moving forward.

While we keep getting results like this, I guess who cares.....but sadly, it doesn't always work like that....some of that gifted space will render goals as it did at Anfield.

I would just like to see us tighten up a bit at the back....not much wrong with that, is there?

 

[StefanAVFC]

Just now, TRO said:

I would just like to see us tighten up a bit at the back....not much wrong with that, is there?

 

He says in a post-game thread where we won at Stamford Bridge with a clean sheet

[andym]

56 minutes ago, StefanAVFC said:

Criticise the high line when we lose and thank the linesman when we win

hmmmmmmmmmm

Hey we're in England. A high line strategy that can give up chances but overall keeps teams further from your goal, helping to win the ball back higher up the pitch is bad, and catching teams offside repeatedly is just lucky.

Sitting back, allowing teams to set up camp around your box and relying on endless last ditch blocks and your goalie reeling off the saves is proper defending.

[StefanAVFC]

3 wins 3 draws would have us on the same points and everyone would be raving about our start

[TRO]

11 minutes ago, Jas10 said:

 

Interesting to see him claim " We struggled sometimes and we needed the goal keeper"......much of what I was saying in some of my posts on this game.....even though the result was great.

Honest Man.

[Adam2003]

3 minutes ago, StefanAVFC said:

3 wins 3 draws would have us on the same points and everyone would be raving about our start

Yeah been a lot of moaning but 2 points per game, into the group in Europe, it’s all good. Still learning and will still lose games we shouldn’t but this is a good team in a positive place thanks to a great coach.

Edited September 24, 2023 by Adam2003

[Marka Ragnos]

29 minutes ago, TRO said:

Defending

Can't we play super aggressively, as thats what most of the top teams do....and we want to be one of them ,right.

Sanchez was superb as was Emi..... but we still invite teams to play through us, the way we play ( early on in the game)....some of their attacks were simply too naive, so direct, and so easy.....We fail to get touch tight at set pieces too, that header of theirs, could be a goal on another day....the amount of times they was clean through, was worrying.....Thank the gods, they can't finish.

 

Interesting. I thought our centrerbacks on D were very skilled and Kamara, too. Our defense also caught them offside repeatedly. That's not easy. I'll have to look again. Not sure I understand enough about football to grasp all you're saying. Are there particular players who you felt let let down today (even if they did well in other ways)?

[TRO]

7 minutes ago, andym said:

Hey we're in England. A high line strategy that can give up chances but overall keeps teams further from your goal, helping to win the ball back higher up the pitch is bad, and catching teams offside repeatedly is just lucky.

Sitting back, allowing teams to set up camp around your box and relying on endless last ditch blocks and your goalie reeling off the saves is proper defending.

maybe somewhere in between might be nifty, but why look to be reasonable, when we can wallow in extremes.

If the Highline renders wins.....I am all for it......but when we get mauled at Newcastle and Liverpool, don't be surprised.

[villa4europe]

I think some of the big saves Emi made were a bit misleading, the sterling one was half a mile offside, wasn't sure if the Chilwell one was too

Take nothing away from Emi but there's a false story to this game that we only won because of him when in reality if the lino bothered to flag when someone was offside these big chances don't need saving, the defence wasn't that bad

Same as the Diaby chance, he was in a different postcode

[Zero7]

Win, clean sheet and 2 points of 4th….That sounds good to me, we still have players to come back into form. Positives:

 

1. Watkins got a goal.

2. Boobs looks like he gave a crap today and was very good indeed.

3. Luiz was fantastic

4. EMI was brilliant in goal

5. Pau worked really hard, best work rate so far

6. Nico’s defensive work in the first half was ace.

7. Digne good performance 

8. Jacob coming back and looking good 

with Jacob and Moreno coming back we will look better and don’t forget guys, we just beat Chelsea away from home and got a clean sheet, and did I say, we are 2 points of 4th, ah, we are crap aren’t we lol 

[Marka Ragnos]

I wonder if this is what you're talking about, @TRO, or at least part of it:

Quote

Shoddy finishing remained Chelsea’s achilles heel. Gusto surged past Digne and found Fernández, who pulled the right-back’s cut-back off target. Sterling kept getting in on the right, only to rush the final pass, and Jackson was having trouble with his attempts to stay onside.
The frustration for Chelsea was that Villa’s attempts to play a high line were far from convincing. Pau Torres was forced into a crucial recovery tackle on Sterling and Boubacar Kamara had to stop a dangerous surge from Jackson.That said, Chelsea did not have it all their own way. There were times when Villa flickered into life, even with Nicolò Zaniolo a lightweight presence on the left and Watkins isolated up front. Only the excellence of Chelsea’s goalkeeper, Robert Sánchez, in saving stunning volleys from Digne and Zaniolo prevented Emery’s side from stealing the lead.

 

Edited September 24, 2023 by Marka Ragnos

[TRO]

13 minutes ago, Marka Ragnos said:

Interesting. I thought our centrerbacks on D were very skilled and Kamara, too. Our defense also caught them offside repeatedly. That's not easy. I'll have to look again. Not sure I understand enough about football to grasp all you're saying. Are there particular players who you felt let let down today (even if they did well in other ways)?

I have felt the whole team has struggled defensively in many of our games this season and the offensive players have just managed to get the goals to get the wins or made the game credible like on Thursday.....Unai himself acknowledged "we struggled at times today and we needed the goalkeeper" , but we got over the line.....He's right....much of what, I am saying.

Luke Robinson said on his Podcast above at c 15.40......too open at times.......That has been my point, but hey ho.....not a good time to be observationally analytical after a win.

Just enjoy the win....maybe I'm being too analytical..

trouble is ,when we lose, some folk want to know why.

 

Edited September 24, 2023 by TRO