Ratings & Reactions: AZ Alkmaar v Villa

[Talldarkandransome]

The difference that a good refereeing performance makes to enjoying watching a game is huge..

That and 4 goals obvs. I don't think I swore at the ref through the telly once..

[MWARLEY2]

Lenglet Tielemans and Bailey deserve the MOTM. cannot split them..

Youri was **** magnificent though  . He came alive in that number 10 role and then through getting so much confidence from his performance we didnt even miss Luiz when he went off. 

We forget that Maddison had that number 10 sewn up at Leicester. His skillset can be really made the most of further up the pitch. You could see he was loving it . 

This was the night Youri truly became a Villa player. 

[colhint]

Just now, Talldarkandransome said:

The difference that a good refereeing performance makes to enjoying watching a game is huge..

That and 4 goals obvs. I don't think I swore at the ref through the telly once..

I don't think the players did either.So refreshing.

[Mark Albrighton]

Quite pointless really, but what the hell…we have now scored 39 goals in all competitions this season (15 games).

We scored a total of 37 goals across all competitions in 2015/16 (44 games).

[briny_ear]

2 minutes ago, sidcow said:

I posted in the match thread:

Honest to god, they've worked almost nothing themselves but had SO many chances from our sloppy play. Poor passing, bad decision making. Why? Why do we keep doing thing? 

This lot could be so easily shut out of this but for our gifts.

 

I'm not saying this to be a moaning Minnie during a spectacular European win. It's just that you can see we've a whole other level if we can remove the sloppiness.   We've been amazing even with all those sloppiness in our game. Honestly I can see us really going up a gear and going........ Well I don't want to say how far we can go, but it's there, right in front of us and for the taking. 

 

 

Have to say, when I read this comment during the match, I honestly wondered if you were watching a different game by mistake. We were not sloppy. We controlled about 90% of the game, in defence, midfield and attack. We outplayed AZ in all areas. There were no weak performances and some fantastic ones as icing on the cake.

[Jas10]

[Dodgyknees]

NO Mings

NO Buendia

NO Ramsey

NO Moreno

[nick76]

7 minutes ago, Pinebro said:

When you pick your best players it gives the others the platform to perform

Even though that, I’m not sure how you pick Watkins for MOTM given the likes of how Bailey and Tielemans played to name just two. He played well and created space, nice opportunist goal as well but there were others that far ahead of him for MOTM.

[WakefieldVillan]

6 minutes ago, romavillan said:

First time I've put good for a ref since I don't know how long.

McGinn MOTM for me, got a good goal and was integral to how we bosses the first half. Some dodgy moments but we deliberately take risks to be able to pull the opponents shape apart.

Incredible performance, they had an amazing record at home and gave west ham a very tough game in the semi final last year. The box midfield with Tielemans in one of the advanced positions worked very very well.

Funny how people see things differently, I thought McGinn was one of our weaker players tonight (yet, created and scored one!!) 

Bailey MOTM, Tielemans a close second for me. 

Fantastic away performance though, I'd say maybe only Cash was below 7/10. (From the starting eleven).

Bring on Luton..

 

[El Zen]

Eeeazeh. 

We are so good at football. 

[bannedfromHandV]

Could have easily given the motm to either Bailey or Tielemans, both excellent.

In many respects I don’t think we played all that well tonight but what we did do was keep it tight for the first 15 mins and quieten down the crowd which is what we didn’t do in Warsaw. But we were absolutely clinical tonight backed up in the stats, 5 shots, 5 on target, 4 goals and the shot that didn’t go in resulted in the assisting the third goal. Tonight felt like the kind of Emery masterclass I expected to see in Europe.

I’m finding it hard to take in how good we are at the moment, it feels like we’ve scored what would have been a season’s worth of goals in the past and we’re in October still. Someone pinch me.

[Lochheads twin]

Wow!. Just Wow!.

Remember when we used to watch in awe as Continental sides stroked the ball around whist we ran about huffing & puffing.

Standout performances from a number of players who we need to take some of the load from the first XI. Well done lads.

Tielemans looked like the player we wanted to sign. The back 4 solid (Carlos looks a bit rusty but hopefully the EUFA games will ease him back in)  Longlet very assured.The midfield unit ticking over like a Rolls Royce. 

And of course behind all this we have the maestro. Happy anniversary.

Would be churlish to say we got a bit sloppy in the middle of the 2nd half, so I will park that thought

Enjoy these times all you Villans.

 

Edited October 26, 2023 by Lochheads twin
added Longet. Deserved recognition.

[nick76]

Great game by everyone, was never in doubt in the end even when they scored.  Special mentions to Bailey, Tielemans and Martinez with a couple close behind like Dougie.  Super Unai continues his March…

[bannedfromHandV]

Oh and that cat and mouse passage with Emi just standing on the ball and the AZ strikers saying nah mate we’re sticking to the instructions, pisser

[Marka Ragnos]

15 minutes ago, rodders0223 said:

Lose at home to Luton incoming.

And if someone wasn't posting that, well, it just wouldn't feel like Villa -- so ... thanks? I don't "mind" us doing really well, but I do need my daily taste of gloom, or I'm going to start thinking I support Real Madrid or something. 

[BleedClaretAndBlue]

10 minutes ago, BleedClaretAndBlue said:

Jordi clarsie  

 

Context:

 

 

[tinker]

Fantastic performance today , Tielemans was motm , Bailey was great as well, Lenglet looked so composed.  All the others had good games as well. 

At times we look unplayable and we do have a tendancy to waste some great opportunities to score time and time again. If we were a bit more clinical in attack we could be in double figures. Maybe this is a lack of quality in certain areas that stop us scoring double figures in one game.

[Herman22]

That was the such a complete away performance. A little disappointed to not get a clean sheet but that’s such a minor complaint. 

I gave MOTM to Youri, he was absolutely brilliant but many others we great too. Bailey, Ollie, Luiz, McGinn, Digne and Cash! 

[one_ian_taylor]

I'm  going to savour every minute I can of this period in our club's history. No idea where it will go, but it's going somewhere and it's bloody brilliant

[blunther]

4 minutes ago, bannedfromHandV said:

Oh and that cat and mouse passage with Emi just standing on the ball and the AZ strikers saying nah mate we’re sticking to the instructions, pisser

Early on? Loved it when Emi just seemed to say 'okay' and put his hands on his hips.