Ratings & Reactions: Villa v Sheff Utd

[sheepyvillian]

They came to make it difficult for us and, to be fair, in that aspect of the game, they certainly got it right. Once they started to put a dent in the VP atmosphere it seemed like the intensity of a lot of our players started to drop. Some really poor decisions at vital times, Bailey in the first - half, if he had passed at one moment, it maybe would have been a totally different outcome. I'll be honest, when Archer scored, I just did not see an equaliser coming, so in the end, it fell like a really precious point. Well done to Zani, that was no easy header, how many times have we seen those kind of last minute chances go awry? 

A defeat would have felt absolutely awful, but a point like that at least provides some comfort.  

[Hank Scorpio]

Premier league don't want us top. 

VAR to the rescue. I dread to think whats coming on boxing day from the corrupt words removed.

[The_Steve]

Good to see Unai call it out

 

[TheMightyVillans]

After the Ramsey "foul" we had another shot that was blocked and then sheff utd regained possession with enough time to clear. If that is anywhere else on the pitch it's another phase of play 

[foreveryoung]

4 minutes ago, brummybloke said:

Pau we missed the most today, lenget has looked tidy but 80% off his passes were sideways or back, meant digne couldn't attack or moreno.

Ramsey need to be coming on 20 or 25 mins for 5 or so games, not starting. He's a great player when up to speed, he's not upto speed and again, was responsible for our poor play down the left.

The disappointment of losing our winning streak added to a huge loss of 2 points against the poorest team by far, added to the chance to go top and muffing it up multiplies the disappointment.

Are we all happy being where we are ? of course, it's like our wildest dreams, it doesn't stop the disappointment of tonight though

You'll find out soon they are not the poorest team under Wilder, might even stay up now.

[Xela]

23 minutes ago, will87 said:

Bitterly disappointing. A run of 15 successive home wins ended against the bottom of the table team, all whilst having the chance to go top, classic Villa.

It does feel like it was bound to happen. Said to a couple of mates in the pub earlier, that we're all set up for a fail tonight. I'm trying not to be disappointed as we've done brilliant all season, but it would have been nice to go clear at the top, even for a short time! 

[AVTuco]

Watching this makes me feel a bit better

 

 

[Condimentalist]

Pissed off we didn't get a clear handball. Frustrating night but at least we took something in the end. 

[Pinebro]

Never do a light show ever again

[The_Steve]

Sheffield United had three chances to get rid of the ball - not only getting out of their six-yard box but the entire penalty area before they lost the ball to which we ultimately score from.

 

[MWARLEY2]

23 minutes ago, MaVilla said:

i think the problem Emery will have to solve, is that we dont have the flair/guile/intelligent players to break down a team that plays compact and plays low block.

we are very good in transition and in the break, but when teams sit back we just dont have the guile to break teams down.

we need to get a player or two in who have that guile.

That game was made for Tielemans and Buendia this evening. 

[Zero7]

Rigged fixed call it what you want but that was blatant cheating 

[OutByEaster?]

Football gon football.

United came with a plan - put eleven men behind the ball and make it difficult for us to play through them - and it worked, we're not great at breaking down a packed low block and this was the tightest packed, lowest of low blocks They got the stroke of luck they wanted by scoring and almost left with three points. They didn't deserve those and I'm glad we scored for as much what it means for them as for us. As a spectacle, their plan ruined it - they set out to stop football happening and pretty much succeeded and I don't like to see that rewarded - when they come back in a few years time hopefully it's with a bit more ambition.

For us, we showed that we lack a little bit of a spark in the final third - but even so, a bounce, a deflection, a ball that falls at the feet of someone and we score - you'd expect that to happen in a game, or two or three times in a game that you dominate as much as today's - but it just didn't fall for us - that's luck and that's football - some days it ain't your day. I'll take beating Arsenal and drawing with these rather than the other way around.

It felt like we got the rough end of a fair few VAR decisions, but I wasn't really close enough to most of them to have a strong view and I suspect that the big VAR karma in the sky probably suggested that we had our turn with the luck last time the Blades visited.

It is what it is, a bit frustrating and not a great watch, but I felt the effort was there and we kept at it, Nicolo looked like he really needed that goal and even if the winning run is over, we remain unbeaten at home - we're a good side and we're better against better sides - I can take this one on the chin and look forward to better returns in this excellent season.

 

 

[foreveryoung]

2 minutes ago, The_Steve said:

Sheffield United had three chances to get rid of the ball - not only getting out of their six-yard box but the entire penalty area before they lost the ball to which we ultimately score from.

 

Watching that I'm unsure why it was ruled out now. If he hadn't scored, that would not have been looked at. He was ready for the goal, so the first stage of play should have been irrelevant. Proper naughty one that from VAR

[sheepyvillian]

41 minutes ago, Genie said:

Every club in the league thinks this is the case  

I would just like to commend them for their objectivity. 

[479Villan]

We are gonna sign Timo Werner because of this aren’t we. Ugh. 

[Vive_La_Villa]

They defended well to be fair. Wont be the first or last team to struggle to break them down. Just gutted not to see top of the league just once. 

[sheepyvillian]

59 minutes ago, Strog said:

Well we were not at our best and, yet again, struggled to break down a team playing a low block. VAR didn’t help but there’s no point in moaning as we have benefited from some contentious decisions recently. Konsa was our best player in my opinion having made some timely tackles. On to Mold Trafford…

I also gave it to Ezra. He oozed composure at times, just a shame a few others couldn't follow his example. 

[The_Steve]

1 minute ago, foreveryoung said:

Watching that I'm unsure why it was ruled out now. If he hadn't scored, that would not have been looked at. He was ready for the goal, so the first stage of play should have been irrelevant. Proper naughty one that from VAR

You're allowed to run with the ball outside of your penalty area before losing it and it's somehow not deemed a new phase of play. Sky was adamant United never left their box when they did! 

[VillaCas]

Should have had a penalty for handball and close to getting something for fouls on Watkins and Ramsey. VAR is flawed but not corrupt in my opinion

Unai picked the best team available given injuries. Cash, Bailey, Digne weren’t on it, Lenglet did well in my opinion (not easy to slot in) - game was crying out for Teilemans or Buendia

I predicted Archer would come back to haunt us. I wish we still had him on the bench. A mistake to let him go

Duran lucky not to go ogg

We need a couple (RB, Forward) in the window