Ratings & Reactions: Man Utd v Villa

[Coolman]

All the good work against Man City and Arsenal wasted in the last two games why is it when we get a change to go top we blow it .

Players looked tired gave the ball away so easy midfield non existent they could beat us 5.2 .

We have rode our luck in recent games so it was coming very disappointing and frustrating that we have proved we can play so much better 

[tom_avfc]

1 minute ago, foreveryoung said:

Because we play Man City off the park with football we have never seen before at VP, beat a top of the league flying Arsenal, then just about draw against bottom of the league Sheffield United and give Man United everything they need to come back from 2-0 down to beat us 3-2.

That's why!

In the last couple of months city have lost away to us, drawn at home to palace, Liverpool and Tottenham and drawn away to Chelsea. We’re not going to win every game.

We had 1 defeat in 17 games in all competitions prior to tonight. Have some patience and look at how far we’ve come.

[Mark Albrighton]

11 minutes ago, Tayls said:

Oh gosh don’t say that… we won back to back games against Man City and Arsenal so there can’t be a mentality issue… 

And we’re third in the league. And I think we’re third in the form over 2023. Just set a club record for home victories. Most number of victories in one year.

Would any of that have happened if mentality was as big of an issue as you insist it is? 

Setting several club records the hallmark of mentally weak sides is it?

[smg]

2 minutes ago, foreveryoung said:

Because we play Man City off the park with football we have never seen before at VP, beat a top of the league flying Arsenal, then just about draw against bottom of the league Sheffield United and give Man United everything they need to come back from 2-0 down to beat us 3-2.

That's why!

No team reaches the levels seen against city on a regular basis some of our fans are too easily embarrassed we need to be more realistic as a fan group as to where we are and enjoy the fact that in terms of progression we are massively moving forwards. Even if we manage to get in the Champions league next year we are very likely to do a Newcastle because we need to develop a squad over time to play at that level. Its mind boggling what the reactions on here could be next year when we lose to a team that has been in the champions league for years.

[Tayls]

1 minute ago, Mark Albrighton said:

And we’re third in the league. And I think we’re third in the form over 2023. Just set a club record for home victories. Most number of victories in one year.

Would any of that have happened if mentality was as big of an issue as you insist it is? 

Setting several club records the hallmark of mentally weak sides is it?

Let’s see where we are at the end of the season. Right now, we are in a champions league spot. It’s ours to throw away at the moment. If we fail to qualify at the end of the season, are we saying it is mentally weak or not? 

[Jas10]

 

 

[Zhan_Zhuang]

Just running out of steam unfortunately, very lacklustre couple of performances.

Again missing Kamara, Torres hurts us as they are two strong performers. Add to that a couple of no shows in Luiz, McGinn, carrying Ramsey and Moreno who don't look match-fit and we are gasping for air. Sense of tiredness too it seems.

However to capitulate like that really hurts, confidence was likely knocked after Sheffield Utd. and even more so now.

So typical of Villa to give a dying Man Poo their lifesaver performance which could likely galvanise them.

Worrying about Spuds and Man Poo now chasing us down.

 

Edited December 26, 2023 by Zhan_Zhuang

[Jas10]

 

[Jas10]

I just love him

[foreveryoung]

3 minutes ago, tom_avfc said:

In the last couple of months city have lost away to us, drawn at home to palace, Liverpool and Tottenham and drawn away to Chelsea. We’re not going to win every game.

We had 1 defeat in 17 games in all competitions prior to tonight. Have some patience and look at how far we’ve come.

That's lovely for them, but they have just won a treble. 

Again with these things, its not the loses, its the way we lose them, like we throw them away. Fans can handle being outplayed, we wasn't outplayed by Sheffield, just poor and tonight we went 2-0 up and then seem to give up the fight. We gave Hoijand his first goal, made Rashford look his best and ended up with Martinez giving the player who scored 2 goals against him a bloody massage for cramp!!! 

[Jas10]

Unai is a miracle and blessing for us…

just needs all the support possible from all sides/aspects and we will continue to rise

More/better players will always help…

What a job he has done and continues to do…

I have zero long term concerns

But yes, today was disappointing and infuriating. But, for me, that’s on the players…

Unai is not happy… he really is demanding…

Needs more that can meet those demands…

[Jas10]

 

[quazzie goat]

Think we were a bit limited tonight on selection. Full strength (minus Mings and Buendia) I think we hold on and win comfortably. Biggest loss for me was the composure of Tielemans and Torres, which is what we lacked the most. Digne’s injury massively disrupted us too. 
 

No blame on Unai for me despite the massive frustration of losing after leading 2-0. Think the players needed this result to show you can’t switch off and hide from the ball when the going gets tough. 

[smg]

5 minutes ago, Zhan_Zhuang said:

Just running out of steam unfortunately, very lacklustre couple of performances.

Again missing Kamara, Torres hurts us as they are two strong performers. Add to that a couple of no shows in Luiz, McGinn, carrying Ramsey and Moreno who don't look match-fit and we are gasping for air. Sense of tiredness too it seems.

However to capitulate like that really hurts, confidence was likely knocked after Sheffield Utd. and even more so now.

So typical of Villa to give a dying Man Poo their lifesaver performance which could likely galvanise them.

Worrying about Spuds and Man Poo now chasing us down.

 

Was in total agreement with this until I got to Man Poo !! Ffs are you 7 ?

[foreveryoung]

7 minutes ago, Jas10 said:

 

I'm sorry Unai was absolutely pissed off there, never seen him sarcastic like that. 

I have heard many excuses from the fans tonight, Unai would'nt accept any of them!!

Edited December 26, 2023 by foreveryoung

[Tom13]

'A fantastic first 60 minutes' does he really believe that?

[Zhan_Zhuang]

4 minutes ago, smg said:

Was in total agreement with this until I got to Man Poo !! Ffs are you 7 ?

Don't take things too seriously, lighten up and move on.

[Daulmakan]

Just now, Jas10 said:

Unai is a miracle and blessing for us…

just needs all the support possible from all sides/aspects and we will continue to rise

More/better players will always help…

What a job he has done and continues to do…

I have zero long term concerns

But yes, today was disappointing and infuriating. But, for me, that’s on the players…

Unai is not happy… he really is demanding…

Needs more that can meet those demands…

Seems to me that Unai's biggest hurdle is delivering on the expectations he himself has created with this historic run (and standing up to comparison against the level of play shown against City and Arsenal). Today's pitiful performance aside, I'd say it's a nice problem to have.

I don't think Unai's future should be questioned in the slightest, but I do consider healthy that he's subject to a higher degree of demand that traditional coaches and Villa teams would've been in the past, because that is the only way Villa can take a definite step towards being a permanent feature in the PL's main cast. Today's performance should be a big no-no going forward. You absolutely can lose to good, mid, and terrible teams, you cannot lose in the dreadful, effortless way you showed today (not if you want to aspire to win something, anyway).

[ChesterDad]

3 minutes ago, quazzie goat said:

Think we were a bit limited tonight on selection. Full strength (minus Mings and Buendia) I think we hold on and win comfortably. Biggest loss for me was the composure of Tielemans and Torres, which is what we lacked the most. Digne’s injury massively disrupted us too. 
 

No blame on Unai for me despite the massive frustration of losing after leading 2-0. Think the players needed this result to show you can’t switch off and hide from the ball when the going gets tough. 

My only thought would be that he was late changing things up - how many of us saw this coming ? So an elite coach must also have seen this coming right ? But I also acknowledge that sometimes in football it’s hard to halt momentum regardless of what a coach tries to do

[Khizzy]

Players clearly had one too many yesterday. Played like they were drunk. Shambolic, disgraceful performance to let a two goal lead slip against a team that haven't been able to score. They need to hang their heads in shame tonight, as that's two games in a row where we should have won comfortably. Emery is also at fault for not making changes when we had the lead, normally he's good at doing that but today he reacted way too slowly.