Ratings & Reactions: Man Utd v Villa

[PaulC]

1 hour ago, TRO said:

I'll be honest.....I have seen some great football from us this season in general, and the league position is great.

but for me, we can't defend to the calibre of the rest of the team can play....and that is not just the back 4

In times, where you have to suffocate the opposition, and negate the sting, we are left wanting imo

We let too many teams, back in for my liking and not kill them off, by shutting them out.

I get that my opinion will be in the minority.....but so be it.

I totally agree. 2 nil up they were rocking and we let them back in and I don't agree with Emery that for 60 minutes we were great. No we were great up until we scores the second goal. I think Luiz gets a lot of unfair blame as he was isolated in there. 

We do miss having a leader like Mings in there. We do rely heavily on Mcginn being at the top of his game.  DM without Kamara we haven't got and even with him we can get beat up away from home. Denkoncker is just not mobile enough 

[DaveAV1]

3 hours ago, Davkaus said:

Yup, couple of bad results doesn't throw the season's progress in the bin.

It's the manner of it that rankles. If we lost 1-0 in a tedious game in which we were poor we'd all be a lot less pissed off, I think. Throwing the 2-0 away in that manner is sickening.

Absolutely spot on they always say that 2-0 is the hardest score to defend and that was certainly the case last night, but our disappointment is probably a measure of how far we’ve come under Unai and that shouldn’t be forgotten. The truth is they have a much stronger squad than us, particularly at this stage of the season when this becomes more obvious once injuries and suspensions are more problematic to smaller, less expensively assembled and experienced squads like ours. It happens every year when the likes of Man City are always very strong. Hopefully we can quickly bounce back and can also strengthen in January if ffp restrictions allow. Hopefully we’ll find a way but I read somewhere that our commercial revenue, in august 2022 at least was still £12 million behind our 2016 levels, I don’t know how given we had a good CEO running the club?

[Nabby]

1 hour ago, Philosopher said:

At 60 minutes we needed changes. It was clear. On 75 minutes I was still wondering why there weren't any changes.

The problem last night was that the players under performing were the likes of McGinn, Ramsey, and Luiz, and we just didn't good alternatives on the bench. We needed Tielemens and Kamara last night.

Not sure Cash would have started but if he was avaliable he would of been on earlish in the 2nd half.  If I have a critique I would like to see us sometimes stick Bailey /Diarby wide left to cross the ball from byline not check back like they do on the right ( granted Bailey does get some assists from RF cross's) Just think some variation would be good.

[Tayls]

I still can’t believe we have done a complete Aston Villa yesterday. I had hoped that sort of thing was behind us but you just knew it was going to happen, even at 2-0. 
I’m disappointed, I think the Brentford game was the start of a bad run, I really don’t think we played well in the game and Sheffield Utd was a struggle for us. I think we will fail to see a victory in the next few premier league fixtures. I think a lot of it is coming down to the players being absolutely nakard. 

[foreveryoung]

4 hours ago, Davkaus said:

Yup, couple of bad results doesn't throw the season's progress in the bin.

It's the manner of it that rankles. If we lost 1-0 in a tedious game in which we were poor we'd all be a lot less pissed off, I think. Throwing the 2-0 away in that manner is sickening.

Exactly!

Which is why its hard to move on positively. It was not just another game lost.

We didn't even need to play that well once we went 2-0 up, just keep hold of the ball, play our passing game, which we seem to proper struggle with last night.

 

[M_Afro]

People are way too influenced by results, rather than looking at what actually happened. We had higher possession than Man Utd, we had higher XG, we missed 3 really good chances that would almost certainly have won us the game, all of their goals had a large slice of good fortune and would not have gone in more often than not.
Twelve months ago, if you’d told me that we would be going to Old Trafford and achieving the above, whilst sitting third in the league on 39 points after 19 games, I wouldn’t have believed you.

Unai is a miracle worker. There are at least 6 teams in the league with better squads than us and yet he has got us out performing half of them. On the balance of play yesterday, on most occasions we would have got a win. We didn’t unfortunately but we should stop being so reactive and thank Unai that we have a second half of the season that is still so exciting to look forward to.

Our players aren’t suddenly rubbish. Unai didn’t get it wrong yesterday. We just unluckily lost at Old Trafford to Man Utd.

[Tayls]

Just now, M_Afro said:

People are way too influenced by results, rather than looking at what actually happened. We had higher possession than Man Utd, we had higher XG, we missed 3 really good chances that would almost certainly have won us the game, all of their goals had a large slice of good fortune and would not have gone in more often than not.
Twelve months ago, if you’d told me that we would be going to Old Trafford and achieving the above, whilst sitting third in the league on 39 points after 19 games, I wouldn’t have believed you.

Dude, I appreciate that fans are happy with how the stats look and all that jazz, but, we lost. We lost the game despite leading 2-0. 
We had great numbers against Sheffield Utd as well and still only scrapped a draw at home. We need to actually win football matches. 

[DJBOB]

This United game was probably the only match where I felt Unai got outdone tactically in the second half. He was abnormally slow to react to the change that Ten Hag made and the results played it out. 

[Mantis]

The good thing about Emery is that you know he'll be determined to put things right. He seems to take bad results/performances very personally.

[Tayls]

2 minutes ago, DJBOB said:

This United game was probably the only match where I felt Unai got outdone tactically in the second half. He was abnormally slow to react to the change that Ten Hag made and the results played it out. 

Was the change made in the 30th minute because that’s when it all went downhill? 

[Mark Albrighton]

10 minutes ago, Tayls said:

I still can’t believe we have done a complete Aston Villa yesterday. I had hoped that sort of thing was behind us but you just knew it was going to happen, even at 2-0. 
I’m disappointed, I think the Brentford game was the start of a bad run, I really don’t think we played well in the game and Sheffield Utd was a struggle for us. I think we will fail to see a victory in the next few premier league fixtures. I think a lot of it is coming down to the players being absolutely nakard. 

As long as we play football, this sort of thing will happen every now and then.

Man City can piss away a two goal lead to an out of sorts Crystal Palace. 

There will never be a time when this sort of thing isn’t some sort of possibility.

 

6 minutes ago, Tayls said:

Dude, I appreciate that fans are happy with how the stats look and all that jazz, but, we lost. We lost the game despite leading 2-0. 
We had great numbers against Sheffield Utd as well and still only scrapped a draw at home. We need to actually win football matches. 

And we have been. This year you have seen more league victories than any villa supporter has seen before. The last two fixtures don’t change that.

[DJBOB]

1 minute ago, Tayls said:

Was the change made in the 30th minute because that’s when it all went downhill? 

No - and we were still well on top in the first half. Definitely took our foot off the gas but United rarely threatened. 
 
The change was in the way United pressed in the second half and that resulted in generating turnovers that lead to goals 1 and 2 from United. 
 
And Unai tried to tell them to stay calm and keep playing the same but it played right into Ten Hag’s hands. 

[JAMAICAN-VILLAN]

I genuinely don't mind our discipline and dedication to our style of play.

However, for me, some sort of on pitch common sense and footballing logic should play a part, especially by the players sometimes.

I just still can't get over how, we were still playing, like we were holding onto a lead when we needed a goal!

It was bizarre.

In my view, we should have our base style of play, but he able to switch it up at times, the players should be able to make a call at times too like " I know Unai may not like this, but we've got 7 mins to go and are under pressure, passing it around in a circle on the edge of our box right now probably isn't the best idea "

Stick to your disciplined style of play 90 percent of the time, but sometimes you just need to find a way to get a result or take the pressure off.

Edited December 27, 2023 by JAMAICAN-VILLAN

[DJBOB]

2 minutes ago, JAMAICAN-VILLAN said:

I genuinely don't mind our discipline and dedication to our style of play.

However, for me, some sort of on pitch common sense and footballing logic should play a part, especially by the players sometimes.

I just still can't get over how, we were still playing, like we were holding onto a leadz when we needed a goal!

It was bizarre.

In my view, we should have our base style of play, but he able to switch it up at times, the players should be able to make a call at times too like " I know Unai may not like this, but we've got 7 mins to go and are under pressure, passing it around in a circle on the edge of our box right now probably isn't the best idea "

Stick to your disciplined style of play 90 percent of the time, but sometimes you just need to find a way to get a result or take the pressure off.

I think we can play the same way and we did for large parts against City and Arsenal. 
 
The mistake comes from thinking our bench can play the same way too.  
 
Too much trust in our bench players or too stubborn from Unai into thinking we can still play the “Unai” way? Time will tell. 

Edited December 27, 2023 by DJBOB

[Philosopher]

26 minutes ago, Nabby said:

Not sure Cash would have started but if he was avaliable he would of been on earlish in the 2nd half.  If I have a critique I would like to see us sometimes stick Bailey /Diarby wide left to cross the ball from byline not check back like they do on the right ( granted Bailey does get some assists from RF cross's) Just think some variation would be good.

We were poor in possession in our own half. That was our downfall. So I don't think an adjustment like that would have made a difference. 

We simply misplaced too many passes.

[Captain_Townsend]

Last season when 2-2 v Arsenal we stopped doing what Emery asked and lost 4-2.

We now do what Emery instructs and sit 3rd in the league at the half way point.

When are people going to realise this is our style and one bad result isn't going to change that. 

[M_Afro]

23 minutes ago, Tayls said:

Dude, I appreciate that fans are happy with how the stats look and all that jazz, but, we lost. We lost the game despite leading 2-0. 
We had great numbers against Sheffield Utd as well and still only scrapped a draw at home. We need to actually win football matches. 

I get that but we have won 12 of our first 19. We are not going to win them all. Nobody does that. Man Utd have got some very good players and they were at home. They made the most of their chances and had a large dose of luck. We didn’t. 
Against Shef Utd, if the Bailey goal had stood as it should have. We would have won that too. These are the fine margins that exist. It will not always go our way. I’m sure we’ll bounce back soon. We were unbeaten in 10 before yesterday.

[foreveryoung]

31 minutes ago, M_Afro said:

People are way too influenced by results, rather than looking at what actually happened. We had higher possession than Man Utd, we had higher XG, we missed 3 really good chances that would almost certainly have won us the game, all of their goals had a large slice of good fortune and would not have gone in more often than not.
Twelve months ago, if you’d told me that we would be going to Old Trafford and achieving the above, whilst sitting third in the league on 39 points after 19 games, I wouldn’t have believed you.

Unai is a miracle worker. There are at least 6 teams in the league with better squads than us and yet he has got us out performing half of them. On the balance of play yesterday, on most occasions we would have got a win. We didn’t unfortunately but we should stop being so reactive and thank Unai that we have a second half of the season that is still so exciting to look forward to.

Our players aren’t suddenly rubbish. Unai didn’t get it wrong yesterday. We just unluckily lost at Old Trafford to Man Utd.

We don't need to study stats to understand from 2-0 up in 25 minutes, the game should have been ours.

Stats mean nothing if you dont win the 3 points.

[foreveryoung]

18 minutes ago, JAMAICAN-VILLAN said:

I genuinely don't mind our discipline and dedication to our style of play.

However, for me, some sort of on pitch common sense and footballing logic should play a part, especially by the players sometimes.

I just still can't get over how, we were still playing, like we were holding onto a lead when we needed a goal!

It was bizarre.

In my view, we should have our base style of play, but he able to switch it up at times, the players should be able to make a call at times too like " I know Unai may not like this, but we've got 7 mins to go and are under pressure, passing it around in a circle on the edge of our box right now probably isn't the best idea "

Stick to your disciplined style of play 90 percent of the time, but sometimes you just need to find a way to get a result or take the pressure off.

As soon as the 2nd goal went in you could see the change. I noticed Man U heads didn't drop either, so there was no time to take our foot off the gas.

Not the first time ive seen this happen either.

 

[Villan_of_oz]

So for me this was a morning match, that finished at 830am. It is now nearly midnight and I'm still wide awake and still feeling down about the result.

I know it's only been two bad results (and performances) in a row, and people are right it hasn't ruined our season.

I just am concerned for the first time under Unai, and I'm trying to find the balance in where we are at amid all the emotions.

Maybe I dreamed too much about being top at Xmas, and at 2-0 today I dreamt that all the Man U supporters I know would have to shut their mouths good and proper.

I think people are allowed to feel however they like, there is no right or wrong reactions for me. 

For me, I'm going to avoid going down the rabbit hole of despair for now, and maintain the faith that this is a different team now with a quality manager.

I hope to see the right reaction against Burnley.