Ratings & Reactions: Villa v Burnley

[Davkaus]

It wasn't pleasant, was it?

Winning unconvincingly is as far as you can get from "typical Villa" though, so we've got that going for us. Sign of champions  

[sheepyvillian]

As nervy as it turned out, you can't beat a last minute winner, incidentally,, I thought the crowd were great today, plenty of noise. Bailey motm, Watkins was really good even JJ looked much sharper, aside from missing the sitter. And a special mention for "Dougie Don't miss".

[MWARLEY2]

Got through it with a win. Now we have Boro Everton and then Newcastle over the next 30 days. Plenty of time to recharge and get players back / better again. 

Lets see if our overall form improves over the next couple of months as we arent running on fumes.

[Joshie2000]

10 minutes ago, Pinebro said:

He's one of our own

He's one of our own

Aaron Ramsey

He's one of our own

Looks like we sold the wrong brother, JJ played rubbish again and missed the easiest chance.

 

But I sad prematch I'd take a poor game for a win and we got it, UTV

[Keyblade]

13 minutes ago, foreveryoung said:

People saying some are losing the plot???

Shittest team in the league with 10 men against a top 4 team and we nearly mugged it.

Yes we're gonna lose the plot, like Emery would!!

Like Emery would? Wind your neck in. Emery has us joint top right now. A couple of wobbles is really enough to shake your belief in what he's doing?

[Troglodyte]

Would take Trafford as a long-term replacement for Emi, btw - as long as he develops a bit of personality rather than facial hair that looks like he's lost a fight against a particularly whispy brown crayon.

[HanoiVillan]

1 minute ago, allani said:

What like Arsenal beating Luton 3-2 with an even later winner.  **** me every team in the top half has salvaged wins / draws against weaker opposition.  Man City lost a 2-0 lead against Palace of all teams.  Honestly I think some people just don't look at any other results in the league.

I mean apart from a penalty that was barely a penalty we wouldn't have 'salvaged' a draw but thrown away a lead. But yes, I'm aware other teams put in poor performances too. 

[TomC]

1 minute ago, Joshie2000 said:

Looks like we sold the wrong brother, JJ played rubbish again and missed the easiest chance.

JJ has not played well since coming back, but saying we sold the wrong brother is harsh. JJ took a while to get back into the groove after his injury last year, too. He'll be OK.

 

[sheepyvillian]

10 minutes ago, Zero7 said:

That’s the sign of a bloody good team

It's usually the sign of a lucky team, and that eventually runs out, at the least time you want it too. We definitely need to find that ruthless streak that has served us so well especially at VP.

[Tomaszk]

Performance wasn't quite as bad as it felt. It wouldn't have been an injustice if we scored 5.

Yet still, it was not a good performance because Burnley, who are shit, were well in the game and allowed to play.

Mental fatigue and arrogance through plenty of our key men and best players. Konsa, Luiz, Diaby all totally off it.

Diaby, Jesus Christ. What the **** mate. Engage your brain. Stop running into our own players space, it's idiotic. Stop shooting upwards, the goal isn't there.

Rotter from Emi for their second, plus obviously bulk and skull at centre half crap throughout.

Konsa must play CB. Put Carlos at RB out of the way.

We've got through a really tough period with a great points return. Just so annoying we killed ourselves to earn the huge wins and shat it when the easy ones were there for the taking.

Never ever ever a penalty. Disgrace of a decision.

[Davkaus]

2 minutes ago, Keyblade said:

Like Emery would? Wind your neck in. Emery has us joint top right now. A couple of wobbles is really enough to shake your belief in what he's doing?

think you've misinterpreted @foreveryoung there, he means Emery is probably pissed off with that performance too, and I suspect he's right.

[CVByrne]

Late penalty to beat 10 man Burnley. Fell over the line and worrying slide in performances continues. I have massive doubts about this side getting over the line this season to get Champions League. 

Glad there are only 2 Premier League games in January. None for over 2 weeks can hopefully rest and reset. 

Today on back of last two games was worrying. 

[foreveryoung]

Just now, Keyblade said:

Like Emery would? Wind your neck in. Emery has us joint top right now. A couple of wobbles is really enough to shake your belief in what he's doing?

Only joint top cause we won against 10 man Burnley, just.

Emery would not have been happy with a loss is what I mean, same as most, but some fans on here think we are top 4 so it's already done.

[tinker]

That's aged me by 10 years. We look so low in confidence,  just waiting for them to equalise tbh. 

We Missed loads of chances

Foster ran us ragged everytime there was a 50 50 ball played.

They should have got a free kick for handball from Carlos, can anyone explain why they didn't? Thought Carlos was going to walk tbh.

A Ramsey.....oh dear,  so unlucky for our penalty,  felt for him but there we go.

UTV and happy new year everyone, it's been an emotional but spectacular year for us villa fans. 

[avfc1982am]

The 3 points is all that matters however, if we are going to stay in the top 4 defensively we need to get much better imo. Unai's next task is to try and keep the goals for at this level and reduce the goals against. We're still playing a little too high at times, especially when winning games. Not by much but enough to keep the space between Emi and defence too high to sweep up at times. We create an awful lot of space for teams to run into and expose us, which they are the last couple of weeks.

I think not just Kamara but Tielemans is a big miss in the middle. Dougie and McGinn were continually boxed in while JJ drifted in and out of the game so we didn't have the numbers at times. I felt with Youri and Bouba we win that game much easier.  

The only other points would be that I'm not convinced with Carlos and his distribution which is either to heavy or under hit. I'd like to see Ezri back in there with Pau tbh. 

A much needed 3 points though. 

[allani]

4 minutes ago, HanoiVillan said:

I mean apart from a penalty that was barely a penalty we wouldn't have 'salvaged' a draw but thrown away a lead. But yes, I'm aware other teams put in poor performances too. 

Yeah and just remind me which teams in the league have dropped the most points this season from a leading position....  If you are using the "yeah but if the penalty hadn't been awarded" argument can I also use the 3 poor misses from Diaby, the big chance missed by Ramsey and two poor shots from McGinn as reasons why we should have won that match by 3 or 4?

Edited December 30, 2023 by allani

[Jas10]

Another 3 points.

It’s been a wonderful year, can 2024 be even better than 2023?

Yes, we’ve not been playing well recently but we have struggled with injuries and suspensions and individual players have struggled for form and fitness… a few probably tired too…

Just look at the table and relax, the progress has been astounding.

We will regroup and Unai will have his claret & blue army marching on in style again… we will dominate and dismantle opposition teams again…

Here’s to the future and

 

UTV!

 

 

PS

I LOVE UNAI EMERY!!!

[Don_Simon]

16 minutes ago, ChicagoVillan1983 said:

Result matters. Defence wasn't right today, and despite getting one, Diaby couldn't hit the backside of a cow with a banjo.

Bit of time now to get the team back in line with the system and get injuries back to squad. FA Cup a free hit for me.

Every season is going to have dips in form - we put everything into beating City/ Arsenal and things have dipped since then. Emery will get them back in shape.

Apart from him scoring, I assume?

[Annoyman]

I think with Doug holding his nerve and the crossbar being kind, we just scraped beating the record for our most ever home wins in a calendar year there? I nearly died.

We were running on fumes a bit, but we also had enough chances fall to Diaby that it could have been one of the early-season home massacres on a different day. Looks like Carlos and Lenglet can play a part but not run the show, and above all else we really need to not have our best central defender deputising at right back. There are obviously things to work on but the points are on the board.

Hopefully the recoveries go well for all the missing players and Digne's issue doesn't drag out.

Strong 90 from Bailey, and two very good assists for Watkins.Diaby scored the trickiest one on his weak foot and then methodically missed every other chance he got trying to curl it in on his left. Would almost have been better for his confidence if the misses had come first but...there's a player in there?

Was the pen soft? Would either of the Sheff Utd ones have been soft if they were given? Idk I don't even care any more

 

 

[sheepyvillian]

5 minutes ago, TomC said:

JJ has not played well since coming back, but saying we sold the wrong brother is harsh. JJ took a while to get back into the groove after his injury last year, too. He'll be OK.

 

He was alright today, put in some good tackles and made himself busy, which is what you expect from your midfielders.