Ratings & Reactions: Villa v Burnley

[NeilS]

We are not as mean fisted in defence this season, but we have remained unbeaten at home and won more games in a calendar year for god knows how long. Stay grounded, and enjoy how far we have come in the last 14 months. Fingers crossed for an equally impressive 2024. UTV.

[sheepyvillian]

5 minutes ago, spiezels said:

Shame they didnt make more of that. Proper. 

You do have a point, the bench was quite threadbare. 

[spiezels]

3 minutes ago, sheepyvillian said:

You do have a point, the bench was quite threadbare. 

Knows a low block tbf

[sheepyvillian]

4 minutes ago, spiezels said:

Knows a low block tbf

Not too sure Unai does though. 

[spiezels]

1 minute ago, sheepyvillian said:

Not too sure Unai does though. 

Hendo on a free when stevie gets sacked 

[villan-scott]

Job done. Should have been home and day before we were but result the most important thing today. Nerves of steel from Dougie to convert that penalty. 

[turvontour]

Was it a coincidence or a tactic today that so many of our shots were aimed for the top corner rather than low, even the penalty? 

[allani]

2 hours ago, sheepyvillian said:

You mean the arrogance treatment. It's a cup we haven't won since 57, it may well have lost some of it's romance, but there's still a few of us, me included, who would like nothing better than seeing SJM lifting that trophy on a sunny May afternoon. 

But it isn't a straight choice between winning the FA Cup and finishing in a CL place.  I'd rather finish 4th in the PL than 4th in the FA Cup.  At the moment our chances of finishing 4th in the PL are higher than our chances of getting to the semi-finals of the FA Cup let alone getting to the final and winning it.  I do agree that an FA Cup win would be massive for the club and the fans and that silverware is really important.  However, part of me worries about us putting out a full strength team in the FA Cup, not giving our key players enough rest ahead of the Everton game (and losing that match) and then drawing Man City in the next round.  In which case we might well be out of the FA Cup and be 3 or 4 points worse off in the league because of fatigue.  It's a really difficult position to be in (in a very good way) and I don't envy Emery having to pick a team for the FA Cup.  I'd love for us to compete in all three remaining competitions but I think we can see that the squad are knackered at the moment and I just can't see us realistically coping with the volume of matches that a long cup run in Europe and the FA Cup will entail.  Maybe some good news on the injury front and a couple of Jan signings will change things...

[tomav84]

had all the best chances. their 2 goals out of nowhere means that the result doesn't look as convincing as the game was. lenglet had a tough afternoon and JJ still looks off but otherwise a fairly decent performance

[rubberman]

Well, quite the game to enjoy with my daughter. Was explaining why SJM is called Bravearse and after about 10 minutes she was like, yeah I get it.

A sending off, a pen, goals, winning in the last minute. Its why football is great, even if not good for the heart. Certainly ran through the full gamut of emotions. 

It is the first time I've been to a live game with var. Flipping heck it ruins the experience. No communication what's being checked or why. Bad enough on the telly but that was shambolic. 

[His Name Is Death]

2 hours ago, foreveryoung said:

I was quoting @His Name Is Death who said it was ridiculous for fans to be unhappy with the loses.

No, I didn’t say it was ridiculous for fans to be ‘unhappy’ with losing (though I remind you that the reactions I was referring to came before we’d actually lost, which we didn’t do in the end). If it were just that they were ‘unhappy’, that wouldn’t have been fair to have a problem with.

I said, if you had read it correctly, that fans being ‘hyper-critical’ and ‘throwing tantrums’ was ridiculous, which was what was happening while there were still plenty of minutes left in the game.

It’s the degree (and petulance) of the unhappiness that’s the issue, not the unhappiness itself.

Edited December 30, 2023 by His Name Is Death

[ozvillafan]

Well... that was closer than I hoped.

3 things I learned:

• Trafford is a great keeper. Possible Olsen replacement?
• The old Villa doesn't get 3 points here
• Football is not a contact sport anymore

[JoshVilla]

Feels like we had to "get through" that one. I think you can see the fatigue creeping in, so it's good that they've got a bit of a rest before the Boro game (I'd imagine a few key players may not feature in that either).

I think the past few games have shown that we don't yet have a squad that's 100% capable of challenging at the very top just yet, and that's fine. Our starting 11 is fantastic and more than capable, but we've seen where the holes are when we lose players to injury or suspension. Kamara has been a big miss over the Xmas period, which has affected Luiz & McGinn's games. Tielemans was really starting to come into some form too, so it'll be brilliant to get him back. Digne has been a real bright spark for me this season, and I feel we've really lost something defensively with him out.

It's been a phenomenal year to be a Villa fan. Best home record in the league for 2023, currently level on points with Liverpool at the top (if only them, Arse & Citeh would lose their games in hand...). The good thing is that we have the Jan window coming up, where we could hopefully at least get another RB so we can keep Konsa in the centre if Cash isn't playing. With a bit of luck, we'll start seeing players returning from injury so we can try and hit some good form in the second half of the season. Our overall results have been excellent so far, way beyond my expectations before the season began. However, our level of performance has been a little patchy, whereby we'll look amazing one week, then a bit rough, then okay, then amazing again. It doesn't feel like we've really hit our peak yet, so hopefully we'll really continue to push on over the next 18 games.

UTV!

[Newry_Villan]

Good mentality from the team to get the win today after the collapse at Old Trafford. We've seen many a Villa team fail to recover from losses like that.  

We're tired and done very well with the fixtures in December.  Quieter January, fixture wise, so key players can rest. 

2nd in the league baby, we should all be ecstatic with how we have performed first half of the season.  Enjoy it, we will drop points, c'est la vie, I am enjoying the ride!!

[sheepyvillian]

24 minutes ago, allani said:

But it isn't a straight choice between winning the FA Cup and finishing in a CL place.  I'd rather finish 4th in the PL than 4th in the FA Cup.  At the moment our chances of finishing 4th in the PL are higher than our chances of getting to the semi-finals of the FA Cup let alone getting to the final and winning it.  I do agree that an FA Cup win would be massive for the club and the fans and that silverware is really important.  However, part of me worries about us putting out a full strength team in the FA Cup, not giving our key players enough rest ahead of the Everton game (and losing that match) and then drawing Man City in the next round.  In which case we might well be out of the FA Cup and be 3 or 4 points worse off in the league because of fatigue.  It's a really difficult position to be in (in a very good way) and I don't envy Emery having to pick a team for the FA Cup.  I'd love for us to compete in all three remaining competitions but I think we can see that the squad are knackered at the moment and I just can't see us realistically coping with the volume of matches that a long cup run in Europe and the FA Cup will entail.  Maybe some good news on the injury front and a couple of Jan signings will change things...

I just want it treated with the respect it deserves. Talk of playing the kids is just ridiculous, imo.

[sheepyvillian]

35 minutes ago, spiezels said:

Hendo on a free when stevie gets sacked 

Not for me, can't forgive the whole hypocrisy thing in regards to the Saudi move. Past his sell by date, imo.

[Jas10]

 

[AVTuco]

Happy with the win obviously, but also glad I didn't see it. I would've gone mental when they equalized with 10 men. I might have made some nasty statements too.

Now get some rest boys. You deserve it.

[mole86]

3 hours ago, foreveryoung said:

We are joint top as people keep pointing out, surely any loses from now on will obviously cause serious disappointment with some fans

I can’t reconcile the second part of that sentence with the first, unless you’re assuming all fans are complete morons 

[The Fun Factory]

Nearly shat myself with the penalty but got the win. What  a year of results we have had. UTV.