Heroes & Villains, the Aston Villa fanzine
Heroes & Villains => Match Threads & Player Ratings => Topic started by: PeterWithesShin on August 22, 2018, 09:48:02 PM
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Well.
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Good game, should have put it to bed though.
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BRUCE OUT OUT OUT.
4 points dropped.
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Played well for 60 minutes.
We defend like a team with a centre back at right back, a right back at left back and a defensive midfielder at centre back.
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That's as good as we've played for a long while.
Second home game we've scored right at the death as well.
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I enjoyed the match and seeing Kod looking really sharp again. Not sure how so many can be angry and upset tonight.
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BRUCE OUT OUT OUT.
4 points dropped.
ZZZZZZZZZZZZZ
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Shite. Another two points lost. Keep it up Bruce!
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We should have won that comfortably, but good we fought back st the end. Good to have Kod back, Nyland did well overall, and Axel did well for the most part. Disappointed with Jack tonight.
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Played well, they scored, played better, we scored, faded badly, they scored, got a stroke of luck let's be honest, we scored.
Not good enough yet again, we've papered over the cracks and kept this lump of lard in a job for another week.
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not gona knock Bruce for that
entertaining game both teams playing well
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We are stumbling along in many ways to results. At times we look great, defensively we’ve looked horrible. Either it’s al going to run out soon or Bruce will survive just long enough for it to fix itself.
Other than that thank fuck for Kodjia
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Thank feck we got a point in the end. It sounds like we deserved it - although problems clearly remain.
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All our flaws exposed, points dropped at home. We are not anywhere near the level of the best teams in this league this time.
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Good game. What the championship is all about with the new signings we will be up there. UTV
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Looked very good going forward, created some good chances. But we look so flaky at the back, when you play so many out of position it's no wonder, just don't get his logic about this.
Good to see Kodjia back, thought Whelan was good, Axel would make a great CB, McGinn looks very special.
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Good for an hour, increasingly shit after that until the last couple of minutes of injury time. Whelan hit a wall after about an hour and should've gone of long before their 2nd.
The defence is still all over the place, Tuanzebe has got to play in the centre from now on, Jedinak makes the whole defence look nervy.
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I enjoyed the match and seeing Kod looking really sharp again. Not sure how so many can be angry and upset tonight.
Because we needlessly dropped another 2 points tonight, aided and abetted by an insistance on playing 3 out of the back 4 out of position.
In fairness that was probably the best footballing display we've put on since the Wolves game.
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Bruce IN. This shows we are progressing. The new players will improve us more too. If only he'd realize Jedinak at centre back is not good but hopefully we will get past that.
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I thought we played well, glad we got a last minute equaliser but that was the least we deserved. I thought the game changed when Albert came off but a good performance.
Mc'Ginn was superb, Kodjia looking sharper, another night we could have buried them
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Villa show again how we just don't have the instinct to go and win, kill a game of, once we've clawed our way back into it, on the other hand Brentford show how to win away from home against a decent Championship side, something else we haven't learnt, Bruce will feel satisfied with this.
On to the next.
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Ironic - just when Kodjia starts carrying us in games again the defence goes to shit.
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Albert was a constant threat, best game of his for a while, albeit without the final ball on many occasions. We massively lost our wide threat when Green came on, he had a nightmare.
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I thought Axel was decent overall but played a part in both their goals, a right back he aint.
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Played well for 60 minutes.
We defend like a team with a centre back at right back, a right back at left back and a defensive midfielder at centre back.
Bruce simply HAS to get his head out of his arse & sort this nonsense out. And to think he was a very accomplished centre half in his playing days... :o
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Played well, they scored, played better, we scored, faded badly, they scored, got a stroke of luck let's be honest, we scored.
Not good enough yet again, we've papered over the cracks and kept this lump of lard in a job for another week.
What a biased summary of the game
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Villa show again how we just don't have the instinct to go and win, kill a game of, once we've clawed our way back into it, on the other hand Brentford show how to win away from home against a decent Championship side, something else we haven't learnt, Bruce will feel satisfied with this.
On to the next.
They showed how to win by drawing?
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Great game, we need to sort the defence out, it will stop us going up. Brentford are a pain for us, but the horseshit about how they approach the game is getting tiresome now. Time wasting and stamping on players is not a philosophy, it's shithousery of the type that the "great" Liverpool sides were well capable of.
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If you can't be happy after a 95th minute equaliser you probably need a new hobby.
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We saw tonight that we have enough firepower and talent to completely blow this league apart.
But we’ll finish 5th.
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I really enjoyed that game
Very encouraging in lots of ways. McGinn was great. Grealish not at his best. Kodjia back. Defence a concern. Keeper overall did well but maybe should have done better with the goal
What game did most of the other people commenting on here watch by the way? I don't think it was the same one as me
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Cracks papered over again. Nice bit of last-minute drama in our favour.
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I was encouraged overall, other than by the defence. We played with real energy and pressed well.
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Some right miserable gits on here. Best we’ve played for ages
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I enjoyed the game, we were lively going forwards. Brentford kept giving the ball away for period, that definitely helped!
We need to sort our defence out, we've thrown away a lot of points on this now.
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I enjoyed the match and seeing Kod looking really sharp again. Not sure how so many can be angry and upset tonight.
Because we needlessly dropped another 2 points tonight, aided and abetted by an insistance on playing 3 out of the back 4 out of position.
In fairness that was probably the best footballing display we've put on since the Wolves game.
We were never winning so I don't understand how it's 3pts dropped. Jedinak apart I couldn't fault the rest of the defence. I thought Axel was decent at right back and give me Hutton all day over Taylor on the left.
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Bruce uses another get out of jail card. It was kind of nice to see some positivity in the match thread for a change, but I honestly didn’t see all that much to be positive about. Some nice moves going forward which was refreshing but ultimately we didn’t really work the keeper or carve out many clear chances, and the defence is all over the shop.
I wouldn't say I saw anything to suggest automatic promotion, even if a few loans are added into the mix. Feeling lucky to get a draw at home against Brentford isn’t promotion form. It’s same old Bruce I’m afraid, stumbling through games, relying on a bit of individual brilliance like Kodija’s first goal, dropping bollocks, winning a few, dropping far too many soft points, and ultimately not consistent enough for the auto spots.
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I was encouraged overall, other than by the defence. We played with real energy and pressed well.
Atta boy Wincho.
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Played well, they scored, played better, we scored, faded badly, they scored, got a stroke of luck let's be honest, we scored.
Not good enough yet again, we've papered over the cracks and kept this lump of lard in a job for another week.
What a biased summary of the game
Righty ho.
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Just giving points away. Please for the love of god sit Jedinak.
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Some right miserable gits on here. Best we’ve played for ages
If we won 4-2 there would still be loads of knicker wetters on here.
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Plenty of plus points from tonight, plenty of negatives as well though. I just hope that this is the start of us playing like this on a regular basis. minus the wank defending.
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Some right miserable gits on here. Best we’ve played for ages
Enjoy the point!
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Entertaining game, some great football played by both sides and a fair result overall, we may very well see it as two points dropped later in the year mind.
A few thoughts, Axel is a great full back when we have the ball, not so great when the opposition do, thought he was caught out of position or beaten too easily on a few occasions but there is a massive talent there. The comparisons with a young Micah Richards seem accurate.
Thought Jedinak did ok at CB overall, powerful and didn’t miss anything in the air.
Lovely goals from Kodjia but the system isn’t right for him, the midfield won’t pass it into him and break forward as they are not confident in him giving it back. If he’s to play a significant role it needs to be coming from the left of a three.
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Bruce IN. This shows we are progressing. The new players will improve us more too. If only he'd realize Jedinak at centre back is not good but hopefully we will get past that.
Well said. Bruce gets a lot of criticism, sometimes justified, for our attacking play and the general quality of our football - people cannot criticise him for that tonight. Be nice if more people could see the positives. We didn't win, but it was a very good attacking display. If we had won one-nil playing turgid football he would no doubt have been criticised by many for that as well.
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I am no Bruce fan but I think that’s harsh. For about 65/70 mins we played some really good stuff.
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We should have won that comfortably, but good we fought back st the end. Good to have Kod back, Nyland did well overall, and Axel did well for the most part. Disappointed with Jack tonight.
Agreed. Jack was poor tonight by his standards. First half was as good as we've played for a long time. Fantastic pressing, energy, fight, even movement. Really enjoyable to watch. Second half we tried to play the same but Brentford didn't allow us and slowly took control of the game. Still, a point is better than a defeat but after that first half peformance, it certainly feels like a defeat.
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Best we played for ages...tempo and pressing were excellent. But we still don't create enough...especially given the possession we had going forward.
Some decent additions but we have to have a set up and style to suit them...currently we don't. And playing a CB at CB would be useful.
Still, it's better. Credit to Brentford. Well organised, well drilled and could have got a few in last 30 mins.
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We will win more games than not playing with that intensity however conceding two goals a game with shocking errors is not going to cut it. The goalkeeping situation is baffling, you let Steer go who has experience and did well at Hull and replace him with not 1 but 2 keepers with zero experience of the English game. You then play 2 of the back four out of position and its no wonder we are conceding the type of goals we have so far.
The acid test is will Bruce be brave enough to play like that away from home? I think we know the answer to that.
Dean Smith has done an incredible job there on a fraction of the Budget that Bruce has at his disposal.
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I really enjoyed that game
Very encouraging in lots of ways. McGinn was great. Grealish not at his best. Kodjia back. Defence a concern. Keeper overall did well but maybe should have done better with the goal
What game did most of the other people commenting on here watch by the way? I don't think it was the same one as me
I thought it was a very good game. Not sure which Grealish you were watching though as he had a great match! 😉
Andre Green though, dear oh dear. I’d have taken him off after coming on.
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Villa show again how we just don't have the instinct to go and win, kill a game of, once we've clawed our way back into it, on the other hand Brentford show how to win away from home against a decent Championship side, something else we haven't learnt, Bruce will feel satisfied with this.
On to the next.
They showed how to win by drawing?
Of Course, the point I was making was it came pretty close in the end.
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Played well for 60 minutes.
We defend like a team with a centre back at right back, a right back at left back and a defensive midfielder at centre back.
I only saw the last 35 mins. Only one team looked like winning in that time and were playing all the football. Kodjia's equaliser was the only chance we had in that time.
We are missing Terrys ability on the ball hugely, Jedinak' s air game aside he is a car crash back there with his distribution and positioning. Grealish's attitude was appalling and needs to get over the Spurs transfer falling through asap. Taking up the Wayne Rooney role taking handy ball off the back when he should be at least 20 yards further forward in an area where he might effect the game. Another late goal is a positive but it was far from a siege on their goal for last 5-10 mins.
Green was so bad I felt sorry for him. He will be a long time waiting for another chance. Ollie Watkins looks a real player in comparison.
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We saw tonight that we have enough firepower and talent to completely blow this league apart.
But we’ll finish 5th.
our keeper made more saves. Does that indicate that Brentford have more firepower?
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The equaliser is yet more paper over the cracks. The bottom line is we will not be getting promoted under this manager and his staff.
We play every game like it’s the first time the team have got together and it’s been embarrassing for a while: shambolic.
It’s time to be bold and make a change, which I know is not going to be easy.
The sooner we change it, the sooner we can hopefully compete for automatic promotion this season. At the moment, we are way off that...AGAIN!
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I enjoyed and thought that was as well as we have played for a while.
As others have said there were many plus points and just as many negatives. The biggest negative for me was our inability with the final ball. If we could cross we’d be a dangerous team. Hopefully our new wingers will improve this aspect of our game.
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We need a new chant.
Square pegs! Round holes!
Every time we do reasonably well it is papering over the cracks.
Glad I've left every villa FB group I was on.
Get rid.
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Grealish's attitude was appalling and needs to get over the Spurs transfer falling through asap.
Think that’s incredibly harsh, I’ve seen him play better but he wanted to get involved in everything and was a constant threat. He doesn’t make a great pair with Kodjia though.
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Some right miserable gits on here. Best we’ve played for ages
If we won 4-2 there would still be loads of knicker wetters on here.
[/quote) But we didn't .............we drew at home to the mighty Brentford FFS - Bruce has "succeeded" in the past by building a side from a solid defence - we don't appear to have that primarily as he is playing players out of position - would be nice to hear the rationale behind that - yes it's very early in the season but we shouldn't be settling for draws against the likes of Brentford or Ipswich
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What Brentford did to us tonight was MON-esque. On the counter, pace out wide. We were the better side, centre halves aside.
Add one or two players to this team (seems we have some wingers signed) including a solid centre half, with Grealish and the excellent McGinn, and we win this league.
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The equaliser is yet more paper over the cracks. The bottom line is we will not be getting promoted under this manager and his staff.
We play every game like it’s the first time the team have got together and it’s been embarrassing for a while: shambolic.
It’s time to be bold and make a change, which I know is not going to be easy.
The sooner we change it, the sooner we can hopefully compete for automatic promotion this season. At the moment, we are way off that...AGAIN!
yep, EVERYONE, anti-Bruce or not, saw that team selection and went "buh?" We planning on going up with a defence that's gonna ship a couple of goals every game? Mental that getting an last minute equaliser is seen as some sort of victory because the football wasn't bollocks for once.
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Some right miserable gits on here. Best we’ve played for ages
If we won 4-2 there would still be loads of knicker wetters on here.
If we'd lost 4-2 there would have been a lot of Stevie Spunkers on here.
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At the moment, we are way off that...AGAIN!
It’s four games in. Get a grip.
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Knicker wetters. 'Ray'.
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The equaliser is yet more paper over the cracks. The bottom line is we will not be getting promoted under this manager and his staff.
We play every game like it’s the first time the team have got together and it’s been embarrassing for a while: shambolic.
It’s time to be bold and make a change, which I know is not going to be easy.
The sooner we change it, the sooner we can hopefully compete for automatic promotion this season. At the moment, we are way off that...AGAIN!
The owners will want to get the hierarchy in place above Bruce before they make a change
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Getting more players, to add to the shit loads of players with already have.
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Do you think the Btentford player will get a retro ban?
Does it happen much?
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At the moment, we are way off that...AGAIN!
It’s four games in. Get a grip.
Indeed I’m not sure we’re way off based on that display. Defence needs addressing, but our link up play was excellent. If Kod is back that’ll be massive as well.
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I am no Bruce fan but I think that’s harsh. For about 65/70 mins we played some really good stuff.
Yes feel we ran out of puff and was surprised Brentford started time wasting really as they were coming back into it. The defence is always a worry there. Also as a team we cant pass it round comfortably to get a breather , but we were positive for an hour or so
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Same old stuff really. You can't call it disastrous, 'sack him now' stuff, but there's that creeping feeling that it won't be good enough in the end.
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What Brentford did to us tonight was MON-esque. On the counter, pace out wide. We were the better side, centre halves aside.
Add one or two players to this team (seems we have some wingers signed) including a solid centre half, with Grealish and the excellent McGinn, and we win this league.
Agree with the first part, absolutely, we just need that something extra to give us that edge over other teams, convert more often from the chances we get home and away, be more structured at the back, what Brentford did tonight was classic MON away from home, you can easily win games that way and finish 6th in the Premiership, its a plan that works, we stopped that tonight but on another day??.
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Not getting the Geealish criticism, I thought he was great. Dean Smith just said the same, too, so I’m right.
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At least today we had some tactics press the ball stop the space go after them and for an hour it worked but we tired.
Positives
McGinn - another superb display many young player coming through should be watching how he performs. How he Is only 3m is beyond me.
Kodj - two goals more energy and effort. Must use this as a benchmark
Thought Elmo whelan Adomah (first half) all played well. Chester strong.
Negatives
Goalie looks weak to me got to give him a chance but you wonder if steer was in goal would we have more points
Jack - as always tidy in possession but need to see more from him fast tempo drive take a shot etc. Tough to criticise but he is the best in this league and want him to show it.
Need more than go wide overlap and cross we need different patterns of play. That is what we have to work on.
Green should go out on loan he is not good enough yet I’m afraid to say. Positional sense is woeful. He should go to a league one side
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Strange game as some of the football we played was very good. Alongside that some of the football was poor, and defending at times yikes!!
Great to score again at the end shows some resilience, but we shouldn’t have been in that position
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The goalkeeping situation is baffling, you let Steer go who has experience and did well at Hull and replace him with not 1 but 2 keepers with zero experience of the English game.
We'll bring in another keeper in January.
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Not getting the Geealish criticism, I thought he was great. Dean Smith just said the same, too, so I’m right.
I think we're seriously lucky to have him, even ever so slightly below par, i'll take that for the times he does turn it on.
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The goalkeeping situation is baffling, you let Steer go who has experience and did well at Hull and replace him with not 1 but 2 keepers with zero experience of the English game.
We'll bring in another keeper in January.
Guzan knowing Bruce.
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At the moment, we are way off that...AGAIN!
It’s four games in. Get a grip.
Indeed I’m not sure we’re way off based on that display. Defence needs addressing, but our link up play was excellent. If Kod is back that’ll be massive as well.
See I thought we played better than we have for a while but I thought the link-up around the box was still awful, the first goal was individual brilliance and the 2nd was fantastic finish from a 'throw it in the mixer' cross that fell kindly for us off the head of the defender. Other than that Kodjia had a good chance that he hit straight at the keeper and we had 2-3 half chances. The positive is that we played higher up the pitch and pressed well, the negative is that it's tiring and Bruce had no plan for how to change things once the legs got heavy.
I'm a lot more positive after today than any of the previous 4 but a lot of the problems I have with Bruce were still there but he's added some ropey defending into the mix now as well.
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Can't believe people knocking Jack. He did some great things tonight.
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So much about that performance was good. The trouble is that it won't be remotely surprising if the next performance is dreadful.
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At the moment, we are way off that...AGAIN!
It’s four games in. Get a grip.
I’m fully gripped mate. It’s another groundhog season in the making. Don’t get me wrong, I think we can make the playoffs playing the current durge, but I’m one who believes we should be aiming for automatic promotion and why shouldn’t I be.
The squad we have should be smashing this league and be beating the mighty Brentford at home. Instead it’s like watching 11 hypnotised strangers float around imitating a 90s Wimbledon side.
We should be wanting a lot better from our management team then what we’re getting. It’s their third season now and nothing has improved!
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The goalkeeping situation is baffling, you let Steer go who has experience and did well at Hull and replace him with not 1 but 2 keepers with zero experience of the English game.
We'll bring in another keeper in January.
Guzan knowing Bruce.
Thought Nyland was good tonight, irrespective experience of the English game. Not really sure why that’s important.
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Can't believe people knocking Jack. He did some great things tonight.
Is it reasonable to think we have probably and most likely the best player in the Championship at Villa park, what's there to knock.
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Great performance in the main and actually deserved 3 points .
The problem of a discounted defence and jedinak in particular looked poor in his distribution .
Tuanzebe a bit lost with the goals conceded
Hutton a willing trier but I fear this is the problem the defence.
The forward play and football passing was sublime at times and the only issue was finishing but even more the final ball.
I feel the new signings will help attack wise.
Shout outs to Nyland with some big body saves
Whelan who held it together in middle and was part of what was right
Hutton and Elmo for effort.
Mcginn for his industry and swashbuckling ways
And of course the main man himself !!
Welcome back Kodija!! Goals taken so good!
Just disappointing after the great first half and overall match didn't win but showed the spirit to somehow get a late equaliser!
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So much about that performance was good. The trouble is that it won't be remotely surprising if the next performance is dreadful.
The way we played in the first hour has to be the template going forward (with an improved defence of course)
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Can't believe people knocking Jack. He did some great things tonight.
He was booked I think for protesting Chester's booking for a non foul. That must have made him a bit more circumspect I suppose
Mind you what do you expect when Jon Man Utd Moss is the ref?
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Bruce seems incapable of any sort of balance. It shouldn't be beyond the wit of a man paid more than £1m per year to realise that it's possible to look to play positively without abandoning the defence entirely by thinking 'fuck it, I'll put big Mile in there as he's a scary-looking bastard and that'll shit-up these little strikers.'
He seems utterly thick sometimes.
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I don’t get the Jack criticism either. Again he was clearly the only player with real quality even when not at his best. It’s the best I’ve seen us for ages and was surprised at how poor Brentford’s passing was.
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Down to 5th tonight - Bruce OUT
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I don’t get the Jack criticism either. Again he was clearly the only player with real quality even when not at his best. It’s the best I’ve seen us for ages and was surprised at how poor Brentford’s passing was.
Jack shouldn't be immune to criticism. He needs to develop his game in the final third. He has a ton of talent but to take the next step he has to find a ruthless or decisive streak. For all his ability of our 10 goals this season, how many has he scored or directly created? That's what he needs to work on.
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I enjoyed the game for the first time this season, and all in all we played well. Hard to escape the feeling though that with a proper defence we might have won.
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I don’t get the Jack criticism either. Again he was clearly the only player with real quality even when not at his best. It’s the best I’ve seen us for ages and was surprised at how poor Brentford’s passing was.
Some of his decision making was very unJack. It cost us.
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We outplayed them completely for an hour and if only we had done a couple of decent crosses from all the opportunities and corners, we'd have been out of sight by half time.
They changed it by bringing on Mokotjo instead of McEachran to keep closer tabs on Jack and McGinn seemed to start to tire a bit around 70 and we had bossed the midfield for an hour. We had a bad 15 minutes and could have ended up 3-1 down but the draw was the least we deserved overall.
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We bossed the game for 60 mins, looked very good going forward.
However the keeper was poor again, parried the shot weakly into the danger area leading to their second goal, then got very lucky they didn't get a third when he parried a shot straight at him onto the post. Playing 3 of the backline out of position also causing us problems.
Need in future:
Moreira
Hutton Tuanzebe Chester Taylor
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Fully agree Toronto villa. Certainly not criticising jack just outlining where he needs to improve
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I'm glad we got a point out of that because we definitely didn't deserve to lose it. Best we've played this season so far. Let's hope we keep it up.
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My pre season concern was where the goals would come from. Now I am more concerned with our goalkeeper situation and how we will keep goals out.
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We should've won that.
Despite what the highlights have just shown on Quest.
Best we've played this season and we were 15 seconds from losing it.
Lots of good combinations and build up play and Kodjia in this form is a new signing, took his first brilliantly.
Loved watching McGinn aswell, tigerish in midfield. Is going to be a big favourite.
Ironically I thought Grealish killed a fair few of our attacking moves by overplaying. We also lost a bit of momentum when Adomah went off.
Still a good display but must win on Saturday.
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So much about that performance was good. The trouble is that it won't be remotely surprising if the next performance is dreadful.
The way we played in the first hour has to be the template going forward (with an improved defence of course)
You'd certainly hope so, it's that obvious, but we've been here so many times before. It could just as easily be back to the bilge of Ipswich.
Bruce is like a man who once made a cracking bolognese but can't remember what he put in it. Every week he tries to replicate it but because he's winging it he gets the ingredients and amounts wrong. Sometimes he stumbles across a combination that tastes good, but often it just makes you sick.
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Down to 5th tonight - Bruce OUT
Third season. Embarrassment of riches. Can barely knock three passes together. Shambolic defence. Easiest start to a season since before when. Same tired excuses. Used to the mediocrity.
Watching the Villa in the flesh must bring it home to you that we are going nowhere under the current management team. I pray I’m wrong!
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I don’t get the Jack criticism either. Again he was clearly the only player with real quality even when not at his best. It’s the best I’ve seen us for ages and was surprised at how poor Brentford’s passing was.
Some of his decision making was very unJack. It cost us.
yes some passes were short and dwelling on the ball . still great to watch
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All our flaws exposed, points dropped at home. We are not anywhere near the level of the best teams in this league this time.
Brentford this season will be one of the best teams in this league imo.
Not a high bar but that's the best I've seen us play v them.
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Fair result. Other than Green, who is fucking crap, we played well. Tuanzebe arguably at fault for both goals and yet he had a decent game. We played well for 70 minutes and then ran out of ideas. Several very good performers tonight but we can't keep shipping in goals.
Some of the comments on here remind me of an expression a friend of mine used to use: give them a gold bar, they will complain about the shape.
Two points a game, scored 9 in 4. Kodjia is back in the hood. We still have Grealish. We have signed some very good players.
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We bossed the game for 60 mins, looked very good going forward.
However the keeper was poor again, parried the shot weakly into the danger area leading to their second goal, then got very lucky they didn't get a third when he parried a shot straight at him onto the post. Playing 3 of the backline out of position also causing us problems.
Need in future:
Moreira
Hutton Tuanzebe Chester Taylor
I'm chuffed you're not picking the side.
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I don’t get the Jack criticism either. Again he was clearly the only player with real quality even when not at his best. It’s the best I’ve seen us for ages and was surprised at how poor Brentford’s passing was.
Some of his decision making was very unJack. It cost us.
yes some passes were short and dwelling on the ball . still great to watch
Yep. He was as excellent as usual until he got to the edge of the box and then seemed to stop and stroked the ball around like he was running down time in a game we were winning 4-1. Frustrating.
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Really good game. Kodak is back, fit and scoring and is not the "lazy cnut" inferred by the absolute cock womble sat behind me tonight
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I don’t get the Jack criticism either. Again he was clearly the only player with real quality even when not at his best. It’s the best I’ve seen us for ages and was surprised at how poor Brentford’s passing was.
Jack shouldn't be immune to criticism. He needs to develop his game in the final third. He has a ton of talent but to take the next step he has to find a ruthless or decisive streak. For all his ability of our 10 goals this season, how many has he scored or directly created? That's what he needs to work on.
I agree. We all know the lad can dribble past players and win fouls for fun but at times we had 3 v 3 and the final ball just wasn't good enough from him.
Maybe should've scored in first half aswell although Bentley cut down the angle well.
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I was very encouraged tonight. My first home game for years and for 60 minutes I thought we were mostly excellent,and I really enjoyed the stuff we were playing. Yes we looked brittle at the back at times and that needs addressing. We need a proper CH at CH. Jedi is so much better than Whelan in front of the defence.
Mcginn is going to be massive player for us, he seems a steal at 3m. Amazing work ethic and energy, and can spot a killer pass. Tuanzebe is good going forward, just loses position defending. Hopefully we can coach that out of him.
Jack was very involved, and clearly has quality. I maybe thought he tried to do much at such a slow pace instead of on the run, and at times it looks like he’s going to try and walk the ball in the net. Thrilled we kept him.
Hopefully Kodj can press on from this now and get a 20 this season.
Overall positive. Two points dropped, but glad of the point in the end. I think we will win more games than we lose if we play like that all season. A few more loan signings and I’m enthusiastic for the season.
It’s a long time since I’ve said that!!
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We bossed the game for 60 mins, looked very good going forward.
However the keeper was poor again, parried the shot weakly into the danger area leading to their second goal, then got very lucky they didn't get a third when he parried a shot straight at him onto the post. Playing 3 of the backline out of position also causing us problems.
Need in future:
Moreira
Hutton Tuanzebe Chester Taylor
I'm chuffed you're not picking the side.
Well with Bruce picking the back 5, we've conceded 4 goals in 2 home games and needed last minute goals in both to save us. Nyland also cost us 3 points at Ipswich, but let's continue as we are with square pegs in round holes and an error-prone GK.
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Nyland was good tonight.
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Nyland was good tonight.
couple of good saves
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We bossed the game for 60 mins, looked very good going forward.
However the keeper was poor again, parried the shot weakly into the danger area leading to their second goal, then got very lucky they didn't get a third when he parried a shot straight at him onto the post. Playing 3 of the backline out of position also causing us problems.
Need in future:
Moreira
Hutton Tuanzebe Chester Taylor
I'm chuffed you're not picking the side.
Well with Bruce picking the back 5, we've conceded 4 goals in 2 home games and needed last minute goals in both to save us. Nyland also cost us 3 points at Ipswich, but let's continue as we are with square pegs in round holes and an error-prone GK.
He cost us two points on Saturday and saved us a few times tonight. Last minute goals, ban them. Shouldn't be allowed. ;-)
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After the Wigan game I posted on here that there's nothing better than a last minute winner in front of the Holte and serves them right for time wasting. Matched that tonight - a last minute equalizer in front of the Holte and serves them right for time wasting.
Having complained in the past about turgid, pedestrian football I have to say that tonight was a thoroughly entertaining game and the best we've played for a long time. I just wish Bruce wouldn't persist with Jedinak at centre back - put Tuanzebe there and choose a right back at right back.
Nice to see El Ghazi at half time and apparently Bolasie was in the stands watching the game. With the other names being bandied about we're starting to look very good going forwards, but with the loss of Terry we've gone backwards defensively, and if Bruce can't see that and sort it we'll have to continue coming from behind, which to be fair we seem to be doing rather well so far this season.
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At the moment, we are way off that...AGAIN!
It’s four games in. Get a grip.
Indeed I’m not sure we’re way off based on that display. Defence needs addressing, but our link up play was excellent. If Kod is back that’ll be massive as well.
See I thought we played better than we have for a while but I thought the link-up around the box was still awful, the first goal was individual brilliance and the 2nd was fantastic finish from a 'throw it in the mixer' cross that fell kindly for us off the head of the defender. Other than that Kodjia had a good chance that he hit straight at the keeper and we had 2-3 half chances. The positive is that we played higher up the pitch and pressed well, the negative is that it's tiring and Bruce had no plan for how to change things once the legs got heavy.
I'm a lot more positive after today than any of the previous 4 but a lot of the problems I have with Bruce were still there but he's added some ropey defending into the mix now as well.
Just got back from the game and think that is a pretty fair assessment Paul. I thought the period after they scored up to half time was as good as I've seen us play for some time. We played with really good tempo and played some really nice stuff. Unfortunately a lot of our good situations (to use one of Big Ron's phrases) fell on Adomah's left foot and the quality wasn't there.
I don't want to be overly critical of Bruce, but whereas Smith was proactive in the second half and made changes quite early, Bruce reacted a bit late when they were coming back into the game a bit more. I just thought we began to look tired in midfield and he could have changed things a bit earlier. We deserve credit for sticking at it until the end though and getting the late equaliser.
Thought Nyland looked a lot better tonight and McGinn did well until he clearly began to tire later on (his set pieces are a real threat). I thought Kodjia was better tonight and got his two goals, and hopefully he will get better over the coming weeks. Jedinak looked a bit unsteady again though and although the talk of wingers and forwards coming in is exciting, we desperately need a starting centre half.
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Could have gone joint top tonight
Had opportunity for 100% record v 10 player Ipswich.
Performance wise and style of play was impressive tonight but it's frustratingly lacking as a balance team.
2 points instead of 6 onto reading !
Was a very decent Footballing showing today at least but defnce need s sorting !
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Best performance of the season so far and we should have won. However our defence isn’t good enough. We need a centreback in and it should be a priority. The keeper should have done better with their second as well.
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Not a fan of how Bruce sets his teams up generally - but tonight for 70 minutes he got it spot on - we played a high line, pressed and made them go long so many times. Their goal was against the run of play and their keeper/CBs had nowhere to go. The amount of headers Chester and Jedi won must have been well in double figures. Should have been out of sight in the first half and with a proper RW rather than Elmo whipping good crosses in Kodjia could've had a hattrick tonight .
Problem with that style is that it tires you out, we faded after the hour mark and he should have been quicker in bringing Connor on in the centre.
Smith made a number of good changes to the midfield which brought them back into it - took off McEachran and added a lot more energy in the centre with Yennaris which coincided with Jack pressing less. Stifled him in second half - intelligent.
If this was an audition of sorts for him as a potential manager of us in the future, I like what I saw. Brentford were clearly well coached, played to a game plan to target our weaknesses, prepared good set pieces and worked the ball well. I wonder what he'd be able do with the talent and resources available to us...
Draw fair result in the balance of play across the 90. Really fun game with two good sides IMO. There's no Wolves in the league this year - if Brentford were our top 4/6 rivals, I still think we're in for a shout of automatic. Onwards.
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We bossed the game for 60 mins, looked very good going forward.
However the keeper was poor again, parried the shot weakly into the danger area leading to their second goal, then got very lucky they didn't get a third when he parried a shot straight at him onto the post. Playing 3 of the backline out of position also causing us problems.
Need in future:
Moreira
Hutton Tuanzebe Chester Taylor
I'm chuffed you're not picking the side.
Well with Bruce picking the back 5, we've conceded 4 goals in 2 home games and needed last minute goals in both to save us. Nyland also cost us 3 points at Ipswich, but let's continue as we are with square pegs in round holes and an error-prone GK.
He cost us two points on Saturday and saved us a few times tonight. Last minute goals, ban them. Shouldn't be allowed. ;-)
True it was 2 on Sat. I think if people watch Brentford's second goal back they might agree he should have got more on it, and directed it better. Then it's being ignored how close he came to making another mistake to cost us a 3rd goal, it looked at the time like he saved it but he parried it on to the post and it was inches from crossing the line.
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Nyland - Wrists like jelly for their second goal. He worries me
Axel - Ball watching for the first goal, did ok otherwise
Hutton - Should have closed the cross down for the first but was solid enough
Jedinak - Why CB?
Chester - Solid enough
McGinn - Great work rate and quality
Whelan - Ran out of legs after aout 65 minutes
Grealish - Seemed to underhit too many passes today but he causes problems.
Adomah - Looked great until it was time to deliver quality balls into the area but all too often showed lack of quality when it was needed
Elhomady - worked hard but like Adomah quality was lacking until the very last cross of the game
Kodja - starting to look like the Kodj of old!
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We bossed the game for 60 mins, looked very good going forward.
However the keeper was poor again, parried the shot weakly into the danger area leading to their second goal, then got very lucky they didn't get a third when he parried a shot straight at him onto the post. Playing 3 of the backline out of position also causing us problems.
Need in future:
Moreira
Hutton Tuanzebe Chester Taylor
They were both pretty powerful shots that Nyland parried. One was unfortunate and led to the 2nd goal. Where I was sat he did well with the other. He kept us in it on more the one occasion.
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Not a fan of how Bruce sets his teams up generally - but tonight for 70 minutes he got it spot on - we played a high line, pressed and made them go long so many times. Their goal was against the run of play and their keeper/CBs had nowhere to go. The amount of headers Chester and Jedi won must have been well in double figures. Should have been out of sight in the first half and with a proper RW rather than Elmo whipping good crosses in Kodjia could've had a hattrick tonight .
Problem with that style is that it tires you out, we faded after the hour mark and he should have been quicker in bringing Connor on in the centre.
Smith made a number of good changes to the midfield which brought them back into it - took off McEachran and added a lot more energy in the centre with Yennaris which coincided with Jack pressing less. Stifled him in second half - intelligent.
If this was an audition of sorts for him as a potential manager of us in the future, I like what I saw. Brentford were clearly well coached, played to a game plan to target our weaknesses, prepared good set pieces and worked the ball well. I wonder what he'd be able do with the talent and resources available to us...
Draw fair result in the balance of play across the 90. Really fun game with two good sides IMO. There's no Wolves in the league this year - if Brentford were our top 4/6 rivals, I still think we're in for a shout of automatic. Onwards.
I thought Brentford looked a bit of a different side to the past couple of seasons tonight. I thought they seemed a bit more physical than in previous seasons and had pace in attack. They might be ones to watch this season in the promotion picture.
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Nyland should have done better for the 2nd but to be fair to him he has come from the German second division straight into into a very physical league and will need time to adjust. The weird thing is Bruce is not prepared to gamble throwing outfield players in with little experience as seen by his comments after the Yeovil game with talk of big boy football but has done just that with one of the most important positions on the pitch. This has a huge impact on the rest of the back four and the their confidence.
It just makes you scratch your head.
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Not a fan of how Bruce sets his teams up generally - but tonight for 70 minutes he got it spot on - we played a high line, pressed and made them go long so many times. Their goal was against the run of play and their keeper/CBs had nowhere to go. The amount of headers Chester and Jedi won must have been well in double figures. Should have been out of sight in the first half and with a proper RW rather than Elmo whipping good crosses in Kodjia could've had a hattrick tonight .
Problem with that style is that it tires you out, we faded after the hour mark and he should have been quicker in bringing Connor on in the centre.
Smith made a number of good changes to the midfield which brought them back into it - took off McEachran and added a lot more energy in the centre with Yennaris which coincided with Jack pressing less. Stifled him in second half - intelligent.
If this was an audition of sorts for him as a potential manager of us in the future, I like what I saw. Brentford were clearly well coached, played to a game plan to target our weaknesses, prepared good set pieces and worked the ball well. I wonder what he'd be able do with the talent and resources available to us...
Draw fair result in the balance of play across the 90. Really fun game with two good sides IMO. There's no Wolves in the league this year - if Brentford were our top 4/6 rivals, I still think we're in for a shout of automatic. Onwards.
I thought Brentford looked a bit of a different side to the past couple of seasons tonight. I thought they seemed a bit more physical than in previous seasons and had pace in attack. They might be ones to watch this season in the promotion picture.
Agreed. In a few months time tonights performance and the draw may look a decent result.
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We were easily the better side for 70mins. Brentford, up to that point offered nothing. We simply didnt make the most of what was comfortably our best performance since Wolves. We ran out steam with 20 mins to go.
If there's any criticism its that we're not clinical enough. Some people forget how shit Elphick is but the continual moans about Whelan & Jedinek is all a bit tedious.
Nyland made some decent stops, Kodja & McGinn were great.
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Nyland - Wrists like jelly for their second goal. He worries me
Axel - Ball watching for the first goal, did ok otherwise
Hutton - Should have closed the cross down for the first but was solid enough
Jedinak - Why CB?
Chester - Solid enough
McGinn - Great work rate and quality
Whelan - Ran out of legs after aout 65 minutes
Grealish - Seemed to underhit too many passes today but he causes problems.
Adomah - Looked great until it was time to deliver quality balls into the area but all too often showed lack of quality when it was needed
Elhomady - worked hard but like Adomah quality was lacking until the very last cross of the game
Kodja - starting to look like the Kodj of old!
Axel was at fault for both goals. Elmo or RDL for right back and we would be a lot more balanced.
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Someone posted (not sure if it was this thread) about so many of our good chances falling to Adomah's left foot and him onlygetting 1 decent cross in. I agree completely with that but would add that Hutton being behind him makes it even worse because we have almost no threat in behind down that wing.
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Is it too late to get JT back?
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Is it too late to get JT back?
It is. He's 50 now.
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This reminded me a bit of Wolves last season, without the finishing.
We can play against teams who are open and should have done better tonight. Unlocking a team who get men behind the ball is our failure.
I'm not happy as we should have won, however, at least we went after them.
Subs were shit again and original positions were the same, defence shit again. Keeper did ok (despite conceding 2).
We should be winning not fucking drawing games like this. We have to win on Saturday or I'm firmly in the Bruce out camp. He has no excuses left.
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We played well tonight for 65-70 minutes, best this season by a mile. The criticisms are we looked knackered after that which isn't good enough and our final balls let's us down. Adomah can't cross and Grealish won't shoot, to name two examples.
If we play like that though with El Ghazi and Bolasie in the mix we'll be up there.
The defence is a concern, but that's what happens when you play a right back at left back, a centre half at right back and a midfielder at centre half. Play players in their proper positions and stop playing Jedinak at the back ffs.
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That was a weird one, simultaneously a game we should have won by half time yet perilously close to a defeat by two or more goals. Positives, an improved performance from Nyland, one corner he could have come for in the first half that ended up being cleared off the line aside, and of course Kodjia looking like the player we had two seasons ago. Negatives, too much of the usual sluggish, safety first rubbish that somehow forgets the safety element but I remain 100% tolerant of Bruce for a few more days.
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Just back to my inlaws with 40 quids worth of Chinese. . Lovely day and first trip to The Bartons ( thanks for recommending it).
Front row lower Holte so I couldn't make much out past halfway but Kodj celebrated right in front of us and my youngest daughter was over the moon.
My 13 year old has a bizarre crush on Hutton much to our amusement. My kids now asking for shirts and when we're going next so for me a hugely positive night ☺
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Played well for an hour, they were lucky to still be in it, Bruce left his substitutions too late and we let Brentford dominate for the 10 mins up to their second.
Got a deserved point and probably just about deserved all 3. Kodjia is back as well, played well tonight.
Lowlights - Adomahs crossing was abysmal, Bruce dragged his feet on subs and the defence is inconsistent.
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By 70 minutes we should have had the match already won.
Then Green comes on and we look abysmal......coincidence? I dont know.
What i do know is that kid is in no way ready to be out on that pitch.
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Just back to my inlaws with 40 quids worth of Chinese. . Lovely day and first trip to The Bartons ( thanks for recommending it).
Front row lower Holte so I couldn't make much out past halfway but Kodj celebrated right in front of us and my youngest daughter was over the moon.
My 13 year old has a bizarre crush on Hutton much to our amusement. My kids now asking for shirts and when we're going next so for me a hugely positive night ☺
That's class mate.
Re: Andre Green. He isn't ready for first team football for us. He offers nothing when he comes on, he looks clumsy and nervous and his first touch is poor.
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We played well tonight for 65-70 minutes, best this season by a mile. The criticisms are we looked knackered after that which isn't good enough and our final balls let's us down. Adomah can't cross and Grealish won't shoot, to name two examples.
If we play like that though with El Ghazi and Bolasie in the mix we'll be up there.
The defence is a concern, but that's what happens when you play a right back at left back, a centre half at right back and a midfielder at centre half. Play players in their proper positions and stop playing Jedinak at the back ffs.
I think taking Adomah off killed a fair bit of our attacking threat. Green has potential but he's looked a little boy lost so far this season.
I get the out of position stuff but I thought we were fairly strong attacking down our right throught the game with Axel bombing on and also worth remembering our out of position RB at left back is better than the only left back on our books.
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Just got back, Good match, Brentford are a decent team who are really good on the break but also dirty cynical bastards, especially that little shit Maupay who is a right wind up merchant but can certainly put the ball in the net! Another shocking ref, nothing unusual there then. I felt the draw was a fair result with with McGinn and Grealish shining, Goalkeeper getting better and Greene not offering anything when he came on.
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I think green needs to go on loan. He's not going to get games and he needs to progress. A bottom half championship team would be ideal.
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We played well tonight for 65-70 minutes, best this season by a mile. The criticisms are we looked knackered after that which isn't good enough and our final balls let's us down. Adomah can't cross and Grealish won't shoot, to name two examples.
If we play like that though with El Ghazi and Bolasie in the mix we'll be up there.
The defence is a concern, but that's what happens when you play a right back at left back, a centre half at right back and a midfielder at centre half. Play players in their proper positions and stop playing Jedinak at the back ffs.
I think taking Adomah off killed a fair bit of our attacking threat. Green has potential but he's looked a little boy lost so far this season.
I get the out of position stuff but I thought we were fairly strong attacking down our right throught the game with Axel bombing on and also worth remembering our out of position RB at left back is better than the only left back on our books.
who bought the other left-back and gave the right-back playing there now a free transfer before he knew the money situation?
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I thought Neil Taylor was a good full back, I was wrong.
Just saying that's one example where an out of position player is better than a normal position one.
Anyway I was happy with how we played tonight. If we don't win on Saturday that's a game to give SB stick as Reading are a poor team.
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If Bolasie follows El Gaziri in the door you imagine it would have to mean Green going out on loan.
No mention of the Russian's cameo, did he get any touches?
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I thought Neil Taylor was a good full back, I was wrong.
Just saying that's one example where an out of position player is better than a normal position one.
Anyway I was happy with how we played tonight. If we don't win on Saturday that's a game to give SB stick as Reading are a poor team.
fair enough. i just think its pretty damming that we have 3 right backs arrive after Hutton plus a centre half from man U playing there (!?) and the original occupant is still there playing on the left even though he tried to bin him in January.
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Villa show again how we just don't have the instinct to go and win, kill a game of, once we've clawed our way back into it, on the other hand Brentford show how to win away from home against a decent Championship side, something else we haven't learnt, Bruce will feel satisfied with this.
On to the next.
I think they maybe won because of this ‘expected goals’ nonsense Percy.
They showed how to win by drawing?
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Brentford 18 fouls to our 9. Felt like twice as many as that.
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Brentford 18 fouls to our 9. Felt like twice as many as that.
If the refs refereed fouls on Grealish fairly we’d be playing against nine men most weeks.
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Very encouraging performance.
The negatives:
Adomah in the first half had 6 opportunities in behind or one on one with their full back and put in woeful deliveries.
Green was worse.
Elmo delayed his crosses too often and the over all.open play delivery was poor, which is why we didn't hurt Brentford.
We tired after 70 minutes and it allowed them opportunities. The 2nd goal was a direct consequence of Elmo pressing out of position and leaving Tuanzebe with two. Elmo has to track to centre to allow Chester to cover, but he didn't have the legs so our shape was lost.
Absences of concentration; the corner after they'd scored and the thrown in where we tried to play off side second half-poor stuff.
The Positives;
We were better than Bayern Brentford, by a mile, for a good 70 minutes at least.
We had a lot of the ball and in dangerous areas too. Better delivery would see that territorial dominance lead to a good hiding for the opposition; it's probably why we've signed two wingers.
We worked exceptional hard off the ball, epitomized by SJM, the victim of an outrageous snide stamp.
We passed the ball in one and two touches and moved well.
Whelan. Yes Whelan. The guy can pass, pass it forwards and at tempo.
Kodjia; the boy is back. Great header, great first goal, you can see the confidence flowing.
Nyland, looked more assured. One or two wayward kicks, but I don't think he could do much for the 2nd and he made some saves.
We deserved at least a point and have set a benchmark for effort.
Better delivery will benefit us and with some additional pace to counter or stretch teritorially, I think we'll challenge.
Defensively the organisation isn't there. Tuanzebe needs to be stronger for the first and I'm not convinced by Jedinak.
Good game and any more use of papering over the cracks should come with a £1 payment to Dave Woodhall's hedge fund.
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A gif of the stamp on Mcginn https://twitter.com/mattlyynch/status/1032350129314062337
Sky highlights (http://www.skysports.com/watch/video/sports/football/competitions/championship/11479637/aston-villa-2-2-brentford)
Bruce OS interview https://twitter.com/AVFCOfficial/status/1032386071533903872
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Dean Smith
"If you remember the incident, Mile Jedinak fell over, got up and then smashed Neal in the back of the head so, if they are looking at retrospective for Neal, then we'll do so for Jedinak.
And for anyone interested, their match thread
http://www.griffinpark.org/forums/showthread.php?t=130656
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I thought that was the best we have played this season for an hour and we should certainly have been in front. They scored a good goal but completely against the run of play in the first half. We looked good at the start of the second half but then seemed to run out of ideas and they got on top of us. From that point on they really should have won. Our defending was terrible and we were luck they weren't 3-1 ahead as that would have been curtains.
Positives: Great to see Villa playing with more pace and movement in the final third, Kodj back amongst the goals (first one a real cracker), and still unbeaten.
Negatives: The jury must still be out on our new keeper, although he did make a couple of decent saves, still think Steer should not have been loaned out. Our defence generally looked very shaky at times especially last half hour.
How many more times will Bruce play Jedinak at CB. Tuanzebe looks pretty decent, it would be great to see him alongside Chester.
We still need to get in a CB on loan.
We were very lucky at the finish, dropped points at home not great but surely we will have too much for Reading on Saturday.
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Ha! I’m happy - I was following the match thread before going to work and from the posts I just thought we had lost!
Bonus point for me- not two dropped !!
Top 6 finish looks to be on the cards on the evidence of the first few games. Need to step it up Villa!! Hopefully the new signings will add some quality - still a week to go in the window too.
Now that the money problems appear to be receding, I’m wavering with my support for Bruce. Part of me would be tempted to punt him early and bring in somebody else. Who though? Anyone got wenger’s number...? Joking
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Play like that with three more additions and we will win this league
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Dean Smith
"If you remember the incident, Mile Jedinak fell over, got up and then smashed Neal in the back of the head so, if they are looking at retrospective for Neal, then we'll do so for Jedinak.
And for anyone interested, their match thread
http://www.griffinpark.org/forums/showthread.php?t=130656
Immediately preceded by Mupay going through the back of Jedinak.
So fuck off Smith. Mupay is a snidey little shithouse.
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This is a great image. Let’s hope we see more like this.
(https://thumb.ibb.co/nah6TK/DF05_C2_C2_1_FE4_475_C_9_A25_7837_B93_D2_F3_E.jpg) (https://ibb.co/nah6TK)
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I hope Maupay gets a 5 game ban and fine. At least a 3 game ban is deserved.
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This is a great image. Let’s hope we see more like this.
(https://thumb.ibb.co/nah6TK/DF05_C2_C2_1_FE4_475_C_9_A25_7837_B93_D2_F3_E.jpg) (https://ibb.co/nah6TK)
The Brentford player in the background makes it.
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The new keeper kept us in it. Well done.
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Maybe ruffle a few feathers here, but that new top looks mint.
I might treat mesen when they’ve re-upped
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The Brentford player in the background looks like a character from the film 'It follows'. Great picture, almost worthy of a screen saver/wallpaper.
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We should have made our first hour of dominance count. Do that and the rest of the game would have been a stroll. Even so I was very pleased with the performance overall and the spirit to keep going right till the very end.
I don’t get the Grealish criticism I’ve read on this thread. It wasn’t his most influential performance but he was still the best player on the pitch. McGinn and Whelan were good too. Green’s contribution when he came on...I think I’ll leave it there I think.
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Played well.
Undone by playing defenders out of position (Hutton and Jedi for the first) and positioning of Elmo for the second.
Overall, it was encouraging but - really! Do we have to set up in defence that way?
And, as a left-footer, it drives me crazy that neither the LFB nor the LMF/wing are left-footer!
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Couldn't attend yesterday as I have a bad back. Does anyone know what the attendance was?
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I enjoyed the match and seeing Kod looking really sharp again. Not sure how so many can be angry and upset tonight.
Because we needlessly dropped another 2 points tonight, aided and abetted by an insistance on playing 3 out of the back 4 out of position.
In fairness that was probably the best footballing display we've put on since the Wolves game.
We were never winning so I don't understand how it's 3pts dropped. Jedinak apart I couldn't fault the rest of the defence. I thought Axel was decent at right back and give me Hutton all day over Taylor on the left.
Did you notice that both of their goals came from poor defending by Axel?
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Brilliant again from Kodjia, its just a pity that his 3 goals in 2 games has only resulted in 2 points. Still bemused by Bruce's selections alongside Chester at the back. Imagine back in the day if alongside a young Bruce Fergie picked Gary Neville at left back, Pallister at right back and Scholes as Cb, he would have thought he was losing the plot. So why do it at Villa? Sort the back line out Bruce or any good forward play will continue to be undone! UTV, VTID
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It always appears to me that no matter who we play the opposition always make our keeper work harder. We had a descent spell and their keeper barely made a save.
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Couldn't attend yesterday as I have a bad back. Does anyone know what the attendance was?
30,011.
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Play like that with three more additions and we will win this league
Would be nice to see us try something else for a change rather than look for the wings every time.
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Yeah, Brentford played through the middle alot which allowed us room on the wings, but other teams will be wise to this when we play at home, so we'll need to mix it up. McGinn can really see a pass though as does Jack.
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We're not going to get promoted with Jedinak in the middle of our defence.
But it's OK, cos we now have several hundred midfielders on the books.
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It always appears to me that no matter who we play the opposition always make our keeper work harder. We had a descent spell and their keeper barely made a save.
that's because, despite playing pretty well last night, almost our sole form of attack is to get it out wide and cross it, which results in one of three things normally; a goal, the defender clearing it, or a very tame effort as the attacker is under too much pressure.
we need to get far better at opening teams up and playing through them - with mcginn, grealish and a few new boys we certainly have the ability to provided bruce lets them
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That’ll be a decent point if / when we win on Saturday. Great to see Kodjia back to his best and Whelan was excellent.
Have to say though, it’s a shame we have so many fans who seem to give up and leave early when things aren’t going our way. The mass exodus when their second goal went in was ridiculous. There were 13 minutes between that goal and our equaliser and yet thousands missed it. I understand some have to leave early but not that many.
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Dean Smith
"If you remember the incident, Mile Jedinak fell over, got up and then smashed Neal in the back of the head so, if they are looking at retrospective for Neal, then we'll do so for Jedinak.
And for anyone interested, their match thread
http://www.griffinpark.org/forums/showthread.php?t=130656
Might do us a favour.
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We're not going to get promoted with Jedinak in the middle of our defence.
But it's OK, cos we now have several hundred midfielders on the books.
And wingers, don’t forget the wingers.
We are getting all the wingers.
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Thought we played well last night. I would have applauded them off if there hadn’t been a last minute equaliser, as I thought we were far the better team.
If I was going be to be critical it’s the right hand side defensively that concerns me most and needs resolving. With the loan of El Ghazi I wonder if the plan is to move Elmo back to right back with El Ghazi playing right side and Tuanzebe going to his preferred position.
Nah we can’t do that the Bruce haters would have a fit as that would mean that he might have a clue what he’s doing after all, and no I am not his biggest fan but if you take the relegation three years ago as the real low point then we’ve come a long way and some of that is down to SB ... imho
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People saying that we battered them for an hour or so are correct. They couldn't live with our intensity both in and out of possession. The turning point for me was when Dean Smith sacrificed McEachran for more legs in midfield. That coincided with me noticing that as well as they both played, McGinn and Jack especially were beginning to run out of steam a little bit and holes were appearing in midfield as Brentford began to take more control. Smith brought on even more fresh legs which just exacerbated the problem with our midfield starting to wane on the defensive side of things and more gaps opening up. The thing that amazes me is how much of an engine Whelan has, despite his age. That said, he wasn't going box-to-box like McGinn, and to an extent Jack, but I think their second goal was inevitable and we dodged a few bullets both before and after. I feel that Bruce needed some fresh legs in midfield about 10 minutes before they scored to counter their growing dominance. That said, I thought we definitely deserved the point at least and it was one of the most enjoyable and exciting games I've watched at VP for a long time.
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Thought we played well last night. I would have applauded them off if there hadn’t been a last minute equaliser, as I thought we were far the better team.
If I was going be to be critical it’s the right hand side defensively that concerns me most and needs resolving. With the loan of El Ghazi I wonder if the plan is to move Elmo back to right back with El Ghazi playing right side and Tuanzebe going to his preferred position.
Nah we can’t do that the Bruce haters would have a fit as that would mean that he might have a clue what he’s doing after all, and no I am not his biggest fan but if you take the relegation three years ago as the real low point then we’ve come a long way and some of that is down to SB ... imho
If Bruce does what you say and stops trying to force square pegs into round holes there won't be any need for Bruce haters.
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People saying that we battered them for an hour or so are correct. They couldn't live with our intensity both in and out of possession. The turning point for me was when Dean Smith sacrificed McEachran for more legs in midfield. That coincided with me noticing that as well as they both played, McGinn and Jack especially were beginning to run out of steam a little bit and holes were appearing in midfield as Brentford began to take more control. Smith brought on even more fresh legs which just exacerbated the problem with our midfield starting to wane on the defensive side of things and more gaps opening up. The thing that amazes me is how much of an engine Whelan has, despite his age. That said, he wasn't going box-to-box like McGinn, and to an extent Jack, but I think their second goal was inevitable and we dodged a few bullets both before and after. I feel that Bruce needed some fresh legs in midfield about 10 minutes before they scored to counter their growing dominance. That said, I thought we definitely deserved the point at least and it was one of the most enjoyable and exciting games I've watched at VP for a long time.
Hear,hear
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It always appears to me that no matter who we play the opposition always make our keeper work harder. We had a descent spell and their keeper barely made a save.
that's because, despite playing pretty well last night, almost our sole form of attack is to get it out wide and cross it, which results in one of three things normally; a goal, the defender clearing it, or a very tame effort as the attacker is under too much pressure.
we need to get far better at opening teams up and playing through them - with mcginn, grealish and a few new boys we certainly have the ability to provided bruce lets them
Exactly what I was saying last night.Our overreliance on getting the ball wide and cross into the box and very little play through midfield which considering we have Grealish and McGinn is a neglectful waste.
Contrast with Brentford who when going forward are looking to play one-twos,have players making angled runs etc.They didn't beat us because we have better players.Kodjia and McGinn being particularly outstanding.
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Just saw the highlights for the first time. Should have had a penalty for handball, and they should have been down to 10 for that deliberate stamp on McGinn by Maupay, which was both cowardly and disgraceful. How the ref missed it is beyond belief
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Just had a look at the Bees website match thread. Generally very fair minded and balanced comments, all acknowledging our superiority for 70 minutes and Smith's wisdom in bringing on the midfield battlers to blunt our midfield. A decent bunch on the face of it.
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I knew we wouldn't win when I saw Brentford had turned up as the Cleveland Browns!
Seriously though, we were very good in the first half, playing with pace and taking the game to them. Only let down by poor crossing. The midfield link up play was great plus work rate. Axel is decent but needs to be CH. We should only improve which is a great sign. Potentially we have a better team than last season imo. Great to see Kodja smiling again, we have missed that.
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What is it with this stamping? It's cowardly and nasty and can't do much to raise your profile with fellow professionals. But the thing I can't understand is why refs or officials fail to see it. Poor as he was, I can understand John Moss missing the one last night and although Maupay will miss some games it's no consolation to us, so in that respect he got away with it and went on to score what seemed to be the winning goal. I can't understand how the Fredericks one was missed in the playoff final. Right in front of the lino and the ref and no action taken. Both of these were in the first half of the games. It's just a pity they can't be reliably informed at half time and send them off at half time.
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Bossed the game for the first sixty minutes then fell in a hole and they started to find gaps, entertaining game as I've seen for a while. They got away with too many fouls and that stomping should have been a sending off. Worry that The Kodj looks like the only one with a goal in him, needs support.
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The first hour was the best I've seen us play since the Wolves game, against a team, who will be one of the challengers for promotion. It was concerning how we dropped off in the last quarter. After they took the lead, it looked more like they would get a third, than us getting an equaliser. Kodj's goal was a big surprise, as well as a massive bonus.
First time I've seen McGinn live, very impressed, considering he is still finding his feet in the Championship, I think it's a case of 'you aint seen nothing yet'. Potentially he could turn to be one of our best bargain buys for a long time.
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What is it with this stamping? It's cowardly and nasty and can't do much to raise your profile with fellow professionals. But the thing I can't understand is why refs or officials fail to see it. Poor as he was, I can understand John Moss missing the one last night and although Maupay will miss some games it's no consolation to us, so in that respect he got away with it and went on to score what seemed to be the winning goal. I can't understand how the Fredericks one was missed in the playoff final. Right in front of the lino and the ref and no action taken. Both of these were in the first half of the games. It's just a pity they can't be reliably informed at half time and send them off at half time.
You often see refs going back after a passage of play to book a player, it would be quite feasible to do the same thing when a red card offence is bought to the refs attention at half time perhaps.
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It was like we hit a brick wall on 70 minutes. Not surprising really as they all put in a lot of effort up to that point. Do we need to be fitter or more clever with our substitutions? Both probably.
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Bossed the game but they missed the better chances. The decision making from the widemen was pretty poor and the final ball in general terrible. Grealish needs to speed the game up a little and move the ball quicker. The two wide guys coming up will be a big upgrade on Adomah and Elmohamady. Some of the build up passing was the best we've produced for years. I'm not sold on Tuanzebe, thought Watkins had the beating of him and really like the kid, one for the future for us to look at possibly.
Good performance, bodes well for the rest of the season.
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we are instantly better in midfield with Mcginn
where we used to have one decent player in midfield (Grealish) plus 3/4 others
we now have two decent players (Grealish Mcginn) plus 2/3 others
we have doubled our quality with his signing in the most important area on the pitch
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We don't shoot enough. Before their first, we'd not forced a save. The crossing was slow to come in in the first half, something Bruce seemed to address at the break because everything came in first time afterwards.
Three subs from Smith, though, and we're left chasing shadows. That's disappointing. I don't expect Aston Villa to set up to counter the opposition, but I would hope that our manager spent most of his week thinking about how if one scenario isn't working, or a likely player isn't quite at the races, or the opposition manager makes his typical changes to his lineup and tactics, he'd have contingencies in place, and not spend 25 minutes alternating between scratching his arse and his head whilst looking on bemused.
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I'd like to see us get a left back in before the window shuts. If he doesn't rate Taylor, we really need someone to play on the left. Tuanzebe was okay going forward yesterday but still doesn't look comfortable on the right. I'd rather see Hutton playing in his natural position.
Jedninak is still a worry. At the back too, any significant pressure on him while he's on the ball could lead to problems because he always has to turn back and he's got the turning circle of a cruise liner. He's just not a CH. Chester is just about holding it all together with a load of out of position players around him.
McGinn looks great. Really like him. Elmo is too ordinary. No pace and his delivery is mixed. So I'm pleased to see the two new wingers in.
I'm glad to see Kodjia in form too, because as we've seen, he can make something happen out of nothing. That second goal was a cracking finish. He is frustrating, but you've got to play him. A striker who scores makes a hell of difference in this division.
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Thought we played well last night. I would have applauded them off if there hadn’t been a last minute equaliser, as I thought we were far the better team.
If I was going be to be critical it’s the right hand side defensively that concerns me most and needs resolving. With the loan of El Ghazi I wonder if the plan is to move Elmo back to right back with El Ghazi playing right side and Tuanzebe going to his preferred position.
Nah we can’t do that the Bruce haters would have a fit as that would mean that he might have a clue what he’s doing after all, and no I am not his biggest fan but if you take the relegation three years ago as the real low point then we’ve come a long way and some of that is down to SB ... imho
If Bruce does what you say and stops trying to force square pegs into round holes there won't be any need for Bruce haters.
Weeeeeeell, apart from the fact that last year we played a flat back four with Terry and Chester with a right back at right back and a left back at left back for the first half of the season. That seemed to irritate many. He swapped Hutton to left back, that infuriated a few ...
We haven't lost a game all season, are 3 points better off than we were at the International break last year with Reading to come at home and actually think we have a better squad this year than last. I kept on saying we lacked real pace last year. whilst it had nothing to do with me at least that "problem" is being addressed!
I am hopeful that Bruce will play that type of formation, rotate Bjarnason, Whelan and Jedi, perhaps playing two against opposition that merits it.
perhaps the bloke who sits behind me will stop saying "f**King hoofball Bruce" when one of the midfielders misplace a pass, perhaps he will stop sharing his opinions with the 80 or so folks who sit vaguely in his vicinity and confine his remarks to his mates who sit next to him. Perhaps he wont tell the assembled masses that "i've paid my money" ... as one wag said last night "so have i and i didn't do it to listen to your crap ..."
then again i am a glass half full person I suppose ...
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Shout out to the gobby bloke at the back of L5 last night for saying out loudly more than once how shit we were and how crap the football was after they scored on 23 minutes. Despite every fucker else sitting there thinking 'we're playing really well blimey'. Classic simpleton.
Personally, i thought we played really well for two thirds of the match against the championship Barcelona who actually looked more like Boreham Wood. We do need to take our chances though and the reluctance of some of the players to shoot when an opening is there for all to see is infuriating. Thought Whelan had an excellent 60 minutes as well, but visibly tired after that, as did McGinn come to think of it. Possibly consider starting Hourihane on Saturday and give the lad a breather.
I absolutely agree with whoever else said they thought Grealish was below par. For me that was Grealish pre injury last night. Strolling about without breaking sweat not actually doing a whole lot. He's earned a few off nights though so we can let him off.
Adomah, really isn't doing it for me. That was probably his best effort of the season but he still came up VERY short in key areas when needed.
Green, i'm beside myself with the lad. I was 100% convinced he could take this league by storm and boss it. But he just looks like a pale shadow of a player this season. No belief in his own talent or visible desire to claim the shirt either.
With Ghazi and possibly Bolasie coming in i think he'd be better off going out on loan for at least a few months of regular football. I don't recall him ever going on loan before, has he ?. If not that may explain a lot.
Over all, came home and woke up refreshed and thinking of the positives.
Roll on Saturday.
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Good game, really enjoyed it. We enjoyed large spells of possession but was let down by the final ball or just by the fact there was only kod in the box. Loved the fact we never gave up until the final ball - yes okay it papered over the cracks but sure lets take that. Better than a loss...
We panic'd when they came forward and got into our box, our defence is a bit all over the shop. Jedinak I think is good but his kick outs normally found the opposition rather than our own guys. When we played it on the floor however we got forward nicely.
Lets not forget, Brentford are a decent outfit. Play some nice stuff, good squad and manager. They will be up there in and around the playoffs so are no walk over. They will surprise and beat a good few teams this season. Leeds got walloped there last year if I remember right...
I think Bruce should have changed things slightly when brentford bought on some more midfielders to counteract how we were playing... They got their 2nd goal shortly afterwards.
Their centre forward should have not been on the pitch however, so they got away with that one. Not even a card for the fella...
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It was like we hit a brick wall on 70 minutes. Not surprising really as they all put in a lot of effort up to that point. Do we need to be fitter or more clever with our substitutions? Both probably.
Honestly, I'm not sure it was a lack of fitness that made us drop off to much after 70 - playing in that high pressing, high energy style is difficult for even the fittest teams to sustain for 90 minutes at this level. Liverpool often start so quickly under Klopp and fade later in the game - in the hope that by that point they are 2/3 up. You mitigate it with good subs at the right times, which as you say, is what Bruce wasn't clever with last night.
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Looked sharp going forward, created numerous chances but failed to finish them. Defensively we were horrible. Elphick needs to play at CD or Tuanzebe not Jedi. If we can sort out the defence then we should be OK to be there or thereabouts at the end of the season. A goalscorer is also needed. Kodj is good but we need someone who can take those half chances.
Enjoyed the game though and seeing the Brentford fans deflate at the end was funny!
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It was an exciting game, we played really well but yet again failed to win. That's the manager's failure and we, as we did last season flatter to deceive.
I said at the beginning of the season that Bruce had no excuses and the reality is that if he's played defenders in the right place and made the right changes after an hour we'd have won that game. But he bloody didn't. Again.
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It was like we hit a brick wall on 70 minutes. Not surprising really as they all put in a lot of effort up to that point. Do we need to be fitter or more clever with our substitutions? Both probably.
I thought he threw the Russian on a bit too late. I'd have done it around the 70-75 minute mark. The Russian must be a nightmare to mark for defenders that late in the game.
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With played with more intensity and a a greater tempo than we have done for ages. The acid test will be whether Bruce can get us to do the same against Reading on Saturday, as that was what often let us down last season.
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I thought we were really unlucky and there were largely good displays all over the pitch. What cost us was poor delivery into the box on a plan 'B' (other than crossing) for scoring goals. Still not as stable as we could be at the back but they generally score goals against most teams and had we got 4, which, with our overall play wouldn't have been flattering, it wouldn't have mattered. I thought Grealish and McGinn were really good. Have seen some comments saying Grealish had an off nightand really don't agree. McGinn's tenacity as well as his quality both really stand out and those two, with Whelan doing well as well, controlled the centre of the park until late on. Elmo back to right back next game with Tuanzebe back into the middle please.
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I thought that was one our best games we have played since the Wolves game really good to watch if we play like that every game we will win more than we lose.
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Very encouraging performance.
The negatives:
Adomah in the first half had 6 opportunities in behind or one on one with their full back and put in woeful deliveries.
Green was worse.
Elmo delayed his crosses too often and the over all.open play delivery was poor, which is why we didn't hurt Brentford.
We tired after 70 minutes and it allowed them opportunities. The 2nd goal was a direct consequence of Elmo pressing out of position and leaving Tuanzebe with two. Elmo has to track to centre to allow Chester to cover, but he didn't have the legs so our shape was lost.
The Positives;
We had a lot of the ball and in dangerous areas too. Better delivery would see that territorial dominance lead to a good hiding for the opposition; it's probably why we've signed two wingers.
We worked exceptional hard off the ball, epitomized by SJM, the victim of an outrageous snide stamp.
We passed the ball in one and two touches and moved well.
Whelan. Yes Whelan. The guy can pass, pass it forwards and at tempo.
We deserved at least a point and have set a benchmark for effort.
Better delivery will benefit us and with some additional pace to counter or stretch teritorially, I think we'll challenge.
(Apologies for selective quote)
We played well last night; in fact very well in patches but failed to make it tell and for me Ads summary above highlights some of the reasons.
With 4-1-4-1 our wide players play a more or less as traditional wingers which is all well and good provided they can provide telling crosses and then there's someone in the right place to stick it in the back of the net.
The general standard of crossing from both wingers was poor along with the commitment from the attacking midfielders to hit the box (and Grealish who I think is generally excellent needs to shoulder some of the blame for this). Kodija's positional sense for crosses is also lacking - he loiters in the middle or back post when he should be attacking the near post.
Away from home the situation is worse because the midfield sit deeper generally (and Admomah in particular is woeful at holding onto the ball to allow them to get forward), so we loose possession easily and are the on the backfoot once gain.
For me Hourihane has to play even if we don't change the formation. For the record I think we'd be far better off as 4-2-3-1, with the '2' being normal midfielders rather than being there just to protect the defence and play more possession and through the middle - I think in the long term this will be Grealish's best position too.
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Stripey fan at work “ watched the game last night, I tell you who’s overrated - Grealish”
FFS
I hate the Albion
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As good as it was, there is still that nagging doubt in the back of my mind.
We all remember what happened after the Wolves result, we went on to perform well below that standard and it ultimately cost us.
Still a good start to the season, unbeaten and hopefully we will have learnt from that Wolves game.
It's the Villa, if anybody thought this season or division was a walk in the park, they obviously haven't watched us often enough.
UTV
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I thought we were very good last night overall.
The big test is Saturday because we’ve gained some momentum and we need to back it up.
Something we failed to do a lot last season.
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Some right miserable gits on here. Best we’ve played for ages
Spot on
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Some right miserable gits on here. Best we’ve played for ages
Spot on
I agree, it is the best we've played in ages, but isn't that the point? If we can play like that,, why don't we? It's sporadic and we get by scraping wins elsewhere.
I want us to play like that most of the time instead of the timid, safety-first approach we normally take. It's time to let the shackles off and go for it. We should have done better last night results-wise.
No more excuses.
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I agree, it is the best we've played in ages, but isn't that the point? If we can play like that,, why don't we?
We did.
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Some right miserable gits on here. Best we’ve played for ages
Spot on
I agree, it is the best we've played in ages, but isn't that the point? If we can play like that,, why don't we? It's sporadic and we get by scraping wins elsewhere.
I want us to play like that most of the time instead of the timid, safety-first approach we normally take. It's time to let the shackles off and go for it. We should have done better last night results-wise.
No more excuses.
Our possession of the ball was better but creation of chances wasn’t great.
The first half goal was good individual work from Kodjia after some excellent team pressing (which we did well for an hour before tiring). The second goal a last minute winner from a set piece.
For all our pressure we didn’t force their keeper into many saves if any. Brentford on the other hand despite being described by many as ordinary forces 2/3 really good saves from Nyland.
Yes the performance was better but the standard has been so low an improvement is hardly setting the world alight.
We don’t seem to have any discernible style to our attacking; it’s all very one paced and still seems to be reliant on someone conjuring a bit of quality. Over a season that just doesn’t cut it for me.
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As well as doing the stamp, anyone else notice him seemingly deliberately slapping Hutton in the face after scoring their second?
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As well as doing the stamp, anyone else notice him seemingly deliberately slapping Hutton in the face after scoring their second?
One of those players who if in your team you love; if he’s part of the opposition you detest.
See Snodgrass, R and Terry, J for other examples (for different reasons!)
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As well as doing the stamp, anyone else notice him seemingly deliberately slapping Hutton in the face after scoring their second?
The Cad..
and no. The stamp was enough to brand him as a tool for the rest of his life.
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On the bright side having McGinn in the side gives the opposition someone else to stamp on other than Grealish.
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Brentford player banned for 3 games .....doesnt help us and the muppet called John Moss gets away with it again
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cnut should have been banned for longer after that challenge - absolutely disgraceful.
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Never understood why Fredericks wasn't banned for his stamp on Grealish?
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Just watched the highlights. A thought - after Kodija scored he ran into the crowd in the North stand, shouldn’t that have been his second yellow?
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Brentford player banned for 3 games .....doesnt help us and the muppet called John Moss gets away with it again
"Brentford's Neal Maupay banned for three games after accepting violent conduct charge.".
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As well as doing the stamp, anyone else notice him seemingly deliberately slapping Hutton in the face after scoring their second?
One of those players who if in your team you love; if he’s part of the opposition you detest.
See Snodgrass, R and Terry, J for other examples (for different reasons!)
Don't mind players going in full blooded -and maybe even leaving a bit of extra on top.
But I wouldn't want a coward like that in the team. It's why I never wanted Joseph Barton at Villa. Fancied himself as a hardman, yet only dished it out to the likes of Shaun Maloney.
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Just be thankful nothing bad happened to McGinn. The three match ban he’s got would have been the same has it been a serious injury. But the fact he’s accepted the ban immediately shows what a fucking wanker he was for doing it.
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I agree, it is the best we've played in ages, but isn't that the point? If we can play like that,, why don't we?
We did.
Once. The first time since Wolves. And we didn't win.
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Never understood why Fredericks wasn't banned for his stamp on Grealish?
Maybe we didn't complain about it afterwards - in the Meaning Evil today Bruce said “That’s two I feel aggrieved with because I should have made more in the play-off final when Grealish was stamped."
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He shouldn't have been on the pitch to make it 1-2. Playing against 10 men for the second half and not being on the pitch to score, we should have gone on to win that. I know we didn't do it against Ipswich but with how we were playing and it being at home, you would like to think it would have been different.
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Took my 6 year old to his first ever game last night, thankfully he absolutely loved every single minute of the whole experience.
Having someone sit next to you who cant really grasp what it all means yet or whats going on but cheers as if we have just scored if we even win a throw in by the half way line somehow makes you see things in a more positive light through those 90mins, if only us worn out adults could drink some of that youthful energy maybe we would think more positive.
The 1 hour discussion and explaining on the way home on why there was no penalty shoot out after a draw like in the world cup i could have done without though.....also "what does off side mean" after 70 mins of play was met with "ill explain later" lol
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Just watched the highlights. A thought - after Kodija scored he ran into the crowd in the North stand, shouldn’t that have been his second yellow?
yes at the time , I thought that
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What we are failing to do is to convert a 4-1-4-1 or 4-5-1, whichever it is to 4-3-3 when we are attacking.
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Jon Moss,oh dear what a truly awful referee he is .As soon as i heard he was in charge i knew it would be hard for us. Apart from missing the stamping which every one else seemed to see he watched Brentford time waste and apart from booking the sub within a minute of him coming on did nothing about it
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Jon Moss,oh dear what a truly awful referee he is .As soon as i heard he was in charge i knew it would be hard for us. Apart from missing the stamping which every one else seemed to see he watched Brentford time waste and apart from booking the sub within a minute of him coming on did nothing about it
Refs miss time wasting so much. The Wigan keeper was doing it on 60 minutes. The Wigan manager guestured to him a few times to slow it down.
I remember the Stoke players doing it ten minutes before half time when they were a goal up at VP a good few years back. I think the manager was called Pulis....
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Maupay banned for three games. Shame the ref wasn't so blind.
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What does the ref and lino think about this after they miss something so obvious. I’d love to know.
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Maupay banned for three games. Shame the ref wasn't so blind.
Refs should also be banned for such blatant incompetence
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it seems the way , target the opposition play makers and nobble them, is anyone interested in getting to the root of the problem. The officials?
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Maupay banned for three games. Shame the ref wasn't so blind.
Refs should also be banned for such blatant incompetence
If the ref had seen it then it would have been a straight red. Its impossible to see everything clearly
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Took my 6 year old to his first ever game last night, thankfully he absolutely loved every single minute of the whole experience.
Having someone sit next to you who cant really grasp what it all means yet or whats going on but cheers as if we have just scored if we even win a throw in by the half way line somehow makes you see things in a more positive light through those 90mins, if only us worn out adults could drink some of that youthful energy maybe we would think more positive.
The 1 hour discussion and explaining on the way home on why there was no penalty shoot out after a draw like in the world cup i could have done without though.....also "what does off side mean" after 70 mins of play was met with "ill explain later" lol
You like sitting next to somebody who "Can't really grasp what it all means or what's going on and cheers if we even win a throw in by the half way line" You should have sat next to me in the McLeish, Lambert, Sherwood and Garde period ;). Although I probably swore at lot more than your young son. I hope he is a lucky charm, gets to see lots of Villa wins this season and most importantly enjoys himself.
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Have to say I really enjoyed the game. Apart from Jimmy's poor tackle and the less forgivable stamp it was one of the best I have seen for a long time and played in a great spirit. Two teams going at it with skill and commitment. Brentford were a credit to Dean, can't believe how well they defended throughout and absorbed wave after wave and delivered a sucker punch like rope-a dope.
Even when we were behind, I thought Villa just gave it everything. The 15 min period when they might have scored a third was due to fatigue-how they kept going when they hardly had the ball I will never know.
We thoroughly deserved a draw at least but cannot complain as we might have conceded more and not got the last gasp equalizer.
I thought they missed Woods in midfield and was amazed how we bossed this area, but boy were they sharp up front.
Jimmy was back on form, Jack superb and Mginnagin the missing piece. Despite their opener, though Tuanzabe was very good at right back-tho would like everyone else prefer to see him in the middle.
I loved it and am less concerned with dropping points than seeing us give a proper go. Spanner face better keep it that way.
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In some defence of Moss (who I don't rate), i'm not sure he could have seen the stamp as he was the wrong side of McGinn to see it. The linesman should have seen it though.
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Maupay banned for three games. Shame the ref wasn't so blind.
Refs should also be banned for such blatant incompetence
If the ref had seen it then it would have been a straight red. Its impossible to see everything clearly
But that’s what the linesman and 4th official, to an extent, should help. It was right in front of the pair of them.
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It always appears to me that no matter who we play the opposition always make our keeper work harder. We had a descent spell and their keeper barely made a save.
that's because, despite playing pretty well last night, almost our sole form of attack is to get it out wide and cross it, which results in one of three things normally; a goal, the defender clearing it, or a very tame effort as the attacker is under too much pressure.
we need to get far better at opening teams up and playing through them - with mcginn, grealish and a few new boys we certainly have the ability to provided bruce lets them
Exactly what I was saying last night.Our overreliance on getting the ball wide and cross into the box and very little play through midfield which considering we have Grealish and McGinn is a neglectful waste.
Contrast with Brentford who when going forward are looking to play one-twos,have players making angled runs etc.They didn't beat us because we have better players.Kodjia and McGinn being particularly outstanding.
it worked with Daley / platt & McInally 😄
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Having someone sit next to you who cant really grasp what it all means yet or whats going on but cheers as if we have just scored if we even win a throw in by the half way line somehow makes you see things in a more positive light through those 90mins,
You’re either Colin Calderwood, Stephen Clemence or Stev Agnew.
But Seriously, great your lad enjoys it so much.
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Dean Smith
"If you remember the incident, Mile Jedinak fell over, got up and then smashed Neal in the back of the head so, if they are looking at retrospective for Neal, then we'll do so for Jedinak.
And for anyone interested, their match thread
http://www.griffinpark.org/forums/showthread.php?t=130656
Immediately preceded by Maupay going through the back of Jedinak.
So fuck off Smith. Maupay is a snidey little shithouse.
A snidey little shithouse sums up Maupay up perfectly. I'm actually disappointed by Dean Smith's defense of the indefensible - as I thought he had a bit more about him. As it turns out, it's a wonder he didn't add 'he's not that type of player' to his twatty version of events.
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Some right miserable gits on here. Best we’ve played for ages
Spot on
I agree, it is the best we've played in ages, but isn't that the point? If we can play like that,, why don't we? It's sporadic and we get by scraping wins elsewhere.
I want us to play like that most of the time instead of the timid, safety-first approach we normally take. It's time to let the shackles off and go for it. We should have done better last night results-wise.
No more excuses.
Our possession of the ball was better but creation of chances wasn’t great.
The first half goal was good individual work from Kodjia after some excellent team pressing (which we did well for an hour before tiring). The second goal a last minute winner from a set piece.
For all our pressure we didn’t force their keeper into many saves if any. Brentford on the other hand despite being described by many as ordinary forces 2/3 really good saves from Nyland.
Yes the performance was better but the standard has been so low an improvement is hardly setting the world alight.
We don’t seem to have any discernible style to our attacking; it’s all very one paced and still seems to be reliant on someone conjuring a bit of quality. Over a season that just doesn’t cut it for me.
Probably the most accurate description of our situation I read so far. Spot on.
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Bentley made loads of saves. He flapped at a few crosses early on, one he sort of blocked from Hutton.
Tipped over Kodjia shot and also saved from Jack from close range.
McGinn had one shot from edge of box in the second that Bentley saved. Either side and it was a goal.
I imagine with the two goals we had 7 or 8 shots on target which is pretty good for us.
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(https://thumb.ibb.co/kWmydU/82503_BE1_688_E_4_C7_E_B123_45_FBB6994800.jpg) (https://ibb.co/kWmydU)
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But for the last 25 minutes I thought we were far superior and looked dangerous. It was a pleasure to see us pressing and playing with pace. I actually thought they came back into it around the same time Albert went off. I actually thought it was a good decision at the time, so no criticism of the manager, but Green appears so low on confidence and there was no threat down the left and they always were going to have a spell of being in control. I am not a Bruce fan, but if we continue to play like v Brentford I will be happy and think we will be even better soon with Axel at CB and one of the hundred natural right backs awe have ctually playing there.