Heroes & Villains, the Aston Villa fanzine
Heroes & Villains => Match Threads & Player Ratings => Topic started by: Monty on March 13, 2022, 04:12:50 PM
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Not going to wail or gnash my teeth, they're ahead of us right now. We gave them a game despite not playing well, and scored a top goal.
Wondered when the front two would hit the wall. Emi B surely deserves a look in now.
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Its always a bad sign when our best player is having to come so deep to collect the ball. We were very very slow today.
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SG got this wrong today. Should have made changes at start or HT.
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Pleased Ramsey got another goal. And what a goal it was. Didn't see this explosion of form coming from him.
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Disappointed in the performance, more than the result
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I thought we did well. They played at home and were a bit better as you'd expect them to be.
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Given the chances we had it was a narrow defeat, we couldn't match their physicality (and ability to thump our players with impunity). Perhaps the substitutions could have been made earlier but let's face it their first was a brilliant finish and the second a counter when we were chasing.
The pivotal moment was Ings chance that rebounded into the keeper's hands.
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Tired 30 mins show at beginning of 2nd half
livened up with subs, could have come on 10 mins earlier
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Both teams looked like they played two days earlier. We wasn't quite up to it today and in hindsight, maybe freshining it up a bit might have been a good idea. Still, not too downhearted.
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Didn’t really have any expectations for a result. McGinn, Ollie and Ings looked tired. That was a rough match and I thought the ref was poor. Next run of matches will be difficult, hopefully we can collect some points and get past 40 over the next three.
Every time I say that I’m worried about Watkins he scores, but he was just completely absent today. Couldn’t trap or pass a ball and didn’t have a single decent chance. We played narrow, they played wide and were dependent on their physicality. Long term, I prefer our approach.. just weren’t at the races today. A little bit of player rotation was probably warranted.
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Was a very poor game in truth, though Yarmolenko certainly was a big improvement on the lumbering Antonio. Game was constantly disrupted with stoppages and injuries. Wrong team selection by Gerrard for me and mad matters worse by delaying his attacking subs. No complaints about the result. They bullied us physically in the second half.
Martinez 6 - jumpy in first half, one great save but poor for both goals
Cash 6 - poor in attacking areas, jaded
Chambers 5 - good first half but struggled with Yarmolenko in the second
Mings 7 - solid game throughout
Digne/Young 6 - Young tried hard but lack of a natural left footer hurt us going forward
Luiz 6 - good first half but swamped after half time
McGinn 5 - same as Luiz but hopeless for their second
Ramsey 7 - solid display and a fine finish
Coutinho 5 - started very well but dropped far too deep, struggled with intensity
Ings 4 - looked gassed from early on, one dreadful.clearance nearly cost us first half. Almost scored
Watkins 2 - absolutely appalling, not a single positive.
Bailey 6 - surprise first sub but their sub left back was terrible so was worth targeting. Much better cameo but lost ball badly for second goal.
Buendia 7 - brilliant assist and should have been on far earlier.
Gerrard 4 - poor team selection and timing of attacking subs left a lot to be desired.
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SG needs to rotate a bit more. Bound to be some tired legs having only played on Thursday night.
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SG got this wrong today. Should have made changes at start or HT.
Agreed mate.
Thought we were poor. Really lacking any excitement.
Midfield wasn't good enough, and neither was Ollie.
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Buendia should have come on around the hour mark, hopefully Digne's injury is not too serious.
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It wasn’t the day for Watkins and Ings together. Their midfield is very good and we mostly had no answer to it. Watkins was terrible today, really, really poor. And what a ridiculous trek back to the station after for away fans.
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They're an awful match up for us really. Niggly at set pieces but controlled and nulified our CMs and CFs with ease.
Were still playing them at a good time in the season compared to in October so opportunity missed as 8th is pretty much impossible now with Wolves winning.
Not a great game from Gerrard really in terms of game management.
They're better but they're not 10-15 points better than us.
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Didn’t really have any expectations for a result. McGinn, Ollie and Ings looked tired. That was a rough match and I thought the ref was poor. Next run of matches will be difficult, hopefully we can collect some points and get past 40 over the next three.
Every time I say that I’m worried about Watkins he scores, but he was just completely absent today. Couldn’t trap or pass a ball and didn’t have a single decent chance. We played narrow, they played wide and were dependent on their physicality. Long term, I prefer our approach.. just weren’t at the races today. A little bit of player rotation was probably warranted.
I think that’s a great summary. Always fucked off when we lose, but not too much I’m specifically fucked off with today. Maybe SG could have shuffled things sooner.
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Spam were the better side. We were second best for everything and got what we deserved - nothing!
As soon as the commentator said Ings has never won against them when he was being subbed, I instantly stuck a few quid on them.
Same old inconsistent Villa, nothing ever changes!
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SG got this wrong today. Should have made changes at start or HT.
Yep, should’ve named a fresh Sanson as well. I’m firmly in the camp of SG but he disappointed me today with the naming of the team and the timing of the subs. It became apparent we were on the back foot with them easing through a sluggish midfield that it needed a tweak.
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Disappointed but not entirely unhappy, Bailey offered enterprise as did Buendia. JJ with a very, very cool headed strike, struck beautifully. This was after I felt in the final third we’d been doubling back rather than first timing shots on a few occasions, they’re extremely organised. The period of the first half when we had loads of possession and once Antonio went off, is when a better side might be able to make that West Ham team pay, those were the periods of ascendancy and it was open against an organised shithouse team.
As has been said, if SG gets more of his men in, a DM, we’ll do this mob next season.
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It wasn’t the day for Watkins and Ings together. Their midfield is very good and we mostly had no answer to it. Watkins was terrible today, really, really poor. And what a ridiculous trek back to the station after for away fans.
I wonder against better teams if we will get away with playing both of them anyway. Tough team selection the next day.
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SG got this wrong today. Should have made changes at start or HT.
This. West Ham rightly so having played on Thursday looked knackered but we looked worse.
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Pretty level game, both sides slow and leggy. Think we ought to have had Sanson and Emi start. Their zip and energy would have been welcome.
Annoying to lose Digne so early. Felt we let them set in their low block and moved it too slowly. Bailey looks miles off it.
Not sure why McGinn dives in when Rice is 60 yards from goal.
Got to trust the squad more.
By far and away the worst ground I've ever been too and I've been to plenty of shit holes. It's a depressing place to play football. I'd fucking hate being a West Ham fan.
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Was a very poor game in truth, though Yarmolenko certainly was a big improvement on the lumbering Antonio. Game was constantly disrupted with stoppages and injuries. Wrong team selection by Gerrard for me and mad matters worse by delaying his attacking subs. No complaints about the result. They bullied us physically in the second half.
Martinez 6 - jumpy in first half, one great save but poor for both goals
Cash 6 - poor in attacking areas, jaded
Chambers 5 - good first half but struggled with Yarmolenko in the second
Mings 7 - solid game throughout
Digne/Young 6 - Young tried hard but lack of a natural left footer hurt us going forward
Luiz 6 - good first half but swamped after half time
McGinn 5 - same as Luiz but hopeless for their second
Ramsey 7 - solid display and a fine finish
Coutinho 5 - started very well but dropped far too deep, struggled with intensity
Ings 4 - looked gassed from early on, one dreadful.clearance nearly cost us first half. Almost scored
Watkins 2 - absolutely appalling, not a single positive.
Bailey 6 - surprise first sub but their sub left back was terrible so was worth targeting. Much better cameo but lost ball badly for second goal.
Buendia 7 - brilliant assist and should have been on far earlier.
Gerrard 4 - poor team selection and timing of attacking subs left a lot to be desired.
Spot on, for once. Only thing missing was the ref who allowed West Ham to elbow their way throughout the game.
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Disappointing outcome.
Having played Thursday and with the likes of Sanson, Buendia, Bailey, Konsa and Traore on the bench, some changes should have been made to the starting line-up and maybe even earlier in the game.
Some of these players coming in would have freshened things up and they know they would have been fighting for their place. Missed opportunity and management naivety for me.
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We looked laboured today, probably because it’s the same team playing three times in a week. But not going to grumble too much we’ve won 3 out of last 4, and this was always going to be tough.
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We need to become harder to beat. We struggle against physicality, we lose too often.
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A bit average. Thought Luiz and Watkins were poor and seeing Coutinho having to drop so deep to do Luiz's job for him was very frustrating. JJ also too anonymous despite his goal.
We waited until we were 2 down before any real sense of urgency became apparent.
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https://www.skysports.com/football/west-ham-vs-a-villa/report/446577
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Echo the sentiment of many.
Team should have had at least a couple of changes (Sanson being one) given the workload in the past week. We’ve finally got a decent squad, why not use it.
Very laboured performance all round with an inability to beat their low block at all which meant we spent a lot of the time passing sideways.
Tough day for Ings and Watkins with no space to work in at all but both not quite at the races. Mcginn and Ramsey pretty anonymous. Luiz ok although bit lax at times. Coutinho flashes of brilliance and makes things look easy but came far too deep. Full backs meh, offering little service. Thought Chambers was a fraction below his last few games. Mings decent.
Agree with whoever said it’s a crap ground. Absolutely soulless.
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Also - really was happy for Yarmolenko. I'd have been happier with him scoring in a 3-1 defeat, but you can't have everything.
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Seems changes are coming. Looks like Doug will need stitches in his face. Digne is likely out for a period of time. Chambers hurt also. It’s very possible to see see 2 or 3 adjustments for our next game.
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Gerrard should take the rap for not changing it up in the starting line up. Buendia and Sanson easily good enough to mix it up and keep it fresh.
What an absolutely shit ground that is for football. Had great nights there watching the Olympics and Guns n Roses, but Christ on a bike it's awful now. Took longer to get through security today than it took for the Olympic opening ceremony, and when we finally got to the front of the queue we weren't even checked. That split level nonsense with the temporary new seats behind the goal just splits fans too far apart to create any atmosphere.
Haven't missed a game all season, and despite this being my nearest ground, if I never went there again it wouldn't bother me.
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Pretty level game, both sides slow and leggy. Think we ought to have had Sanson and Emi start. Their zip and energy would have been welcome.
Annoying to lose Digne so early. Felt we let them set in their low block and moved it too slowly. Bailey looks miles off it.
Not sure why McGinn dives in when Rice is 60 yards from goal.
Got to trust the squad more.
By far and away the worst ground I've ever been too and I've been to plenty of shit holes. It's a depressing place to play football. I'd fucking hate being a West Ham fan.
Guessing it's the camera angles being changed but the stands actually look a bit closer to the pitch compared to when they first moved in when it was miles better.
Yeah atmosphere sounded like a wake but then it will be the same at VP on Saturday with the early kick off if we go a goal down early.
They're saving their vocals for the europa game.
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Seems changes are coming. Looks like Doug will need stitches in his face. Digne is likely out for a period of time. Chambers hurt also. It’s very possible to see see 2 or 3 adjustments for our next game.
Konsa is obvious one.
Young v Saka seems likely a massive mismatch so think we're going to have to tweak the formation further and get Bailey starting as can't leave Young one v one on the counter attack, he's going to need plenty of help.
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West Ham weren’t particularly good today but were better than us. Gerrard seems to be from the old school of ‘don’t change a winning team” but in retrospect I hope he sees this was a mistake today. We’ve got a tough run of games coming and he needs to trusts the squad a bit more.
One plus point was I thought Ramsey had his game for a while.
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Gerrard should take the rap for not changing it up in the starting line up. Buendia and Sanson easily good enough to mix it up and keep it fresh.
What an absolutely shit ground that is for football. Had great nights there watching the Olympics and Guns n Roses, but Christ on a bike it's awful now. Took longer to get through security today than it took for the Olympic opening ceremony, and when we finally got to the front of the queue we weren't even checked. That split level nonsense with the temporary new seats behind the goal just splits fans too far apart to create any atmosphere.
Haven't missed a game all season, and despite this being my nearest ground, if I never went there again it wouldn't bother me.
I'm pretty sure SG would have got pelters if he had lost the match having made changes to a winning team.
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Same here, terrible ground, no fun at all. Had the misfortune to be in the seats closest to the home fans surrounded by arseholes offering the West Ham fans out from the safety of a 30 foot gap. We’ve got some proper racist twats in the away end.
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I don't feel comfortable being in our away end any more.
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Same here, terrible ground, no fun at all. Had the misfortune to be in the seats closest to the home fans surrounded by arseholes offering the West Ham fans out from the safety of a 30 foot gap. We’ve got some proper racist twats in the away end.
That’s why it’s always dangerous to slag off other fans for racism. I’ve seen and heard plenty of ugly stuff from our own lot over the years. So disappointing to hear that some people have refused to evolve.
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Same heads going away.System needs shaking up
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I don't feel comfortable being in our away end any more.
I walked out of Loftus Road after seven minutes a few years back. There was some massively inebriated dickhead in my seat, surrounded by his inebriated mates and at that point it seemed that life was too short to be anywhere near them.
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Believe we gave a decent West Ham side a good run for their money . Hindsight is a wonderful thing I know but was surprised Buendia didn’t start or at least come on earlier to get stuck into the combo that makes West Ham tick. Namely Soucek snd Rice who I think are excellent players.
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Replace Luiz with Soucek and we're top 6
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Definitely second best today - think one or two changes would've helped - but not many complaints at the result.
That said, I don't think it was a calamitous performance - 10% below where we'd been at over the last few weeks which against a team as physical and niggly as they are, is enough to just come up short. The game is very different if Fabianski doesn't pull off the unbelievable save from Ings in the second half, mind.
Would like to think this time next season, we are well-drilled enough to put a team like that away - but at the moment not quite there. Onwards.
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Shame we lost and didn't keep the run going, but from listening on the radio sounded a bit of a nothing game from two sides who were probably jaded from playing Thursday.
Quite a few comments about SG being to blame for not changing the team up, but the only change i would of made from midweek was Sanson for Ramsey and he scored and played quite well, so what do i know!!
Few comments about Emi2 starting and dont get me wrong i think he’s a really good player, but realistically who does he come in for other than Phil.
A win or draw against Arsenal and its been a very tidy few weeks.
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This giving the ball away persists.
The big difference between the teams was the fact we had to fight to regain possession and they didn’t.
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Douglas, Watkins and Chambers all got clattered in the face and Cash copped one full on from a cross.
The foul count was 7-3.
The ref seemed to me to be pretty lenient, something they adjusted to but we didn't - that's where game awareness comes in and is something we need to improve.
As an example: a subtle/simple block on Rice 60yds out by McGinn (instead of a totally ineffective tackle attempt) would have stopped the move for their 2nd in its tracks. We might still have lost, but a draw would have been that much easier.
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Think Ollie needs to improve his hold up play - we play narrow and don’t think he’s probably right for that system.
Against better sides we never get into the wide areas in the final third which is a real shame as think both Ings and Watkins would benefit from it.
Thought Bailey looked better - maybe try him with ings
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Funny how differently we see things, at the game I thought Bailey was terrible. The difference between the two teams today was the midfields. Soucek and Rice really are excellent and make all the rest of their players look better.
We had nobody to break their lines today. Loads of sideways passes and then back to the defence.
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Another shit afternoon of refereeing.
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We matched them in the first half. They stepped up a gear in the secondhalf and we didn't. Watkins and Ings were poor again. Ings was knackered on 60 minutes without having done much. For the man leading the attack his hold up play was awful. However, we don't have much at stake now so i'm less bothered by the result.
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We matched them in the first half. They stepped up a gear in the secondhalf and we didn't. Watkins and Ings were poor again. Ings was knackered on 60 minutes without having done much. For the man leading the attack his hold up play was awful. However, we don't have much at stake now so i'm less bothered by the result.
they were the better team both halves.
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Funny how differently we see things, at the game I thought Bailey was terrible. The difference between the two teams today was the midfields. Soucek and Rice really are excellent and make all the rest of their players look better.
We had nobody to break their lines today. Loads of sideways passes and then back to the defence.
Soucek and Rice are a brilliant pairing.
They've basically built their team around those two in the middle, and it's working well for them.
We are basically a team which sorely misses that sort of strength in the middle, hopefully something that will get put right in the summer.
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Disappointed today and The London Stadium is a soulless bowl.
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I think if we'd have scored first, we'd have won that. Such a frustration not to mix the team up, as the game was played in treacle, in 2nd gear by both sides.
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Everybody thought that Ings effort was in. And then miraculously, it wasn't.
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Funny how differently we see things, at the game I thought Bailey was terrible. The difference between the two teams today was the midfields. Soucek and Rice really are excellent and make all the rest of their players look better.
We had nobody to break their lines today. Loads of sideways passes and then back to the defence.
Soucek and Rice are a brilliant pairing.
They've basically built their team around those two in the middle, and it's working well for them.
We are basically a team which sorely misses that sort of strength in the middle, hopefully something that will get put right in the summer.
they were the difference today
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Funny how differently we see things, at the game I thought Bailey was terrible. The difference between the two teams today was the midfields. Soucek and Rice really are excellent and make all the rest of their players look better.
We had nobody to break their lines today. Loads of sideways passes and then back to the defence.
I agree. I thought Bailey did nothing when he came on. Clearly Rice was told to kick our talented players which he was clearly quite good at. They’re an awful side to play against but we need an element of that “nastiness” in our game next season.
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I was surprised when I saw the lineups that Gerrard had opted for two up top away from home. Had it worked of course it would have been a brave decision, playing the game the right way - exciting attacking football that in fairness Villa have been known for of late. If Fabianski hadn't have pulled off a worldy of a save from Ings second half the game might have ended differently with Gerrard getting the plaudits, and in the first 10 or so when the game was a bit open I was worried it was.
Nonetheless what ultimately happened was West Ham through Rice and Soucek in particular being allowed to control the midfield and thus the tempo of the game. Ings and Watkins were a lonely pair barely getting a sniff, and Coutinho seemed to be well shackled by Rice. Gerrard seemed Moyes-esque in his refusal to make substitutions before the 60th minute.
Still, both teams seemed to play with an element of tiredness from Thursday night games and largely unchanged teams, with sloppy passes and poor decision in the final third on both sides. It was nonetheless good to see West Ham being professional grinding down the opposition rather than snatching at speculative passes or pot shots given our wastage in front of goal of late.
Great to see Yarmolenko of all people getting the opener. The touch and finish was reminiscent of the player we signed before his injury.
I thought a 2-0 home win would have been a fair result on the balance of play and the way the game played out, but we nonetheless had to brainfart into giving away a consolation and a nervy last 10 or so.
Still, it was clear to see Villa are much improved from the team that capitulated 4-1 at Villa Park earlier in the season and merely had a poor day rather than being a poor team. The spine of a good team is there, but as much as I rate McGinn and Luiz as decent players you seem to lack legs and dominance in midfield. Part of why I was surprised Gerrard didn't sacrifice Ings and put an extra man in there.
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West Ham have got a very strong centre so that even if they’re not playing well they’re tough to break down. They can then nick something if needed. That’s what we need in order to go into the next tier of teams.
They caged us fairly comfortably today and SG was slow to change things up, especially when they lost Antonio and Cresswell. However, I would have kept the same starting line up after the previous 2 games. Thar line up had won together as a team and deserved to start the game today.
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Problem is our players aren't used to playing two away games in two and a half days. Sanson had to start, maybe Emi for one of Ings/Watkins too.
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Until we have some physicality and proper leadership in the centre of the park, we will be a nice side but not an imposing side. Gerrard is right in saying we need more of a profile, although, I think he might have rested a couple today, that said, we'd won three on the trot and no-one was complaining at that point. The two holding midfielders for West Ham is something we need to replicate.
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Same old inconsistent Villa, nothing ever changes!
Surely that makes us consistent 😉
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Disappointed today and The London Stadium is a soulless bowl.
It was shocking. Imagine having to go there every other week to watch your team. Give me Upton Park any day
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I cant get past how woeful an exprience it was. Even dire grounds like Goodison still have some character and personality, an atmosphere and a sense you're involved. You might has well had been on the moon. The tourists, the time wasted queuing, the logistical pain in the arse walking back and the absolute shiteness of it. It's proper left a sour taste, even if we'd won. Utterly depressing.
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Very poor today from 1-11. Such a missed opportunity as West Ham were equally inept for most of the game. Was really surprised that Gerrard didn't rotate a couple of players after Thursday. Really crap ground, in a shit location. I would hate to watch Villa every other week at such a dump.
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Good to see you outside Ads. Completely agree about the stadium and match day experience.
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The only two tiny plus points for it:
I could get a 5G mobile phone signal, and getting served at the kiosks was pretty quick.
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It's reassuring (and depressing) in a way, that muck like that can be anywhere near the top of the table.
Based on the few times I've caught them this season, the transition for ourselves to top 4-6 shouldn't present any significant difficulty, if that's the benchmark.
They're a typical Moyes outfit, all elbows and boofball. The only thing they have close to a footballer is Rice.
We're still naive in regard to the off-the-ball stuff, which is weird for a Gerrard side. I'm sure that will change in due course.
Interesting that the ref today was an Aussie. If he's OK with elbowing off the ball, smashing opponents in the face, gouging and all the rest of it as per Ausisie Rules/ Gaelic football that's fine. Let each captain know before kick off he's going for a very liberal interpretation of the modern rules.
Looks like that approach has ultimately hobbled them more than us with the amount of injuries they suffered.
Shame.
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Disappointing day today, the progress made in the previous three games halted by some industrial challenges and a lack of creativity from us going forward. Not sure why our out ball was so frequently at Watkins in the air, he was comfortably dealt with by their defence all afternoon. As others have said, Rice is exactly the type of number six that we (and many others) would hugely benefit from having, strong on the ball and good distribution...let’s see what this summer has in store for that particular area of the team. Let’s hope that when we return to that soulless white elephant of a stadium next season, we’ve addressed the areas where we fell short today and turn this lot over.
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Interesting that the ref today was an Aussie. If he's OK with elbowing off the ball, smashing opponents in the face, gouging and all the rest of it as per Ausisie Rules/ Gaelic football that's fine. Let each captain know before kick off he's going for a very liberal interpretation of the modern rules.
Looks like that approach has ultimately hobbled them more than us with the amount of injuries they suffered.
Shame.
Having watched Aussie Rules for nearly 40 years, I can assure you that these days there are AFL umpires actually stricter than Gillett was on West Ham.
The standard of officiating in the A League where he originated has as one would understand been parlous at times, I’m surprised one has made it through the ranks. I remember there was a ref from Scotland who moved over here for a season or two.
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Thought Luiz was poor but Gerrard should take some of the blame, ten minutes into the second half they got on top of our midfield and that's when he should have made changes. Ings can only play 45 minutes after that he is stuffed. Unlike most I thought both subs made a difference but again far too late.
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I was surprised when I saw the lineups that Gerrard had opted for two up top away from home. Had it worked of course it would have been a brave decision, playing the game the right way - exciting attacking football that in fairness Villa have been known for of late. If Fabianski hadn't have pulled off a worldy of a save from Ings second half the game might have ended differently with Gerrard getting the plaudits, and in the first 10 or so when the game was a bit open I was worried it was.
Nonetheless what ultimately happened was West Ham through Rice and Soucek in particular being allowed to control the midfield and thus the tempo of the game. Ings and Watkins were a lonely pair barely getting a sniff, and Coutinho seemed to be well shackled by Rice. Gerrard seemed Moyes-esque in his refusal to make substitutions before the 60th minute.
Still, both teams seemed to play with an element of tiredness from Thursday night games and largely unchanged teams, with sloppy passes and poor decision in the final third on both sides. It was nonetheless good to see West Ham being professional grinding down the opposition rather than snatching at speculative passes or pot shots given our wastage in front of goal of late.
Great to see Yarmolenko of all people getting the opener. The touch and finish was reminiscent of the player we signed before his injury.
I thought a 2-0 home win would have been a fair result on the balance of play and the way the game played out, but we nonetheless had to brainfart into giving away a consolation and a nervy last 10 or so.
Still, it was clear to see Villa are much improved from the team that capitulated 4-1 at Villa Park earlier in the season and merely had a poor day rather than being a poor team. The spine of a good team is there, but as much as I rate McGinn and Luiz as decent players you seem to lack legs and dominance in midfield. Part of why I was surprised Gerrard didn't sacrifice Ings and put an extra man in there.
How good were Rice and Soucek really? Rice did brilliantly for the second goal but that aside I thought both teams were poor. How many times did WHU pass the ball out of play under little pressure? What I thought Rice did really well throughout was sit in front of both centre backs. So whenever we went direct to Watkins, which was far too much, Watkins risible first touch meant Rice picked up some amount of handy ball. I thought Cresswell was very good until injury. Yarmolenko made a huge impact, that aside it was dreadful fare. That guy Johnson at left back was pub league standard.
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A Villa fan has posted a video on Twitter of him being racially abused by a home fan during the game. How can anyone believe that is an acceptable way to behave?
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I don’t know if it’s just me but over the past few games it feels like when the play breaks down from a challenge the ball never falls to a Villa player. We’re either really unlucky or our players just don’t anticipate well enough.
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First time for me at their ground I was also sitting in the home end
In fairness I knew before I went I wouldn’t like the new stadium
But it is fucking horrendous
It’s now taken top place in my league of worst grounds I’ve ever been to
A total mishmash Of bits and parts and absolutely soulless, honestly I nearly felt sorry for the West Ham fans, nearly
The game wasn’t much better either
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How good were Rice and Soucek really? Rice did brilliantly for the second goal but that aside I thought both teams were poor. How many times did WHU pass the ball out of play under little pressure? What I thought Rice did really well throughout was sit in front of both centre backs. So whenever we went direct to Watkins, which was far too much, Watkins risible first touch meant Rice picked up some amount of handy ball. I thought Cresswell was very good until injury. Yarmolenko made a huge impact, that aside it was dreadful fare. That guy Johnson at left back was pub league standard.
Well they controlled the tempo and the Villa midfielders didn't stop them. Both are excellent at running around a lot and closing down play, covering the angles for passes and winning battles. To be honest quite often when we have games where these two dominate you can look at it and think "yeah, but they didn't do much, the other team made it easy" but the reality is when they're not doing these things or one of them is missing, we really notice the difference. That seems to be one of the things Villa have lacked in midfield for a while, that energy and aggression that can win you the key battles in attritional games when other players perhaps aren't at their best.
Soucek has been off the boil for a while now with his game, but of late he's looked a lot better and closer to the player that was banging the goals in last season. Rice is excellent at what he does but for me he needs to find a way to score and assist more goals. Otherwise he's liable to be forever labelled as a "defensive midfielder".
Re Ben Johnson, he's still a young RB and has been in and out of the team with some good games and some not so good. Against Seville midweek he was excellent. Probably his best game for us so far in his career. Today he was poor and nothing seemed to come off for him. Such is football I guess.
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Good to see you outside Ads. Completely agree about the stadium and match day experience.
You too, hopefully a smooth journey back for you.
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Douglas, Watkins and Chambers all got clattered in the face and Cash copped one full on from a cross.
The foul count was 7-3.
The ref seemed to me to be pretty lenient, something they adjusted to but we didn't - that's where game awareness comes in and is something we need to improve.
As an example: a subtle/simple block on Rice 60yds out by McGinn (instead of a totally ineffective tackle attempt) would have stopped the move for their 2nd in its tracks. We might still have lost, but a draw would have been that much easier.
(https://pbs.twimg.com/media/FNvpHKDXsAUeJzl?format=jpg&name=small)
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How good were Rice and Soucek really? Rice did brilliantly for the second goal but that aside I thought both teams were poor. How many times did WHU pass the ball out of play under little pressure? What I thought Rice did really well throughout was sit in front of both centre backs. So whenever we went direct to Watkins, which was far too much, Watkins risible first touch meant Rice picked up some amount of handy ball. I thought Cresswell was very good until injury. Yarmolenko made a huge impact, that aside it was dreadful fare. That guy Johnson at left back was pub league standard.
Well they controlled the tempo and the Villa midfielders didn't stop them. Both are excellent at running around a lot and closing down play, covering the angles for passes and winning battles. To be honest quite often when we have games where these two dominate you can look at it and think "yeah, but they didn't do much, the other team made it easy" but the reality is when they're not doing these things or one of them is missing, we really notice the difference. That seems to be one of the things Villa have lacked in midfield for a while, that energy and aggression that can win you the key battles in attritional games when other players perhaps aren't at their best.
Soucek has been off the boil for a while now with his game, but of late he's looked a lot better and closer to the player that was banging the goals in last season. Rice is excellent at what he does but for me he needs to find a way to score and assist more goals. Otherwise he's liable to be forever labelled as a "defensive midfielder".
Re Ben Johnson, he's still a young RB and has been in and out of the team with some good games and some not so good. Against Seville midweek he was excellent. Probably his best game for us so far in his career. Today he was poor and nothing seemed to come off for him. Such is football I guess.
The best you've been in 40 years, it's approaching the weekend, you're excited. Champions League an outside possibility, European football should be secured at some level. You're at home. Then you realise you have to walk through a wanky shopping centre, queue like a twat for an age with a load of tourists before you can get close to the external perimeter, go into some bland tarmac floored concourse, walk a couple hundred yards into shallow temporary (white?!) seating and still be miles from the pitch and sit or stand in an atmosphere reminiscent of the moon. Watch the spectacle, totally divorced from it, no matter how much you shout or sing. Then trudge back, hereded here and there by some Squid Games Go/Stop game wankers.
You should be lynching the dildo squad for the cultural destruction of your club. West Ham fans must dream of away games. I've been to some shit holes over here. The mens at Ninian being an empty room with a gulley to have a leak in. Piss quite literally flooding out the old Railway End at the Sty. I drove past Kenilworth Road today and that is proper shite. Still ranks higher than that excuse of a football today, as do all the others. Honest to Christ, its the worst ground I've ever been in.
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A Villa fan has posted a video on Twitter of him being racially abused by a home fan during the game. How can anyone believe that is an acceptable way to behave?
It's not, remotely. A Villa fan a few rows in front of me in the lower section, close to the stewards' divide, was racially abusing an away fan. This included "you're not even from fucking London", "C'mon then you Stavros c***" and "piss off back to Albania" (or very similar). Right in front of the West Ham stewards as well, who did nothing. Bloke had fair hair and a beard, looked about 30 odd. I would have reported it but it was witnessed by about three West Ham stewards anyway as I say.
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To be fair, GSB are loathed by the vast majority of West Ham fans for most of the things you've listed above. It's the reason Brady is so hated. It's part of why we had near riots a few years ago when Burnley of all teams were tonking us 3-0 at home and fans were running onto the pitch sticking the corner flag in the centre circle.
One of the things I loved the most about going to watch West Ham at the Boleyn in was the build up. Coming out of Upton Park station, the whole street being packed. Jostling along amongst other fans, spirits up. Buses not being able to move. The smells from the burger vans. Programme sellers calling out. People flogging scarves and other merch from their front gardens. That steady build up of excitement as you got closer to the ground. A quick dive into the Queens for a pint of watery fizzy piss in a plastic glass. A slash in the toilet from Trainspotting before heading back out into the street. The gamble of chucking down a burger.
That excitement is the thing that irks me the most about what we've lost. Honestly all the shit about inside the ground is all noise. Every visiting fan does the "soulless bowl" cliche. "Not a football ground". Did people moan like that at old Wembley, that actually did have a running track? The atmosphere inside is no better or worse than at the Boleyn - it all depends on the fans and how up for it they are - when they are it's rocking, but when they're not it's silent. The Boleyn was the same towards the end. The facilities are lightyears ahead of that place. Food, drinks, toilets. I don't miss the BG in that respect. Not even a little bit.
But that trudge from Stratford station the long way around along that bit of dual carriageway, through the middle of all the high rise apartment blocks with no people about like it's some sort of Orwellian post-dystopian hellscape rather than a trendy up and coming part of London, along the never ending walkway. That's the bit I hate. Then on the way out after. Especially in the pissing rain, in the dark and the cold after a loss, waiting at those stop and go signs wishing someone would just grab them and lob them over the herras fencing.
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It's not really a cliché if it's true Sendo. I'm afraid to say your ground is truly, truly shit. It's not designed for football at all. You can't really compare it to the old Wembley because you'd be lucky if you went there once every few seasons. It's far and away the worst ground in the Premier League, and I wouldn't go again next season if you paid me.
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I think Sendo’s post above was a fair summary of the game. It was a very poor match with little quality but West Ham slowly strangled us in midfield and we found it increasingly hard to keep possession and create any threat. The Rice - Soucek partnership is the level we need to aspire too as it is at the core of their success.
I’ve been to the stadium before for athletics and thought it was fine but for football it is mind numbingly soulless, with too many gaps in the seating which breaks the atmosphere. It is a larger and poorer version of modern grounds like Reading, Pride Park, St Mary’s etc. We were on the far left of the lower tier and there was a drop and then a wall to the left which is like a mini Berlin Wall, meaning you can’t see the fans behind. With the other gaps in seating, flat steps and massive tv screen etc it is just awful.
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Not sure if Sendo has answered this but seems at least the fans seem closer to the pitch since you moved although could be just a change in camera angle?
Yeah it's basically like us going and playing near the NEC. Could build a 60k stadium there with all the transport connections in the world but it just wouldn't feel right.
If West Ham are in bottom half of table in future then the protests will start up again. Think there was a story thar GSB were planning to sell up soon especially as the Czech guy took out a decent stake a few months ago.
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To be fair, GSB are loathed by the vast majority of West Ham fans for most of the things you've listed above. It's the reason Brady is so hated. It's part of why we had near riots a few years ago when Burnley of all teams were tonking us 3-0 at home and fans were running onto the pitch sticking the corner flag in the centre circle.
One of the things I loved the most about going to watch West Ham at the Boleyn in was the build up. Coming out of Upton Park station, the whole street being packed. Jostling along amongst other fans, spirits up. Buses not being able to move. The smells from the burger vans. Programme sellers calling out. People flogging scarves and other merch from their front gardens. That steady build up of excitement as you got closer to the ground. A quick dive into the Queens for a pint of watery fizzy piss in a plastic glass. A slash in the toilet from Trainspotting before heading back out into the street. The gamble of chucking down a burger.
That excitement is the thing that irks me the most about what we've lost. Honestly all the shit about inside the ground is all noise. Every visiting fan does the "soulless bowl" cliche. "Not a football ground". Did people moan like that at old Wembley, that actually did have a running track? The atmosphere inside is no better or worse than at the Boleyn - it all depends on the fans and how up for it they are - when they are it's rocking, but when they're not it's silent. The Boleyn was the same towards the end. The facilities are lightyears ahead of that place. Food, drinks, toilets. I don't miss the BG in that respect. Not even a little bit.
But that trudge from Stratford station the long way around along that bit of dual carriageway, through the middle of all the high rise apartment blocks with no people about like it's some sort of Orwellian post-dystopian hellscape rather than a trendy up and coming part of London, along the never ending walkway. That's the bit I hate. Then on the way out after. Especially in the pissing rain, in the dark and the cold after a loss, waiting at those stop and go signs wishing someone would just grab them and lob them over the herras fencing.
Karen Brady,my nightmares coming back
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Can see what fans are on about with the second goal and John Mcginn
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Not sure if Sendo has answered this but seems at least the fans seem closer to the pitch since you moved although could be just a change in camera angle?
Yeah it's basically like us going and playing near the NEC. Could build a 60k stadium there with all the transport connections in the world but it just wouldn't feel right.
If West Ham are in bottom half of table in future then the protests will start up again. Think there was a story thar GSB were planning to sell up soon especially as the Czech guy took out a decent stake a few months ago.
Yeah the bits behind the goal have been re-positioned so that they're closer to the pitch.
GSB have to remain owners until ten years after the original deal, or else they have to pay up a fair percentage of the sale price to LLDC who sold the ground, which obviously they wont do. Rumour is that Kretinsky has invested into the club on the agreement that he gets to buy Sullivan out next year once that clause expires.
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The commentator on MOTD was saying the Villa fans were applauding Yarmolenko's goal, that's class from the fans.
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It's not really a cliché if it's true Sendo. I'm afraid to say your ground is truly, truly shit. It's not designed for football at all. You can't really compare it to the old Wembley because you'd be lucky if you went there once every few seasons. It's far and away the worst ground in the Premier League, and I wouldn't go again next season if you paid me.
Just saying it how I see it mate. Compare it to the Stadio Olimpico in Rome then. I've never seen anyone say Roma or Lazio don't play in a football ground.
Honestly, given the choice there's plenty I'd change, but inside the ground isn't really that big an issue for me, and when the fans are up for it and we're beating Spurs, Arsenal, Chelsea, Liverpool, Man Utd etc there the noise is deafening.
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Not sure if Sendo has answered this but seems at least the fans seem closer to the pitch since you moved although could be just a change in camera angle?
Yeah it's basically like us going and playing near the NEC. Could build a 60k stadium there with all the transport connections in the world but it just wouldn't feel right.
If West Ham are in bottom half of table in future then the protests will start up again. Think there was a story thar GSB were planning to sell up soon especially as the Czech guy took out a decent stake a few months ago.
Yeah the bits behind the goal have been re-positioned so that they're closer to the pitch.
GSB have to remain owners until ten years after the original deal, or else they have to pay up a fair percentage of the sale price to LLDC who sold the ground, which obviously they wont do. Rumour is that Kretinsky has invested into the club on the agreement that he gets to buy Sullivan out next year once that clause expires.
Yeah that's what I read.
Gold must be close to 90 these days so you suspect he won't be around for much longer and Sullivan is knocking on (oh-er) himself so feels like you've ridden out the worst of what they've had to offer over the last decade and a decent new owner has plenty to build on. Brady possibly kept on, someone must've had a word as her newspaper columns are incredibly bland compared to 5-6 years ago when she was shooting off about everything.
Get the feeling they've learnt a bit from Bilic/Pellegrini period when they were signing randoms like Calleri and Hugill on agent recommendations and just let Moyes get on with things and you're basically same level now as the Everton team he managed in the 2000s.
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That windbag Jonathan Pearce on MOTD2 trotted out the stat about the recent three wins in a row being our best run since MON in 2009.
Were our four consecutive league wins at the start of last season discounted cos there were no crowds to witness it?
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Ramsey is the best striker of the ball i've seen in a Villa shirt in a long time, good on either foot. Wish we could get him closer to goal more often.
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The difference between the two teams today was the midfields. Soucek and Rice really are excellent and make all the rest of their players look better.
Yes, I think it's really as simple as that.
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Is it really the case that our players were rolling on the floor/time wasting/cheating from the off? It's all I'm seeing in comments from West Ham fans on twitter.
I can't say I really noticed due to the drabness of our general play, which in turn led to me losing focus on the game itself.
We were far too passive, and subs were far too delayed.
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I was not jumping round my living room when Yarmolenko scored (it is not as though he was leaving straight after the game to take up arms with his fellow Ukrainian country men, to defend his homeland, like so many others have done!)
If Yarmolenko or another Ukrainian had scored the winning goal for that lot across the city in a cup game, how many would be applauding him then?
Whenever I watch the Villa play, I want the opposition players to have the worst games of their careers
The only opposition player I have applauded was Cryuff, he was unbelievable in that game at Villa Park.
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That windbag Jonathan Pearce on MOTD2 trotted out the stat about the recent three wins in a row being our best run since MON in 2009.
Were our four consecutive league wins at the start of last season discounted cos there were no crowds to witness it?
Ive seen that elsewhere, i think it was first time since 2009 that we’d done 3 in a row without conceding.
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Is it really the case that our players were rolling on the floor/time wasting/cheating from the off? It's all I'm seeing in comments from West Ham fans on twitter.
I can't say I really noticed due to the drabness of our general play, which in turn led to me losing focus on the game itself.
We were far too passive, and subs were far too delayed.
I agree with the West Ham fans on this, sorry to say. Some of the injuries - thinking Doug’s and Cash’s - were clearly genuine but others were exaggerated.
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Is it really the case that our players were rolling on the floor/time wasting/cheating from the off? It's all I'm seeing in comments from West Ham fans on twitter.
I can't say I really noticed due to the drabness of our general play, which in turn led to me losing focus on the game itself.
We were far too passive, and subs were far too delayed.
I agree with the West Ham fans on this, sorry to say. Some of the injuries - thinking Doug’s and Cash’s - were clearly genuine but others were exaggerated.
I must admit it tickles me ever so slightly when people sat around me at VP moan about the opposition time wasting. Have they not watched us playing away lately?
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That windbag Jonathan Pearce on MOTD2 trotted out the stat about the recent three wins in a row being our best run since MON in 2009.
Were our four consecutive league wins at the start of last season discounted cos there were no crowds to witness it?
Maybe he was confused because there was a league cup defeat during that run - it confused me for a bit!! This, from the Villa website: 'Barkley’s strike ensured Villa maintained their 100% start to the Premier League season, winning their opening four league games for the first time since 1930/31.'
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Is it really the case that our players were rolling on the floor/time wasting/cheating from the off? It's all I'm seeing in comments from West Ham fans on twitter.
I can't say I really noticed due to the drabness of our general play, which in turn led to me losing focus on the game itself.
We were far too passive, and subs were far too delayed.
I agree with the West Ham fans on this, sorry to say. Some of the injuries - thinking Doug’s and Cash’s - were clearly genuine but others were exaggerated.
They’re quite a physical side and took advantage of the ref’s lack of control, I thought we get roughed up throughout.
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How good were Rice and Soucek really? Rice did brilliantly for the second goal but that aside I thought both teams were poor. How many times did WHU pass the ball out of play under little pressure? What I thought Rice did really well throughout was sit in front of both centre backs. So whenever we went direct to Watkins, which was far too much, Watkins risible first touch meant Rice picked up some amount of handy ball. I thought Cresswell was very good until injury. Yarmolenko made a huge impact, that aside it was dreadful fare. That guy Johnson at left back was pub league standard.
Well they controlled the tempo and the Villa midfielders didn't stop them. Both are excellent at running around a lot and closing down play, covering the angles for passes and winning battles. To be honest quite often when we have games where these two dominate you can look at it and think "yeah, but they didn't do much, the other team made it easy" but the reality is when they're not doing these things or one of them is missing, we really notice the difference. That seems to be one of the things Villa have lacked in midfield for a while, that energy and aggression that can win you the key battles in attritional games when other players perhaps aren't at their best.
Soucek has been off the boil for a while now with his game, but of late he's looked a lot better and closer to the player that was banging the goals in last season. Rice is excellent at what he does but for me he needs to find a way to score and assist more goals. Otherwise he's liable to be forever labelled as a "defensive midfielder".
Re Ben Johnson, he's still a young RB and has been in and out of the team with some good games and some not so good. Against Seville midweek he was excellent. Probably his best game for us so far in his career. Today he was poor and nothing seemed to come off for him. Such is football I guess.
The best you've been in 40 years, it's approaching the weekend, you're excited. Champions League an outside possibility, European football should be secured at some level. You're at home. Then you realise you have to walk through a wanky shopping centre, queue like a twat for an age with a load of tourists before you can get close to the external perimeter, go into some bland tarmac floored concourse, walk a couple hundred yards into shallow temporary (white?!) seating and still be miles from the pitch and sit or stand in an atmosphere reminiscent of the moon. Watch the spectacle, totally divorced from it, no matter how much you shout or sing. Then trudge back, hereded here and there by some Squid Games Go/Stop game wankers.
You should be lynching the dildo squad for the cultural destruction of your club. West Ham fans must dream of away games. I've been to some shit holes over here. The mens at Ninian being an empty room with a gulley to have a leak in. Piss quite literally flooding out the old Railway End at the Sty. I drove past Kenilworth Road today and that is proper shite. Still ranks higher than that excuse of a football today, as do all the others. Honest to Christ, its the worst ground I've ever been in.
Ha ha great description of the stadium ads
I prefer Saint Andrews and I’m not even joking, that’s how bad it is
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Is it really the case that our players were rolling on the floor/time wasting/cheating from the off? It's all I'm seeing in comments from West Ham fans on twitter.
I can't say I really noticed due to the drabness of our general play, which in turn led to me losing focus on the game itself.
We were far too passive, and subs were far too delayed.
I agree with the West Ham fans on this, sorry to say. Some of the injuries - thinking Doug’s and Cash’s - were clearly genuine but others were exaggerated.
I must admit it tickles me ever so slightly when people sat around me at VP moan about the opposition time wasting. Have they not watched us playing away lately?
We do seem to have earned a reputation for time-wasting and going down a bit easy. On the whole, it's probably justified. We certainly do a lot more of it than we have in the past.
I am not too bothered about it except when we fall, scream for a free-kick we don't get and then find ourselves under real pressure that was totally avoidable if we hadn't gone looking for a free-kick in the first place.
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Replace Luiz with Soucek and we're top 6
This. Soucek continues to dominate the midfield every time we play West Ham. We continue to do nothing about it.
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That windbag Jonathan Pearce on MOTD2 trotted out the stat about the recent three wins in a row being our best run since MON in 2009.
Were our four consecutive league wins at the start of last season discounted cos there were no crowds to witness it?
I think 2009 was without conceding a goal, as was this run of three games - maybe that's what he meant by best run? Winning without conceding? We conceded 2 against Liverpool in that 4-win streak last year.
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https://www.hammers.news/news/what-bbc-commentator-jonathan-pearce-spotted-aston-villa-fans-do-at-west-ham-is-just-sheer-class/?fbclid=IwAR3xJluw6eJ-My-AaO9-nBjc7NcgzqUd97pgy9psEimr0hbmdMsQ1Qee3ac
👏🏻👏🏻👏🏻
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I think some comments about the stadium are a bit over the top. I thought it was OK, not a world class effort like the Spurs ground, but decent enough. Atmosphere from the home crowd was non existent.
Also cheers to those who gave me travel advice. Walk from Euston to St Pancreas and direct train to Stratford was a doddle.
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I think some comments about the stadium are a bit over the top. I thought it was OK, not a world class effort like the Spurs ground, but decent enough. Atmosphere from the home crowd was non existent.
Also cheers to those who gave me travel advice. Walk from Euston to St Pancreas and direct train to Stratford was a doddle.
I sat about 7 rows from the back and I reckon I’d have had a better view from the international space station. A dreadful stadium which is just not fit for football. I don’t think I’ll be going there again. The only good thing was the tube from Stratford station. Trains nearly every other minute. Brilliant stuff.
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https://www.hammers.news/news/what-bbc-commentator-jonathan-pearce-spotted-aston-villa-fans-do-at-west-ham-is-just-sheer-class/?fbclid=IwAR3xJluw6eJ-My-AaO9-nBjc7NcgzqUd97pgy9psEimr0hbmdMsQ1Qee3ac
👏🏻👏🏻👏🏻
Well done to everyone who did this.
Class.
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I think some comments about the stadium are a bit over the top. I thought it was OK, not a world class effort like the Spurs ground, but decent enough. Atmosphere from the home crowd was non existent.
Also cheers to those who gave me travel advice. Walk from Euston to St Pancreas and direct train to Stratford was a doddle.
I sat about 7 rows from the back and I reckon I’d have had a better view from the international space station. A dreadful stadium which is just not fit for football. I don’t think I’ll be going there again. The only good thing was the tube from Stratford station. Trains nearly every other minute. Brilliant stuff.
Surely they could do something similar on matchdays at Witton and Aston stations? That would go a long way towards easing the congestion.
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We are a mid-table team at the moment. We have a mid-table manager who wins a few and loses a few. The difference between us and West Ham yesterday was the managers. We can bring in who we like but it won't make much difference until we have a manager who can grind out points and win ugly.
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We are a mid-table team at the moment. We have a mid-table manager who wins a few and loses a few. The difference between us and West Ham yesterday was the managers. We can bring in who we like but it won't make much difference until we have a manager who can grind out points and win ugly.
To be fair to Gerrard, Moyes has an inherent advantage when it comes to 'winning ugly'.
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We are a mid-table team at the moment. We have a mid-table manager who wins a few and loses a few. The difference between us and West Ham yesterday was the managers. We can bring in who we like but it won't make much difference until we have a manager who can grind out points and win ugly.
Oh please - they have a much more experienced team than ours and have been together as a group for much longer. They also have a very experienced manager with 2 quality holding midfielders - we have a manager who has been in the role since November and this is his first taste of premier league. He's learning.
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https://www.hammers.news/news/what-bbc-commentator-jonathan-pearce-spotted-aston-villa-fans-do-at-west-ham-is-just-sheer-class/?
👏🏻👏🏻👏🏻
Well done to everyone who did this.
Class.
Agreed, classy gesture. Well done all!
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https://www.hammers.news/news/what-bbc-commentator-jonathan-pearce-spotted-aston-villa-fans-do-at-west-ham-is-just-sheer-class/?fbclid=IwAR3xJluw6eJ-My-AaO9-nBjc7NcgzqUd97pgy9psEimr0hbmdMsQ1Qee3ac
👏🏻👏🏻👏🏻
Well done to everyone who did this.
Class.
Agree. We do have some proper idiots following the team away unfortunately but the majority are good people and that clearly showed here.
Antonio wouldn't have ever scored such a goal had he stayed on the pitch. It really was an exceptional finish by Yarmolenko, quick thinking and very quick feet.
I'm not too disheartened by the defeat but as others have pointed out, changes should have come sooner and as Chris pointed out the ref allowed them to rough us up a bit too much by letting loads of over physical stuff go unnoticed.
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I think some comments about the stadium are a bit over the top. I thought it was OK, not a world class effort like the Spurs ground, but decent enough. Atmosphere from the home crowd was non existent.
Also cheers to those who gave me travel advice. Walk from Euston to St Pancreas and direct train to Stratford was a doddle.
I sat about 7 rows from the back and I reckon I’d have had a better view from the international space station. A dreadful stadium which is just not fit for football. I don’t think I’ll be going there again. The only good thing was the tube from Stratford station. Trains nearly every other minute. Brilliant stuff.
West Ham have made little effort or contribution to the stadium itself. Ridiculously, they just got it on the cheap like Manchester City who have have leased 'their' ground from the council for years. The owners won't care much about the fact that it is not a football stadium as the club continues to reap the benefits of a new bigger stadium and in a better location as a result. It should be called the 'Taxpayers Stadium' not the 'London Stadium'.
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We are a mid-table team at the moment. We have a mid-table manager who wins a few and loses a few. The difference between us and West Ham yesterday was the managers. We can bring in who we like but it won't make much difference until we have a manager who can grind out points and win ugly.
Steven Gerrard is a mid table manager? Bloody hell give him a chance. We have no idea yet what he is capable of. Nobody does. All we can do is get behind him and hope for the best. He could turn out to be the next Alex Ferguson or he could turn out to be the next David "honest bunch of lads" O'leary. Let's give him the chance to show us what he's capable of. I see something in him that I like and I'm convinced that he knows what to do to push us up the league to where we all want to be.
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I was not jumping round my living room when Yarmolenko scored (it is not as though he was leaving straight after the game to take up arms with his fellow Ukrainian country men, to defend his homeland, like so many others have done!)
If Yarmolenko or another Ukrainian had scored the winning goal for that lot across the city in a cup game, how many would be applauding him then?
Whenever I watch the Villa play, I want the opposition players to have the worst games of their careers
The only opposition player I have applauded was Cryuff, he was unbelievable in that game at Villa Park.
Nah, there are times when players deserve more than dog's abuse.
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As ever, it's big time to think of the big picture. Football is football, and what Yarmolenko and every other Ukrainian (as well as Syrian, Yemeni and all other victims of war in the world) must be going through is something else altogether.
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We are a mid-table team at the moment. We have a mid-table manager who wins a few and loses a few. The difference between us and West Ham yesterday was the managers. We can bring in who we like but it won't make much difference until we have a manager who can grind out points and win ugly.
Oh please - they have a much more experienced team than ours and have been together as a group for much longer. They also have a very experienced manager with 2 quality holding midfielders - we have a manager who has been in the role since November and this is his first taste of premier league. He's learning.
Weren't they doing an Everton two seasons back? Nearly went down with us in 19/20.
I get they're better than us, it's certainly one of the worst match ups for us these days in prem (think I'm more confident of getting a result off Liverpool than West Ham) but they really shouldn't be finishing 10-15 points clear of us which is looking likely for second straight season.
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What’s the capacity at West Ham? Official attendance yesterday was a handful short of 60k but there were a fair few empty seats around the place.
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What’s the capacity at West Ham? Official attendance yesterday was a handful short of 60k but there were a fair few empty seats around the place.
There's 66k but the club are only allowed to sell 60k tickets, so there is always empty seats.
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What’s the capacity at West Ham? Official attendance yesterday was a handful short of 60k but there were a fair few empty seats around the place.
There's 66k but the club are only allowed to sell 60k tickets, so there is always empty seats.
Thanks. Although these weren’t empty blocks but random empty seats around the ground.
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What’s the capacity at West Ham? Official attendance yesterday was a handful short of 60k but there were a fair few empty seats around the place.
There's 66k but the club are only allowed to sell 60k tickets, so there is always empty seats.
Thanks. Although these weren’t empty blocks but random empty seats around the ground.
That's how they've decided to do it, to stay within the capacity rules. Rather than have masses of empty space.
Got told by a West Ham fan that they're planning to bring the lower side stands in for next season as well. The gap between lower and upper tiers will be a bus ride apart – it was bad enough behind the goal.
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We are a mid-table team at the moment. We have a mid-table manager who wins a few and loses a few. The difference between us and West Ham yesterday was the managers. We can bring in who we like but it won't make much difference until we have a manager who can grind out points and win ugly.
Steven Gerrard is a mid table manager? Bloody hell give him a chance. We have no idea yet what he is capable of. Nobody does. All we can do is get behind him and hope for the best. He could turn out to be the next Alex Ferguson or he could turn out to be the next David "honest bunch of lads" O'leary. Let's give him the chance to show us what he's capable of. I see something in him that I like and I'm convinced that he knows what to do to push us up the league to where we all want to be.
my thoughts exactly
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I think the big differences yesterday was that West Ham have figured exactly what they are. Moyes has been there a while now and really got them playing well. Gerrard's been here since November and we've figured things up to a point but perhaps not quite how to grind a result against a side above us.
I also think this has to be a reality check. I know we were three wins on the spin. But did fans really expect a god given right to get a result? Both sides played pretty well, but the reality is, West Ham are a top 6 side at home. We're mid-table playing away, and we looked leggy from Thursday. There were probably two players who were gonna make a difference in the game. Rice and Coutinho. Rice had the better of it.
We had chances. They did. A draw would have had no complaints. For me, Rice embodies the level of player in that 6 position that we're going to need to buy in the summer. For one, it's a key position in the way Gerrard sets up. Douglas had been doing well recently, but he run out of puff today, and coming up against a side a cut above what we've played in the last 3 games, showed that you can't fill a gap in this division if you're aspirations are top 6. So as Gerrard said, it's an indicator in some aspects of where we want to be and what we have to do.
On another note. We saw an issue harking back to O Neill's days. A lack of rotation. You go on a run, good results. A first 11 that looks very good but in a short space of time has probably packed in too much. I understand why Gerrard would have been reluctant to rest players, we could have benefited from a bit of rotation to freshen things up. He's been trumpeting the notion at times that we will need to, but as yet, Gerrard has been reluctant. Our pressing wasn't quite where it could have been, and perhaps our speed on the counter. We did play okay but I don't think we have 5th gear, which might have given us a little more threat.
In terms of their goals. The second was poor. The first, as great a moment for football as it was, was more well taken than anything. The way Yarmalenko took it so quickly didn't give the defense the opportunity to get in position to block effectively.
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Our bench option now are ten times better than the crock of shit O'Neill had to call upon (no offence to Marlon, Zat, Nicky Shorey or the Scottish Buendia, Seán Maloney).
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Our bench option now are ten times better than the crock of shit O'Neill had to call upon (no offence to Marlon, Zat, Nicky Shorey or the Scottish Buendia, Seán Maloney).
Strongest bench we’ve had for well over 20 years
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I was kind of relaxed after the game to be fair. But just seeing that 2nd goal back has done my head in. We need to be smarter in play, utter shite from Bailey to kick start it off, then SJM must take a cheap yellow card to stop Rice. Fornals has ran 40 yards with nobody tracking him and Martinez saves that if Mings hasnt positioned himself directly infront of him. I hope Gerrard has got them sitting and watching re-runs of that.
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What’s the capacity at West Ham? Official attendance yesterday was a handful short of 60k but there were a fair few empty seats around the place.
There's 66k but the club are only allowed to sell 60k tickets, so there is always empty seats.
A friend of mine bought an apartment in Stratford to use as a base when he's on business in London. He has 2 season tickets at West Ham despite being a rugby fan from Brtisol and only getting to 4 or 5 games year. I'd imagine he's not the only one which explains some of the empty seats.
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I was kind of relaxed after the game to be fair. But just seeing that 2nd goal back has done my head in. We need to be smarter in play, utter shite from Bailey to kick start it off, then SJM must take a cheap yellow card to stop Rice. Fornals has ran 40 yards with nobody tracking him and Martinez saves that if Mings hasnt positioned himself directly infront of him. I hope Gerrard has got them sitting and watching re-runs of that.
the 2nd goal wasn't great, but the first was very avoidable too. Mings lost Yarmalenko badly.
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What’s the capacity at West Ham? Official attendance yesterday was a handful short of 60k but there were a fair few empty seats around the place.
There's 66k but the club are only allowed to sell 60k tickets, so there is always empty seats.
A friend of mine bought an apartment in Stratford to use as a base when he's on business in London. He has 2 season tickets at West Ham despite being a rugby fan from Brtisol and only getting to 4 or 5 games year. I'd imagine he's not the only one which explains some of the empty seats.
Money to burn by the sounds of it! Hope he looks after his friends, they helped him get where he is after all, rite?
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https://www.hammers.news/news/what-bbc-commentator-jonathan-pearce-spotted-aston-villa-fans-do-at-west-ham-is-just-sheer-class/?
👏🏻👏🏻👏🏻
Well done to everyone who did this.
Class.
Agreed, classy gesture. Well done all!
I was there but I genuinely didn’t notice or hear this. I think I was trying to work out how the goal had happened as it seemed like a shot in slow motion. Wasn’t sure who had scored until the announcement
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What’s the capacity at West Ham? Official attendance yesterday was a handful short of 60k but there were a fair few empty seats around the place.
There's 66k but the club are only allowed to sell 60k tickets, so there is always empty seats.
A friend of mine bought an apartment in Stratford to use as a base when he's on business in London. He has 2 season tickets at West Ham despite being a rugby fan from Brtisol and only getting to 4 or 5 games year. I'd imagine he's not the only one which explains some of the empty seats.
What’s the capacity at West Ham? Official attendance yesterday was a handful short of 60k but there were a fair few empty seats around the place.
There's 66k but the club are only allowed to sell 60k tickets, so there is always empty seats.
A friend of mine bought an apartment in Stratford to use as a base when he's on business in London. He has 2 season tickets at West Ham despite being a rugby fan from Brtisol and only getting to 4 or 5 games year. I'd imagine he's not the only one which explains some of the empty seats.
Seat prices may explain it. A bloke I know pays £250 for his season ticket and £99 for his son - good value. You could pick 6-7 games a season and still pay £35 a ticket.
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A friend of mine bought an apartment in Stratford to use as a base when he's on business in London. He has 2 season tickets at West Ham despite being a rugby fan from Bristol and only getting to 4 or 5 games year. I'd imagine he's not the only one which explains some of the empty seats.
Seat prices may explain it. A bloke I know pays £250 for his season ticket and £99 for his son - good value. You could pick 6-7 games a season and still pay £35 a ticket.
He's not short of a few bob as he's set up and sold a couple of successful insurance brokerages but that's definitely a reason. He got a season ticket when they moved there and then 3 years ago they emailed him an offer on getting a second one. Can't recall how much it was but it seemed pretty cheap at the time.
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Is it really the case that our players were rolling on the floor/time wasting/cheating from the off? It's all I'm seeing in comments from West Ham fans on twitter.
I can't say I really noticed due to the drabness of our general play, which in turn led to me losing focus on the game itself.
We were far too passive, and subs were far too delayed.
I agree with the West Ham fans on this, sorry to say. Some of the injuries - thinking Doug’s and Cash’s - were clearly genuine but others were exaggerated.
I must admit it tickles me ever so slightly when people sat around me at VP moan about the opposition time wasting. Have they not watched us playing away lately?
On the flip side though, West Ham fans booing genuinely injured players was equally embarrassing. Aw well, happens everywhere, I guess.
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I’ve just watched the highlights again and Yarmalenko’s goal over and above of the emotional aspects of it was one of the best goals I’ve seen this season. Pure class
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Amused that Moyes is warning Spam not to fall for any Spanish "dark arts" v Sevilla tonight after a game in which Douglas and Luiz needed stitches for facial injuries.
This is what he said:
"If you watched Atletico, they did a great job on Manchester United I'm killing the games off at times, so we have to be well aware how we manage that. I a fan of the dark arts? I'm not. This is a gentleman's sport. We're all desperate to win and we'd kick your granny, if you know what I mean, yo get a result. But in the same breath, you want to win in a fair and correct fashion."
Happy to call out the "dark arts" but not to keen to do so when it comes to straightforward dangerous and foul play.
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Yeah...isn't a David Moyes side just the British version of a Diego Simeone one?
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Amused that Moyes is warning Spam not to fall for any Spanish "dark arts" v Sevilla tonight after a game in which Douglas and Luiz needed stitches for facial injuries.
This is what he said:
"If you watched Atletico, they did a great job on Manchester United I'm killing the games off at times, so we have to be well aware how we manage that. I a fan of the dark arts? I'm not. This is a gentleman's sport. We're all desperate to win and we'd kick your granny, if you know what I mean, yo get a result. But in the same breath, you want to win in a fair and correct fashion."
Happy to call out the "dark arts" but not to keen to do so when it comes to straightforward dangerous and foul play.
Any respect I had for Moyes (minimal),was lost to the wind with his stance on Zouma.
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I quite like Moyes for the way he's come back strongly after it looked like he might be finished but the response to ZoumaGate was poor stuff from him.