Heroes & Villains, the Aston Villa fanzine
Heroes & Villains => Match Threads & Player Ratings => Topic started by: Dave on December 04, 2024, 10:10:02 PM
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Feels a bit more like it. A fairly easy win against a team we should beat.
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Well done lads some bottle skill and determination showed to get back on track. Tyrone was magnificent. Back up to 6th for now.
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7th.
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Loads better.
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Superb result. Let’s hope we are back and the doom sayers have a great Christmas as well. Told you we would win (even though I voted for a loss).
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Great stuff. They looked better second half but still only had the one shot on target.
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Let's follow it up on Saturday v Saints before hard games start
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Mings and Digne were outstanding. Rogers is back on it. McGinn and Bailey were poor tbh, and a special mention to Barkley who was awful from the first touch to last. Hopefully kick on from that but some of this squad are regressing badly.
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Great to get a win. Some really great stuff in the first half. Ropey at times in the second, customary terrible goal conceded, but Tyrone did great, particularly with the aerial balls.
So important to win, Rogers looked class again.
Goal and assist for the much maligned Watkins, well done Ollie.
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Relieved to have won! I felt we lost control for a lot of the second half. I worry that against a better team maybe it plays out differently, but but but, fuck it we won well. Good job, Villa.
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Probably the best performance if season. Defensively we looked better no question. We tired towards second but man we were impressive.
Have to say brentford were pretty hopeless tonight but not going to complain
Great to get that winning feeling again.
Mings motm without question
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I didn’t think Bailey or mcginn weren’t that bad. I don’t think anyone had a bad game.
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Funny that points wise we're nearer relegation than winning the league. All seems quite tight this season. Other than Liverpool at the top, there's a lot of teams moving around every week.
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Completely dominant before their goal out of nowhere caused a few jitters. Even then we still had plenty of chances to extend the lead.
Mings has to start every game now.
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Much better, players looked up for it and fresh
Need to beat Southampton now
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Got a bit nervy in the second half but I don’t think their goal should have stood.
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If you had given me 7th and six points behind 2nd after the run we’ve just had I would have bitten your right arm off.
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Tyrone is back!!
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Mings and Digne were outstanding. Rogers is back on it. McGinn and Bailey were poor tbh, and a special mention to Barkley who was awful from the first touch to last. Hopefully kick on from that but some of this squad are regressing badly.
McGinn didn't do well with the ball but his pressing played a huge part in our first half performance.
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Got a bit nervy in the second half but I don’t think their goal should have stood.
Why? Didn't seem anything wrong with it
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A big win given the context of the season. If we can follow it up with another one that would be really big. Great to see us back to scoring goals.
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I had wanted Rogers dropped, cracking goal....
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Funny that points wise we're nearer relegation than winning the league. All seems quite tight this season. Other than Liverpool at the top, there's a lot of teams moving around every week.
Us and Newcastle ranged 5/6 places tonight alone. Three wins on the bounce now and we'll be back in a strong position.
Mings was superb. Play him every week without compromise.
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That's more like it.
We ceded the initiative for a chunk of that second half but they had one shot on target in the game.
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If you had given me 7th and six points behind 2nd after the run we’ve just had I would have bitten your right arm off.
I think there was a team last season (Brighton maybe?) who won something like two games between October and March and still never dropped lower than eighth or ninth because nobody else below them was able to win more than two in a row.
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Got a bit nervy in the second half but I don’t think their goal should have stood.
Why? Didn't seem anything wrong with it
Looked like a foul in the build up, but I could be wrong.
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Thank fcuk for that.
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Great result and the table looks loads better.
One thing is worrying though, 1 shot on goal and 1 goal conceded. Does our keeper not makes saves anymore?
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Great result and the table looks loads better.
One thing is worrying though, 1 shot on goal and 1 goal conceded. Does our keeper not makes saves anymore?
No point risking making that finger worse.
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That'll do. Second half we looked a bit less confident, which is understandable, but still had more chances than they did. Hopefully that's the start of a run.
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Rogers my motm. Imperious.
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Got a bit nervy in the second half but I don’t think their goal should have stood.
Why? Didn't seem anything wrong with it
Foul in the build up, not sure they even looked at it.
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What's this thing called a "win"?
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To be honest, it looked to me like a performance not hugely dissimilar from some on our recent run (Bournemouth, Palace), but with the rub of the green (penalty given, sneaks in, favourable VAR decision for the third, etc.).
So still some way to go, but better, despite the second half jitters.
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Got a bit nervy in the second half but I don’t think their goal should have stood.
Why? Didn't seem anything wrong with it
Foul in the build up, not sure they even looked at it.
Not a foul for me. Certainly less controversial than our third goal so, for once, don't think we have too much to moan about. I didn't even find myself getting too worked up by Brentford today, and they're usually snide little bastards. Imagine it might have been different if they were trying to hang on for a win or draw.
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Great result thought we played really well for the most part - you could see the players relaxed into it - even the second half subs.
Thought Mings and Rogers were both excellent - thought Watkins, McGinn, cash and Bailey were also all very good.
For the first 55 best we played all season - and we looked like scoring most times we went forward.
2 more wins in the next 2 and we’ll be in a strong place again.
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Loved it tonight especially abandoning all the mucking around at the back!
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Mings and Digne were superb. Digne has probably been our best player this season. Surprised at the criticism for McGinn. He played well.
And of course Rogers is back with a bang just as I transferred him out of my team.
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To be honest, it looked to me like a performance not hugely dissimilar from some on our recent run (Bournemouth, Palace), but with the rub of the green (penalty given, sneaks in, favourable VAR decision for the third, etc.).
Yes, felt a lot like the Bournemouth game actually. We should have been easily two up at halftime in that game.
The McGinn / out of play call goes against us in one and the Watkins / offside goes for us in the other.
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Loved it tonight especially abandoning all the mucking around at the back!
Did we?
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Crisis over we are still class Unai is still a managerial God no need to panic we are back up there and going to finish in the top 4 again and qualify for the CL as well as winning the CL this season everybody relax 8)
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Got a bit nervy in the second half but I don’t think their goal should have stood.
Why? Didn't seem anything wrong with it
Foul in the build up, not sure they even looked at it.
On McGinn? Never a foul for me. Brentford player won the ball cleanly
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I’m not getting too hung up about their ‘spell’ in the second half. They had the goal on target and that was it. I always felt we had more goals in us.
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Loved it tonight especially abandoning all the mucking around at the back!
Did we?
Oh yes! So refreshing!
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I could not watch the game. Happy about the result but also happy to read all the good things about Tyrone. So glad he is back.
Let’s beat southampton now.
UTV
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We did a bit of pissing about at the back, but only for japes.
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Was that the lesser-spotted Philogene I saw show boating across the park near the end?
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Great to see the spine of our team back.
Well done lads.
Onwards and upwards
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Was that the lesser-spotted Philogene I saw show boating across the park near the end?
I think he actually beat a man. Didn't even pass it backwards.
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Philogene looked good when he came on, I thought.
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Tyrone Mings, take a bow. He inspires confidence throughout the team - strong leadership and some great clearances. Great to see him back for a full PL 90 minutes.
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Philogene looked good when he came on, I thought.
He was still frustrating until heis little flourish at the end.
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Much much better. Hopefully that brings confidence back . The shape and structure and leadership looked better . Mings clear MOTM he's the absolute leader we need in this team .
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Much much better. Hopefully that brings confidence back . The shape and structure and leadership looked better . Mings clear MOTM he's the absolute leader we need in this team .
I thought the subs made a real difference 😉
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We looked more balanced with a proper back four and Kamara doing what he does in front of them. Pleased for Mings and Rogers in particular.
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Mings.
That’s all.
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I think Kamara is one of my favourite players of the last 20 years. I just love what he brings to the team. Please stay fit!
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Nice to see Emperor Mings back to his imperious best.
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Superb 1st goal , Kamara creates it all, then credit to Rogers / Watkins and a superb finish from Rogers .
Goal 2 super ball through from Bailey , Watkins great strength clear foul by snoop dog , not the best pen but it's low and in the corner.
Good finish Cash goal 3 .
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Twattenberg on Amazon moaning! 😂😂😂😂 fuck off you bell end
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Superb 1st half from the boys got a bit nervy after they scored, but a thoroughly deserved win. Kamara and Rogers excellent, but Mings MOTM, he was magnifient, especially as it was his first start in the league since his injury.
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That Damsgaard has got the worst hair in football, his goal should have been chalked off for that reason alone.
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I would say Roger’s was motm - Mings very good and we just looked more solid with him there - with him and Martinez you feel like they have a degree of control and leadership even when we had a slightly ragged spell.
Hopefully everyone comes out of that with boosted confidence - we play a high risk style and confidence is key in it - but I would say that was are best performance in the league so far
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Superb 1st half from the boys got a bit nervy after they scored, but a thoroughly deserved win. Kamara and Rogers excellent, but Mings MOTM, he was magnifient, especially as it was his first start in the league since his injury.
Agreed. Rogers looked so much crisper and snapper, was superb throughout. He seems to be either brilliant or dreadful, with no in between. Kamara and Cash were also brilliant in the first half - but over the 90 our key performer was Tyrone Mings. Should we have ever doubted it? Love that man.
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https://www.skysports.com/football/video/12606/13267121/aston-villa-3-1-brentford-premier-league-highlights
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We were overrunning them start of second half and could have had another. Their goal was so against the run of play it was ridiculous. 20 odd minutes of nerves but we finished strongly and the subs didn't weaken us. Now let's get a good run going, playing a few teams around us after Saints.
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I think Kamara is one of my favourite players of the last 20 years. I just love what he brings to the team. Please stay fit!
Outstanding player but won't want to see a repeat of their goal. Sold himself far too easily.
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Better. Much better. We needed that.
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Loads of empty seats in the trinity...
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Loads of empty seats in the trinity...
Heck!
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Brilliant from Mings and you could see his influence on the side, Digne also great. Rogers playing himself back into form and I thought Ollie was better but can't keep missing chances.
I'm still baffled why he keeps hooking Kamara though who's been outstanding in the last 3 games. It can't be fitness, Mings has played 2 games in 12 months and did 90 tonight. I like Barkley but he's been poor lately.
You could see the confidence return to the side, and we need that to continue into Saturday.
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Best 45 minutes since last season. To quote MON that was "Scintillating football".
Mings looked like he'd never been away, Konsa looked happy to have him back and in his favoured position.
Digne made everything look so easy, he's such an unsung hero. Love him!
Kamara is on such a higher level it got to the point where the Brentford players wouldn't even press him.
Cash was like he likes it, busy but generally winning his duels. What a sprint up the pitch to get his goal!
Tielemans had a great first half.
McGinn's energy was back and some of his distribution was superb.
Rogers was finding the space and he was brilliant carrying the ball. His goal wasn't too tatty either.
Watkins had his usual chances and shot straight at the keeper, good power on his penalty though I thought the keeper had saved it and a reminder of how good he can be with his head. Big shift like last season.
Bailey.. he tried and for 45 minutes he was fine, the team were carrying him but fortunately it was only him and it gave him scope to recapture his form and confidence.
Not sure what Unai said to the players at half time, maybe he wasn't happy with the game not being fully controlled and we were too cavalier but the breaks were put on and allowed Brentford far too much of the ball. If Unai was looking for a great defensive training session he found it. The lads managed it but chasing around wasn't great on the legs, especially Tielemans who looked both knackered and lost at times.
Duran did well to create chances for himself as well as working well in the build up. More of that and Watkins will have to start looking over his shoulder. Martinez tried to go long on several occasions to find him and it was great to see us having alternative tactics other than trying to play it out the back.
Good to see Buendia get a few minutes, he tried his best to use the time and I expect we'll see more of him this month.
Barkley needs to remind himself that discipline is key and he can't go back to being an 18 year old at Everton. He has the technique and maturity but it was missing tonight.
Jaden. I'd hoped he would use his skill and pace to attack but other than one great run from the right side to the left flank, every ball was back to Cash.
Overall, a first half straight out of the chapters of the first half of 2023/24, I absolutely loved it, brilliant entertainment, energy and movement, followed by a partially disjointed second half straight out of 2024/25. I predicted a 3-0 win before kick off and at half time I was expecting us to double our lead. I hope we're saving the thrashing for Southampton on Saturday. Play like we did first half and it could be double figures.
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Brilliant from Mings and you could see his influence on the side, Digne also great. Rogers playing himself back into form and I thought Ollie was better but can't keep missing chances.
I'm still baffled why he keeps hooking Kamara though who's been outstanding in the last 3 games. It can't be fitness, Mings has played 2 games in 12 months and did 90 tonight. I like Barkley but he's been poor lately.
You could see the confidence return to the side, and we need that to continue into Saturday.
I think Kamara is the most important player in the squad to be honest, and perhaps they've brought him back a bit ahead of schedule, so has to have his minutes managed. Mings has been behind Torres in the pecking order, so has perhaps got every last bit of recuperation time he needed?
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Rogers my motm. Imperious.
Great to hear. Love him overall. He scares me.
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Best 45 minutes since last season. To quote MON that was "Scintillating football".
It was terrific, absolutely terrific.
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Best 45 minutes since last season. To quote MON that was "Scintillating football".
It was terrific, absolutely terrific.
Pushes glasses back up bridge of nose .
Stares at reporter .
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It was so good to see one of our defenders be able head a ball with power and determination.
Welcome back Ty, you have been missed.
Rogers looked a lot like his old self.
Digne was very good and is so positive when he’s on his game.
A word on Duran. You can see how he is developing, maturing and becoming a team player.
He was excellent when he came on, despite getting booked before he had actually touched the ball.
The strategy with him is working.
Philogene is the one that infuriates me.
He was on for what, 25 minutes ?
Contributed the sum of bugger all, conspired to give the ball away in the fullback area when it was easier to clear, and went about 15 without being involved at all.
All in all though, a solid professional job.
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Funny that points wise we're nearer relegation than winning the league. All seems quite tight this season. Other than Liverpool at the top, there's a lot of teams moving around every week.
Us and Newcastle ranged 5/6 places tonight alone. Three wins on the bounce now and we'll be back in a strong position.
Mings was superb. Play him every week without compromise.
Is "ranged" an actual word? Sick!
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Konsa looks much more assured with Mings back. I thought, particularly first half, all the players played quite well. A little more subdued in the second half but, can’t complain about our general play tonight.
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Best 45 minutes since last season. To quote MON that was "Scintillating football".
It was terrific, absolutely terrific.
MON knowing that we'd only be on MOTD for 4 minutes knew he could get away with saying "Scintillating football" even though we were generally shite. Protect the brand 'Martin the Great Thinker - The Second Coming of Clough' when overall he was more Len Fairclough than Brian Clough.
Tonight we really did play some "Scintillating football". At times it was joyous to watch.
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Was on a tour of Sao Paolo so missed this, caught the last 10 minutes on a stream in a bar. Too many skyscrapers here, wish I'd stayed longer in Rio. Delighted with the result though.
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At last! Get the fuq in!
Thought Morgan was great tonight! Still not sure about the new hair though!
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Best 45 minutes since last season. To quote MON that was "Scintillating football".
It was terrific, absolutely terrific.
Pushes glasses back up bridge of nose .
Stares at reporter .
Man's a cvnt.
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Without reading the thread so far that was the most generous 3-1 defeat Brentford will ever get. We absolutely ripped them apart attack after attack but some relaxed finishing allowed them to go away not being beaten 6-0. I say 6-0 because their goal was a disgraceful decision by ref and VAR.
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In fairness, the ski-instructor who hits on his students more successfully than he has any right to (Frank) has said in his post-match comments that we were unstoppable.
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Great stuff. They looked better second half but still only had the one shot on target.
Only for about 10 mins. After that we regained control and saw it out very comfortably.
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In fairness, the ski-instructor who hits on his students more successfully than he has any right to (Frank) has said in his post-match comments that we were unstoppable.
He also complained about the wrong goal, preferring inexplicably to whinge about the penalty, which I thought was as obvious as I've seen this year.
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Great stuff. They looked better second half but still only had the one shot on target.
Only for about 10 mins. After that we regained control and saw it out very comfortably.
Yep, 10 minutes more than in the first half though, so 'better'.
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Mings and Digne were outstanding. Rogers is back on it. McGinn and Bailey were poor tbh, and a special mention to Barkley who was awful from the first touch to last. Hopefully kick on from that but some of this squad are regressing badly.
I thought Bailey played really well
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At last! Get the fuq in!
Thought Morgan was great tonight! Still not sure about the new hair though!
If you're going to have hair like that you've got to deliver. He more than delivered.
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It was so good to see one of our defenders be able head a ball with power and determination.
Welcome back Ty, you have been missed.
Rogers looked a lot like his old self.
Digne was very good and is so positive when he’s on his game.
A word on Duran. You can see how he is developing, maturing and becoming a team player.
He was excellent when he came on, despite getting booked before he had actually touched the ball.
The strategy with him is working.
Philogene is the one that infuriates me.
He was on for what, 25 minutes ?
Contributed the sum of bugger all, conspired to give the ball away in the fullback area when it was easier to clear, and went about 15 without being involved at all.
All in all though, a solid professional job.
Philogene was ok.
Barkley was dire
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Much better. Looked like we were going to score everytime we attacked which was great to see again. Rogers was great again, must have been the new mop.
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Was on a tour of Sao Paolo so missed this, caught the last 10 minutes on a stream in a bar. Too many skyscrapers here, wish I'd stayed longer in Rio. Delighted with the result though.
It is skyscraper central, but the very few cities are as beautiful as Rio. I like São Paulo, better nightlife than Rio, and Paulistas are smarter and more stylish than their Carioca counterparts (plus the accent is easier to understand). Easy to see (and hear) the Italian influence there.
Do try and get to https://www.duecuochi.com.br/itaim-bibi/ for lunch. Well worth a visit, just make sure they give you the cheaper lunch menu.
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Some excellent football tonight going forward. We still give the ball away in silly positions but I suppose it risk and reward and tonight it paid off.
Mings was the rock we need in defence and I thought Watkins held the ball up much better and made their defence panic. He still looks way off it in front of goal but he’s getting in those positions so it will come.
Another win on Saturday and all of this negativity will start going away.
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Great stuff. They looked better second half but still only had the one shot on target.
Only for about 10 mins. After that we regained control and saw it out very comfortably.
Yep, 10 minutes more than in the first half though, so 'better'.
Yes they were slightly better but we still could have had 3 goals.🙂
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Was on a tour of Sao Paolo so missed this, caught the last 10 minutes on a stream in a bar. Too many skyscrapers here, wish I'd stayed longer in Rio. Delighted with the result though.
Enjoy the rest of your trip eamonn. I remember a very good day and night with BV in São Paulo. Everything is always better when Villa win.
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Thought we were really good tonight 1st half and despite their goal we’re reasonably comfortable second half, and if we’re being honest their keeper made 3 or 4 top saves and we’d have won that by 6 or 7 if he hadn’t.
I can’t be arsed to do scores on the doors tonight as they were all pretty good.
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Watkins was offside for the third, amazed VAR didn’t chalk it off as he was active in challenging for the ball.
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Philogene was ok.
Barkley was dire
Come on Tim stop being so harsh. No one was dire tonight. Did you notice the control we had when Barkley was on the pitch?
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Watkins was offside for the third, amazed VAR didn’t chalk it off as he was active in challenging for the ball.
No, NO and thrice NO.
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Barkley was poor, and was the main reason they looked better than they were. Instead of providing any sort of calmness, he made loads of mistakes and kept losing the ball.
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I didn’t think Bailey or mcginn weren’t that bad. I don’t think anyone had a bad game.
So you think they WERE bad?
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Much better performance. Kamara was my MOTM with Digne and Cash a close second. Really happy for Ty, he is such a good defender and it showed tonight. Even Jaden had some swagger during his brief cameo. Hopefully this becomes the norm and we can challenge top-4 again.
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Barkley was poor, and was the main reason they looked better than they were. Instead of providing any sort of calmness, he made loads of mistakes and kept losing the ball.
Yep he had a shocker for his first 10 mins then seemed to calm down after Unai gesticulated at him.
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Mings is the captain, not mcginn
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Philogene was ok.
Barkley was dire
Come on Tim stop being so harsh. No one was dire tonight. Did you notice the control we had when Barkley was on the pitch?
Barkley's main contribution was losing the ball . Awful cameo . Buendia was great
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Couldn’t go tonight as the babby had training (he only misses it for CL games) and I had work at ten, so watched the first half on Amazon. VP was either very quiet or Tyrone Mings was very loud. Great to have him back.
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Philogene was ok.
Barkley was dire
Come on Tim stop being so harsh. No one was dire tonight. Did you notice the control we had when Barkley was on the pitch?
Barkley's main contribution was losing the ball . Awful cameo . Buendia was great
I noticed that Unai Emery was having a bit of a go at Buendia on the touchline about something right after the game finished. Only thing he did wrong was that crossfield pass that went awry, as I thought he looked sharp apart from that.
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Philogene was ok.
Barkley was dire
Come on Tim stop being so harsh. No one was dire tonight. Did you notice the control we had when Barkley was on the pitch?
Barkley's main contribution was losing the ball . Awful cameo . Buendia was great
I noticed that Unai Emery was having a bit of a go at Buendia on the touchline about something right after the game finished. Only thing he did wrong was that crossfield pass that went awry, as I thought he looked sharp apart from that.
Had a shot when Unai probably wanted him to head for the corner flag. They shook hands after their tiff though.
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I think Torres has needed competition for his place, now he has i believe we'll see a reaction from him
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I think Torres has needed competition for his place, now he has i believe we'll see a reaction from him
I hope not. He’s not the leader we need. Konsa and Pau have proved for a season and a half that they are not a good partnership, despite what football illiterates believe.
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Mings , Rogers and Kamara , the three kings tonight .
Cash and Luca and Konsa bought enough presence to the team too.
McGinn , Youri and Watkins did enough , Ollie could have made it 4 .
Bailey did 2 good things the rest was pretty avarage and martinez didnt have alot to do .
We moved it alot quicker than normal tonight and went direct alot in the second half and a mention to the reflex up front Duran when he came on , he played really well and was unlucky not to score.
Soton win and the confidence will be up for the energy drinks and the trees .
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Kamara is absolutely bloody crucial. His ability to snuff out opposition attacks and then start our own in second to none. Rogers also when he’s like that he so good, driving at defences and creating space.
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I think Torres has needed competition for his place, now he has i believe we'll see a reaction from him
I hope not. He’s not the leader we need. Konsa and Pau have proved for a season and a half that they are not a good partnership, despite what football illiterates believe.
That is a weird thing to say. Better hope there’s no injuries or ever a need to change things.
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Didn't think Barkley did too much wrong, just watched the replay and still can't see all the mistakes he made. For me Mings was the big difference, he played like a captain.
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Thought we struggled defensively, Mings was the the best defender and did okay when the ball was pumped long or crossed into our box.
1st half played some good stuff with passes from midfield into our attacking players, 2nd half we did not control the game as well as Emery wants us to do.
Hopefully get another win on Saturday.
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For all of their huff and puff for the 20mins after their goal, they only had 1 shot on target.
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We’re a better team with Mings & Kamara fit and playing.
Was expecting Watkins to be given offside for the 3rd goal but I felt we should have had a penalty before that.
Great driving work by McGinn for the 3rd goal, he needs to do that more.
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I think Torres has needed competition for his place, now he has i believe we'll see a reaction from him
I hope not. He’s not the leader we need. Konsa and Pau have proved for a season and a half that they are not a good partnership, despite what football illiterates believe.
That is a weird thing to say. Better hope there’s no injuries or ever a need to change things.
Obviously he’s a decent reserve, and if we have to rely on him I’d want him to do well. For the team’s sake though, and particularly Konsa’s, who’s struggled at centre-half without him, I’d want Mings fit and being picked.
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I was surprised the third goal stood and I must admit I wasn't convinced by the pen decision either
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That was vintage villa. First time this season we looked like the side of last year. We were excellent.
Shows how impressive our defensive performance was when quality players like wissa and mbeulo are not getting a sniff.
This is exactly what we need competition for places. If mings has a stinker torres will be on him like a rash to take his spot and vice versa
Once onana comes back and JJ that applies pressure on mcginn and youri too.
The biggest area in which we dont have competition is wide. Bailey was average and philiogene again didnt take his chance when called upon.
Mings and digne in particular were excellent. Rogers looekd far better too.
Barkley was terrible. Worse game for us. He has generally been good so we can just put that as a bad day in office. But delighted we are back winning!
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Thought Watkins did really well , assist for goal 1 , won the pen got up and took it for goal 2 .
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Thought Watkins did really well , assist for goal 1 , won the pen got up and took it for goal 2 .
Agreed, even though it wasn't the best penalty ever I thought it was important for him to step up and take it himself.
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I was surprised the third goal stood and I must admit I wasn't convinced by the pen decision either
I agree. Not moaning but would have been mad if they’d been given against us.
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Kamara makes this team tick. He compliments the back four so well, dropping in or covering errors. He can see and execute a pass and, that turn to take out three midfielders to leave acres of space ahead of him was just brilliant. Our performance dipped as he became tired I thought.
Mings was solid at the back and, rather than the “either/or” with Torres, I think it offers more a “horses for courses”. A pacy, physical, high pressing opposition, Mings is an obvious choice when fit; more room at the back with time on the ball then it’s Torres. To dismiss the Torres contribution over the last season and a half seems to me to ignore where we finished last season, the Konsa/Torres partnership being an important part of that progression.
Bailey appears to be getting better, again I wonder if that’s partly down to the freedom he is allowed with Kamara covering him, pushing him slightly higher.
Overall, I thought a decent Emery-Villa performance, far better than over the last few weeks, certainly in the league. Makes a change to not go a goal down and be chasing the game.
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It was better, but only just / that isn’t a criticism either. Chelsea away aside, we haven’t been shit in any game I don’t think. The massive differences were that we won a lot of 50/50s, we took our chances more or less and got the rub of the green a couple of times. Fine margins and all that. Our position i the league is a false one.
Also, how great to have the real Morgan Rogers back!
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I'm glad we are back to winning ways.
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Random observations. I thought Kamara was superb and if we had 11 players with his quality and commitment then we'd be top of the league. Rogers shaded MotM for me. That role really suits him and his confidence after that excellent goal rocketed - good. Digne and Konsa/Mings also stood out. Duran looked really up for it. What a player to have at your disposal when he's on it. Nothing special from Jayden but he's combative and isn't afraid to get stuck in, something you notice because Bailey doesn't. I like Maatsen. He's technically decent and has pace to burn. Buendia was really lively and our interchanges with him as the pivot was sublime, albeit against a defeated side.
Much, much better. Thank f##k.
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I was surprised the third goal stood and I must admit I wasn't convinced by the pen decision either
Pen was one of those were that if it was given on the field, VAR wasn't changing it. We have had a few where it went the other way with the ref making the call against us which VAR wouldn't overrule.
I also think the same with the offside, if the linesman had flagged, it would have been called on-field decision potentially similar to the Southampton one the other day. But as the lino didn't AND the defender had a decent chance to head it away with no "interference" from Watkins.......
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So, last night we finally saw what Philogene can do. There was a run he made - about 7-8 minutes from the end - where he sashayed across the pitch, beating 4-5 players as he went, and then delivered the ball to a colleague. The guy has some skills.
Which leads me to ponder, why is it that neither he nor Bailey get down the wing enough? I honestly think that they are under instruction not to put the ball at risk or become isolated. Which - if that is true - then leads me to wonder why Emery is so keen on playing wingers when he does not want them to deliver wing-play?!
I'm confused!
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I was surprised the third goal stood and I must admit I wasn't convinced by the pen decision either
Pen was one of those were that if it was given on the field, VAR wasn't changing it. We have had a few where it went the other way with the ref making the call against us which VAR wouldn't overrule.
I also think the same with the offside, if the linesman had flagged, it would have been called on-field decision potentially similar to the Southampton one the other day. But as the lino didn't AND the defender had a decent chance to head it away with no "interference" from Watkins.......
... is the right answer.
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The laws mention attempting to play the ball which Watkins clearly did.
The point about competition for places raising performances (in respect of Pau) is well made. It’s a shame Bailey doesn’t have Diaby to push him on too.
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Brentford were shockingly bad all over the pitch, their league position is a false one. Maybe they can only play at home or maybe their set up was to combat our usual slow build up. Whatever the reason our formation made them look championship level at best. When Mings is as dominant as he was you don’t notice Konsa, that’s the difference he makes. McPhee should work on him for attacking corner routines as he’s a real threat if he’s allowed to get on the end of crosses. Lots of very good individual performances from our lot which is great to see. Their keeper maybe should have saved the penalty, it wasn’t a well hit shot. His attempt to punch away that 2nd half corner was comical, it would have ended up in the net if he hadn’t made amends with the follow up punch. More of the same V Southampton please.
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I was surprised the third goal stood and I must admit I wasn't convinced by the pen decision either
Pen was one of those were that if it was given on the field, VAR wasn't changing it. We have had a few where it went the other way with the ref making the call against us which VAR wouldn't overrule.
I also think the same with the offside, if the linesman had flagged, it would have been called on-field decision potentially similar to the Southampton one the other day. But as the lino didn't AND the defender had a decent chance to head it away with no "interference" from Watkins.......
The pen was the correct decision, as was the yellow card. If he'd made an attempt to tackle, it would have been a red card. It was only yellow was he wasn't attempting to stop or tackle Watkins. It's still technically a foul, but not a deliberate attempt to prevent a goal-scoring opportunity.
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Great result in the context of the last few weeks.
But brentford gave us so much space to play, particularly Rogers.
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The laws mention attempting to play the ball which Watkins clearly did.
Well it states:
clearly attempting to play a ball which is close when this action impacts on an opponent or
making an obvious action which clearly impacts on the ability of an opponent to play the ball.
Although he ran for the ball, he didn't touch the defender or goalkeeper or impede them in anyway from playing the ball. Like I stated, if the lino had called him offside, VAR would have upheld it similar to the one against Southampton. Or if he had jumped into the defender or blocked the keeper it would have been changed, but I think with the on-field being a goal, and no real impact from Watkins on them, then VAR would have been pushing to override it.
(Cue "but any player offside in the pen area is interfering" comments).
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I thought Kamara's twist & turn for the Rogers goal was orgasmic.
Is there something wrong with me?
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Brentford were shockingly bad all over the pitch, their league position is a false one. Maybe they can only play at home or maybe their set up was to combat our usual slow build up. Whatever the reason our formation made them look championship level at best. When Mings is as dominant as he was you don’t notice Konsa, that’s the difference he makes. McPhee should work on him for attacking corner routines as he’s a real threat if he’s allowed to get on the end of crosses. Lots of very good individual performances from our lot which is great to see. Their keeper maybe should have saved the penalty, it wasn’t a well hit shot. His attempt to punch away that 2nd half corner was comical, it would have ended up in the net if he hadn’t made amends with the follow up punch. More of the same V Southampton please.
They've kind of had a reverse recent run to our own, in that they've accumulated decent points by beating Ipswich, Wolves, Leicester and Bournemouth in the last 8 games or so, while we've been losing ground and points with defeats to Liverpool, Chelsea, and Spurs. The quality of the teams we've played is wildly different.
Last night was a good performance and result, but it feels like it was due. Apart from Chelsea, and the second half at Spurs, I don't think we've been "terrible" in any of our recent games, and we certainly deserved more from a lot of the last 8 games. Hopefully this is a turning point. Beat Southampton and Forest, and things will look a lot rosier going into the City game. We're still in the fight for the top 4, though I think the current occupants will be there at the end of the season.
If we are to get Champions League football again, it will have to be via 5th place, and I suspect we'll be battling it out with Spurs, Newcastle and Man Utd.
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I thought Kamara's twist & turn for the Rogers goal was orgasmic.
Is there something wrong with me?
I think there's something wrong with anybody who didn't at least have a mild semi from that.
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So, last night we finally saw what Philogene can do. There was a run he made - about 7-8 minutes from the end - where he sashayed across the pitch, beating 4-5 players as he went, and then delivered the ball to a colleague. The guy has some skills.
Which leads me to ponder, why is it that neither he nor Bailey get down the wing enough? I honestly think that they are under instruction not to put the ball at risk or become isolated. Which - if that is true - then leads me to wonder why Emery is so keen on playing wingers when he does not want them to deliver wing-play?!
I'm confused!
Yeah thats the first time i saw him beat players. It was veey diaby like.
I dodnt think his performance barring that was gokd though
Definitely need to look at strengthening those areas in next couple of windows
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While we played well last night I wouldn't have been confident of defending our lead at 3-1 with Carlos and Pau responsible for dealing with all those crosses into our box. Mings was deservedly our man of the match.
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Another thing , I dont think Unai was too happy with Bailey when he lost the ball and seem tostop and give up , you dont want to be seeing that .
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Another thing , I dont think Unai was too happy with Bailey when he lost the ball and seem tostop and give up , you dont want to be seeing that .
I nearly lost my shit over that too. He does that far too often when the ball's still in play.
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We're still in the fight for the top 4, though I think the current occupants will be there at the end of the season.
If we are to get Champions League football again, it will have to be via 5th place, and I suspect we'll be battling it out with Man Utd.
not sure about them Smithy
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I was surprised the third goal stood and I must admit I wasn't convinced by the pen decision either
Pen was one of those were that if it was given on the field, VAR wasn't changing it. We have had a few where it went the other way with the ref making the call against us which VAR wouldn't overrule.
I also think the same with the offside, if the linesman had flagged, it would have been called on-field decision potentially similar to the Southampton one the other day. But as the lino didn't AND the defender had a decent chance to head it away with no "interference" from Watkins.......
The pen was the correct decision, as was the yellow card. If he'd made an attempt to tackle, it would have been a red card. It was only yellow was he wasn't attempting to stop or tackle Watkins. It's still technically a foul, but not a deliberate attempt to prevent a goal-scoring opportunity.
For the third, of course Watkins is interfering with play. The defender does quite well to head the ball away from him before Cash finishes it. The refereeing "team" tying themselves in knots rather than using common sense. We would be fuming if that one was given against us.
The second peno was a little soft. Watkins took a big swing at it and made sure the contact was exaggerated. Defender was caught badly on the wrong side, good play from Bailey and Watkins to be fair. No idea why he is taking a big swing at it in the first place. Anyway, it's a goal!
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For the third, of course Watkins is interfering with play. The defender does quite well to head the ball away from him before Cash finishes it. The refereeing "team" tying themselves in knots rather than using common sense. We would be fuming if that one was given against us.
The second peno was a little soft. Watkins took a big swing at it and made sure the contact was exaggerated. Defender was caught badly on the wrong side, good play from Bailey and Watkins to be fair. No idea why he is taking a big swing at it in the first place. Anyway, it's a goal!
And we have had them given against us WITH more interference then anything Watkins did last night. Think when Sterling dummied the ball in from a freekick for example. However I honestly think they are looking for the more physical contact from the attacker on the defender rather then just being close to the ball unless the onfield decision is offside. For example, Everton had one disallowed last night because an initial offside attacker blocked off a defender. The offence happened nowhere near the ball though, just that the toffee was offside as the freekick was taken. IF the player was onside, they wouldn't have disallowed it at all.
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The biggest area in which we dont have competition is wide. Bailey was average and philiogene again didnt take his chance when called upon.
I agree with that and would add RB too. It's going to be hard to do business in January, but if we can only bring one player in during the window, I'd like to see a very pacy right sided wide player, not necessarily to replace Bailey, but to just give us a point a difference.
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Loved that Philogene Messi run at the end.
It screamed "let me free,Unai"!
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Bailey played well and Philogene was perfectly fine when he came on.
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Philogene was getting a lot of coaching/advice/bollockings from Unai for the first few minutes he was on the pitch - he then seemed to settle into the game.
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I think Torres has needed competition for his place, now he has i believe we'll see a reaction from him
I hope not. He’s not the leader we need. Konsa and Pau have proved for a season and a half that they are not a good partnership, despite what football illiterates believe.
He only played a massive part in getting us in the Champions League.
We’ll need horses for courses. Pau is a brilliant footballer.
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Apart from the instance mentioned where Bailey tried to dribble out of our own box, lost it and gave up, I thought he was good, particularly in tracking back to help Cash. What a difference it makes when we have forward players in form together as all of them were excellent first half with Watkins playing the target man role wonderfully.
We looked back to early UE days, patient with the ball at the back but go through the gears quickly when the opposition over commit to a press, the 3 midfielders all were able to play that quick vertical ball into Rogers and Bailey who both seemed to be starting a little narrower than in previous games.
Subs were a bit of a mixed bag, thought we lost a bit of control with the first 2 who then settled and Duran I thought played with a great maturity toward the end, keeping the ball and really calming things down. Buendia looked after the ball well and Barklay, well, he'll have better cameos.
First half excellent, second far more nervy than it should have been. My MOM, Digne.
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It's nice to have options. Expecting Mings to play 180 minutes a week for the next three months after having over a year out might be asking a bit much. I like Konsa and Mings against Southampton on Saturday. I'd be tempted to pick Carlos and Torres against, say, Man City as they have a different sort of threat, more physical than pacy.
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That was a superb first-half and a little unexpected following recent results and performances. Great to see Mings back and playing with such assurance and that was the Morgan Rogers that we know is there but haven't quite seen this season. Excellent.
However the key for me really is Kamara. Brentford are a more dangerous attacking force than Palace, say, who ran right through us repeatedly but his alertness and footballing intelligence just stopped Brentford at source and allowed us to dictate the tempo and control the game in the first half.
What he does is not showy but without him we are at risk of being overrun. My mom for how he plays but more importantly for what he enables every other player to do.
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Some rubbish on here about pen and offside. It was most definitely a penalty as Ollie was unbalanced with the tug on his arm. There was no interference by Ollie as defender was able to do what he wanted to do, clear the ball. That’s what he would have done 10 times out of 10 in that position regardless of where attacker was.
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But he wouldn't have had to clear the ball if Ollie wasn't there, interfering. It was a definite penalty, though. The only question was whether he was making any attempt to get the ball, he could have had few complaints if he was sent off.
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Some rubbish on here about pen and offside. It was most definitely a penalty as Ollie was unbalanced with the tug on his arm. There was no interference by Ollie as defender was able to do what he wanted to do, clear the ball. That’s what he would have done 10 times out of 10 in that position regardless of where attacker was.
It's all about opinions. I didn't think it was a blatant penalty but understand why it was given and, yeah, he seemed to go for the ball when in an offside position for the 3rd goal.
On another day the decisions are different. Anyway, who cares? We finally saw the Aston Villa that we've been missing.
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I hope not. He’s not the leader we need. Konsa and Pau have proved for a season and a half that they are not a good partnership, despite what football illiterates believe.
🤦🏾 bloody heathen. I hope Pau is back on Saturday or next Tuesday.
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But he wouldn't have had to clear the ball if Ollie wasn't there,
Oh yes he would have because defenders are told to do that, never take a chance on no one being there behind you. (and honestly it was not a pantomime)
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That Damsgaard has got the worst hair in football, his goal should have been chalked off for that reason alone.
He's a Benedictine monk in his spare time.
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About attendance last night,
Edited as in deleted.
Already being discussed ad-nauseam in Heck thread.
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Mings is the captain, not mcginn
Yeah but has he knocked on the managers door and looked him squarely in the eye?
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About attendance last night, I thought we were about 10K short of capacity. Heck’s strategy is biting.
Brentford also had a poor turn out..
Was good to have a chat with a couple of Brentford fans in the Bartons last night.
One attended his first game in 1960, the other 1965.
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Great win last night. Their keeper was outstanding.
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I was surprised the third goal stood and I must admit I wasn't convinced by the pen decision either
The third goal was tight and I was surprised that the lines and protractors weren't bought out so I assumed there was another reason. The defender got a good touch on the ball so could have cleared it maybe? I dunno but after we the disallowed goal against Juve and the denial of a penalty at Anfield when Pau's shirt was being ripped off his back we were due one going our way. As for the pen I'm totally convinced it was the correct decision. Their player got so close to Ollies back while both players were running towards goal it made contact unavoidable once Ollie went to shoot. He knew exactly what he was doing that's why his complaints were pretty muted.
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Especially as, I believe, it was his first Premier League match, I thought the ref did ok, now where did I put my tin helmet.
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On the subject of penalties I thought we had a decent shout of a second one when Ollie was completely flattened with no attempt to get to the ball in the second half.
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On the subject of penalties I thought we had a decent shout of a second one when Ollie was completely flattened with no attempt to get to the ball in the second half.
Not a penalty, but a defender wiped out Bailey on the edge of the box in the 1st half and got given the free kick.
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I love football.
Today!
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Tyrone Mings, take a bow. He inspires confidence throughout the team - strong leadership and some great clearances. Great to see him back for a full PL 90 minutes.
Absolutely!
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On the subject of penalties I thought we had a decent shout of a second one when Ollie was completely flattened with no attempt to get to the ball in the second half.
Not a penalty, but a defender wiped out Bailey on the edge of the box in the 1st half and got given the free kick.
I thought that at the time, but to be fair, on the replay it showed the defender coming in from the side and getting in just ahead of Bailey, so although they both got knocked the ground, technically it was Bailey running into the defender rather than the other way round. In real-time it just looked like he wiped Bailey out as he came from the side.
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Especially as, I believe, it was his first Premier League match, I thought the ref did ok, now where did I put my tin helmet.
It wasn’t. His first match was our match with Fulham last season.
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On the subject of penalties I thought we had a decent shout of a second one when Ollie was completely flattened with no attempt to get to the ball in the second half.
Not a penalty, but a defender wiped out Bailey on the edge of the box in the 1st half and got given the free kick.
I thought that at the time, but to be fair, on the replay it showed the defender coming in from the side and getting in just ahead of Bailey, so although they both got knocked the ground, technically it was Bailey running into the defender rather than the other way round. In real-time it just looked like he wiped Bailey out as he came from the side.
No, that's ok if he comes and touches the ball in some way but he was nowhere near it.
It used to be called 'obstruction' but fuck knows what's going through their heads these days.
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Tyrone Mings, take a bow. He inspires confidence throughout the team - strong leadership and some great clearances. Great to see him back for a full PL 90 minutes.
Absolutely!
Some of his headed clearances were exactly what we have missed . You cannot beat a great Centre Half, it's something this club has done well overall down the years
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There was a foul on Cash for their goal
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That barge into the back of Watkins was as clear a penalty as you're likely to see, but with some incidents it seems there is some kind of unwritten rule being applied by the referee and VAR officials - a kind of 'can't be arsed with that one.'
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I thought Kamara's twist & turn for the Rogers goal was orgasmic.
Is there something wrong with me?
I think there's something wrong with anybody who didn't at least have a mild semi from that.
I channeled my inner LeeB and ejaculated pompously
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That barge into the back of Watkins was as clear a penalty as you're likely to see, but with some incidents it seems there is some kind of unwritten rule being applied by the referee and VAR officials - a kind of 'can't be arsed with that one.'
As I said in the match thread, it's the sort of thing that is clearly intentional and done to obstruct the attacker but loads of refs take the view of "he got a shot away" and wave it on. Not giving things like that is a huge factor in the amount of diving in the game because if Watkins goes down it's given and no one complains.
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There was a foul on Cash for their goal
Would have been very soft, IMO. Would have been disallowed if it was Villa scoring it against Man Utd, but that's about it.
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There was a foul on Cash for their goal
Would have been very soft, IMO. Would have been disallowed if it was Villa scoring it against Man Utd, but that's about it.
The clear and obvious foul was the on McGinn as they started the attack. Rogers played a little pass, and the Brentford player seemed to kick through the back of SJM.
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There was a foul on Cash for their goal
Would have been very soft, IMO. Would have been disallowed if it was Villa scoring it against Man Utd, but that's about it.
The clear and obvious foul was the on McGinn as they started the attack. Rogers played a little pass, and the Brentford player seemed to kick through the back of SJM.
Indeed, I was fully expecting it to be disallowed as a result. Overall though I thought the ref was decent although the bar has been set low just lately.
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It's nice to have options. Expecting Mings to play 180 minutes a week for the next three months after having over a year out might be asking a bit much. I like Konsa and Mings against Southampton on Saturday. I'd be tempted to pick Carlos and Torres against, say, Man City as they have a different sort of threat, more physical than pacy.
Other than their big, bruiser centre forward… Haaland has the potential to eat Torres alive.
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It's nice to have options. Expecting Mings to play 180 minutes a week for the next three months after having over a year out might be asking a bit much. I like Konsa and Mings against Southampton on Saturday. I'd be tempted to pick Carlos and Torres against, say, Man City as they have a different sort of threat, more physical than pacy.
Other than their big, bruiser centre forward… Haaland has the potential to eat Torres alive.
Yet he didn't last season, did he?
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There was a foul on Cash for their goal
Would have been very soft, IMO. Would have been disallowed if it was Villa scoring it against Man Utd, but that's about it.
The clear and obvious foul was the on McGinn as they started the attack. Rogers played a little pass, and the Brentford player seemed to kick through the back of SJM.
Fair enough, I missed that, then.
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Really enjoyed watching that on tv. Defence all excellent. Brentford huffed and puffed after their goal but Emi had very little to do. Should have scored more than 3, their keeper was very good apart from when he punched the ball up in the air!
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I thought Kamara's twist & turn for the Rogers goal was orgasmic.
Is there something wrong with me?
Footballing kinks are now catered for in today's society.
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Konsa and Pau have proved for a season and a half that they are not a good partnership, despite what football illiterates believe.
Then i must be illiterate as i am sure they got us (in the main) to 4th in the table and a semi final in the Conference cup and after a 4 game winning streak, without conceding, we were top of the Champions league table.
Mings is one of my favourites and its great to have him back but even though Torres has some weaknesses he is also a superb footballer who is fundamental to the way we play.
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Especially as, I believe, it was his first Premier League match, I thought the ref did ok, now where did I put my tin helmet.
It wasn’t. His first match was our match with Fulham last season.
In that case he’s an excellent ref. Two matches two wins for the Villa.
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Konsa and Pau have proved for a season and a half that they are not a good partnership, despite what football illiterates believe.
Then i must be illiterate as i am sure they got us (in the main) to 4th in the table and a semi final in the Conference cup and after a 4 game winning streak, without conceding, we were top of the Champions league table.
Mings is one of my favourites and its great to have him back but even though Torres has some weaknesses he is also a superb footballer who is fundamental to the way we play.
Oh ffs you’ve done it now
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I thought Jhon Jader Duran Palacio did really well when he came on.
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They did well first half the season when Mings was injured then after Xmas it wasn’t so good and this season has been worse . Last night looked like the defence of old (it was)
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Some rubbish on here about pen and offside. It was most definitely a penalty as Ollie was unbalanced with the tug on his arm. There was no interference by Ollie as defender was able to do what he wanted to do, clear the ball. That’s what he would have done 10 times out of 10 in that position regardless of where attacker was.
Agreed.
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Especially as, I believe, it was his first Premier League match, I thought the ref did ok, now where did I put my tin helmet.
His first match was us at Fulham last season.
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Konsa and Pau have proved for a season and a half that they are not a good partnership, despite what football illiterates believe.
Then i must be illiterate as i am sure they got us (in the main) to 4th in the table and a semi final in the Conference cup and after a 4 game winning streak, without conceding, we were top of the Champions league table.
Mings is one of my favourites and its great to have him back but even though Torres has some weaknesses he is also a superb footballer who is fundamental to the way we play.
That’s Carlos and Pau who play in the CL. You’d think that as we put so much store in clean sheets people would notice who plays virtually every time we keep one. (It’s Konsa/Carlos/Pau/Digne by the way, which is way better than Cash/Konsa/Pau/Digne, but nowhere near as good as Young/Konsa/Mings/Moreno was).
Konsa and Pau conceded 61 in the league last season. Konsa and Mings conceded 46 the season before, which included 11 games under that clown Gerrard.
Also, our points per game was better from when Emery took over the year we finished 7th, than the year we finished 4th. So there was, in fact, a dip when Pau replaced Mings.
We did great against the very best teams, but that was when Unai always picked his most resolute defence without Mings (Konsa/Carlos/Pau/Digne)
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Especially as, I believe, it was his first Premier League match, I thought the ref did ok, now where did I put my tin helmet.
His first match was us at Fulham last season.
If only a really attractive poster had already pointed that out.
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Especially as, I believe, it was his first Premier League match, I thought the ref did ok, now where did I put my tin helmet.
His first match was us at Fulham last season.
If only a really attractive poster had already pointed that out.
Haha yes, sorry handsome. I saw that as I continued reading.
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Especially as, I believe, it was his first Premier League match, I thought the ref did ok, now where did I put my tin helmet.
His first match was us at Fulham last season.
If only a really attractive poster had already pointed that out.
Haha yes, sorry handsome. I saw that as I continued reading.
*kiss*
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Especially as, I believe, it was his first Premier League match, I thought the ref did ok, now where did I put my tin helmet.
His first match was us at Fulham last season.
If only a really attractive poster had already pointed that out.
Haha yes, sorry handsome. I saw that as I continued reading.
*kiss*
Back at ya
#rainbowlaces
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Talking of rainbow laces, did anyone enjoy to LGBT light show before the game last night? It's showed Tommy Hitz on the screen followed by Upside Down by Diana Ross. It was tremendous fun.
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Did he dance to it?
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Any stattos that can compare our points total last season to this after 14 games?
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05/12/23 we had played 14 and had 29 points.
So 7 points less this season so far.
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Thanks but a much more congested league maybe? I’m hoping.
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So using that as a straight line comparison to last seasons table we would finish 7th.
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Yes, ish nut it's a lot more complicated than that. The big difference this season though is that 6 of the top 7 have less points than the equivalent teams this time last season.
The bottom 7 is much closer with most of the points totals pretty similar. That means the number of teams who will be looking at the league and thinking top 6 is possible is much higher this year and is seeing a lot of teams in the 2-13 positions taking points from each other and keeping things compressed.
I don't think a straight line projection is useful right now and I don't think the top 3 will all finish over 80 points this season. If the English teams can secure a 5th CL spot I reckon the target to qualify this season will be 64-65points which we're well capable of from here.
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For schure Paulie, my friend.
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Paul that has given me great hope.
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Alternative NSFW commentary:
https://x.com/ptrckbrrtt/status/1864811229430042903?s=46&t=GdM6cpVxe5IloByNCRheWA
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Looking at our points tally at this point last season also doesn't consider how poor our form was in the second half of the season. If our second half form this season can be a bit closer to what it was in Emery's first season then everything's still to play for.
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I thought, especially in the first half, we played some fantastic stuff and moved the ball sharply and forward a lot more than recently.
3-0 up at HT and not surprisingly they have to pressure us or they could get a spanking.
Emi had only that goal to stop and to be fair no one was saving that.
I thought tactically we were spot on
Lets hope not a false dawn and our Villa are back
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Some rubbish on here about pen and offside. It was most definitely a penalty as Ollie was unbalanced with the tug on his arm. There was no interference by Ollie as defender was able to do what he wanted to do, clear the ball. That’s what he would have done 10 times out of 10 in that position regardless of where attacker was.
Agreed.
The Watkins 'interference with play' claim is obviously without foundation as the defender was trying to clear the ball and not challenging Watkins. It was very similar to the Southampton goal that was ruled out for the same reason against Brighton. The attacker was in front of the defender who was trying to clear the ball with no interference from the attacker. That one went against them. Watkins one went for us, and justifiably.
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Some rubbish on here about pen and offside. It was most definitely a penalty as Ollie was unbalanced with the tug on his arm. There was no interference by Ollie as defender was able to do what he wanted to do, clear the ball. That’s what he would have done 10 times out of 10 in that position regardless of where attacker was.
Agreed.
The Watkins 'interference with play' claim is obviously without foundation as the defender was trying to clear the ball and not challenging Watkins. It was very similar to the Southampton goal that was ruled out for the same reason against Brighton. The attacker was in front of the defender who was trying to clear the ball with no interference from the attacker. That one went against them. Watkins one went for us, and justifiably.
The one for Southampton was flagged offside at the time, with the lino probably telling the ref/var who he flagged and for why. This one was given onfield. Reverse the onfield decisions and Southampton would have scored and ours would have been ruled out as there is not enough of an error to justify a VAR change.
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My takeaway from the incident is that Ollie (still) needs to do a better job of staying onside.