Heroes & Villains, the Aston Villa fanzine
Heroes & Villains => Match Threads & Player Ratings => Topic started by: PeterWithesShin on January 21, 2025, 07:48:02 PM
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We played like Weeping Angels, as soon as we were looked at we stopped moving.
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0/10 for everyone.Including Cash
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Just a pathetic performance from everyone. Awful!!
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I was very bored by around the 55th minute mark. When were bad we do it properly.
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Was hoping for a Monte Carlo rally in the second half. It didn't happen.
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Awful. Play-offs here we come. Shit team v Tottenham now I reckon.
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Utter bobbins
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So slow, despite having so much of the ball we did so little with it. We used to be so creative with set pieces even that was poor tonight.
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Cash gets some credit, as does Kamara - at least they both tried.
Buendia should have been subbed at halftime with Bailey.
Emery needs some criticism as well here, just not quick enough with making changes.
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Some poor performances, Roger’s was shocking last 30 minutes.
We just seemed to run out of ideas.
Buendia very good first half though.
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Well that was a steaming pillow of hot turd on a cold, winter pavement.
Piss poor all over the pitch. Not good enough.
Pathetic performance. I’m delighted we still have the unique ability to shoot ourselves in the feet when we can do. It’s a Villa tradition.
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Monaco defended well but we just weren't at the races. All on next week.
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Awful. Play-offs here we come. Shit team v Tottenham now I reckon.
I know. Gutted.
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That was so poor I don't even feel especially disappointed, as we got exactly what we deserved, nothing.
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A game too far - Everton and Arsenal away in the past week has taken it out of them. Monaco, full of young players with running ability and hadn't played since Friday. A shame, we could really do with skipping the next round of this competition.
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That was absolutely, absolutely awful.
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That and the Bruge game are excellent illustrations of why Pau is so important to our build up play. The two centre-halves were desperately ineffective at passing out of the back, Monaco worked it out by the end and were just picking us off. Awful.
Rogers also should have been subbed 20 minutes earlier, he had just gone. Tielemans put on a clinic in how not to take a set piece.
If Mings and Konsa are playing the midfield has to take more risks.
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Unai always seems to make changes for cup games, no matter which cup. He pretty much always prioritizes league games.
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That’s on Unai I’m afraid.
Poor approach to the game. Such a poor set up, and then slow and passionless.
For a game with some much on it, we showed no passion or intensity.
Leaving players on who are clearly out of form or knackered.
To go a goal down after 8 mins and then barely threaten a response is criminal at this level.
Did their goalie make an actual save in the second half ?
We have saved our 2 worst performances for the 2 teams we should have expected to get something from.
An awful, awful performance.
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Our own worst enemy yet again. And a special mention to Bailey whose desire seemed woeful even by his own lamentable standards this season.
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Indicative of the season, we have played well sometimes in some games.Its obvious we don’t have the squad to try on more than one front. The only excuse Emery has is that he did not have a lot of choices but not taking Rogers off after 25 minutes into the second half probably cost us any chance of getting back into it. Also fatigue is no excuse to take so many shit corners.
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Cheers villa
Thats two cups now we are most likely to go out of as knowing our luck we get real madrid in play offs so we will play a weakened team vs spurs in fa cup.
A complete and utter shit show tonight.
Corners and set pieces were a embarrassment barring dignes 1st half free kick.
We played at snail pace, took far too many touches and were just awful in a attacking sense. Special shout to rogers who was collosally shit. Unai should have taken him off much sooner than he did. He would have been better off bringing on a youngster like kaden young as rogers was so bad tonight.
Thats two games in europe mings has cost us now.
Its just so frustrating we put so much in to get where we are and then choke against a very poor side who were there for taking. God villa. Seriously
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It's almost as if our players suddenly realised 'the more games we win, the more money Villa will have to replace me'.
Not true, but a complete lack of urgency.
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That and the Bruge game are excellent illustrations of why Pau is so important to our build up play. The two centre-halves were desperately ineffective at passing out of the back, Monaco worked it out by the end and were just picking us off. Awful.
Rogers also should have been subbed 20 minutes earlier, he had just gone. Tielemans put on a clinic in how not to take a set piece.
If Mings and Konsa are playing the midfield has to take more risks.
Agree Pau perfect fit for European games. We did miss midfield boddies
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I'd forgotten how much I hate football. When does the cricket season start so I can be pissed off by that, instead?
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Probably the worst performance of the season.
Not far off the Brugge game and it feels like we’ve thrown away a huge chance to avoid the play offs.
We’ve got to hope we get a few back as we look very tired physically and ideas wise. McGinn is a huge miss and Bailey yet again with a very disappointing performance. God knows what’s happened to him but he’ll find himself out of the door in the summer if he’s not careful.
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I'd forgotten how much I hate football. When does the cricket season start so I can be pissed off by that, instead?
Did you watch the England Women’s Ashes capitulation?
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On the plus side that's the last we see of Bailey.
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No fluency. Complete lack of creativity at corners, just lobbed aimlessly into the box - where was the McPhee creativity?
Rogers lost the ball time and time again in the 2nd half.
Watkins' miss in the first half was crucial.
Bailey - anonymous, fluffed header aside.
Duran doing his headless chicken performance, but got little or no service.
A fair result which demonstrates how far off being a really top side we are in terms of overall squad depth.
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Nice to see that they do walking football in Monaco on Tuesday nights like they do here down the road from me.
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Not sure I’ve seen two teams give the ball away so much. If you lose against a decent team, I can hold my hand up but Monaco were gash which says a lot about our performance.
The way we played with a lack of intensity or apparent desire to create anything was laughable.
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The subs absolutely fucked us. The minute Duran came on we lost any attacking threat we had, Digne was right to be furious, Maatsen was shit on Sat and shit tonight. Rogers vanished after the sub and he'd been OK. It should've been JJ for Bailey and keep the shape. It fell apart after we went two up top.
Again.
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Couldn’t do the basics.
Utter dross.
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Probably the worst performance of the season.
Not far off the Brugge game and it feels like we’ve thrown away a huge chance to avoid the play offs.
We’ve got to hope we get a few back as we look very tired physically and ideas wise. McGinn is a huge miss and Bailey yet again with a very disappointing performance. God knows what’s happened to him but he’ll find himself out of the door in the summer if he’s not careful.
It's not ideas. It's tactics. Almost every attack all season we piss about. Or pass it back when we could have moved it forward if more aggressive. At 2-2 on the weekend we had a chance 3vs3 and instead of going for it they slowed down and passed it sideways and arsenal inevitably get everyone behind the ball.
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Such an Aston Villa result. High hopes falling flat. Now we have our extra pressure on ourselves vs Celtic. Fuck sake.
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We desperately need Pau back. We can’t play Watkins and Duran together. Rogers is knackered and needs a rest.
Really poor.
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How many times did we hit the ball directly into the bloke standing a yard in front them ?
And every single corner, every single one. Shite.
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And thats why you and duran do not play together ollie.
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And thats why you and duran do not play together ollie.
I think Unai made that decision
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And thats why you and duran do not play together ollie.
I joked about that on another thread and it’s sort of true. But they were set up to fail as they didn’t even have scraps to feed off because no one behind them produced anything.
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And thats why you and duran do not play together ollie.
I joked about that on another thread and it’s sort of true. But they were set up to fail as they didn’t even have scraps to feed off because no one behind them produced anything.
It doesn't help that Youri had to play so far back and it was Buendia's first start in a while.
Hoping Malen can help with that in the near future.
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So frustrating , even though we were dog shit , I was still hoping to salvage a point as Monaco didn't look that good. We just kept gifted them stray passes, and generally just being shite. I'm sure the commentator said 16 points will almost surely mean qualification (I'm not so sure) ? Celtic game is huge now.
Bailey was a waste of shirt tonight.
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We desperately need Pau back. We can’t play Watkins and Duran together. Rogers is knackered and needs a rest.
Really poor.
Disagree. I think had Pau played, we’d have been 2 or 3 down. Mings made a mistake but he more than made up for it.
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A wasted opportunity. Small crowd, no atmosphere and playing a team bang out of form. And we turn up and play like someone has tied our shoelaces together. Looked very tired and out of ideas after 65 mins. Hardly tried to put any pressure on them at the end. Feel sorry for those who spent a fortune to get there.
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We desperately need Pau back. We can’t play Watkins and Duran together. Rogers is knackered and needs a rest.
Really poor.
Disagree. I think had Pau played, we’d have been 2 or 3 down. Mings made a mistake but he more than made up for it.
He made a few mistakes. Gave the ball away repeatedly too
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And thats why you and duran do not play together ollie.
I think Unai made that decision
Oh really didnt know that.
As you are aware ollie said that they can play together on the weekend which was the original point
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I'd forgotten how much I hate football. When does the cricket season start so I can be pissed off by that, instead?
Did you watch the England Women’s Ashes capitulation?
No, they insisted on playing it at a stupid Australian time. Utterly ridiculous, no wonder Hillbilly is so angry all the time having to live in an upside down time zone.
I still found time to moan about it on here, though.
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We desperately need Pau back. We can’t play Watkins and Duran together. Rogers is knackered and needs a rest.
Really poor.
Disagree. I think had Pau played, we’d have been 2 or 3 down. Mings made a mistake but he more than made up for it.
He made a few mistakes. Gave the ball away repeatedly too
Didn’t pick it up this time which is a plus.
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We desperately need Pau back. We can’t play Watkins and Duran together. Rogers is knackered and needs a rest.
Really poor.
Disagree. I think had Pau played, we’d have been 2 or 3 down. Mings made a mistake but he more than made up for it.
He made a few mistakes. Gave the ball away repeatedly too
He did give the ball away. But no more than Pau does.
The difference is Pau wouldn’t have coped with their physicality
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At one point he ignored an offside and waved play on, but we didn't notice and picked the ball up to take a free kick. I was waiting for him to award a free kick for them, but he seemed to take pity on us.
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Can't believe I've been reduced to this, but:
Shakthar - Brest
Liverpool - Lille
Bologna - Dortmund
Feyenoord - Bayern
Atletico - Leverkusen
Milan - Girona
Brugge - Juve
Barca - Atalanta
Inter - Monaco
Brest - Real Madrid
Lille - Feyenoord
Dortmund - Shakthar
Bayern - Bratislava
Salzburg - Atletico
Zagreb - Milan
Juve - Benfica
Fucked it.
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We desperately need Pau back. We can’t play Watkins and Duran together. Rogers is knackered and needs a rest.
Really poor.
Disagree. I think had Pau played, we’d have been 2 or 3 down. Mings made a mistake but he more than made up for it.
Well that’s absolute nonsense.
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So frustrating , even though we were dog shit , I was still hoping to salvage a point as Monaco didn't look that good. We just kept gifted them stray passes, and generally just being shite. I'm sure the commentator said 16 points will almost surely mean qualification (I'm not so sure) ? Celtic game is huge now.
Bailey was a waste of shirt tonight.
‘Commentator on CL coverage too lazy to look at the CL table’ shocker.
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We desperately need Pau back. We can’t play Watkins and Duran together. Rogers is knackered and needs a rest.
Really poor.
Disagree. I think had Pau played, we’d have been 2 or 3 down. Mings made a mistake but he more than made up for it.
No he didn’t, his distribution killed us (along with Konsa). Pau completely changes our build-up play.
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Short recovery time from the Arsenal match was a factor, but there was no excuse for a performance like that, it was a shocker.
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We desperately need Pau back. We can’t play Watkins and Duran together. Rogers is knackered and needs a rest.
Really poor.
Disagree. I think had Pau played, we’d have been 2 or 3 down. Mings made a mistake but he more than made up for it.
He made a few mistakes. Gave the ball away repeatedly too
Fuck me, you could say that about the majority of them.
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Monaco were poor but we managed to outdo them, and even then somehow dominated the ball while showing minimal threat.
Konsa-Mings were ponderous at the back. Actually, Mings looked shattered last 30.
Little Emi gave 60 good minutes, I felt.
Morgz should have come off around 55-60 mins, he was so poor in that last half hour (but did not hide).
There was the Duran-Watkins experiment. Looked rather like it always does, awkward.
Still, never mind. We’ll beat Celtic, and 16 points should be enough (looks like GD might be important, mind).
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We desperately need Pau back. We can’t play Watkins and Duran together. Rogers is knackered and needs a rest.
Really poor.
Disagree. I think had Pau played, we’d have been 2 or 3 down. Mings made a mistake but he more than made up for it.
No he didn’t, his distribution killed us (along with Konsa). Pau completely changes our build-up play.
I think the facts speak for themselves. Since Mings has come back, our defence has improved.
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Konsa was particularly shit. Constantly looked gormless in possession, and instead of trying to make an angle, he just jogged towards one of the midfielders, waiting until they were well marked, then very obviously and deliberately played them a slow hospital pass. He might as well have held a sign up.
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We desperately need Pau back. We can’t play Watkins and Duran together. Rogers is knackered and needs a rest.
Really poor.
Disagree. I think had Pau played, we’d have been 2 or 3 down. Mings made a mistake but he more than made up for it.
He made a few mistakes. Gave the ball away repeatedly too
Fuck me, you could say that about the majority of them.
You could, but the point is about what Pau brings and it is very obvious that passing out of defence absolutely killed us tonight. Not the only thing clearly, but Konsa and Mings consistently stopped us building any play.
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We lost all momentum when two up top. Didn't adapt to the new system or the poor pitch. Looked absolutely lacking in energy and ideas from the 55th minute to the 95th. Play offs it is and probably sack off the FA Cup along with it...
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Cash gets some credit, as does Kamara - at least they both tried.
Buendia should have been subbed at halftime with Bailey.
Emery needs some criticism as well here, just not quick enough with making changes.
The same Buendia who laid Watkins in for a one on one before half time?
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Corners awful. Kept shouting to keep it away from their keeper. McPhee influence waining?
Very frustrating performance.
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Yeah, Buendia was our best player tonight.
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A disappointing result, made worse by Prince Albert giving it large to Prince William at the end.
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Probably the worst performance of the season.
Not far off the Brugge game and it feels like we’ve thrown away a huge chance to avoid the play offs.
We’ve got to hope we get a few back as we look very tired physically and ideas wise. McGinn is a huge miss and Bailey yet again with a very disappointing performance. God knows what’s happened to him but he’ll find himself out of the door in the summer if he’s not careful.
It's not ideas. It's tactics. Almost every attack all season we piss about. Or pass it back when we could have moved it forward if more aggressive. At 2-2 on the weekend we had a chance 3vs3 and instead of going for it they slowed down and passed it sideways and arsenal inevitably get everyone behind the ball.
I think 4 points from 2 away league games was decent enough and Emery hasn’t done too bad in this competition so far. Let’s see what happens with Malen in and when we get a few back.
It was a terrible game and we were woeful but playing 3 away games in a week, with virtually the same players is a big ask. Let’s see where we are after the Celtic game.
Hopefully we get some decent news on the injury front soon and also some help with a new signing.
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And thats why you and duran do not play together ollie.
I think Unai made that decision
It looked like there was no plan in that substitution. Ollie asked Duran what the set up was and it looked like Duran didn't know.
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Konsa was particularly shit. Constantly looked gormless in possession, and instead of trying to make an angle, he just jogged towards one of the midfielders, waiting until they were well marked, then very obviously and deliberately played them a slow hospital pass. He might as well have held a sign up.
That’s his way of playing, followed by a wave and a point.
I’m starting to find him ponderous and infuriating
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Buendia our best player.
First half we ran the game, and dictated the pace it was played at. Which, unfortunately, was glacial.
Second half was absolutely disgraceful.
Mings showing again that it's probably going to be "thanks and goodbye" in the summer.
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Konsa was particularly shit. Constantly looked gormless in possession, and instead of trying to make an angle, he just jogged towards one of the midfielders, waiting until they were well marked, then very obviously and deliberately played them a slow hospital pass. He might as well have held a sign up.
That’s his way of playing, followed by a wave and a point.
I’m starting to find him ponderous and infuriating
He's getting on my tits, too, for exactly that reason - drops a massive bollock, does an indignant facial expression with some angry pointing thinking we haven't noticed what happened.
He's been crap since the England thing.
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Buendia our best player.
First half we ran the game, and dictated the pace it was played at. Which, unfortunately, was glacial.
Second half was absolutely disgraceful.
Mings showing again that it's probably going to be "thanks and goodbye" in the summer.
Yep, that was a very limited performance from Ty, and Konsa to be fair. They weren’t the only issue, but were a massive factor in us not being able to get any play going.
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Words fail me on tonight's performance and many of our league games, absolutely gutted
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Incredibly flat performance, players choked on the occasion.
Reminded me very much of the Fulham play off final game . The game just passed too many players by.
Huge opportunity gone.
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Buendia our best player.
First half we ran the game, and dictated the pace it was played at. Which, unfortunately, was glacial.
Second half was absolutely disgraceful.
Mings showing again that it's probably going to be "thanks and goodbye" in the summer.
Tbh as annoying as mings error was he wasnt the worst player on pitch but man he has badly let us down in europe. Been good in league just crap in CL.but there is no one else to play
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We desperately need Pau back. We can’t play Watkins and Duran together. Rogers is knackered and needs a rest.
Really poor.
Disagree. I think had Pau played, we’d have been 2 or 3 down. Mings made a mistake but he more than made up for it.
No he didn’t, his distribution killed us (along with Konsa). Pau completely changes our build-up play.
I think the facts speak for themselves. Since Mings has come back, our defence has improved.
Except in the Chump’s League!
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We desperately need Pau back. We can’t play Watkins and Duran together. Rogers is knackered and needs a rest.
Really poor.
Disagree. I think had Pau played, we’d have been 2 or 3 down. Mings made a mistake but he more than made up for it.
He made a few mistakes. Gave the ball away repeatedly too
Fuck me, you could say that about the majority of them.
You could, but the point is about what Pau brings and it is very obvious that passing out of defence absolutely killed us tonight. Not the only thing clearly, but Konsa and Mings consistently stopped us building any play.
But they also stopped the opposition scoring more than one.
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Patchy performance for 60 odd minutes, then looked ragged when Duran came on. Not blaming JD, but we lost any kind of shape we had and it was just error after error after that.
Will have to see how it goes, but I fear that's our chances of finishing in the top 8 done.
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We desperately need Pau back. We can’t play Watkins and Duran together. Rogers is knackered and needs a rest.
Really poor.
Disagree. I think had Pau played, we’d have been 2 or 3 down. Mings made a mistake but he more than made up for it.
He made a few mistakes. Gave the ball away repeatedly too
Fuck me, you could say that about the majority of them.
You could, but the point is about what Pau brings and it is very obvious that passing out of defence absolutely killed us tonight. Not the only thing clearly, but Konsa and Mings consistently stopped us building any play.
I’m not sure Pau being on the pitch would have made much of a difference to say Rogers giving the ball away so much. The centre halves weren’t only ones giving the ball away.
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Cash gets some credit, as does Kamara - at least they both tried.
Buendia should have been subbed at halftime with Bailey.
Emery needs some criticism as well here, just not quick enough with making changes.
You need new glasses….beundia did well first half…
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Probably wrong about this but Emi M...does he have a habit of "saving for the cameras"? Sometimes when he dives for a shot and saves, it looks a bit over the top. For the goal tonight, does he have to jump so animatedly for the initial save? Cos it leaves him rooted to the ground once he parries the ball and it's an easy rebound header. I dunno, maybe the pace on the original effort grounded him but he has a habit of doing this.
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I don’t think tonight’s loss had much to do with the centre backs. It was the lack of cutting edge up front that did us. We conceded a goal after 8 mins. Big deal. Plenty of time to score. We didn’t. We didn’t concede after that either.
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What really pisses me off is that this makes the lazy journalism and reasoning appear correct.
It’s so easy to say we can’t cope with domestic and European football, it’s too much for us.
Just like they levelled at Newcastle.
There is probably an element of truth in it and of course we have our injuries, but I hate it when we make so easy for the media to point out that ‘little old Villa’,can’t cope.
It’s so fucking patronising.
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not as bad as barcalonas defence
just having a giggle to cheer myself up
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Also shit for the old coefficient losing tonight as we scramble for qualification. It would help us if 5th was available.
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Probably wrong about this but Emi M...does he have a habit of "saving for the cameras"? Sometimes when he dives for a shot and saves, it looks a bit over the top. For the goal tonight, does he have to jump so animatedly for the initial save? Cos it leaves him rooted to the ground once he parries the ball and it's an easy rebound header. I dunno, maybe the pace on the original effort grounded him but he has a habit of doing this.
I was thinking along those lines too.
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Probably wrong about this but Emi M...does he have a habit of "saving for the cameras"? Sometimes when he dives for a shot and saves, it looks a bit over the top. For the goal tonight, does he have to jump so animatedly for the initial save? Cos it leaves him rooted to the ground once he parries the ball and it's an easy rebound header. I dunno, maybe the pace on the original effort grounded him but he has a habit of doing this.
I was thinking along those lines too.
I thought that at the time too, but some players are beyond reproach
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We desperately need Pau back. We can’t play Watkins and Duran together. Rogers is knackered and needs a rest.
Really poor.
Disagree. I think had Pau played, we’d have been 2 or 3 down. Mings made a mistake but he more than made up for it.
He made a few mistakes. Gave the ball away repeatedly too
Fuck me, you could say that about the majority of them.
You could, but the point is about what Pau brings and it is very obvious that passing out of defence absolutely killed us tonight. Not the only thing clearly, but Konsa and Mings consistently stopped us building any play.
But they also stopped the opposition scoring more than one.
Yes, but also massively undermined our ability to score any and that was the same against Brugge. If they can’t link the play that kills us (as it did today).
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I don’t think tonight’s loss had much to do with the centre backs. It was the lack of cutting edge up front that did us. We conceded a goal after 8 mins. Big deal. Plenty of time to score. We didn’t. We didn’t concede after that either.
It completely changes the dynamic though. Monaco can effectively play 4-2-4 on the counter-attack and waste time at every fucking opportunity.
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Probably wrong about this but Emi M...does he have a habit of "saving for the cameras"? Sometimes when he dives for a shot and saves, it looks a bit over the top. For the goal tonight, does he have to jump so animatedly for the initial save? Cos it leaves him rooted to the ground once he parries the ball and it's an easy rebound header. I dunno, maybe the pace on the original effort grounded him but he has a habit of doing this.
I was thinking along those lines too.
I thought that at the time too, but some players are beyond reproach
He’s not. I too thought the same and he’s passed directly to the opposition enough times over the last few games as well.
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We desperately need Pau back. We can’t play Watkins and Duran together. Rogers is knackered and needs a rest.
Really poor.
This, but sadly a long wait for Pau to return. Mings has been a great player for the club but Champions League just isn't his game. We have to make sure we get a quality CB in the next 11 days.
Oh,and Bailey can do one, he can try every excuse in the book but tonight he showed he has his nice contract in place and doesn't give a fuck.
Duran and Watkins cannot play together, and this slow build up is just a load of crap, has been all season.
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Konsa was particularly shit. Constantly looked gormless in possession, and instead of trying to make an angle, he just jogged towards one of the midfielders, waiting until they were well marked, then very obviously and deliberately played them a slow hospital pass. He might as well have held a sign up.
That’s his way of playing, followed by a wave and a point.
I’m starting to find him ponderous and infuriating
These two comments made me laugh. Know what you mean. Think the idea was the midfielder would turn and break the line. But Morgz just turned straight into his marker about 5 times on the bounce. Comedy gold.
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We desperately need Pau back. We can’t play Watkins and Duran together. Rogers is knackered and needs a rest.
Really poor.
Disagree. I think had Pau played, we’d have been 2 or 3 down. Mings made a mistake but he more than made up for it.
He made a few mistakes. Gave the ball away repeatedly too
Fuck me, you could say that about the majority of them.
You could, but the point is about what Pau brings and it is very obvious that passing out of defence absolutely killed us tonight. Not the only thing clearly, but Konsa and Mings consistently stopped us building any play.
I’m not sure Pau being on the pitch would have made much of a difference to say Rogers giving the ball away so much. The centre halves weren’t only ones giving the ball away.
Yes but if you watched Rogers a lot of him giving the ball away was the central defenders telegraphing they were going to pass to him, delaying, then passing to him which meant he got swarmed.
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We desperately need Pau back. We can’t play Watkins and Duran together. Rogers is knackered and needs a rest.
Really poor.
Disagree. I think had Pau played, we’d have been 2 or 3 down. Mings made a mistake but he more than made up for it.
He made a few mistakes. Gave the ball away repeatedly too
Fuck me, you could say that about the majority of them.
You could, but the point is about what Pau brings and it is very obvious that passing out of defence absolutely killed us tonight. Not the only thing clearly, but Konsa and Mings consistently stopped us building any play.
But they also stopped the opposition scoring more than one.
Yes, but also massively undermined our ability to score any and that was the same against Brugge. If they can’t link the play that kills us (as it did today).
Call me old fashioned, but i find it hard to blame two centre backs for “massively undermining our ability to score”
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And thats why you and duran do not play together ollie.
I think Unai made that decision
Oh really didnt know that.
As you are aware ollie said that they can play together on the weekend which was the original point
Good point, well made.
That being said, Ollie probably does think they can play together; Jhon might not care.
I think I saw Jhon say "I don't know what he said" to Ollie just after he came on.
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I thought we were looking half decent for the last 10 mins if the first half but we struggle this season to build any kind of momentum in games.
Buendia looked quite good to me, he like a lot of our players looked absolutely knackered after about 55 mins.
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What killed us was starting with 10 men , Bailey absolute joke , he missed a big chance as did Watkins . Defensively generally ok . Midfield looked tired but this talk of Torres being the solution you have to laugh , him on the pitch we concede 2 or More.
Buendia was ok but lacked control and the killer ball .
Set pieces were shocking absolutely shocking .
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Probably wrong about this but Emi M...does he have a habit of "saving for the cameras"? Sometimes when he dives for a shot and saves, it looks a bit over the top. For the goal tonight, does he have to jump so animatedly for the initial save? Cos it leaves him rooted to the ground once he parries the ball and it's an easy rebound header. I dunno, maybe the pace on the original effort grounded him but he has a habit of doing this.
I had the same thought. No idea how he ended up on the ground.
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We desperately need Pau back. We can’t play Watkins and Duran together. Rogers is knackered and needs a rest.
Really poor.
Disagree. I think had Pau played, we’d have been 2 or 3 down. Mings made a mistake but he more than made up for it.
He made a few mistakes. Gave the ball away repeatedly too
Fuck me, you could say that about the majority of them.
You could, but the point is about what Pau brings and it is very obvious that passing out of defence absolutely killed us tonight. Not the only thing clearly, but Konsa and Mings consistently stopped us building any play.
But they also stopped the opposition scoring more than one.
Yes, but also massively undermined our ability to score any and that was the same against Brugge. If they can’t link the play that kills us (as it did today).
Call me old fashioned, but i find it hard to blame two centre backs for “massively undermining our ability to score”
Fair enough, but then I don’t think you’ve really clocked how we’re trying to play. Torres is a big contributor to our attacking play, his quality on the ball makes a big difference. For example, we don’t beat Bayern without it (and we didn’t concede 2 or 3 that day).
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As pedestrian as we looked, if we’d been able to put a corner anywhere other than the keepers arms or into the first man we couple have got something from the game.
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Awful start, like we were in the pub for the afternoon, rallied strongly before half time before almost conceding again. Fatigue obviously played a huge role in that second half collapse but that's more on Emery than anybody else. Leaving two subs to the 85th min verged on insulting them and playing Duran/Watkins together killed our midfield. Defensively a complete shambles yet again and we are going nowhere until that's addressed.
Martinez 6 - Hutton reckoned he should do better with their goal and top it over, bit harsh. Not inspiring the confidence either
Cash 8 - our best player by miles, he was still going at the end so maybe other players need to work on their stamina in comparison
Konsa 1 - blocked a shot in the first minute, only point he gets. Frankly gutless in the air yet again tonight, long punt down his side just before half time let's it bounce they nearly scored. Beyond abysmal with the ball. Few weeks in reserves long overdue. Attitude stinks.
Mings 3 - started horribly and beaten in air for goal. Distribution so bad, in the end five yard passes were too much. Fatigue has to be catching up on him. One goal saving block
Digne 6 - solid enough and not surprised he was fuming being taken off in comparison to others
Kamara 7 - slow start but settled well, moving out to right back was a cod that killed our midfield
Tielemans 6 - very slow to get going but got us playing after a while. Calved midway during second half
Bailey 3 - hard to watch the guy at the moment. Not displaying anywhere near enough fight or resilience. Great chance he missed too
Rogers 3 - decent first half and unlucky with a chance at start of second. But a 30 min spell afterwards that was Bowery esque. On Emery for not hooking him far earlier
Buendia 7 - few loose touches early on but very positive performance until he predictably blew up late on. Laid one on a plate for Watkins
Watkins 5 - tried hard but missed a huge chance and setup Rogers well at start of second. Bringing on Duran predictably finished any impact.
Duran 5 - predictably no impact next to Watkins
Maatsen 3 - awful cameo, carrying timber and needs to address that first and foremost
Emery 3 - not sure why Duran didn't start but not for first time this season made a complete mess of every switch he made during the game
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And thats why you and duran do not play together ollie.
I think Unai made that decision
Oh really didnt know that.
As you are aware ollie said that they can play together on the weekend which was the original point
Good point, well made.
That being said, Ollie probably does think they can play together; Jhon might not care.
I think I saw Jhon say "I don't know what he said" to Ollie just after he came on.
Wish it would work as makes things easier. But its failed near enough every time. We got worse when duran came on. Id have taken ollie off for duran like for like. Ollie really struggled when duran came on.
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Awful start, like we were in the pub for the afternoon, rallied strongly before half time before almost conceding again. Fatigue obviously played a huge role in that second half collapse but that's more on Emery than anybody else. Leaving two subs to the 85th min verged on insulting them and playing Duran/Watkins together killed our midfield. Defensively a complete shambles yet again and we are going nowhere until that's addressed.
Martinez 6 - Hutton reckoned he should do better with their goal and top it over, bit harsh. Not inspiring the confidence either
Cash 8 - our best player by miles, he was still going at the end so maybe other players need to work on their stamina in comparison
Konsa 1 - blocked a shot in the first minute, only point he gets. Frankly gutless in the air yet again tonight, long punt down his side just before half time let's it bounce they nearly scored. Beyond abysmal with the ball. Few weeks in reserves long overdue. Attitude stinks.
Mings 3 - started horribly and beaten in air for goal. Distribution so bad, in the end five yard passes were too much. Fatigue has to be catching up on him. One goal saving block
Digne 6 - solid enough and not surprised he was fuming being taken off in comparison to others
Kamara 7 - slow start but settled well, moving out to right back was a cod that killed our midfield
Tielemans 6 - very slow to get going but got us playing after a while. Calved midway during second half
Bailey 3 - hard to watch the guy at the moment. Not displaying anywhere near enough fight or resilience. Great chance he missed too
Rogers 3 - decent first half and unlucky with a chance at start of second. But a 30 min spell afterwards that was Bowery esque. On Emery for not hooking him far earlier
Buendia 7 - few loose touches early on but very positive performance until he predictably blew up late on. Laid one on a plate for Watkins
Watkins 5 - tried hard but missed a huge chance and setup Rogers well at start of second. Bringing on Duran predictably finished any impact.
Duran 5 - predictably no impact next to Watkins
Maatsen 3 - awful cameo, carrying timber and needs to address that first and foremost
Emery 3 - not sure why Duran didn't start but not for first time this season made a complete mess of every switch he made during the game
We had loads of possession but did duck all with it baring 2-3 half chances. They could of had a hatful if they had someone half decent up top..
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Probably wrong about this but Emi M...does he have a habit of "saving for the cameras"? Sometimes when he dives for a shot and saves, it looks a bit over the top. For the goal tonight, does he have to jump so animatedly for the initial save? Cos it leaves him rooted to the ground once he parries the ball and it's an easy rebound header. I dunno, maybe the pace on the original effort grounded him but he has a habit of doing this.
No, I’d agree with that, thought at the time, why did he jump.
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We've lost to the 2 worst teams we've played. We were too careless, slow & predictable.
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Unai Emery said some players didn't follow the plan and was unhappy with that. When asked why that was, he pointed to his temple.
Should of pointed to Cash, thick as spunk in a bath!
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We desperately need Pau back. We can’t play Watkins and Duran together. Rogers is knackered and needs a rest.
Really poor.
Disagree. I think had Pau played, we’d have been 2 or 3 down. Mings made a mistake but he more than made up for it.
He made a few mistakes. Gave the ball away repeatedly too
Fuck me, you could say that about the majority of them.
You could, but the point is about what Pau brings and it is very obvious that passing out of defence absolutely killed us tonight. Not the only thing clearly, but Konsa and Mings consistently stopped us building any play.
But they also stopped the opposition scoring more than one.
Yes, but also massively undermined our ability to score any and that was the same against Brugge. If they can’t link the play that kills us (as it did today).
Call me old fashioned, but i find it hard to blame two centre backs for “massively undermining our ability to score”
Fair enough, but then I don’t think you’ve really clocked how we’re trying to play. Torres is a big contributor to our attacking play, his quality on the ball makes a big difference. For example, we don’t beat Bayern without it (and we didn’t concede 2 or 3 that day).
True, but our defence, of late, has been woeful with Pau in the side. During the game, I did also think we were missing Pau’s absence, but what we lost going forward, we gained in defence. I still think had Pau played tonight, we’d have conceded more.
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Unai Emery: "It was my mistake when we played with two strikers because we lost positioning. We lost control of the game. We were very weak in the middle. I watched it not work well."
Fair play to him owning up
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It's happened every other time it's been tried. He took longer to see it doesn't work than we did.
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Unai Emery: "It was my mistake when we played with two strikers because we lost positioning. We lost control of the game. We were very weak in the middle. I watched it not work well."
Fair play to him owning up
Is he paving the way for a sale
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That’s the end of Duran and Watkins as a pair then.
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Possibly, I’m not sure we would, but ultimately I think we would have had a better chance of scoring and losing 1-0 or 3-0 versus the possibility of getting something I’d take that risk.
I think the wider point is Ty has been a great servant for us, and is a really good member of the squad - but if he’s starting week in and week out I think it limits us (longer-term). I’m starting to think the same about Konsa, who has been really poor of late.
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Konsa was particularly shit. Constantly looked gormless in possession, and instead of trying to make an angle, he just jogged towards one of the midfielders, waiting until they were well marked, then very obviously and deliberately played them a slow hospital pass. He might as well have held a sign up.
He was an absolute disgrace. There was one point in the first half, doing his usual dog pissing on the ball routine, Cash was screaming for the ball free on right side. Ignores him and gives him plenty of verbals back instead. Has getting into the England squad gone to his head completely I wonder.
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And thats why you and duran do not play together ollie.
I think Unai made that decision
Oh really didnt know that.
As you are aware ollie said that they can play together on the weekend which was the original point
Good point, well made.
That being said, Ollie probably does think they can play together; Jhon might not care.
I think I saw Jhon say "I don't know what he said" to Ollie just after he came on.
Wish it would work as makes things easier. But its failed near enough every time. We got worse when duran came on. Id have taken ollie off for duran like for like. Ollie really struggled when duran came on.
Yes I agree, we have seen very little evidence that they can work together effectively.
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A bit of perspective, but the people watching the game in my local pub all thought Villa deserved something from the game.
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Unais biggest mistake for me was starting ollie. He looked tired. Have absolutely no idea why duran has started none of the last three games. You would have thought tonight would have been perfect opportunity to start him and bring ollie on later in the game
Ollies played a lot of minutes while duran was banned. Bad decison there by unai
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Unai Emery: "It was my mistake when we played with two strikers because we lost positioning. We lost control of the game. We were very weak in the middle. I watched it not work well."
Fair play to him owning up
But why not take off Ollie then? Waiting 85 mins to bring on two subs was ridiculous.
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Unais biggest mistake for me was starting ollie. He looked tired. Have absolutely no idea why duran has started none of the last three games. You would have thought tonight would have been perfect opportunity to start him and bring ollie on later in the game
Ollies played a lot of minutes while duran was banned. Bad decison there by unai
Duran is not ready to start.
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We desperately need Pau back. We can’t play Watkins and Duran together. Rogers is knackered and needs a rest.
Really poor.
Disagree. I think had Pau played, we’d have been 2 or 3 down. Mings made a mistake but he more than made up for it.
He made a few mistakes. Gave the ball away repeatedly too
Fuck me, you could say that about the majority of them.
You could, but the point is about what Pau brings and it is very obvious that passing out of defence absolutely killed us tonight. Not the only thing clearly, but Konsa and Mings consistently stopped us building any play.
I’m not sure Pau being on the pitch would have made much of a difference to say Rogers giving the ball away so much. The centre halves weren’t only ones giving the ball away.
Yes but if you watched Rogers a lot of him giving the ball away was the central defenders telegraphing they were going to pass to him, delaying, then passing to him which meant he got swarmed.
That is absolutely what happened. Felt like dozens of times.
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Personally, I think we needed someone sitting alongside Kamara. It really didn't need Bendy, Rogers, Teliemans and Bailey as an attacking force. We did strangely not look like scoring as soon as Duran came on though. That's not on him, it just looked easier right defend against.
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A bit of perspective, but the people watching the game in my local pub all thought Villa deserved something from the game.
What were their guide dogs called?
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A bit of perspective, but the people watching the game in my local pub all thought Villa deserved something from the game.
What were their guide dogs called?
We definitely did. By far, the better side, but lacked a bit of luck and the killer instinct
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If some of the players were a bit leggy then don’t start them?! Can’t believe Duran didn’t start and maybe Maatsen from the off too (despite a poor show at the weekend). Play Buendia and Ramsey and ANYONE in front of Cash Or move Cash up and start Neddy. But Never, EVER bother with Bailey again, just a pointless waste of space who offers nothing.
Almost feels worse than Bruges
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Personally, I think we needed someone sitting alongside Kamara. It really didn't need Bendy, Rogers, Teliemans and Bailey as an attacking force. We did strangely not look like scoring as soon as Duran came on though. That's not on him, it just looked easier right defend against.
Yep it felt quite old school- two strikers on try and boot it upfield and midfield (what’s left of it) are just passengers.
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Personally, I think we needed someone sitting alongside Kamara. It really didn't need Bendy, Rogers, Teliemans and Bailey as an attacking force. We did strangely not look like scoring as soon as Duran came on though. That's not on him, it just looked easier right defend against.
It's because we took a man out of midfield...and we like to play through midfield. It was the thinking man's Bradford semi final.
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A bit of perspective, but the people watching the game in my local pub all thought Villa deserved something from the game.
What were their guide dogs called?
We definitely did. By far, the better side, but lacked a bit of luck and the killer instinct
Monaco were limited I thought but were at least 3 goals better than us tonight. The amount of counters they made a mess of.
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Personally, I think we needed someone sitting alongside Kamara. It really didn't need Bendy, Rogers, Teliemans and Bailey as an attacking force. We did strangely not look like scoring as soon as Duran came on though. That's not on him, it just looked easier right defend against.
It's because we took a man out of midfield...and we like to play through midfield. It was the thinking man's Bradford semi final.
Great comparison.
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A bit of perspective, but the people watching the game in my local pub all thought Villa deserved something from the game.
What were their guide dogs called?
We definitely did. By far, the better side, but lacked a bit of luck and the killer instinct
I think their goalkeeper had 1 shot to save which was a dolly. They had clearer chances than us and hardly had to break sepweat the whole game. We got exactly what we deserved , nothing.
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Unai Emery: "It was my mistake when we played with two strikers because we lost positioning. We lost control of the game. We were very weak in the middle. I watched it not work well."
Fair play to him owning up
There was still time to change it after trying it but he didn’t.
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Well having got on a train back to Nice, I can safely say that was absolute shite. Time for a recuperative beer…. Shakes head.
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Personally, I think we needed someone sitting alongside Kamara. It really didn't need Bendy, Rogers, Teliemans and Bailey as an attacking force. We did strangely not look like scoring as soon as Duran came on though. That's not on him, it just looked easier right defend against.
Yep it felt quite old school- two strikers on try and boot it upfield and midfield (what’s left of it) are just passengers.
when Duran came in we went very narrow which made it even easier for them to saturate the player in possession.
We had absolutely no outlet except booting it long.
I
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They had a golden opportunity to score with the last kick of the first half.
Had a goal ruled out at the start of the second.
Their goalie didn’t make a save in the second half.
I don’t think they were lucky at all.
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Looking at the table I think it might be better to lose next week to avoid Citeh PSG or Real in the play off!
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Looking at the table I think it might be better to lose next week to avoid Citeh PSG or Real in the play off!
How does that work?
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The two Emis did quite well, everyone else poor. Awful pitch I know but professional footballers adapt. Set pieces were shocking, just catching practice for their keeper, why not try something different? Also, some players might be a bit tired, here’s an idea, play some who aren’t, the whole idea of having a squad. Demote Baily as he’s completely shot. That headed attempt should have been buried but he then goes down feigning injury to hide his incompetence. Pathetic!
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That should pretty much be it for Leon Bailey. Provided some good memories but is an absolute waste of space these days. And he was provided with ample opportunities to prove us wrong. Can't even be described as a squad player because he contributes absolutely nothing.
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Looking at the table I think it might be better to lose next week to avoid Citeh PSG or Real in the play off!
How does that work?
If they finish early 20s and we stay reasonably high there’s a big chance we will play them isn’t there?
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Looking at the table I think it might be better to lose next week to avoid Citeh PSG or Real in the play off!
How does that work?
If they finish low 20s and we stay reasonably high there’s a big chance we will play them isn’t there?
I don’t know, is it a draw or are places automatically selected by placing?
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A bit of perspective, but the people watching the game in my local pub all thought Villa deserved something from the game.
What were their guide dogs called?
Don’t be a silly billy. They’re neutral Villa fans who don’t give a shit what we do.
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Now we’re down to 9th as it stands. Fucking great
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Obviously the two strikers didn’t work but trying it for 40 minutes chasing a game is a little bit setting it up to fail….need to see it tried from the start of a game to fully judge if it ‘can’ work.
We seem to have become a team sometimes that creates opportunities (not good chances) but either try the extra pass or get dispossessed before pulling the trigger…decision making is a sign of fatigue…Rogers in particular looks knackered
Little frustrating that we seem to have 4/5 sat on the bench who are only there to fill seats…why not roll the dice and give Kadan Young 10 minutes…he literally couldn’t have done less than Bailey did in his hour.
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Personally, I think we needed someone sitting alongside Kamara. It really didn't need Bendy, Rogers, Teliemans and Bailey as an attacking force. We did strangely not look like scoring as soon as Duran came on though. That's not on him, it just looked easier right defend against.
It's because we took a man out of midfield...and we like to play through midfield. It was the thinking man's Bradford semi final.
I agree. Very good point.
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Result aside, that was a very very expensive defeat .
Golden opportunity blown. We simply didn't turn up and neither did the manager .
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Tonight reminds me of the bradford cup games, we had a excellent opportunity to go do something wonderful with feeling confident before kick off and then we absolutely fuck it up.
Sad times 😔
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First Euro away I've missed this season and really glad I didn't travel. Hate watching Villa on the TV and tonight didn't improve my mood. This defeat has so many potential negative ramifications for the season. Its going to be difficult to pick ourselves up for next week. Hopefully some of the injured are not far off and the new recruits are in the squad for Sunday.
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Let’s not overstate it. Losing a two-leg cup semi-final to Bradford and losing a group game in the Champions League where worst case scenario we’re in the playoffs aren’t really the same.
We were hopeless tonight, but it’s not terminal. We definitely need another defensive option though, who can play the ball well, not just at best functionally.
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Looking at the table I think it might be better to lose next week to avoid Citeh PSG or Real in the play off!
How does that work?
If they finish low 20s and we stay reasonably high there’s a big chance we will play them isn’t there?
I don’t know, is it a draw or are places automatically selected by placing?
If Talkshite are correct it’s 9th v 24th, 10th v 23rd etc.
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Its a 50/50 draw. If you finish 9th or 10th you play either 23rd or 24th. If you finished 11th or 12th you play 21st or 22nd, etc. But there will be a draw to decide which of the two possible opponents you play against.
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Not Emerys finest game BUT if Bailey and Watkins both stick their gilt edged chances away we've won the game . Simply cannot miss those in the Champions League .
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Ah okay thanks.
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Looking at the table I think it might be better to lose next week to avoid Citeh PSG or Real in the play off!
How does that work?
If they finish low 20s and we stay reasonably high there’s a big chance we will play them isn’t there?
I don’t know, is it a draw or are places automatically selected by placing?
If Talkshite are correct it’s 9th v 24th, 10th v 23rd etc.
That's right more or less with home leg second for the higher placed teams.
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When are the play off dates?
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Looking at the table I think it might be better to lose next week to avoid Citeh PSG or Real in the play off!
How does that work?
If they finish low 20s and we stay reasonably high there’s a big chance we will play them isn’t there?
I don’t know, is it a draw or are places automatically selected by placing?
If Talkshite are correct it’s 9th v 24th, 10th v 23rd etc.
That's right more or less with home leg second for the higher placed teams.
Really? Seems arse about face if so.
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I think if today learned us anything we need to play fewer games
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From the knockout phase play-offs onwards the tournament is a bracket. The teams that finish the league phase between ninth and 16th will be seeded for the first draw for the knockout phase, and will face a team placed 17th to 24th. The seeded team will, in principle, play the return leg at home.
Potential opponents are also pre-defined by pairings of teams' final league positions. For example, teams finishing ninth and tenth will face the sides that ended 23rd or 24th; teams finishing 11th or 12th will be drawn against either the 21st or 22nd-placed sides and so on.
The eight clubs that prevail in the knockout phase play-offs progress to the round of 16.
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I think if today learned us anything we need to play fewer games
Yeah, I don’t think it’s coincidence that one of our better performers was Buendia who is one of the few who hasn’t been playing 90 minutes every three days.
I have some sympathy with Kamara and Mings, both back from long term layoffs and having to play constantly with Torres McGinn and Barkley all out injured.
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Knockout phase play-offs: 11/12 & 18/19 February 2025 - draw made on 31 January 2025. Keep them clear in your diaries.
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We have become increasingly pedestrian and the lack of tempo is leading to players becoming sloppier.
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Don’t think I’ve ever seen us play in that bad against a poor team.
I thought we would bounce back.
But you could tell the sands of time was slipping away as the game progressed.
Emi and Bailey should have been hooked at halftime
Real fuckin pisser of a game.
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End of January and February is looking horrible now.
29th Celtic - h
1st Feb - wolves - a
9th Feb - Spurs - h
12th - play off 1st leg.
15th Ipswich - h
18th play off 2nd leg
22nd Chelsea - h
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End of January and February is looking horrible now.
29th Celtic - h
1st Feb - wolves - a
9th Feb - Spurs - h
12th - play off 1st leg.
15th Ipswich - h
18th play off 2nd leg
22nd Chelsea - h
We’re going to need 5 more players
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But credit to Monaco they defended bloody well.
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But credit to Monaco they defended bloody well.
They did the defensive basics well. I was impressed with their centre backs
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Don’t think I’ve ever seen us play in that bad against a poor team.
I thought we would bounce back.
But you could tell the sands of time was slipping away as the game progressed.
Emi and Bailey should have been hooked at halftime
Real fuckin pisser of a game.
I assume you mean recently? Because I’m sure everyone could provide a comprehensive list of utterly woeful Villa performances against poor opposition.
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From the knockout phase play-offs onwards the tournament is a bracket. The teams that finish the league phase between ninth and 16th will be seeded for the first draw for the knockout phase, and will face a team placed 17th to 24th. The seeded team will, in principle, play the return leg at home.
Potential opponents are also pre-defined by pairings of teams' final league positions. For example, teams finishing ninth and tenth will face the sides that ended 23rd or 24th; teams finishing 11th or 12th will be drawn against either the 21st or 22nd-placed sides and so on.
The eight clubs that prevail in the knockout phase play-offs progress to the round of 16.
Got a raging headache after watching the game, reading that makes it worse
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But credit to Monaco they defended bloody well.
Did they?
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Don’t think I’ve ever seen us play in that bad against a poor team.
I thought we would bounce back.
But you could tell the sands of time was slipping away as the game progressed.
Emi and Bailey should have been hooked at halftime
Real fuckin pisser of a game.
I thought Buendia was our best player and created the two best chances we had that Bailey and Watkins should have scored from. Just ran out of steam understandably after an hour.
In fact, he was the only positive on the night. He still has a part to play and deserves more opportunities particularly when you consider the opportunities Bailey and Ramsey have had to play themselves back into form.
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I think if today learned us anything we need to play fewer games
if we arent careful we will....
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But ain’t football strange.
At the weekend we were great against Arsenal.
It ain’t always gravy.
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I think Beundia, and maybe Cash the only players to emerge with credit.
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I think if today learned us anything we need to play fewer games
if we arent careful we will....
time and again this season we have struggled with the turn around - 2 big games in 3/4 days we cant handle
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But ain’t football strange.
At the weekend we were great against Arsenal.
It ain’t always gravy.
For about 20 mins we did well v Arsenal .
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Don’t think I’ve ever seen us play in that bad against a poor team.
I thought we would bounce back.
But you could tell the sands of time was slipping away as the game progressed.
Emi and Bailey should have been hooked at halftime
Real fuckin pisser of a game.
I thought Buendia was our best player and created the two best chances we had that Bailey and Watkins should have scored from. Just ran out of steam understandably after an hour.
In fact, he was the only positive on the night. He still has a part to play and deserves more opportunities particularly when you consider the opportunities Bailey and Ramsey have had to play themselves back into form.
But I think JJ on for Bailey and Bogarde for Emi would have allowed Tells to get forward more and dictate passes forward.
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But my god our set pieces were Sunday league standards.
Just smash them into the box.
What happened to cool sexy stuff we used to try ?
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Going two upfront must be the worst plan B since Chris Samba.
It should've been a straight swop as we were opening Monaco up but just couldn't get the final ball/shot right.
Instead Rogers went to the right and was completely hopeless for the last half hour, seemed to give it away every single time.
Would be starting Malen at the weekend and thought Buendia was excellent so surely he's well overdue some prem starts if we're in the play offs.
Not as bad as Bruges but a missed opportunity.
Their keeper and backline were excellent all game so a few of them worth a look for the future I think.
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But credit to Monaco they defended bloody well.
They did the defensive basics well. I was impressed with their centre backs
They didn’t need to do anything other than the basics, they had us sussed out for pretty much the entire game.
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That should pretty much be it for Leon Bailey. Provided some good memories but is an absolute waste of space these days. And he was provided with ample opportunities to prove us wrong. Can't even be described as a squad player because he contributes absolutely nothing.
If we are determined to get some value out of him, maybe we should try last season’s approach - late sub appearances gradually improved him.
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What the fuck are the players doing before kick off too? They always seem half asleep for the first 15 minutes.
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Our own worst enemy yet again. And a special mention to Bailey whose desire seemed woeful even by his own lamentable standards this season.
He couldn't even put any effort into coming off the pitch when he got subbed. We were 1-0 down not 3-1 up! He jogged off the pitch slower than a slow thing in slow town. He really does boil my piss sometimes.
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End of January and February is looking horrible now.
29th Celtic - h
1st Feb - wolves - a
9th Feb - Spurs - h
12th - play off 1st leg.
15th Ipswich - h
18th play off 2nd leg
22nd Chelsea - h
A win next Wednesday might well see us finish in the top 8 and avoid the play offs. I think we've got to hope so as fears about this current run of games taking their toll looked prescient in the 2nd half tonight.
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But credit to Monaco they defended bloody well.
They did the defensive basics well. I was impressed with their centre backs
They didn’t need to do anything other than the basics, they had us sussed out for pretty much the entire game.
Shame we couldn’t do the basics.
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What the fuck are the players doing before kick off too? They always seem half asleep for the first 15 minutes.
The commentator said they'd been up at the Palace this afternoon. Surely there are better things to be doing than that .
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It was shite and hard to watch. Unai's tried to evolve the way we play this season. We've ditched the high line, don't tend to press at all and are slower than ever in our build up, often only going playing with any sort of intensity in small bursts within games. There might be something in the theory that he's trying to preserve energy for later in the season with the squad we have. Tyrone eluded to something along those lines in his pre-match interview.
But for all the disappointment, it's worth noting than 9 of the 11 who started today were here when the manager came through the door and we were hovering around the relegation zone (the exceptions being Tielemans and Rogers, who costs a combined £8 million). Two of them are on the way back from long term injuries and a couple of others have seen their form fall off a cliff. We're doing alright.
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Too slow negative and cautious
What happened to our famous highline
Last season it was all anyone talked about, pictures of them all standing straight in a line, more opposition off sides than anyone else in the league, it was risky but it was positive and it worked
Now we sit back like a Sean Dyche team, same against Arsenal
My recycling bins go forward faster and more often than Mings and Konsa
So why have the tactics changed what’s going on
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But credit to Monaco they defended bloody well.
They did the defensive basics well. I was impressed with their centre backs
That Kehrer guy flopped at West Ham, he's no world beater. They are a very average team, as were Brugge, but we were deservedly beaten both days.
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All very Steven Gerrard. Clueless and relying on a moment of magic.
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Didnt see the game, so wont add to those comments. If results dont go our way tomorrow, could be down to around 11th, but dont think this is over re automatic qualification. Need to beat Celtic well obviously and hope two or three results go our way, not impossible by any stretch. Its going to be a lively affair next Wednesday
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Special mention for the stadium. It's completely and utterly wank. Who builds a stadium with no toilets? Just 4 portaloos and 2 of them not working. The organisation was shocking. We got sent around in circles by stewards and finally found the unmarked entrance to the away end by pure chance. One utterly crap food outlet with no hot food. All covered in a sickly orange/beige colour. Never again.
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But credit to Monaco they defended bloody well.
They did the defensive basics well. I was impressed with their centre backs
That Kehrer guy flopped at West Ham, he's no world beater. They are a very average team, as were Brugge, but we were deservedly beaten both days.
Or you could say we missed our big chances . Put them away we win the game
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But ain’t football strange.
At the weekend we were great against Arsenal.
It ain’t always gravy.
I don’t think we were.
Better than tonight but not great.
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Buendia aside, very poor.
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It was shite and hard to watch. Unai's tried to evolve the way we play this season. We've ditched the high line, don't tend to press at all and are slower than ever in our build up, often only going playing with any sort of intensity in small bursts within games. There might be something in the theory that he's trying to preserve energy for later in the season with the squad we have. Tyrone alluded to something along those lines in his pre-match interview.
But for all the disappointment, it's worth noting than 9 of the 11 who started today were here when the manager came through the door and we were hovering around the relegation zone (the exceptions being Tielemans and Rogers, who costs a combined £8 million). Two of them are on the way back from long term injuries and a couple of others have seen their form fall off a cliff. We're doing alright.
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Special mention for the stadium. It's completely and utterly wank. Who builds a stadium with no toilets? Just 4 portaloos and 2 of them not working. The organisation was shocking. We got sent around in circles by stewards and finally found the unmarked entrance to the away end by pure chance. One utterly crap food outlet with no hot food. All covered in a sickly orange/beige colour. Never again.
No toilets?!
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Special mention for the stadium. It's completely and utterly wank. Who builds a stadium with no toilets?
It helps explain the booze ban.
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Was it as bad as Bruges? The Villa On Tour vid of that ground made it look dismal and 1985 austere Europe vibez.
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Possibly the worst thing to come out of tonight is the possible throwing of the FA Cup game. Meaning the dart throwing twat will score a hat trick.
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Konsa was particularly shit. Constantly looked gormless in possession, and instead of trying to make an angle, he just jogged towards one of the midfielders, waiting until they were well marked, then very obviously and deliberately played them a slow hospital pass. He might as well have held a sign up.
That’s his way of playing, followed by a wave and a point.
I’m starting to find him ponderous and infuriating
He's getting on my tits, too, for exactly that reason - drops a massive bollock, does an indignant facial expression with some angry pointing thinking we haven't noticed what happened.
He's been crap since the England thing.
I'm glad it's not just me that thinks he's been very poor this season.
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I remember seeing a CL game at Monaco on the TV as a kid and thinking it looked like the height of sophistication and elegance. Those arches, almost cathedral-like with multi-coloured lights passing through like ethereal stained glass.
Just googled it and it does indeed look like a bit of a shithole, designed by an Australian with no depth perception, and with a running track around it.
France '98 (the first World Cup I ever watched) almost certainly clouded my judgement.
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It’s a bit like the smaller version of them Italian stadiums that were tarted up for the WC 1990 and never painted or touched since. I went to see a Napoli game and it was a complete shit hole.
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It’s a bit like the smaller version of them Italian stadiums that were tarted up for the WC 1990 and never painted or touched since. I went to see a Napoli game and it was a complete shit hole.
Never been, myself, but that isn't out of keeping with what I've heard about Naples in general.
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Special shout out to the (thankfully small) group of fans who decided to taunt the poor locals trying to get home from work with classics such as "if it wasn't for the English you'd be Krauts", "snail-eating ******", and the ever popular "ten German bombers" for some inexplicable reason.
When they started the Munich one, they got told to put a sock in it and calmed down after that.
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Its a 50/50 draw. If you finish 9th or 10th you play either 23rd or 24th. If you finished 11th or 12th you play 21st or 22nd, etc. But there will be a draw to decide which of the two possible opponents you play against.
Correct
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Might have been posted elsewhere, but Unai's full post-match presser is a very interesting watch. Lots of praise for Buendia, also admits he got it wrong with the subs and putting Durán up front with Ollie.
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Its a 50/50 draw. If you finish 9th or 10th you play either 23rd or 24th. If you finished 11th or 12th you play 21st or 22nd, etc. But there will be a draw to decide which of the two possible opponents you play against.
Correct
Let’s hope we get someone really shit.
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Might have been posted elsewhere, but Unai's full post-match presser is a very interesting watch. Lots of praise for Buendia, also admits he got it wrong with the subs and putting Durán up front with Ollie.
Fuming.
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I don't think playing two extra games in February is the disaster it is being portrayed.
It should be against someone beatable and will get us warmed up for other knock out rounds.
We will also have far more options for those games. Malen will be available, another CB aswell and all of Onana, Barkley and SJM will be back at start of February so the bench will be looking much stronger again.
They all need to be playing against Spurs to get their minutes so I don't see us putting out a weak team, will be similar to West Ham.
Rogers was hopeless second half but Unai says he was sick so I fully expect him to be on the bench v West Ham as the excuse of him being the only maverick ball carrier is a little less true tonight as I thought Buendia was really good in spells tonight so he needs some prem starts in the next month.
After all that we still have a decent chance of top 8 if AC Milan don't win against Girona.
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I don't think playing two extra games in February is the disaster it is being portrayed.
It should be against someone beatable and will get us warmed up for other knock out rounds.
We will also have far more options for those games. Malen will be available, another CB aswell and all of Onana, Barkley and SJM will be back at start of February so the bench will be looking much stronger again.
They all need to be playing against Spurs to get their minutes so I don't see us putting out a weak team, will be similar to West Ham.
Rogers was hopeless second half but Unai says he was sick so I fully expect him to be on the bench v West Ham as the excuse of him being the only maverick ball carrier is a little less true tonight as I thought Buendia was really good in spells tonight so he needs some prem starts in the next month.
After all that we still have a decent chance of top 8 if AC Milan don't win against Girona.
Thanks. I needed that post.
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Buendia will have more suitors now and I think Emery has said he can go if he wants and it's a good offer. That was before tonight but not sure it will change things, Emery isn't sentimental about players. Hopefully Buendia does get a run of starts though. He's already shown he can open-up Wham. Let him do it from the start on Sunday.
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I respect Emery for owning it tonight.
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Special shout out to the (thankfully small) group of fans who decided to taunt the poor locals trying to get home from work with classics such as "if it wasn't for the English you'd be Krauts", "snail-eating ******", and the ever popular "ten German bombers" for some inexplicable reason.
When they started the Munich one, they got told to put a sock in it and calmed down after that.
I remember my first pint.
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I am surprised about the praise for Buendia (I forgot he was on the pitch) - he does a good pass or dribble, and he looks really good, however the next 5 times he receives the ball he gives it to the opposition or just gets knocked off the ball, and then lies on the pitch throwing his arms in the air like a child having a hissy fit in the supermarket.
Poor display tonight, when we really needed an 7 or 8 out of ten performance from each player we got a 4 out ten performance.
Also our corners and free kicks last night were woeful, can we not beat the first man at the near post from a corner, i thought that we practised these?
Watching the game, I kept thinking about the performance in Leipzig - in the first 25 minutes of that game, our passing and movement was fantastic to watch, where was that last night?
We missed Pau so much in this game, both Konsa and Mings looked as though they were scared to death to receive the ball and pass it forward into our midfield, and there centre forward had them panicking every time the ball was played up to him, he was just too strong for them.
The last time they had won a game was against a side that is equivalent to us beating (* insert name of team) in the National League.
Hopefully we can beat Celtic, as we need to be as high in the table as possible to get an easier draw in the knock out stages.
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I think if you watch the highlights you’ll see Buendia was quite effective, compared to the rest of them anyway.
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I am surprised about the praise for Buendia (I forgot he was on the pitch) - he does a good pass or dribble, and he looks really good, however the next 5 times he receives the ball he gives it to the opposition or just gets knocked off the ball, and then lies on the pitch throwing his arms in the air like a child having a hissy fit in the supermarket.
Absolute nonsense mate, was by far our best player last night. He was slow to start i thought but was involved in all our best attacking moments and would have had 2 assists with better finishing
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A a France '98 (the first World Cup I ever watched) almost certainly clouded my judgement.
I’m trying to work out how it clouded your judgement. Monaco wasn’t a venue for France ‘98. It”s only got a capacity of 18k. It’s also not in France.
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They were barely PL standard and we got beat. Awful result.
The last 30 mins was about as bad as we get and it was mostly the result of trying Watkins and Duran together. It just doesn’t suit either player and I don’t think we’ll see it again. They will both have to accept that they will be rotated and either get on with it or leave the club.
Rogers was imperious first half and terrible second. He looked totally gassed.
Bailey… jeez, he needs benching for a bit. I hope Malen is more robust physically and mentally.
Maatsen looks ok going forward but crap defensively and not as good as Digne at either aspect. I hope I’m wrong but it looks a shite transfer at the moment (I know, PSR, but still).
This seasons tactics have been mentioned on here, but I think it’s totally down to Emery realising that playing the high line is so physically demanding that a team competing on so many fronts with a relatively small squad of genuinely first team players is… risky. See spurs.
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They were barely PL standard and we got beat. Awful result.
The last 30 mins was about as bad as we get and it was mostly the result of trying Watkins and Duran together. It just doesn’t suit either player and I don’t think we’ll see it again. They will both have to accept that they will be rotated and either get on with it or leave the club.
Rogers was imperious first half and terrible second. He looked totally gassed.
Bailey… jeez, he needs benching for a bit. I hope Malen is more robust physically and mentally.
Maatsen looks ok going forward but crap defensively and not as good as Digne at either aspect. I hope I’m wrong but it looks a shite transfer at the moment (I know, PSR, but still).
This seasons tactics have been mentioned on here, but I think it’s totally down to Emery realising that playing the high line is so physically demanding that a team competing on so many fronts with a relatively small squad of genuinely first team players is… risky. See spurs.
Barely PL standard? They're 4th in the French league. We SHOULD be beating teams like that, even with a below par performance and the chances missed (I'm convinced we win that game if Ollie's chance doesn't get pushed past the post) - but we don't need to negate the standard of team we're playing. They are decent enough.
There ARE some teams in the Champions League who would struggle in the Prem, and probably struggle to get out of the Championship. We beat one of them 3-0 away from home. But Monaco are NOT one of them.
EDIT: totally agree on the tactics, I also think teams started to figure out our high line towards the end of the season, and Unai is trying to find a new way to play. As you say, Spurs have gone the opposite way and doubled-down on their style from last season, and look how it's working out for them.
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Ergh what a horrible morning was hoping i dreamt that last night. What a nightmare. Cant believe the two games we have lost is brugges and monaco. God. I think this one was even worse than brugges tbh. As they had injuries and were badly out of form yet we hardly threatened them.
As another poster said the worst thing for me now is we will sacrifice the fa cup for the play off games if that happens which is really frustrating
Glad unai took ownership but you cant defend some of the performances for example bailey. He was atrocious.
You just know we will get shafted and get someone like real madrid or dortmund in a two legged play off game
I wouldnt have minded if this was in next stage as we would have qualified and anything else would have been a bonus. But now likley two extra games that we really do not need. Cant believe they fucked it yesterday i really cant. I bet unai is massively disappointed in them
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It’s a bit like the smaller version of them Italian stadiums that were tarted up for the WC 1990 and never painted or touched since. I went to see a Napoli game and it was a complete shit hole.
I don’t know much about the Monaco stadium, but I’m assuming that it’s publicly owned, and the football club are just tenants. If so, that is the same as all (I think) of the Italy ‘90 stadia, which tend to be quite basic beyond the often spectacular stadium bowl. I can remember watching a documentary called Et in Stadia Ego at the time, which was comparing English football grounds in the wake of Hillsborough with the Italian stadia. They found a rolled-up newspaper from the 1920s inside a crush barrier on the Leppings Lane End. Compared with this the Bari stadium seemed like a vision from a utopian future. It’s still the third largest stadium in Italy, and hosted the ‘91 European Cup Final, but SSC Bari have spent more time out of Serie A than in it.
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They were barely PL standard and we got beat. Awful result.
The last 30 mins was about as bad as we get and it was mostly the result of trying Watkins and Duran together. It just doesn’t suit either player and I don’t think we’ll see it again. They will both have to accept that they will be rotated and either get on with it or leave the club.
Rogers was imperious first half and terrible second. He looked totally gassed.
Bailey… jeez, he needs benching for a bit. I hope Malen is more robust physically and mentally.
Maatsen looks ok going forward but crap defensively and not as good as Digne at either aspect. I hope I’m wrong but it looks a shite transfer at the moment (I know, PSR, but still).
This seasons tactics have been mentioned on here, but I think it’s totally down to Emery realising that playing the high line is so physically demanding that a team competing on so many fronts with a relatively small squad of genuinely first team players is… risky. See spurs.
Barely PL standard? They're 4th in the French league. We SHOULD be beating teams like that, even with a below par performance and the chances missed (I'm convinced we win that game if Ollie's chance doesn't get pushed past the post) - but we don't need to negate the standard of team we're playing. They are decent enough.
There ARE some teams in the Champions League who would struggle in the Prem, and probably struggle to get out of the Championship. We beat one of them 3-0 away from home. But Monaco are NOT one of them.
EDIT: totally agree on the tactics, I also think teams started to figure out our high line towards the end of the season, and Unai is trying to find a new way to play. As you say, Spurs have gone the opposite way and doubled-down on their style from last season, and look how it's working out for them.
It was like watching grown ups playing a youth team in the 1st half. I thought they were ordinary at best and like a less physical Ipswich. Young Boys aside, easily the worst team we’ve played in the CL. I hope Celtic make that statement moribund next week!
Yeah, the change in tactics is another sign that Emery is a serious (and seriously great) coach. He seemed highly pissed off with some of the players last night.
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They were barely PL standard and we got beat. Awful result.
The last 30 mins was about as bad as we get and it was mostly the result of trying Watkins and Duran together. It just doesn’t suit either player and I don’t think we’ll see it again. They will both have to accept that they will be rotated and either get on with it or leave the club.
Rogers was imperious first half and terrible second. He looked totally gassed.
Bailey… jeez, he needs benching for a bit. I hope Malen is more robust physically and mentally.
Maatsen looks ok going forward but crap defensively and not as good as Digne at either aspect. I hope I’m wrong but it looks a shite transfer at the moment (I know, PSR, but still).
This seasons tactics have been mentioned on here, but I think it’s totally down to Emery realising that playing the high line is so physically demanding that a team competing on so many fronts with a relatively small squad of genuinely first team players is… risky. See spurs.
Barely PL standard? They're 4th in the French league. We SHOULD be beating teams like that, even with a below par performance and the chances missed (I'm convinced we win that game if Ollie's chance doesn't get pushed past the post) - but we don't need to negate the standard of team we're playing. They are decent enough.
There ARE some teams in the Champions League who would struggle in the Prem, and probably struggle to get out of the Championship. We beat one of them 3-0 away from home. But Monaco are NOT one of them.
EDIT: totally agree on the tactics, I also think teams started to figure out our high line towards the end of the season, and Unai is trying to find a new way to play. As you say, Spurs have gone the opposite way and doubled-down on their style from last season, and look how it's working out for them.
It was like watching grown ups playing a youth team in the 1st half. I thought they were ordinary at best and like a less physical Ipswich. Young Boys aside, easily the worst team we’ve played in the CL. I hope Celtic make that statement moribund next week!
Yeah, the change in tactics is another sign that Emery is a serious (and seriously great) coach. He seemed highly pissed off with some of the players last night.
He also called our set pieces "horrible". Too bloody right they were. Every corner either didn't beat the first man,something that has always annoyed the hell out of me, or sailed straight into the keepers hands completely unchallenged. So from that the question has got to be- "what the hell are we paying the set piece coach for?" I would not be surprised to see Austin Mcphee head for the exit at the end of the season.
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Until around 65 minutes I thought we still had levels we could go up to if needed, as with West Ham recently. But that was astonishingly poor. It had the intensity of a pre-season game and yes, all the more galling considering what was at stake and the poor quality of the opposition.
I'd love to know which players weren't following the plan, because it would seem they compromised us badly last night. It's not a mentality or a look that I'm comfortable with, the least I expect is commitment from a professional footballer. If you can't raise yourself for a Champions League game - the supposed pinnacle of the sport - there's something wrong.
Buendia the only real half highlight for me.
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Emery has said we controlled the game for the most part. If you’re a goal down after 8 minutes and their keeper has hardly had a shot of note to save we are most certainly not controlling the game.
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I think Unai was talking about Watkins and Duran not following instructions. I noticed when Jhon came on and ran over to Ollie, Ollie asked his what the plan was and whatever Jhon said Ollie didn’t look happy. Can’t fin the clip now but it was telling. My guess would be one of the m needed to play on the right but it never happened
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I'm sure I read some quote from Unai earlier this morning where he names the players who he thought were following instruction. I can't find it now, but it included Tielemanns, Cash, Martinez, Mings and I think Rogers and maybe another name I can't remember. It definitely did not include Watkins of Duran.
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I'm sure I read some quote from Unai earlier this morning where he names the players who he thought were following instruction. I can't find it now, but it included Tielemanns, Cash, Martinez, Mings and I think Rogers and maybe another name I can't remember. It definitely did not include Watkins of Duran.
I included Konsa too and, I think, Buendia. It did not include Rogers though.
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I've not read all of this thread so while I remember, shout out to Dave for scoffing at their keeper who proceeded to look like the bastard son of Lev Yashin and Gordon Banks.
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I think if you watch the highlights you’ll see Buendia was quite effective, compared to the rest of them anyway.
Our best player in the front half of the pitch, played the best pass of the night which may have ended in a goal had Bailey not intervened to pass it back to their keeper.
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I'm sure I read some quote from Unai earlier this morning where he names the players who he thought were following instruction. I can't find it now, but it included Tielemanns, Cash, Martinez, Mings and I think Rogers and maybe another name I can't remember. It definitely did not include Watkins of Duran.
I included Konsa too and, I think, Buendia. It did not include Rogers though.
So I didn't imagine it (apart from etc Rogers part)!
The other thing to mention is that we again missed two very good chances when we were well on top, which is something else Emery mentioned - it's' probably getting right on his nerves by now. Watkins and Bailey (who just...fell over). And the whole thing when Unai was tapping his head, basically saying some players aren't mentally up to it - I'm thinking he was thinking about Mr Bailey there.
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I'm struggling to get too worked up about the result. To me it seemed like a display from a tired team struggling to cope with injuries and lack of depth in certain locations. It wasn't good, but in saying that we did have some chances that should have got us an equaliser.
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I’m struggling to not get worked up about it. I’m usually ok at it but I’m still fuming this morning.
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Mings was poor yesterday. Gave the ball away and his passing was not great. That was a Pau match / team to play last night.
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I think the frustrating thing is we have given up points to two bang average teams
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Too many players were off it last night. it's happened a few times now, passes not quite reaching their target, tackles being missed and players seemingly not as well prepared as they might be.
I do wonder though if they are just tired, long meetings, the physical exertion of the games, and travel. In the space of a week we've been away three times and that disrupts preparation, recovery and rest.
We've a few days to prepare for Sunday, then we're at home again on Wednesday. I expect a positive reaction.
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Too many players were off it last night. it's happened a few times now, passes not quite reaching their target, tackles being missed and players seemingly not as well prepared as they might be.
I do wonder though if they are just tired, long meetings, the physical exertion of the games, and travel. In the space of a week we've been away three times and that disrupts preparation, recovery and rest.
We've a few days to prepare for Sunday, then we're at home again on Wednesday. I expect a positive reaction.
Yeah, tiredness definitely came into it last night. You could see Rogers and a few others just completely run out of steam in the last half hour.
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Too many players were off it last night. it's happened a few times now, passes not quite reaching their target, tackles being missed and players seemingly not as well prepared as they might be.
I do wonder though if they are just tired, long meetings, the physical exertion of the games, and travel. In the space of a week we've been away three times and that disrupts preparation, recovery and rest.
We've a few days to prepare for Sunday, then we're at home again on Wednesday. I expect a positive reaction.
Yeah, tiredness definitely came into it last night. You could see Rogers and a few others just completely run out of steam in the last half hour.
That is why the late subs were so bizarre !
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Too many players were off it last night. it's happened a few times now, passes not quite reaching their target, tackles being missed and players seemingly not as well prepared as they might be.
I do wonder though if they are just tired, long meetings, the physical exertion of the games, and travel. In the space of a week we've been away three times and that disrupts preparation, recovery and rest.
We've a few days to prepare for Sunday, then we're at home again on Wednesday. I expect a positive reaction.
Yeah, tiredness definitely came into it last night. You could see Rogers and a few others just completely run out of steam in the last half hour.
That is why the late subs were so bizarre !
I think Emery realised he'd made a mistake putting Duran without taking Watkins off and got a bit stuck with what to do about it.
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Monaco is a concrete shithole, Benidorm with money is how my son described it. You’d think 1000 Villa fans were about to launch a full scale military assault on the Princes Palace with the level of policing we were met with. I think Max on VOT described it as they just don’t want Football fans at all and go out of their way to make it as miserable experience as you’d imagine. Yet another ground where you’re lined up to be sniffed by dogs, searched as if you’re part of a terrorist cell, have to hand in your Battery pack then go through same sniff and search as before all while being watched by a small regiment of tooled up to the max French Riot police. Oh and the ground is a miserable soulless dump with about as much atmosphere as a Church Fete. It may have an iconic design but I thought it was crap. There were toilets but not enough for 1000 people, the catering was absolute shite as like many others I think I have now eaten the driest Ham Baguette ever made. And to cap all that off we were absolute shite, with a sub Bruges performance that was so insipid I think my eyes started bleeding.
All in all Monaco can stick itself right up its own tax dodging overblown sense of self important not as nice as Nice arse. The ******.
See you all on Sunday.
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Mings was poor yesterday. Gave the ball away and his passing was not great. That was a Pau match / team to play last night.
What was Unai supposed to do with Pau being injured?
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Mings was poor yesterday. Gave the ball away and his passing was not great. That was a Pau match / team to play last night.
What was Unai supposed to do with Pau being injured?
That wasn't my intended point.
My point is, it horses for courses. Some matches Mings is better suited than Torres and vice versa. I wasn't saying that Unai could have done anything as Pau is injured (obviously) just that Mings was poor and could have done with Pau's passing ability.
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Monaco is a concrete shithole, Benidorm with money is how my son described it. You’d think 1000 Villa fans were about to launch a full scale military assault on the Princes Palace with the level of policing we were met with. I think Max on VOT described it as they just don’t want Football fans at all and go out of their way to make it as miserable experience as you’d imagine. Yet another ground where you’re lined up to be sniffed by dogs, searched as if you’re part of a terrorist cell, have to hand in your Battery pack then go through same sniff and search as before all while being watched by a small regiment of tooled up to the max French Riot police. Oh and the ground is a miserable soulless dump with about as much atmosphere as a Church Fete. It may have an iconic design but I thought it was crap. There were toilets but not enough for 1000 people, the catering was absolute shite as like many others I think I have now eaten the driest Ham Baguette ever made. And to cap all that off we were absolute shite, with a sub Bruges performance that was so insipid I think my eyes started bleeding.
All in all Monaco can stick itself right up its own tax dodging overblown sense of self important not as nice as Nice arse. The ******.
See you all on Sunday.
Eloquently put. You should be a travel writer.
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Just a really poor performance as Mings said!
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There's no way that performance was worse than Bruges. We actually created a few chances last night. In Bruges, a couple of first half efforts aside, we were desperate.
Emery shrugged off the tiredness excuse but I guess he's not the one doing all the running! He's always welcomed more games in Europe. Got the impression that he was a bit pissed off with the journalists questioning him over the result and tactics. A kind of "Look how far I've taken Villa in two years! Top 8 in the Premier League and knock-outs in the Champions League is more than any of you can expect!"
Of course it doesn't work quite like that as expectation builds and the media/fans express surprise and disappointment at our inconsistency. But that's what happens when you're a big boy.
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Yeah, Bruges was worse than last night.
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The reality is at the start of the season we all knew CL knock out qualification would be a stretch for the current squad? They all need more European experience!
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Why did Rogers play If he was sick? why he left him on for that long too.
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Such a frustrating watch. Emery looked thoroughly pissed off not just with the team, but himself too for falling into the two strikers trap.
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Monaco is a concrete shithole, Benidorm with money is how my son described it. You’d think 1000 Villa fans were about to launch a full scale military assault on the Princes Palace with the level of policing we were met with. I think Max on VOT described it as they just don’t want Football fans at all and go out of their way to make it as miserable experience as you’d imagine. Yet another ground where you’re lined up to be sniffed by dogs, searched as if you’re part of a terrorist cell, have to hand in your Battery pack then go through same sniff and search as before all while being watched by a small regiment of tooled up to the max French Riot police. Oh and the ground is a miserable soulless dump with about as much atmosphere as a Church Fete. It may have an iconic design but I thought it was crap. There were toilets but not enough for 1000 people, the catering was absolute shite as like many others I think I have now eaten the driest Ham Baguette ever made. And to cap all that off we were absolute shite, with a sub Bruges performance that was so insipid I think my eyes started bleeding.
All in all Monaco can stick itself right up its own tax dodging overblown sense of self important not as nice as Nice arse. The ******.
See you all on Sunday.
Agree with all of this. Reminded me of Bescot.
But I did enjoy the ham. baguette. In fact I had two !
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Why did Rogers play If he was sick? why he left him on for that long too.
Our gameplans revolve around him. In the last 12 months he's become fundamental to how we play which is fantastic for him but a little bit worrying for us given how reliant we've become on his abilities.
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We just made too many mistakes last night both individually and collectively. Their goal came about from a needlessly conceded corner following a mistake by Mings. We constantly gave away possession, missed decent chances and were regularly bullied in midfield. To compound it the manager made the wrong substitutions although lack of options limited his choices.
However, new signings and players returning from injury should give us a lift in coming weeks and I reckon at the start of the season we’d have all settled for having a home game against Celtic to ensure qualification.
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There's no way that performance was worse than Bruges. We actually created a few chances last night. In Bruges, a couple of first half efforts aside, we were desperate.
Emery shrugged off the tiredness excuse but I guess he's not the one doing all the running! He's always welcomed more games in Europe. Got the impression that he was a bit pissed off with the journalists questioning him over the result and tactics. A kind of "Look how far I've taken Villa in two years! Top 8 in the Premier League and knock-outs in the Champions League is more than any of you can expect!"
Of course it doesn't work quite like that as expectation builds and the media/fans express surprise and disappointment at our consistency. But that's what happens when you're a big boy.
I was thinking this morning that although last night was disappointing, we've got to keep in mind where we are. I expected this season to be tough, but come February we're still very much in the mix to finish in the top 8 of the Champions League and also to finish in the Champions League positions in the Premier League.
9 of the starting XI last night were at the club under Steven Gerrard and although we've got a few injuries, I think that just serves as a reminder of just how much the financial restrictions have hampered us, especially when you look at the clubs we are competing with.
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The four most influential players in our team are Martínez Torres McGinn, Kamara
Mainly because there is no natural replacements for them
Two of them were injured last night and we struggled and we’ll continue to struggle because what McGinn and Torres bring nobody else can at the moment,
The progressive play of Torres moving the ball forward playing out from the back and the drive and physicality of McGinn
In my view we’d have won last night with those two players
Obviously that’s just my opinion it’s subjective because it can’t be proved
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The four most influential players in our team are Martínez Torres McGinn, Kamara
Mainly because there is no natural replacements for them
Two of them were injured last night and we struggled and we’ll continue to struggle because what McGinn and Torres bring nobody else can at the moment,
The progressive play of Torres moving the ball forward playing out from the back and the drive and physicality of McGinn
In my view we’d have won last night with those two players
Obviously that’s just my opinion it’s subjective because it can’t be proved
As you say it can’t be proved but I agree with you, John.
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If we sign Bade I think we saw the defensive understudies on show last night. Particularly for European games.
Malen coming in will also hopefully take the pressure off Rogers too.
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The injuries really undid us last night. I do think we are in a loop as we need have position in the prem to get back into the champions league whilst still being in the CL trying to get CL football again next year. With the injuries we have, it was always going to be a big ask. I dont think we will get out of the play-offs if thats the way it goes down. We are just too stretched. Sad thing is we may see a weakened team against spuds when the FA cup might be the only realistic chance of winning anything this year. We shall see but no need to panic just yet. A bad day at the office.
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Got home about 11am this morning.... On reflection, it was bad. We had chances, but we should have had a LOT more.
I can't remember so many Villa passes sold short in 90mins.
Bailey - Lost what little shred of patience I had with him last night. I was firmly in the camp, 'he'll come good', but how much MORE time does he need? He'll be retired at this rate!
Konsa - Seems to avoid a lot of negative press amongst the fanbase, but he's not played well for literally ages! Never gets tight to his man anymore, always takes 2-3 touches to do what could be done in 1, waits for that 2nd bounce and will always look for that 'safe' pass to Mings, Big Emi or Cash.
Only positive last night was Buendia - Thought he did well.
For what was a great trip to the French Riveira, the boys had to go and fucking spoil it. Fuming.
On a plus note, did I read correctly that the playoff games are sandwiched around the Spurs FA Cup game too? If so, last night's performance/result has put the kybosh on not one, but TWO cup tournaments! FFS
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We looked so disjointed last night. It was like the defence and the midfield were playing to a different set of instructions.
The defence were passing the ball slowly from left to right, and then when pressed hurriedly passed the ball into midfield where inevitably our players were already being marked and then lost the ball. The forward line were mainly cut adrift from the rest of the team.
I've seen it so many times in the past, that when a team starts slowly it's difficult to alter the pace of the game and you find yourself on the back foot for large periods of the game.
I know Emery's mantra is keep possession, but sometimes I feel we need to get out of the traps a bit faster.
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I don’t think injuries are a fair excuse, all teams suffer injuries, it’s why you have a squad.
Monaco did not have their best team out, but were much better than us.
We got the selection,tactics, performances and substitutions wrong.
We are not good enough at this stage to deal with the demands of both the Champions and Premier League.
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It was also in-line with the majority of our cup performances under Unai.
Low intensity
Trying to control the game
Hard to watch
There have been too many for it not to be a conscious strategy - preserve players,
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Without McGinn we have nobody who is going to get at people in midfield. Our captain is the goalkeeper so he cant get up peoples backs, Tieleman keeps playing it very cool but needs to quicken up, the two centre halves need to be told to get the ball moving forward so much quicker. What we need is a Townsend, Keane or Souness type in there to make things happen.
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I was very bored by around the 55th minute mark. When were bad we do it properly.
That’s about the time I would have left the ground if I could. Performance was a bit like our pathetic showings against lower league teams in the cup.
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It was also in-line with the majority of our cup performances under Unai.
Low intensity
Trying to control the game
Hard to watch
There have been too many for it not to be a conscious strategy - preserve players,
Preserve players for when though?! Winning 10 on the spin in April and May? High-risk strat.
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Poor low tempo performance and poor atmosphere, felt like a testimonial game . That said if Watkins and Bailey tuck their great chances away we've won the game .
Fine margins , cannot miss chances like that in the champions league .
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Without McGinn we have nobody who is going to get at people in midfield. Our captain is the goalkeeper so he cant get up peoples backs, Tieleman keeps playing it very cool but needs to quicken up, the two centre halves need to be told to get the ball moving forward so much quicker. What we need is a Townsend, Keane or Souness type in there to make things happen.
Yes to this. Was nice and tidy from us in Monaco but lacking some of this.
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Quite simply, if we will insist on dressing like Scotland we run every risk of turning into them.
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Like I said after the game, I thought we needed someone alongside Kamara. I know that sounds defensive but I think it would have done us a lot of good.
Even the best manager's have an offday and last night was one of Emery's.
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Like I said after the game, I thought we needed someone alongside Kamara. I know that sounds defensive but I think it would have done us a lot of good.
Even the best manager's have an offday and last night was one of Emery's.
Yup you have to be able to build out, otherwise you’re basically reliant on a moment of magic. Obviously JD can do that, but it’s not really a sustainable way of achieving a positive outcome.
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They were barely PL standard and we got beat. Awful result.
The last 30 mins was about as bad as we get and it was mostly the result of trying Watkins and Duran together. It just doesn’t suit either player and I don’t think we’ll see it again. They will both have to accept that they will be rotated and either get on with it or leave the club.
Rogers was imperious first half and terrible second. He looked totally gassed.
Bailey… jeez, he needs benching for a bit. I hope Malen is more robust physically and mentally.
Maatsen looks ok going forward but crap defensively and not as good as Digne at either aspect. I hope I’m wrong but it looks a shite transfer at the moment (I know, PSR, but still).
This seasons tactics have been mentioned on here, but I think it’s totally down to Emery realising that playing the high line is so physically demanding that a team competing on so many fronts with a relatively small squad of genuinely first team players is… risky. See spurs.
Barely PL standard? They're 4th in the French league. We SHOULD be beating teams like that, even with a below par performance and the chances missed (I'm convinced we win that game if Ollie's chance doesn't get pushed past the post) - but we don't need to negate the standard of team we're playing. They are decent enough.
There ARE some teams in the Champions League who would struggle in the Prem, and probably struggle to get out of the Championship. We beat one of them 3-0 away from home. But Monaco are NOT one of them.
EDIT: totally agree on the tactics, I also think teams started to figure out our high line towards the end of the season, and Unai is trying to find a new way to play. As you say, Spurs have gone the opposite way and doubled-down on their style from last season, and look how it's working out for them.
It was like watching grown ups playing a youth team in the 1st half. I thought they were ordinary at best and like a less physical Ipswich. Young Boys aside, easily the worst team we’ve played in the CL. I hope Celtic make that statement moribund next week!
Yeah, the change in tactics is another sign that Emery is a serious (and seriously great) coach. He seemed highly pissed off with some of the players last night.
The players have a right to be pissed off with Emery too. He had a night to forget on the sideline and talked a lot of utter shite afterwards. Two up top didn't work, sure so why not correct it during the second half and/or start Duran not Watkins. Did we really need to find out yet again in a crucial CL game that those two cannot play together?
Players didn't follow instructions, even if that is true (and it's a serious enough accusation) then it should be dealt with in the dressing room.
There was more than an element of him chucking players in front of the proverbial bus after a nightmare second half. We win and lose together.
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When you say 'we' you clearly don't include yourself. 😉
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When you say 'we' you clearly don't include yourself. 😉
Not directly, but I've heard that Unai pins bb's match ratings on the dressing room wall to try and gee the players up for the next game.
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I got home tonight and once again had a great trip, sullied somewhat by an absolutely abysmal performance.
I haven’t read this thread by we were lacking across the pitch and I’d say only Cash and maybe Digne were not poor. Bailey was visibly off and Buendia and Roger’s seemed to be diametrically opposed in one being ok for a while with the other being dire, and then swapping.
Another brain fart to give away a needless corner and allow the opposition to score with their first chance. None of the subs helps, notably Duran alongside Watkins, and between them I think they had once chance all game ( not seen it again but thought Ollie should have scored it).
It was avery sterile atmosphere, the away end is a long way from the pitch and our fans were very flat. The highlight of the evening was bumping into Mick Dale on the train back to Nice after - he’s doing well and working elsewhere, saying his new employers look after him well.
Second visit to Monaco and it’s bling but sterile. Nice is much nicer. And despite warnings, you could find drink in Monaco. Who’d have thought Hagen Daasz would sell alcohol?
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When you say 'we' you clearly don't include yourself. 😉
Not directly, but I've heard that Unai pins bb's match ratings on the dressing room wall to try and gee the players up for the next game.
Us Irish lads are hard to impress.
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If Barcelona beat Atalanta and we beat Celtic we will scrape 8th place.
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If Barcelona beat Atalanta and we beat Celtic we will scrape 8th place.
There’ll be no scraping about it, we’ll have more points than them and be in a fully deserved 8th place or higher if another club fucks it up.
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If Barcelona beat Atalanta and we beat Celtic we will scrape 8th place.
Barcelona only need to draw and we win of course.
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Monaco win and better our score by 3 goals?
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Monaco win and better our score by 3 goals?
I’m not particularly worried about them doing that away at Inter.
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Although I think that would put us ahead of Inter, so win-win.
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Monaco win and better our score by 3 goals?
I’m not particularly worried about them doing that away at Inter.
actully 2 goals as they have scored more.
It’s the same issue as Barca not having anything to play for .
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Although I think that would put us ahead of Inter, so win-win.
Then this
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Although I think that would put us ahead of Inter, so win-win.
Yes, you are right.
:)
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Monaco win and better our score by 3 goals?
I’m not particularly worried about them doing that away at Inter.
actully 2 goals as they have scored more.
It’s the same issue as Barca not having anything to play for .
Think Barcelona would like to finish 2nd so they are in the opposite side of the draw to Liverpool.
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Barca would probably also like to win as they need as much cash as they can possibly get.
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Barca would probably also like to win as they need as much cash as they can possibly get.
I hope so.
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Every club still has something to play for, the 2.1m for a win and 700k for a draw. Even the filthy rich clubs want, or even need, that in their bank.
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No favours done by Sky with the late Sunday game.
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Monaco win and better our score by 3 goals?
I’m not particularly worried about them doing that away at Inter.
actully 2 goals as they have scored more.
GD will only come into play if we beat Celtic so they'll need to win by at least 3. Not conceding a second against Monaco may help us qualify.
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Monaco win and better our score by 3 goals?
I’m not particularly worried about them doing that away at Inter.
actully 2 goals as they have scored more.
GD will only come into play if we beat Celtic so they'll need to win by at least 3. Not conceding a second against Monaco may help us qualify.
as above then Inter go behind us.
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When you say 'we' you clearly don't include yourself. 😉
Not directly, but I've heard that Unai pins bb's match ratings on the dressing room wall to try and gee the players up for the next game.
Wait til prince william reads what I have to say about him 😜
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When is the West Ham thread beginning ?
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When is the West Ham thread beginning ?
Start one.
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Monaco win and better our score by 3 goals?
I’m not particularly worried about them doing that away at Inter.
actully 2 goals as they have scored more.
GD will only come into play if we beat Celtic so they'll need to win by at least 3. Not conceding a second against Monaco may help us qualify.
The defence deserves credit v Monaco. The fact that we didn’t concede again might be crucial.
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Monaco win and better our score by 3 goals?
I’m not particularly worried about them doing that away at Inter.
actully 2 goals as they have scored more.
GD will only come into play if we beat Celtic so they'll need to win by at least 3. Not conceding a second against Monaco may help us qualify.
The defence deserves credit v Monaco. The fact that we didn’t concede again might be crucial.
It does but Watkins and Bailey at the other end should have buried their big chances