Heroes & Villains, the Aston Villa fanzine
Heroes & Villains => Heroes Discussion => Topic started by: PeterWithesShin on February 01, 2026, 04:06:43 PM
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Got what we deserved imo. Didn't have anywhere near enough to break them down, they played with 10 as well as it's possible to and we had no response.
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I hate those fucking ******
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Never in doubt. Unfortunately.
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Fucking hell.
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Fuck off. Fuck off. Fuck off.
Shit weekend.
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And that, ladies and gentlemen, is why we were never in the title race.
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Two horrible home games in a row. This was one of the worst ever under Emery.
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Imagine losing three times in a season to dreck like that.
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27 shots and their keeper wasn't pulling off endless world class saves.
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Hopefully Real Madrid were watching 8)
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I didn't think we was that bad - created quite a bit.
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Fucking shit.
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And that, ladies and gentlemen, is why we were never in the title race.
Well maybe if three our best players didn't get injured and maybe if we didn't have shit officiating. Really sickened by villa fans writing us off all year
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Bloody clueless by Emery.
Same approach all half.
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Absolutely dreadful. Devoid of quality or ideas against 10 men.
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Bloody clueless by Emery.
Same approach all half.
You are always great for the comedy. Should we sack him then
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I didn't think we was that bad - created quite a bit.
It wasn't.
Freak result.
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You cannot tell me that the goal we scored was out of play. The linesman didn’t call it. Neither did the ref. And the video was inconclusive. Zero proof. Antonio’s the cunting goal. We played all the way up the pitch too. That is a scandalous decision on my view.
They had every single bounce of the ball too.
Freak result.
Onwards.
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Are VAR gonna start checking every time a ball goes out from now on? Villa against 10? We knew what was gonna happen. Very disappointes but they defended like 10 Paul McGraths and we had no idea.
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Good job our route to the Europa League Final is so easy.
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We need to lobby for a change in the rules so we get a choice as to whether the opponent loses a player.
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Really poor tactics second half. We now have a proper 6ft plus CF and just play tippy tappy around the box
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And if I have to read how well Brentford played I will poke my eyes out. They are shit:
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Brentford didnt have to do much to win that.
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Failed to beat 10 man Sunderland, lost to 10 man Brentford. Elite sides don't tend to do that.
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Anti-football won today.
I really don’t think we were all that bad. Even on their goal, Pau positioned himself perfectly to block the initial cross and it went straight back.
Most shots we’ve taken all year. I thought Doug and Cash looked good today. We really didn’t hone in on Tammy when we went a man up, which I thought was a mistake.
Just a huge stinkin pile of crap today.
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Was the ball out is going to be the next 'why didn't Barry take the penalty'. Let's just guess eh?
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Failed to beat 10 man Sunderland, lost to 10 man Brentford. Elite sides don't tend to do that.
No, we have a real issue upping the tempo when a side just blocks the centre of the pitch.
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Bloody clueless by Emery.
Same approach all half.
You are always great for the comedy. Should we sack him then
So you don’t agree Emery was tactically inept today? On other days he is a genius but today was a stinker.
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Absolutely horrendous. The double done by Brentford. Back to back 1-0 defeats after Everton. Title challenge in tatters. Of course injuries have crushed us and getting new players to settle in isn’t easy. But there is no excuse for that. Oh and VAR can fuck right off taking an eternity and literally finding every margin and angle to disallow goals. We would have won had that stood but now two games in a row a massive VAR decision has impacted the possible outcome.
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Missed Watkins.
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Bloody clueless by Emery.
Same approach all half.
You are always great for the comedy. Should we sack him then
So you don’t agree Emery was tactically inept today? On other days he is a genius but today was a stinker.
What did he get wrong then, Ein Stein?
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Two points from eighteen Vs Brentford, Palace and Everton. Even an average set of results against this lot would have us top. We seem to be doing our best to repeat the opening five games of the season.
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What is the solution to this low block kryptonite? I'm getting sick of us passing it around doing nothing. We may as well stand there and scratch our heads.
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I thought he made a big mistake in basically leaving one centre mid on. God knows what’s up with Onana, but we needed to build from the middle and instead just emptied the midfield.
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If you're going to sling it in the box for 20 minutes chuck Mings in there
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We always struggle against these stoke city types. They defended well, wasted time and every bounce seemed to fall for them. Even their goal was a flukey bounce.
Didn’t help that we played it around so slowly and seemed completely devoid of ideas.
The disallowed goal was a joke - may as well pull it all the way back to kick off.
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Bloody clueless by Emery.
Same approach all half.
You are always great for the comedy. Should we sack him then
So you don’t agree Emery was tactically inept today? On other days he is a genius but today was a stinker.
What did he get wrong then, Ein Stein?
Should have at the very least put more height in the box with Onana & Mings.
Also ordered them to give it to Rogers at every opportunity.
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£50 safely in my pocket rather than watching that shit. Second 0-1 loss at home to a middling team in a row, garbage signings, it’s like being a Villa fan again. Woooooo!
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The middle was far too congested, we needed wingers to keep swinging balls in and anticipate the knock-downs. Except we left two of our best aerial assets, Mings and Onana, catching splinters on the bench.
It wasn't a game for nifty but lightweight players like Buendia and Elliott. We had to fight fire with fire. But Emery just stroked his chin and pulled those odd expressions of his.
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Real Madrid have to play against teams that play like that every game. Think on, Unai.
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We could've been playing against 10 squirrels and still wouldn't have scored.
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We were never remotely good enough to win the league and with three such good midfielders injured, I'd take a top 8 finish and win the Europa League now.
For what its worth the last 25 mins would have been Mings up front and ball after ball into the box, the tippy tappy just gave them ample time to organise.
VAR is killing the game, that ball was more than likely out but you couldn't say it was 100% definite so the goal should stand.
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We need to lobby for a change in the rules so we get a choice as to whether the opponent loses a player.
This is very true. At kick off I was half expecting disappointment today. When they went down to 10 I fully expected it.
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You take the engine out of a car and it runs crap.
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They had a load of big players in defence though. We had no one that stretched them out of shape, they defended against us easily. Maybe Ollie would have had joy, but it definitely isn't Tammy's game and Rogers didn't drive at them enough. We didn't play badly, but we also didn't play well.
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If you're going to sling it in the box for 20 minutes chuck Mings in there
We didn’t sling it in the box at all..? We put one corner in, and it seemed like only Matty had permission to cross from the right. Everything else was 3-man at the corner of the box.
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They got a lucky goal - great finish but it bounced straight back at him.
That var was mental. They can't say the ball is 100% out - they dont know it is we dont have the technology in place to say that. And using it in that way is just bent.
They cant use VAR to correct the bleatent second yellows, or to correct corners given the wrong way. They cant use it to correct a goal v Man Utd that potentially cost us 50m. But a ball that was "probably" out 90 yards away from the goal that was scored is just not what it was intended for.
No way that goes against one of the sky 6.
We lacked composer in the box - but fair play to Brentford the defended brilliantly.
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Just when you think we are a genuinely good team we turn back into the Villa we've known for the last 25 years. Fucking Brentford. I didn't see the match, but not scoring vs 10 is one thing, but how did we let those cloggers even score?
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We missed Ollie.
An underpar Ollie still causes problems.
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Tough one to take. Feels like it might have been a pivotal weekend.
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We didn't that badly really. It's not as if we didn't have chances. Guilty of overplaying at times and taking silly shots on. Pretty rotten VAR call against us too. Thought Tammy was disappointing but so was Ollie v Everton. Luiz had a solid return. Not starting Onana was a bit silly on the face of it. Elliot just added another similar player to the mix. Awful to lose 0-1 at home to very average Everton and Brentford teams but we go again.
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They had a load of big players in defence though. We had no one that stretched them out of shape, they defended against us easily. Maybe Ollie would have had joy, but it definitely isn't Tammy's game and Rogers didn't drive at them enough. We didn't play badly, but we also didn't play well.
Yeah, Tammy really struggle (disallowed goal apart) when they went to 10. We needed more disruption of the defence.
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They got a lucky goal - great finish but it bounced straight back at him.
That var was mental. They can't say the ball is 100% out - they dont know it is we dont have the technology in place to say that. And using it in that way is just bent.
They cant use VAR to correct the bleatent second yellows, or to correct corners given the wrong way. They cant use it to correct a goal v Man Utd that potentially cost us 50m. But a ball that was "probably" out 90 yards away from the goal that was scored is just not what it was intended for.
No way that goes against one of the sky 6.
We lacked composer in the box - but fair play to Brentford the defended brilliantly.
Yeah. That call was an absolute ****** trick.
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Bloody clueless by Emery.
Same approach all half.
You are always great for the comedy. Should we sack him then
So you don’t agree Emery was tactically inept today? On other days he is a genius but today was a stinker.
What did he get wrong then, Ein Stein?
Should have at the very least put more height in the box with Onana & Mings.
Also ordered them to give it to Rogers at every opportunity.
So, sling it into the box and give it to the star kid?
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We missed Ollie.
An underpar Ollie still causes problems.
How did he go v Everton?
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I think we’d have won with 11 v 11
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Tough one to take. Feels like it might have been a pivotal weekend.
Agree. The weekend where we start looking at who's coming up behind us rather than who's ahead of us. Would be heartbreaking to do a Forest.
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Bloody clueless by Emery.
Same approach all half.
You are always great for the comedy. Should we sack him then
So you don’t agree Emery was tactically inept today? On other days he is a genius but today was a stinker.
What did he get wrong then, Ein Stein?
Should have at the very least put more height in the box with Onana & Mings.
Also ordered them to give it to Rogers at every opportunity.
So, sling it into the box and give it to the star kid?
They could try both.
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I still think 45 mins of continuously crossing into their box would bring more decent chances than constantly passing back and forth across the pitch! It never works!
Their centre backs must’ve thought it was their birthdays!
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All fart and no shit.
As soon as they went to 10 men I knew we wouldn’t win that
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Why didn’t we bring Onana and Mings on and try a bit of Pulis-ball ourselves?
I tried to be optimistic about Bailey coming back but he was exactly as I remembered, awful.
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I still think 45 mins of continuously crossing into their box would bring more decent chances than constantly passing back and forth across the pitch! It never works!
Their centre backs must’ve thought it was their birthdays!
It never works, apart from when it did 14 times this season. We used to throw crosses into the box all the time. We got relegated.
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I thought the VAR thing was very irritating, but there was so long to go and we didn’t really force any decent saves. That’s not good enough - we’ve had a great season so far, and hopefully it’ll conclude as a great season - but there’s no getting away from it the last two home league performances have been rubbish.
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Why didn’t we bring Onana and Bailey on and try a bit of Pulis-ball ourselves?
I tried to be optimistic about Bailey coming back but he was exactly as I remembered, awful.
He wasn't too bad but awful effort with that shot. Should have scored.
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It works very well, but not against sides that rarely leave their penalty area.
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The disallowed goal was the only time we broke quickly. The rest of the time we were so slow.
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Can not lose as many influential players and not stutter
New guys not in tune with each other, however totally pissed off as it is the Villa way
Need another wide option tomorrow I dont see Leon as the man
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On this occasion, with time running out, we should have had more height in that box and throw it in there!
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Bit weird by Emery today. Playing ten men so he takes off the only wide player who was causing them any trouble. Playing against a bunch of 9'3" mutants and getting dozens of corners so he doesn't bring on our most physical player.
Losing three times to those twats is unfun, but glad I don’t have to watch them every week, horrible side. If that sounds bitter, yes, it absolutely is.
Oh and Man U got a 94th minute winner, because of course they did.
Football can fuck off this week. It has been an absolute twat.
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If you're going to sling it in the box for 20 minutes chuck Mings in there
We didn’t sling it in the box at all..? We put one corner in, and it seemed like only Matty had permission to cross from the right. Everything else was 3-man at the corner of the box.
We tapped it around in front of them, sometimes went down the left and crossed it low, other times went across to Konsa, then Cash, Bailey, then crossed it in.
Other than the Leon chance on the break, that's pretty much all we did.
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The quality of the passing was poor and that really hindered us gaining momentum - so often the pass was slightly behind the player, or overhit. It just spoke to a pretty sloppy performance.
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It was always going to be a banana skin today, even before the red card. We can't win every game.
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The middle was far too congested, we needed wingers to keep swinging balls in and anticipate the knock-downs. Except we left two of our best aerial assets, Mings and Onana, catching splinters on the bench.
It wasn't a game for nifty but lightweight players like Buendia and Elliott. We had to fight fire with fire. But Emery just stroked his chin and pulled those odd expressions of his.
We could have had Haaland, Peter Withe and Andy Gray and none of them would have scored because we can't bloody cross the ball. Cash can only cross from the left but he plays on the right, his brilliant one-twos with Bailey - Cash to Bailey back to Cash back to Bailey back to Cash, Cash to Konsa, as threatening as turning up to a gun fight with a water pistol and so fucking predictable. Useless. No wonder Roma sent Bailey back and still pay his wages.
Rogers out on the left wing for most of the game was another pointless exercise. Why not trust Maatsen to own the space? Again, like Salzburg Brentford filled the centre of the park forcing us to go wide and we immediately become toothless. We had more than enough to win today but put in such a lame performance we didn't deserve a point.
Beautiful move for the disallowed goal but I think everybody and their dog would be furious if that was the other way round. The ball was clearly out. The only discussion is why did it take VAR so long to decide.
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It was always going to be a banana skin today, even before the red card. We can't win every game.
Well no, but you’d hope to not lose to Everton and Brentford in back to back home games and fail to score in either.
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Really frustrating. I actually think.we didn't play that badly and it was always going to be difficult to break them down. Disallowed that equaliser was key, as that would have taken a lot of pressure off and we wouldn't have been so rushed.
What has happened to them? Used to be a really good footballing side, but now are one the most niggly and cynical sides I've seen. Unfortunately the ref was too piss weak to deal with them and got bullied into giving them everything.
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Shit but thats how it goes sometimes. On to the next one. Tammy and Doug will settle in and lets hope Ollie is fit and is coming back soon.
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I hope that VAR call gets the scrutiny it deserves. VAR is not there for whether it THINKS the ball crossed the line. They're saying it factually went out, so they better provide evidence it was definitely out. It looks like it might be, but that's NOT sufficient to rule out a goal. VAR is not there to offer opinions on whether a ball is out, or not.
At 1-1 and with 40+ mins to play, it's an entirely different game. Feel sorry for Tammy, that was a good poacher's goal. Once it was disallowed, it was like the Brentford players grew 6 inches each and our shrank a little.
We didn't play well enough to win, and dominating possession and with 27 shots doesn't get you points unless you convert, and we didn't create many "good" chances.
A really disappointing weekend. All the teams around us winning, and also losing at home to that park-the-bus shite.
Unai needs to do what he does best and get us back to winning ways quickly.
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You cannot tell me that the goal we scored was out of play. The linesman didn’t call it. Neither did the ref. And the video was inconclusive. Zero proof. Antonio’s the cunting goal. We played all the way up the pitch too. That is a scandalous decision on my view.
They had every single bounce of the ball too.
Freak result.
Onwards.
There needs to be clarification of that decision today, as I can't see how it can be argued that the officials followed the proper process.
1. How far do you go back to check decisions? Even the explanation they put on the screen was wrong as it said it had "occurred in an attacking phase of play" when Bailey was in fact defending by his own goal line
2. Is that a precedent now that everything needs to be checked when a goal is scored?
3. The VAR officials haven't got the technology to make a definitive decision in those circumstances, so are in fact just guessing and therefore how can that deemed a 'clear and obvious error'?
4. The VAR official made a subjective decision that overruled the on-field decision made by the officials. Surely in those circumstances the ref should be called to the screen to look at it as well?
To end up having a VAR official looking at something for ages and then just guessing isn't acceptable. Not when these decisions can be so costly as we saw with the one at Old Trafford last season.
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We absolutely did not miss Watkins.
He would have offered nothing useful today.
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We absolutely did not miss Watkins.
He would have offered nothing useful today.
Pointless, probably inaccurate, but entirely predictable post.
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You're being silly now.
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It was always going to be a banana skin today, even before the red card. We can't win every game.
Well no, but you’d hope to not lose to Everton and Brentford in back to back home games and fail to score in either.
We couldn't have predicted that we'd beat Arsenal and Citeh at home either. Shit happens.
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We absolutely did not miss Watkins.
He would have offered nothing useful today.
Pointless, probably inaccurate, but entirely predictable post.
What exactly would he have done? His finishing is no better than what we had out there.
We were camped inside their box. Did we really need him to chase anything down and lay it off?
Does he play defence splitting passes?
Does he even take a good penalty?
No so what would he have offered? I'm all ears pal.
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We absolutely did not miss Watkins.
He would have offered nothing useful today.
Total and Utter Bollocks
Episode 4397
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You can't confidently state something which is impossible to prove eitherway. This is obvious.
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There’s some enormous positives from today. The main one being that having been schooled twice this season by Keith ‘lovely mop’ Andrews and Meat n Potatoes Moyes there’s no way Unai is getting the Real job.
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Can you take this to the Watkins thread?
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No, because it’s been said so many times. I just don’t think you understand - that’s fine, let’s not bother tying up another thread with it.
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We absolutely did not miss Watkins.
He would have offered nothing useful today.
"A man obsessed / is a man possessed / by a demon."
Hubert Selby Junior
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You can't confidently state something which is impossible to prove eitherway. This is obvious.
Tell that to the people saying we missed Watkins.
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Why didn’t we bring Onana and Mings on and try a bit of Pulis-ball ourselves?
I tried to be optimistic about Bailey coming back but he was exactly as I remembered, awful.
All 4 ball players in 2nd half were off it. Bailey Sancho Elliot did little and Buendia was tactically not in a goos space.
Posiitves were Cash and Luiz. Wr didnt work Kelleher enough - Watkins would have worked their centre halves more I feel.
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Oh and Villa are the ultimate bottle jobs. I’ve no idea how we are ever going to shift that culture.
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Bailey needs to do much more with his chance late on. I didnt see anything much in Elliot. Sancho, was better on the left but we really need more contributions from players like Sancho and Bailey.
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Some positives for me (though they were buried under a mountain of dreck)
First Half - It looked like Luiz and Buendia linked up well
Bailey looked as though his confidence was coming back
Err...tha...tha...that's all folks
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We seemed utterly devoid of ideas and just couldn’t move the ball with any pace.
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I would also ask Dave to keep his daughter away from our matches in future.
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At least we're not Spurs
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At least we're not Spurs
Yeah fuck them and their trophy and CL football. So glad it's not us.
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VAR were obviously guessing because after reviewing the ball on the line from all available angles they moved to checking incidents in the box. At that stage I was confident they’d award the goal as that’s the precedent.
Overall we could have created better chances but Brentford understandably packed the box and we couldn’t break them down.
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We’ve lost our whole midfield for weeks and Watkins. It’s not an excuse but a reason as to why we aren’t at it. I’m not laying into any of those out there today and definitely not the manager.
I’d like to lay into what is a farce of this VAR crap but I think everything has been said about it that can be. We all know what it is.
UTV
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We didn't bottle anything, those players gave everything but were devoid of ideas and inspiration and it is just not good enough to keep pace with those around us.
But we have had enough shit thrown at us to last a lifetime in terms of injuries, VAR and not being allowed to spend.
We are absolutely punching above our weight in the circumstances, that's not say that I'm not disappointed.
But lesser managers and sides may buckle, but Emery won't and nor will we.
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I wish Bailey hadn't gone for the Hollywood top-corner as the clock struck 90. Just get it on target and hopefully it spills to a Villa player if Kelleher can't handle it. It was the only time we had them running towards their own goal in the second half following a a rare foray forward.
You need to score the first goal against the likes of these and Everton. They're too well-organised at the back so our penchant for coming from behind to win was always going to be sorely tested. I hate Brentford!
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I think we’d have won with 11 v 11
I think so too. Their goal is partly due to complacency. As soon as they go down to 20 men, there’s no pretence about them trying to force the issue. They just sit back in a compact shape and we struggle to play through them.
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I think we’d have won with 11 v 11
I think so too. Their goal is partly due to complacency. As soon as they go down to 20 men, there’s no pretence about them trying to force the issue. They just sit back in a compact shape and we struggle to play through them.
20! I knew that box was congested.
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There's a massive difference to playing crap and bottling it. We played crap, didn't deserve to win. We showed bottle to come from 2 down a fews day ago, at Newcastle and in Turkey.
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Just about qualifying for CL now.
Losing McGinn, Tielemans and Kamara so huge
Good news is both debutants looked promising, particularly first half
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The middle was far too congested, we needed wingers to keep swinging balls in and anticipate the knock-downs. Except we left two of our best aerial assets, Mings and Onana, catching splinters on the bench.
It wasn't a game for nifty but lightweight players like Buendia and Elliott. We had to fight fire with fire. But Emery just stroked his chin and pulled those odd expressions of his.
We could have had Haaland, Peter Withe and Andy Gray and none of them would have scored because we can't bloody cross the ball. Cash can only cross from the left but he plays on the right, his brilliant one-twos with Bailey - Cash to Bailey back to Cash back to Bailey back to Cash, Cash to Konsa, as threatening as turning up to a gun fight with a water pistol and so fucking predictable. Useless. No wonder Roma sent Bailey back and still pay his wages.
Rogers out on the left wing for most of the game was another pointless exercise. Why not trust Maatsen to own the space? Again, like Salzburg Brentford filled the centre of the park forcing us to go wide and we immediately become toothless. We had more than enough to win today but put in such a lame performance we didn't deserve a point.
Beautiful move for the disallowed goal but I think everybody and their dog would be furious if that was the other way round. The ball was clearly out. The only discussion is why did it take VAR so long to decide.
Saved me from typing.
Muito obrigado, meu amigo.
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That was so easy to defend against.
Sit back, block up the central areas and watch the opposition do the same shit over and over and over again for 40 mins.
Tip tap in front of the defence, try and shuffle it to whoever is fucking about on the left wing, and then stifle it.
No variation and certainly no pace to worry about.
Easy.
There was a definite quality issue today.
We can carry our ‘poorer’ players when we are a full strength.
But when your real quality is missing (I’ll include Onana) to lift the whole group, then players like Buendia, Maatsen, Bogarde and Sancho look very, very ordinary.
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There's a massive difference to playing crap and bottling it. We played crap, didn't deserve to win. We showed bottle to come from 2 down a fews day ago, at Newcastle and in Turkey.
Yep it’s not bottling it. We’ve just lost our rhythm at home - obviously 4 key players being absent doesn’t help.
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Unai Emery on the disallowed goal: “For VAR it is difficult to analyse and so tight as well. I think the problem is the VAR should not be asking in this situation. I accept it but it is not fair."
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In key moments we bottle it. Today, Everton, palace, manure, even PSG, Fulham.
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In key moments we bottle it. Today, Everton, palace, manure, even PSG, Fulham.
PSG? Where did we bottle it exactly?
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We were a bit clueless in the 2nd half. So many short corners, too slow to play through or around them. I dont think they had to defend especially well. We let them have far too much time to get back into tight rows of 5 and 4.
With the disallowed goal, if any set play had occurred immediately after the ball had been deemed to be out of play, for example, and then we scored, VAR wouldn't have even got involved.
Then there are times when VAR doesn't get involved in situations when it should; e.g. goals scored from corners which aren't corners.
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Var is there for ‘clear and obvious errors’ not for scrutinising something to the n’th degree to find something wrong to justify taking so long in the first place!
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In the first leg letting a 3rd in in injury time then deciding to go 2 down at home after 20 minutes leaving us too much to do. Okay I’ll give you PSG but the rest.
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Emery made the wrong change for me. Elliot, Sancho, Bailey, Buendia, they were all cutting in field to where Brentford had lots of players. Onana should have come for and pushed Luiz forward. Even Barkley late on as he's good in the air. I like Elliot but it wasn't really the game for him.
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Just checked
And yes - we are still 3rd
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Just checked
And yes - we are still 3rd
Is the gap behind us closing ?
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We absolutely did not miss Watkins.
He would have offered nothing useful today.
Total and Utter Bollocks
Episode 4397
Probably the most stupid one of the lot as well.
Unless smirker has earned a fortune from his ability to correctly predict every game Ollie has scored in. In which case, fair play.
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I wouldn't be furious if that goal had been given against us, we would've had plenty of chances to stop it. I would be angry with the linesman but there is no way I would've expected VAR to intervene. We had many chances to win today but didn't which I'm frustrated about.
But when you have the restrictions we operate under, my God you need a bit of fortune and perhaps some luck. You don't need endless shitouts reffing the game and making the rules up as they go along. It really doesn't help.
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Why didn’t we bring Onana and Mings on and try a bit of Pulis-ball ourselves?
I tried to be optimistic about Bailey coming back but he was exactly as I remembered, awful.
All 4 ball players in 2nd half were off it. Bailey Sancho Elliot did little and Buendia was tactically not in a goos space.
Posiitves were Cash and Luiz. Wr didnt work Kelleher enough - Watkins would have worked their centre halves more I feel.
A valid opinion. But not quite up there with an absolute.
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We absolutely did not miss Watkins.
He would have offered nothing useful today.
Total and Utter Bollocks
Episode 4397
Probably the most stupid one of the lot as well.
Unless smirker has earned a fortune from his ability to correctly predict every game Ollie has scored in. In which case, fair play.
Does he score goals? I thought he was entirely inept…
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Just checked
And yes - we are still 3rd
Is the gap behind us closing ?
Yes but in the next round of matches it may widen again
I’m not denying it was an awful weekend
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attacking the Holte end first half, then playing against 10 men
You knew we were fucked
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The ball probably was out of play but it seems like these weird decisions only ever seem to happen to us, see Lansbury at Palace, Citeh goal during covid when they rewrote the rules the next day, Bailey v Sheff Utd, Rogers at Man Utd last season. I know they happen to other teams and I just don't notice them but it's putting me down in the dumps right now.
I thought we were OK today, got done by a sucker punch and huffed and puffed but failed to turn it around (goal notwithstanding). Similar to Everton really. Two poor results in the context of our home form generally and what we are hoping to achieve. The fatalistic and pessimistic side of me thinks this is typical Villa choking at the big moment but we had a good week before this and there'll be more good times to come this season I'm sure.
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Strongly suspect neither Onana and Barkley were fit enough to play as the formers presence and the laters guile would have been points of difference.
Really frustrating to lose to Stoke Redux. Awful side with one ball; long over the top looking for the gap between centre half and full back. Playing percentages, taking an eternity to take a throw (which was often a foul throw), knocking lumps out of people and being anti-football. I take heart that these ****** will, eventually, be flushed down the league like every other Mickey Mouse nobody. ******. Beat us twice by defending deeper than your average coal mine and getting a lucky bounce. Fucking ******.
Bogarde was their best player first half. Broke up every attack we had. Tammy unlucky not to score, not sure the Kopite in goal knew much about it, equally Konsa. What was that?! Goal came as no suprise- its just the Villa way to concede massively against the run of play and with their only effort at goal all fucking game.
Deserved red, horrible little bastard.
We struggle with our fab four out in midfield. Who wouldn't. Watkins running in behind equally missed. He terrorised Newcastle last week. Felt everything was so samey though- not enough confidence in crossing the ball to compete with their lumps at the back which made it too easy.
VAR has had a lovely guess. Looked out, potentially to me. Absolutely zero conclusive evidence though, so naturally the goal that was given on the field...is overturned. What the fuck does "phase of play" mean. 19 seconds and 100 yards of pitch. Just fuck off.
Monumental frustrating day.
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The ball probably was out of play but it seems like these weird decisions only ever seem to happen to us, see Lansbury at Palace, Citeh goal during covid when they rewrote the rules the next day, Bailey v Sheff Utd, Rogers at Man Utd last season. I know they happen to other teams and I just don't notice them but it's putting me down in the dumps right now.
I thought we were OK today, got done by a sucker punch and huffed and puffed but failed to turn it around (goal notwithstanding). Similar to Everton really. Two poor results in the context of our home form generally and what we are hoping to achieve. The fatalistic and pessimistic side of me thinks this is typical Villa choking at the big moment but we had a good week before this and there'll be more good times to come this season I'm sure.
Exactly my thoughts. Whether the ball was in or out is debatable and certainly definitively as the VAR explanation stated but a simple question. If that was at the Emirates, the Etihad or Anfield, would VAR have spent over 4 minutes looking at an incident at the other end of the pitch 20 seconds before in the play which neither the referee or linesman called? We know the answer.
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Whatever happened to “clear and obvious” If it takes that long to decide, it’s neither.
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VAR is not there to offer opinions on whether a ball is out, or not.
Is this correct?
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Just to say - it seems extremely obvious to me that we missed Tielemans like a missing limb today, and this doesn't seem much discussed yet.
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Had forgot Konsa's effort in first half, wish it had stayed forgotten. Awful
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As I said in the match thread: if Rice, Odegaard, Merino and Zubimendi are all injured at once, Arsenal immediately start losing.
Same goes for Abu Dhabi FC if Rodri and Reijnders break their knees the same week.
No team can lose its entire first choice midfield and compete consistently. Lady luck has fucked us again.
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“From what point does the VAR check incidents leading to a penalty or goal?
The VAR will only check the attacking possession phase that led to the penalty or goal.
The starting point will be limited to the immediate phase. The VAR may not go back to when the attacking team gained possession.
The VAR will consider the ability of the opposing defence to reset, and the momentum of the attack.”
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Anyone mentioned Dave is banned from bringing his daughter to any Villa games?
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VAR is not there to offer opinions on whether a ball is out, or not.
Is this correct?
I don't recall VAR adjudicating on a throw in before. And even if it was within their remit, which I doubt, the fact remains that the video evidence was insufficient to make a 100% definitive decision.
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Just to say - it seems extremely obvious to me that we missed Tielemans like a missing limb today, and this doesn't seem much discussed yet.
What is there to say about it? We need to find a way to win games with the options we've got. For what it's worth, I thought Luiz looked alright, some nice touches.
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VAR reminded me of one that basically turned the table against Arsenal last year I think. They would have been 5 points ahead of Man City but VAR said offside was not conclusive so definitely offside and the goal for them didn’t stand.
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Just to say - it seems extremely obvious to me that we missed Tielemans like a missing limb today, and this doesn't seem much discussed yet.
What is there to say about it? We need to find a way to win games with the options we've got. For what it's worth, I thought Luiz looked alright, some nice touches.
It's worth mentioning it, I think!
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Desperately frustrating day.
Clearly, we’re going to need a little time to adjust to having three such crucial players out, as would any side losing three the quality of Kamara, McGinn, and Tielemans. Emery will find a way though, he always does.
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Just to say - it seems extremely obvious to me that we missed Tielemans like a missing limb today, and this doesn't seem much discussed yet.
Youri would probably have found a way to break the roadblocks in the centre of the park but I thought we also missed SJM just as much. there was nobody dragging the team forward when everybody is looking around at each other expecting others to do something. Missing McGinn's leadership and his driving passion, lifting the side when it most needs it was a key factor today. There were no leaders on the pitch.
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Yeah, McGinn is the heart and the drive on days like this. A fit Onana is a different level of presence, too. Obviously Kamara controls the entire midfield, when on song.
Almost like having your whole midfield injured and having to start newbies and kids together is, like, bad.
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VAR reminded me of one that basically turned the table against Arsenal last year I think. They would have been 5 points ahead of Man City but VAR said offside was not conclusive so definitely offside and the goal for them didn’t stand.
It would have been two years ago against Newcastle. There was three or four decisions they needed to check. Did the ball go out? Was their a handball? Was there a foul? Was the Newcastle scorer ahead of the ball and last defender if the other Newcastle player touched it? On all decisions they stated it was too inconclusive to judge any of them so on field decision stands. That was even when the ball looked so far over the line from one angle that if they had stated it went out, no one would have argued much at all.
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I thought we missed all the injured players that were out today. We just didnt look the same. Deserved a point at least.
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Strongly suspect neither Onana and Barkley were fit enough to play ....
... Monumental frustrating day.
Agree with you about Onana and Barkley only being on the bench for show. Also agree that Bogarde was piss-poor. Clearly we're down to the bare bones of the squad but Sancho is shite and Bailey reminded me once again that he is usually all fart and no shit. I'd honestly have played KY ahead of Sancho.
Late on, we missed someone like Barkley to play the killer pass.
Having said ask that we were in pretty solid control throughout the game, apart from that raking pass over Maatsen's head for the goal.
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We absolutely did not miss Watkins.
He would have offered nothing useful today.
Pointless, probably inaccurate, but entirely predictable post.
What exactly would he have done? His finishing is no better than what we had out there.
We were camped inside their box. Did we really need him to chase anything down and lay it off?
Does he play defence splitting passes?
Does he even take a good penalty?
No so what would he have offered? I'm all ears pal.
not in the 1st half we weren't
we didn't have a penalty so that's a pointless comment
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Just to say - it seems extremely obvious to me that we missed Tielemans like a missing limb today, and this doesn't seem much discussed yet.
I said it in the match thread after 15 mins. However, it doesn't need much discussing though, he is our best player and we are always going to miss him.
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So we didn’t score any goals today but our in form striker who’s on a very good scoring streak wasn’t missed.
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The goal should have stood, I did think it was probably over the line, but for the officials to over turn the decision, they have to be 100% certain, which they clearly coudn't have been.
Will give credit to Brentford, they defended well the 2nd half, the only real chances we created were from Tammy and Leon. The goal was fortunate but it was a cracking strike from Ouattara. Having now done the treble over us Brentford have now taken over from Palace as our bogey side this season, hopefully we won't meet them in the FA Cup!
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As frustrated with VAR as everyone else.
Its about time we realised that the way to beat sides who put every man behind the ball is to go wide and get to the by line rather than trying to thread the eye of the needle in the middle.
Couldn’t understand all the short corners.