Heroes & Villains, the Aston Villa fanzine
Heroes & Villains => Match Threads & Player Ratings => Topic started by: PeterWithesShin on February 11, 2026, 09:28:48 PM
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Never in doubt.
CL here we come.
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Feels like an important one
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Fock nell.
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Phew! A win is a win, no matter how. Win first, debate later.
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Winning when poor.
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Thank fuck. Any win was needed and we got it. One of the least pretty wins but it doesn’t matter. It’s a massive 3 points.
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Thank fvck
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Yep. Gained two on our rivals.
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Awful, but got the 3 points. Another game chalked off.
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Feel so happy for Mings. One of the most important players in our history.
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3 points
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Good stuff - needed and gotted.
Come on the Mackems
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One of our most important wins of the season.
Don't care how we achieved it.
Yanited and the other dregs will be pigsick.
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The epitome of an ugly win. We're going to need to scrap results like that until our midfield returns.
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However we got it, we needed that.
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Phew
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Crap performance. 3 points is all that mattered. You can see we’re struggling to find a rhythm with the missing players
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Vital. If Liverpool fail to beat Sunderland we've recovered most of the damage from the weekend.
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Crucial three points but absolute blose, deserved to lose. Can see us being outside the top five by the time Tielemans and McGinn are back in April. Rudderless without them.
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Beautiful
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Ugliest of ugly wins, but no matter how pretty or ugly it's still 3 points.
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However we got it, we needed that.
Exactlv
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Absolute stinker of a performance. We’re in a real slog period (understandable), but that 3 points is massive. So important we did that, and that’s all that matters.
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So ugly we need to sign a plastic surgeon. But a huge win.
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He needs phasing out, Tom!
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Alysson has something about him btw.
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Alysson has something about him btw.
Love a high chest trap
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That feels like a massive win! Well done. Certainly wasnt pretty - but a midweek that could have left us 4th - 1 point above 5th. Instead we go into the FA Cup weekend 6 points clear of 5th.
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Definitely in the category of “the result is all that matters”. We need to grind out a few more of those in the next few weeks.
Hopefully the cup game gives them a bit of mental respite from the pressure of the league.
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Was it just the 1 shot on target in the middle of the first half then?
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Barkley was a bit anonymous, Bailey was - well - Bailey. Disappointed with Buendia, Onana and Luiz: didn't impose themselves as they should. Bogarde and Mings played well. We just lack creativity without our first-choice midfield.
Sancho doesn't do it for me, even though he works well with Rogers (who failed to impose himself).
We're definitely in the 'crank out the results' mode at the moment .
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Alysson has something about him btw.
Love a high chest trap
Likely to start the weekend?
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The absence of Cash is just a reminder of how valuable he's been this season.
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Nice bit of instant karma for not giving an obvious pen
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Needed that.
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I wish I was Unai Emery,
Cos he is never glum,
Why would you be unhappy,
When the sun shines out your bum.
Not sure how we got 3 points but that's all that matters.
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Fifty points. Have we ever got there this early in the 'three points for a win' era?
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Can Bogarde cross a ball? We never found out tonight. Hope Matty is back for Leeds, we need him.
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Bailey was - well - Bailey.
In putting in a great ball for us to score the winner?
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Alysson has something about him btw.
He does and for Emery to throw him in like that means he feels so as well.
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That result is so much more important than the performance. No, we didn't play well, but given the other results last night, getting back two of the three points we lost to the teams behind us at the weekend is excellent news.
Now we just need Sunderland to hold on (or maybe grab a goal), and things will start looking nearly as rosy again as they did in early January...
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Clean sheet too.Not insignificant.
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Bailey was - well - Bailey.
In putting in a great ball for us to score the winner?
And giving a wholesome post-match interview with that lovely Jamaican lilt. What more do folk want?
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Bailey was - well - Bailey.
In putting in a great ball for us to score the winner?
Aye. Thought he looked lively when he came on and carried it from deep a few times when we needed it in the latter stages to relieve the pressure.
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Massive win...really poor performance. I could not see us scoring, but by God did we need it.
They are going to have to step it up though. The ball has got to be moved quicker all over the park. I think Pau has to come back in to stop us getting stuck at the back.
Luiz and Onana have to take more responsibility to take the ball on the half turn and get it in to Rogers early.
Watkins is feeding off scraps, but is woeful at present. Sancho has to give us more, He is neat and tidy but we need a whole lot more. He seems happy to play within himself.
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Fucking massive three points. Take them anyway we can get them. Not a great performance but good resilience.
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Nice bit of instant karma for not giving an obvious pen
I was a bit baffled by that - when I saw the replay I thought "Oh they're definitely going to send the ref to look at that!". I'm genuinely suprised they waved it off so quickly!
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Crucial three points but absolute blose, deserved to lose. Can see us being outside the top five by the time Tielemans and McGinn are back in April. Rudderless without them.
Nonsense, so you think all of Man U, Chelsea AND Liverpool will overtake us?
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Bailey was - well - Bailey.
In putting in a great ball for us to score the winner?
And giving a wholesome post-match interview with that lovely Jamaican lilt. What more do folk want?
Lilt. The totally tropical taste.
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I can't see us winning again playing like we did tonight.
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Bailey crossed the corner and won an important foul at the end.
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I can't see us winning again playing like we did tonight.
Well we just did, to be fair, but I know what you mean.
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Alysson has something about him btw.
My uncle said the same and he can be a harsh critic. FWIW he didn't think it was a pen.
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Maybe worst performance of season. Rotten really in the second half particularly but maybe our most important win of the season. Dirty rotten beautiful win especially with Palmer missing from a yard out last night.
Martinez 9 - peak of his powers again. One outstanding save but dominant throughout in our box.
Bogarde 6 - very tough spell just after half time but got through it, not a right back
Konsa 8 - quiet night really but calm and composed as usual
Mings 6 - defended fine but distribution a massive problem for the team
Maatsen 6 - ok and nothing more. Never really threatened to get in behind them
Onana 3 - never like seeing him facing our goal under pressure but thought he was pathetic tonight. Newcastle performance seems an age ago
Luiz 5 - strong first half I thought but gassed quickly after half time and stayed on too long
Sancho 5 - decent first half but appalling after the break, time nearly up
Buendia 4 - one shot but anonymous apart from that, bit flat lately
Rogers 5 - got Baleba booked early but seemed leggy tonight. Loads of poor decisions on the ball
Watkins 4 - main problems were elsewhere but increasingly apparent his best days are behind him
Barkley had some nice touches but can't run in midfield, Bailey meh enough but nice corner for the goal, Tammy didn't improve things one iota, Alysson was ok on his debut, Lindelof should have come on way sooner
Emery 6 - down 4 certain starters fair enough but didn't like our team selection. Made a bit of a mess of the subs I thought but three points.
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I can't see us winning again playing like we did tonight.
It'll be a ginormous filip for us.Ktf brother.
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I’m not really surprised Doug tired - it’s not his legs going, it’s he hasn’t started consecutive games for a while. It’s not surprising he was knackered.
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I can't see us winning again playing like we did tonight.
Reckon we should be on for three wins as early our next five league games: Even with our injuries.
And even if we play like we did tonight.
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The result? Superb.
The performance? Dross.
On the ball, we miss Kamara, Youri & Pau so bad.
Mings, Onana etc just don’t have the same vision and composure when trying to play out and play forward.
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Terrific and vital moment from Ty for the goal, but we badly miss Pau it making our build up play work.
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I have a theory that Onana is consciously playing within himself in an effort to avoid getting injured. Possibly he's been instructed to do so.
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Two massive goals in recent weeks for our Ty. No way tonight should be an OG as it was header that looked on target.
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Fifty points. Have we ever got there this early in the 'three points for a win' era?
Doubt it. Unless 98-99 or 08-09
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I think Pau has to come back in to stop us getting stuck at the back.
Was thinking just before the goal that Mings was definitely the B team act. Then he made me eat my thoughts. Well done Tyrone!
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I’m not really surprised Doug tired - it’s not his legs going, it’s he hasn’t started consecutive games for a while. It’s not surprising he was knackered.
Thought pre game it might be a game too far for Luiz and Mings. Got one right!
Never want to see Luiz and Barkley in a midfield two again in PL. Milner ran around Barkley at one stage! Bogarde should have gone into midfield when Onana went off.
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Terrific and vital moment from Ty for the goal, but we badly miss Pau it making our build up play work.
Yeah, particularly when we're missing Tielemans.
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I can't see us winning again playing like we did tonight.
Reckon we should be on for three wins as early our next five league games: Even with our injuries.
And even if we play like we did tonight.
I think Leeds could be another ugly game, and they're not to be underestimated atm. I'd happily take a scrappy 1-0 win.
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Absolutely dreadful game
They had most possession in second half, Bailey is still Bailey, The Doug ship has sailed, fill a position till end of season but I thought he was poor tonight
Ollie, I am sorry to say has past it
But we won, so a FA Cup break and a hopeful SJM back and away we go
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In fairness to Barkley he’s obviously going to be short a gallop, much like Doug. The players are gritting it out.
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We had quite a few ugly wins to start our last winning run. It’s all about momentum.
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Terrific and vital moment from Ty for the goal, but we badly miss Pau it making our build up play work.
Agree, Mings is great for the battle and Brighton were really up for it. But we do miss the calm accurate distribution of Pau, with Tielemans out we need his skills.
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In fairness to Barkley he’s obviously going to be short a gallop, much like Doug. The players are gritting it out.
More minutes in the legs.
Hopefully better for it down the final straight.
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Bailey was - well - Bailey.
In putting in a great ball for us to score the winner?
Interestingly, Mings ran over for a quick chat with him before the corner was taken.
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Terrific and vital moment from Ty for the goal, but we badly miss Pau it making our build up play work.
Yeah, particularly when we're missing Tielemans.
Yes, Tyrone lacks a change of pace/angle in his longer passing, and generally lacks fluidity in moving the ball around.
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Mings immense. No surprise he was the difference.
Most importantly, Unai picked him.
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I have a theory that Onana is consciously playing within himself in an effort to avoid getting injured. Possibly he's been instructed to do so.
I think his main weakness is going missing when we need a goal. The getting stuck-in stuff, he generally does ok. Was on the floor a few times tonight from tackles so I don't think he's holding back in that regard. He's just a bit limited on the ball.
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I have a theory that Onana is consciously playing within himself in an effort to avoid getting injured. Possibly he's been instructed to do so.
He had one good run with the ball. At least Luiz tried to do the right thing. Onana might aswell have dug himself a hole to hide in. Emery will be fuming with him and Sancho most I think. Once Brighton lifted it after half time Sancho didn't want to know.
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With 4 fit centre halves, and Konsa and Lindelof capable at right back, I'm surprised Bogarde started at RB. I'd have saved him for a midfield role as he's currently better than Liuz and Barkley. At least Tammy and Alysson got some minutes tonight.
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With 4 fit centre halves, and Konsa and Lindelof capable at right back, I'm surprised Bogarde started at RB. I'd have saved him for a midfield role as he's currently better than Liuz and Barkley. At least Tammy and Alysson got some minutes tonight.
Cash really suits the role as Sancho hardly stays wide. We don’t have another RB available who gets that far forward to provide the overlap.
I do think Lindelof at RB and Bogarde CM would have been a good choice. Not sure about Bogarde at RB.
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Mings immense. No surprise he was the difference.
Most importantly, Unai picked him.
If we need to keep it tight at the back and grind it out over the next few league games (which we will) Mings is more attuned to that style than Pau.
I'd prob play the latter this weekend though.
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With 4 fit centre halves, and Konsa and Lindelof capable at right back, I'm surprised Bogarde started at RB. I'd have saved him for a midfield role as he's currently better than Liuz and Barkley. At least Tammy and Alysson got some minutes tonight.
I wouldn’t have Bogarde in front of Doug. Doug can play the ball, and did that in the first half, he just struggled when he tired. The thing Bogarde struggles with is use of the ball.
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Onana can't half thrape the ball.Unfortunately its normally into low earth orbit,but still.
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Bogarde seems scared of going forward with the ball. It seems he always thinks he has to keep it short and to the adjacent Villa player, instead of seeing a gap and going for it because he is thinking he mustn’t upset Unai.
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Match highlights.
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Bogarde seems scared of going forward with the ball. It seems he always thinks he has to keep it short and to the adjacent Villa player, instead of seeing a gap and going for it because he is thinking he mustn’t upset Unai.
Would you upset him? I know I wouldn't.
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Fair play to Glen Murray for respecting our title credentials.
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We spoiled Milners milestone according to the BBC headline.
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Turgid watch but don’t care, we just need to clock up the wins and get through this tough patch.
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Who was the co-commentator tonight? He’s an ex player I think?
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Big thank you also to their manager for taking off his best 3 players at the same time.
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Who was the co-commentator tonight? He’s an ex player I think?
My feed had Albrighton on it.
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Who was the co-commentator tonight? He’s an ex player I think?
Mark Albrighton on my stream.
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Who was the co-commentator tonight? He’s an ex player I think?
My feed had Albrighton on it.
It could have been, I was watching TNT. Whoever it was talked a load of nonsense most the match. It’s just drivel most games from commentary teams.
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Who was the co-commentator tonight? He’s an ex player I think?
My feed had Albrighton on it.
It could have been, I was watching TNT. Whoever it was talked a load of nonsense most the match. It’s just drivel most games from commentary teams.
Lucy whatshername was on co coms on TNT.
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Who was the co-commentator tonight? He’s an ex player I think?
My feed had Albrighton on it.
It could have been, I was watching TNT. Whoever it was talked a load of nonsense most the match. It’s just drivel most games from commentary teams.
Lucy whatshername was on co coms on TNT.
Maybe it wasn’t TNT then. Who knows nowadays with all these naughty ways of watching the footy!
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Pleased with the result
Onana and Dougie surrendered the midfield. Onana is only tolerable when we are playing a defensive game against a team who has a lot of posession and set pieces.
Wish we wouldn’t play it around the back with this midfield and defence. Reminds me of th e Stevenage cup game.
Thought all the subs did well and lifted the level.
He needs to pick on merit on Saturday.
Such a shame the three players we lost since the last cup game!
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It wasn't great but the all round effort earnt the win.
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The absence of Cash is just a reminder of how valuable he's been this season.
This is true, but Bogarde was very good tonight.
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I thought Bogarde was good tonight too. He was terrible at RB v Salzburg so I was worried.
To use a well worn H&Vism, that Mitoma is all fart and no shit.
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The absence of Cash is just a reminder of how valuable he's been this season.
This is true, but Bogarde was very good tonight.
He did a good job defensively, but offers nothing going forward. That’s not a criticism as such, as he’s filling in. But Cash brings so much more to the team.
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TBH I really thought we lacked Cash's emergy and ability to travel with the ball. Bogarde did fine - but with him and Mings in the defense - whilst we look perfectly solid we lack lose something going forward.
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Utterly dreadful performance, but hopefully gives us a mental boost.
Brighton love losing to us. Doubled them 3 times in 4 seasons I think.
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I haven’t seen one minute of the game ( been at a family funeral in Scotland), I believe we were atrocious but we’re walking away with a win and 3 pts. Onwards….
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The absence of Cash is just a reminder of how valuable he's been this season.
This is true, but Bogarde was very good tonight.
He did a good job defensively, but offers nothing going forward. That’s not a criticism as such, as he’s filling in. But Cash brings so much more to the team.
Cash does give us more but we don’t know what Bogarde can do as he’s likely to be under instruction to keep possession and defensive shape. It wasn’t too long ago that Cash was getting criticised for doing the same by passing back and sideways.
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A win is a win is a win.
My 3 Brighton-supporting nephews won't be happy, but I'll have none of their lip!
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That feels like a massive win. About time we had a lucky win, a game nearer to McGinn & Tielemans coming back too! 5 wins should do it,sounds doable!
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It really was a poor performance but I know eking out a win was all important. Whatever Mings said when he came over to Bailey before the corner somehow did the trick!
Without the three missing midfielders and no Cash nor Torres our playing out from the back was not great at all. As has been said, Onana needs to step up more in the absence of the others.
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The Yanited forum's reaction to our goal was "£#%&!ing brummie @#%&!s" which is pleasing.
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We were truly awful, there's no escaping that.
Then again, we're without our entire midfield, pretty much, including the two players whose absences have the biggest impact on the way we play.
Still, we got a point. The way I see it, we need to scrape whatever we can together until we get at least Tielemans back.
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We were truly awful, there's no escaping that.
Then again, we're without our entire midfield, pretty much, including the two players whose absences have the biggest impact on the way we play.
Still, we got a point. The way I see it, we need to scrape whatever we can together until we get at least Tielemans back.
We got more than a point.
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We were truly awful, there's no escaping that.
Then again, we're without our entire midfield, pretty much, including the two players whose absences have the biggest impact on the way we play.
Still, we got a point. The way I see it, we need to scrape whatever we can together until we get at least Tielemans back.
Did you watch until the end?
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Who was the co-commentator tonight? He’s an ex player I think?
Mark Albrighton on my stream.
I thought it was raised from the dead Robert Hopkins, such was his distain for the Villa.
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The Yanited forum's reaction to our goal was "£#%&!ing brummie @#%&!s" which is pleasing.
I've just had a quick flick through the BBC report written by that Mcshiter bloke. He sounds distraught that we've won.
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It really was a poor performance but I know eking out a win was all important. Whatever Mings said when he came over to Bailey before the corner somehow did the trick!
In his post match interview with TNT, Ty said he told Bailey to go near post with the corner, as they'd been going to the far post all night with no success.
Seemed to work.
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Don't we have a specialist coach who is supposed to be making those calls.
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Still, we got a point.
Did we?
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The Yanited forum's reaction to our goal was "£#%&!ing brummie @#%&!s" which is pleasing.
I resent that!
The servants and I are all from the Shires!
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The absence of Cash is just a reminder of how valuable he's been this season.
This is true, but Bogarde was very good tonight.
It's a toss up between him and Konsa for MOTM. Thought he played with great maturity, shame Cash was injured as I was hoping Bogarde would have started in a midfield three.
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I’m not sure why we are not using Lindelof more.
He is a very versatile player.
I actually thought Bailey had a good go when he came on.
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The Yanited forum's reaction to our goal was "£#%&!ing brummie @#%&!s" which is pleasing.
I've just had a quick flick through the BBC report written by that Mcshiter bloke. He sounds distraught that we've won.
I don't think the guy is very keen on us.
I've noticed a few things when he's reported on us in previous games.
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We were truly awful, there's no escaping that.
Then again, we're without our entire midfield, pretty much, including the two players whose absences have the biggest impact on the way we play.
Still, we got a point. The way I see it, we need to scrape whatever we can together until we get at least Tielemans back.
Tell me you left on 90mins without telling me you left on 90 mins
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Every point without 3 key players is almost worth 2. To imagine that without those players and little or no investment we'd just tickle along as before is fanciful.
It was a grind, unappealing, frustrating at times and not what we'd like but we won. Alongside the point on Saturday, it's not a bad return given the circumstances.
I might not have enjoyed the game but fuck me I enjoyed the result.
Up the fucking Villa.
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Good win, but a poor performance really. Good to keep a clean sheet and you've always got a chance of nicking it if you can do that. Interesting to see Mings come over to talk to Bailey before he took the corner he scored from. We just look a bit blunt in attack at the moment and almost seem to run out of ideas.
Still a very good result in the circumstances.
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Can Bogarde cross a ball? We never found out tonight. Hope Matty is back for Leeds, we need him.
Yeah, really missed tonight Matty's final ball.. back to Konsa. Real game changer. You know Unai prefers just one full back to attack and tonight it was Maatsen.
Forgot to mention, Rogers put in one hell of a shift tonight. Never, ever gave up.
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An absolute grind from start to finish and with so many players missing its got to be one of the biggest wins of the season so far.
Fucking Up The Fucking Villa!!
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We were truly awful, there's no escaping that.
Then again, we're without our entire midfield, pretty much, including the two players whose absences have the biggest impact on the way we play.
Still, we got a point. The way I see it, we need to scrape whatever we can together until we get at least Tielemans back.
Tell me you left on 90mins without telling me you left on 90 mins
I left so early, I didn't go.
Three points, obvs.
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Been there, done that. Leeds at home a few years ago. Left early to sell the fanzine. We were drawing (I think). Possibly winning. Crowd came out really subdued and I only found out when I got home that we'd conceded in the last few seconds. Wondered why it was so sombre at the time.
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A massive, massive 3 points but bloody hell it was ugly.
Bogarde deputised well for Cash,I thought he defended brilliantly.
Mings and Konsa we very ponderous with their distribution, and invited far too much pressure onto them and we were nearly punished a couple of times.
I don’t think Onana and Luiz compliment each other.
They both want to come very deep for the ball, at the same time which meant there were no options for playing the ball through midfield because Buendia and Sancho were too lightweight.
Ollie looks shot to me. On his heels for a lot of the time or very slow to react to passages of play.
I thought we looked devoid of confidence tonight, and for large parts of the game players didn’t want to get involved, especially going forward.
With so many key players out it’s always going to a struggle. Not only are we 4 top quality players down, but we are also playing 4 who would not necessarily be starters.
For me though, the biggest loss is Tielemans. Not only is he a brilliant player, but he raises the game of those around him.
You can’t replace that. He can’t get back soon enough.
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McGinn is a monumental loss too. The drop off in quality from him on the right v Sancho, Bailey or Guessand is tragic really. McGinn and Tielemans back for the run in will be huge for us.
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Crucial three points but absolute blose, deserved to lose. Can see us being outside the top five by the time Tielemans and McGinn are back in April. Rudderless without them.
Deserved to lose ...NO. Can see us outside the top 5 by the time T and M return....NO.
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Yep. Not sure why we "deserved to lose" when Brighton probably had the one chance on target that needed a brilliant save.
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The Yanited forum's reaction to our goal was "£#%&!ing brummie @#%&!s" which is pleasing.
Posted no doubt by "Luke" in Shanghai?
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Draw would have been fair I think.
Brighton deserve some credit for trying to attack a bit second half rather than just attempting to kill the game, but they only really had that one close miss with the attempted thunderbastard that Martinez tipped onto the bar.
We got better after the subs, fair play to Bailey and Barkley and Alysson didn't look out of place, either. Bogarde was my man of the match, generally kept them subdued and added a couple of crowd-pleasing slidebastards, too. If he keeps that up losing Cash won't be as disastrous as it could have been.
I thought the referee was mostly decent, so imagine Brighton fans would have thought he was corrupt.
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We do not have the ability to deal with the press and to transition from defence to attack. Not surprising when you consider who is not available.
It might be that we are going to need to just grind out results with far more attritional football.
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Yep. Not sure why we "deserved to lose" when Brighton probably had the one chance on target that needed a brilliant save.
Even that shot would have hit the bar.
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Just skimmed the highlights and it was a clear penalty before the corner that we scored from anyway. Will retract my "referee was good" comments.
Mental that nowadays a ball can brush your hand from a shot three inches away and it's an instant penalty but a two handed push is waved play on and VAR ignores it.
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Just skimmed the highlights and it was a clear penalty before the corner that we scored from anyway. Will retract my "referee was good" comments.
Mental that nowadays a ball can brush your hand from a shot three inches away but a two handed push is waved play on and VAR ignores it.
I didn't need to see one of our new old players miss a pen. +1 to the ref.
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It looked like it was hitting the underside of the bar and could have bounced down over the line or hit him and gone in (which has happened before), especially as Emi pushed it square onto the bar for it to bounce out to the edge of the area
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I thought the shot was going in off the bar as well.
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Just skimmed the highlights and it was a clear penalty before the corner that we scored from anyway. Will retract my "referee was good" comments.
Mental that nowadays a ball can brush your hand from a shot three inches away and it's an instant penalty but a two handed push is waved play on and VAR ignores it.
I don't think VAR is ignoring it. It is ref's stating "I saw the push but don't think there was enough force for the player to have gone down". VAR can't then overrule for clear and obvious with a subjective call like that. IF the ref had said he hadn't seen any push, then they might have gotten involved. I am not sure why the refs have adopted a "forceful" push only attitude though.
Actually I also need to adend "and it wasn't on a Chelsea player." to the refs quote above.
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A tiny amount of force can be enough to push a player over if he is off balance (say, halfway through a shot) or running at speed. Neither was the case here, but still, force seems a weird criterion to apply. I've always worked on the assumption that arbitrarily choosing to push someone over in the penalty area is a foul and therefore a foolish idea.
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For the 3rd home game in a row I thought the opposition's tactics were very good and well implemented. We struggled to get out from their press and Rogers was very well marshalled, even when we did break they smothered us quickly. There were times we should have moved the ball on quicker but credit due, they were aggressive in winning the second ball. It was never going to be a classic and we just needed to find a way, make a chance and take it. And we did.
Onward.
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If you look at the team that finished the game how many of those would be be treated as staters if all fit. Maybe Martine, Konsa and Mattsen.So important to grind out those 3 points knowing the pain caused to those watching on from Chelsea and Utd.
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Don't we have a specialist coach who is supposed to be making those calls.
Buenida said that Nanny Mac had told him to go to "post number one" instead of "post number two" before Ty had a word in his shell-like.
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Yep. Not sure why we "deserved to lose" when Brighton probably had the one chance on target that needed a brilliant save.
Even that shot would have hit the bar.
Just seen it again on MOTD, that shot is definitely going in.
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Don't we have a specialist coach who is supposed to be making those calls.
Buenida said that Nanny Mac had told him to go to "post number one" instead of "post number two" before Ty had a word in his shell-like.
You mean Bailey?
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Crucial three points but absolute blose, deserved to lose. Can see us being outside the top five by the time Tielemans and McGinn are back in April. Rudderless without them.
Deserved to lose ...NO. Can see us outside the top 5 by the time T and M return....NO.
I just have high standards with Unai. Felt like I was watching a Lambert game from 12 year ago, flashbacks were horrid. All our possession between goalie and defenders. No clear chances from open play. Shite atmos.
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Dreadful game. But as I surmised with a mate beforehand who thought an entertaining 3-2 would be the outcome I reckoned it would be a scruffy victory. It was that and fortunate too.
We weren’t terrible really but equally we weren’t great. We’re a team without our beat 3 players out to injury and it really shows.
Unless UE can weave some magic I think we’ll struggle.
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Don't we have a specialist coach who is supposed to be making those calls.
Buenida said that Nanny Mac had told him to go to "post number one" instead of "post number two" before Ty had a word in his shell-like.
You mean Bailey?
Sorry, yes.
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A tiny amount of force can be enough to push a player over if he is off balance (say, halfway through a shot) or running at speed. Neither was the case here, but still, force seems a weird criterion to apply. I've always worked on the assumption that arbitrarily choosing to push someone over in the penalty area is a foul and therefore a foolish idea.
Such things have, for a while, made me question whether most professional referees have ever actually played football.
I know it's a multi-billion pound industry and even the tiniest of advantages can be significant, but I can honestly say that I have never pushed an opponent while playing football, or pulled a shirt.
Yet players who slightly mistime a tackle, missing the ball (not jumping in two-footed or any dangerous play) but not catching the player get automatic yellows as long as the other bloke goes down and rolls about.
The second is an attempt to play the game. The former is plain cheating.
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The absence of Cash is just a reminder of how valuable he's been this season.
This is true, but Bogarde was very good tonight.
He did a good job defensively, but offers nothing going forward. That’s not a criticism as such, as he’s filling in. But Cash brings so much more to the team.
Yeah, this is what I originally meant. We look pretty static when we dont have Tielemans passing, or Cash providing alternative movement.
Bogarde is fine as a defensive fullback when he's given a task to do or person to mark - it makes sense that Emery gives him a limited role... I imagine the hardest part of fullback under Emery is the judgement of when it's ok to join the attak/push forward, and when it's best to retain posession. It's not a surprise that Bogarde takes the less risky choices more often.
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Dreadful game. But as I surmised with a mate beforehand who thought an entertaining 3-2 would be the outcome I reckoned it would be a scruffy victory. It was that and fortunate too.
We weren’t terrible really but equally we weren’t great. We’re a team without our beat 3 players out to injury and it really shows.
Unless UE can weave some magic I think we’ll struggle.
Yes, I'd agree with all of this. Clearly, it is fantastic that we won and have moved further clear of the teams behind us but it was a wretched game.
We are missing key players as has been said but I'm not sure that this alone completely explains the slowness of our play, how we seem to be playing with increasing conservatism and caution. So many passes go backwards from positions on the pitch that really don't require them.
A case in point was when our kick off for the second half was played back to Martinez without Brighton touching it. We are playing with fear it seems to me.
I appreciate that we are not at our most confident but we allowed a much more out of sorts Brighton to grow into the game and take some degree of control in the second half.
We need to try to insert some tempo and speed into our play because we won't win many more games this season playing like that for sure.
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Bloody amazing win! Well done with our midfield injuries. Proud of them all
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The duality of fandom in the two posts above!
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Personally I'm leaning more to being delighted with the win and glossing over the shite performance. I wasn't expecting us to play well and if we can get results when we're not then that is to be commended. Hopefully it gives the current team some confidence for the rest of the month and we can win and play well. Although if it comes to it, winning will do.
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It’s going to take some time to get our fluency going with the changes in personnel and games like last night are a natural consequence of that.
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What was up with the Villa Park pitch last night? Very sticky, usually it's in pristine nick
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What was up with the Villa Park pitch last night? Very sticky, usually it's in pristine nick
I've thought the pitch has been playing slow the past couple of home games .
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A massive 3 points for us, nothing against Lamare he did his defensive duties well, but going forward Matty was missed badly last night he's being superb for us this season. As for the goal how dare they take it away from the mighty Tye.
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Thought our defence looked shaky all game, Brighton going through a lean period were the better team. Had to stop watching ten minutes from the end (golf) and was joyously releived to be told by a Pool supporter that we had won. I think the players were feeling the pressure to win the game, the energy was there but little fluency, Tammy should start next game.
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Brighton may have been slightly the batter team 2nd half but they still did the best part of fuck all and didn't deserve to win either, games like this happen all the time and we've been on the end of them many times so they and their enthusiastic Geography teacher can get fucked.
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I'd say more PE and emergency Maths cover.
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A number of different things at play. We’ve lost our main midfield. Its like Arsenal losing Rice, Odegaard and Zubimendi for 3 months , or Man City losing Rodri, Silva and some fella Ive never heard off that they’ve paid 70 million for.
Its massive, Tielemans, creates loads of our chances and him and Kamara dictate play, McGinn dictates tempo and drives the team on.
Onana is a good player, but when those three are fit he’s brought in as part of a really strong supporting cast. Now the expectation is he is the main man. Dougie has done better than I expected due to his lack of football, but its a massive ask to expect him to be Dougie circa Aug to December 2023 yet. So there is massive pressure on these two to step up till McGinn and Youri are back. There is no way we can be as good during this period, so we are going to have to grind through.
Then there is the way we play. I love Tyrone, club legend for me. But he absolutely slows down the way we get the ball into midfield. Not sure if Torres has a small injury or Mings has just been preferred for the last two games, but we have to get Torres back in the side to link up with Luiz and Rogers in particular in a much quicker way.
Watkins had no service last night, but there was also a lack of movement especially in the second half.
Despite their differing styles, Everton, Brentford, Brighton, all tried to contain before pushing on in small moments, teams are changing the way they play at Villa Park because of our form this season.
It could be a long couple of months, and we may need to grind a few more of these results out and be happy with it.
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Well summed up. The fluency isn't going to be there now for the next 6 weeks and so we're going to have to do it the hard way. If we end March still in the top 4 we've done well.
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Being there felt like a rerun of the Brentford game. A promising first 10 minutes before slowly fading, followed by an even worse second half of slow sideways and backwards passing where we looked to have completely run out of ideas, probably not helped by a subdued and nervous crowd.
Thank god we got the three points, what a relief.
Other than the win, Alysson was the big plus point for me. I don’t want to get too excited off the back of 20 minutes, but he looks like he’s got something.
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TBH I really thought we lacked Cash's emergy and ability to travel with the ball. Bogarde did fine - but with him and Mings in the defense - whilst we look perfectly solid we lack lose something going forward.
I think the idea was that Maatsen would get further up the pitch; he did so but without creating much.
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Crucial three points but absolute blose, deserved to lose. Can see us being outside the top five by the time Tielemans and McGinn are back in April. Rudderless without them.
Deserved to lose ...NO. Can see us outside the top 5 by the time T and M return....NO.
I just have high standards with Unai. Felt like I was watching a Lambert game from 12 year ago, flashbacks were horrid. All our possession between goalie and defenders. No clear chances from open play. Shite atmos.
True. There was a time when we played like man city at their best, knocked the ball around and inevitably it ended up in the net but we are a bit disrupted now so as long as we keep picking up points I can live with lower standard.
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Wins like that when you're out of form and have crucial injuries are what separates good sides from great ones. You find ways to win or you drop like a stone.
Proud of the lads for seeing it out and keeping a clean sheet.
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TBH I really thought we lacked Cash's emergy and ability to travel with the ball. Bogarde did fine - but with him and Mings in the defense - whilst we look perfectly solid we lack lose something going forward.
I think the idea was that Maatsen would get further up the pitch; he did so but without creating much.
The other aspect to Bogarde's play last night was that he was playing against an out-and-out winger in Mitoma: I'm sure UE will have urged him to be cautious in moving too far up the pitch.
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In light of our midfield dilemma, we tried to change things around last night but it didn't work.
Normally, our defence can play the ball through the lines or on the rare occasion, Big Emi can go long. Last night, our defence passed it around a bit, drew the opposition in and then went long.
Problem was the lack of accuracy in the long passing. If Unai chooses to play this way again we need Pau Torres pulling the strings. We gave the ball away far too often.
Back to the drawing board for Unai. We won't get three points playing like that very often.
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I actually think we missed Bogarde in Midfield because he tackles and breaks things up more. Tempted to get Barkley in to get the ball forward quicker
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Having Mings in does slow us down when we play from the back, he holds on to the ball too long trying to draw the defenders in. With Torres it seems to be much quicker / slicker.
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Started and finished well but struggled for a lot of the rest of the game. I thought it was a good idea from Unai to play with two Morgan Rogers for the last 20 minutes, the new one looked confident and full of energy.
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Started and finished well but struggled for a lot of the rest of the game. I thought it was a good idea from Unai to play with two Morgan Rogers for the last 20 minutes, the new one looked confident and full of energy.
The scouting brief must have been "Find me someone who looks and moves just like Morgan and I'll take it from there"
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Dire to watch, but at least we got a win!
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The goal from pitch side
https://www.facebook.com/watch/?v=1540678550351547
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A predictable struggle in view of the calibre of players we were missing. Tielemans is a massive loss as the one who gets it forward quickly through the lines, without him we are just playing in front of teams all the time. Their press was very effective I thought but they were helped by a ref who let them get away with some rough stuff at times. It was a welcome three points but we are clinging on by a thread now with all the injuries.
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Last night reminded me a lot of the game against Sunderland early in the season where we weren't great but you could see signs that things were starting to settle. Losing the players we did when we did, alongside the upheaval of the transfer window has broken our rhythm but I think we're getting back on track again and I suspect we'll see a few more positive performances over the next few weeks.
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When are McGinn and Tielemans expected back?
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Everybody by us jumped up to celebrate Buendia’s goal in the first half, immediately followed by a few sheepish laughs when we realised it was the wrong side of the post.
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Bailey said that Unai's priority was a clean sheet, even reiterated it at half time. So that explains a lot in terms of the team selection, Bogarde staying back and the lack of risk taking.
With the players we have out it is harder to play out from the back and break the press, it would have been a great game for McGinn to do his half way line hold up play from long balls.
We also look tired, big opportunity to rotate at the weekend.
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Tiredness and injuries were always going to be an issue as we don't have the biggest squad in the PL!
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Since the injuries have struck we've kept 3 clean sheets in 6 matches so it's definitely a change up in plan of battening down the hatches a little and not being as open through the middle.
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A draw would probably have been a fair result last night, just as we should have got a draw against Everton and Brentford. In the end, we got the 3 points that our performances deserved.
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Agreed, but doesn't mean it's not frustrating to have lost those two previous games at home, imagine where we would have been now.....
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Well summed up. The fluency isn't going to be there now for the next 6 weeks and so we're going to have to do it the hard way. If we end March still in the top 4 we've done well.
Exactly right.
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With regard to the injuries etc, I did think that the returning Barkley was very impressive when he came on, kept the ball, moved it forward at the right time and very unlucky with that left footed shot late on. Well done to him, Im not normally a fan and thought he was/is finished at this level.
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Struggling to remember the last time he had a bad appearance for us, if ever.
Very glad we have the option to keep him for another season. You'd struggle to find a more capable, confident player who's willing to spend almost every game on the bench. He's an excellent, stable option to have.
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Struggling to remember the last time he had a bad appearance for us, if ever.
Very glad we have the option to keep him for another season. You'd struggle to find a more capable, confident player who's willing to spend almost every game on the bench. He's an excellent, stable option to have.
I would look to start him on Saturday as i think he will be very important over the next few weeks and will need minutes
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Very glad we have the option to keep him for another season
Barkley himself seems to think that we don't have an option, that's he's here next year regardless.
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Very glad we have the option to keep him for another season
Barkley himself seems to think that we don't have an option, that's he's here next year regardless.
As in option to keep him on or sell him, rather then have him simply run out of contract.
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Very glad we have the option to keep him for another season
Barkley himself seems to think that we don't have an option, that's he's here next year regardless.
Three year contract in 2024 according to the Athletic.
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He’s got such a great touch and so much skill. Bit of a shame his legs are going and his head wasn’t right when his legs weren’t going.
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Very glad we have the option to keep him for another season
Barkley himself seems to think that we don't have an option, that's he's here next year regardless.
Three year contract in 2024 according to the Athletic.
Yeah, various places reported it at the time as two years with an additional option in our favour, others as just three years.
Barkley said on Twitter (or similar) that he's here next year, so it's presumably the latter.
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Yeah, his touch is still there but I did wince a little at his movement, hoping that it wasn't as slow as it sometimes came across. I think he needs to start a game to really stretch those legs and get proper minutes. The game on Saturday is probably ideal.
He got injured in the West Ham cup game last season, a real shame he's broken-down a few times with us.