Heroes & Villains, the Aston Villa fanzine
Heroes & Villains => Match Threads & Player Ratings => Topic started by: PeterWithesShin on March 12, 2026, 07:45:01 PM
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Hopefully kickstarts us like the 1-0 win v Bologna did earlier in the season.
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One(https://pbs.twimg.com/media/HDO3EbkbcAA-rOV?format=jpg&name=small)one goal
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Would definitely have taken that, great to be ahead after the away leg.
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(https://media4.giphy.com/media/v1.Y2lkPTZjMDliOTUyNW1xdGhqcWdpeXF6NGhvZzh3MmhpeWJya2dkbW5keGJ0YTZiY3NoMiZlcD12MV9naWZzX3NlYXJjaCZjdD1n/DfbpTbQ9TvSX6/200.gif)
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Result is king. Seems a few had better games than for a while.
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Happy with that.
Hope we don't rue the missed chances in that second half.
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Great to have McGinn back.I'm sure it'll be a great fillip for our season
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If Onana played like that every week we'd be happy.
Decent display, some poor decisions in the final third but signs of a recovery. Glad for Ollie, hopefully he kicks on.
Great result.
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Apparently Unai's 100th Villa win.
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That'll do nicely. Great to see Ollie score at last and SJM back.
Thought Bogarde was MOTM.
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That’ll do pig.
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Fair play lads, that has alleviated some gloom. Looking forward to the second leg.
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Bogey was excellent, don't think Garcia would have done as well.
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Apparently Unai's 100th Villa win.
Got their quicker than George Ramsay they said!
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Doug looked more like old Doug, Bogarde very good, Onana far better and a very good goal. Hopefully push on,l and dare to dream that we might turn up at OT for a change.
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Happy with that. Rarely looked threatened. Onana POTMIMO.
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Fine result, that. I thought we played well.
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Fantastic performance. Huge game from Dougie and Onana, Bogarde excellent, even Buendia played well. Onwards….
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I know he was only on the pitch for 20 minutes but McGinn makes such a difference.
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Apparently Unai's 100th Villa win.
Got their quicker than George Ramsay they said!
In fairness, they did have to keep stopping every few months to colonise Africa in those days.
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That'll do nicely. Great to see Ollie score at last and SJM back.
Thought Bogarde was MOTM.
Totally agree, When he has a specific job to do he plays at his best. Just keeps it simple and gets into good positions.
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Result is everything. But we were decent second half. Defence and midfield sound. Shout outs to Luiz and Bogarde. Onana much improved.
I worry about our lack of incision upfront.
But Id have taken 1-0 all day long earlier
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Phew. Will take it.
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That’ll do. Good goal, should have had a pen, and just generally looked better after we scored. Hopefully that gives a bit of confidence.
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With Stuttgart losing you can probably all stop worrying about the poxy coefficient, n'all.
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Solid in the end, happy with that.
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Bogey was excellent, don't think Garcia would have done as well.
Yeah he did well.
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Defensive line is so much better when Pau plays.
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Defensive line is so much better when Pau plays.
But but but he can't defend.
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That's more like it. Great to see SJM back.
Rogers has gone off the boil a bit.
Well done lads.
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Special shoutouts to: Bogarde, Onana, Dougie - all were excellent.
Needs to improve: Sancho, Rogers, Watkins, Digne (crossing and corners, defending was ok).
Should not start: Buendia, Bailey
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Luiz was excellent; Bogie played well; Onana was okay.
A win - move on .
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Dougie played well, Ollie scored, SJM back, 3 points on the road. Job done!
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Defence and midfield was fine, ahead of that there were the usual problems.
Hope this is the start of a recovery.
Play like that Sunday and it we will get beat.
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Doug is starting to look good now. He’s making more creative passes.
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Apparently Unai's 100th Villa win.
Got their quicker than George Ramsay they said!
Ramsay didn't get there at all.
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Decent result.
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Great result in the end.
Now god let us beat those bastards on Sunday.
Just once please.
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Luiz my Villa MotM, SJM's arse a close second.
Got the job done, onwards and upwards.
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Oh,and a clean sheet.More of that kind of thing please.
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That'll do. We badly needed a result and a performance, seems like we got it. (yet to watch it)
Hopefully the boost we need to push on now.
UTV!
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Defensive line is so much better when Pau plays.
But but but he can't defend.
Very dodgy first 15 mins but he grew into it and didn’t disgrace himself in the end. Bogarde v reliable as usual. Wonder what back line Unai will pick v Man U.
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Missed the first half but we looked by far the better team in the second and should have had a more comfortable lead. Great header by Ollie but that 1 on 1!
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Lille were not very good
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Lille were not very good
Nor were we. We move on with a whistle.
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Defensive line is so much better when Pau plays.
Definitely, much better than v Chelsea. Rarely caught with a man behind the line like we were v Chelsea for 90 mins
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Apparently Unai's 100th Villa win.
First to a century since Ron Saunders, before that it was Joe Mercer.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Aston_Villa_F.C._managers
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Martinez 6, Bogarde 8, Konsa 8, Torres 7, Digne 5, Onana 7, Luiz 8, Sancho 3, Buendia 4, Rogers 4, Watkins 4. McGinn had a fine cameo, rest of subs were meh. The Elliot business is nonsense for me. Either we bring him back properly and hes treated the same as everyone else. Or we leave him out. Having a forward player that doesnt give the ball away every time he gets it has its benefits.
Started really poorly but eventually Luiz and Torres got us playing. Understatement to say our front four struggled throughout. But in the end we were disappointed we didnt finish the tie on the night. Buendia stupidly going for the spectacular volley and not heading it, lets not even get into Ollie's effort. They had a few moments too I guess, header in first half just past the post, Torres bailing out Martinez and Martinez doing likewise late on. Thats a very limited Lille team too. Hopefully we look back on this night in a few weeks as when the tide turned in our fortunes. Best likes of Konsa and Onana have played in ages, Torres showing why we need to stick with him, Luiz continuing to progress and McGinn back. I criticised him pre-game but Bogarde did really well at right back too.
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Agree with lots of the above, but I just don't get that buzz watching Villa these days. Too many turgid build-ups, none of that crisp incisive passing that was part of our game. Maybe I'm being greedy (or maybe watched too much of the Madrid game last night.
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Much better than recent performances, although they were dreadful. Still would have taken 0-1 all day long.
Great finish from Ollie, capping off a truly horrific display of indecision and ineptitude.
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Doug is starting to look good now. He’s making more creative passes.
Wins back the ball a lot too. More than he's given credit for.
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Good win, even if wasn't great to watch at times. Great to have Bravearse back.
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Important few minutes for Harvey at the end. He kept the ball so well seeing out those extra time minutes. Could still play a part.
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Good result and thought it was a better performance in.certain areas. Thought we moved the ball well around the back and through midfield, but the four attacking players remain a source of real frustration. Thought Ollie took his goal really well, but then went and blew a massive chance to pretty much settle the tie.
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Bogey , Dougy , Onana, Pau and Mcginn pluses for me , the rest hopefully catch up next game.
happy with the result thou....
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A very important win and a clean sheet in front of a hostile crowd. Great to see SJM back and credits go to Onana and Doug but MOTM goes to Lamare, probably his best performance so far for us.
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I think Torres made a big difference, our defensive line looks better and our ability to play quick counters is much higher. With the midfielders we've had missing we just can't live without him.
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only english team out of 9 to win in Europe
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only english team out of 9 to win in Europe
Yeah, the bookies would have given you good odds on that happening.
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only english team out of 9 to win in Europe
Nice bit of perspective there.
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only english team out of 9 to win in Europe
Yeah, the bookies would have given you good odds on that happening.
Higher than Lesta winning the league.
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Apparently Unai's 100th Villa win.
Got their quicker than George Ramsay they said!
In fairness, they did have to keep stopping every few months to colonise Africa in those days.
Not *just* colonise Africa. We had to pilfer their stuff as well.
To be fair it was a clever bit of work. Pinch all of Johnny Foreigners valuable things, make a fancy hat out of them, then get our king to wear said fancy hat whilst patronising the leaders of the countries we’ve stole stuff from.
It’s next level stuff when you think about it.
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A useful win to stop the rot. Good goal too. Won without too much stress and with a weaker side than I’d expect Unai to play on Sunday. Well done Villa.
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Good to see Amadou and Doug playing well together and both passing it to good effect.
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That was Dougie's best performance since rejoining us. Good passing and movement. That lob over their defence putting Watkins clear was excellent. He's getting back up to his best level.
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Apparently Unai's 100th Villa win.
Got their quicker than George Ramsay they said!
Joe Mercer was the 2nd fastest, then George Ramsay.
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George Ramsey wasn’t a manager.
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Not pretty but who cares.
Clean sheet a win at a hostile ground cant turn our nose at that
Happy days!
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Lille were not very good
Nor were we. We move on with a whistle. Harsh. We didn't trouble their keeper enough but our overall performance was disciplined and tactically excellent. We pretty much controlled the game, away to respectable opposition.
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We started off really slowly but were by far the better team from 20 minutes onwards. It seemed like we were encouraged by their lack of quality. They are not very good.
Bogarde and Onana were very good, Luiz had a good game too. Pau offers us so much more than defending. McGinn’s little cameo felt like a big confidence boost too.
Buendia was poor again and Watkins was hit and miss - a good goal and some excellent touches as part of our build up, but he has to do much better in that one on one. Was never confident he’d score.
We’ll need to be much better on Sunday.
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Really easy that. Lots of time and space and we managed it well without ever being threatened. Should have been two nil and put to bed.
Small hold back after, but treated to McGinn doing sprints with a coach. Absolutely brilliant to have his big arse back.
Some grief with the police before the game for the right hand side of the away end, with stewards blocking off a small gate at the top of the stairs. Unnecessary given your tickets had been checked outside twice. French police waded in with batons and gas.
(I said left, I meant right.)
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Really easy that. Lots of time and space and we managed it well without ever being threatened. Should have been two nil and put to bed.
Small hold back after, but treated to McGinn doing sprints with a coach. Absolutely brilliant to have his big arse back.
Some grief with the police before the game for the right hand side of the away end, with stewards blocking off a small gate at the top of the stairs. Unnecessary given your tickets had been checked outside twice. French police waded in with batons and gas.
(I said left, I meant right.)
I didnt see the trouble but they blocked those gates at the top of the stairs to make sure people go in the right section. So they let me through one of those gates to get to 21. The stairs led to two sections.
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It was much closer to the type of Villa performance we are used to. A few good performances, particularly the midfield but I thought that was the best I’ve seen Bogarde play - sharp in the tackle and used the ball well. Olly Watkins is still frequently overthinking things when given time but it was a really good finish which hopefully gives him a boost.
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Really easy that. Lots of time and space and we managed it well without ever being threatened. Should have been two nil and put to bed.
Small hold back after, but treated to McGinn doing sprints with a coach. Absolutely brilliant to have his big arse back.
Some grief with the police before the game for the right hand side of the away end, with stewards blocking off a small gate at the top of the stairs. Unnecessary given your tickets had been checked outside twice. French police waded in with batons and gas.
(I said left, I meant right.)
I didnt see the trouble but they blocked those gates at the top of the stairs to make sure people go in the right section. So they let me through one of those gates to get to 21. The stairs led to two sections.
There was no need for those gates to exist.
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Really easy that. Lots of time and space and we managed it well without ever being threatened. Should have been two nil and put to bed.
Small hold back after, but treated to McGinn doing sprints with a coach. Absolutely brilliant to have his big arse back.
Some grief with the police before the game for the right hand side of the away end, with stewards blocking off a small gate at the top of the stairs. Unnecessary given your tickets had been checked outside twice. French police waded in with batons and gas.
(I said left, I meant right.)
I didnt see the trouble but they blocked those gates at the top of the stairs to make sure people go in the right section. So they let me through one of those gates to get to 21. The stairs led to two sections.
There was no need for those gates to exist.
They were to separate the sections. Hence the ticket check.
A few of ours seemed to be struggling with the stronger beer. I don’t know if that contributed. By the end of the game things were a lot more sober with no alcohol on sale.
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I know, but it was Villa both sides. They created a needless bottle neck at the top of the stairs as they were so concerned about getting you on the left or right, but not apparently standing in the gangways or the stairs. Obviously they needed to he CS gassed though.
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Thought it was a classic Emery performance. Sharp in defense, pretty clean midfield game and tactically astute overall. Forward players let us down a bit, but it was a real comfort to see that level of composure from the team in general given how pathetic some of our efforts have been the last few weeks.
I'd have been relatively happy with a 0-0, so pretty ecstatic with a win.
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I’ve said it on here already, but worth reiterating, Pau is so important to the structure of the side. We weren’t perfect by any means, and we don’t always perform when he does play, but our chances of putting in a coherent display go up a lot with him there. The defensive line is stronger, and the ability to play out of the back improves across all the players at the back.
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I’ve said it on here already, but worth reiterating, Pau is so important to the structure of the side. We weren’t perfect by any means, and we don’t always perform when he does play, but our chances of putting in a coherent display go up a lot with him there. The defensive line is stronger, and the ability to play out of the back improves across all the players at the back.
The much discussed injuries to Kamara, Tielemans and McGinn have been a major part in our recent decline in form, but Torres has also been missing and not in form during that period as well. He was a regular and playing well in the run of wins we had earlier in the season.
I've only picked up on it recently, but it is quite noticeable how much more of the ball our LCBs seem to have than Konsa does.
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Pau is more positive and decisive on the ball than Mings.
Mings tends to slow the play and passes sideways and backwards more.
Pau is more dynamic and is better at finding the progressive pass from defence to attack.
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Pau is more positive and decisive on the ball than Mings.
Mings tends to slow the play and passes sideways and backwards more.
Pau is more dynamic and is better at finding the progressive pass from defence to attack.
It also means that the pass from defence tends to happen about twenty yards further up the pitch when it's Pau doing it, which in turn pushes the midfield into the middle of the pitch and the fowards are then receiving the ball thirty yards out.
When it's Mings and Konsa, DL / Onana tend to drop back to thirty yards from our own goal to collect the ball, it means that everything we do is happening further back and it's much harder for things for the game to happen in our attacking third.
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More important than any of that, Pau is better at playing the offside trap, and given how high a line we play that is a huge part of how we defend.
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We were shite for the first 15 mins, but pretty solid after that. Something seemed to change tactically but I'm not clever enough to be able to articulate what that was. We were also a bit more aggressive in midfield. Added to that, I though that was the best ref I've seen is a long time.
Amazing to have SJM back as others have said. Thank fuck!
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More important than any of that, Pau is better at playing the offside trap, and given how high a line we play that is a huge part of how we defend.
Spot on. The feel of games are entirely different when that's working, it gives us control and just increases frustration and mistakes in the opposition.
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We were shite for the first 15 mins, but pretty solid after that. Something seemed to change tactically but I'm not clever enough to be able to articulate what that was. We were also a bit more aggressive in midfield. Added to that, I though that was the best ref I've seen is a long time.
Amazing to have SJM back as others have said. Thank fuck!
Honestly think it was Onana switching on. Looked more progressive, owned his patch defensively and gave Luiz the confidence to move forward. He was also very good at moving out wide to provide cover for Bogarde at times. It's the most lively I;ve seen him for some time.
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Pau is more positive and decisive on the ball than Mings.
Mings tends to slow the play and passes sideways and backwards more.
Pau is more dynamic and is better at finding the progressive pass from defence to attack.
It also means that the pass from defence tends to happen about twenty yards further up the pitch when it's Pau doing it, which in turn pushes the midfield into the middle of the pitch and the fowards are then receiving the ball thirty yards out.
When it's Mings and Konsa, DL / Onana tend to drop back to thirty yards from our own goal to collect the ball, it means that everything we do is happening further back and it's much harder for things for the game to happen in our attacking third.
Thought Luiz still dropped back a lot last night. He combines well with Torres so I don't mind that. Maatsen out there would give them a much better wide option on that side too. Onana is a liability getting ball off the back so best he stays out of it. McGinn will give us an extra man in there to play through.
When the ball bounces off Ollie/Buendia/Rogers nearly every time they get it - makes distribution from back very difficult.
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When the ball bounces off Ollie/Buendia/Rogers nearly every time they get it - makes distribution from back very difficult.
That is the whole "being further back" issue though.
The quintessential Emery / Villa goal in my mind is Pau picking the ball up from Emi, bringing it / passing it through their pressing attacker to Tielemans, him bringing it / passing it through their midfield to Rogers, Rogers running twenty yards with the ball at their retreating centre-backs and slipping it to Watkins who has peeled off the defender.
But it needs those passes through the pressing opposition attack / midfield. The current version of that is Buendia / Rogers getting the ball in and around the opposition midfield, rather than in the gap between the midfield and defence, meaning they're more likely to just go and lose it.
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Fair few vids of the treatment of fans including this one
https://x.com/bikesswest/status/2032221030362857572
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We were shite for the first 15 mins, but pretty solid after that. Something seemed to change tactically but I'm not clever enough to be able to articulate what that was. We were also a bit more aggressive in midfield. Added to that, I though that was the best ref I've seen is a long time.
Amazing to have SJM back as others have said. Thank fuck!
Honestly think it was Onana switching on. Looked more progressive, owned his patch defensively and gave Luiz the confidence to move forward. He was also very good at moving out wide to provide cover for Bogarde at times. It's the most lively I;ve seen him for some time.
These!
Absolutely spot on!
Good trip...great journey (in difficult conditions) and a win!
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Really easy that. Lots of time and space and we managed it well without ever being threatened. Should have been two nil and put to bed.
Small hold back after, but treated to McGinn doing sprints with a coach. Absolutely brilliant to have his big arse back.
Some grief with the police before the game for the right hand side of the away end, with stewards blocking off a small gate at the top of the stairs. Unnecessary given your tickets had been checked outside twice. French police waded in with batons and gas.
(I said left, I meant right.)
I didnt see the trouble but they blocked those gates at the top of the stairs to make sure people go in the right section. So they let me through one of those gates to get to 21. The stairs led to two sections.
Except there were no signs or information for what gate to go to. In fact the only sign for the J sections was in the I section. Rather than stepping in lower down the stairs and directing people, they let people just get bounced at the ‘wrong’ entrance. Which in turn caused the crush.
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Fair few vids of the treatment of fans including this one
https://x.com/bikesswest/status/2032221030362857572
Didn't encounter any of that before the game but we did make an extra effort to get there early.
Had a few problems after the game trying to reach the point where our taxi was waiting for us....police simply wouldn't let us through, just for the sake of it. We walked away and returned 5 minutes later....police were just getting into their wagon and leaving...so we were able to do our three minute stroll to our pick up point! No issues, no marauding fans, nothing dangerous, so why not let us through in the first place? Because we're football fans!?
We've had a lot of that kind of stuff in Europe, Warsaw probably being the worst.
Sorry for those who had to put up with shit, especially disabled and old farts like me!
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Really easy that. Lots of time and space and we managed it well without ever being threatened. Should have been two nil and put to bed.
Small hold back after, but treated to McGinn doing sprints with a coach. Absolutely brilliant to have his big arse back.
Some grief with the police before the game for the right hand side of the away end, with stewards blocking off a small gate at the top of the stairs. Unnecessary given your tickets had been checked outside twice. French police waded in with batons and gas.
(I said left, I meant right.)
I didnt see the trouble but they blocked those gates at the top of the stairs to make sure people go in the right section. So they let me through one of those gates to get to 21. The stairs led to two sections.
Except there were no signs or information for what gate to go to. In fact the only sign for the J sections was in the I section. Rather than stepping in lower down the stairs and directing people, they let people just get bounced at the ‘wrong’ entrance. Which in turn caused the crush.
I must have been lucky where I was then in J21 because I followed signs all the way from the turnstile. That’s how I know those gates at the top of the stairs were to separate the two sections covered by the stairs. I did get there fairly early and that helped. As I said earlier there were a lot of tanked up supporters trying to gatecrash the food and drink queue and then deciding to sit where they wanted in the ground.
It definitely could have been better handled!
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You reckon?
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Yep
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Really easy that. Lots of time and space and we managed it well without ever being threatened. Should have been two nil and put to bed.
Small hold back after, but treated to McGinn doing sprints with a coach. Absolutely brilliant to have his big arse back.
Some grief with the police before the game for the right hand side of the away end, with stewards blocking off a small gate at the top of the stairs. Unnecessary given your tickets had been checked outside twice. French police waded in with batons and gas.
(I said left, I meant right.)
I didnt see the trouble but they blocked those gates at the top of the stairs to make sure people go in the right section. So they let me through one of those gates to get to 21. The stairs led to two sections.
Except there were no signs or information for what gate to go to. In fact the only sign for the J sections was in the I section. Rather than stepping in lower down the stairs and directing people, they let people just get bounced at the ‘wrong’ entrance. Which in turn caused the crush.
I must have been lucky where I was then in J21 because I followed signs all the way from the turnstile. That’s how I know those gates at the top of the stairs were to separate the two sections covered by the stairs. I did get there fairly early and that helped. As I said earlier there were a lot of tanked up supporters trying to gatecrash the food and drink queue and then deciding to sit where they wanted in the ground.
It definitely could have been better handled!
Yes J and I were both at the top of the stairs. You were lucky enough to go to the correct one when nobody else was there. Look at all the videos, it’s very clear that there’s no signage whatsoever. If there was then why would people have ended up in a crush at just one of the entrances?
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Thought Luiz still dropped back a lot last night. He combines well with Torres so I don't mind that. Maatsen out there would give them a much better wide option on that side too. Onana is a liability getting ball off the back so best he stays out of it. McGinn will give us an extra man in there to play through.
When the ball bounces off Ollie/Buendia/Rogers nearly every time they get it - makes distribution from back very difficult.
I've long thought Onana needs strict instructions and improve his focus and discipline, Thursday was a big improvement and as you say, Luis giving Torres options as well as protection helps improve Torres allowing him to do the things he does best.
Glad to see you've thrown Rogers in with Watkins and Buendia. Buendia especially gets a ridiculous amount of stick despite his effort; Watkins gets a free pass (which he fails to control) with his effort whilst Rogers plays like he's in the playground but probably gives the ball away more than the two combined. He's another who needs a bit more instruction and discipline right now. Wonderful player but he has to realise he can't do it all by himself especially without a ball.
Also lovely to see Bogarde shoving the criticism he gets from some down their throats, he's a quality player in his breakthrough season and he rarely lets us down. Shame Unai hasn't used him more in the last couple of months to bring some much needed stability to the midfield. Unai is extremely stubborn, insisting the players need to play his way despite the evidence it wasn't working.
I can only think he persists with Watkins as he knows he'll be on the move in the summer and we need to maximise his price. Lovely header from Watkins for the goal which will look great on his showreel. Emi B beating the centre half for the headed assist was as brilliant as it was comical, how the hell does he manage to jump so high.
Quite impressed with Lille's Tiago Santos and wondered if he could do a job for us on the right. He was out injured for most of last season but he's now back playing regularly for Lille. Will keep an eye on him Thursday night as he was probably the only Lille player who seemed above the rest of what seemed a very average team.
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Agree with lots of the above, but I just don't get that buzz watching Villa these days. Too many turgid build-ups, none of that crisp incisive passing that was part of our game. Maybe I'm being greedy (or maybe watched too much of the Madrid game last night.
We were saying in the ground how flat it was for a European away game. It feels like we’ve lost zip recently and the fans have lost confidence and belief. It was a really muted evening. Great fun in the bars after though.
Happy with a win at half time
In thebtie
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Just what we needed, build on this going forward.