Heroes & Villains, the Aston Villa fanzine
Heroes & Villains => Match Threads & Player Ratings => Topic started by: SoccerHQ on August 10, 2019, 07:20:45 PM
-
On this showing we'll be fine v likes of Bournemouth and Palace.
Overall happy with what I've seen today. We badly need to get our actual DMs at the club up to speed. Oh and another striking option in the squad wouldn't have gone amiss.....
Mings and Engles with Heaton behind him looks a superb defensive trio in the making.
As much as it sticks in the throat, Spurs are a very very good premier league side nowadays. 3rd and CL last season and could easily finish 3rd this year.
As much as it's good to get carried away, today shows the huge gulf from a decade ago when we were finishing above them in the league.
Still onwards to Bournemouth where we should get at least a point on the board.
-
I hope that collapse doesn't dishearten the players. On to the next game.
-
Need to be better at making the ball stick when we go forward to relieve a bit of pressure. Wesley was actually looking a bit better when he got taken off, to be fair.
Impressed by Heaton and Engels and Doug looked promising, too.
Not the end of the world, we will just have to settle for thirty-seven wins this season I suppose.
-
Our season was never going to be defined by today - or any of our other games against the top five or six teams. Plenty of positives and hopefully plenty of lessons learned, too.
UTV
-
Positives - Engels, SJM and Trez were very good. Mings grew into it.
Jack cost us two goals today, needs to learn and not be so sloppy.
Wes is going to have to hold the ball up a hell of a lot better.
-
On this showing we'll be fine v likes of Bournemouth and Palace.
Overall happy with what I've seen today. We badly need to get our actual DMs at the club up to speed. Oh and another striking option in the squad wouldn't have gone amiss.....
Mings and Engles with Heaton behind him looks a superb defensive trio in the making.
As much as it sticks in the throat, Spurs are a very very good premier league side nowadays. 3rd and CL last season and could easily finish 3rd this year.
As much as it's good to get carried away, today shows the huge gulf from a decade ago when we were finishing above them in the league.
Still onwards to Bournemouth where we should get at least a point on the board.
yep, pretty much agree, we will play Bournemouth in their half hopefully and we have a lot of attacking options. Looked tired in the last 20 minutes. Can't fault the effort.
-
No disgrace there for me but plenty to work on, not least from the Captain. Wesley might need time, Jota looked poor but the defence looked good. One lesson for me, we need to be quicker on the ball.
-
Frustrating. Whether it would have made any difference I'm not sure, but thought it was much too late changing things in midfield, considering they had been overrun for the entire 2nd half. No embarrassment losing there, but hopefully it will prove a valuable lesson to one or two of the players.
-
Probably the 3rd hardest game we'll have all season. Tbf they look fucking quality.
No disgrace in that result at all
Played well first half, battered us second half.
Engels, Mings, Heaton very good.
Time for drink
-
The defence looked good. Thought we tired in the last half hour and it told with more gaps showing. Lack of striking options worry me.
-
Disappointed. Spurs are on another level. The lads showed true grit until the last ten minutes.
-
Really pleased with the first half, really disappointed with the second. We could barely string a pass together and gave the ball away far too much. We need to learn from this and i'm confident we will.
-
Bitterly disappointed, having defended so brilliantly for 70 minutes. But we disappeared as an attacking threat in the second half and the constant pressure told in the end. Mings and Engels were immense and Heaton is a fine keeper so we should be alright at the back against most teams. We opted to play it out from the back on a number of occasions where a clearance would have been better, notably for Spurs' second, but it happened multiple times in the second half. McGinn was outstanding in the first half.
I am a bit worried about our attacking options though.
-
Incidentally, despite much eyebrow raising (including from me), I thought Elmo and particularly Taylor did well today.
-
Lets see how many teams similar to us go there and do better.
-
The scoreline reflects the possession. What am I disappointed about is that Dean says he wants to attack and win every game. I didn’t see any real desire to do that. It was entirely a back to the walls approach. Anyway let’s hope we see a much more progressive and attacking set up next weekend.
-
there's 3 teams in this league that are out on their own at the top, playing away to one of them for the first game was always tough and getting anything required them to be off their game. First half they were and we took the lead but 2nd half was much more like the team that made the champions league final, unfortunately for us. Eriksen was the key though, once he came on we lost our shape and they started getting good chances.
-
I hope that collapse doesn't dishearten the players. On to the next game.
Not a chance under Smith. They’ll just learn from it
-
A disappointing result on paper, but clearly we tired very badly in the last 15 mins - as you'd expect when you spend almost entirely 75 mins chasing the other team. I thought we'd score and lose today, they're a top premier league side, and champions league finalists - at home.
I thought Engels was brilliant, Mings much better 2nd half. Even Taylor did OK today.
I think my biggest disappointment is we didn't hold on to the ball at all well all day, which started with Wes who looked a bit shell-shocked to be honest, hopefully he'll be better next week.
On to the next one!
-
Still hopeful. We wont play Tottenham every week.
Good defence.
Time for a beer.
-
It’s very simple.
We need to be physically stronger all over the pitch.
We need to be be faster in possession and with our thinking.
The wingers really do need to grow some balls, some of their tracking back was none existent.
I think today’s game was a ‘welcome to the premier league’ wake up call.
We must learn from it and move on.
-
Weirdly, we sat deep in straight lines and invited the pressure. Would targett and Guilbert have given us more shape when we were defending the lead?
-
Happy with the overall performance, if not the result.
Good effort in general. Some players not quite on the money. Ran out of steam in the end.
This game shows that in Div 1 you can't afford to be carrying passengers or have anyone who is below par on the day.
We won't be playing teams like Spuds every weak
Onwards and upwards
-
Disappointed to have lost but no arguments, Spurs are different class. Thought Engels and Mings were superb.
-
Engels looks so accomplished at the back always looking left and right, very good debut. The makings of a decent partnership with Mings hopefully.
Heaton is just amazing.
El Ghazi was very good first half, so was Trezeguet...you can see the understanding him and Elmo have already.
SJM probing forward was very good.
Taylor didn't do anything wrong the entire match.
Hourinhane is a weird one, who's too slow in body and mind at this level for me but...you kinda want him on for set pieces and long shots around the box.
Jack was good, but needs to just knock a second or 2 from holding onto the ball....especially in our own half under a lot of pressure.
Wesley did ok for me, he will get up to speed soon...tough against them 2 but can see him getting better, especially against the rest.
Gutted we didn't pick up a point but still proud of everyone.
-
Second half was worrying I thought. Eriksen came on and we couldn't cope. But we looked horribly leggy the last 20mins and couldn't string two passes together. Centre backs both did well, McGinn at times but that was it really. Grealish in particular disappointed me, ridiculous flicks on the ball and his hair were all he offered second half.
Harsh to say but the likes of Elmo, Taylor and our first two subs are bog standard championship players . Hourihane sunk without trace there too, badly need Luiz a lot fitter. Mings was superb and Engels looks tidy. Heaton very calm and composed .
-
As per the question in 2015 who is going to score the goals?
-
Took my mum to the Three Kings in Kensington to watch it which was full of coked up Spuds.
We’re building a team. They have a team. We will be a lot better than them in the not too distant future.
The ref was crap even with VAR.
Spurs looked turgid and we would have smashed them if Doug and the first choice full backs had started.
We’ll be fine.
-
Spurs could bring on Eriksen when we were looking knackered. We did really well in the first half and probably should have been 3 up. Spurs fans were in full meltdown before their goal.
This was always going to be hard, and we should take heart from the performance.
-
Jack needs to get up to speed. Can't dilly dally 25 yards out in this league. Got caught a few times and obviously was way too deep but if we're that deep then he needs to adapt and realise you can't always look for a pass.
-
As per the question in 2015 who is going to score the goals?
Wes had a debut to forget but it's one game and I think he'll shine in home games particularly where we'll be far more proactive.
-
One good half, one crap one. Got used to that under Bruce. To be fair I did see plenty to be encouraged by in that first half but we looked exhausted in that final 20 minutes.
Wes as our main man up front still concerns me a bit though.
-
We did ok. I think we’ll be mid table. Grealish was poor...I hope he comes good but I can’t see it.
-
Plenty of positives from the 1st half, where we looked dangerous in wide areas and with a bit more composure from Trezeguet, could have gone in 2-0 at half time. SJM and Grealish were both excellent up until HT.
2nd half we were outclassed and the midfield couldn't cope. The substitution of Luiz for Hourihane should have happened before their equaliser not after it. May not have changed the overall result, but feel it would have given us a better chance.
The only thing that did piss me off was the casualness of some of our players on the ball in the 2nd half when we were under the cosh. That needs a bit of a bollocking from Smith.
Heaton, Mings and Engels were excellent for large periods. Get Guibert and Targett either side of them next week and the defensive unit looks very good.
-
Elmo and Taylor are not good enough for this division, Spurs exposed that throughout the match.
Spuds are a class above, but that's not a surprise.
Unlucky with the goals, but not the final result.
-
I'd be interested to know if it was Jack doing it or a tactic from DS that he was so deep so often. I think he's wasted when he does that and we lose a lot going forward.
-
Not reading too much into this positive or negative. Along with many the starting 11 raised a few eyebrows for me but we looked competitive for large periods of the game.
Some lessons to be learnt but I’d rather we learnt them here. So a tough start is much better in a way.
-
Time for us all to get behind the boys. We were not rolled over, yes we tired and mistakes were made, but this showing tells us we have the players to compete and stay in the Premiership.
We are all disappointed but let’s loose some of this negativity.
-
The scoreline reflects the possession. What am I disappointed about is that Dean says he wants to attack and win every game. I didn’t see any real desire to do that. It was entirely a back to the walls approach. Anyway let’s hope we see a much more progressive and attacking set up next weekend.
We were playing quality stuff in the first half and attacked well.
The idea that we were going to put a team like Spurs under the cosh at their place in the first game back in the Prem is mental. We tried. They're that much better than us that we couldn't compete for the full 90. They brought in Eriksen as a sub! That's the reality.
-
Plenty to build on two centre halves look very good. The big man up front will learn but jack needs to realise the pace of the game is twice what he’s used to.
-
That sums up the level we need to get too. Don’t blame jack he had no outlet. Going to b hit and miss all round
-
We did ok. I think we’ll be mid table. Grealish was poor...I hope he comes good but I can’t see it.
After 1 game? Yeh right.
-
Bitterly disappointed, having defended so brilliantly for 70 minutes. But we disappeared as an attacking threat in the second half and the constant pressure told in the end. Mings and Engels were immense and Heaton is a fine keeper so we should be alright at the back against most teams. We opted to play it out from the back on a number of occasions where a clearance would have been better, notably for Spurs' second, but it happened multiple times in the second half. McGinn was outstanding in the first half.
I am a bit worried about our attacking options though.
Agreed. At 1 up, even in the second half, a second would have killed them off. In the end Eriksen changed the game. Gutted to have lost, it was a great opportunity to pick up at least a point against a weakened Spurs but as you say, our attacking options are a concern.
-
Grealish was fine until their second goal. To say he won’t come good is just being hysterical.
-
Deano on sky now
-
That sums up the level we need to get too. Don’t blame jack he had no outlet. Going to b hit and miss all round
I blame him completely for the second, no outlet then clear it.
-
I'd be interested to know if it was Jack doing it or a tactic from DS that he was so deep so often. I think he's wasted when he does that and we lose a lot going forward.
That's why we need Luiz or Nakamba in that DM position. With Conor there just isn't enough protection for Jack to be further up the pitch, particularly against quality teams like Tottenham.
-
Lots to be positive about, lots of lessons to learn. Still think we’ll be OK.
-
We lost to a quality side, but disappointed that we created nothing in the 2nd half, until SJM's chance at the end. Mings, Engels, Heaton were superb and SJM in the first half. Jack was poor today, but have no doubt he will come good in this league.
-
Lots to be positive about, lots of lessons to learn. Still think we’ll be OK.
Of course. We will be fine.
-
Disappointing. Maybe it was for our greater good, a game against the likes of these first up. Playing with 7 players from last season and a 2 goal loss to the CL finalists, not exactly our worst result ever. Goalkeeper looks like a very good buy, and I thought all the back four did okay. They weren't helped by having nothing in front of them. Second half, our midfield and forwards were far too spread out. Lessons learned today about the speed of thought and deed required at this level, hopefully.
-
Grealish was fine until their second goal. To say he won’t come good is just being hysterical.
Maybe, maybe not.
Some of the debutants looked far more composed to me.
-
One of the hardest games we will have all season, didn’t think we played too bad. The real test is Bournemouth at home next week which is more our level.
Slightly concerned about striking options but we shall see. UTV
-
Disappointing in the end, but I thought we did ok. More positives than negatives.
Smith didn't look happy during the second half, and rightly so. Need to get players further up and around Wesley.
Bit more belief Villa, and be smarter with the ball. On to the next game.
-
We'll find our feet when these players bed in. Plenty to come with Nakamba and Douglas. What happened to Guilbert? Only worry for me is lack of forward options.
-
After 90 mins I don’t feel it’s right to criticise anyone at all. I can see why selections were made. I almost think that there may be a case for a different style and starting 11 home and away.
Whatever is chosen it’s a learning curve for all at AVFC every week. Dean isn’t the sort of coach that will allow the same mistakes or poorer performances from individuals week in week out.
I trust him as much as the owners for the long haul.
I think we’ll be ok over the season , but it certainly isn’t championship style !!
Lastly, as well as Heaton, I thought we had McGrath and Laursen in front of him and those 3 were awesome
-
I don't agree with the comments that Jack was poor. I think he had a good hour but then, like everyone else, the chasing shadows just wore him down, the mistakes in the last 10-15 mins were of someone who was fucked, not because he isn't good enough. Jota and Kdojia came on and should've been trying to get on the ball and push them deeper, but neither of them got up to the pace of the game and we really needed the breathing space of the ball not coming back so quickly.
-
Douglas looked good for his cameo
-
Disappointing but a tough game to start with, hopefully we can learn from some of the mistakes that we made late on. You don’t get the time in this league.
-
Here’s what I am sure of. Is unlike other managers we have had where we will play the same way again next week, Dean Smith and staff will analyze the heck out of this and play a very different game vs Bournemouth. Also the players will learn from it. They’ll be told to watch how fast Spurs closed us down and that’s the level of intensity we will need to compete at this level. There won’t be any “we go again” or need to roll up our sleeves or we will there or thereabouts nonsense. The response will be measured and tactical.
-
Douglas looked good for his cameo
He did. And he has really cool hair.
-
Probably the 3rd hardest game we'll have all season. Tbf they look fucking quality.
No disgrace in that result at all
Played well first half, battered us second half.
Engels, Mings, Heaton very good.
Time for drink
I concur, Mr James.
I also think Eriksen completely changed the game when he came on, so it was probably just as well he didn't start! Hopefully Deano can work on the positives from today so we can get our season up & running v B/muff.
UTV
-
They bought on a £100 million pound player who might yet end up at Real Madrid when we were tiring.
We bought on a £1m signing from the blues when our winger tired. That is the reality.
We look like we are miles better coached, have much better shape and some better players than the season we went down. I think McGinn may well get double figures in goals, and Trezeguet could well get 9-10 too on that display. Wesley might get 10-12 when we are on the front foot more.
I thought El Ghazi was desperately poor at times, and Hourihane tired noticeably in the second half.
Overall though - Heaton, Engels, Mings, McGinn, Grealish and Trezeguet looked good enough. We looked a bit overawed too, which coming back up, to a new billion pound stadium, first game, it is hardly a surprise.
We can and we will improve I am sure.
-
I think what some of you are forgetting is that Tottenham are a superb side at the moment. They steam rollered us and the only reason they broke through at the end was that they knackered us out and had a bit of luck with the second goal. They're such a strong athletic side we just couldn't cope for the 90 mins, they looked every bit a champions league final team in that second half.
-
From Mings first game I’ve been telling my son he’s the new McGrath.
And Engels was very impressive as was Heaton.
-
We have a good defence. So not too worried.
Bournemouth are not Tottenham.
-
I think the loss ultimately came down to us being knackered and getting a bit ragged at the end. But Spurs caused that with so much pressure, rather than a lack of conditioning on our part.
What impressed me with Spurs was their press when they lost the ball, it was like Barca under Pep, when they lost the ball, they all pressed as a team like crazy for five seconds to get the ball back, see Lamela on Jack - and it worked really well in the last 15 minutes, because we were so tired.
We won't play teams that good every week, bar Man City and Liverpool, they're probably the next best team in the league.
The result feels worse because with 20 mins to go we're all sat here thinking we could sneak a win.
-
Douglas looked good for his cameo
Good technically yes but blown out of it physically for their third goal. Will take some time before he is up to playing 90mins at this level.
In terms of conditioning we looked miles behind them in physical power and pace. Same thing for Norwich the other night at Liverpool.
-
Douglas looked good for his cameo
He did. And he has really cool hair.
Does he bollocks. He looks like an intern at the Abel Xavier Hair Academy.
-
Good effort today
Jack will learn from that
I was worried about Conor before the game and I think Luiz will be a better fit
Kodjia was awful when he came on. The likes of Davis is a better option
Onwards and upwards. Our rebuilding is a marathon not a sprint
-
Anwar, Wesley and Jota seemed somewhat off premier league pace. But that was no surprise I guess.
Seen enough to be optimistic about our season. Fingers crossed Wesley can have an impact against lesser opposition and build up some confidence.
-
Despite the disappointment just think how far we've come and how much we've improved in less than a season. Hats off to Dean for that.
-
First half we looked like we belonged. Second we looked like plucky underdogs on a day trip. The main thing we need to learn is the intensity of the league.
-
This is no surprise. We came up after finishing 5th in the second division they have been near title winners in the first division and champions league finalist 3 months ago. Even if we had held on it would not have negated the need for our players learning quickly and adapting to the pace and tenacity of the top league. Dean and Co have hopefully learned a lot today and will work on it. I am not the one for well let’s forget this result as we will not play Tottenham every week.
-
We were great for 60 mins, then got tired and sloppy unable to possess the ball and relieve the pressure.
Heaton, Mings and Engels looked excellent...Taylor did well, as did Elmo despite a wobble at the start of each half.
I would have taken off Jack and SJM around the hour mark to bring fresh legs into the midfield.
I think we'll be alright and will avoid a relegation scrap, but the lack of striking options still worries me.
-
World will be a brighter place after we stick 5 past Bournemouth.
-
Anwar, Wesley and Jota seemed somewhat off premier league pace. But that was no surprise I guess.
Seen enough to be optimistic about our season. Fingers crossed Wesley can have an impact against lesser opposition and build up some confidence.
Certainly Jota failed to make an impact. Although watching SKY's post match interviews Van Der Vaart, Jamie Redknapp* and Reo-Coker are all speaking very positively about Villa.
*Jamie dropped the 'F' word (Fulham) once but to be fair he was pointing out that despite the comparisons he thought we were a very different proposition.
-
Disappointed that Dean didn't allow for Spurs well known last ten minute splurge.
Hey ho, on to the next
-
Douglas looked good for his cameo
He did. And he has really cool hair.
Does he bollocks. He looks like an intern at the Abel Xavier Hair Academy.
Sorry, mate. I can only assume you're not cool like me and Snoop Doug.
-
Redknapp saying Wesley played well and easily looks a £22m forward. I'm wondering if I watched a different game? Much better second half compared to first, and few touches that showed potential, but on that performance not sure how you can definitely say "well worth the money"?
-
6 months ago we were 13th in the Championship.
Here we are disappointed we have just lost to Tottenham.
Look how far we have come. We got tons of talent and looked mega dangerous in that first half. We are much better than most of the mid table sides.
Still plenty to be happy about tonight.
-
On the plus side, we've shown we're not doing a Fulham as they lost 3-1 away to Spurs in August last season, and we're definitely better than last time we were in the PL as we lost 3-1 away to Spurs.
(https://i.imgur.com/ekQpV59.gif?noredirect)
-
Douglas looked good for his cameo
He did. And he has really cool hair.
Does he bollocks. He looks like an intern at the Abel Xavier Hair Academy.
Sorry, mate. I can only assume you're not cool like me and Snoop Doug.
And Wes Brown.
-
Douglas looked good for his cameo
He did. And he has really cool hair.
Does he bollocks. He looks like an intern at the Abel Xavier Hair Academy.
Sorry, mate. I can only assume you're not cool like me and Snoop Doug.
It is all about the snizzle and the dizzle.
-
I'm concentrating on the positive. Most of the time lately when we go to London it seems like we are being battered by Brentford. Losing to Spurs is a definite improvement.
-
Redknapp saying Wesley played well and easily looks a £22m forward. I'm wondering if I watched a different game? Much better second half compared to first, and few touches that showed potential, but on that performance not sure how you can definitely say "well worth the money"?
Redknapp isn’t known for his detailed analysis, but well knownfor hyperbole
-
And David James.
-
As per the question in 2015 who is going to score the goals?
With the way he finished today McGinn will get 10 + in the league imo so that's already better than the 2-3 our CMs provided in 15-16 if it indeed was that many.
-
Douglas looked good for his cameo
He did. And he has really cool hair.
Does he bollocks. He looks like an intern at the Abel Xavier Hair Academy.
Sorry, mate. I can only assume you're not cool like me and Snoop Doug.
And Wes Brown.
Wes "Side" Brown, you mean.
-
The scoreline reflects the possession. What am I disappointed about is that Dean says he wants to attack and win every game. I didn’t see any real desire to do that. It was entirely a back to the walls approach. Anyway let’s hope we see a much more progressive and attacking set up next weekend.
We did it first half.
Sometimes you just face opponents you are just too quick and sharp. And of course losing meant Spurs were throwing on attacking subs and more men forward so we were just getting outnumbered.
It's a good lesson today. Considering there were predictions of 2 and 3-0 wins floating around this week today showed the gulf. Playing like that we eased to many 1-0 wins on the road in the championship, standard is a little higher at the top end of premier league.
Will take 3-4 years of solid squad building to even challenge for 6th again imo, that's how far behind we are. Small steps.
-
It’s very simple.
We need to be physically stronger all over the pitch.
We need to be be faster in possession and with our thinking.
The wingers really do need to grow some balls, some of their tracking back was none existent.
I think today’s game was a ‘welcome to the premier league’ wake up call.
We must learn from it and move on.
Agreed. All part of the steep learning curve that we're on.
-
One thing i'm confident about is that we have a manager who will learn from any mistakes today.
-
What absolutely killed us today and especially as the game went on is how much alert, fitter and faster they looked. That’s the big leap to this level. We cannot just hang onto the ball like in the Championship and get dispossessed. And at the top level eventually those mistakes are punished. Often heavily.
And I have no doubt we will learn from this. And the manager will want to.
-
I don't agree with the comments that Jack was poor. I think he had a good hour but then, like everyone else, the chasing shadows just wore him down, the mistakes in the last 10-15 mins were of someone who was fucked, not because he isn't good enough. Jota and Kdojia came on and should've been trying to get on the ball and push them deeper, but neither of them got up to the pace of the game and we really needed the breathing space of the ball not coming back so quickly.
Correct
-
They bought on a £100 million pound player who might yet end up at Real Madrid when we were tiring.
We bought on a £1m signing from the blues when our winger tired. That is the reality.
We look like we are miles better coached, have much better shape and some better players than the season we went down. I think McGinn may well get double figures in goals, and Trezeguet could well get 9-10 too on that display. Wesley might get 10-12 when we are on the front foot more.
I thought El Ghazi was desperately poor at times, and Hourihane tired noticeably in the second half.
Overall though - Heaton, Engels, Mings, McGinn, Grealish and Trezeguet looked good enough. We looked a bit overawed too, which coming back up, to a new billion pound stadium, first game, it is hardly a surprise.
We can and we will improve I am sure.
[/quote)
Pretty much this
-
We have gone up a division but today was like going up two divisions. Our season will be defined by results against teams like Norwich. Sheffield..Bournemouth..etc
-
Just back in the car. Thoughts...
Walking to the ground I had a fear we would be rolled over and be 3-0 down at half time. I was worried about the full backs and Hourihane. I also had echos of some absolute abject surrenders here.
First half surprised me, pleasantly. We competed. That's what is key for me, collectively, we competed. We were compact, had good shape and caused problems on the break. Scored a good goal, could have scored a couple more and grew in confidence.
Second half they upped the tempo and this caused us to contract and stretch the space up to Wesley and increase the distance the midfield needed to break out.
We didn't retain territory, the ball came back quicker and we had to work harder in defence. They forced errors. Grealish for one and they got a little bit of luck with the bounce of the ball, but the goals were coming. We couldn't find an answer and realistically, who expected us to?
It's not excusing or triumphing defeat. But since 2010 we've gone one way and they've gone the other. They're a very good side, brought a £60m player in and brought Eriksson off the bench.
We on the other hand have a number of players to blend in. Taylor, Elmo and Hourihane wont finish the season there for example. We'll get wiser and smarter.
Ground was good. Feels oddly compact. Absolute silence though. The old Lane used to be a bit noisy, but this one is a morgue.
-
Take the positives into the next game, fact is we held a 1-0 lead for a huge part of the game against one of the best teams in the Premiership, they introduced a world class player, some would say, that changed the dynamics of the game entirely, doubt very much Deano had that one chalked up as a 3 pointer, Jack needs to step up a gear and realise he's playing in the Premiership where a split second decision can be the difference between points or no points. thought we did okay overall, we tired under enormous pressure but you would expect that, we go again against a more balanced side in our favour, I think that's how this season is going to pan out.
-
Blimey I took the dog out for a walk at 1-0 up........walked past my local in Formby and it was 1-1 ,fellas in the pub giving me the thumbs up sign .....all well at that point - 15 minutes later I get home to see we've conceded two more .....the joys of being a Villa fan
We really need to be getting results from the likes of Norwich,Sheffield Utd, Bournemouth, Brighton,Burnley ,Watford,Newcastle if we are going to stay up
Today was kind of a " free hit" if you like .....I agree with most about being light up top ....maybe Maupay would have been worth a punt after all
Let's get behind the team against Bournemoth - we need to make Villa Park an intimidating place to come to
UTV
-
Good effort against a very good team, and it was a typical game of 2 halves...unfortunately we tired badly and we were just not good enough to keep last seasons Champion Leagues finalists out in the second half after Erikson came on.
Sitting back and trying to defend a lead or a draw is not in the DNA of this team, and we struggled to get out of our own half or keep possession. The lack of outlet in midfield and up front was a concern, but you have to put this in to perspective with the team we were playing against. The lack of options up front is a cause for concern as I still don't think Kodjia and Davis are the answer so I suspect we'll strengthen again in January.
We are very much a work in progress and there's still a lot of work to do, but we have to look to the positives of the first half. We won't be playing teams of the quality of Spurs every week, and I think we'll be more than ok against most of the other teams in this league.
Also, the criticism of Jack is very harsh. He got caught in possession just outside the box but we were knackered and sat so deep that he had no outlet so he should have put his laces through it to relieve the pressure. For the other goal, he lost the ball near the touchline on the half way line and both teams had reset formations so there were many opportunities to clear or make a tackle. You can't single out a player for a goal being scored every time possession is turned over and formations are reset. Some ppl on here need to have a word with themselves.
-
Sky have been surprisingly gracious about us.
I thought they'd be ecstatic that one of their top four favourites had won against some upstarts from the Championship.
-
Like others, I was surprised Jota didn't start, but when he did come on he looked a bit lost.
Just goes to show, we don't always know best!
-
Jota potential flat track bully? Can see him having better games where we are attacking and getting more of the ball.
-
One thing i'm confident about is that we have a manager who will learn from any mistakes today.
This.
A year ago, our manager would have been rolling up sleeves, and dusting wasselves down.
Smith, O'Kelly and Terry will analyse and work on specifics during the week.
-
As usual refreshingly honest from Dean. Including at the end about himself.
https://twitter.com/avfcofficial/status/1160268646972829697?s=12
-
I’m not sure if one game is the best way to judge a player, any of them
-
Just back in the car. Thoughts...
Walking to the ground I had a fear we would be rolled over and be 3-0 down at half time. I was worried about the full backs and Hourihane. I also had echos of some absolute abject surrenders here.
First half surprised me, pleasantly. We competed. That's what is key for me, collectively, we competed. We were compact, had good shape and caused problems on the break. Scored a good goal, could have scored a couple more and grew in confidence.
Second half they upped the tempo and this caused us to contract and stretch the space up to Wesley and increase the distance the midfield needed to break out.
We didn't retain territory, the ball came back quicker and we had to work harder in defence. They forced errors. Grealish for one and they got a little bit of luck with the bounce of the ball, but the goals were coming. We couldn't find an answer and realistically, who expected us to?
It's not excusing or triumphing defeat. But since 2010 we've gone one way and they've gone the other. They're a very good side, brought a £60m player in and brought Eriksson off the bench.
We on the other hand have a number of players to blend in. Taylor, Elmo and Hourihane wont finish the season there for example. We'll get wiser and smarter.
Ground was good. Feels oddly compact. Absolute silence though. The old Lane used to be a bit noisy, but this one is a morgue.
Like saying what the weather was like today.
Ground was underwhelming. Like a poor ICC.
-
I’m not sure if one game is the best way to judge a player, any of them
No but you can judge their performance today and one or two were poor.
-
Also, it's worth remembering that not many teams will come away with any points at Spurs this season and some will come away with significantly worse than a loss by 2 goals. This was a free hit for us and any kind of result would have been a bonus so everyone needs to keep their heads up and support the team loud and proud next week.
-
Jota potential flat track bully? Can see him having better games where we are attacking and getting more of the ball.
It's tough coming on with 30 minutes left. Spurs were pretty much completely dominating at that point. I thought it would be a decent sub and give us more of the ball but we were basically sitting on our 18 box at that point.
From what I've seen in pre season Jota can be more than useful player in home games against opposition that come to defend. Will have to see how he fits into the strategy away from home.
-
I’m not sure if one game is the best way to judge a player, any of them
No but you can judge their performance today and one or two were poor.
We’ve been here before though haven’t we? Someone has a bad game and it for some it means that it’s the end of their career, and they’re always going to be a poor player who will never make it.
-
Jota potential flat track bully? Can see him having better games where we are attacking and getting more of the ball.
It's tough coming on with 30 minutes left. Spurs were pretty much completely dominating at that point. I thought it would be a decent sub and give us more of the ball but we were basically sitting on our 18 box at that point.
From what I've seen in pre season Jota can be more than useful player in home games against opposition that come to defend. Will have to see how he fits into the strategy away from home.
It was the wrong sub for me in the match situation. It should have been Luiz for Conor at that point.
-
Thought Hourihane and Engels were immense shutting them down in the 1st half, the Mings looked like a brick wall in the 2nd. It took the Champions League runners up almost 80 mins to get past us today. We'll easily have enough against the bottom-14, and probably enough for United and Arsenal.
-
I’m not sure if one game is the best way to judge a player, any of them
No but you can judge their performance today and one or two were poor.
We’ve been here before though haven’t we? Someone has a bad game and it for some it means that it’s the end of their career, and they’re always going to be a poor player who will never make it.
Yeah well there's always a few muppets about but I don't see anything wrong at all in judging a player's match performance.
-
And a word for Heaton. The save just before they scored was just outrageous.
-
First Impressions;
Tottenham - Jesus, you really see how good they are when you watch intently when they're playing your team. Strong, quick, skillfull and relentless but we defended really well until late on when we were ground down.
Heaton - Excellent, will be a star for us.
Elmo - If he's likely to be our second choice right back i'm more than happy, did fine.
Taylor - See above
Mings - Even though we lost today i'm even more convinced he'll be a star, one positional mistake in first 5 mins but was magnificent afterwards.
Engels - Another one who will be a top player for us, no doubt.
Hourahane - He tired but i saw enough today to say he's easily good enough for the division, never thought i'd be saying it.
McGinn - Possibly the best player on the pitch first half, did get overwealmed a bit second but will boss the game against most bottom half teams.
Grealish - i've critisised him in the past and rightly so but skill wise he looked as good as the Tottenham players, just not quite as strong and quick and it told as the game went on. He was up for it and he'll be a very good player even at this level.
Trezeguet - Little hints and signs that he has quality but in a 'backs against the wall' game he was never going to see much of the ball, tracked back earlier in the game but not so much later on, maybe tiredness.
El Ghazi - Looked like the player i was moaning about before his upturn in form last season, but it was a tough situation.
Wesley - Same problem as the other forwards but you just expect him to hold it up better, i actually thought he got better before he was subbed. He'll do well against the lesser teams and will prove to be a good signing.
Jota - looked a bit ponderous, not a player for a game like this but seen enough in pre-season to think he'll be very useful.
Kodjia - Oh jaysus, it was like a pissed up fan had run on the pitch. Needs to improve drammatically.
Douglas - Looked half asleep, i hope it's because he's still settling in.
As a team - Great organisation until we finally buckled, defended brilliantly and broke well first half. Gave the ball away far to much second half though and this would be the main point to work on. Giving a team like that so much posession and it's inevitable they'll break through.
Smith - Set us up really well but saw the problems and named them in his interview after the match. Couldn't have done any more.
-
And a word for Heaton. The save just before they scored was just outrageous.
It was. And there was at least one other as well. He was very very good overall, first half header notwithstanding. Could do with working on his goal kicks though, several sailed out of play on the left touchline.
-
They were actually a lot better than I gave them credit for before....that's what being the championship for 3 years does for a fan I guess. We will learn form it hopefully. First half was good and we looked full of pace on the break...second half we just wilted under the constant pressure and you knew it was coming.
Thought Mings, Engels and Heaton were excellent. Trezeguet looks decent and Wesley grew into the game....Jack can't hang onto the ball for that long and in this league and I just can't see a way of fitting Hourihane in the 3 in midfield. We need a proper holding player.
Early days....see where we are after 5-7 games before worrying too much.
-
Although we lost I don't miss the Championship one fucking bit.
-
We will adjust, we will get sharper, streetwise, more ruthless and realise there are no easy rides this season.
-
Although we lost I don't miss the Championship one fucking bit.
Absolutely....
-
Just on train home.
That stadium is magnificent, but still suffers from terrible service thanks to abysmal staff.
Anyway, first half we looked more than decent and not sure Heaton had a save to make.
Engels was great, and Mings magnificent especially second half. He gots lots of admiring comments from the Spurs fans sat around us.
Midfield was poor second half and were completely overrun. Jota was crap and Wesley didn’t do much. Hourihane, Taylor and Elmo aren’t Premier League class and I hope they didn’t start due to some misplaced sense of loyalty from Smith.
-
Welcome to the premier league. Mistakes were made but I'm sure we'll learn from them and settle in. All in all I wasn't too disappointed because I thought we gave a good account of ourselves for 75 minutes and if we had taken our early chances we may have got something out of the game. Unfortunately we tired and got a bit sloppy. There were quite a few positives Heston, Engels, Trez, Wesley got better as the game progressed and SJM proved any doubters wrong. Looking forward to next week UTV
-
Oh and the ref was a ******.
-
Anyway, first half we looked more than decent and not sure Heaton had a save to make.
From a Lucas Moura header right at the beginning.
-
Did anyone else think Wes went down a bit to easy? maybe just me and thats fine, but overall hope he has better games
-
Just back in the car. Thoughts...
Walking to the ground I had a fear we would be rolled over and be 3-0 down at half time. I was worried about the full backs and Hourihane. I also had echos of some absolute abject surrenders here.
First half surprised me, pleasantly. We competed. That's what is key for me, collectively, we competed. We were compact, had good shape and caused problems on the break. Scored a good goal, could have scored a couple more and grew in confidence.
Second half they upped the tempo and this caused us to contract and stretch the space up to Wesley and increase the distance the midfield needed to break out.
We didn't retain territory, the ball came back quicker and we had to work harder in defence. They forced errors. Grealish for one and they got a little bit of luck with the bounce of the ball, but the goals were coming. We couldn't find an answer and realistically, who expected us to?
It's not excusing or triumphing defeat. But since 2010 we've gone one way and they've gone the other. They're a very good side, brought a £60m player in and brought Eriksson off the bench.
We on the other hand have a number of players to blend in. Taylor, Elmo and Hourihane wont finish the season there for example. We'll get wiser and smarter.
Ground was good. Feels oddly compact. Absolute silence though. The old Lane used to be a bit noisy, but this one is a morgue.
That's a very succinct description of my day in north London
-
I note on the BBC stats page that we didn't win a corner in the game......so it wasn't possible to determine if our centre backs will be of any danger in the opposition penalty area
-
Just back in the car. Thoughts...
Walking to the ground I had a fear we would be rolled over and be 3-0 down at half time. I was worried about the full backs and Hourihane. I also had echos of some absolute abject surrenders here.
First half surprised me, pleasantly. We competed. That's what is key for me, collectively, we competed. We were compact, had good shape and caused problems on the break. Scored a good goal, could have scored a couple more and grew in confidence.
Second half they upped the tempo and this caused us to contract and stretch the space up to Wesley and increase the distance the midfield needed to break out.
We didn't retain territory, the ball came back quicker and we had to work harder in defence. They forced errors. Grealish for one and they got a little bit of luck with the bounce of the ball, but the goals were coming. We couldn't find an answer and realistically, who expected us to?
It's not excusing or triumphing defeat. But since 2010 we've gone one way and they've gone the other. They're a very good side, brought a £60m player in and brought Eriksson off the bench.
We on the other hand have a number of players to blend in. Taylor, Elmo and Hourihane wont finish the season there for example. We'll get wiser and smarter.
Ground was good. Feels oddly compact. Absolute silence though. The old Lane used to be a bit noisy, but this one is a morgue.
Like saying what the weather was like today.
Ground was underwhelming. Like a poor ICC.
You've lost me.
-
Jota potential flat track bully? Can see him having better games where we are attacking and getting more of the ball.
It's tough coming on with 30 minutes left. Spurs were pretty much completely dominating at that point. I thought it would be a decent sub and give us more of the ball but we were basically sitting on our 18 box at that point.
From what I've seen in pre season Jota can be more than useful player in home games against opposition that come to defend. Will have to see how he fits into the strategy away from home.
It was the wrong sub for me in the match situation. It should have been Luiz for Conor at that point.
Wouldn't disagree with you on that one but at that point the ball wasn't sticking upfront at all so guess Dean just thought getting in Jota could relieve pressure a bit so could understand the logic.
-
See a lot of positives despite the result. Hopefully all will have learned some lessons - Deano down. Eriksen was the game changer.
Probably Luiz for Conor at that point would have been my pick - who knows we may have lost 6.1 or won 2.0.
Look forward to seeing some more of the new bods.
Onwards
-
I'll be concerned if in November we're conceding that sort of territory and possession to the likes of Burnley Palace Norwich etc.
First game in a new league for some of our players, first game in England for another bunch of players, first competitive game for Villa for a few in the squad.
Away from home to the Champions league finalists. A side that for the most part has played together for three or four consecutive seasons. Kane in his post match interview said he'd played with Ericksen for five years. That's an age in football. We only have one player left from our squad from three years ago!
There were despite the result some real positives to take from that, and if that's our teams starting point I'm still feeling cautiously optimistic.
-
And a word for Heaton. The save just before they scored was just outrageous.
It was. And there was at least one other as well. He was very very good overall, first half header notwithstanding. Could do with working on his goal kicks though, several sailed out of play on the left touchline.
Untill the nick of Mings he was going to save the equaliser as will
-
Welcome to the premier league. Mistakes were made but I'm sure we'll learn from them and settle in. All in all I wasn't too disappointed because I thought we gave a good account of ourselves for 75 minutes and if we had taken our early chances we may have got something out of the game. Unfortunately we tired and got a bit sloppy. There were quite a few positives Heston, Engels, Trez, Wesley got better as the game progressed and SJM proved any doubters wrong. Looking forward to next week UTV
Spot on.
-
And a word for Heaton. The save just before they scored was just outrageous.
It was. And there was at least one other as well. He was very very good overall, first half header notwithstanding. Could do with working on his goal kicks though, several sailed out of play on the left touchline.
Untill the nick of Mings he was going to save the equaliser as will
I didn't see a nick on that.
-
Highlights (https://youtu.be/AazxJVhfrno)
-
Until the nick of Mings he was going to save the equaliser as will
I'm sure we'll be saved by the nick of Mings more often than not
I like it: 'saved by the nick of Mings'. One for the OED list of neologisms.
-
Did anyone else think Wes went down a bit to easy? maybe just me and thats fine, but overall hope he has better games
Yes, definitely. He did get better in the five or ten minutes prior to his substitution though, so hopefully that will be more like the Wesley we see from now on. Or, at least, he gets better at diving, we get 200 penalties this season and win the league.
-
We’ll be great. First game against a team that were champs league last season (although have forever won naff all). We should have had a penalty if the ref wasn’t a weakling 3-2 would have been fine. We still have two full backs and a defensive midfielder to come in. Their team hasn’t changed much at all. Ours has changed, will settle, and then will smash crap like Spurs.
-
We should have had a penalty if the ref wasn’t a weakling
When?
-
Spurs are/were hardly crap.
-
possible penalty shout when SJM got barged over in the box. Franksy thought it was a stonewaller.
-
possible penalty shout when SJM got barged over in the box. Franksy thought it was a stonewaller.
Well Franksy's back on the glue then because not even SJM appealed for it. And he's not backward in coming forward.
-
Fairly happy with the result thought we were second-best all over the pitch for the whole game which is understandable
The success or failure of the season will not be measured against teams that are European cup finalists
-
possible penalty shout when SJM got barged over in the box. Franksy thought it was a stonewaller.
Well Franksy's back on the glue then because not even SJM appealed for it. And he's not backward in coming forward.
Was never a pen but if the VAR had gone back a few seconds further Winks clearly pulled him back on the edge of the box.
-
I did feel the ref let them get away with a few, but I am biased so there you go
-
Regardless of the defeat it’s great to have a PL post match thread.
-
Today simply was always going to be tough.
It’s just so great to be back in the big league and I’m sure we’ll be absolutely fine over the season.
I liked Treseguet’s energy and defensively Heaton Mings and Engels look impressive.
Onwards and upwards and can’t wait for next week to get back to VP.
-
Biggest lessons for us today was that you have to retain the ball much better than we did - especially against the top six teams - and we must be more clinical with chances when we get them. You can get away with it against the likes of Millwall and Rotherham, but not Spurs. Being sloppy means you have to chase the ball more - hence us running out of steam.
Some negatives, but certainly positives too. We've gone to what is in effect the second best team in Europe and not disgraced ourselves at all
-
Regardless of the cock ups and the result we still showed more character and togetherness in the game than at any point during our last PL season.
-
Fairly happy with the result thought we were second-best all over the pitch for the whole game which is understandable
The success or failure of the season will not be measured against teams that are European cup finalists
very true. Just watched the highlights. We were at the races for most of the match. Yes, Spurs are quality, and it told in the end, but that wasn’t by any stretch, a bad performance.
I’d be more worried as a Spammer, 5-0 at home to Man City.
-
We should have had a penalty if the ref wasn’t a weakling
When?
50 mins when Sanchez clattered into him. And if you can’t see that 2 seconds before when the Lillywhites tried to take his shirt from him as he belted it in to their box.
-
If I'm honest I expected nothing from this game. Going a goal up suddenly put 3 points in our hands. After 73mins and their equaliser I would have taken a point and then 4 mins from the end (despite their possession/shots stats) we were back to zero points and what I'd expected. I'm proud of my team though. We rattled a team that will attempt to win the league and had just seen their contenders roll teams over to the tune of 9 goals, but it took the spuds 86mins to finally break us. We gave them a game and better will come from us when we tidy up the mistakes. I'm really looking forward to the game next Saturday, because I know we'll be competitive. Come on the Villa boys! UTV!
-
As an aside, I was talking to a Spuds fan before the game, who has just shelled out £88,000 (eighty eight thousand pounds sterling) for two, ten-year season tickets for him and his son. Apparently, they have a waiting list of something like 50k people for season tickets.
-
we hung on, hung on, hung on but overall I thought the football we played was poor
defending was good but you can’t keep it up forever when literally no one in the second half can hold on to the ball or pass it to one of ours
Good points -
Engles Mings partnership
Heaton best signing we made
Doug when he came on looked composed and won the ball
McGinn for being Mcginn
Tres shows promise
Bad points
Wesley looked lost
Full backs need replacing with the ones we bought as upgrades
Grealish not one of his better games
Smith hate to say it but bottled it a bit with his starting line up
Stadium-
another impressive soulless bowl
Arsenal still got the comfiest seats if that’s what floats your boat
-
Karen Whelan being an absolute idiot
https://twitter.com/ugotlittup4/status/1160298244804681728?s=21
-
We should have had a penalty if the ref wasn’t a weakling
When?
50 mins when Sanchez clattered into him. And if you can’t see that 2 seconds before when the Lillywhites tried to take his shirt from him as he belted it in to their box.
I didn't think it was a penalty, he's just going to have to get used to bouncing into harder opponents. But I did think the ref might pull it back for the shirt pull.
-
I just don't understand the thinking of buying two new full backs, and then not even including one in the squad and not playing the other one. Taylor didn't disgrace himself, but he still looks like he's going to shit himself every time he crosses the halfway line. That was one of the main differences today, the quality of their full backs compared to ours.
-
It was weird. Those seemed to be the two signings that were the most obvious like-for-like upgrades and have both bedded in seamlessly in preseason.
I wonder if it’s a case of Taylor/Elmo are going to be used as experienced, defensive options for games where we’re likely to be on the back foot? But that doesn’t seem a very Smith thing to do. Odd.
-
Grealish will sink or swim this season, I reckon. Yes, he’s one of our own, and a big reason we went up. He’ll be tested and sometimes found out at Prem level, though. Hope he swims.
-
I guess it's down to not wanting to rip up the team that won 10 on the spin. I don't mind that. As has been pointed out on here the team on day one of a new season rarely looks like the team that finishes it.
-
Check out the most recent post by 'Spurs' on the match thread.
-
I just don't understand the thinking of buying two new full backs, and then not even including one in the squad and not playing the other one. Taylor didn't disgrace himself, but he still looks like he's going to shit himself every time he crosses the halfway line. That was one of the main differences today, the quality of their full backs compared to ours.
I thought Taylor was superb defensively and I think it will change next week when at home v a not top four team.
-
We will learn from this because we have very sensible people in charge of the club. I thought we did as well as we might do given the gulf in class and us playing catch up now that we are back in the big league. We have to learn to shift the ball a little bit quicker through midfield, Wesley needs to show more aggression as he will get kicked and pushed throughout the season, just like he was today. Good finishing from Spurs and let's be honest, as much as I fucking hate their wanker fans and their sense of London entitlement, they are an excellent team and their midfield was the difference between the sides today. I didn't think it was a penalty, equally, Kane's first was NOT offside, these fine margins are what we will adjust for over the next few months. Today was a freebee, no-one expected us to win. We did better than I thought we would and today was about taking the positives.
-
MOTD very positive about us. Said we played very well first half and there are a lot of positives for us.
-
MOTD pundits very complimentary for us. I like Wright's "sits Rose down and slots it into the corner" comment.
-
Watching the MOTD highlight, Wesley wasn’t as bad as I thought and trezeguet had 2 great chances he should have done better with. Granted he did very well to get into those positions.
-
Check out the most recent post by 'Spurs' on the match thread.
Described Grealish as butter in a microwave. I felt it right to inform him that he and ever other Spurs fan is ‘butters.’
-
Oh and the ref was a c***.
What...even the PL Ref?;)
-
I wish we could of bought Maupay on today instead of Brighton.
Kodjia looked like a Sunday league pub player still hung over from the night before.
-
possible penalty shout when SJM got barged over in the box. Franksy thought it was a stonewaller.
Well Franksy's back on the glue then because not even SJM appealed for it. And he's not backward in coming forward.
Was never a pen but if the VAR had gone back a few seconds further Winks clearly pulled him back on the edge of the box.
It's a foul anywhere else on the pitch so it's a penalty. I can't believe it's not been mentioned more post match.
-
It was definitely a penalty. Contact on his knee that took him over and he didn't get the ball. I can't see how it isn't a penalty.
-
I wish we could of bought Maupay on today instead of Brighton.
Kodjia looked like a Sunday league pub player still hung over from the night before.
I don't know what our summer budget was but I wouldn't be surprised if that extra £20 million plus wages was a bridge too far.
-
Check out the most recent post by 'Spurs' on the match thread.
Described Grealish as butter in a microwave. I felt it right to inform him that he and ever other Spurs fan is ‘butters.’
No he didn't he called the poster who said JG wasn't good enough a 'melt' - https://www.urbandictionary.com/define.php?term=melt (https://www.urbandictionary.com/define.php?term=melt)
I'd actually say he's been a perfect 'guest' poster and, in my opinion, would be very welcome to come back next time we play them.
-
Check out the most recent post by 'Spurs' on the match thread.
Described Grealish as butter in a microwave. I felt it right to inform him that he and ever other Spurs fan is ‘butters.’
No he didn't he called the poster who said JG wasn't good enough a 'melt' - https://www.urbandictionary.com/define.php?term=melt (https://www.urbandictionary.com/define.php?term=melt)
I'd actually say he's been a perfect 'guest' poster and, in my opinion, would be very welcome to come back next time we play them.
That is how I read it aswell.
-
Check out the most recent post by 'Spurs' on the match thread.
Described Grealish as butter in a microwave. I felt it right to inform him that he and ever other Spurs fan is ‘butters.’
I think he’s sticking up for grealish mate. He’s basically saying that the poster slagging grealish is a melt
-
It was definitely a penalty. Contact on his knee that took him over and he didn't get the ball. I can't see how it isn't a penalty.
For me they ran into each other, but only because Winks had a tug at McGinns shirt which meant he was a yard short of getting to the ball. As I say, free kick on the edge of the box for me.
-
Sounds like I have last years version of urban dictionary. Apols all. Spurs fans are still butters though. 😀
-
A few hours on and I feel much better about the game. Pepped up by some generous praise from Shearer and Wright on MOTD. Really looking forward to Bournemouth now.
-
I expected a loss but hoped we would not be embarrassed and I think we gave a good account of ourselves. The aim this season remains survival.
-
I think it was a real game of two halves.
First half we played well and in the right way against a better team than us. They had possession, but we contained and picked them off
Second half we ended up camped in our third, had no outlet and carried no threat.
Build on the first half performance and learn the lessons to correct what happened in the second.
-
We go again.
-
I just don't understand the thinking of buying two new full backs, and then not even including one in the squad and not playing the other one. Taylor didn't disgrace himself, but he still looks like he's going to shit himself every time he crosses the halfway line. That was one of the main differences today, the quality of their full backs compared to ours.
Spurs tried to sell one of them to Watford on deadline day! Think the other was only making his third prem start.
-
Just back, we can hold our heads up after that.
I spent the afternoon in the rather excellent corporate facillities down there, and despite going fucking ballistic when John scored, I have to say every Spurs fan near us were fucking sound about it. I apologised at half time to a few for getting carried away, but to a man they said they'd have done the same.
Spurs in general have gone up a lot in my book today, and that ground is absolutely superb.
We'll batter lesser teams.
-
Watching the MOTD highlight, Wesley wasn’t as bad as I thought and trezeguet had 2 great chances he should have done better with. Granted he did very well to get into those positions.
Shame for the second Trez dosen't seem to have a left foot, was crying out for him to hit it in the position he was on. Could also have arguably hit it first time for his first chance aswell.
Loved the first run he made though (fantastic slide rule pass from McGinn). Also get the feeling AEM selection played a part once Dean decided to start Trezeguet so not sure Gulibert will come in next week, Targett probably will but I don't have high expecatations for him tbh.
-
I'd also like to add that I thought Neil Taylor was fucking superb today, fair play to him.
-
Only two positives for me, but both enough for me to be encouraged. SJM of course and the cameo from Doug who just seemed to fill the pitch
-
I think what some of you are forgetting is that Tottenham are a superb side at the moment. They steam rollered us and the only reason they broke through at the end was that they knackered us out and had a bit of luck with the second goal. They're such a strong athletic side we just couldn't cope for the 90 mins, they looked every bit a champions league final team in that second half.
Agree with that. Let's not forget Spurs were playing a team with probably 5 first choice players out. We have a lot of catching up to do.
Plenty of positives, most mentioned but I have to say I thought Taylor was another that pleasantly surprised me today. More than decent.
Nothing today convinced me that AEG is nothing more than a £3.5m player. Stupid not to sign at that price but never a starter. File under 'Squad filler'. The other point, the ref was indeed shite but the physicality of the Spurs team was on another level. So much stronger, all 50/50s seemed to go their way, even up against SJM. Our players just bounced off them.
Still, plenty of positives, mainly in defence. We look well drilled. Midfield, I thought Conor was great up until 60 minutes, Jack drifted in and out, maybe the occasion got the best of him, SJM was fighting like it was his last game. Douglas reminded me of Carlos Sanchez, marking the space rather than the man. I'd have loved to see him do a job on Eriksen.
Up front, Trez should have at least scored one of the two opportunities he had; AEG needs reminding of what his role is and he's not Ronaldo and Wesley really needs to work on his first touch. In fact, all our players do. You could note the massive difference in technique; they were miles ahead. If it weren't for his wages, I'd bite their hand off for Rose who despite the commentary bollox, was exactly the type of player I'd love to see on our flank.
Strange selection today, not sure what happened to Gilbert but we really need to punish Bournemouth at home. Three points will give us some comfort in these early games. I watched a bit of their game with Sheff Utd and if we turn up, we'll smash them. I hope that those there will get behind the team and force the victory rather than waiting for it to happen. Fortress Villa Park will keep us up this season and everything else away from home will be aided by our great away support.
As Mourinho used to say, it's 'a collective effort'; and he never counted on the great support. I imagine Deano is extremely pissed off tonight. So he should be, we came extremely close to picking up point/s today. The result certainly doesn't reflect the final score.
I'm still gutted with the result but providing we learn from it, I'll sleep well tonight.
-
Only 2 positives !? Jeez
Heaton Mings Engels surely
-
Very encouraged by the first half, followed by a reality check in the second.
I agree that the positives were Heaton, Mings, Engels and Trezeguet in the first half plus McGinn in flashes.
I think we should've changed the formation in the second half as we just replaced like for like in positions with no real improvement. We allowed Walker P and Rose to effectively add to their midfield far too readily and couldn't get out. Interesting that Heaton chose to kick long most of the time.
Not sure about Wesley, but if he's not a 6-yard box player nor a prolific scorer, he needs to sharpen up his hold up and link play if he's the only true forward in the starting eleven.
As for the stadium, it looks good from the outside and from the stands, but for a brand new ground, the stifling lack of space in the concourse in the away end, the sticky floor and the awful queues to get food or drink was truly shocking.
As we approached the ground a patronising Spurs fan said 'welcome to the best ground in the world'. I suspect it may be much better in corporate areas or the home areas but for a supposedly state of the art stadium it was a massive let down.
-
I'd also like to add that I thought Neil Taylor was fucking superb today, fair play to him.
Agree, Neil had an excellent game.
-
As we approached the ground a patronising Spurs fan said 'welcome to the best ground in the world'. I suspect it may be much better in corporate areas or the home areas but for a supposedly state of the art stadium it was a massive let down.
You can take the Spurs fan out of White Hart Lane but to a man they're all still wankers. Yet to meet a decent one. Arsenal, West Ham, even bloody Chelsea fans but Spurs? I'm still waiting.
-
We started cold in the second half they had three good chances in the first four minutes. Very concerned with having to bring Kodja on we may struggle up front. The defence were brilliant all day and yet just on the second half alone the score line flattered us. As most have pointed out Spurs strength and technique were on a different level but I was disappointed that we totally went into our shell the second half and hardly got past the half way line. Hey ho this season surely is all about playing decent football and avoiding a relegation scrap. I prefer Jack to be an attacking threat that's his strength.
-
Agree about Kodjia. If that is going to be his level of performance this season he can fuck right off.
-
Agree about Kodjia. If that is going to be his level of performance this season he can fuck right off.
He came on and we were completely under the cosh. He's never going to be a target man. He's always going to be best playing close the midfield and making runs from out wide. To expect to be everything he is not and have the ball stick to him is unrealistic. By the time he came on Spurs were camped in our half.
-
As we approached the ground a patronising Spurs fan said 'welcome to the best ground in the world'. I suspect it may be much better in corporate areas or the home areas but for a supposedly state of the art stadium it was a massive let down.
Gay Meadow is new houses or some fucking thing now so Christ knows where he thought he was.
-
I really think that first half showed we can defend against the best teams, also a threat going forward, my only greave is when they put Erikson on it was all going to be through him so thought Dean maybe get fresh legs to man Mark him to stop the supply to the forwards, good performance against a quality team, they also have big strong players that bullied us a bit, look forward to a very good season
-
Tactically first half , after a nervy few minutes , The Villa got settled and John McGinn made a run from deep to get the goal. It was spot on .
A real good shape, we dropped back into 4-5-1 at times without the ball. In recovering and tackling , I found the two centre backs pretty immense, we managed to look a real danger on a counter. The midfield 3 managed to press and tackle and the old timer of Villa full backs were defending suitably.
I do feel Smith decided to take a check with any attacking play from fullbacks and play essentially 3 forwards to do the attacking and McGinn and Grealish to get up to support.
That was ok first half but in some respects having no fullback get high up the pitch contributed to such a deep defense.
I think in some ways it was very wise selection to have the 2 experienced full backs however would have been interested to see a game plan where they pushed on at the right times to over lap and overload.
The Spurs full-backs, as the game went on , began to move forward, and mostly not being at risk of having to come back. Here we needed to show something from out wide players getting beyond them.
The danger of Spurs was really apparent in the second half due to Villa dropping deep and without McGinn making few forward runs little threat going forward was shown .
Now it brings me on to Wesley the striker .
The press when out of possession, especially by the central striker Wesley was lacking. I found him below my expectations and unsure of his standard. During the match I was wondering if he was a recommendation from Suso rather than a Dean Smith signing. I felt there was a lack of dynamism from him say in comparison to Tammy Abraham . The work rate in getting about the opposition and willingness to close from the front.
Wesley is essentially raw and hoping he will be developed to suit the system. Having seen little evidence he was closing down or giving movement I felt he could have contributed more from the front today.
I am concerned regard his goal threat
1 penalty area touch being a headed shot in 74 minutes on the pitch
21 touches overall with 15 in the opposition half.
Grealish was largely ineffective in an attacking sense . Having most of his touches in our own half didn't help. He didn't once touch the ball in the Spurs penalty area. I think he didn't even get into the penalty area.
John McGinn was the most effective in that respect. And all round. I would have liked to have seen Grealish shoot when he dribbled up the pitch however, he did create a chance for the impressive looking Trezeguet. Grealish would have been better served carrying the ball a lot more , playing some one -two pass and move. Also important to see him receiving the ball in possession far higher up the pitch than so deep as he did in the game.
Unfortunately the horror in which he was dispossessed just outside the penalty area lead to a goal being conceded. Too many times he had the ball in his own half and hardly in the final third or even Spurs half during the second half.
There were some encouraging signs and glimpses from all the new outfield signings (including Wesley) however the midfield possession and movement , the fitness , the willingness by Wesley to press , ability to hold on to the ball, link up with quick passing, and with team mates need improving.
Tactically the players knew what to do. The movements going forward in the second half were very below what came first half and it was really necessary for more possession and show some sense of attack . I was disappointed in that respect that small tokens offered as an attack and 31 shots against , despite super goal keeping by the excellent Heaton, and the solid Mings and Engels , ultimately payed the price for lacking any competitive attack or press from higher up the pitch . The midfielders or attackers holding and passing ball in a form of dangerous attacks or even just resting possession with the ball was quite non apparent.
McGinn really excelled in his efforts today and by his own admission wished he was "brave"to get forward more in the second half .
The goal was super and fully rewarded We can all rest assured he's fine in this league.
Applause to Heaton, Engels and Mings.
And some good work on pitch by Trezeguet, who faded. Noticably competent Taylor and Elmo honorable overall.
Hourihane managed a few interceptions and recovery of the ball and tackled well.
He was totally ineffective in starting any attacking play though tactically was disciplined lacks the movement required
Things to work on:
Being fluid from 4-3-3 to 4-1--4-1 and not retreating to just staying in a 4-5-1 when under pressure
The wingers finding more space and providing a threat to opposition
Wesley being less reluctant to press from the front. And being effective in his play. And linking in with team mates .
More movement from the middle and moving higher up the pitch to offer an attacking threat to the opposition.
Allowing wingbacks to be part of attacking play .
Having midfielders get up the pitch a lot more and into the penalty area more
Having Grealish involved in an attacking sense providing the creativity and attacking threat.
Creating more chances
I think this can certainly be achieved to help us push on and being competitive especially against non top 4 clubs
-
Agree about Kodjia. If that is going to be his level of performance this season he can fuck right off.
Agree he looked completely out of his depth.
-
Massively surprised by how things went down today. Like many I'd have identified Taylor as the problem selection before the game, but he played a blinder. Well done that man.
Unfortunately cannot say the same about Wesley who huffed and sulked, failed to execute basic hold-up play when the ball came to him, and ran a yard off the pace for 74 minutes. Extremely worrying that he is the best we've got up front this season.
I'm sure it's been said already but Spurs absolutely eliminated our midfield in the second half and protection for our back four went from stalwart to basically non-existent.
-
Watching the highlights on MOTD, we were completely dominated and boxed in second half. We were so deep with no outlet to relieve the pressure at all...and this subsequently led to Jack being caught in possession at the edge of the box with no one to pass to (he only had the ball at his feet for 3-4 seconds before being tackled from behind). I don’t know the answer to how to get out of that situation but Dean needs to learn from it and make sure it doesn’t happen again.
We will improve as the new players settle in, but failing to sign another striker could prove to be costly. You can’t judge Wes (or much of the team) on this one game so we’ll have to see how we develop and improve over the next few games, but only having Davis and Kodjia as the alternative options to Wes is a worry even at this early stage.
-
Disappointing but a universe beyond the notorious 8 touch Gabby game against that lot.
-
The front 3 got dispossessed or gave the ball away to often.
The substitutions made us worse, sometimes it looked like men against boys as we lost the physical contests.
-
I'm feeling very flat this morning. Whilst I accept that we didn't deserve anything from the game, at 1-0 there is always hope in abundance. To lose right at the death is always heartbreaking.
I think people are being harsh on Wesley. He was up against 2 world class defenders. It would have been difficult for most strikers. Let's review the situation after 10 games or so, not after 1 game away to the CL finalists.
Jack was caught a couple of times before the goal. It also happened occasionally in the Championship. Hopefully, he has learned from that and it won't happen (at least in the final third) again.
I'm not sure how you can change the back 4 after that performance but suspect that the need to be more offensive at home in our next 2 games might see one, if not both of Guilbert and Targett
-
Comments about us not playing good football (second half presumably) and Grealish playing too deep, Tottenham were like a Juggernaut, we were penned back and pressurised so much that we couldn't do much else the more tired we became as the game went on. We'll play 14-15 teams that aren't even close to that level, 8-9 i'd be pretty confident of getting something from every time.
Those moaning about the full backs and the selection, what did either do wrong apart from Elmo giving the ball away in the first couple of minutes? I can't think of them putting a foot wrong, the goals certainly didn't come from those areas. Smith picked them because he knew we'd be up against it and their experience would tell. The first goal no one could have done anything about, we did our best to keep it out but they just moved it and moved it until the new guy found a glimmer of a chance that he put away, Mings unlucky not to get in front of it. The second was a bit of luck with it bouncing and rebounding between our knackered centre backs who had been superb all game. The third was a worse one to give away, but the guy everyone is pinning their hopes on, Douglas, stood and watched with no real attempt to stop goals 2 and 3, Hourahane had been doing far better. I'll cut the guy some slack as he only joined up with us last week but he needs more urgency than that. Kodjia was worse still, i agree with the comments about him. At least Douglas touched the ball a few times and looked like he could pass it, Kodjia looked utterly lost.
-
I thought we were excellent in first half and thier quality and physical ability wore us down.
A lot has Been made of our £130 m spend but they played a player they paid half of that sum for and it showed.
I'm more happy than I bet Watford or West ham fans are
-
I’d say that the full backs didn’t move forward enough to give us more attacking numbers and reduce the effectiveness of their press.
They were well worth their victory, anything else would have been a travesty but, with us being so deep, their physical dominance and intensity when pressing in such reduced space meant goal scoring chances were going to become inevitable.
-
Reflections from me after returning home:
- Wesley will be a lot better when the midfleld settles down
- the sooner we get Luiz and Marvelous match-fit the better, since we will see the team set up further up the field
- all players have had a wake-up call about the need to move the ball more quickly
- when fitness levels reach peak, we'll look alot better
- Dean's selection yesterday was pretty cock-on: there were very few underperformers - AEG, possibly, and Wes; but both will improve
- both Jota and Kodjia came on at a tough time in the game; jury is out.
I'm certainly not downbeat at all: and, it was a great day out. It is a hell of a stadium - certainly could be considered one of the best - but for £1bn you'd expect it to be.
I would say the Villa fans were in excellent voice, spoiled only by the emergence of the Konsa song and - I have to say - the rather small-time taunting about them never winning the European Cup. They are well-equipped to do so some time pretty soon.
-
Agree about Kodjia. If that is going to be his level of performance this season he can fuck right off.
Agree he looked completely out of his depth.
He couldn’t get into our championship team so there is no need to expect anything different I. The higher division.
-
I’d say that the full backs didn’t move forward enough to give us more attacking numbers and reduce the effectiveness of their press.
They were well worth their victory, anything else would have been a travesty but, with us being so deep, their physical dominance and intensity when pressing in such reduced space meant goal scoring chances were going to become inevitable.
I'd say their physical dominance and intensity was the reason we were deep. We were pressed back and not given the chance to get out, i don't think Smith told them to play deep, full backs and all. I honestly don't think i've seen Tottenham play that well against us in the 30 odd years i've been watching, their manager is top drawer and has built a brilliant team, top 4 for how many years on the bounce now and CL finalists. There is the potential for a good team at the Villa but i don't think anyone could expect a 5th in the championship team to match a team like that unless they have a massive off day. Yes, we've spent a load but as we know it was a necessity and our players will still be bedding in, partly why it was right of Smith to start with some players that finished the Championship season but probably won't finish this season.
-
Agree about Kodjia. If that is going to be his level of performance this season he can fuck right off.
Agree he looked completely out of his depth.
He couldn’t get into our championship team so there is no need to expect anything different I. The higher division.
Yep, and if Wes dosent improve (I know its one game, but if had been great lots would be saying oh hes ace, hes going to be a star, so please lets call it as it is) then it will be a worry
-
Wesley will be fine, needs to stay on his feet more but i'd expecting him to take a few games to get into the swing of this league. Probably a good place for him to start, an early lesson for him. Kodjia was laughably bad, i think his position this season is going to be off the bench but in games where we're the ones in the accendancy or are trying to get a late goal against lesser teams than Tottenham he might have a few good days. I hope.
-
Yes to be fair Kod and Jota were poor, but it was hardly an easy situation to come into.
-
I do think the decision not to bring another forward in will hurt us. Wesley will take a while to get going, and bringing Kodjia on isn’t going to pay many dividends I feel.
-
I do think the decision not to bring another forward in will hurt us. Wesley will take a while to get going, and bringing Kodjia on isn’t going to pay many dividends I feel.
I agree, we look very light on forward options. I’m really surprised Kodja wasn’t upgraded, as well as having questionable quality with the ball at this level, his lack of work rate would, I thought, have seen him sold.
-
Watching Maupay's cool finish on MOTD did give me a twinge of regret that we didn't get him in, but you can't complain at the business we did overall. I don't think there is any doubt that if we're crying out for another forward option come January they will be on it.
-
Just watching the highlights on MOTD. Can’t really fault any of the defence and Heaton, they all did well. I don’t think we can get away with Conor, Jack and SJM as a midfield 3, we need either Doug or Marvellous to add some muscle. Wesley looked strong and I think he may cause problems, I’m sure Dean will tell him to cut out the whinging
-
Only two positives for me, but both enough for me to be encouraged. SJM of course and the cameo from Doug who just seemed to fill the pitch
So not Heaton, Mings, Engels, Trez, Taylor? All had games ranging between good and superb.
We lost against the finished article. Potch been there for 5 yrs and they've built an excellent side. A great baptism that we can take plenty from. Disappointed we couldnt hold on but not unexpected.
People really need to get a grip.
-
Well, we're currently 16th, wouldn't be a disaster if that's where we finish although i'm hoping for a bit better. Man City first and Liverpool second, i wonder if that will now change at any point for the remainder of the season.
-
I'm was a bit more disappointed than I thought I would be mainly because for an hour we didn't look out pf place and we defended so well. Surprised with the line up but I thought both full backs did well and was really impressed with Engels and Heaton. Some are being harsh on Kodjia but it was a hard game to come into with us being on the back foot but he'll play his part again. We'll be ok as the season goes on and we'll find our feet i'm sure.
-
Just watched match of the day.
For their second, I don’t like the fact that Kodjia doesn’t press their defenders and when Grealish has it he doesn’t offer up an option. Need our strikers to be much better.
Overall, really good first half then ran out of steam. Think we’ll be alright for the rest of the season.
-
I actually thought it was a foul on Grealish for their 2nd. They fully deserved their win so not sour grapes really.
Wes will be fine I think, we won't be playing Spurs every week, just could do with an early goal in his career. I see similarities with Benteke. His early goal set him off, Wes needs the same.
-
Was listening to Deano being interviewed on a Premier League special a few days ago that was shown on Greek TV. He said he was delighted with the fitness level being reached by our players but allowing for all the new players we were short tactically.
For this reason, I was not surprised with our starting eleven. Until each new player is 100% positive about their role in the team, they will not be selected to start.
Spurs was a reality check but I am confident that with a few weeks coaching under their belts our new players will add nicely to our team.
:)
-
Only two positives for me, but both enough for me to be encouraged. SJM of course and the cameo from Doug who just seemed to fill the pitch
Fill the pitch? He was running like he'd filled his pants perhaps.
Heaton, Engels and Mings not a positive? In fact, the only ones that were actually negatives for me was El Ghazi and the 3 subs. Even then you have to consider it was tough and it's very early days.
-
I actually thought it was a foul on Grealish for their 2nd. They fully deserved their win so not sour grapes really.
Wes will be fine I think, we won't be playing Spurs every week, just could do with an early goal in his career. I see similarities with Benteke. His early goal set him off, Wes needs the same.
Me too, surprised they didn't see that on VAR.
-
Karen Whelan being an absolute idiot
https://twitter.com/ugotlittup4/status/1160298244804681728?s=21
I don't get it.
-
I actually thought it was a foul on Grealish for their 2nd. They fully deserved their win so not sour grapes really.
Wes will be fine I think, we won't be playing Spurs every week, just could do with an early goal in his career. I see similarities with Benteke. His early goal set him off, Wes needs the same.
Me too, surprised they didn't see that on VAR.
I was shouting at the TV, you know it would have been given at the other end.
-
Worth bearing in mind that their manager is, for me, pound for pound the best manager in Europe too.
They have an abundance of quality. It's not about autograph hunting, but sometimes you have to concede the other person or team...is just better. But learn why.
-
I was impressed by how physically strong they were, I also thought Al Ghazi and Wesley went down too easily.
-
Hopefully Dean will work out his best 11, we have some winnable matches next up. Getting in 12 players may take some of those matches to get it right. Wesley needs to improve though.
-
Karen Whelan being an absolute idiot
https://twitter.com/ugotlittup4/status/1160298244804681728?s=21
I don't get it.
Yeah, me neither 🤷♂️
-
As we approached the ground a patronising Spurs fan said 'welcome to the best ground in the world'. I suspect it may be much better in corporate areas or the home areas but for a supposedly state of the art stadium it was a massive let down.
You can take the Spurs fan out of White Hart Lane but to a man they're all still wankers. Yet to meet a decent one. Arsenal, West Ham, even bloody Chelsea fans but Spurs? I'm still waiting.
An old boss of mine is a Spurs fan and he's a diamond bloke. He'd lend me his season ticket if he couldn't make a game. Saw Villa a couple of times there thanks to him.
-
I was impressed by how physically strong they were, I also thought Al Ghazi and Wesley went down too easily.
Me too, that was disappointing, in that not only were they trying to cheat, they were also surrendering possession of the ball far too easily, when the ball was there to be had.
-
As we approached the ground a patronising Spurs fan said 'welcome to the best ground in the world'. I suspect it may be much better in corporate areas or the home areas but for a supposedly state of the art stadium it was a massive let down.
You can take the Spurs fan out of White Hart Lane but to a man they're all still wankers. Yet to meet a decent one. Arsenal, West Ham, even bloody Chelsea fans but Spurs? I'm still waiting.
An old boss of mine is a Spurs fan and he's a diamond bloke. He'd lend me his season ticket if he couldn't make a game. Saw Villa a couple of times there thanks to him.
I got talking to a couple of decent Spurs fans before hand, but we seemed to be surrounded by absolute wankers in the ground.
-
Wes needs to harden up and I expected better ball control from a Brazilian. I watched some other games and the gap between the top four or five and the rest is immense, so no panic stations please. It was good the owners were there, they will have seen that to challenge the dominant clubs will take more time and more money.
-
Karen Whelan being an absolute idiot
https://twitter.com/ugotlittup4/status/1160298244804681728?s=21
I don't get it.
Yeah, me neither 🤷♂️
Well with the laughing emojis and the football at the end I took it at a pop at the Villa as it was posted shortly after the game
But maybe I was reading too much into it
-
She didn't like the way we released her Husband and so is happy any time we lose this season is my take on it.
-
That's exactly what it seems to be. Her husband is moving to Hearts, she's probably worried that they will struggle to keep her in the style we made her accustomed to.
In Dublin parlance, "Scarlet fer ya, Karen".
-
El Ghazi has a lot to learn, especially when we don't have the ball. Taylor got very little help from him. Actually even when we do have the ball he was often cheap with possession. I think that "dive" that was given against him in the first half rattled him a bit, he thought he'd done the hard work with a burst of acceleration to get him past a defender.
-
Decent for 70 minutes then tired and chased shadows. Spurs were very good second half.
Glad to be back in the Premier League, it's not fair but the media and general public focus almost entirely on the top division. I want us to be back in the spotlight. Thought we didn't let ourselves down too much yesterday.
-
Karen Whelan being an absolute idiot
https://twitter.com/ugotlittup4/status/1160298244804681728?s=21
I don't get it.
Yeah, me neither 🤷♂️
Well with the laughing emojis and the football at the end I took it at a pop at the Villa as it was posted shortly after the game
But maybe I was reading too much into it
What else can she be absolutely buzzing about?
I read it as "wake up and smell the coffee"
It shows how deluded she is to think that Villa would want a 35 year old when the strategy is clearly to buy players at least 10 years younger. Did she seriously, even in her wildest dreams think that Whelan would get a new (and no doubt improved) deal?
-
Football is all about opinions. The ex pros summerising for SKY last night were very positive in their opinion of how Villa played and optimistic about our chances this season. The journalists on The Sunday Supplement this morning were critical of us and felt we were very negative in our play and based on what they saw didn't think we would have a good season.
-
Shame the way it ended but I was impressed with the Villa yesterday, especially first half. More positives than negatives and we’ll only get better.
-
I assume that bottle is part of her drag act rider.
-
Only two positives for me, but both enough for me to be encouraged. SJM of course and the cameo from Doug who just seemed to fill the pitch
So not Heaton, Mings, Engels, Trez, Taylor? All had games ranging between good and superb.
We lost against the finished article. Potch been there for 5 yrs and they've built an excellent side. A great baptism that we can take plenty from. Disappointed we couldnt hold on but not unexpected.
People really need to get a grip.
Note to self, don’t watch the Villa when you’re pissed! Watched it again this morning and yes defence were superb. Stand by what I said about Doug tho, he just had a presence about him that Conor doesn’t
-
Shame the way it ended but I was impressed with the Villa yesterday, especially first half. More positives than negatives and we’ll only get better.
Totally agree with far more positives than negatives. When I saw the team I was surprised by our full back selection, but at the end of the game is was a positive as it showed they both have the potential to cope with the premiership.
-
If the new signings, I was very impressed with Heaton and Engels. Thought Trezeguet was pretty good too. Not much from Jota or Wesley. Hopefully they will improve when we're attacking more.
-
Already after one game, you can tell that Heaton is the best shot stopper we've had since Bosnich. Quite incredible reflexes. Kicking was a bit hit and miss at times, with quite a few punted out to the left that didn't really find anybody. I think that was more to do with our lack of midfield resistance though to be honest.
-
Football is all about opinions. The ex pros summerising for SKY last night were very positive in their opinion of how Villa played and optimistic about our chances this season. The journalists on The Sunday Supplement this morning were critical of us and felt we were very negative in our play and based on what they saw didn't think we would have a good season.
That made me laugh. The idiot who said he preferred watching the Liverpool v Norwich game
What ? You preferred watching a game that was all but over after 10 mins to one where you didn’t know who was going to win for the most part
At least we were competitive
-
Surprised he took off Trezeguet who was an outlet all game. Jota came on and just gave the ball away putting us under more pressure. I think once Wesley gets to grip with the PL he’ll hold up the ball better and take pressure off the defence.
-
Haven't done a scores thing for a while, so here's mine:
Heaton - 8 - Organised things well, some very good saves and nothing much he could do for their goals.
Elmohamady - 6 - harsh introduction to life back in the top flight with an instant give away, but recovered after that.
Engels - 9 - one of the best debuts I've seen. Commanding, good relationship with Mings and Heaton, extremely promising
Mings - 9 - my Villa MOTM by a whisker - put his body on the line, and every other part as well - imperious.
Taylor - 7 - best defensive display from him in a while
Hourihane - 5 - the sort of display I expected from him, just didn't add very much at all in any area, and even his dead balls were poor
McGinn - 6.5 - good goal and a couple of nice passes, but then was overrun with the rest of them
Grealish - 5.5 - one nice run and good ball, but looked poor second half and bad mistake for their goal.
Trezeguet - 7 - most promising of the attacking players but needs to take his chances
El Ghazi - 5 - looked out of his depth and didn't track back nearly enough
Wesley - 5.5 - difficult introduction to the Premier League. Put himself about a bit though, although looked a bit sulky at times. Liked how he held one of their defenders off for the goal and another chance though.
Subs
Jota - 3 - difficult entry and not the sub I'd have made, but looked completely and utterly out of his depth. Hardly touched the ball and when he did, gave it away mainly
Kodjia - 4 - minimal impact when he came on
Luiz - 6 - added energy and bite to the midfield, but too little too late, should have come on when Jota did and we may have held out.
-
Looking back on the game, the ref was fairly poor. Sissoko constantly brought players down with tackles from behind. Others in the Spurs team did the same. A few definite yellow cards not given.
-
Yesterday was a lesson in how far we need to develop and improve.
Positives -Heaton, Mings and Engels. I thought the full backs were better than I feared too. I also felt the players were comfortable in shape and tactics and at half time I was very pleased with our efforts.
Negatives - our lack of physicality compared to them was notable. Wesley needs to get used to the physicality of the premier league as I thought he spend too long complaining after losing out. The subs were fighting a rising tide and none of them improved us.
I was disappointed at the end when Luiz walked off the pitch without coming over to the fans with the rest of the team. They got a decent ovation and rightly so.
-
I thought that "On the piss my lord' was the worst terrace song in the world, but I had forgotten about the slow version of "oh when the saints come marching in" that Spurs do.
-
There's a lot of worrying about Jack giving the ball away late on, or about our physical deficit compared to them in general - but let's not forget that this Spurs side might just be the fittest, best pressing side in the world. In our first game in the Premier League, to hold them off and nearly get something from the game, looking quite good in the process? That's very positive. Let's wait to judge this side after ten games.
-
We went toe to toe with them in the first half and disturbed their rhythm. Second half we played like a small team as if we remembered our status and recognised their superiority. This was inevitable and paid for it in the end. However we will have to wait till about 10 games to see if this problem is going to persist. If it is we will have to pray for survival.
-
I thought the first half was very encouraging, we were very compact and looked dangerous on the break. Both centre backs we're great, very impressed with Engels considering it was his first game in English football. Second half they we're always gonna come on strong, they exposed us on the wings, both their full backs were pushed up really high and our full backs didn't get great support from our wingers, thought El Ghazi was poor. Wesley started to tire and when they brought on Erikson they ramped it up.
Not that it influenced the result, but I thought the ref was very poor, two or three times Wesley got taken out and the ref gave nothing and when Grealish got fouled the ref wasn't looking at the incident or even following the ball. But still, encouraging signs for next week.
-
I thought that "On the piss my lord' was the worst terrace song in the world, but I had forgotten about the slow version of "oh when the saints come marching in" that Spurs do.
It's very cringe.
As is our song about Konsa's dick. What a thing to have to write, for a start.
-
Spurs really do only have one song. Another reason to dislike them.
-
Thinking about it there were parallels with Ajax second leg. Spuds looked so much better than us in the latter stages. Partly a result of us chasing the game from the off and partly the fact that they just look like an amazingly well conditioned team.
-
Was terribly disappointed last night especially given how well we had played in the 1st half - but having slept on it overnight, I awoke to see it for what it was.
1. Spurs are a very good team - there is no doubt about that. And it took them 60 mins, at home, to break us down - a good sign of our resoluteness
2. Engels, Heaton, and Mings were fantastic - if they play that well through the season, we will be absolutely fine
3. We showed in the 2nd half that it will take time - this is a learning phase and I think it will take 10-15 games until we really settle again in this league
4. We did not play our strongest starting 11 yesterday - a good sign, because we will be stronger and better once Guilbert, Luiz, and Targett (in particular) enter the fray
5. Loved Dean's brutal honesty after the game - this is a guy that wont attempt to plaster over the cracks and thats both refreshing and a quality many managers dont have. We should thank the lord we got him
6. I watched the Bournemouth/SU game earlier in the day (and the CP/Everton game on replay) and nothing there told me we wont survive and flourish in this league. Both games were awful and devoid of quality.
We will be absolutely fine. I saw a lot of positives yesterday and a few things to work on.
Finally re Grealish - I do think a lot of our fans see him through rose tinted glasses. He is a genuine world class talent but for me remains mercurial and unpredictable which, isnt how you'd describe the very best players in this league. For me, he needs to show he can command games when we are under pressure - if you look at City, they slow the game down when under pressure (as they were at times in the WHU game despite winning 5-0) but we just panicked and kept giving the ball away without someone taking charge - Grealish as captain must show the way. I have no doubt he will improve but as our captain, he cannot afford to be a superstar in one game and absent in another.
UTV - its just great to be back and in a years time, when we have signed 2-3 genuine world class players in summer 2020, we will be able to go to Spurs and genuinely threaten.
-
Finally re Grealish - I do think a lot of our fans see him through rose tinted glasses. He is a genuine world class talent but for me remains mercurial and unpredictable
I'm not sure that even those Villa fans who might see Grealish through 'rose tinted glasses' would actually consider him a 'genuine world class talent.'
-
There's one or two, not many but one or two. You'd got some comparing him to top class players from the past and saying they couldn't believe Liverpool / Tottenham hadn't signed him a couple of years back when he'd been wank in our relegation season and first year down which was frankly ridiculous. That was severe rose tinted specs. In the couple of years since though he's come on enormously and I'm now quite baffled at a few of the 'not good enough' comments from yesterday. Funny lot, football supporters.
-
Great to see our owners there yesterday. If nothing else to see what they need to spend to compete at the top level. Let’s hope that’s doesnt put them off!
-
Not sure it's been mentioned but the goal apart, the highlight of the game for me was an absolutely amazing exchange of passes in a really tight area down the left midway through the first half.
-
Not sure it's been mentioned but the goal apart, the highlight of the game for me was an absolutely amazing exchange of passes in a really tight area down the left midway through the first half.
There is a programme on 5Live around midday called the Squad, I think. I find them slightly irritating but caught some of it in the car on the supermarket run earlier. One of the fellas referred to that passage of play and said it was like watching Barcelona. He also said he thought Grealish had a great game except for that mistake.
-
There's a lot of worrying about Jack giving the ball away late on, or about our physical deficit compared to them in general - but let's not forget that this Spurs side might just be the fittest, best pressing side in the world. In our first game in the Premier League, to hold them off and nearly get something from the game, looking quite good in the process? That's very positive. Let's wait to judge this side after ten games.
Walking to the ground pre match I was discussing this with Chico.
I mentioned an interview with Kieron Trippier during the World Cup in Russia in which he discussed Spurs’ fitness. He said he was one of the 2-3 fittest players at Burnley and when he signed for Spurs they told him he would need to get fit. He told them how for he was considered at Burnley and they said, “no, we mean really fit, fit enough to play our high pressing game”. I saw that first hand yesterday.
-
Spurs were too good for us second half. We lacked the guile to get out, it looked like they they had twice as many players as us playing on a pitch half the size. I doubt very much that what we saw was what Smith planned. We'll get better.
-
Haven't done a scores thing for a while, so here's mine:
Heaton - 8 - Organised things well, some very good saves and nothing much he could do for their goals.
Elmohamady - 6 - harsh introduction to life back in the top flight with an instant give away, but recovered after that.
Engels - 9 - one of the best debuts I've seen. Commanding, good relationship with Mings and Heaton, extremely promising
Mings - 9 - my Villa MOTM by a whisker - put his body on the line, and every other part as well - imperious.
Taylor - 7 - best defensive display from him in a while
Hourihane - 5 - the sort of display I expected from him, just didn't add very much at all in any area, and even his dead balls were poor
McGinn - 6.5 - good goal and a couple of nice passes, but then was overrun with the rest of them
Grealish - 5.5 - one nice run and good ball, but looked poor second half and bad mistake for their goal.
Trezeguet - 7 - most promising of the attacking players but needs to take his chances
El Ghazi - 5 - looked out of his depth and didn't track back nearly enough
Wesley - 5.5 - difficult introduction to the Premier League. Put himself about a bit though, although looked a bit sulky at times. Liked how he held one of their defenders off for the goal and another chance though.
Subs
Jota - 3 - difficult entry and not the sub I'd have made, but looked completely and utterly out of his depth. Hardly touched the ball and when he did, gave it away mainly
Kodjia - 4 - minimal impact when he came on
Luiz - 6 - added energy and bite to the midfield, but too little too late, should have come on when Jota did and we may have held out.
I'd go with most of those but I'd give Grealish a 6. I thought both he and McGinn looked good in the first half and drifted out of the game in the 2nd because they were pushed too deep and just couldn't get a grip on the game. I'd have given Jota and Kodjia the same mark, neither of them was remotely involved in the game and both gave the ball away the few times they got it.
-
Haven't done a scores thing for a while, so here's mine:
Heaton - 8 - Organised things well, some very good saves and nothing much he could do for their goals.
Elmohamady - 6 - harsh introduction to life back in the top flight with an instant give away, but recovered after that.
Engels - 9 - one of the best debuts I've seen. Commanding, good relationship with Mings and Heaton, extremely promising
Mings - 9 - my Villa MOTM by a whisker - put his body on the line, and every other part as well - imperious.
Taylor - 7 - best defensive display from him in a while
Hourihane - 5 - the sort of display I expected from him, just didn't add very much at all in any area, and even his dead balls were poor
McGinn - 6.5 - good goal and a couple of nice passes, but then was overrun with the rest of them
Grealish - 5.5 - one nice run and good ball, but looked poor second half and bad mistake for their goal.
Trezeguet - 7 - most promising of the attacking players but needs to take his chances
El Ghazi - 5 - looked out of his depth and didn't track back nearly enough
Wesley - 5.5 - difficult introduction to the Premier League. Put himself about a bit though, although looked a bit sulky at times. Liked how he held one of their defenders off for the goal and another chance though.
Subs
Jota - 3 - difficult entry and not the sub I'd have made, but looked completely and utterly out of his depth. Hardly touched the ball and when he did, gave it away mainly
Kodjia - 4 - minimal impact when he came on
Luiz - 6 - added energy and bite to the midfield, but too little too late, should have come on when Jota did and we may have held out.
I'd go with most of those but I'd give Grealish a 6. I thought both he and McGinn looked good in the first half and drifted out of the game in the 2nd because they were pushed too deep and just couldn't get a grip on the game. I'd have given Jota and Kodjia the same mark, neither of them was remotely involved in the game and both gave the ball away the few times they got it.
Kodjia should even get 1. Truly awful
-
The scoreline reflects the possession. What am I disappointed about is that Dean says he wants to attack and win every game. I didn’t see any real desire to do that. It was entirely a back to the walls approach. Anyway let’s hope we see a much more progressive and attacking set up next weekend.
Unfortunately, in the real world, there are two teams on the pitch. If we had gone all out attack in the second half we’d have been destroyed by that Spurs side and how they’d set themselves up. Smith came straight out after the game and said we went too deep, which is true, so we have to have a balance. Our outlet holding up the ball just yards from our own box was a key example of that, but these lessons will be learned.
-
Jack needs to get up to speed. Can't dilly dally 25 yards out in this league. Got caught a few times and obviously was way too deep but if we're that deep then he needs to adapt and realise you can't always look for a pass.
I agree, although you have to look at who was presenting the options for him, no-one. McGinn stood to one side and didn’t move and who was calling out ‘man on’? I think by that stage we’d already ran out of steam.
He’ll learn there is a place for a good old-fashioned hoof!
-
This was always going to be an hard game for us Spurs are a good team make no mistake if we can beat team's like Bournemouth and team's like that then we should be OK great day out apart from the result at the new stadium.
-
I actually thought it was a foul on Grealish for their 2nd. They fully deserved their win so not sour grapes really.
Wes will be fine I think, we won't be playing Spurs every week, just could do with an early goal in his career. I see similarities with Benteke. His early goal set him off, Wes needs the same.
Me too, surprised they didn't see that on VAR.
I thought that too but it wasn’t given so not going to moan about it, however it’s worth noting that Jack was looking at a brick wall of Spurs players in front of him, no Villa players available in space and he wasn’t expecting a physical tackle from behind. As I’ve mentioned previously, he only had the ball at his feet for 3-4 seconds so it’s a bit harsh for some to be claiming that he was pissing about on the edge of the box.
One lesson all the players will have learned yesterday was that they don’t have the time on the ball they had in the Championship and there’s no better example of that than when Elmo got tackled in the first minute of the game. I have no doubt that we will learn and get better.
-
Here’s what I am sure of. Is unlike other managers we have had where we will play the same way again next week, Dean Smith and staff will analyze the heck out of this and play a very different game vs Bournemouth. Also the players will learn from it. They’ll be told to watch how fast Spurs closed us down and that’s the level of intensity we will need to compete at this level. There won’t be any “we go again” or need to roll up our sleeves or we will there or thereabouts nonsense. The response will be measured and tactical.
Completely agree.
-
Grealish was fine until their second goal. To say he won’t come good is just being hysterical.
Maybe, maybe not.
Some of the debutants looked far more composed to me.
Spurs fans in the box with us were on about how good he looked, I agree. He made mistakes, wasn't helped by lack of outlets and how deep we shifted. I think you need to re-watch the match, mate.
-
Redknapp saying Wesley played well and easily looks a £22m forward. I'm wondering if I watched a different game? Much better second half compared to first, and few touches that showed potential, but on that performance not sure how you can definitely say "well worth the money"?
Think someone had words with him at half time. Spent far too long rolling around and sulking for stuff that was never going to be given in the Prem. He looked better in the second half, but was too deep with everyone else and trying to receive and hold up the ball right where Spurs themselves wanted to keep it.
It should spur him on to improve on that.
-
First weekend over and we are 3 points of top spot.
-
Football is all about opinions. The ex pros summerising for SKY last night were very positive in their opinion of how Villa played and optimistic about our chances this season. The journalists on The Sunday Supplement this morning were critical of us and felt we were very negative in our play and based on what they saw didn't think we would have a good season.
That’s such an idiotic opinion from the journalists. We were pragmatic playing one of the best 3 teams in the league. Anyone who has any ideas about our style knows we won’t generally play that way. You’d have to be fucking nuts as one of the newly promoted teams to go and try and play Spurs off the park at their home ground, with a load of debutants. We’d have been massacred.
-
First weekend over and we are 3 points of top spot.
Also moved up 1 place
-
Football is all about opinions. The ex pros summerising for SKY last night were very positive in their opinion of how Villa played and optimistic about our chances this season. The journalists on The Sunday Supplement this morning were critical of us and felt we were very negative in our play and based on what they saw didn't think we would have a good season.
That’s such an idiotic opinion from the journalists. We were pragmatic playing one of the best 3 teams in the league. Anyone who has any ideas about our style knows we won’t generally play that way. You’d have to be fucking nuts as one of the newly promoted teams to go and try and play Spurs off the park at their home ground, with a load of debutants. We’d have been massacred.
Agreed, we got it bang right for an hour or so. I think I'd have brought Luiz and Lansbury on for Hourihane and El Ghazi, and packed the midfield leaving Jack to break forward between the midfield and Wesley. Konsa could have come on as well at right back, and moved Elmo forward to give a bit of support against their rampaging full backs.
-
First weekend over and we are 3 points of top spot.
Also moved up 1 place
And I think we can make up the goal difference when we play Barcahampton.
-
Football is all about opinions. The ex pros summerising for SKY last night were very positive in their opinion of how Villa played and optimistic about our chances this season. The journalists on The Sunday Supplement this morning were critical of us and felt we were very negative in our play and based on what they saw didn't think we would have a good season.
That’s such an idiotic opinion from the journalists. We were pragmatic playing one of the best 3 teams in the league. Anyone who has any ideas about our style knows we won’t generally play that way. You’d have to be fucking nuts as one of the newly promoted teams to go and try and play Spurs off the park at their home ground, with a load of debutants. We’d have been massacred.
Agreed, we got it bang right for an hour or so. I think I'd have brought Luiz and Lansbury on for Hourihane and El Ghazi, and packed the midfield leaving Jack to break forward between the midfield and Wesley. Konsa could have come on as well at right back, and moved Elmo forward to give a bit of support against their rampaging full backs.
I think there were plenty of positives to take from yesterday.
We had an excellent first half but in the end, the third best team in the country, and one whose last game was the Champions League final, proved too much for us.
I thought even Neil Taylor had a good game - especially given that El Ghazi didn't do any tracking back to help him out.
-
Should add, rail seats, I like the opportunity to have a good lean. Very much in favour of them.
-
Football is all about opinions. The ex pros summerising for SKY last night were very positive in their opinion of how Villa played and optimistic about our chances this season. The journalists on The Sunday Supplement this morning were critical of us and felt we were very negative in our play and based on what they saw didn't think we would have a good season.
Saw that , comparing us with Norwich , but the difference was Norwich probably went for it being 4 0 down where we were 1 0 up , If norwich had been 1 0 up , of course they would have had 11 men behind the ball. But blimey away from home against the chump league finalist with one player costing half of our 13 players we brought in , give us a break and theres only another 2 teams as good as Spurzzz
3-0 up and it might have been a different game .
-
Football is all about opinions. The ex pros summerising for SKY last night were very positive in their opinion of how Villa played and optimistic about our chances this season. The journalists on The Sunday Supplement this morning were critical of us and felt we were very negative in our play and based on what they saw didn't think we would have a good season.
Saw that , comparing us with Norwich , but the difference was Norwich probably went for it being 4 0 down where we were 1 0 up , If norwich had been 1 0 up , of course they would have had 11 men behind the ball. But blimey away from home against the chump league finalist with one player costing half of our 13 players we brought in , give us a break and theres only another 2 teams as good as Spurzzz
3-0 up and it might have been a different game .
That Neil Custis on Sunday Supplement is a bit of a git, he very rarely has a good thing to say about us (he's the sun journalist and a fan of Steve Bruce which explains it all)
-
Custis is a dour sod, always criticises, would take his opinion very lightly.
-
Not to mention that SJM after the game said that they sat back too much under the pressure. They didn't want to play like that, just sometimes games get out of your control - and s first game back in the top flight, with a team still gelling, away at one of the next and most relentless sides on earth is an acceptable game to get out of your control.
-
We couldn't have picked a much harder game to make our comeback to the Premier League. Spurs were very good and we will have to learn from the mistakes we made. At least Dean was completely honest with his assessment of our performance and of Tottenham being the better side. We live and learn and for the first time in many years, we have a management team who will analyse and correct the flaws in our game. There were weak links yesterday and I expect him to deal with those too, when they review the game with the players. One game does not define our season and the journo's on the Sunday Supplement also have not a clue as to how things will pan out. According to the table today, Chelsea will get relegated and Brighton are set for the Champions League. Go figure!
-
Haven't done a scores thing for a while, so here's mine:
Heaton - 8 - Organised things well, some very good saves and nothing much he could do for their goals.
Elmohamady - 6 - harsh introduction to life back in the top flight with an instant give away, but recovered after that.
Engels - 9 - one of the best debuts I've seen. Commanding, good relationship with Mings and Heaton, extremely promising
Mings - 9 - my Villa MOTM by a whisker - put his body on the line, and every other part as well - imperious.
Taylor - 7 - best defensive display from him in a while
Hourihane - 5 - the sort of display I expected from him, just didn't add very much at all in any area, and even his dead balls were poor
McGinn - 6.5 - good goal and a couple of nice passes, but then was overrun with the rest of them
Grealish - 5.5 - one nice run and good ball, but looked poor second half and bad mistake for their goal.
Trezeguet - 7 - most promising of the attacking players but needs to take his chances
El Ghazi - 5 - looked out of his depth and didn't track back nearly enough
Wesley - 5.5 - difficult introduction to the Premier League. Put himself about a bit though, although looked a bit sulky at times. Liked how he held one of their defenders off for the goal and another chance though.
Subs
Jota - 3 - difficult entry and not the sub I'd have made, but looked completely and utterly out of his depth. Hardly touched the ball and when he did, gave it away mainly
Kodjia - 4 - minimal impact when he came on
Luiz - 6 - added energy and bite to the midfield, but too little too late, should have come on when Jota did and we may have held out.
Did Smith confirm afterwards why neither of our new full backs played yesterday? Elmo and Taylor have proven with other clubs that they aren't up to this level. Both were defensively ok yesterday but I can't help feeling that part of our problem with ball retention stemmed from our full back positions.
Think you are being kind with the Jota and Kodjia ratings. Woeful the pair of them. We really should have got rid of JK this summer.
-
Some of the analysis seems to forget that we were holding them until Eriksson was introduced. We were hugely under pressure but we had been keeping them at bay until then. Eriksson was able to dictate the play better and move us around more and get in. They also had some luck go their way, which can happen when you have as much of the ball as they did. On another day Mings blocks their first one, Jack doesn't give the ball away that deep and there's not pinball between the 2 centre backs.
This was always the hardest of our first few games. Now it's out of the way we can get on with our coaches correcting mistakes and getting players settled. Douglas Luiz for instance must have only had a few training sessions and will presumably be a major player for us.
-
Norwich should have been 7 down at half time. They looked absolute village at the back and Liverpool weren't out of 2nd gear.
-
Proud of the lads today. Not perfect, lessons to be learned, but then if any of these players were perfect then we'd have had to spent £1bn to get them all, so lets accept there's a learning curve and look forward to welcoming them onto the pitch at Villa Park next weekend.
I always remember what Graham Taylor used to say. You can play as well as you like against the top teams, but you don't play them every week, it's the lesser sides and the teams around you that you have to beat if you want to get anywhere. That's still true. We can lose to all the 'big' six this season, but if we beat the likes of Newcastle, Bournemouth, Brighton, Norwich, Sheffield, Burnley, Southampton, etc. then we will be fine this season.
-
Rich, not necessarily big.
-
Rich, not necessarily big.
Yeah but we’re rich now
-
There's a lot of worrying about Jack giving the ball away late on, or about our physical deficit compared to them in general - but let's not forget that this Spurs side might just be the fittest, best pressing side in the world. In our first game in the Premier League, to hold them off and nearly get something from the game, looking quite good in the process? That's very positive. Let's wait to judge this side after ten games.
Totally agree with this. As Klopp has moved Liverpool away from the hard press slightly in recent years, Spurs are now the best bar none at it. That's one of the top 3 hardest games we'll play all season - and we did well. Onwards.
-
Custis is a dour sod, always criticises, would take his opinion very lightly.
Is he the one who is basically in love with Mourinho? He’s bloody dreadful.
-
Custis is a dour sod, always criticises, would take his opinion very lightly.
Is he the one who is basically in love with Mourinho? He’s bloody dreadful.
Oh yeah, in a creepy way
-
Custis is a dour sod, always criticises, would take his opinion very lightly.
Is he the one who is basically in love with Mourinho? He’s bloody dreadful.
Oh yeah, in a creepy way
IIRC he has a brother who is also a journo - Shaun Curtis?
Years ago one of the brothers had the temerity to ask a question of Ferguson at a press conference. Fergie piped up “What are you doing here, you’re banned”, to which he replied, “No, not me, that’s my brother” (Neil / Shaun ). Fergie then piped up with “You’re banned too. There are too many effing Custis in this world”
-
I'm hoping the spine of Heaton, Engels, Mings, Douglas, Grealish and McGinn can really develop over the next few weeks, as I feel that will be an important core for us going forward.
-
I'm hoping the spine of Heaton, Engels, Mings, Douglas, Grealish and McGinn can really develop over the next few weeks, as I feel that will be an important core for us going forward.
Sounds right to me.
Bumpy ride ahead, but we have the organization in place at all levels to get the job done.
-
I'm hoping the spine of Heaton, Engels, Mings, Douglas, Grealish and McGinn can really develop over the next few weeks, as I feel that will be an important core for us going forward.
There is one missing ingredient in that spine, jury out on Wesley.
-
I'm hoping the spine of Heaton, Engels, Mings, Douglas, Grealish and McGinn can really develop over the next few weeks, as I feel that will be an important core for us going forward.
There is one missing ingredient in that spine, jury out on Wesley.
It is but if Wes comes good we'll be absolutely fine with that spine. I think we can be almost certain that those players mentioned above will be more than good enough at PL level, after seeing Engels display I've no real doubts about any of them.
Wes just needs an early goal to get him off and running. Benteke got one early and his confidence flowed from there, JPA took an age to score his first and it really effected the team.
-
An early goal will help Wes no end, but so would playing with a smile on his face...he had a tough job against Spurs on his own but he looked a right miserable sulky bastard yesterday so it would be great to see him smiling and look like he’s at least enjoying playing football.
-
I'm hoping the spine of Heaton, Engels, Mings, Douglas, Grealish and McGinn can really develop over the next few weeks, as I feel that will be an important core for us going forward.
There is one missing ingredient in that spine, jury out on Wesley.
Jury out after one match?
-
The same 12 good men and true who said Benteke was rubbish.
-
Let us see what Wes is like when we create a chance for him, not just firing the ball at him 5 yards above his head.
A few things disappointed me on Saturday, why did we keep aiming our goal kicks out to the Elmohamady (was this not a Bruce tactic), why were not capable of passing the ball out from the penalty area? also Hourihane is not a central, defensive midfield player, I did not know he was on pitch in the second half and Jota is not a wide midfield player, he does not have the pace to play that position, for me he is a similar type of footballer to Grealish, and therefore needs to compete with Grealish for a position in the team.
The amount of times we won the ball back and then 10 seconds later we gave the ball back to Spurs was so disappointing.
It will be interesting to see what team Dean picks for the Bournemouth game.
-
The same 12 good men and true who said Benteke was rubbish.
Not guilty.
-
Never intended to imply you were CL. Apologies if you thought my observation was aimed at you. One thing we should have learned over the last dozen horrible years is to stop the Get Rid mentality shaping our future.
Even if players underperform the skill is to get value for them. Fat Sam's milk bottles and pop bottles.
-
Let us see what Wes is like when we create a chance for him, not just firing the ball at him 5 yards above his head.
A few things disappointed me on Saturday, why did we keep aiming our goal kicks out to the Elmohamady (was this not a Bruce tactic), why were not capable of passing the ball out from the penalty area? also Hourihane is not a central, defensive midfield player, I did not know he was on pitch in the second half and Jota is not a wide midfield player, he does not have the pace to play that position, for me he is a similar type of footballer to Grealish, and therefore needs to compete with Grealish for a position in the team.
The amount of times we won the ball back and then 10 seconds later we gave the ball back to Spurs was so disappointing.
It will be interesting to see what team Dean picks for the Bournemouth game.
All of the issues you mention were down to the effectiveness of the high pressing game Spurs used. I doubt we will play a team more adept at it.
-
If there’s one thing I’d like to see stop it’s writing off players before they’ve had a run of games for us. There’s enough negativity around from other sources, players need a chance to settle.
-
Easier days ahead, we will be fine.
-
Let us see what Wes is like when we create a chance for him, not just firing the ball at him 5 yards above his head.
A few things disappointed me on Saturday, why did we keep aiming our goal kicks out to the Elmohamady (was this not a Bruce tactic), why were not capable of passing the ball out from the penalty area? also Hourihane is not a central, defensive midfield player, I did not know he was on pitch in the second half and Jota is not a wide midfield player, he does not have the pace to play that position, for me he is a similar type of footballer to Grealish, and therefore needs to compete with Grealish for a position in the team.
The amount of times we won the ball back and then 10 seconds later we gave the ball back to Spurs was so disappointing.
It will be interesting to see what team Dean picks for the Bournemouth game.
All of the issues you mention were down to the effectiveness of the high pressing game Spurs used. I doubt we will play a team more adept at it.
But pretty much all of the teams will play a version of it.
A steep learning curve, and when players like Wes do get the ball they have to make sure it sticks.
I wasn't particularly disappointed after the game; as long as the lessons are learned and adopted, quickly, it'll have been the best game we played.
-
I actually thought Wesley got better as the game went on, which was masked by the rest of the team getting being put increasingly on the back foot.
-
I actually thought Wesley got better as the game went on, which was masked by the rest of the team getting being put increasingly on the back foot.
I agree, I think someone had words with him at half time. The problem was we were then defending too deep, so he was trying to hold the ball up exactly where Spurs wanted the ball to be anyway.
-
Let us see what Wes is like when we create a chance for him, not just firing the ball at him 5 yards above his head.
A few things disappointed me on Saturday, why did we keep aiming our goal kicks out to the Elmohamady (was this not a Bruce tactic), why were not capable of passing the ball out from the penalty area? also Hourihane is not a central, defensive midfield player, I did not know he was on pitch in the second half and Jota is not a wide midfield player, he does not have the pace to play that position, for me he is a similar type of footballer to Grealish, and therefore needs to compete with Grealish for a position in the team.
The amount of times we won the ball back and then 10 seconds later we gave the ball back to Spurs was so disappointing.
It will be interesting to see what team Dean picks for the Bournemouth game.
All of the issues you mention were down to the effectiveness of the high pressing game Spurs used. I doubt we will play a team more adept at it.
But pretty much all of the teams will play a version of it.
A steep learning curve, and when players like Wes do get the ball they have to make sure it sticks.
I wasn't particularly disappointed after the game; as long as the lessons are learned and adopted, quickly, it'll have been the best game we played.
Agree with all that.
It just surprised me the athleticism and physicality of their approach, not something we traditionally associate with a Spurs team.
-
Let us see what Wes is like when we create a chance for him, not just firing the ball at him 5 yards above his head.
A few things disappointed me on Saturday, why did we keep aiming our goal kicks out to the Elmohamady (was this not a Bruce tactic), why were not capable of passing the ball out from the penalty area? also Hourihane is not a central, defensive midfield player, I did not know he was on pitch in the second half and Jota is not a wide midfield player, he does not have the pace to play that position, for me he is a similar type of footballer to Grealish, and therefore needs to compete with Grealish for a position in the team.
The amount of times we won the ball back and then 10 seconds later we gave the ball back to Spurs was so disappointing.
It will be interesting to see what team Dean picks for the Bournemouth game.
All of the issues you mention were down to the effectiveness of the high pressing game Spurs used. I doubt we will play a team more adept at it.
But pretty much all of the teams will play a version of it.
A steep learning curve, and when players like Wes do get the ball they have to make sure it sticks.
I wasn't particularly disappointed after the game; as long as the lessons are learned and adopted, quickly, it'll have been the best game we played.
Agree with all that.
It just surprised me the athleticism and physicality of their approach, not something we traditionally associate with a Spurs team.
What caught my eye was the fact that following almost every challenge/tackle etc. the ball repeatedly found itself at the feet of a spurs player. The amount of time their players were tackled only to keep possession of the ball was incredible. I thought Danny Rose was excellent too.
-
Easy to forget Spurs are the only reason Man City didn't do the quadruple last season. That's the calibre of the side we lost to.
-
There is a small element of people who need to sit back and think about things. To put Saturday into context, think back to eight months ago;
https://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/football/46766457 (https://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/football/46766457)
We've gone from being defeated hopelessly against newly-promoted Wigan away, to being 18 minutes from beating Champions League runners up Spurs away. That's with four players starting both games.
Massive strides forward, more to come. Can't wait till next Saturday with Villa Park rocking. We have a good spine to this team, and everyone will be looking to develop and improve, and playing against Premier league teams week-in week-out will do that.
Proud of the lads, the fans, and the manager. ;D
-
Never intended to imply you were CL. Apologies if you thought my observation was aimed at you. One thing we should have learned over the last dozen horrible years is to stop the Get Rid mentality shaping our future.
Even if players underperform the skill is to get value for them. Fat Sam's milk bottles and pop bottles.
Agree Brian, saying-the jury is out is not writing them off, it is saying on there is not enough evidence to form a judgement.
I saw some nice touches from our new striker, I also saw a player who seemed surprised by the intensity of the game.
A lot is riding on him after seeing Kodija perform and Davis not even making the squad.
-
From today's Graun, a fair appraisal I reckon:
"8. Heaton looks a bargain among Villa’s many new faces
So how much does £130m buy you nowadays? Aston Villa fans began to find out after Dean Smith handed out four full debuts and two from the bench of his 12 new faces during this 3-1 defeat. There was Trezeguet, the Egyptian winger, who looked best attuned of all Villa’s forwards to the direct counterattacking Smith wanted from his team. At centre-half Bjorn Engels may not have controlled the means of production but was effective at disruption. Wesley Moraes was Villa’s least effective player and that will surely be a source of concern as – oddly given the sheer number of recruits at Villa Park – he was the only striker brought into the club. The Brazilian looked cumbersome, but also lightweight. Finally, there was Tom Heaton, amounting to just £8m of Villa’s summer spending. Not only did the keeper make two stunning saves – one on either side of his goal – but his handling, distribution and decision making were 100% Premier League proof. A bargain."
https://www.theguardian.com/football/2019/aug/12/premier-league-football-10-talking-points-weekend-action (https://www.theguardian.com/football/2019/aug/12/premier-league-football-10-talking-points-weekend-action)
-
Easy to forget Spurs are the only reason Man City didn't do the quadruple last season. That's the calibre of the side we lost to.
That and VAR.
-
Well, if we are judging on Saturdays performance Jack is useless. Anonymous for most of the time and prone to errors when he does get the ball. Jota cant pass wind, Hourihane is the next Messi and Wesley is a busted flush. We are doomed to be propping up the league all season and will be relegated by Christmas.
On the other hand we competed with them in the first half - We looked sharp and comfortable against a bloody good Spurs side. There was creativity and a hell of a lot of hard work and we gave Poch a fair bit to think about. I think it was as much as us running out of steam as the tactical changes that turned it around for them. We played enjoyable football and on another day with the rub of the green we could have easily got a result. Didnt help that Jack had a bit of an uncharacteristic stinker but we know how good he is. I confidently expect us to hand out a few proper dickings this season as well as a few surprise results against the top 4. Onwards and upwards!
-
Easy to forget Spurs are the only reason Man City didn't do the quadruple last season. That's the calibre of the side we lost to.
That and VAR.
That and they'd still have had to beat Liverpool in the final.
-
Not to mention that SJM after the game said that they sat back too much under the pressure. They didn't want to play like that, just sometimes games get out of your control - and s first game back in the top flight, with a team still gelling, away at one of the next and most relentless sides on earth is an acceptable game to get out of your control.
Correct. Anyone thinking we'll be going to Man. City or Liverpool and taking them on at their own game obviously hasn't watched much of either last two seasons, it will be more defending on our 18 yard box and hoping for a good counter attack or two.
We can give likes of Arsenal and Chelsea good games though.
-
And in that last sentence sums up how much we've progressed in the last 6 months. We've gone from piss poor, laughingly bad against Championship tripe to talking about giving Chelsea and Arsenal game.
It'll bloody do for me.
-
We gave Chelsea good games under Lambert (apart from the obvious one in December 2012!) It's the bare minimum when they seem to be shaping up as Derby B team.
Looking at their 11 yesterday it looks very beatable purely without Hazard's name.
-
On a slight diversion, nothing sums up the modern game than the picture of SJM, on his knees, celebrating his goal in front of the massed Spurs fans. Their reaction? Nothing, emotionless faces, staring empty eyed at our player, no visible anger, disappointment, remonstration or even open mouthed shock. There are even mild smiles that I want to put down to Villa fans in their end but is probably unlikely.
In know the white spittled, puce with anger faces of the furious fan can often be an unedifying sight but good lord, what have we become?
-
On a slight diversion, nothing sums up the modern game than the picture of SJM, on his knees, celebrating his goal in front of the massed Spurs fans. Their reaction? Nothing, emotionless faces, staring empty eyed at our player, no visible anger, disappointment, remonstration or even open mouthed shock. There are even mild smiles that I want to put down to Villa fans in their end but is probably unlikely.
In know the white spittled, puce with anger faces of the furious fan can often be an unedifying sight but good lord, what have we become?
Haha, I was in the second box up from that end on the opposite sideline. Silence when we scored, only to be interrupted by my very loud 'Yeeeeeeeeessssssssssss!' and fists raised high in the air. I don't think they knew what to make of it to be honest.
Was particularly sweet as a Spurs fan in the box with us introduced himself to us and told us straight off they were going to beat us easily. He sat in mostly silence for most of the match. 8)
-
On a slight diversion, nothing sums up the modern game than the picture of SJM, on his knees, celebrating his goal in front of the massed Spurs fans. Their reaction? Nothing, emotionless faces, staring empty eyed at our player, no visible anger, disappointment, remonstration or even open mouthed shock. There are even mild smiles that I want to put down to Villa fans in their end but is probably unlikely.
In know the white spittled, puce with anger faces of the furious fan can often be an unedifying sight but good lord, what have we become?
Haha, I was in the second box up from that end on the opposite sideline. Silence when we scored, only to be interrupted by my very loud 'Yeeeeeeeeessssssssssss!' and fists raised high in the air. I don't think they knew what to make of it to be honest.
Was particularly sweet as a Spurs fan in the box with us introduced himself to us and told us straight off they were going to beat us easily. He sat in mostly silence for most of the match. 8)
Where can i see the picture?
Think we were sat not far fom you. A couple of Villa fans jumped up when we scored, and gave an almighty "yessssss". That was all, nothing untoward whatsoever. The wanker Spurs fans near them called the stewards over to try to get them ejected, which thankfully they did didn't. Me and my daughter (aged 13) also cheered, to which the fat, permatanned wife of a bloke sat next to me said "you're faaaackin' brave aren'tcha?!" Yes, as brave as you having a go at a teenage girl, you fat, sweaty Cockney ******. They couldn't even argue that we shouldn't be in there, as I got my tickets directly from Spurs and openly said they were for Villa fans.
-
On a slight diversion, nothing sums up the modern game than the picture of SJM, on his knees, celebrating his goal in front of the massed Spurs fans. Their reaction? Nothing, emotionless faces, staring empty eyed at our player, no visible anger, disappointment, remonstration or even open mouthed shock. There are even mild smiles that I want to put down to Villa fans in their end but is probably unlikely.
In know the white spittled, puce with anger faces of the furious fan can often be an unedifying sight but good lord, what have we become?
Haha, I was in the second box up from that end on the opposite sideline. Silence when we scored, only to be interrupted by my very loud 'Yeeeeeeeeessssssssssss!' and fists raised high in the air. I don't think they knew what to make of it to be honest.
Was particularly sweet as a Spurs fan in the box with us introduced himself to us and told us straight off they were going to beat us easily. He sat in mostly silence for most of the match. 8)
Where can i see the picture?
Think we were sat not far fom you. A couple of Villa fans jumped up when we scored, and gave an almighty "yessssss". That was all, nothing untoward whatsoever. The wanker Spurs fans near them called the stewards over to try to get them ejected, which thankfully they did didn't. Me and my daughter (aged 13) also cheered, to which the fat, permatanned wife of a bloke sat next to me said "you're faaaackin' brave aren'tcha?!" Yes, as brave as you having a go at a teenage girl, you fat, sweaty Cockney c***. They couldn't even argue that we shouldn't be in there, as I got my tickets directly from Spurs and openly said they were for Villa fans.
It's part of Matt Maher's considered report on the E+S website.
-
There was a few Villa in the the first tier of corporate by the away end.
I can see them having a few issues with West Ham or Arsenal given its proximity.
-
I'm not wishing for trouble or anything like that I was just flabbergasted at the lack of reaction from the Spurs fans which leads me to believe that there are more and more neutral fans attending games, particularly at these newer, larger stadiums. Nothing wrong with that of course, but the atmosphere will suffer.
-
I'm not wishing for trouble or anything like that I was just flabbergasted at the lack of reaction from the Spurs fans which leads me to believe that there are more and more neutral fans attending games, particularly at these newer, larger stadiums. Nothing wrong with that of course, but the atmosphere will suffer.
Think this is certainly true of a lot of the London clubs. The PL is such a global brand now that the all year round tourists that London attracts will certainly be attending many PL games whilst here.
-
Easy to forget Spurs are the only reason Man City didn't do the quadruple last season. That's the calibre of the side we lost to.
That and VAR.
Speaking of which I’m still baffled as to why VAR wasn't used to give us what appears to be a clear penalty
https://twitter.com/dvtavfc/status/1160840567905017862?s=12
-
Spurs away is one of six fixtures everyone is going to struggle with this season.
If we play like that against the likes of Bournemouth, Brighton and Norwich, we'll be absolutely fine.
My only worry is that we look a bit light up top.
-
I didn't think it was a pen at the time and I still don't.
-
I'm not wishing for trouble or anything like that I was just flabbergasted at the lack of reaction from the Spurs fans which leads me to believe that there are more and more neutral fans attending games, particularly at these newer, larger stadiums. Nothing wrong with that of course, but the atmosphere will suffer.
Think this is certainly true of a lot of the London clubs. The PL is such a global brand now that the all year round tourists that London attracts will certainly be attending many PL games whilst here.
Yes, and lots of students.
No disrespect to them, but I can't see the appeal of West Ham being enough to attract over 58k to finish mid-table unless they are getting lots of tourists with the added attraction of visiting the new stadium. That's 24k more people per game than used to go see them play four seasons ago, without any improvement in league position.
If I am wrong then sincerest apologies to any Hammers out there!
-
I didn't think it was a pen at the time and I still don't.
It was clumsy by the Spurs player and you’ve seen them given for a lot less. My question is why didn’t it go for review?
-
I didn't think it was a pen at the time and I still don't.
It was clumsy by the Spurs player and you’ve seen them given for a lot less. My question is why didn’t it go for review?
It did I think, it came up on the screen there was a penalty review.
-
Easy to forget Spurs are the only reason Man City didn't do the quadruple last season. That's the calibre of the side we lost to.
That and VAR.
Speaking of which I’m still baffled as to why VAR wasn't used to give us what appears to be a clear penalty
https://twitter.com/dvtavfc/status/1160840567905017862?s=12
It came up on the screens in the ground that it had gone to VAR for a penalty review, but it wasn't given. They then had one for our player to be red-carded, but thankfully that was rightly not given as well.
-
I'm not wishing for trouble or anything like that I was just flabbergasted at the lack of reaction from the Spurs fans which leads me to believe that there are more and more neutral fans attending games, particularly at these newer, larger stadiums. Nothing wrong with that of course, but the atmosphere will suffer.
I'm not wishing for trouble or anything like that I was just flabbergasted at the lack of reaction from the Spurs fans which leads me to believe that there are more and more neutral fans attending games, particularly at these newer, larger stadiums. Nothing wrong with that of course, but the atmosphere will suffer.
To be honest I don't get why you are so surprised. It's the equivalent of Southampton scoring at VP in the 9th minute. I wouldn't be particularly angry disappointed or shocked. If Arsenal West Ham etc had scored that goal there'd have been a different reaction.
-
Easy to forget Spurs are the only reason Man City didn't do the quadruple last season. That's the calibre of the side we lost to.
That and VAR.
Speaking of which I’m still baffled as to why VAR wasn't used to give us what appears to be a clear penalty
https://twitter.com/dvtavfc/status/1160840567905017862?s=12
It came up on the screens in the ground that it had gone to VAR for a penalty review, but it wasn't given. They then had one for our player to be red-carded, but thankfully that was rightly not given as well.
Oh ok I missed that. And yes I suppose we dodged the Kodjia one.
-
I'm not wishing for trouble or anything like that I was just flabbergasted at the lack of reaction from the Spurs fans which leads me to believe that there are more and more neutral fans attending games, particularly at these newer, larger stadiums. Nothing wrong with that of course, but the atmosphere will suffer.
I'm not wishing for trouble or anything like that I was just flabbergasted at the lack of reaction from the Spurs fans which leads me to believe that there are more and more neutral fans attending games, particularly at these newer, larger stadiums. Nothing wrong with that of course, but the atmosphere will suffer.
To be honest I don't get why you are so surprised. It's the equivalent of Southampton scoring at VP in the 9th minute. I wouldn't be particularly angry disappointed or shocked. If Arsenal West Ham etc had scored that goal there'd have been a different reaction.
That would be my take on it too. It wasn't a do or die game for them, nor a key moment late on..
-
There is a small element of people who need to sit back and think about things. To put Saturday into context, think back to eight months ago;
https://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/football/46766457 (https://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/football/46766457)
We've gone from being defeated hopelessly against newly-promoted Wigan away, to being 18 minutes from beating Champions League runners up Spurs away. That's with four players starting both games.
Massive strides forward, more to come. Can't wait till next Saturday with Villa Park rocking. We have a good spine to this team, and everyone will be looking to develop and improve, and playing against Premier league teams week-in week-out will do that.
Proud of the lads, the fans, and the manager. ;D
What a great post to keep all of our feet on the ground. I like many were disappointed on Saturday but considering where we were then to now is an incredible journey and it will only get better.
We can analyse goals to death and blame marking or defensive lapses - in reality sometimes you just have to admire the goal. Saturday was the same, as an unknown quantity we had them on the back foot for quite a while but in the end we have to accept that they were just better than us at the moment.
Their guy who scored the equalizer cost half the amount that we spent on an entire team - perspective
What I like about the Wigan piece is Dean Smith saying how it was - no flannel and that it was not good enough and they will improve
Im sure he will have learned a lot and will improve us now as well
-
Easy to forget Spurs are the only reason Man City didn't do the quadruple last season. That's the calibre of the side we lost to.
That and VAR.
Speaking of which I’m still baffled as to why VAR wasn't used to give us what appears to be a clear penalty
https://twitter.com/dvtavfc/status/1160840567905017862?s=12
It came up on the screens in the ground that it had gone to VAR for a penalty review, but it wasn't given. They then had one for our player to be red-carded, but thankfully that was rightly not given as well.
At the time I didn't think it was a penalty but looking at that link I think it was actually a decent shout. Noticeable that none of the players appealed.
Re the red card VAR for McGinn, we saw absolutely nothing. Spoke to some Spurs fans on the train back and they said no way was it a red. I don't even think it was a yellow.
As somebody said above, we lost out on a lot of tackles and lose balls. They were quicker but also physically stronger. Once they had secured possession and territory their ability to spread the play more created gaps which wore us down. In the first half they were much more narrow and we defended very well against them.
-
talking about losing tackles and coming off second best physically in the second half
when Luiz came on, his first tackle could have even been his first touch he won the ball,
probably the first time we had done the entire second half
i turned to my lad and said 'i like him already'
he was one of the few bright things to come out of that second period
-
It's also worth noting Kane's finish for their third was absolutely sublime, especially when they showed it from behind him.
-
talking about losing tackles and coming off second best physically in the second half
when Luiz came on, his first tackle could have even been his first touch he won the ball,
probably the first time we had done the entire second half
i turned to my lad and said 'i like him already'
he was one of the few bright things to come out of that second period
He looked to be quick as well.
-
It's also worth noting Kane's finish for their third was absolutely sublime, especially when they showed it from behind him.
As much as it was great to see us lash out 140m on players or whatever it was, it's also important to note that if Spurs sold Kane today he's probably fetch about that much on his own. That's the gap we need to bridge, and the gap, combined with all of their other players they have that we had to bridge Saturday. And it's a bit frightening that they can bring on a 40-50m player in Erikssen to completely change the game. Which in essence he did.
-
talking about losing tackles and coming off second best physically in the second half
when Luiz came on, his first tackle could have even been his first touch he won the ball,
probably the first time we had done the entire second half
i turned to my lad and said 'i like him already'
he was one of the few bright things to come out of that second period
He looked to be quick as well.
it was a bit of a wierd feeling actually, i was down that end of the ground (behind enemy lines) so wasn't very far away from his position on the field and was able to see him at close quaters
and he just had a presence straight away, its difficult to describe, you just felt more comfortable with him about the pitch
i know we all rush to make quick judgements (i'm the worst) but i don't think i've ever warmed to a fella as quick as this after just one tackle and looking the part
maybe it was that he didn't have to do much to be obviously better than the bloke he replaced
-
Smith's ream selection and gameplan vs Spurs explained.
https://www.birminghammail.co.uk/sport/football/football-news/a-real-thorn-aston-villas-16742180
-
It had to happen eventually but Jamie Redknapp has finally spoken sense.
Jamie Redknapp: “A special mention has to go to Aston Villa’s John McGinn, or 'McGinniesta' as some call him. No disrespect to Tottenham's record signing Tanguy Ndombele, but McGinn looked like the £55m midfielder on the pitch at time.The guy cost £2.75m when he joined from Hibernian in 2018 but he ran the midfield and opened the scoring. It was outstanding.” [sky sports] #avfc
-
Not at all how I expected us to play but pleased with it, shows we can play a certain way if needed, felt like Steve Bruce was back, which isn't a bad thing for certain games.
Grealish needs to improve big time, too slow, too sloppy on the ball and I'm a big fan.....
Watched the game in a Pub in Eindhoven, fair few spurs fans in who were all very impressed with us!
-
Watching the replay on Facebook feed that does look like a penalty on SJM. Funny he didn’t make more of it really.
-
SJM certainly asked for it.