Heroes & Villains, the Aston Villa fanzine
Heroes & Villains => Match Threads & Player Ratings => Topic started by: Toronto Villa on September 28, 2020, 07:42:09 PM
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A very good display. Not perfect by any means. But 6 points, 4 scored and 0 conceded to start the season is excellent
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A good confidence builder.. hopefully we can continue to improve.
Good way to start the week.
Up the VILLA!
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Easy.
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Superb.Tight and disciplined.A new Villa.
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Lovely stuff. Things to work on - stopping crosses being the main one - but incredibly satisfying. Well done lads. Felt for Ollie, just needs that goal.
Hopefully that’s the Martinez howler out of the system!
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Almost into October. We're top four, have a game in hand against a team just turned over 5-2 at home, and we're the only team in the top flight not to have conceded a league goal all season.
Good evening.
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Aston Villa with the best defence in the Premier League. 2020 cannot get any more bizarre!
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Ooh and nearly in the Ch L places!
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Should have been at least 5.....
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Defence looking solid. McGinn looking like he’s back too his best. Only worry is Watkins no way is he a 30 million pound striker.
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Very impressed, well done you Villa boys.
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Comfortable three points. More of that please!
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Ooh and nearly in the Ch L places!
What do you mean 'nearly'? We're 4th!
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Great result, plenty of positives from tonights performance.
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The backtracking and tacking and cutting out of passes was superb. Not seen the like for years
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Good to be in the Champions League places nice and early.
Excellent result!!
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Ezri Konsa, superb. Did Mitrovic get one on target?
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Just reading the Small Heath Alliance dot com Villa match thread.
Pretty impressive dedication to have a thread for every one of our matches.
Thanks for your support, guys!
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Great stuff. Some smart goals, some resolute defending and a bit of bite too. Fulham dominated us for a bit in the second half but starting to play when you're 0-3 down is never going to be anyway near enough. It is amazing what confidence can do.
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We've done a Fulham.
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Stuart Gray looking well, one of my idols from my first few seasons as a Villa fan.
Fulham's left back looked very good. Villa should enquire about him. Winky face.
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21 years since we started with 2 wins?! Get in!!
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Defence looking solid. McGinn looking like he’s back too his best. Only worry is Watkins no way is he a 30 million pound striker.
Harsh. I thought the ball that put Jack through showed he has class.
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Solid performance. Hard to beat defending, energetic midfield with a sprinkling of magic up front for the goals.
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Its a great result, very clinical.
Still some niggly things, too many crosses aloud into our box, Mings distribution, subs too late. But we can work on that.
The reality of the situation is we've won 4 out of 4, kept our first away clean sheet since fuck knows when and look solid.
Cash, Konsa, Mings all superb at the defensive side of things, looked fit as fuck and altbough the crosses in our box were frustrating, they cut Mitrovic completely out of the game.
McGinn's best game since his injury.
Now on Watkins, you could tell he was pissed off because he didnt score and he seems to maybe be trying too hard in some aspects but already I love him, he is an absolute nuisance and caused the Fulham defence constant problems, wether it be in the box or coming deep so that others can get in behind him.
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Lots of positives - we really looked good going forward, nice to see Ramsey get his PL debut, Jack was effervescent, Traore showed a glimpse of what he'll bring to the team, Konsa and Mings again comfortable.
Also lots to improve - midfield needs a real enforcer for me, we sit too deep in general, Targett is a liability, and Martinez dropped a clanger (albeit he got away with it today).
Onwards and upwards
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Defence looking solid. McGinn looking like he’s back too his best. Only worry is Watkins no way is he a 30 million pound striker.
Harsh. I thought the ball that put Jack through showed he has class.
Saving his first goal for the winner next week!
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How long before villa’s central defence is England’s central defence?
Konsa another motm performance.
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Superb start to the season, time to focus on the positives and build on it. Well done Villa.
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Not used to these stress free games.
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Very very easy, if Watkins had been at his best we could have given our goal difference a real boost. Fulham haven't a prayer staying up with that defence. Mings was very dominant in the air. Jack won't have easier nights at this level but the big plus was the return to form of SJM. Only negatives, were I thought we let crosses into our box far too easy at times, though Cash/Trez certainly worked harder at stopping them in the second half. I also didn't think Luiz was great and I'm not sure the two number 8s suit him. Think he prefers someone sitting alongside him.
Martinez 6, Cash 7, Konsa 7, Mings 8, Targett 6, Luiz 6, Hourihane 7, McGinn 9, Trez 7, Watkins 6, Grealish 9.
Subs :Ramsey 6 (mobile but needs to fill out a bit still), Traore 6 (tidy cameo)
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Bit of an odd one. Comfortable thanks to the timings of the goals. Ruthless in attack with the first two. Perfect time to seal the game just after the break and from then on we were second best having come down a gear or two.
I know it's unrealistic to dominate a game for 90 minutes at this level unless you're Man City but during the second half I forgot Hourihane and Luiz were on the pitch for quite a long spell. Would be interested to see Dougie's possession stats and how much he touched the ball. We need more quality in the centre positions to help him, a bit of physical presence that can also pass the ball.
One of those nights for Ollie when nothing came off. I'm sure it will come. His movement is innate and his strong suit which can't be coached. Thankfully decision-making can, he looks the type that might need his confidence propped-up a wee bit too but I'm confident he'll get into his stride.
Didnt think much of the pony-tailed chap in midfield for Fulham recommended by Footy Vill. Sorry mate.
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We've got our Villa back, no criticism of anyone tonight. Shout outs for Konsa and Targett , the latter is learning well.
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The backtracking and tacking and cutting out of passes was superb. Not seen the like for years
Trez especially worked his socks off cutting out numerous passes.
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What a difference having an assured keeper makes. I can really see progress with this team now. Definitely need an extra midfielder and striker, in case of injuries though.
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Special mention to Trez tonight as well. Knows his shirt is at risk with a new signing, and put in a lot of yards tonight, cutting out passes, defending from the front.
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(https://pbs.twimg.com/media/EjBT_BjXYAQ62lz?format=jpg&name=large)
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Defence looking solid. McGinn looking like he’s back too his best. Only worry is Watkins no way is he a 30 million pound striker.
That’s a bonkers conclusion to draw so ridiculously soon.
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Two games you should expect to win and we've won them (4 if you count potentially tricky cup ties we've had). That's a good sign of progress. Two clean sheets today. We targeted Fulhams weaknesses and exploited them well.
There's a zip about us and confidence, but moreover we actually look well organised. Watching Fulham defend brought back painful memories of pre-Covid last season. We were as bad as that. Today we were very well drilled. I think we were fortunate with the VAR decision but that wouldn't have effected the result.
Most pleasing was McGinn looking like McGinniesta again. My only worry on todays display really, is Targett is still prone to reckless challenges and will become a clear target for the opposition. Cash looks more assured on the other flank, and puts in nice deliveries.
Martinez, one mistake aside, was very composed and he produced a fantastic save, so we'll let him off.
I feel sorry for Watkins, he was close to a goal from the Trez cross (and it's that back post position where he's scored from already in the cup), but the goal will come. I thought he did well otherwise, and he's got a good awareness of his teammates too. Also, it's not really his game, but he won a decent amount of headers today, and in that regard seemed to do better than Wesley and Samatta generally did on that front.
4 wins on the spin to take us into a more challenging run. It's a cracking start.
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The backtracking and tacking and cutting out of passes was superb. Not seen the like for years
Trez especially worked his socks off cutting out numerous passes.
Yep and you could hear the urgency of instruction from the sideline as well.
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Can't complain. When was the last time we beat Fulham at their ground. Before the moon landings?
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Win on Thursday night and it will have been an excellent start to the season and we can go and have a real crack at Liverpool.
Got a bit sloppy at times, but overall I thought we looked pretty solid and were always a threat going forward. Thought the work rate was really there tonight and although Watkins is a bit raw, he's the kind nuisance we have needed up front for some time.
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Can't complain. When was the last time we beat Fulham at their ground. Before the moon landings?
Before the moon was discovered.
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We've got our Villa back, no criticism of anyone tonight. Shout outs for Konsa and Targett , the latter is learning well.
Are you his Dad? ;)
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Not used to these stress free games.
I said exactly the same thing to my son as we watched it totally stress free. Targett the only weak link tonight imo.
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Simply superior today. Their best hope up front was mopped up with by and large insulting ease, and we looked like scoring almost all the time we went forward. Great stuff.
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Ooh and nearly in the Ch L places!
What do you mean 'nearly'? We're 4th!
Bloody Sky the useless twats!
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Defence looking solid. McGinn looking like he’s back too his best. Only worry is Watkins no way is he a 30 million pound striker.
That’s a bonkers conclusion to draw so ridiculously soon.
I thought he played well, brought others into play and had a decent awareness of his teammates. He'll get a goal in the league before long, he's playing well.
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Ooh and nearly in the Ch L places!
What do you mean 'nearly'? We're 4th!
And should stay there unless the later game is a draw.
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Simply superior today. Their best hope up front was mopped up with by and large insulting ease, and we looked like scoring almost all the time we went forward. Great stuff.
Must say, Konsa is impressing me a lot now. He made things very difficult for Mitrovic and confined him to half chances.
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Targett needs upgrading, Watkins didn’t happen for him, we need another striker.
Strange game, we didn’t put a lot of passes together but the tactics worked. Fulham are awful but defence was superb and McGinn getting back to form. DL was solid as always.
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I felt sorry for Fulham today.
They look exactly how we did pre-lockdown, and it’s not a nice position to be in. I think even our one season of experience in the Premier League is going to hold us in a good stead in such games - we had the experience to play through them. Something we didn’t do last season
Watkins needs to keep on trying. The goals will come. He was a pest to Fulham tonight.
Harder games coming up though now, but this is as a good a start as we could have possibly had.
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So nice to have genuine threat on the break, and creativity when they gave numbers back. To be disappointed to only score three away from home shows how good we were, not that you'd know it from the commentators who only wanted to talk about Fulham. Still, fuck the fuckers, and bring on Stoke. 🙂
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Just reading the Small Heath Alliance dot com Villa match thread.
Pretty impressive dedication to have a thread for every one of our matches.
Thanks for your support, guys!
They used to call the thread 'Villa Match Thread' but clearly even they realised how small time and pathetic that was so now they just call it 'The Villa Thread'. Tonights Villa match thread was very short and sweet and not too many of them wanted to join in and give their views for some reason.
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Comfortable win and another every welcome three points. Thought we looked a bit light in the middle of the park at times and we should have scored more but otherwise can't complain too much.
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Excellent result and performance.
McGinn's best game for months, hopefully that's him back to his old self.
That excellent bit of play between Grealish and Traore in the latter stages summed up Ollie's day, on another day he wouldn't be caught in two minds, he would simply chip that ball for McGinn and we score again.
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Took advantage of a very poor defence in a very professional and efficient manner. I was a bit frustrated we didn't attack more second half as I think there were more goals to be had here - and not sure if it was lack of confidence, Fulham upping their game or just simple game management.
Watkins missed a sitter and seems to be trying too hard, Martinez dropped a clanger, defence all excellent except for Targett first half who remains something of a weak link.
Anyway 4th in the table, no goals conceded, and one sixth of the way to 36 points.
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Defence looking solid. McGinn looking like he’s back too his best. Only worry is Watkins no way is he a 30 million pound striker.
Think that's a bit harsh. I don't think he's going to put away a particularly high percentage of the chances he gets, but he doesn't half create a lot for himself out of nothing. He's not the finished product yet, but to me he's got the potential to be regularly getting 15-20 goals a season. Think he'll be a top, top player when he hits 26/27.
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Just reading the Small Heath Alliance dot com Villa match thread.
Pretty impressive dedication to have a thread for every one of our matches.
Thanks for your support, guys!
They used to call the thread 'Villa Match Thread' but clearly even they realised how small time and pathetic that was so now they just call it 'The Villa Thread'. Tonights Villa match thread was very short and sweet and not too many of them wanted to join in and give their views for some reason.
Was the usual bitter shit. All our players cheat and dive, VAR was lucky for us and we will be in free fall once we play someone decent. There was an earlier thread about us going bust and having to form a new team with Tamworth. They are obsessed with fucking Tamworth. Note to the Blues, you can weep over another Brummie lad playing for us tonight in Jacob Ramsey. It just kills them.
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Defence looking solid. McGinn looking like he’s back too his best. Only worry is Watkins no way is he a 30 million pound striker.
That’s a bonkers conclusion to draw so ridiculously soon.
There was always going to be someone daft enough after he has just scored 2 in 4 competitive games with his new club.
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I thought Watkins did okay. He will get better with time and when he has settled in and I reckon we have got ourselves a good 'un there.
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Not used to these stress free games.
I said exactly the same thing to my son as we watched it totally stress free. Targett the only weak link tonight imo.
Not sure about that. I only started to relax at about 84 mins.
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Up the fucking Villa!
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Very good display, biggest plus for me was SJM easily his best game since coming back and great at last to get a clean sheet. Couldn't understand why Dean didn't bring Traore on earlier, Trez worked hard today, but he's not premier league standard. Well done Cash, Konza and Mings, Dougie not at his best, but he doesn't have too many off days. Bring on Liverpool!
UP THE VILLA
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Just reading the Small Heath Alliance dot com Villa match thread.
Pretty impressive dedication to have a thread for every one of our matches.
Thanks for your support, guys!
They used to call the thread 'Villa Match Thread' but clearly even they realised how small time and pathetic that was so now they just call it 'The Villa Thread'. Tonights Villa match thread was very short and sweet and not too many of them wanted to join in and give their views for some reason.
That thread's great. It starts off by asking the question 'if Villa were struggling financially would you help them out?' and one herbert says 'I don't even give any of my money to Blues'.
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I’ve no doubt Ollie Watkins will come good. He got frustrated towards the end, but he’s going to be absolutely fine.
Some great performances out there. Konsa for one!
Really enjoyed that. UTV
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Targett first half performance was one of the worst I have seen from a Villa player in a long time
We need a replacement as he will cost us this season, thankfully Fulham were too poor to expose him but better teams will
Only negative for me tonight, the rest of the team well balanced, thought Smith was a bit slow in freshening up the middle though
Onto the next
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Should go third when the Arse get torn a new one!!
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Needed that, with a horrible run of fixtures coming up.
Nice to be in a position to bring Traore on late on as well. We have options from the bench now.
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Delighted with another victory and very easy at the end. Very very good first half display and a fast start.
Second half felt we rode our luck and far to many crosses allowed into the box but we managed to secure the first clean sheet away from home in 27 premier league games so a big achievement
Observations
Martinez - one error which he got reprieve otherwise very assured - 7/10
Cash - looks a good character fit gets around the pitch looks a tenacious player - 7/10
Targett - defensively a concern for me let’s crosses come in far far too easily - 6.5/10
Mings - dealt with everything thrown at him strong in the air -7/10
Konza - grows in stature dealt with mitrovic stayed tight - 7.5/10
DouglAs - tidy - 6.5/10
McGinn - much improved display great to see 7.5/10
Hourihane - goal and an assist but tires and his lack of mobility will be exposed would be such a great special teams player 7/10
Grealish - class above at times but does need to learn to be more clinical 8/10
Trez - works very very hard but esp second half had little affect 6.5/10
Watkins - his runs off the ball are such a breathe of fresh air compared to Wesley last year hoping the goals will come - 6.5/10
Smith - should of introduced subs earlier but guessing saving most for Thursday
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If I'm being picky Targett still looks a liability on the left, and Jack tried a few too many clever back heels and tricks 2nd half, when simpler balls might have put them to the sword even more. Still, a great performance and result, absolutely delighted with it.
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Should go third when the Arse get torn a new one!!
Except the team in 5th will be doing the tearing!
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Impressive performance tonight. Cash looked good and great to see McGinn getting forward again. Watkins ran his socks off. Probably tried too hard, not been able to say that about a striker for a while.
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Special mention to Trez tonight as well. Knows his shirt is at risk with a new signing, and put in a lot of yards tonight, cutting out passes, defending from the front.
Thought he put a tremendous, disciplined performance in, totally agree. Him and Cash worked really well together.
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Very impressive away win.
Up top I felt we had movement again. Watkins is very good at pulling the opposition defence around. I felt he was trying too hard myself and missed a couple of good chances.
Grealish is fantastic and credit to Trez who worked incredibly hard.
Midfield a little loose at times off the ball, although McGinn was very good in transition. Cash superb, Konsa bossed Mitrovic and we denied them any clear chances until the 90th minute where Martinez made a cracking save.
They put a number of balls into the box, but short of isolating Targett at the back post once, they created nothing.
We looked very dangerous on the break and frankly could have had 5 or 6.
Very happy with that.
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Well done Villa boys. You have banished the Craven Cottage curse.
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So happy with that. Played well from back to front and killed off Fulham at a ground where we never usually win. Next couple of games are very tough, so getting 3 points here is good news.
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Impressive performance tonight. Cash looked good and great to see McGinn getting forward again. Watkins ran his socks off. Probably tried too hard, not been able to say that about a striker for a while.
Really liked Marty Cash tonight. Didn’t stop running and puts in a great cross. Quick too. Looked really on it.
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Had to listen to first half on WM as driving home from work. 2nd half they had too much of the ball and I’d be worried playing that way against the better teams to come. However, lots positives. Defence was solid, I get that some see Targett as a weak link, but don’t think he did anything wrong tonight.really is a changed unit since lockdown.
McGinn was the McGinn we know, which was great to see. I actually thought Watkins movement was excellent and better than anything we saw last season, he missed that one chance, but goals will come for him. Trez didn’t offer much attacking wise but worked really hard. Saying that Traore with that one crossfield pass created more in 5 mins than Trez all game, it’s whether smith trusts him to do the defensive stuff, but he’ll definitely add more to us offensively.
Love Jack but he was really wasteful second half, should of had two. And Luiz was off the pace a bit.
All in all can’t asked for much more from the start of the season. Definitely need to play better in the weeks to come and another midfielder and forward to support Watkins would help, but playing ourselves into form and great getting the points on the board.
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Can’t remember the last time we won down there. Fantastic result and performance, and Grealish is a god.
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Good decision by Joe Bryan to join Fulham. He's heading back to the Championship....
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That ref was a bit card happy.
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I still don’t think we are going to win this.
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Highlights:
https://www.skysports.com/football/fulham-vs-a-villa/report/428860
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Strangely we outclassed them without particularly playing well. There are real sign of progress at the moment.
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A few posts saying cant remember the last time we won at Fulham. Only one I can remember was Gabbys first half double in a 0-2 win.
There was an enternaing Christmas time 3-3 one year when Ridgewell turned into prime Shearer.
Other than that im struggling to think of any positive results, they even beat us at Loftus Road when they moved there.
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Great performance. And to those opposing fans saying ‘it’s only Sheff Utd and Fulham’, you can only beat what’s in front of you.
Ollie worked tirelessly and a shame he didn’t bag a goal or two for his efforts,
Grealish and McGinn ran the show for me.... easily McGinn’s best game for a LONG time!
Trez put a shift in down the right, mainly defensively though
Cash played well but Freddie probably would have too,
Mings and Konsa did well against Mitrovic,
Hourihane played well and deserved the start,
Doug quiet tonight - not the same player we saw in lockdown,
Targett - absolutely abysmal. Taylor or Freddie HAVE to start next game. Lost count at how many times he just watched wingers ping the ball in to our area. He was absolute garbage- offered nothing defensively or offensively and we’d have been torn apart against even slightly better opposition
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Form of Champions.
This season Matthew, we'll be doing a Leicester.
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I honestly didn't notice Trez until about 25 minutes in. He put in one good cross for which Watkins was offside anyway but apart from that I saw a couple of miscontrols and a blocked shot. Can't say I saw a shift being put in whatever that means.
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A few posts saying cant remember the last time we won at Fulham. Only one I can remember was Gabbys first half double in a 0-2 win.
Think that might have been Chris Smalling's debut (or close to it) and Gabby completely dominated him.
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I thought Cash and Trez were brilliant. Both worked extremely hard and got really stuck in.
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A few posts saying cant remember the last time we won at Fulham. Only one I can remember was Gabbys first half double in a 0-2 win.
Think that might have been Chris Smalling's debut (or close to it) and Gabby completely dominated him.
I was there at that one. I think he scored them down the opposite end to us
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Comfortable performance. Should have scored more. Keep it up lads, enjoying this.
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A few posts saying cant remember the last time we won at Fulham. Only one I can remember was Gabbys first half double in a 0-2 win.
Think that might have been Chris Smalling's debut (or close to it) and Gabby completely dominated him.
I was there at that one. I think he scored them down the opposite end to us
He did and it was Smallings debut.
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Was that there or Loftus Road?
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Extremely happy with how things are going and Dean (And those above) deserve a lot of credit. We have a real opportunity to build a decent side here. I wouldn’t say negatives but things to work on:
* Targett - someone needs to have a word and explain to him that there is an opportunity with Villa and England but he needs to develop and he needs to put the work in
* Luiz - can’t lose his head, especially when the game is won. I’d be surprised if no action is taken against him for that stamp.
* Taylor - just needs to be filtered out. Squad is stronger with Gilbert on the bench.
Other than the above I saw only positives.
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Was that there or Loftus Road?
We beat them once at Loftus Road, 2-1, Angel and Vassell where Bocanegra tried to remove Delaney’s (?) shin.
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That ref was a bit card happy.
Not enough cards, Odoi at least 3 yellows and Kamara at least 1 more!! Both lucky to stay on the pitch.
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Great result overall. Pick up the points against the likes of Fulham and WBA who remind me of us last season and we'll be heading for a pain free mid-table season. Only slight quibble was being 2-0 up, carving them apart every time we went on the attack, but not keeping possession. It's not flipping Liverpool attacking, keep the ball and we'd have created even more chances. Anyway, think we mullured fulham overall which is something we struggled to do last season.
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I honestly didn't notice Trez until about 25 minutes in. He put in one good cross for which Watkins was offside anyway but apart from that I saw a couple of miscontrols and a blocked shot. Can't say I saw a shift being put in whatever that means.
Can't believe you was watching the same game. He was instrumental in helping out Cash down their left side. He put in one hell of a shift. No pleasing some people. Reminded me of Des Bremner one of the unsung heroes of title winning and european winning team who always put a shift in without standing out, but when he wasn't in the team we really missed him
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I honestly didn't notice Trez until about 25 minutes in. He put in one good cross for which Watkins was offside anyway but apart from that I saw a couple of miscontrols and a blocked shot. Can't say I saw a shift being put in whatever that means.
Can't believe you was watching the same game. He was instrumental in helping out Cash down their left side. He put in one hell of a shift. No pleasing some people.
He looked a couple of yards quicker and bang up for it. A couple of really good runs from deep and he picked out the pass more often than last season. He definitely worked his nuts off.
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Yeah im not a Trez fan at all but he worked his bollocks off today
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I honestly didn't notice Trez until about 25 minutes in. He put in one good cross for which Watkins was offside anyway but apart from that I saw a couple of miscontrols and a blocked shot. Can't say I saw a shift being put in whatever that means.
Can't believe you was watching the same game. He was instrumental in helping out Cash down their left side. He put in one hell of a shift. No pleasing some people.
I thought he was superb. A really good shift as a right midfielder. Lots of energy, tackling, tracking back and a pretty good outlet going forward.
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Anybody else think the criticism of Targett is both predictable and excessive?
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Yeah im not a Trez fan at all but he worked his bollocks off today
He did one absolutely incredible sprint down the left flank in the first half. Amazing pace.
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[/quote]I honestly didn't notice Trez until about 25 minutes in. He put in one good cross for which Watkins was offside anyway but apart from that I saw a couple of miscontrols and a blocked shot. Can't say I saw a shift being put in whatever that means.
Can't believe you was watching the same game. He was instrumental in helping out Cash down their left side. He put in one hell of a shift. No pleasing some people.
I like Trezeguet and he put in a shift which is no mean feat. He would only get a 5 from me tonight on Sun ratings.
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Anybody else think the criticism of Targett is both predictable and excessive?
No. He is terrible.
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Great result and a decent performance.
For me though, a few observations.
We aren’t ruthless, clinical enough. We really should have had 5 or 6 tonight.
Watkins workrate is superb, but he is already putting too much pressure on himself. The club needs to guide him through this.
Ramsey is going to be a player.
Traore should have had more time, the only get to get fit is by playing.
Their ‘goal’ was a wake up call to not be sloppy.
And finally Trezeguet. Running around like the proverbial headless chicken is not the same as having a great game.
For me it’s getting to the point where seeing him start is making me angry. It’s a waste of a shirt. Late sub when opposition players are tired is his best use.
Hopefully, we won’t be seeing him start too often from here on in.
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Tough crowd! ;)
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Anybody else think the criticism of Targett is both predictable and excessive?
Think today he deserved it. Im a fan, links up well with Grealish, delivers well and adds movement but today I felt he was the week link.
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Excellent nights work. Up the Villa!
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Anybody else think the criticism of Targett is both predictable and excessive?
Yes, there's a player who's going to come good, a Gibson or a Williams ?
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Very happy with the win plus one of the relegation spots already filled. https://twitter.com/paddypower
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A few posts saying cant remember the last time we won at Fulham. Only one I can remember was Gabbys first half double in a 0-2 win.
Think that might have been Chris Smalling's debut (or close to it) and Gabby completely dominated him.
I was there at that one. I think he scored them down the opposite end to us
I was in the tv gantry, yes they were both down the Fulham end.
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Decent performance. Looked a pretty consistent threat going forward, could legitimately have had 4/5 tonight. Solid enough defensively, in that Fulham didn’t really fashion any big chances. Would have been nice to have had more control of the game in the second half - felt to open and frenetic to me given our commanding position.
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Our form over our last 6 league games if extrapolated over a season would see us finish on 89 points. Good enough for second place last year!
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Promising performance caveated by a very poor Fulham. We look dangerous and creative going forward and reasonably solid at the back. Far too many crosses allowed to reach Mitrovic however. Luiz was awful tonight. All well and good having an off night but he was lazy in all aspects of his game.
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Anybody else think the criticism of Targett is both predictable and excessive?
With you on that
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Fulham are bobbins, we did exactly what we needed to do, Targett was hot & cold again, Trez really didn't do enough to convince he's worth a start against 'The Mighty Reds YNWA'.
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Agree Andy about Trez. Tonight he played the ultimate Trezeguet game - absolutely everywhere, worked his balls off, got into really dangerous positions especially when they were chasing and we were playing on the break. But his feet were constantly a yard ahead of his brain and eventually you just knew every attack he led would end with a bad, panic stricken pass.
I think he can be a good sub, I like the guy, prefer him to AEG by miles, but he is so frustrating.
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We came we played we beat them up. Fulham Baggies and who else to go down?
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Burnley
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One thing that seems to have improved a lot is the fitness levels.
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Great result, but if I am picky, we mess about with the ball too much in defense, teams that press high (Lpool) will punish us.
Luiz, not his best game, could be in
trouble.
Cash, great, SJM back, Konsa grows, Trez I thought ran his socks off, Jack was Jack, Ollie will score always moving and looking.Ramsey, tidy spell.
Well done Villa.
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How did Odoi not get sent-off?
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How did Odoi not get sent-off?
He’s not an overly dirty player, he’s just fucking useless.
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And finally Trezeguet. Running around like the proverbial headless chicken is not the same as having a great game.
Yep that's how I see it and saw it tonight. Bremner worked hard but could play a bit too. I just don't see it with Trezeguet.
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True, but that’s no excuse for totting up 5 yellow cards.
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The criticism of Watkins is extreme, he pulled their defence all over the pitch, he will score loads.
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Watkins played well overall but he should have buried that header. OR at least got it on target.
I thought Targett did ok second half, but he was poor first half and it's common to see teams target our left flank whether it's Taylor or Targett playing there.
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The criticism of Watkins is extreme, he pulled their defence all over the pitch, he will score loads.
'fun' fact, since Pubehead left Benteke is the only Villa player to score 10 league goals in a top flight season.
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A few posts saying cant remember the last time we won at Fulham. Only one I can remember was Gabbys first half double in a 0-2 win.
Think that might have been Chris Smalling's debut (or close to it) and Gabby completely dominated him.
I was there at that one. I think he scored them down the opposite end to us
Not sure it was Smalling's debut I think it was his first match after agreement had been reached for him to join manure.
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Watkins has played well every game so far. And he’s scored.
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A few posts saying cant remember the last time we won at Fulham. Only one I can remember was Gabbys first half double in a 0-2 win.
There was an enternaing Christmas time 3-3 one year when Ridgewell turned into prime Shearer.
Other than that im struggling to think of any positive results, they even beat us at Loftus Road when they moved there.
The Christmas 3-3 was the first game I took my son to. He would have been about 8/9 years. Was a special evening, and I still clearly remember walking through Bishops Park afterwards explaining to him that 3 - 3 draws don't happen that often, and that if he is going to be a Villa fan he will need to appreciate turgid 0 - 0 draws.
I think we have been to every Fulham - Villa game since, bar the last Cup game. Also, by virtue of the neutral stand and Fulham Member family packs, my daughter has also has seen games there, and their school friends have seen games there. And despite never seeing a Villa win in that time, every day has been a good day out. Hope they stay up.
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How did Odoi not get sent-off?
The Ref didn't want Small Heath fans becoming even more suicidal.
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Watkins has played well every game so far. And he’s scored.
His movement and hold up play were decent tonight. He's tough and quick. But made a litany of wrong decisions in good positions tonight. Missed sitter of a header, smashing that chance way over with his right foot and somehow not playing McGinn through at the end. Could do with the first league goal I think...
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(https://pbs.twimg.com/media/EjBT_BjXYAQ62lz?format=jpg&name=large)
I haven't seen an episode of Thunderbirds in years.
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I like this winning malarkey, feels good. Lovely pass to Jack from SJM. Lovely lay off for Hourihane's goal too. Two more players, the right one's and we may be a pain in the arse to play against this season.
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Wonderful stuff.
I think we're well set up for a decent season if we can get 1-2 more in.
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Agree Andy about Trez. Tonight he played the ultimate Trezeguet game - absolutely everywhere, worked his balls off, got into really dangerous positions especially when they were chasing and we were playing on the break. But his feet were constantly a yard ahead of his brain and eventually you just knew every attack he led would end with a bad, panic stricken pass.
I think he can be a good sub, I like the guy, prefer him to AEG by miles, but he is so frustrating.
To be honest I think as a sub he would be shite. Our midfield needs a bit of honest graft and Trez provided that in spades tonight. Cash was certainly happy with him. It enabled McGinn to play a bit further up the pitch. Hourihane and Grealish don't do much without the ball. Luiz was off the pace really tonight.
It was a bit funny in the first half that Trez seemed to fall over fresh air when well placed in the box.
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That ref was a bit card happy.
I dunno. He should of sent off Odoi about 4 times.
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Watkins has played well every game so far. And he’s scored.
Agreed. Will be good for him to get his first league goal soon, but I'm not worried about him at all. Think he will be an excellent player for us.
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(https://pbs.twimg.com/media/EjBT_BjXYAQ62lz?format=jpg&name=large)
I haven't seen an episode of Thunderbirds in years.
Autumnal weather a bit indecisive?
Can't decide whether to wear a jumper or jacket?
Well there's no need to choose with the Scott Parker approved, new and improved Jumpet®
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Anybody else think the criticism of Targett is both predictable and excessive?
Absolutely. I like him, another clean sheet today. Would have been four in a row if not for a dead jammy deflection at West Ham, and works well with Grealish going forward.
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Watkins has played well every game so far. And he’s scored.
Agreed. Will be good for him to get his first league goal soon, but I'm not worried about him at all. Think he will be an excellent player for us.
Agree completely - doing all the right things.
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Our form over our last 6 league games if extrapolated over a season would see us finish on 89 points. Good enough for second place last year!
I would prefer you extrapolated from our last 2 league matches...
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We're above Arsenal, Spurs, Chelsea, City, United and Wolves.
:)
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Anybody else think the criticism of Targett is both predictable and excessive?
Mostly yes, first half he wasn't great, second half improved a lot and he seems to link well with Grealish.As for an earlier comment that it was one of the worst performances they'd seen in a Villa shirt, I presume they haven't watched us a lot over the last 10 years.
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He was definitely the weak link, and Fulham had most of their attacks down our left flank. He was marginally better second half, but I fear for him up against Liverpool next week.
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Luiz was off the pace really tonight.
I thought this was as much to do with the way Fulham played as anything else. They spent all their time trying to get it out wide as quickly as possible to cross for Mitrovic and essentially bypassed Luiz's area of play, so he often had to go looking if he wanted to get involved.
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(https://pbs.twimg.com/media/EjBT_BjXYAQ62lz?format=jpg&name=large)
I haven't seen an episode of Thunderbirds in years.
Autumnal weather a bit indecisive?
Can't decide whether to wear a jumper or jacket?
Well there's no need to choose with the Scott Parker approved, new and improved Jumpet®
I thought it was a cardi.
Can't beat a nice cardi....I know....my Mum said so.
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Nassef Sawiris in the stands tonight.....I presume he will open the cheque book a bit more over the next 7 days?
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Luiz was off the pace really tonight.
I thought this was as much to do with the way Fulham played as anything else. They spent all their time trying to get it out wide as quickly as possible to cross for Mitrovic and essentially bypassed Luiz's area of play, so he often had to go looking if he wanted to get involved.
You are probably right, but when he went looking and found the ball, he was not as composed and precise as he has been recently. Just before the disallowed goal he tried a silly flick that gave possession and turned a promising break into a goal for Fulham. Briefly.
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Nassef Sawiris in the stands tonight.....I presume he will open the cheque book a bit more over the next 7 days?
By the way, we won. Are you sure you support us?
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Anybody else think the criticism of Targett is both predictable and excessive?
No. He is terrible.
Yes, terrible. And it’s not one game either - been saying it since last season.
His job, first and foremost is to defend, not look fancy doing cheeky one/twos with Jack on the touch line. You could drive a bus through the gap between him and the guy he should be closing down. If he can’t stop Fulham’s supply line, we’re in for a rude awakening on Sunday when he’s up against Trent Alexander-Arnold.
I’d love to play that game back and see how many successful attempts at blocking a cross he made. From memory, it was one.... with his arse. Even Mings was heard screaming at him at one point.
I’d play him again against Stoke and stick Freddie at LB against Liverpool. Guilbert is the best option we currently have for that position, even as a right footer.
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If you want to change a defence that keeps getting clean sheets so you can shoehorn in a right back at left back, then I'm glad you're not the manager.
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Well said CD.
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Nassef Sawiris in the stands tonight.....I presume he will open the cheque book a bit more over the next 7 days?
By the way, we won. Are you sure you support us?
Villa are top spenders in this window if you ignore the Russian's stolen money.
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If you want to change a defence that keeps getting clean sheets so you can shoehorn in a right back at left back, then I'm glad you're not the manager.
Not taking it away from the efforts of the rest of our back line, but if our opponents don’t score a hatful from our LB position over the course of the next four games, I’ll hold my hands up and say I was wrong.
The team have put in magnificent shifts since the restart, but those two clean sheets have come against Fulham and a misfiring Sheff Utd.
Hopefully Targett has got this recent brain fart out of his system, because we’re about to come up against a whole different kettle of fish.
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Konsa is the next England cap in that side. What a player he's going to become. Only 22.
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Enjoyed that.
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Anybody else think the criticism of Targett is both predictable and excessive?
Mostly yes, first half he wasn't great, second half improved a lot and he seems to link well with Grealish.As for an earlier comment that it was one of the worst performances they'd seen in a Villa shirt, I presume they haven't watched us a lot over the last 10 years.
Exactly. Some of us can remember Bernie Gallagher!
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Konsa is the next England cap in that side. What a player he's going to become. Only 22.
Fast moving into one of my favourite players. He's quality.
Watkins impressed me massively tonight. Finishing aside, not seen a striker work the channels, run so much, and generally bully a back 4 like that up front for Villa for years.
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(https://pbs.twimg.com/media/EjBT_BjXYAQ62lz?format=jpg&name=large)
I haven't seen an episode of Thunderbirds in years.
Autumnal weather a bit indecisive?
Can't decide whether to wear a jumper or jacket?
Well there's no need to choose with the Scott Parker approved, new and improved Jumpet®
I thought it was a cardi.
Can't beat a nice cardi....I know....my Mum said so.
I thought it was a Jardigan!
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If you want to change a defence that keeps getting clean sheets so you can shoehorn in a right back at left back, then I'm glad you're not the manager.
Quite.
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I think we need to calm down a bit. At the end of September last year we had 5 points - so we are only one point better off! :)
Next 2 games we face teams teams in the top 4. But is nice to be one of the other 2.
Early days.
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I think we need to calm down a bit. At the end of September last year we had 5 points - so we are only one point better off! :)
Next 2 games we face teams teams in the top 4. But is nice to be one of the other 2.
Early days.
Hang on... we'd played SEVEN games by the end of September last year! We're one better off and we've only played two!
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Yes, I'm not getting carried away at all. But every point we accumulate early on is one we don't have to make up later in the season. I'm pleased with the signs that this season we won't have to deal with the anxiety of potential relegation quite so relentlessly.
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Anybody else think the criticism of Targett is both predictable and excessive?
No. He is terrible.
Yes, terrible. And it’s not one game either - been saying it since last season.
His job, first and foremost is to defend, not look fancy doing cheeky one/twos with Jack on the touch line. You could drive a bus through the gap between him and the guy he should be closing down. If he can’t stop Fulham’s supply line, we’re in for a rude awakening on Sunday when he’s up against Trent Alexander-Arnold.
I’d love to play that game back and see how many successful attempts at blocking a cross he made. From memory, it was one.... with his arse. Even Mings was heard screaming at him at one point.
I’d play him again against Stoke and stick Freddie at LB against Liverpool. Guilbert is the best option we currently have for that position, even as a right footer.
The defensive side of it can be subjective, as the modern fullback plays in a different way to the traditional one whose sole purpose was not to get beaten by the opposing winger.
They generally play higher - and that will lead to people getting in behind. Kyle Walker was as good a fullback as he had in recent years and you could see the attacking quality from the outset. But he was caught out on plenty of occasions.
It's often risk and reward now - you hope the attacking fullback has enough quality or ties up the opposition winger enough to offset the few times he's caught out - and even the very best ones do get caught high. With Targett, the current problem is as well as being a liability defensively he isn't offering a whole pile in the final third either. His distribution tonight - when we were 2-0 and cruising - was also shocking. Just miscuing simple passes under no pressure.
I still think there's quality there. And if we played a formation where he became the free man either in a back three or wide of the left in midfield, he could be effective for us. But he shouldn't be starting at fullback.
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A few posts saying cant remember the last time we won at Fulham. Only one I can remember was Gabbys first half double in a 0-2 win.
Yes, I vaguely recall that too. It's funny, but if you look at the times we won at bogey grounds, Gabby seems to be a consistent factor. He scored the winner at OT just off the top of my hesd.
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A few posts saying cant remember the last time we won at Fulham. Only one I can remember was Gabbys first half double in a 0-2 win.
Yes, I vaguely recall that too. It's funny, but if you look at the times we won at bogey grounds, Gabby seems to be a consistent factor. He scored the winner at OT just off the top of my hesd.
And off the top of his!
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Anybody else think the criticism of Targett is both predictable and excessive?
No. He is terrible.
Yes, terrible. And it’s not one game either - been saying it since last season.
His job, first and foremost is to defend, not look fancy doing cheeky one/twos with Jack on the touch line. You could drive a bus through the gap between him and the guy he should be closing down. If he can’t stop Fulham’s supply line, we’re in for a rude awakening on Sunday when he’s up against Trent Alexander-Arnold.
I’d love to play that game back and see how many successful attempts at blocking a cross he made. From memory, it was one.... with his arse. Even Mings was heard screaming at him at one point.
I’d play him again against Stoke and stick Freddie at LB against Liverpool. Guilbert is the best option we currently have for that position, even as a right footer.
How do you know? Yes, Fulham swung plenty of balls into our box, but I don't recall him being skinned for any that they pulled back from the byline, they were almost entirely all hopeful lobs in from 30 yards back up the touchline towards one bloke being more than ably marshalled. To me that looked like a calculated tactic, and with it we pretty much negated their primary weapon. They couldn't turn us and Mitrovic wasn't coming on to anything, all his ammunition had no pace and was coming from behind him.
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Anybody else think the criticism of Targett is both predictable and excessive?
No. He is terrible.
Yes, terrible. And it’s not one game either - been saying it since last season.
His job, first and foremost is to defend, not look fancy doing cheeky one/twos with Jack on the touch line. You could drive a bus through the gap between him and the guy he should be closing down. If he can’t stop Fulham’s supply line, we’re in for a rude awakening on Sunday when he’s up against Trent Alexander-Arnold.
I’d love to play that game back and see how many successful attempts at blocking a cross he made. From memory, it was one.... with his arse. Even Mings was heard screaming at him at one point.
I’d play him again against Stoke and stick Freddie at LB against Liverpool. Guilbert is the best option we currently have for that position, even as a right footer.
How do you know? Yes, Fulham swung plenty of balls into our box, but I don't recall him being skinned for any that they pulled back from the byline, they were almost entirely all hopeful lobs in from 30 yards back up the touchline towards one bloke being more than ably marshalled. To me that looked like a calculated tactic, and with it we pretty much negated their primary weapon. They couldn't turn us, and Mitrovic wasn't coming on to anything, all his ammunition had no pace and was coming from behind him.
I had not even considered that when I was balling at him to stop the bloody cross at 3-0 up, but then I did notice that he did block 2-3 late in the game that were past the 18 yard line. Maybe you are right, they were told to let them sling it in from there for the centre backs to deal with, but block anything beyond a certain point. I don't think it will stop me berating him in the next game from my sofa to stop the cross mind lol
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Someone from the pitch or touchline was audibly berating him for not getting close enough to his man in the first half so it doesn't sound like him letting crosses come in all night was part of any plan.
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Enjoyed that. Onwards!
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All good. Missed the lot. Catching up now.
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Fulham's Denis Odoi was very fortunate not to be sent off. I think the ref actually felt sorry for them.
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If you want to change a defence that keeps getting clean sheets so you can shoehorn in a right back at left back, then I'm glad you're not the manager.
Not taking it away from the efforts of the rest of our back line, but if our opponents don’t score a hatful from our LB position over the course of the next four games, I’ll hold my hands up and say I was wrong.
The team have put in magnificent shifts since the restart, but those two clean sheets have come against Fulham and a misfiring Sheff Utd.
Hopefully Targett has got this recent brain fart out of his system, because we’re about to come up against a whole different kettle of fish.
I agree with both these posts. The crosses bug me, but at least I can count on competent defenders to deal with them. My issue is that he does not cover the back door on a regular basis and goals get scored or penalties given as a result (see v Sheffield and an arseload of games last year). It is absolutely unacceptable to switch off and not know where that man is... and there a numerous times he has NO idea where that man is.
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thought we did okay - gave the ball away too much, and Watkins on the last 2 games I have seen is not a centre forward, he lacks the physical presence to play that position
If we could sign Mitrovic - for me he would be ideal.
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That’s harsh on Ollie. In the last two games I have been surprised how strong he is. It was his strength and pace that got the Utd player sent off. At times last night he lead the line very well, hitting the channels, linking play and also got into some good scoring positions. My only criticism was he should have had a couple more goals than he has already.
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Watkins impressed me massively tonight. Finishing aside, not seen a striker work the channels, run so much, and generally bully a back 4 like that up front for Villa for years.
Completely agree. He's got so much running in him. I was surprised how much he won in the air too. There were also a couple of times he took the ball down really well and immediately brought other players into the game. Takes up superb positions, finds space, gets round of the back of the defence. Defends from the front. Links up well with Jack. He could easily have had three last night. Going to be a star player for us.
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Maybe because Doug had an off game there was a lack of controlling possession. We don’t seem to tackle a lot ?
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Anybody else think the criticism of Targett is both predictable and excessive?
No. He is terrible.
Yes, terrible. And it’s not one game either - been saying it since last season.
His job, first and foremost is to defend, not look fancy doing cheeky one/twos with Jack on the touch line. You could drive a bus through the gap between him and the guy he should be closing down. If he can’t stop Fulham’s supply line, we’re in for a rude awakening on Sunday when he’s up against Trent Alexander-Arnold.
I’d love to play that game back and see how many successful attempts at blocking a cross he made. From memory, it was one.... with his arse. Even Mings was heard screaming at him at one point.
I’d play him again against Stoke and stick Freddie at LB against Liverpool. Guilbert is the best option we currently have for that position, even as a right footer.
How do you know? Yes, Fulham swung plenty of balls into our box, but I don't recall him being skinned for any that they pulled back from the byline, they were almost entirely all hopeful lobs in from 30 yards back up the touchline towards one bloke being more than ably marshalled. To me that looked like a calculated tactic, and with it we pretty much negated their primary weapon. They couldn't turn us and Mitrovic wasn't coming on to anything, all his ammunition had no pace and was coming from behind him.
I agree, I think this is a tactic we use regularly - I noticed it last season also.
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Was that there or Loftus Road?
We beat them once at Loftus Road, 2-1, Angel and Vassell where Bocanegra tried to remove Delaney’s (?) shin.
Was there that night - couldn’t see the back of the net :-) good old Loftus Road!!
That assault by Bocanegra is one of the very worst tackles I’ve ever seen live....may he rot
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thought we did okay - gave the ball away too much, and Watkins on the last 2 games I have seen is not a centre forward, he lacks the physical presence to play that position
If we could sign Mitrovic - for me he would be ideal.
Really? He’s a horrible fat lump that would offer nothing to the way we play. Watkins on the other hand holds the ball up well, has pace in droves and opens up space for others. He will get 10 to 15 goals this season once he gets going.
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... Only worry is Watkins no way is he a 30 million pound striker.
I'd reserve judgement on that, if I were you.
The guy looks quality and just needs to relax into his goal attempts.
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Watkins is an improvement on Davi(e)s, Wes and Samatwogoal.
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Anybody else think the criticism of Targett is both predictable and excessive?
No. He is terrible.
Yes, terrible. And it’s not one game either - been saying it since last season.
His job, first and foremost is to defend, not look fancy doing cheeky one/twos with Jack on the touch line. You could drive a bus through the gap between him and the guy he should be closing down. If he can’t stop Fulham’s supply line, we’re in for a rude awakening on Sunday when he’s up against Trent Alexander-Arnold.
I’d love to play that game back and see how many successful attempts at blocking a cross he made. From memory, it was one.... with his arse. Even Mings was heard screaming at him at one point.
I’d play him again against Stoke and stick Freddie at LB against Liverpool. Guilbert is the best option we currently have for that position, even as a right footer.
The defensive side of it can be subjective, as the modern fullback plays in a different way to the traditional one whose sole purpose was not to get beaten by the opposing winger.
They generally play higher - and that will lead to people getting in behind. Kyle Walker was as good a fullback as he had in recent years and you could see the attacking quality from the outset. But he was caught out on plenty of occasions.
It's often risk and reward now - you hope the attacking fullback has enough quality or ties up the opposition winger enough to offset the few times he's caught out - and even the very best ones do get caught high. With Targett, the current problem is as well as being a liability defensively he isn't offering a whole pile in the final third either. His distribution tonight - when we were 2-0 and cruising - was also shocking. Just miscuing simple passes under no pressure.
I still think there's quality there. And if we played a formation where he became the free man either in a back three or wide of the left in midfield, he could be effective for us. But he shouldn't be starting at fullback.
I think he's hopeless defensively.
I take your point about the modern full back and leaving space etc, and he's useful going forward, but he's a defensive horror show
Seems churlish to be talking about this the day after winning 3-0 away from home, but he looks hopeless to me.
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I was really impressed with our cohesion, workrate and speed on the break.
I was slightly concerned by our willingness to give up possession and drop deep. And by the way we allowed the oppo to swing in so many crosses; fortunately, Mitrovic is a one-trick pony and did not profit from them.
Cash, Konsa and Mings all played really well (although the latter needs to get out of the way of shots from outside the box and let his keeper deal with them).
The midfield three were excellent as a unit (although Hourihane defensively is inept); great to have our McGinn back. The front three were also hardworking and effective.
Watkins will become a force to be reckoned with, I think.
Traore showed 2-3 real glimpses of quality in his vision for a pass.
Big shout-out to Trez for the effort and persistence he showed throughout.
For the next game, game management and discipline will be key.
I'm hoping a left-sided MF comes in before the window shuts. I'd also like to see who else could play at LB - is there someone from the academy - or, indeed, Freddie - who could do it?
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Watkins impressed me massively tonight. Finishing aside, not seen a striker work the channels, run so much, and generally bully a back 4 like that up front for Villa for years.
Completely agree. He's got so much running in him. I was surprised how much he won in the air too. There were also a couple of times he took the ball down really well and immediately brought other players into the game. Takes up superb positions, finds space, gets round of the back of the defence. Defends from the front. Links up well with Jack. He could easily have had three last night. Going to be a star player for us.
Agree. Watkins runs the line really well, linking up play, bringing others into play, he also made some great runs that grealish didn’t find, but hopefully will as we play more games. He just needs a premier league goal and he’ll be up and away.
Wes took till Xmas to even look remotely like he knew how to run the line and Samatta never looked like it.
If some don’t see Watkins as a striker they must be looking for something very different in their forward.
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Watkins impressed me massively tonight. Finishing aside, not seen a striker work the channels, run so much, and generally bully a back 4 like that up front for Villa for years.
Completely agree. He's got so much running in him. I was surprised how much he won in the air too. There were also a couple of times he took the ball down really well and immediately brought other players into the game. Takes up superb positions, finds space, gets round of the back of the defence. Defends from the front. Links up well with Jack. He could easily have had three last night. Going to be a star player for us.
Agree. Watkins runs the line really well, linking up play, bringing others into play, he also made some great runs that grealish didn’t find, but hopefully will as we play more games. He just needs a premier league goal and he’ll be up and away.
Wes took till Xmas to even look remotely like he knew how to run the line and Samatta never looked like it.
If some don’t see Watkins as a striker they must be looking for something very different in their forward.
Absolutely agree with this, I'm amazed that any Villa fan would have watched him last night and not be exited by what he brings to the team.
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Great result. My main concern is that we always appear to allow so many crosses into the box. But otherwise a solid performance. Keep it up.
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Garth's Team of the Week
https://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/football/54328590
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Absolutely agree with this, I'm amazed that any Villa fan would have watched him last night and not be exited by what he brings to the team.
Yep, lunacy. Before the season started I had a mild concern that he'd be a limited Championship tap in merchant, who if it wasn't being served up on a plate for him, would be of no use. *Cough, Hogan, cough* But I've been very impressed with all his round game. He's quick and strong, and links up well with those around him. He was an integral part of the build up for the second goal. He's possibly guilty of trying a bit too hard at the moment, but you can see that the lad's going to be very good once they start flying in for him.
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I still think there's a slight hangover from last season's forward-less team for our other players to have a go rather than look for Watkins. That said, he probably should have scored last night.
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Our weak link is Targett. Not a scapegoat, a weak link.
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Back in the sixties, I saw us draw 1-1 and win 6-3 at Fulham. The 6-3 win was played in torrential rain and we were stood behind the goal at the cottage end which had no cover at the time, we got absolutely drenched.
Old man reminiscing again.
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Our weak link is Targett. Not a scapegoat, a weak link.
I think this is a fair summation. I don't dislike him, and I don't think he offers nothing to the team a la Taylor. But better teams will absolutely... target... the tendency that he has to be pulled in too close towards the centre backs when the ball is on the other side and spring an overload on a switch of play. I'm concerned that we'll see Salah running in behind him a LOT v Liverpool. Along with switches back over to Trent, where he'll have a good 10 yards free to deliver killer crosses.
I'd like to think Dean + staff will be aware of this and we'll see some strategy to mitigate it - maybe swapping Jack and Trez over to give Targett some extra workrate/defensive cover on that side.
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Yes, I'm not getting carried away at all. But every point we accumulate early on is one we don't have to make up later in the season. I'm pleased with the signs that this season we won't have to deal with the anxiety of potential relegation quite so relentlessly.
Agree. We have improved as a team and showed that in outclassing a very good championship promoted team. This is the required level of progress.
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He was definitely the weak link, and Fulham had most of their attacks down our left flank. He was marginally better second half, but I fear for him up against Liverpool next week.
He doesn't get much cover in front of him and is left exposed too often.
If he had Trez in front of him he'd look way better, but he doesn't.
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If you want to change a defence that keeps getting clean sheets so you can shoehorn in a right back at left back, then I'm glad you're not the manager.
Defence was superb and amongst other things dealt with almost 40 crosses into the box. We have to do more work on stopping that. Of course Sunday evening will provide a much tougher test but... keep going I say.
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Our weak link is Targett. Not a scapegoat, a weak link.
Agree, teams are 'targeting' our left hand side. Its his decision making that worrys me, seems to lunge in needlessly or late.
Sessegnon is rumoured to be available on loan, something that i would be all over
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I think we need to calm down a bit. At the end of September last year we had 5 points - so we are only one point better off! :)
Next 2 games we face teams teams in the top 4. But is nice to be one of the other 2.
Early days.
Hang on... we'd played SEVEN games by the end of September last year! We're one better off and we've only played two!
Somebody was bound to take the bait!
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According to Sky sports News - Fulham lost last night, I think West ham beat them from the high lights. but didnt see much of the other team just that they wore claret and blue
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Yes, I'm not getting carried away at all. But every point we accumulate early on is one we don't have to make up later in the season. I'm pleased with the signs that this season we won't have to deal with the anxiety of potential relegation quite so relentlessly.
Agree. We have improved as a team and showed that in outclassing a very good championship promoted team. This is the required level of progress.
Spot on :)
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Great result. My main concern is that we always appear to allow so many crosses into the box. But otherwise a solid performance. Keep it up.
Ditto
We seemed quite content to allow crosses to come into the box. Tyrone and Konsa were superb in defending them but we will come up against better forwards than Fulham
Targett in particularly never seemed rushed in closing down their wingers and was happy to stand off. A strange tactic if that was the plan
Cash was MOTM and was superb throughout. His crossing is as good as Elmo’s and he could be our Alexander Arnold.
The criticism of Watkins is bizarre. I thought he played really well, was a constant threat and just seemed to be trying too hard with his chances. Two goals already in the cup though
UTV
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I'm pleased with the result and a clean sheet this team will only get better.
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Always like to reflect a bit so here’s my scores on the doors.
Martinez - 7 didn’t have much to do and apart from the dropped cross leading to the disallowed goal was solid with good distribution.
Cash - 8 massive work rate and kept the right side quiet all night
Konsa - 8 battle royale with Mitrovic all night and kept him reasonably quiet.
Mings - 8 imperious and heard him organising and talking all game.
Targett - 6 wasn’t awful but does defend narrow and was loose in possession.
Luiz - 6.5 wasn’t one of Dougs better nights as the game seemed to pass him by but he was a constant presence mopping in front of the back 4.
McGinn - 8.5 MOTM 2 assists an outrageous piece of skill and every blade of grass covered, that’s the standard we want to see
Hourihane - 7 goal and an assist, still think he lacks mobility but good performance last night
Trez - 6.5 worked his bollocks off without the ball but provided no threat when we did have it.
Watkins - 7 good display, a constant nuisance and a goal not far away in my view
Grealish - 8 great goal caused issues for them all night but still has the odd wrong decision in him.
Ramsey and Traore - nice comfortable cameos.
Smith - 7.5 I was a bit concerned about how much possession we let Fulham have and how the switch of play left us exposed to crosses into the box but our shape when we didn’t have the ball was superb and allowed us to spring onto Fulham at will when we won it back.
Overall a great nights work and onto Stoke.....
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Just think if the Man City game hadn't been postponed, we would be joint top of the league now.
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Our weak link is Targett. Not a scapegoat, a weak link.
It is the one position we needed to strengthen most. Taylor is a busted flush and Targett is a very useful back up or even an impact sub.
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Our weak link is Targett. Not a scapegoat, a weak link.
It is the one position we needed to strengthen most. Taylor is a busted flush and Targett is a very useful back up or even an impact sub.
I agree but it asks the question Dean Smith and coaching team aren't identifying that area.
But why not?
The other considerations are the midfield, left side cover and discipline in helping out Targett. But he himself has been booked both games and looked way off pace at times.
Needs addressing before Liverpool and of course Matt Targett is always a step away from being injured.
Seems not the most fittest of characters
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Always like to reflect a bit so here’s my scores on the doors.
Martinez - 7 didn’t have much to do and apart from the dropped cross leading to the disallowed goal was solid with good distribution.
Cash - 8 massive work rate and kept the right side quiet all night
Konsa - 8 battle royale with Mitrovic all night and kept him reasonably quiet.
Mings - 8 imperious and heard him organising and talking all game.
Targett - 6 wasn’t awful but does defend narrow and was loose in possession.
Luiz - 6.5 wasn’t one of Dougs better nights as the game seemed to pass him by but he was a constant presence mopping in front of the back 4.
McGinn - 8.5 MOTM 2 assists an outrageous piece of skill and every blade of grass covered, that’s the standard we want to see
Hourihane - 7 goal and an assist, still think he lacks mobility but good performance last night
Trez - 6.5 worked his bollocks off without the ball but provided no threat when we did have it.
Watkins - 7 good display, a constant nuisance and a goal not far away in my view
Grealish - 8 great goal caused issues for them all night but still has the odd wrong decision in him.
Ramsey and Traore - nice comfortable cameos.
Smith - 7.5 I was a bit concerned about how much possession we let Fulham have and how the switch of play left us exposed to crosses into the box but our shape when we didn’t have the ball was superb and allowed us to spring onto Fulham at will when we won it back.
Overall a great nights work and onto Stoke.....
Great Post and insights !
I ll keep eye out for the one v Liverpool
Love Reading these ratings and observations!
Up the Villa!
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Our weak link is Targett. Not a scapegoat, a weak link.
It is the one position we needed to strengthen most. Taylor is a busted flush and Targett is a very useful back up or even an impact sub.
I agree but it asks the question Dean Smith and coaching team aren't identifying that area.
But why not?
The other considerations are the midfield, left side cover and discipline in helping out Targett. But he himself has been booked both games and looked way off pace at times.
Needs addressing before Liverpool and of course Matt Targett is always a step away from being injured.
Seems not the most fittest of characters
How do you know that the manager and coaching staff haven't considered it, has Dean Smith told you this?
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Are some writing Watkins off already? Ffs give the bloke a chance. Least he looks like he might score and doesn’t have a 50p head like most forwards we seem to sign
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Just think if the Man City game hadn't been postponed, we would be joint top of the league now.
:) In hindsight though that first game mightn't have been a bad time to play them.
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Great result. My main concern is that we always appear to allow so many crosses into the box. But otherwise a solid performance. Keep it up.
Ditto
We seemed quite content to allow crosses to come into the box. Tyrone and Konsa were superb in defending them but we will come up against better forwards than Fulham
Targett in particularly never seemed rushed in closing down their wingers and was happy to stand off. A strange tactic if that was the plan
Cash was MOTM and was superb throughout. His crossing is as good as Elmo’s and he could be our Alexander Arnold.
The criticism of Watkins is bizarre. I thought he played really well, was a constant threat and just seemed to be trying too hard with his chances. Two goals already in the cup though
UTV
Totally agree with what you said re: Watkins. It really is bizarre that we have people highlighting any negatives when there is clearly a shed load of positive things to say about him. Cash was superb. McGinn also but a special mention for Ezri Konsa. He's beginning to look pretty special to me.
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Just think if the Man City game hadn't been postponed, we would be joint top of the league now.
<<LIKE>> ;D
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Experts experts experts! Emile Heskey on SSN suggesting solution for Fulham is to get some crosses in as they have one of the best header of balls in their team. I wonder what he was doing between 5.45 and 7.30 last night?
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Nice to watch a game where we were comfortable all the way through.
Much better defensively, partly down to the mergence of Konsa who is currently one of our best players. Mings had one of his better games and also chipped in with a goal. Cash looks to be a good signing. Targett had an OK game by his standards. Martinez is better than Heaton.
Nice to have McGinn put a performance like that in, and though Hourihane had another good game. Luiz had a quiet match, but didn't do much wrong.
Trez works very hard and will continue to improve this season. Grealish was the best player on the pitch. Watkins looks like a good player, certain he will score 16 goals or more this season.
Though Traore looked a handful when he came on, think he is going to be a good signing.
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Martinez - the howler must have been as he was bored as not a thing to do - which is great to see
Cash - Tenacious in the tackle, fit as a butchers dog, great going forward - could be a steal
Mings - Imperious
Konsa - Ensured Mitrovic only got half chances - muscled him out most of the game which is not mean feat - going to be a star for us
Targett - does need to improve but i think he gives us a good outlet when he overlaps with Jack
McGinn - as good as he has been since injury - can anyone post that outrageous turn he did - 2 assists and great workrate
Luiz - Below par - but most of Fulhams tactics were to come down the flanks
Hourihane - Great cross, great goal but not a lot else - missing for huge parts of every game
Jack - MOM - His run into the box for both goals was just sublime and terrified defenders - Southgate should be building a team around him as he is that good
Watkins - work rate was terrific and pulled the CH's all over the place as they did not know where he was - should of scored but the best strikers miss em - he will get a good few for us this season
Trez - Due to TV always following the ball i genuinely did not think he was playing until 20 mins in - 2nd half worked his socks off - problem is i think most thought he was bought as an attacking player rather than a midfielder - as a midfielder i see the link to Bremner - as an attacking player i think he is lacking
Subs
Ramsey - looked like he was a regular
Marvellous - did his job
Traore - some lovely touches
Smith
I really like the way he speaks intelligently and discusses tactics - like the fact he deliberately gave up possession to catch them on the break and it worked superbly.
Cant wait for Sunday now to see if real progress has been made
Question - i did not see Terry there last night? Maybe scouting at 'The Mighty Reds YNWA'?
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Terry was there.
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What I liked about the performance is how streetwise we seem to have become compared to last season. The odd cynical foul to break up play, not letting them settle too much, game management when needed and how many times have we seen an average striker such as Mitrovic have a field day against our defenders who were not up for the physical challenge. Not last night with Konsa. I’d like to say that’s Terrys influence right there.
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Are some writing Watkins off already? Ffs give the bloke a chance. Least he looks like he might score and doesn’t have a 50p head like most forwards we seem to sign
It’s just how it is.
Football supporters are NEVER happy and there will always be something wrong.
The side has made an excellent start and Olly has been a breath of fresh air to the team in my opinion.
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I always tend to find I'm in agreement with Who scored.com ratings.
McGinn 8.6
Hourihane 8.51
Cash 8.4
Mings 8.21
All made who scored team of the week.
Great ratings.
I'd also agree that Luiz 6.49 and Targett 7.06 were our worst performing players.
Positives
Created a high number of chances relative to their possession
Were effective at creating goalscoring opportunities from through balls
Were effective at creating goalscoring opportunities from set-pieces
Were strong at finishing
Up the Villa!
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Once the third goal went in, I was unusually confident that we would win as we looked like a much more cohesive unit across the whole team (although it could've all changed had their 'goal' not been disallowed).
I can see we are playing narrowly at the back which then can lead to a lot of crosses. That happened frequently too last season, so that is one are in which we do need to improve. The defence were very good at coping with them yesterday, but that won't always be the case against better sides.
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Happy with another win and a clean sheet - we seem to know now the intensity and strength needed to compete, albeit Fulham are their own worst enemies. Watkins did well for me - plenty movement and he started the move for the second goal by actually doing something from a throw in. I think he'll score 10-15 this season. I'd much rather him up front that Wesley, lets put it that way.
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Important to make note that if you discount that goal not given for a foul, Fulham really only had one really good shot on goal which Martinez pushed on to the bar. Sheff Utd didn’t have anything of note either. What I’m enjoying as much as anything is the defensive discipline we have carried over from the end of last season. And it was great to watch our players just throwing themselves into blocking the ball. There was a mini spell last night where we blocked three in row. It showed just resilience, determination and will build trust and unity amongst that group. A massive test on Saturday now. I don’t expect a clean sheet but will be interesting to see how do against the very best.
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Agree with the positive posts on Watkins; I think he has it all and will come good quite soon. I have seen way more out of him in terms of work rate, skill, and the overall threat he poses defenses than anything I saw from Wesley last year.
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The opinions on Targett here are quickly turning into a case of opinions becoming facts.
Bryan and Cavaleiro put in 22 crosses from their left compared to Tete, Kamara, Reid and Kabano on the right who made 15 between them. Targett had a bad few minutes where he got booked and then let Tete get a soft cross in (probably because he was nervous of getting a 2nd booking) but for the rest of the game he was fine.
Part of the problem he has is that some people have decided he can't defend and now anything that comes from his side of the pitch is 100% his fault and shows he's shit.
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Are some writing Watkins off already? Ffs give the bloke a chance. Least he looks like he might score and doesn’t have a 50p head like most forwards we seem to sign
It’s just how it is.
Football supporters are NEVER happy and there will always be something wrong.
The side has made an excellent start and Olly has been a breath of fresh air to the team in my opinion.
Think Watkins all round game has been excellent so far. Got the Sheffield defender sent off with a good run last week and his off ball movement and hold up creates more space for midfielders as we saw with second goal and our counter attacks already look far better.
Only concern is he's started snatching at a few chances so you can see he's getting anxious to score at prem level. Need to tell him to be patient as he's playing fine and the goals will come like they have in the league cup.
Pretty happy with what I've seen so far.
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The opinions on Targett here are quickly turning into a case of opinions becoming facts.
Bryan and Cavaleiro put in 22 crosses from their left compared to Tete, Kamara, Reid and Kabano on the right who made 15 between them. Targett had a bad few minutes where he got booked and then let Tete get a soft cross in (probably because he was nervous of getting a 2nd booking)..
He's not getting the support of Hourihane so much, either.
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I can't decide whether I like Targett or not. He's not a bad player and he hasn't been totally terrible overall but I can see why people are not keen.
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Considering his response to the owners brothers’ tweet last night I can’t see Scott Parker lasting impression his job much longer.
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Considering his response to the owners brothers’ tweet last night I can’t see Scott Parker lasting impression his job much longer.
Didn't he sign a new contract after he got them promoted?
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Possibly but he was openly criticising the tweet and I agree with him by the way.
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Being the overly sensitive soul that I am, I was a tiny bit indignant Fulham felt the need to apologise for losing to such a tiny shit club as us. But on reflection I hope many more teams have to issue such public apologies in future, and that we ram lots of words about being tips for relegation down many throats.
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I can't decide whether I like Targett or not. He's not a bad player and he hasn't been totally terrible overall but I can see why people are not keen.
There is a talent in there somewhere, but he has an unfortunately gormless facial expression at times , and he seems a bit week and needs a good shake , yes I like him
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I can't decide whether I like Targett or not. He's not a bad player and he hasn't been totally terrible overall but I can see why people are not keen.
There is a talent in there somewhere, but he has an unfortunately gormless facial expression at times , and he seems a bit week and needs a good shake , yes I like him
I was a bit nervous last night he was going to get a second yellow and then it was all going to go tits up. He blows hot and cold but he did actually contribute a fair number of assists last season, if I recall correctly.
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He reminds me of Joe Lycett.
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He reminds me of Joe Lycett.
I hope not. He's a Stripey.
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Being the overly sensitive soul that I am, I was a tiny bit indignant Fulham felt the need to apologise for losing to such a tiny shit club as us. But on reflection I hope many more teams have to issue such public apologies in future, and that we ram lots of words about being tips for relegation down many throats.
Hear Hear! That pissed me off too.I must be a sensitive soul as well.
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I think something positive might be happening at the Villa. Its a long time since I have thought that.
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Terry was there.
Interesting that Craig Shakespeare gave the motivation talk at the team huddle. Terry listened very carefully.
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Our weak link is Targett. Not a scapegoat, a weak link.
It is the one position we needed to strengthen most. Taylor is a busted flush and Targett is a very useful back up or even an impact sub.
I agree but it asks the question Dean Smith and coaching team aren't identifying that area.
But why not?
The other considerations are the midfield, left side cover and discipline in helping out Targett. But he himself has been booked both games and looked way off pace at times.
Needs addressing before Liverpool and of course Matt Targett is always a step away from being injured.
Seems not the most fittest of characters
How do you know that the manager and coaching staff haven't considered it, has Dean Smith told you this?
I often wonder why we think our top coaches haven't noticed that which we have noted!
They should come on here and tell us, if course, then we can rest easy.
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They didn't notice that Drinkwater was unfit, shit, and all washed up.
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The useless loaf of bread.
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He reminds me of Joe Lycett.
You're right!
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Having seen a couple of Scott Parker post match interviews I can't help feeling sorry for the guy. He's evidently got absolutely no say in transfers, and he's unfortunately, probably out of his depth. Plus having to deal with the maniacs running the club there too. They make the Doc Tony look reasonable.
On another Fulham note, Odoi's performance last night was absolutely shambolic. As bad, if not worse than any defensive display I've seen from a Villa man in the last few years, and as we know, we've seen some shocking displays. Every time we got at him we looked like finding a way in, and the rest of his teammates weren't much better at the back. If only we could play him every week.
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Tony Khan's real passion project is AEW. He cares a lot about Fulham but he cares more about wrestling, and he can spend his father's money there without worrying about FFP (though to be fair AEW were profitable last time I checked).
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Being the overly sensitive soul that I am, I was a tiny bit indignant Fulham felt the need to apologise for losing to such a tiny shit club as us. But on reflection I hope many more teams have to issue such public apologies in future, and that we ram lots of words about being tips for relegation down many throats.
What in the what now? Where was this?
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Being the overly sensitive soul that I am, I was a tiny bit indignant Fulham felt the need to apologise for losing to such a tiny shit club as us. But on reflection I hope many more teams have to issue such public apologies in future, and that we ram lots of words about being tips for relegation down many throats.
What in the what now? Where was this?
Fulhams owner tweeted an apology straight after the final whistle.
https://www.skysports.com/football/news/11681/12085231/parker-i-dont-agree-with-fulham-owner-khan