Heroes & Villains, the Aston Villa fanzine
Heroes & Villains => Match Threads & Player Ratings => Topic started by: kippaxvilla2 on March 06, 2021, 07:38:35 PM
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Good first half. As bad a second half as I have seen since the bad run in the Championship. I have finally decided Trez is not good enough, Ollie is fantastic but no way is he a natural striker at this level. When you are bringing on Davis you know you are in trouble. And yet we could have won it at the end.
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To be honest, I would have taken that before the game.
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Should've been 2 up after first half, could've been 0-2 down after second. Fair result.
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Shocking 2nd half.
But for another world class performance by Martinez, we'd be talking about a defeat now.
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The dearth of goals continues. Spring'92 wants its Villa back.
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We do really miss Jack.
Let’s hope we go on a winning streak when he returns.
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A lot of us said we were light on attacking options going in to the season. It looks about right.
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we look really poor in the final third. Crossing is awful.
Feeling sorry for Watkins - he's the only one with any idea.
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1st half we were bright with plenty of energy, just a lack of quality in the final 3rd. 2nd half we maintained that lack of quality, but combined it with zero energy.
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Is this us now until Jack and Marty get back?
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Yet another clean sheet. How many is that now?
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Good first half, bloody awful second.
Positives
Emi - superb
Sanson - really promising and balances the midfield
Centre halves - Really good
Ollie - worked hard and unlucky
Targett - good again
Negatives
Completely lost our shape in second half. As soon as we start hoofing the ball we’re hopeless.
Elmo - fine servant, but massive weak link.
Subs - did nothing to change tide.
Douglas - love him, but he’s not quite on it at the moment.
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Shocking 2nd half.
But for another world class performance by Martinez, we'd be talking about a defeat now.
He only really made one save of note. Think a draw was definitely a fair result. We're a very average side without Jack but it's still a big step up from where we were a year ago.
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Game of 2 halves weren’t it?
Should have been out of sight inside 20 minutes.
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A fair result.
We were much better in the first, drifted badly in the 2nd and gave up 2 great chances and wasted 1 of our own.
Positives
The first half. We really ought to have have had 2 at least. Nice and bright and Sanson looked good.
Defensively we're so impressive.
Negatives
Second half!
Felt we were poor in keeping the ball and went long too often. Mountinho and Neves didn't step onto us so I'm notnsure why.
Felt our Traore was as poor as there's, no impact on the game at all.
Dougie switched off and Barkely with an insane pass aside, they didn't create anything bar a tame Neto effort. Likewise all we could muster was a Konsa chance 2nd half.
Those options on the bench really limit us at the moment.
I don't feel too annoyed or despondent really. If you are not going to win, don't lose. Equally Jack and Matty Cash hoping around by Brian Little, should hopefully both start against Newcastle.
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40 points in March. Progress.
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Awful second half
I’m not sure, other than Jack and occasionally Ollie we have anybody in our team who can consistently beat an opponent in the danger areas and create anything. It’s all sideways, back and hopeful long balls. Oh for Tony Morley or Ash Young.
Trez and Bertie were poor tonight as usual. Both not good enough
Enjoyed the season immensely but I’d be happy for it to finish now as I fear we will slide further down the table
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A draw was a fair result I think.
Excellent first half, but a poor second with our midfield disappearing with the Sanson injury.
If there is money available in the summer, we need to be spending big on a striker. No pissing about.
That’s no reflection on Watkins who was superb in the first half, and worked his bollocks off is the second, but the kid needs help. Davis is not that help and who knows if Wes will ever play again.
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A fair result. For every bit we were good in the first half the second half was the opposite. Shame that Sanson was injured - he must be a first choice starter going forward. Barkley - How many opportunities will he have and spurn? And as for Keinan Davis - I understand why he was put on but it was embarrassing. You need to look elsewhere Dean because Davis is never the answer. Happy we are safe and can surely now experiment but we need to recognise that there is a lot of work still to do.
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Wolves are a very limited side this year and their better players, neves, Johnny, Moutinhio , Traore, actually did nothing much today, netto was dangerous. We were much better team first half and all they did 2nd half was Step up the field 10 yards and we couldn’t react, very disappointing on that front. We couldn’t string two passes together, never mind create chances, as well as luiz and McGinn played first half, they completely disappeared 2nd half. Traore was woeful, Trez just mad, giving free kicks away everywhere. Barkley zero confidence, defensive wise, all did well enough, Elmo got worse as it went on, EMI is world class.
Sanson was tidy, like him. Watkins is far too isolated without Grealish. Pointed gained given how shite the 2nd half was
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Thought we were decent first half but totally lost our way second.
Defence very good again but forward players bar Watkins just do not do enough and are really costing us.
4 goals in 7 games tells you where our problems lie.
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Yep.
In the big picture a fair result and bits to praise but bits to bitch about.
Let's face it, not losing is always your starting point.
No drama. As the kids say.
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One massive plus for me.
Two years ago I was looking at Wolves with a little bit of jealousy and thinking how far behind them we were.
It’s only taken two years and we have gone past them.
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Once again we fail to take advantage of games in hand .......whilst we are still perhaps ahead of where we expected to be after last season it is so galling to see us fail to take advantage and push on by winning the games in hand .....being a Villa fan is so fucking frustrating ....and before anyone reminds me of the Liverpool score earlier this season just look how they have imploded ......not beating Sheffield, Brighton, Burnley and now Wolves indicates we are too inconsistent to warrant a Top 8 spot
Right now we are little bit meh :(
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40 points in March. Progress.
It is but feels like a letdown with the performances since Burnley first half. We look knackered, short of ideas or any sort of flair
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We have no forwards except for Watkins. We will have to put up with this for the rest of the season. Good job the goalkeeper and defence were superb again.
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this result at half time I would have thought it two points lost
Full time about right
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A draw was a fair result I think.
Excellent first half, but a poor second with our midfield disappearing with the Sanson injury.
If there is money available in the summer, we need to be spending big on a striker. No pissing about.
That’s no reflection on Watkins who was superb in the first half, and worked his bollocks off is the second, but the kid needs help. Davis is not that help and who knows if Wes will ever play again.
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Congratulations to the side for getting to 40 points.
We're below par because of Jacks absence but impressive progress has been made by the club.
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Well 40 points in Premier League. Last time we reached this milestone was under Houlier/McAlistair.
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Once again we fail to take advantage of games in hand .......whilst we are still perhaps ahead of where we expected to be after last season it is so galling to see us fail to take advantage and push on by winning the games in hand .....being a Villa fan is so fucking frustrating ....and before anyone reminds me of the Liverpool score earlier this season just look how they have imploded ......not beating Sheffield, Brighton, Burnley and now Wolves indicates we are too inconsistent to warrant a Top 8 spot
Right now we are little bit meh :(
Our defence has been more than meh though. They have been superb.
Apply it to the forwards and midfield and I'm with you.
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We were more on it first half, although Wolves were absolutely shite tbf.
Second half alarming though. Never laid a glove on them and no shots on target until the 92nd minute is a huge concern.
Defensively we're a world away from last season however. Not a chance we'd have held out 12 months ago.
We really have lost our way attacking though - and even in the last few games with Jack in the team we looked lost. I just hope after all the positivity of the first half of the season that it doesn't end in a damp squib, but it's starting to feel that way.
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https://www.skysports.com/watch/video/12238281/saiss-misses-sitter-in-villa-stalemate
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Ok 1st half very poor 2nd half.
Positives-40 points, another clean sheet, Emi getting closer to the record (player of the season for me), performance of back line including Elmo today and of course Ollie (how unlucky is he hitting woodwork 7 times this ssn).
Areas for improvement-Traore, Luiz poor, McGinn anonymous 2nd half, substitutions ineffective (Davis tackling McGinn sums him up and as for Barkley, well at least he's got chelski to return to).
Wolves were poor, but we made them look good 2nd half.
Glad of the point in the end!
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I really, really want Davis to succeed, but I can't see it. His biggest contribution was tackling and clattering McGinn. I'd like to see him play 40 games in the championship to see how he gets on but tbh I can't see many teams wanting him.
Definitely need a quality striker in the summer to challenge. What's the record for hitting the woodwork in a season?
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I will take a point that's 40 points for us and a 14th clean sheet.
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A draw was a fair result I think.
Excellent first half, but a poor second with our midfield disappearing with the Sanson injury.
If there is money available in the summer, we need to be spending big on a striker. No pissing about.
That’s no reflection on Watkins who was superb in the first half, and worked his bollocks off is the second, but the kid needs help. Davis is not that help and who knows if Wes will ever play again.
Smith should be developing Archer instead of sticking with Davis who has failed to produce time after time after time.
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Pitiful second half where we rarely even troubled the half way line.
Night and day between that and first half. A bit like Neto and Traore for them. One was excellent, the other was dismal.
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We had the first half, they had the second. Another clean sheet and didn’t think Wolves were all that. Need to take our chances but we don’t at the moment. Reaffirmed that Barkley is shite.
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We've hit our annual poor run since the re-start, but on the bright side we've still managed to get 2 draws and 3 wins, where normally we'd be taking 1 point in 10. Progress.
Batter the Geordies and then 4 games against Spurs and Everton will decide whether we finish in a European spot.
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Happy with how we played first half, lots of positives in how we pressed and got forward.
Not for the first time in last two months our second half levels really dipped. Barely had a shot a goal until injury time so that's not good.
0-0 against these really isn't a surprise (and they weren't great either aside from set pieces).
Still despite the disappointment of last few weeks, 40 points with still nearly third of the season still to play is still a pretty good effort from all concerned. Now we musn't go into beach mode but instead push on into 50s point range as there should be 4-5 wins left in us this season with the fixtures and that would certainly secure top half finish which is the realistic target now.
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Eye bleedingly awful second half performance. Fortunate to get a point really. The kind of performance that would make you question nearly everything. Wolves not playing with any threat up top helped. I don't think you can really fault Smith or the subs he made but the bottom line is so many players are in horrible form now.
Martinez 7 - brilliant save, little else to do but always assured
Elmo 6 - decent first half but tired as expected in second and his passing went to pot. Did fine on Traore
Konsa 8 - our best player and unlucky not to score twice. Certainly international class
Mings 7 - went direct too often but was fine defensively
Targett 7 - up against a very tricky opponent in Neto but did well. Decent on ball
Luiz 3 - embarrassing poor. Gutless in not showing for the ball and a shadow without it. Having a poor season and getting progressively worse. Went awol for that counter attack from our corner and should have been hooked immediately
McGinn 6 - bright first half but went missing in second. Not altogether his fault but should have dropped deeper to get on the ball
Sanson 6 - tidy enough first start. Nice feet at times without making a killer pass or contribution. Hard summer in gym required
Traore 3 - a joke again. It was his cross that made the Konsa chance but that aside was a waste of space.
Trez 5 - tried hard, making a number of interceptions but out of his depth playing left wing at this level. Better without the ball than with it
Watkins 6 - very bright start and tried hard throughout. But his first touch remains a problem, England talk is very premature
Barkley 3 - a farce, minimal effort upon his introduction aside from nearly a killer Wolves assist. The end for me with him. Davis 3 - a horror show unfortunately, not at this level at all. Ramsey 6 - tidy and energetic upon his introduction.
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Once again we fail to take advantage of games in hand .......whilst we are still perhaps ahead of where we expected to be after last season it is so galling to see us fail to take advantage and push on by winning the games in hand .....being a Villa fan is so fucking frustrating ....and before anyone reminds me of the Liverpool score earlier this season just look how they have imploded ......not beating Sheffield, Brighton, Burnley and now Wolves indicates we are too inconsistent to warrant a Top 8 spot
Right now we are little bit meh :(
Our defence has been more than meh though. They have been superb.
Apply it to the forwards and midfield and I'm with you.
Right on BB - I was being disingenuous towards the defence which has vastly improved ....having Davis as a back up striker sums up where we are so limited
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I’ll take that point after the second half no show. Our problem is, when we are pushed back we seem unable to find the right passes to spring the opposition, and thereby invite more pressure. It’s clear that we need another playmaker and a striker in the summer, because we cannot keep relying on Ollie.
As others have said, however, we’d all have jumped at 40 points in March at the start of the season, so huge progress.
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Those two misses
You gota laugh
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It's infuriating that we can't keep going. We played some sharp stuff that kept them pinned in their own half and could've scored three times in the opening 20 minutes, but then we seemed to get scared. We get a bit of a 'safety first' mindset, that perversely ends up putting us under more pressure. We play nothing passes across midfield in the vain hope the opposition will stream out in search of the ball. The fullbacks retreat. The midfield retreats. Our counters involve just two players. We don't press as one.
In late autumn of last season, I thought a psychologist would be a good addition to our coaching staff. I think that again.
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A draw was a fair result I think.
Excellent first half, but a poor second with our midfield disappearing with the Sanson injury.
If there is money available in the summer, we need to be spending big on a striker. No pissing about.
That’s no reflection on Watkins who was superb in the first half, and worked his bollocks off is the second, but the kid needs help. Davis is not that help and who knows if Wes will ever play again.
Smith should be developing Archer instead of sticking with Davis who has failed to produce time after time after time.
I actually think Davis has something but whether we ever see it is another matter. I personally don’t think Dean’s handled him correctly.
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40 points in March. Progress.
It is but feels like a letdown with the performances since Burnley first half. We look knackered, short of ideas or any sort of flair
While we are not exactly lighting up the scoreboard, 14 cleansheets in 26 games is a hell of an accomplishment. Second in the league in that department.
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Well 40 points in Premier League. Last time we reached this milestone was under Houlier/McAlistair.
Jesus, what a decade of dross.
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Worth a mention for their centre forward
Wow. Just wow. There isn't anybody on this messageboars who would find it possible possible contribute less.
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40 points in March. Progress.
... first time in the Premiership since 12/13. So not too bad
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It's infuriating that we can't keep going. We played some sharp stuff that kept them pinned in their own half and could've scored three times in the opening 20 minutes, but then we seemed to get scared. We get a bit of a 'safety first' mindset, that perversely ends up putting us under more pressure. We play nothing passes across midfield in the vain hope the opposition will stream out in search of the ball. The fullbacks retreat. The midfield retreats. Our counters involve just two players. We don't press as one.
In late autumn of last season, I thought a psychologist would be a good addition to our coaching staff. I think that again.
Nailed it for me.Been saying we've gone risk averse for ages
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Pitiful second half where we rarely even troubled the half way line.
Night and day between that and first half. A bit like Neto and Traore for them. One was excellent, the other was dismal.
Agreed.
Our Traore was poor as well. I know he’s scored a few goals, but sadly his good games are one in half a dozen.
Without Jack, the midfield is a big problem at the minute. Luiz seems a shadow of the player from the first half of the season and I actually forgot McGinn was playing in the second half. Unfortunately Barkley’s main contribution was to set up the chance which Martinez kept out.
The defence was generally very solid again, Watkins did well enough but ploughed a lone furrow again, whilst it says something when Konsa has two of our best chances,
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Thought Sanson did a good job and Watkins worked his arse off. The back 4 and Emi did their jobs too.
Two shots on the woodwork, but little else. Nothing from corners or free kicks.
We got worse as the game went on and neither Barkley or Davis had any impact when they came on. Makes me wonder why we bother with either of them.
Ramsey made a few interceptions and kept it nice and simple.
Without Jack we appear to lack creativity, but fundamentally we have 2/3rds of a top team. Emi, back 4, McGinn Douglas/Marv, Jack, Ollie.
Traore needs to get better/more involved.
Sanson looks as if he's got it.
Elmo - contract expires
Barkley - taxi back south asap
Davis - hasn't got it.
El Ghazi/Trez - squad players, nothing more.
Ramsey - a work in progress
Obviously Hause, Engels, Heaton and Wes are waiting to get back into the starting line up.
So onto today's game. 4 points from them this season, with 2 clean sheets to boot - I'd have taken that in September given our relative finishing places last season, but I guess our disappointment is a reflection of how far we've come in a relatively short space of time.
Onwards and upwards!
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Luiz, Traore and Trez all poor. Hard to carry so many players.
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Worth a mention for their centre forward
Wow. Just wow. There isn't anybody on this messageboars who would find it possible possible contribute less.
Can't believe how bad he's been for them, sortthought of striker I'd have liked us to pick up in January (before seeing him play in prem) as he was decent in La Liga and got into double figures most seasons.
Bit of a contrast between living in Wolverhampton and San Sebastian though!
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Agree with all the positive posts about points tally
However, reality is that since the Burnley first half we have struggled.
Pessimistic Brummie trait coming through, but should not be ignored. S.Utd had fantastic 1st season but are going down (after beating us)
Claret and Blue glasses need polishing to not ignore problem areas.
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Worth a mention for their centre forward
Wow. Just wow. There isn't anybody on this messageboars who would find it possible possible contribute less.
Can't believe how bad he's been for them, sortthought of striker I'd have liked us to pick up in January (before seeing him play in prem) as he was decent in La Liga and got into double figures most seasons.
Bit of a contrast between living in Wolverhampton and San Sebastian though!
He doesn't occupy the centre halves at all. Doesn't make runs. He is terrible.
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A draw was a fair result I think.
Excellent first half, but a poor second with our midfield disappearing with the Sanson injury.
If there is money available in the summer, we need to be spending big on a striker. No pissing about.
That’s no reflection on Watkins who was superb in the first half, and worked his bollocks off is the second, but the kid needs help. Davis is not that help and who knows if Wes will ever play again.
Smith should be developing Archer instead of sticking with Davis who has failed to produce time after time after time.
I actually think Davis has something but whether we ever see it is another matter. I personally don’t think Dean’s handled him correctly.
Sorry but Davis gives us nothing and never will. It’s not the managers fault, he’s just nowhere near PL quality. I dread the day Watkins gets injured
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We seem to have two post match threads?!
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Living in wolverhampton, I will take 4 points over the season, shuts the biggest bellends you are ever likely to meet up for a while.
We miss Jack hugely, Traore looks more dangerous aswell when Jack plays due to the space Jack creates.
My main 2 signings next season are a quality right winger and a quality 10, spend £30m on both.
Leon Bailey please.
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Martinez 8 Match winning Save .
Frustrated. Though why he continued playing out from the back -which never got Villa up the field and rolled one out to Douglas who was caught on possession and conceded foul just outside area I mark him down. The Kicking wasn't great could have done with getting Villa up the pitch second half. Made save from Neto wolves counter and Hardly troubled but probably man of match for the save. Slightly marked down for my observations on his distributing the ball. But clearly a wonderful keeper who save reactions the best and helped the point. Wonderful hands.
Elmo 8
A superb showing defending. Didn't let Adana Traroe get a sniff. So sound and experienced quick in tackle . Only one silly foul on Jimmy in dangerous position , but a great performance by him. Really got forward in first half and like team hardly played any football in wolves half in second but distribution general let down.
Targett 7
mixture though mainly solid. Neto gave him a real challenge and unable to totally handle his threat. Was beaten on counter Martinez saved. But made a couple of vital challenges and was part of a solid back 4.
Mings 8.5
Another captains performance outstanding . Solid and composed worried he now may be injured but most assured.
Konsa 8
would have been player of match if he scored. Actually unlucky with his chance that his woodwork because Dendoncker got a block in which deflected to bar and therefor Konsa woild actually have scored. Should have scored at the end!! Over into holte end instead
Douglas Luiz 6
First half a good contribution second not so much totally non existent
McGinn 7.5
Quality of the 3 in midfield won many a tackle and was very good passing balls forward. He did make some loose passing but was generally decent if lacking any real goal threat.
Sanson 6.5
Booked fo foul chasing back. Showed a few nice pieces with a lovely run and beat players along left side.
Signs of promise but not of wave length at times of other players
Traore 5
Outside the cross from the left after taking pass from Targett and setting chance for Konsa was really poor and that's 3rd in a row. Came off rightly so maybe injured. Didn't see much for an attacking player disappointing , Anonymous for much of the game and opening wasn't apparent at all. Contributor little and continues underwhelm
Trezeguet 5
toss up between Bert and Trez as the worst performing today. Both wide forward lacked any goal threat or decent movement on and off ball. As bad if don't worse than Bert. Rightly subbed. Poor.
Watkins 7.5
unluckiest striker in league . Has now hit woodwork 7 (Seven) times this season most in league. Never stops trying and had outstanding effort which came off the bar as well as a shot on target right at end .unlucky
Subs
Barkley 4
Nearly gave away a goal! Mis control shocking. Lacked any spark
Davis 5.5
Tried too much by touch line. Dwelled on ball. Nothing much shown
Ramsey 6
. Showed some good energy unfortunately offside and also tracked back well. Solid in cameo appearance. Far better than Barkley.
Villa
Defence 7/10 and as a team very difficult to beat and very solid defence.
Excellent first half 7.5/10
outside of not scoring were the dominant team and only one poked like winning. Could have been a few goals up.
2nd Half 5.5/10
Villa unable to get into Wolves half let alone penalty box majority of time. Sometimes caused by own poor , slow and backwards passing and play.
But as an attacking entity, quality of play and entertainment has to be 6.5/10 overall.
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Agree with all the positive posts about points tally
However, reality is that since the Burnley first half we have struggled.
Pessimistic Brummie trait coming through, but should not be ignored. S.Utd had fantastic 1st season but are going down (after beating us)
Claret and Blue glasses need polishing to not ignore problem areas.
I don’t think it’s a case of ignoring the problems, just acknowledging that overall significant progress has still been made. Injuries/fatigue are starting to affect us (as you can also see with several other teams) and showing that the squad/back up players aren’t quite up to the standard required. To be fair to the management/club they have done a pretty good job of identifying and improving our weakness so far. I’m certain they are aware of this and it’ll be the next area worked on in the summer.
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We need a striker and a wide player of real quality. Pretty well stocked middle of the park. Need a young centre half to understudy for Mings/Konsa.
Keep what we have, which we will, we'll be top 6 again.
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A draw was a fair result I think.
Excellent first half, but a poor second with our midfield disappearing with the Sanson injury.
If there is money available in the summer, we need to be spending big on a striker. No pissing about.
That’s no reflection on Watkins who was superb in the first half, and worked his bollocks off is the second, but the kid needs help. Davis is not that help and who knows if Wes will ever play again.
Smith should be developing Archer instead of sticking with Davis who has failed to produce time after time after time.
I actually think Davis has something but whether we ever see it is another matter. I personally don’t think Dean’s handled him correctly.
Sorry but Davis gives us nothing and never will. It’s not the managers fault, he’s just nowhere near PL quality. I dread the day Watkins gets injured
We may never know because he’s never had a proper chance. If he’s not up to it then it is the managers fault that he didn’t send him out on loan and get a replacement in. Either play him or sell him, it’s not doing him or us any good with a few minutes here and there.
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who's going to pay money for him? He's a striker that never scores. Loan him out dor a season and see what he can do in a lower league because if there isa level for him that's it.
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We are having a rough period and struggling for goals but look on the bright side in the last 8 games we have scored 5 goals but taken 11 points.
All teams have a dip in form but we are winning games despite being below our best. I would love to see Dean start to blood the youngsters and give them game time and then have a clear out of Elmo, Taylor, Davis, Trez and El Ghazi while adding a couple more quality additions.
I am happy with our progress and the great thing is the back 5 are young and will continue to get better. Keep the faith folks.
UTV
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who's going to pay money for him? He's a striker that never scores. Loan him out dor a season and see what he can do in a lower league because if there isa level for him that's it.
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Perhaps the lower leagues is his level, and if it is let him go as we are just stifling his career. But I just feel he does have something to offer us if used correctly.
Anyway i guess this is the wrong thread for this debate.
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Criticism of Davis is absurd. He never gets more than 15 minutes and often far less. I’d like to see him up top with Watkins out wide (but interchangeable with movement) for two whole matches before I write him off. Especially as our wingers are unreliable. Trez is ok coming off the bench to help protect a lead but he can’t dribble. El Ghazi is great 40% of the time, Traore 25%.
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Criticism of Davis is absurd. He never gets more than 15 minutes and often far less. I’d like to see him up top with Watkins out wide (but interchangeable with movement) for two whole matches before I write him off. Especially as our wingers are unreliable. Trez is ok coming off the bench to help protect a lead but he can’t dribble. El Ghazi is great 40% of the time, Traore 25%.
Hallelujah....
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Criticism of Davis is absurd. He never gets more than 15 minutes and often far less. I’d like to see him up top with Watkins out wide (but interchangeable with movement) for two whole matches before I write him off. Especially as our wingers are unreliable. Trez is ok coming off the bench to help protect a lead but he can’t dribble. El Ghazi is great 40% of the time, Traore 25%.
Hallelujah....
Agree.
5 minutes here. 10 minutes there. If there's no Jack for the next game I'd give him a start and play Ollie out wide.
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Like the game it's a post match thread of 2 halves. This one had 0-0 written all over it really. It's a point and another clean sheet, beat Newcastle please and then hopefully Jack's back for the run-in
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Absolutely agree that consistently going after Davis is ridiculous. The guy has never been given a chance at this level and only gets 10 minutes here and there when we are chasing a game and have often become clueless. He may not ever be good enough at this level but how he is judged so with so few minutes on the pitch is appalling. Its almost like he is the scapegoat because we didn't buy another striker. I hope for his sake the kid goes out on loan and proves more than a few people on here wrong.
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I suppose if you’re internet connection is going to screw up before a game starts then this is the one where you’d want it to happen. We got a point more than I expected so not a bad outcome having not seen a kick.
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I suppose if you’re internet connection is going to screw up before a game starts then this is the one where you’d want it to happen. We got a point more than I expected so not a bad outcome having not seen a kick.
Damn that AOL dial up....😂😂😂
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We seem to have two post match threads?!
Ta. Merged.
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Anybody else have the unfortunate situation to live in Wolves? Seriously these are the biggest fickle cocks in the country, Blues and Albion dont come close.
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Davis isn’t to blame for his failings, but he’s not good enough for this level.
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Anybody else have the unfortunate situation to live in Wolves? Seriously these are the biggest fickle cocks in the country, Blues and Albion dont come close.
Thankfully not but I work in Wednesbury which is all Albion and Wolves. There’s even a few blue noses....needless to say I’ve had a smug smile for most of this season.
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I thought Trez did ok, worked hard and had better match than Traore. Barkley and Ramsey came on and you could see the difference, bags of energy from Ramsey while Barkley had all the energy and mobility of a corpse. Beat Newcastle on Friday and the table will look pretty good before those games with Spurs and Everton.
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In our last 10 games of last season (6 of which were at home) we managed 10 points. Over a full season that would have been barely enough to avoid relegation
Bearing in mind that 8 of the outfield players from that run-in have been the nucleus of this season’s side, to be in the position we are now shows considerable progress in my opinion.
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We threw Davis on as a last gasp. Again there was no shape to our play when we needed a goal.
The stats suggest that this team has run out of ideas.
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He's the Marlon F. Harewood of this generation but with less ability.
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He's the Marlon F. Harewood of this generation but with less ability.
Let’s hope Cameron Archer gets his chance eh?
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2 teams not going great at the mo, it was a poor quality match. Our Traore was awful and we lacked creativity, ok Jack is missing but Watkins again worked his ass off with not much support. McGinn looked back to old self though.
If we are to continue in this upward trajectory, then we need better midfielders to compliment Jack and Ollie’s work.
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We were better first half but they had chances, they were better second half but we had chances. Draw was a fair result. Ongoing concerns that our goalscoring has really dried up the last 8-10 games.
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Getting a bit bored watching Traore achieve the square root of fuck all and give the ball away.
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God we miss Jack. Can we change our motto to 'Aston Villa: An Uncommonly Frustrating Experience'. 1 goal in four million minutes. At least we create chances tonight.
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Getting a bit bored watching Traore achieve the square root of fuck all and give the ball away.
Half hearted at best. He definitely has ability but on the whole I think he has been a disappointment this season. Has been dreadful for weeks. Gives the ball away without a care.
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We score either of those chances early doors it's a different game. Then again if they score their sitter I don't think we come back. Overall I'll take the point. Hoping for better things Friday though.
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I think this is the least frustrating year in 11 seasons.
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He's the Marlon F. Harewood of this generation but with less ability.
Let’s hope Cameron Archer gets his chance eh?
I detect more than a hint of sarcasm in that response ;)
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Criticism of Davis is absurd. He never gets more than 15 minutes and often far less. I’d like to see him up top with Watkins out wide (but interchangeable with movement) for two whole matches before I write him off. Especially as our wingers are unreliable. Trez is ok coming off the bench to help protect a lead but he can’t dribble. El Ghazi is great 40% of the time, Traore 25%.
Absolutely agree with this. He needs a run of games. The club clearly rate him but he needs to be given the opportunity over an extended period. I think he is top drawer with his back to goal.
I don’t think he will be a prolific goalscorer but he may yet make us a better team.
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He's the Marlon F. Harewood of this generation but with less ability.
Let’s hope Cameron Archer gets his chance eh?
I detect more than a hint of sarcasm in that response ;)
I chose not to rise to it. Davis is simply not good enough. Archer will be.
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I thought Trez did ok, worked hard and had better match than Traore. Barkley and Ramsey came on and you could see the difference, bags of energy from Ramsey while Barkley had all the energy and mobility of a corpse. Beat Newcastle on Friday and the table will look pretty good before those games with Spurs and Everton.
Trezeguet is a terrible footballer, always has been. Don’t mistake hard work for an inability to make his brain and his feet do what he wants. He’s just all over the place, mostly ineffective and just occasionally does something that you don’t expect. Traore is the same but just a little more productive.
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I thought Trez did ok, worked hard and had better match than Traore. Barkley and Ramsey came on and you could see the difference, bags of energy from Ramsey while Barkley had all the energy and mobility of a corpse. Beat Newcastle on Friday and the table will look pretty good before those games with Spurs and Everton.
Trezeguet is a terrible footballer, always has been. Don’t mistake hard work for an inability to make his brain and his feet do what he wants. He’s just all over the place, mostly ineffective and just occasionally does something that you don’t expect. Traore is the same but just a little more productive.
No, I am a terrible footballer. They both play for us in the Premier League. Bit of a difference.
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Read the Wulvs forum because I'm pathetic. Fucking hell, they're an ungrateful shower of Hi-Tec trainers-wearing, mullet-sporting, sister-shagging dog-fanciers. They've been in the top flight for two seasons, finished 7th last year and half of them want the manager sacked. It's like they've forgotten that they support Wulvs, not Bayern Munich.
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I think Summer I'd be prioritising a wide right player, move Watkins wide left, get a center forward in and play Jack in the hole (McCarthy approves).
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If you put the best bits of Traore (unpredicatability), Trez (work rate) and El Ghazi (shooting) together, you'd get one decent winger. As it is, we've got three very mediocre ones, who are inconsistent and mostly shite.
Barkley added to the evidence that he's not worth buying. Sanson, McGinn and Watkins did OK and the defence was sound other than the two chances they had second half. We're really crap to watch at the moment though.
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Sanson McGinn Luiz Grealish El Ghazi Watkins for the next game if possible please.
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Traore has been a huge disappointment, another winger who cannot beat a man. We gave the ball away so easily the Wolves players must have thought it was Christmas.
The defence were their usual dependable selves but midfield and forward of centre were were clueless. We need more creativity going forward, it seems without Grealish we can't score.
Ramsey was very tidy when he came on and i would rather see the younger players be given fifteen minutes than the usual players whom we know will not make a difference.
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I'm happy with 4 points from Wolverlona. We're not in a great run of form, so I'm not going to complain about a clean sheet and a point.
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If we have Cash, Grealish, El Ghazi and Sanson all fit for Newcastle then I can see us really doing a number on them and getting back to out early 3-0 victory ways. Disappointed with a scoreless game again but glad to see we've tightened up again and there really is a solid foundation being made for next season. Sanson looks tidy. A clinical finisher and a more consistent threat than Traore and we could be looking at having a very serious side.
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A draw was a fair result I think.
Excellent first half, but a poor second with our midfield disappearing with the Sanson injury.
If there is money available in the summer, we need to be spending big on a striker. No pissing about.
That’s no reflection on Watkins who was superb in the first half, and worked his bollocks off is the second, but the kid needs help. Davis is not that help and who knows if Wes will ever play again.
Smith should be developing Archer instead of sticking with Davis who has failed to produce time after time after time.
I actually think Davis has something but whether we ever see it is another matter. I personally don’t think Dean’s handled him correctly.
Apparently, he's brilliant at FIFA on the Playstation. so maybe he should stick to eSports? Had enough chances in a Villa shirt and flattered to deceive. Not good enough and a waste of a substitution - Give that spot on the bench to a reserve/youth player who knows where the goal is.
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Come back 2020, all is forgiven. This year we continue to struggle, other than our brilliant defence we are so far away from the team that finished last year. Today once again the back 5 were excellent but Ollie deserves a special mention, he looked right up for it today and worked his balls off chasing everything. Love him. A very mature PL performance. He deserves better than being supported every week in attack by one-trick ponies.
Summer can't come soon enough.
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If you put the best bits of Traore (unpredicatability), Trez (work rate) and El Ghazi (shooting) together, you'd get one decent winger. As it is, we've got three very mediocre ones, who are inconsistent and mostly shite.
Barkley added to the evidence that he's not worth buying. Sanson, McGinn and Watkins did OK and the defence was sound other than the two chances they had second half. We're really crap to watch at the moment though.
haven’t watched the match, but on recent showings your first point is hard to disagree with. All 3 have something, but none of them really have enough. I think El Ghazi is probably the pick of the bunch, just about. But none of them are top 6 PL quality and it’s starting to tell, especially with Jack injured.
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Come back 2020, all is forgiven. This year we continue to struggle, other than our brilliant defence we are so far away from the team that finished last year. Today once again the back 5 were excellent but Ollie deserves a special mention, he looked right up for it today and worked his balls off chasing everything. Love him. A very mature PL performance. He deserves better than being supported every week in attack by one-trick ponies.
Summer can't come soon enough.
Very true Mark. Ollie is quality, and if we can find somebody else like him, you could actually play him, Grealish and the new player in any of the front three positions, a bit like Liverpool do with Mane and Salah etc.
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only saw the second half but based on that a draw seemed a fair reflection of the game
so your in the top 10 of the prem it seems alot of posters are peaved off which is strange to me
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1 goal conceded in last three. A win, a draw and a defeat. Without our stand-out (attacking) player.
Sums up where we are overall. The best teams are always built on solid defence first. We've got that. Elmo hasn't done that badly over the past 3 games all things considered.
5 goals scored over the past 8 games highlights our issues though. Barkley, Trez, AEG and Traore aren't doing enough, yet all have been great at points through the season and have had us singing their praises.
The truth is when players costs the sort of money that we've spent, that's what you'll get isn't it? We need more investment up front. Watkins and Grealish perform week after week and we're undoubtedly a better team when the latter plays.
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I switched on too late to see the match, but they were looking at the action afterwards. Watkins was really unlucky with the one from range that hit the bar. It looked like it got a tiny deflection and might have gone in if the dog head player hadn’t got a slight touch. Not sure if it’s just my perception, but there seems to be loads more deflections than usual, either resulting in goals going in or just missing.
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Come back 2020, all is forgiven. This year we continue to struggle, other than our brilliant defence we are so far away from the team that finished last year. Today once again the back 5 were excellent but Ollie deserves a special mention, he looked right up for it today and worked his balls off chasing everything. Love him. A very mature PL performance. He deserves better than being supported every week in attack by one-trick ponies.
Summer can't come soon enough.
Really? That's when Portugal are opening for Brits to visit. I thought you moved there to get away from them.
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Best season in 11 years and the summer can't come soon enough? Mind you, we played "pub football" then.
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Come back 2020, all is forgiven. This year we continue to struggle, other than our brilliant defence we are so far away from the team that finished last year. Today once again the back 5 were excellent but Ollie deserves a special mention, he looked right up for it today and worked his balls off chasing everything. Love him. A very mature PL performance. He deserves better than being supported every week in attack by one-trick ponies.
Summer can't come soon enough.
Very true Mark. Ollie is quality, and if we can find somebody else like him, you could actually play him, Grealish and the new player in any of the front three positions, a bit like Liverpool do with Mane and Salah etc.
ollie Watkins must be the unluckiest player ever- bit like me 😂
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If you put the best bits of Traore (unpredicatability), Trez (work rate) and El Ghazi (shooting) together, you'd get one decent winger. As it is, we've got three very mediocre ones, who are inconsistent and mostly shite.
Barkley added to the evidence that he's not worth buying. Sanson, McGinn and Watkins did OK and the defence was sound other than the two chances they had second half. We're really crap to watch at the moment though.
agree, out of the 3 Traore has the ability to be a top 6 player, will he ever become disciplined enough though.?
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Keinan Davis isn’t good enough, that much is known.
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Read the Wulvs forum because I'm pathetic. Fucking hell, they're an ungrateful shower of Hi-Tec trainers-wearing, mullet-sporting, sister-shagging dog-fanciers. They've been in the top flight for two seasons, finished 7th last year and half of them want the manager sacked. It's like they've forgotten that they support Wulvs, not Bayern Munich.
You forgot stone washed double denim and tasseled loafers with terry towelling white socks.
I think the ridiculous expectations are a product of most of them spending much of their lives supporting Man Utd or Liverpool, and failing to re-calibrate their expectations in line with reality.
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They are absolutely excruciating to watch though.
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They are absolutely excruciating to watch though.
They kill any game they’re involved in, the five-at-the-back bunch of twats.
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They are absolutely excruciating to watch though.
They kill any game they’re involved in, the five-at-the-back bunch of twats.
100%. They create nothing from open play. If you looked into the dug out and saw the manager wearing a baseball cap, you wouldn't be surprised.
Can't imagine when fans return that the 60,000 season ticket holders they have will be happy watching that bilge every other week.
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They are absolutely excruciating to watch though.
They kill any game they’re involved in, the five-at-the-back bunch of twats.
100%. They create nothing from open play. If you looked into the dug out and saw the manager wearing a baseball cap, you wouldn't be surprised.
Can't imagine when fans return that the 60,000 season ticket holders they have will be happy watching that bilge every other week.
Gives them a built in excuse as to why the can barely get a over 30k, I suppose.
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I do think Neto is going to be a top player. Exactly the type of wide player that would help take us to the next level.
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Molineux mix has gone in to meltdown. Seriously, who do they think they are? They were league one until a few seasons ago.
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A center forward and a wide attacking player added to Grealish and Watkins and we will have a really good team next season. Very exciting to be building from a stable base without needing a huge overhaul for what seems the first time in years. I'm very optimistic for the future, it's excruciatingly frustrating sometimes to see this season as a missed opportunity but realistically we are at the upper end of what we are capable of consistently.
Martinez
Targett
Cash
Mings
Konsa
Sanson
McGinn
Grealish
Watkins
Wide right attacker
Center Forward
Subs
Heaton
Hause
Engels
Luiz
Nakamba
Traore
El Ghazi
Barry
Wesley
I think could really shake em up next year.
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The myth about their Traore shows no sign of abating. On the stream I watched the commentator predicted a "torrid" night for Elmo up against him. I've watched him for weeks now and he doesn't get any better. Even our penchant for making duds look world beaters couldn't help him last night.
He's fuckin' useless.
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Molineux mix has gone in to meltdown. Seriously, who do they think they are? They were league one until a few seasons ago.
Molineux mugs more like. And they've got the brass neck to accuse us of being fickle.
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0 league goals and assists in the past 12 months proves to me that Traore has had his best days
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Molineux mix has gone in to meltdown. Seriously, who do they think they are? They were league one until a few seasons ago.
I can still remember when they were falling through stand roofs in Scarborough.
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0 league goals and assists in the past 12 months proves to me that Traore has had his best days
To be fair to him you can't say he hasn't been consistent ;)
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Just hope that Doug has this clever season long plan to show us how good he could be (2020), but drop it down a bit so Pep forgets about him and that buy-back clause.
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Adama Traore is absolutely shite and by and large, always has been. The most impressive thing he has done in his career is deny Hepburn-Murphy a goal at Boro.
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0 league goals and assists in the past 12 months proves to me that Traore has had his best days
He has very limited football intelligence. Just runs in straight lines. To be fair to him and Neto, without Jimenez they might aswell put a traffic cone up front.
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Referred to as Roadrunner on here when he was with us.
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Thinking about the game, I still think that had either of the woodwork efforts gone in, we would have hammered them. It looked good to me in the first half but we seemed to loose confidence in the second. One of those efforts going in would have sparked us into more.
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0 league goals and assists in the past 12 months proves to me that Traore has had his best days
He has very limited football intelligence. Just runs in straight lines. To be fair to him and Neto, without Jimenez they might aswell put a traffic cone up front.
They'd find a way to fit said traffic cone into the back line instead.
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Every week Sky ask how can you stop Adama Traore . It seems to me most teams already have.
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Best 1st half display since the Burnley match, followed by one of the poorest 2nd halves. Yes Wolves improved but they're still a very average side this season, the only Wolves player from yesterday, who would improve us would be Neto, which makes our 2nd half display even more baffling.
Great credit again to Emi, Tyrone and Ezri apart from Man City, those 3 are as good as any in the league, Sanson also did well on his first start, hope he'll be ok for Friday. One of the most concerning aspects of our display was the number of needless free kicks we gave away, particularly on the edge of our box, a better team would have made us pay.
Bigger picture 40 points after 26 games is a great effort, the last time we achieved that this stage of the season would be in the Martin O'Neill days.
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Referred to as Roadrunner on here when he was with us.
He doesn't even do much running these days.
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Every week Sky ask how can you stop Adama Traore . It seems to me most teams already have.
Even his lubricated arms couldn't help him yesterday. There are no awards for being the most slippery player in the league.
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Lol.
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He's now a no trick pony
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0 league goals and assists in the past 12 months proves to me that Traore has had his best days
He hit a tremendous shot against Leeds the other week that hit the bar, then off the keeper's arse and in. Pretty harsh he didn't get a credit for the goal or the assist!
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Best 1st half display since the Burnley match, followeid by one of the poorest 2nd halves. Yes Wolves improved but they're still a very average side this season, the only Wolves player from yesterday, who would improve us would be Neto, which makes our 2nd half display even more baffling.
Great credit again to Emi, Tyrone and Ezri apart from Man City, those 3 are as good as any in the league, Sanson also did well on his first start, hope he'll be ok for Friday. One of the most concerning aspects of our display was the number of needless free kicks we gave away, particularly on the edge of our box, a better team would have made us pay.
Bigger picture 40 points after 26 games is a great effort, the last time we achieved that this stage of the season would be in the Martin O'Neill days.
Agree Lew. We look a far more defensively solid side this season, which is reflected in the number of clean sheets we have kept. I still think we could just do with a solid central midfielder with a bit of height to help at set pieces, and then we can focus on adding real quality in the final third in the summer.
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The energy rates were high first half yesterday. Wolves were faster to everything after the break and their passing was better - and once Barkley was on the pace from Villa never picked up. If we’d have put Ramsey on earlier instead it might have made the difference.
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They are absolutely excruciating to watch though.
And what's with Neto? Angry, angry young man.
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I think this is the least frustrating year in 11 seasons.
*late reply alert* Ha, point taken. Still a marvellous season. Jesus though, yesterday was an absolute torment.
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They are absolutely excruciating to watch though.
And what's with Neto? Angry, angry young man.
Clearly realised he'd joined the wrong club.
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Second half wasn’t great which clouds the first half where I thought we were pretty decent, probably the best attacking play we’ve managed without Jack. Our defensive progression remains remarkable.
If you’d offered me 40 points with 12 games to go back at the start of the season I’d have ripped your arm off. Easy to get frustrated with the inconsistency but second year back and we already look like a decent mid-table side. Play the market well in the summer and we can kick on again.
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While we won’t finish the season with 76 points if we get half of the remaining 36 on offer to get to 58 or so it will have been a tremendous campaign. And even that will be a tall order with us still having to play Spurs and Everton twice, Liverpool, Man City and Man U. I can see us finishing with 52 or 53.
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While we won’t finish the season with 76 points if we get half of the remaining 36 on offer to get to 58 or so it will have been a tremendous campaign. And even that will be a tall order with us still having to play Spurs and Everton twice, Liverpool, Man City and Man U. I can see us finishing with 52 or 53.
That's like 3 wins in 12! I'd hope we get more than that.
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While we won’t finish the season with 76 points if we get half of the remaining 36 on offer to get to 58 or so it will have been a tremendous campaign. And even that will be a tall order with us still having to play Spurs and Everton twice, Liverpool, Man City and Man U. I can see us finishing with 52 or 53.
That's like 3 wins in 12! I'd hope we get more than that.
Oh so do I. I was just being typical Villa fan. But I’m sure we will win a few, draw some and lose a couple in that. High 50’s would be great if we can get there. It just concerns me that the goals have really dried up.
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High 50s would, let's be honest, exceed any reasonable expectations we had going into the season, and would be magnificent. But we do need Jack back.
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The energy rates were high first half yesterday. Wolves were faster to everything after the break and their passing was better - and once Barkley was on the pace from Villa never picked up. If we’d have put Ramsey on earlier instead it might have made the difference.
Ramsey was sharp I thought when he came in.
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The energy rates were high first half yesterday. Wolves were faster to everything after the break and their passing was better - and once Barkley was on the pace from Villa never picked up. If we’d have put Ramsey on earlier instead it might have made the difference.
Ramsey was sharp I thought when he came in.
That’s what I mean, maybe with his energy levels we’d have got a foothold in that second half as opposed to being on the back foot.
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Biggest disappointment was the inability to win any 2nd phase ball. We slung loads of balls into the box b failed to pick up much possession when it was cleared.
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Second half wasn’t great which clouds the first half where I thought we were pretty decent, probably the best attacking play we’ve managed without Jack. Our defensive progression remains remarkable.
If you’d offered me 40 points with 12 games to go back at the start of the season I’d have ripped your arm off. Easy to get frustrated with the inconsistency but second year back and we already look like a decent mid-table side. Play the market well in the summer and we can kick on again.
Agree Matt. I think part of the inconsistency comes from us still not having the strength in depth to mix at the higher reaches of the table where we have found ourselves.
Seeing the marked improvement this season though, I am
confident decisions will be made over the summer that will move us on again next season.
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A big positive for me amongst all the frustration is our defence has tightened up. They say all good teams build from the back.
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Disappointed with the way we played in a poor game - we seemed to have 1 tactic - pass, boot or launch the ball down the pitch in behind their wing backs
Jack seemed more interested in his phone than watching the game (I also could not wait for the game to be over and watch something else on another channel)
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Disappointed with the way we played in a poor game - we seemed to have 1 tactic - pass, boot or launch the ball down the pitch in behind their wing backs
Jack seemed more interested in his phone than watching the game (I also could not wait for the game to be over and watch something else on another channel)
Only when bugger all was happening, which was most of the 2nd half.
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He could have made his boredom look more realistic by going to get a balti pie and chips, and making Cashy stand up twice to let him past.
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He could have made his boredom look more realistic by going to get a balti pie and chips, and making Cashy stand up twice to let him past.
Or staring blankly into space, followed by shouting aggressively ‘do something’ in the vague direction of the pitch