Heroes & Villains, the Aston Villa fanzine
Heroes & Villains => Match Threads & Player Ratings => Topic started by: Steve67 on November 20, 2021, 04:54:58 PM
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What a great last 15 minutes!! Up and running.
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O.k in first half, thought we were poor in second. Then came alive after Ollie's nice solo goal.
Huge 3 points. 3 points off Spurs, 4 off Man. United. We'd have all taken that in August at this stage of the season wouldn't we.....
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Defended well
McGinn excellent.
Buendina poor, needs a break
We’re we great? No. We’re we better than we have been ? Hell yes.
Class finishes from Ollie and Tyrone !!
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That second was all about Tyrone. Determination in the challenge in the line, then a cracking finish with his weaker foot. I'm happy. So happy.
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Thank McGrath for that.
Ollie has me worried, big drop off compared to last season. But that's hopefully him up and running now.
If it needs to be just him up top and Ings coming off the bench as required, so be it.
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We fought, I’m happy.
UTV - enjoy the weekend everyone!
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Difficult team to beat, in form, was always going to be hard, on the other hand Villa needed this to find some form, great start for Stevie G, I think its fair to say the board must not shy away from this, SG must have a sizeable fund in the next transfer window, we can still get back to achieving what the season's targets was.
Well done Villa.
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win, Watkins goal, clean sheet, lots of effort and fight - just what the doctor ordered.
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Great to get Gerrard off to a winning start. Clean sheet and two late goals? Couldn't ask for more.
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The defensive shape was so positive to see after what we've witnessed so far this season.
That was really the only thing you could expect to see from Gerrard this early into his tenure, and we did that.
Brighton, despite a lot of possession, didn't really create anything that clear-cut.
Excellent result to bring the confidence back, and keeps us ticking over while Gerrard gets more time with the players. Buzzing.
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Two terrific goals. Brighton had lots of the ball but did very little with it. Bailey and Young gave us a bit of spark but the goal from Watkins was fantastic.
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I'd almost forgotten what a win feels like. It's bloody brilliant!
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All very satisfactory. We looked more organised.
Watkins needs to play centrally. Ings needs to be benched.
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Thank you Villa. A much needed win considering other results.
A relaxed evening at Last.
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Was OK. Much more solid. Long way to go though.
7/10 for me.
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The sort of performance that sets Villa Park rocking. Great stuff.
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Get in. All about the result today. And we won.
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Thank McGrath for that.
Ollie has me worried, big drop off compared to last season. But that's hopefully him up and running now.
If it needs to be just him up top and Ings coming off the bench as required, so be it.
He played well after the goal, think it's all about confidence with him.
Can see Ings on the bench at Palace.
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Well done Villa, superb goal from Ollie.
Stevie Gerrard's Claret and Blue Army!
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They dominated the ball but barely created a thing. Nothing wrong with that, defending with the ball is fair enough and I wish we'd do it more. But we always looked more dynamic, if more clumsy, in attack, and we finally got a counterattack to click and boom. I thought we did look different at the beginning of both halves, which suggests Gerrard and co have a good set of ideas which haven't quite bedded in. But that'll come - today was a great start.
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On 80 minutes I put £5 on Watkins to score first goal…….thank you.
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Absolute scenes. Edens and Sawiris here today, and they went absolutely mental at both goals. Usain Bolt was also in attendance and also went ballistic. Must be the Ross McCormack influence…
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Gerrard clearly has them motivated, not a great surprise but definitely a welcomed improvement. There's bite to their challenges too.
McGinn's best game for a long time, Mings too, both top drawer.
Buendia was poor and ineffective, Nakamba a bit panicked in possession.
Ashley did well when he came on, great composure and passing.
Good job all round.
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Absolute scenes. Edens and Sawiris here today, and they went absolutely mental at both goals. Usain Bolt was also in attendance and also went ballistic. Must be the Ross McCormack influence…
Is this a joke? Why would Bolt be there?
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I was reasonably pleased even at 0-0 because it was a much more disciplined performance by us. Sure, Brighton had a lot of the ball - it's what they do - but we kept our shape very well and limited their options.
Awesome last 15.
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Absolute scenes. Edens and Sawiris here today, and they went absolutely mental at both goals. Usain Bolt was also in attendance and also went ballistic. Must be the Ross McCormack influence…
Is this a joke? Why would Bolt be there?
close friend of Bailey
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First time I've watched a full match this season, and we did well to get those three points as Brighton knock it around really nicely.
They've no cutting edge, however, but nice to see us looking more solid at the back.
Bissouma looks a player, as does Lamptey.
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Absolute scenes. Edens and Sawiris here today, and they went absolutely mental at both goals. Usain Bolt was also in attendance and also went ballistic. Must be the Ross McCormack influence…
Is this a joke? Why would Bolt be there?
No idea, but he was.
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Absolute scenes. Edens and Sawiris here today, and they went absolutely mental at both goals. Usain Bolt was also in attendance and also went ballistic. Must be the Ross McCormack influence…
Is this a joke? Why would Bolt be there?
Good mates with Bailey
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Thanks lads, well hope he enjoyed it. Didn't see anything on his Twitter feed about us.
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All very satisfactory. We looked more organised.
Watkins needs to play centrally. Ings needs to be benched.
That's it for me too. Ings and Watkins simply cannot play together, Watkins was woeful on left wing. Thought we were very average in truth and indebted to a couple of big saves from Martinez. Brighton had no cutting edge up top but did have the two best players by a distance on the pitch (Bissouma and Lamptey).
Give Gerrard credit, his subs changed the game. Particularly the much maligned Ashley Young in his midfield general role! Massive 3 points but only more evidence that Ings and Buendia look expensive mistakes.
Martinez 7, Cash 7, Konsa 7, Mings 8, Targett 7, Nakamba 6, McGinn 7, Ramsey 5 (AEG 7), Buendia 4 (Young 8), Ings 4 (Bailey 6), Watkins 6.
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Absolute scenes. Edens and Sawiris here today, and they went absolutely mental at both goals. Usain Bolt was also in attendance and also went ballistic. Must be the Ross McCormack influence…
Is this a joke? Why would Bolt be there?
Mates with Bailey innit.
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They dominated the ball but barely created a thing. Nothing wrong with that, defending with the ball is fair enough and I wish we'd do it more. But we always looked more dynamic, if more clumsy, in attack, and we finally got a counterattack to click and boom. I thought we did look different at the beginning of both halves, which suggests Gerrard and co have a good set of ideas which haven't quite bedded in. But that'll come - today was a great start.
Incredible when I looked at live table at 0-0 and it had Brighton on 18 points. They haven't won since middle of September so no idea who they picked up points against.
Same problems as ever for them, no cutting edge in final third. Lamptey is a good player though.
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Wasn't impressed with Buendia at all. Where's his best position meant to be?
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First time I've watched a full match this season, and we did well to get those three points as Brighton knock it around really nicely.
They've no cutting edge, however, but nice to see us looking more solid at the back.
Bissouma looks a player, as does Lamptey.
Where have you been the moon?
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They dominated the ball but barely created a thing. Nothing wrong with that, defending with the ball is fair enough and I wish we'd do it more. But we always looked more dynamic, if more clumsy, in attack, and we finally got a counterattack to click and boom. I thought we did look different at the beginning of both halves, which suggests Gerrard and co have a good set of ideas which haven't quite bedded in. But that'll come - today was a great start.
Incredible when I looked at live table at 0-0 and it had Brighton on 18 points. They haven't won since middle of September so no idea who they picked up points against.
Same problems as ever for them, no cutting edge in final third. Lamptey is a good player though.
V impressed with them today as I was last season.
I always wonder about sides who look good in possession against us, mind.
We can make Barnsley or Reading look like Real Madrid.
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https://twitter.com/willjonesavfc1/status/1462105924659781636?s=20
Bolt ^^^
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Wasn't impressed with Buendia at all. Where's his best position meant to be?
Norwich.
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Wasn't impressed with Buendia at all. Where's his best position meant to be?
Norwich.
😃. not funny 😄
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Much much tighter at the back. Other than one bad ball Mings just kept it simple. Great substitutions at the right time. Stevìe G’s Claret and Blue Army!
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Top new manager bounceability. Result better than the performance. Nowt we can do about the midfield problem till Jan, but Mr Gerrard please drop the Ings and play our centre forward there 8)
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First time I've watched a full match this season, and we did well to get those three points as Brighton knock it around really nicely.
They've no cutting edge, however, but nice to see us looking more solid at the back.
Bissouma looks a player, as does Lamptey.
Where have you been the moon?
with william shatner , why?
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Happy with that. We needed all 3
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I thought McGinn and Mings were brilliant and lead by example. Young rolled back the years at the end as well.
We kept our shape the whole match, even when we lost the ball, which we often do, we had players on position without having players running around all over the place to make amends. Definitely more organised and we're much more suited to four at the back.
What a great end to a game, Marvelous with the challenge, superb composer by Young and what a finish from Ollie. Fantastic goal Mings, get in there!
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Axel are you back, where have you been ?
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Owners happy then
(https://i.ibb.co/YBV3Hzv/B51-B99-C0-2-B62-45-F4-B93-D-B645-EA8354-EC.jpg) (https://ibb.co/YBV3Hzv)
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Not vintage by any means, but this was all about getting three point's. For all the hype about Potter, not sure Brighton were that great. Loads of the ball, but not ruthless enough
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Oh my God, Oh my God this feeling's just begun!
Villa score, the fans all sing
Winning games is so much fun.
Pleased for Tyrone...captain, clean sheet and goal.
Pleased also for Ollie. When played central he's always a danger and as we know from last season it's like Villa are playing with an extra player, he covers so much ground. UTV!
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I thought Buendia was OK, not hiding, short passing lively. Not a winger.
Nakamba was good too.l
I like Ings as a striker, and he’s proved that, but I’d rather Ollie play centrally.
For me, the best part was the first goal, sitting on the settee watching a hooky feed with my younger daughter, who is 30 but six months or so into a) Football b) Villa. She went bananas, an amazing victory dance, high-fiving her old Dad. She never believed we wouldn’t win.
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First time I've watched a full match this season, and we did well to get those three points as Brighton knock it around really nicely.
They've no cutting edge, however, but nice to see us looking more solid at the back.
Bissouma looks a player, as does Lamptey.
Agreed. I was very impressed with the technical quality of all of their players and how they move the ball around. Their full backs/wing backs give then so much and stretched us across the park. Thankfully they're pants up front.
Maybe they made us look poorer than we are but it's goals that count and Ollie's, who had been pretty much pants himself out on the left for most of the game, completely changed the game. After five defeats and no real system ingrained in our play, it was no surprise we didn't really look like doing anything other than in the first few minutes of each half.
Just as important as the 3 points today is the confidence the win will bring to the squad. You only had to watch the last 10-15 minutes to see what a bit of self belief can do, especially in a league where very fine lines define the difference.
MOTM: John McGinn; Honourable Mentions to the defence including Targett who really had his hands full today plus Ramsey who is showing great promise and certainly not looking out of place.
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Still can't believe we've Actually Won A Game Again!
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Ramsey was standing at the back of the goal at the Holte End when the first went in, joined in with the celebrations! Brilliant.
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Axel are you back, where have you been ?
Haha. Hello mate. Had a bit of a break from all things Villa and football in general. I blame boring Southgate and Grealish :)
The whole Grealish saga left a very bitter taste in my mouth, and fucked me off royally. The little bastard. Plus trying to read anything Villa related on twitter and having to sift through comments from fans of bitter boring clubs like Wolves and Arsenal just got tiresome.
Anyway, 3 points and up the fucking Villa. Hope you're well, fella!
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Great start, onwards and upwards etc. Well done Villa.
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I was reasonably pleased even at 0-0 because it was a much more disciplined performance by us. Sure, Brighton had a lot of the ball - it's what they do - but we kept our shape very well and limited their options.
Awesome last 15.
This for me too. Apart from a couple of brief lulls I enjoyed the game and got into it, which means I enjoyed the goals all the more.
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Much improved. I like the aggresion, intensity and one touch football we are trying to play. Never really had that under smith.
Thought mcginn was great. Konsa and emi great.
My mot was ash youbg. He was brilliant
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Owners happy then
(https://i.ibb.co/YBV3Hzv/B51-B99-C0-2-B62-45-F4-B93-D-B645-EA8354-EC.jpg) (https://ibb.co/YBV3Hzv)
Is that Bielsa there at the back next to Lange?
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That'll do for me, la. UTSGV!
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After 5 defeats on the spin and not much time for Gerrard to yet instil everything I'm sure he wants, that's a great performance. To be honest, grinding a 0-0 would have been okay to steady the ship, but grabbing the win is gonna be a great boost going into next week and a difficult set of upcoming fixtures.
Hopefully Gerrard will figure the Buendia conundrum, but I'd be inclined to give Emi2 a break so we can see what Bailey can offer (who will hopefully be tip top by next week).
McGinn will be absolutely key if he can flourish again. I think having a clear idea of his role in the side will help. Additionally, Mings may well sharpen up, knowing he's playing for his place again (and again, if we're better prepared defensively that will also help). Both were great today.
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Is that Bielsa there at the back next to Lange?
Could be, I was wondering why they'd relegated Prince William to the stand above.
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https://youtu.be/Wd_5m7lJ7nQ
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Turgid for large parts and we were chasing shadows every time we carelessly gave the ball away. Fair play to Ollie for taking the game by the scruff of the neck though. Sometimes, that's all it takes to cut through a patient, passing side who lack penetration.
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Today was a good example of what I was getting at on the 'possession-based team' thing. They had loads of the ball but created fuck all whereas we looked dangerous even though we weren't particularly fluent in the final 3rd and, in the end, they were using the possession as a defensive tactic to slow the game down to a level they could cope with.
Mings as man of the match by a long way for me, that's 2 proper captains performances in a row from him, if Gerrard can keep him at this level there's no debate about who should be the captain.
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Superb. Much better defensively, there was a lovely shape to the team today and for all Brighton’s possession they did absolutely fuck all with it, did they have a shot in the second half? Thought we lacked a touch of fluency but really kicked on on those last 15 minutes. Gerrards subs much better than Potters.
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Owners happy then
(https://i.ibb.co/YBV3Hzv/B51-B99-C0-2-B62-45-F4-B93-D-B645-EA8354-EC.jpg) (https://ibb.co/YBV3Hzv)
Is that Bielsa there at the back next to Lange?
No he’s smiling.
Great last 15, nice to see young come on and look more like his old self.
Solid back four
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Good win today. It looked as if we were going to grind out a 0-0 draw , which tbh I would have been perfectly happy with , but Ollie’s screamer was hopefully a turning point in our season and his. Great credit to Tyrone too , captain’s performance and a striker’s finish !
Good that the new manager has got off to a winning start. As did Norwich’s .
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Brighton had one chance which Martinez dealt with easily. We had the better chances.
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Huge to get a clean sheet today, I’d have taken nil all at half time. Great that some of our senior players stepped up and showed their best form. Well done all, great start Steven, let’s keep the ball rolling and start climbing the table.
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Much improved. I like the aggresion, intensity and one touch football we are trying to play. Never really had that under smith.
Thought mcginn was great. Konsa and emi great.
My mot was ash youbg. He was brilliant
No , we were so passive when we hammered Liverpool.
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Ramsey MOTM for me today. A proper all action display.
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McGinn was top drawer today and convincingly MoTM. Mings really good too. Watkins - more of that please! Maybe he just can't play with another centre forward - it does happen. Took his goal really really well, but looked a much better player when Ings went off.
Buendia is a bit of a worry at the moment. He had one moment of real quality sliding that ball in for Ings (who's first touch was too heavy) in the first half. That aside, he looked a bit lost and the ball never seemed to stick with him. Trying too hard maybe.
Bissouma was brilliant I thought - we could do much worse that signing him.
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Bright start, largely second best for the next 70 minutes and then a heady last ten minutes, the kind of which is the reason we all love the game.
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Phew. Pretty ropey at times, but a great passage of play at the end of the game to win. The win was vital.
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Bright start, largely second best for the next 70 minutes and then a heady last ten minutes, the kind of which is the reason we all love the game.
I suppose it illustrated that Brighton are a good side and that we have a talented squad with match winners in it, but have away to go before being able to say we have cohesive / recognisable plan. The result was the most important thing - Gerrard's only had a few days. That could've been used as an excuse had we lost, but in fact we won.
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Great to get a win, still a lot of work to do - but a clean sheet is massive and the confidence should continue to rebuild.
Also good that there we're big performances from our "big" players.
I have no idea what we do with Ings, Bailey, and Emi2 - clearly all capable players but not sure if it will happen for any of them here. Early days still I guess.
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I didn’t think Watkins did at all well until Ings went down off.
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I didn’t think Watkins did at all well until Ings went down off.
Watkins was poor until the changes - turned it round when he went up top.
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Nakamba gave us the bite in midfield,as most have said Watkins has to play central, looks a different player. Groaned when Ash Young came on but he gave us that little bit of quality and Bailey will become the new pin up boy. Confidence is everything and after the first they all grew a few inches.
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Mr. Gerrard needs to make the decision about Ings and Watkins that Smith wouldn't. It's one or the other not both. I'm in the Watkins camp.
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Owners happy then
(https://i.ibb.co/YBV3Hzv/B51-B99-C0-2-B62-45-F4-B93-D-B645-EA8354-EC.jpg) (https://ibb.co/YBV3Hzv)
Who's Purslow flipping off?
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Mr. Gerrard needs to make the decision about Ings and Watkins that Smith wouldn't. It's one or the other not both. I'm in the Watkins camp.
Watkins all day long.
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Mr. Gerrard needs to make the decision about Ings and Watkins that Smith wouldn't. It's one or the other not both. I'm in the Watkins camp.
Watkins all day long.
Ings not being a Gerrard signing makes it an easier decision to make.
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Much improved. I like the aggresion, intensity and one touch football we are trying to play. Never really had that under smith.
Thought mcginn was great. Konsa and emi great.
My mot was ash youbg. He was brilliant
No , we were so passive when we hammered Liverpool.
We weren't aggressive in that game at all. Just sheer brilliant.
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Tuesday at BMH:
One of you starts v Palace, the other is on the bench.
What you do in the training decides.
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My little girl's first game, she absolutely loved the last 15mins or so. Also my first game in ages, forgot how much I love Villa Park, and my dad's first for a long while.
Think there's plenty of reasons for optimism. Buendia was underwhelming for me. Watkins ace, particularly as a lone striker. Bailey is a ridiculous player, I love him. SJM MOTM.
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Nearly lost my voice in the last ten minutes, huge result from a so so performance. The substitutions worked well, Matty Cash was my man of the match but the defence looked solid. Emi was poor.
I like the way Graham Potters team play, it looked like they had a man spare on the wings a lot of the time but didn't really threaten us to much.
That result will give much needed confidencve to the players.
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That was a good result against a good footballing side. Emi made 2 fabulous saves first half and their keeper kept them in the game with a great save from Ty. Can enjoy the rest of the weekend now.
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Mr. Gerrard needs to make the decision about Ings and Watkins that Smith wouldn't. It's one or the other not both. I'm in the Watkins camp.
Watkins all day long.
Ings not being a Gerrard signing makes it an easier decision to make.
I know I'm like a broken record, but Ings wasn't a Smith signing either.
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Much improved. I like the aggresion, intensity and one touch football we are trying to play. Never really had that under smith.
Thought mcginn was great. Konsa and emi great.
My mot was ash youbg. He was brilliant
No , we were so passive when we hammered Liverpool.
Agree, a complete re writing of history
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No long throws, not too many long hoofs forward, subs that changed the game, 2 good goals and Neil Diamond bringing the house down.
Very satisfactory and a smile on our faces for a change.
Long may it continue.
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I remain unconvinced by Buendia, just doesn’t look like a Premier League player.
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Nice 3 points.
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No long throws, not too many long hoofs forward, subs that changed the game, 2 good goals and Neil Diamond bringing the house down.
Very satisfactory and a smile on our faces for a change.
Long may it continue.
I will go to my grave believing Neil Diamond is not the right person to demolish the North Stand.
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I remain unconvinced by Buendia, just doesn’t look like a Premier League player.
I didn't see the game today, but I agree with you (again, which is a worry!)
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It’s been said several times already in this thread, but can we just ask Brighton to name their price for Bissouma? What a player. Exactly the player that would take us to the next level.
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The thing is Buendia has done it in the Premier League before, with a weaker side. I wouldn’t write him off.
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Clearly went out with instructions to let Brighton play their possession based football, but ensure they don't have a clear way into the box.
Our shape for most of the time was well defined and only when a player strayed out of position, or lost out in a defining tackle, did we chase the ball.
Defended and attacked as a team, not as individuals.
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The thing is Buendia has done it in the Premier League before, with a weaker side. I wouldn’t write him off.
Buendia looks knackered. Thought he tried but hes tired. Thought we looked more organised and Ollie is better when Ings isn't on.
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Mr. Gerrard needs to make the decision about Ings and Watkins that Smith wouldn't. It's one or the other not both. I'm in the Watkins camp.
Watkins all day long.
Ings not being a Gerrard signing makes it an easier decision to make.
I know I'm like a broken record, but Ings wasn't a Smith signing either.
Exactly - i dont think Dean was given much help with the summer business
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It’s been said several times already in this thread, but can we just ask Brighton to name their price for Bissouma? What a player. Exactly the player that would take us to the next level.
Doesn't he have court case hanging over him?
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For my part, for most of the match, I found it really boring. Would have settled for 0-0 but, we came good in last 10 minutes. Hope that result will lift all our players, most of them have so much more to give. Keep the faith, we’ll get to where we want to be.
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The thing is Buendia has done it in the Premier League before, with a weaker side. I wouldn’t write him off.
Buendia looks knackered. Thought he tried but hes tired.
Because (As against Southampton) his pressing is very much 'dog chasing a ball'. He chases absolutely everything, even ones that are comple lost causes. Hopefully our coaching staff can get him to adapt when to press and when to conserve energy.
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For my part, for most of the match, I found it really boring.
I think its going to be like this for a few months to be honest while he gets to grips with things and the players adapt to SG's methods and what he wants. The defence did look back to last seasons form though.
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For my part, for most of the match, I found it really boring. Would have settled for 0-0 but, we came good in last 10 minutes. Hope that result will lift all our players, most of them have so much more to give. Keep the faith, we’ll get to where we want to be.
At the risk of this coming across the wrong way (and I didn't see it), but it sounds like the kind of game that "big clubs" win. Don't play that well and steal it at the end. Maybe he brings that with him.
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Rare for me to sing El Ghazi's praises but he really made an impact today coming off the bench. Great run to open up a bit of space for Ollie to cut inside and score. I honestly believe he's better without the ball than with it. ;)
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I think there's a good player there. But he seems to be putting too much pressure on himself. Probably needs to relax and just try to enjoy his football.
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A few big performances today. Mings excellent, Targett very good especially having Lamptey run at him but thought he dealt with him very well indeed. Cash continues to impress. Buendia workrate first 20 mins impressive but a few misplaced passes and the head dropped - I remain unconvinced but hope he comes good. Brighton we’re pretty but toothless - always thought a goal would spark us into life as it proved. Gerrard has been class all week, even those that haven’t been keen must have been impressed by the interviews he’s given plus at the end of the game I thought he was first class, asking the players to go and thank the fans and standing there taking no adulation - happy for the players to have it. I thought that was class. UTFV
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Today was a good example of what I was getting at on the 'possession-based team' thing. They had loads of the ball but created fuck all whereas we looked dangerous even though we weren't particularly fluent in the final 3rd and, in the end, they were using the possession as a defensive tactic to slow the game down to a level they could cope with.
Mings as man of the match by a long way for me, that's 2 proper captains performances in a row from him, if Gerrard can keep him at this level there's no debate about who should be the captain.
They spent an hour trying to get us to chase out wide, so they could play through the space in the middle, and as we flat out refused to they had nothing else, and we cut them to ribbons in the last quarter.
Our team were coached to do that in just this week. That's tactical awareness for you
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Aston Villa 2-0 Brighton: 'If anyone doubts me watch me after those goals', says Steven Gerrard - https://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/football/59362296
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Not really like that Paddy. Up to the 75th minute it was dire stuff. Gerrard's substitutions were right on the money. Bringing on direct running Ash and El Ghazi and letting Ollie be the point of the spear improved the last quarter of an hour out of all recognition. The traffic home was gridlocked all the way past Coventry. A big five car shunt mostly responsible. Two of the cars jnvolved were the same make and model that Mr Rissbrook drives so I hope you are alright Martin.
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Special mention as well for a brilliant cameo from Young for the last quarter, exactly what was required.
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It’s been said several times already in this thread, but can we just ask Brighton to name their price for Bissouma? What a player. Exactly the player that would take us to the next level.
Yes thought he was good today and that's exactly the type we need sitting infront of our defence.
Think he has something to resolve off the pitch though in coming months so might be best to wait until then.
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Poor game but a win is a win onwards and upwards i hope
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I remain unconvinced by Buendia, just doesn’t look like a Premier League player.
Doesn't protect the ball well enough for me. His predecessor in the number 10 jersey was a master at that. At very worst he was drawing a foul. Buendia just keeps giving the ball away under contact.
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Much improved. I like the aggresion, intensity and one touch football we are trying to play. Never really had that under smith.
I am pleased we won but that's just rubbish. We were very ordinary, cumbersome and outplayed by Brighton for about 80 mins. We had some fantastic football under Dean Smith.
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All very satisfactory. We looked more organised.
Watkins needs to play centrally. Ings needs to be benched.
That's it for me too. Ings and Watkins simply cannot play together, Watkins was woeful on left wing. Thought we were very average in truth and indebted to a couple of big saves from Martinez. Brighton had no cutting edge up top but did have the two best players by a distance on the pitch (Bissouma and Lamptey).
Give Gerrard credit, his subs changed the game. Particularly the much maligned Ashley Young in his midfield general role! Massive 3 points but only more evidence that Ings and Buendia look expensive mistakes.
Martinez 7, Cash 7, Konsa 7, Mings 8, Targett 7, Nakamba 6, McGinn 7, Ramsey 5 (AEG 7), Buendia 4 (Young 8), Ings 4 (Bailey 6), Watkins 6.
Ramsey 5 wow - he was our best player 1st half had a very decent game
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Brighton are very much in the “all fart and no shit” category when it comes to possession based football. It must be very frustrating to watch - imagine having over 60% of the ball and only 2 shots on target. Having your midfield and defence knock it around amongst themselves playing one-touch looks nice, but it’s not very effective unless it moves the opposition out of position, and our positional discipline was generally very good today.
Great to see Ollie back firing, but the clean sheet was most important thing today I think. Back four were great, but helped by a much better team shape ahead of them. Sure, it can look a bit defensive at times, but it works, clearly.
Bailey looks like he’ll be nightmare to play against, and when our team can read him a little better I think we’ll see him really lighting up this league.
Brilliant first day of the SG reign, even if the performance itself wasn’t brilliant. I’m excited to see what comes next!
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Me thinks we looked well organised and with belief. We didnt lack belief under Dean either though, xcept for the Soton game perhaps. The system with "narrow wingers " seems effective. That interview with Gerrard at the bbc link here - impressive i have to say. Watkins at his best with his play for his goal - pure joy to watch. Defence was good, the full backs will have å lot to do and be very important in Gerrards system it seems. Nakamba didnt play himself into our midfield for the future with that performance either. McGinn - impressive. I hope Buendia will find his role and come good - I like his type of player. Thanx.
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The thing is Buendia has done it in the Premier League before, with a weaker side. I wouldn’t write him off.
Buendia looks knackered. Thought he tried but hes tired. Thought we looked more organised and Ollie is better when Ings isn't on.
You keep seeing flashes of a really good player but the rest of the time he was no where near good enough.
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Interesting comments from Watkins.
“It has been intense & the standards have gone up. That’s no disrespect to Dean Smith but he’s (Gerrard) brought in some new rules & everybody was on it. I’d be here all day if I was to say them all, there’s quite a few."
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Very pleased with this journey back up the M6!
Positives
Felt we pressed the spaces better and were more aggressive off the ball.
Lots of blocks and tackles, really denying them anything in the way of an attempt at goal. I can't recall them having anything resembling a chance 2nd half.
Nice shape about us too.
We do look much better with a bit of space to work in and looked very dangerous on the break.
Mings doing the simple thing and looking good at it. The full backs being very advanced. Targett coping well defensively with Lamperty too. That's the first time our back 4 have played together since August as a 4.
Good goal from Ollie and deserved winners in the end.
Thought the manager did well with subs at the right time too.
Negatives
Nakamba really shows what Dougie brings with his ability on the ball. It's just panic stations. We tried to play out, but without our Brazilian steering wheel (as they'd call it) it's tough.
McGinn played well, but it was him giving it away (again) in the first half that created that back to back chance in the same phase for Brighton.
Ings, we need to find a better way of getting him into games.
Buendia is a funny one. High energy off the ball, lovely through pass and obviously has bags of quality. Just not quite clicking.
Clearly a lot to work on and from. We know we have a good squad, we know its deficient in a couple of areas, but we've just blown some confidence into ourselves which hopefully adds a different sort of consistency to our play.
There was a real grim determination underlying what we did today. Not much of it pretty or coming off all the while, save the last 10, but it showed a level. Bodies on the line, high energy, you'll create a chance never mind score over my dead body. I really liked that from us.
A word on the opposition. Bissouma is a good player, but I felt he was consistently lucky to get away with hacking the man down en route to the ball time and time again.
Potter also demonstrates why I categorically did not want him as a manager. He's Tony Mowbray with a beard.
There cannot be a side more dull to watch. Brighton are utterly tedious in their endless, pedestrian, lateral passes. They create nothing. They have no forward on the pitch and take off their main outlet when they do put one on. They're dire in the final third.
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Interesting comments from Watkins.
“It has been intense & the standards have gone up. That’s no disrespect to Dean Smith but he’s (Gerrard) brought in some new rules & everybody was on it. I’d be here all day if I was to say them all, there’s quite a few."
That is really interesting, disciplinarian then.
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Interesting comments from Watkins.
“It has been intense & the standards have gone up. That’s no disrespect to Dean Smith but he’s (Gerrard) brought in some new rules & everybody was on it. I’d be here all day if I was to say them all, there’s quite a few."
That is really interesting, disciplinarian then.
l don’t they (him and GM ) are here to piss about.
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Well said Ads, Brighton just have no cutting edge. Possession for the sake of it. Boring, boring Brighton.
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Aston fuckin villa I love you...My 92 year old father who is very close to departing this earth. Well you made his day and brought a smile to his face. VTID. Thank you Villa. I fuckin love you.
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Bissouma dozily got caught in possession a couple of times too. Can't see what the fuss is about with him, tbh.
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Well said Ads, Brighton just have no cutting edge. Possession for the sake of it. Boring, boring Brighton.
it’s choreographed low risk football.
But as Ads says, very dull.
There was a point in the second half that we seemed to have run out of ideas and I think they want to frustrate and then pick you off. We went aggressive and went at them and they were undone.
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Interesting comments from Watkins.
“It has been intense & the standards have gone up. That’s no disrespect to Dean Smith but he’s (Gerrard) brought in some new rules & everybody was on it. I’d be here all day if I was to say them all, there’s quite a few."
That is really interesting, disciplinarian then.
l don’t they (him and GM ) are here to piss about.
Certainly seems to suggest Smith's approach was a little more laid back and relaxed
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Ramsey was excellent, as was McGinn. Konsa and Mings looked very secure. Targett is a superb defender - his timing is very well judged.
Buendia ... ahhhh, Buendia! he WILL be good for us; he has the vision and the movement, even if he looks lightweight under pressure.
Young's involvement made a difference, in terms of decision-making, and his pass for Watkins was sublime.
Nakamba was a bit of a rollercoaster, but he did okay.
Watkins: I'll admit that as the move progressed I was shouting that he should play in AEG; obv. glad he didn't now but his game needs to appreciate the movement around him better.
An interesting and motivating day at VP today.
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I thought Targett was very good today, certainly at the defending part.
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Aston fuckin villa I love you...My 92 year old father who is very close to departing this earth. Well you made his day and brought a smile to his face. VTID. Thank you Villa. I fuckin love you.
Wishing you and yours the very best, mate. I'm glad that Villa were able to lift your father with a win - brilliant! UTV.
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Interesting comments from Watkins.
“It has been intense & the standards have gone up. That’s no disrespect to Dean Smith but he’s (Gerrard) brought in some new rules & everybody was on it. I’d be here all day if I was to say them all, there’s quite a few."
That is really interesting, disciplinarian then.
Thing is I think either approach is fine when it’s working, but when it’s not it gets pulled apart. When the approach is relaxed and you’re winning you hear all the stuff like it gives players freedom to express themselves etc. But when you’re struggling people say there isn’t enough discipline. Conversely when you have a disciplined approach and you’re winning people will say it gives the players structure and a clear identity. But when you’re losing you start to hear things like players are banned from having ketchup and it’s made to sound petty.
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Interesting comments from Watkins.
“It has been intense & the standards have gone up. That’s no disrespect to Dean Smith but he’s (Gerrard) brought in some new rules & everybody was on it. I’d be here all day if I was to say them all, there’s quite a few."
That is really interesting, disciplinarian then.
Thing is I think either approach is fine when it’s working, but when it’s not it gets pulled apart. When the approach is relaxed and you’re winning you hear all the stuff like it gives players freedom to express themselves etc. But when you’re struggling people say there isn’t enough discipline. Conversely when you have a disciplined approach and you’re winning people will say it gives the players structure and a clear identity. But when you’re losing you start to hear things like players are banned from having ketchup and it’s made to sound petty.
Exactly.
I saw Dean's Norwich press conference and he spoke about the importance of the players enjoying training, and I see the value in that.
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Aston fuckin villa I love you...My 92 year old father who is very close to departing this earth. Well you made his day and brought a smile to his face. VTID. Thank you Villa. I fuckin love you.
So sorry to hear that.
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Aston fuckin villa I love you...My 92 year old father who is very close to departing this earth. Well you made his day and brought a smile to his face. VTID. Thank you Villa. I fuckin love you.
Wishing you and yours the very best, mate. I'm glad that Villa were able to lift your father with a win - brilliant! UTV.
Same here.
A really special post.
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I thought Targett was very good today, certainly at the defending part.
He was and probably won't get tested (or isolated) so much again this season.
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AEG’s run made the chance for Ollie. The defenders either went with AEG or stopped, allowing Ollie the space for the shot.
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Aston fuckin villa I love you...My 92 year old father who is very close to departing this earth. Well you made his day and brought a smile to his face. VTID. Thank you Villa. I fuckin love you.
Wishing you and yours the very best, mate. I'm glad that Villa were able to lift your father with a win - brilliant! UTV.
Same here.
A really special post.
+Several. Wishing you well.
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After 3 diabolical, weak and frankly soft performances I enjoyed that - we fought and earnt a foothold in the game - for me it was a really even, competitive match until the last 10 when we hit our straps. Lovely.
Mings attacking every defensive set piece like prime Laursen was great, when you looked at their land of the giants 3 centre halves (including the one who had to have a sit down every ten minutes) it made sense to have Mings do that whilst the others mixed and matched marking.
Nakamba was excellent-tackling, harrying moving it on to better players to use. Ramsey I also thought did very well.
Hopefully that goal fires Watkins….really need that spark for Buendia now, a goal or assist to go with his work rate and he’ll be off and running.
Weird refereeing performance, seemed to be letting a lot go and it felt like the crowd got him to finally book the Joe Wicks tribute act when he wasn’t going to initially
Expect the u23 game on Monday to be fun now, a lot of those youngsters getting a first chance to impress, particularly those that were away with international squads last week so lost the opportunity to impress Gerrard in week one.
Hopefully we take that last ten minutes into the Palace game, another 3 points will release the pressure a bit.
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Interesting comments from Watkins.
“It has been intense & the standards have gone up. That’s no disrespect to Dean Smith but he’s (Gerrard) brought in some new rules & everybody was on it. I’d be here all day if I was to say them all, there’s quite a few."
That is really interesting, disciplinarian then.
Interesting comments from Watkins.
“It has been intense & the standards have gone up. That’s no disrespect to Dean Smith but he’s (Gerrard) brought in some new rules & everybody was on it. I’d be here all day if I was to say them all, there’s quite a few."
That is really interesting, disciplinarian then.
Thing is I think either approach is fine when it’s working, but when it’s not it gets pulled apart. When the approach is relaxed and you’re winning you hear all the stuff like it gives players freedom to express themselves etc. But when you’re struggling people say there isn’t enough discipline. Conversely when you have a disciplined approach and you’re winning people will say it gives the players structure and a clear identity. But when you’re losing you start to hear things like players are banned from having ketchup and it’s made to sound petty.
Exactly.
I saw Dean's Norwich press conference and he spoke about the importance of the players enjoying training, and I see the value in that.
Personally I enjoy a miserable Liverpudlian disciplinarian managing our team. Well I enjoyed the last one and I suspect this one will turn out rather well also.
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Mings attacking every defensive set piece like prime Laursen was great, when you looked at their land of the giants 3 centre halves (including the one who had to have a sit down every ten minutes) it made sense to have Mings do that whilst the others mixed and matched marking.
Didn't he just. He owned our box. Great to see somebody had told him to stop hoofing it up the pitch to the opposition and instead play it to feet. There's so much basic coaching to be done with this team but there were enough signs to make you think they'll be addressed sooner rather than later.
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Much improved. I like the aggresion, intensity and one touch football we are trying to play. Never really had that under smith.
Thought mcginn was great. Konsa and emi great.
My mot was ash youbg. He was brilliant
No , we were so passive when we hammered Liverpool.
Agree, a complete re writing of history
Yep.
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The thing is Buendia has done it in the Premier League before, with a weaker side. I wouldn’t write him off.
Buendia looks knackered. Thought he tried but hes tired. Thought we looked more organised and Ollie is better when Ings isn't on.
He did look knackered, but kicking water bottles, punching seats and really showing off when he sat in dug out I can’t understand…… was he the only one who thought he did ok ? Is he that far removed from expectations of him ? I just don’t understand the correlation between his performance and his response to being taken off
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Is it just me or did El Ghazi look really pissed off when Watkins scored?
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Is it just me or did El Ghazi look really pissed off when Watkins scored?
He did at first but then he did a little fist pump. He wanted the pass, can't blame him, he's on the bench and wants to impress.
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I don't think so Lee. It is his default attitude. I was worried that that bloody referee would disallow Ollie's goal because there was a Villa player off the field by the goal. I worry too much.
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To be clear my reply was to Legion not LeeB.
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Is it just me or did El Ghazi look really pissed off when Watkins scored?
Check out Watkins' face every time a teammate scores.. he never looks happy. To be fair to Watkins, El Ghazi's run made it near impossible for him to score from such a narrow position. I'd only have trusted Brian Little to finish it.
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The thing is Buendia has done it in the Premier League before, with a weaker side. I wouldn’t write him off.
Buendia looks knackered. Thought he tried but hes tired. Thought we looked more organised and Ollie is better when Ings isn't on.
He did look knackered, but kicking water bottles, punching seats and really showing off when he sat in dug out I can’t understand…… was he the only one who thought he did ok ? Is he that far removed from expectations of him ? I just don’t understand the correlation between his performance and his response to being taken off
I actually thought he did OK today.
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To be clear my reply was to Legion not LeeB.
The easiest thing, Brian, is just to agree with LeeB.
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Do any fellow forrins have a link to the goals?
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The YT link earlier.
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The YT link earlier.
Thanks Legion. Just saw them on Twitter. AEG made a brilliant run so I'd be fucked off if Ollie hadn't scored. But he did!
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I was screaming at Oliie to lay it off to the unmarked Bailey before he hit it into the top corner. Shows what I know.
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Kinds words from Ian Wright about Ramsey. He rates him very highly.
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Is it just me or did El Ghazi look really pissed off when Watkins scored?
He did at first but then he did a little fist pump. He wanted the pass, can't blame him, he's on the bench and wants to impress.
I reckon the smart run to open up the box for Watkins won't have gone unnoticed by the coaches. Damn he's a frustrating player.
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Is it just me or did El Ghazi look really pissed off when Watkins scored?
I didn't notice that but I did think that Bailey looked less than 100% ecstatic but most probably because he was open and Ollie could/should have laid it on to him so understandable.
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Surprised to see very few comments about Ramsey on here this eve. I think he needs to become a mainstay in the midfield now…
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Love Ramsey
The way he runs with and carries the ball reminds me a bit of you know that other chap we used to have that was a bit good at running forward with the ball
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Love Ramsey
The way he runs with and carries the ball reminds me a bit of you know that other chap we used to have that was a bit good at running forward with the ball
We're a team that generally are shit scared to carry the ball. I feel that's one of Gerrard's biggest challenges. There were a few occasions today that were encouraging but we do seem to fill our pants at the thought of an opposition player coming anywhere within 15 yards with the player with the ball. Pass it back to Mings or Targett. HOOF. Wimps! That said, I thought Mings not only stopped hoofing it, he led by example by carrying it forward.
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Is it just me or did El Ghazi look really pissed off when Watkins scored?
He did at first but then he did a little fist pump. He wanted the pass, can't blame him, he's on the bench and wants to impress.
I reckon the smart run to open up the box for Watkins won't have gone unnoticed by the coaches. Damn he's a frustrating player.
It didn't go unnoticed - Gerrard mentioned the El Ghazi run in the press conference.
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More high octane performance than recent weeks and great to get a win (our better quality shone through in the end). But the midfield still looks like a problem to me. Brighton were able to control large portions of the game and I think Gerrard is going to need to do some recruitment that many on this forum talked about for most of last summer.
Special couple of notes;
1). Targett’s best performance of the season so far. Did a good job against
Lamptey.
2). Buendía; not fit enough and not good enough at the moment. He needs to start improving significantly or he’s looking like being a waste of money.
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We write off players too easily, Buendias frustrated because the games a bit too fast for him at the moment but i am convinced as we go on he will become of vaue to the side. Watkins playing wide left was like playing with ten men, this is two games where once Ings has gone off Watkins comes into his own. Ramsey is developing nicely, has all the foot skills with pace to go with it, he was tiring toward the end.
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We write off players too easily, Buendias frustrated because the games a bit too fast for him at the moment but i am convinced as we go on he will become of vaue to the side. Watkins playing wide left was like playing with ten men, this is two games where once Ings has gone off Watkins comes into his own. Ramsey is developing nicely, has all the foot skills with pace to go with it, he was tiring toward the end.
Definitely not writing Buendía off but he’s definitely not fit enough or good enough at present. The guy can’t even get beyond playing 70 minutes of football at the moment. His output has been negligible so far but you could put that down to being shifted around positionally and playing with (relatively) new team mates. But it’s becoming noticeable how many opposition managers clearly target him for regaining the ball by swarming him when he’s in possession.
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Much improved. I like the aggresion, intensity and one touch football we are trying to play. Never really had that under smith.
Thought mcginn was great. Konsa and emi great.
My mot was ash youbg. He was brilliant
No , we were so passive when we hammered Liverpool.
Agree, a complete re writing of history
Indeed, need to replace the word ‘never’ with ‘as of late not’.
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We write off players too easily, Buendias frustrated because the games a bit too fast for him at the moment but i am convinced as we go on he will become of vaue to the side. Watkins playing wide left was like playing with ten men, this is two games where once Ings has gone off Watkins comes into his own. Ramsey is developing nicely, has all the foot skills with pace to go with it, he was tiring toward the end.
I agree, he’s still finding his way, not helped by being expected to be the creative catalyst for a side that’s just lost their best player for a generation. I think he’ll come into his own in the second half of the season.
One other point - looks like the long throw has been consigned to history thankfully.
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I thought it was going to be one of those drab 0-0 draws until the goal, which was what the game needed. The effort and desire was there, just at times lacked that bit of quality. Great start for Gerrard and a hopefully morale boosting win for the team.
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Very nervy in the ground yesterday, which at times didn’t help the players. I thought Ramsay was superb for 55 minutes then looked tired, he really is going to be some player. Mings was commanding yesterday and won everything. They kept the ball well but didn’t threaten too much.
Ollie Watkins is a centre forward.
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We write off players too easily, Buendias frustrated because the games a bit too fast for him at the moment but i am convinced as we go on he will become of vaue to the side. Watkins playing wide left was like playing with ten men, this is two games where once Ings has gone off Watkins comes into his own. Ramsey is developing nicely, has all the foot skills with pace to go with it, he was tiring toward the end.
I agree, he’s still finding his way, not helped by being expected to be the creative catalyst for a side that’s just lost their best player for a generation. I think he’ll come into his own in the second half of the season.
One other point - looks like the long throw has been consigned to history thankfully.
Yes no sign of any towels for throw ins which was very welcome.
I'm glad the whole thing appears to have been binned.
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Aston fuckin villa I love you...My 92 year old father who is very close to departing this earth. Well you made his day and brought a smile to his face. VTID. Thank you Villa. I fuckin love you.
So glad the Villa brought a smile to your dear old Dad’s face, wishing you and him nothing but the best UTV
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Mings as man of the match by a long way for me, that's 2 proper captains performances in a row from him, if Gerrard can keep him at this level there's no debate about who should be the captain.
Very good performances also from McGinn and Ramsey but I agree with this. Mings had a very, very good game and I think it's very important for us he can hold on to this kind of form.
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They spent an hour trying to get us to chase out wide, so they could play through the space in the middle, and as we flat out refused to they had nothing else, and we cut them to ribbons in the last quarter.
Our team were coached to do that in just this week. That's tactical awareness for you
Exactly this. I do not really understand some of the negative posts. It's this kind of disciplined, performance that so often has been beyond us this last year. We did not allow them the kind of game they excel at.
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Much improved. I like the aggresion, intensity and one touch football we are trying to play. Never really had that under smith.
I am pleased we won but that's just rubbish. We were very ordinary, cumbersome and outplayed by Brighton for about 80 mins. We had some fantastic football under Dean Smith.
Outplayed for 80 mins? That sounds churlish in the extreme and is certainly nothing like the game I watched. Brighton is a good team, playing pretty football, but they had two chances all game and hardly anything of note in the second half.
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I don't see that we were outplayed, yes they work to a plan and slow the game down, that gives them a lot of possesion in defence and midfield but how many times did they actually get in to a scoring position? Once Ings was replaced we were a different team and that will not go un-noticed, that's not rubbishing Ings just the structure was un-workable.
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Bissouma was by far MOTM yesterday.
We need him or similar.
Brighton need a striker - Ings would do well for them.
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I don't see that we were outplayed, yes they work to a plan and slow the game down, that gives them a lot of possesion in defence and midfield but how many times did they actually get in to a scoring position? Once Ings was replaced we were a different team and that will not go un-noticed, that's not rubbishing Ings just the structure was un-workable.
they had a lot of the ball but they generally don’t look like scoring. They have possession in the middle third and pass sideways a lot.
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Bissouma was very good, he did get away with 2 blatant fouls in the first half though that the referee missed.
https://www.northstandchat.com/showthread.php?391420-Aston-Villa-vs-Brighton-amp-Hove-Albion-***-Official-Match-Thread-***/page47
The Brighton view if anybodys interested. Including a weird hatred for Mings and a bit of obsession with the Villa Park atmosphere (Thats right, Brighton and Hove Albion talking about atmosphere).
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The first goal - and what a goal it was - saw us change from being a team low on confidence, happy to stay in a game at 0-0 to one which could have beaten up any team over the last 10 minutes. Very much like the last 10 minutes of the Wolves game saw confidence drain from the team, something Smith was unable to reverse.
It wasn’t a pretty game but I thought Ramsey and Mings were outstanding. Ramsey is growing into a very good premiership player, finding space for himself and creating it for others. The left looked more secure yesterday. The work Mings did for the second, chasing down the ball to keep it in and then volleying it with instep as the ball came back out summed up his game yesterday. Full of energy and drive.
The atmosphere, I thought, was quite strange. There wasn’t undying love for the new manager, but at the same time a recognition change had to come, and let’s see what Stevie G gives us on top.
Good start. Let’s see where we go from here.
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Makes me hopeful that we will start Watkins up front and have Ings on the bench.
Ollie is not a winger.
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Makes me hopeful that we will start Watkins up front and have Ings on the bench.
Ollie is not a winger.
Unfortunatey it doesn't look like Buendia is one either, so he may have to stay out there for a while.
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We started and finished very brightly, the bit in the middle was largely forgettable but we did look a lot better organised defensively.
Midfield all took the eye individually without looking like a cohesive unit, oh for a Bassouma in there for us, he looked really special.
Thought we suffered a lack of width with the FBs not committing forward enough in the first half although both were solid defensively, and given that the front three were pretty compact, we didn’t really get the press to work at all, they played through it easily and constantly. Boundia is a strange one, a few rare moments open teams up bUt his general play leaves a lot to be desired, and that bit of second half showboating made him look a bit of a twat when he immediately lost it. At the moment, not for me.
They will be pretty annoyed to have lost that but our forward quality only needed a spark.
A good start but we’ve played better this season, we know this team can do more.
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Whilst I concur with the view on Buendia hasn’t it been rumoured that he’s carrying a hip injury so this may be the reason for his less than stellar performances. I also get the impression he’s trying too hard for it to happen and he needs to relax a bit.
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I think SG will like him coming in and opening up space for the RFB to push into, you do wonder if he has the legs and strength to fill in and and make the required recovery runs if we lose possession with the FB out of shape.
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Bissouma was very good, he did get away with 2 blatant fouls in the first half though that the referee missed.
https://www.northstandchat.com/showthread.php?391420-Aston-Villa-vs-Brighton-amp-Hove-Albion-***-Official-Match-Thread-***/page47
The Brighton view if anybodys interested. Including a weird hatred for Mings and a bit of obsession with the Villa Park atmosphere (Thats right, Brighton and Hove Albion talking about atmosphere).
They're a bunch of twats, I've decided. When they get relegated in a season or two we won't see them again for 30 years.
They've got it in for Mings as he gets in the England side over Dunk.
Yeah, Lewis Dunk.
I know.
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Bissouma was very good, he did get away with 2 blatant fouls in the first half though that the referee missed.
https://www.northstandchat.com/showthread.php?391420-Aston-Villa-vs-Brighton-amp-Hove-Albion-***-Official-Match-Thread-***/page47
The Brighton view if anybodys interested. Including a weird hatred for Mings and a bit of obsession with the Villa Park atmosphere (Thats right, Brighton and Hove Albion talking about atmosphere).
They're a bunch of twats, I've decided. When they get relegated in a season or two we won't see them again for 30 years.
They've got it in for Mings as he gets in the England side over Dunk.
Yeah, Lewis Dunk.
I know.
Dunk is not a bad defender at all to be fair though.
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I thought they were very well coached, all knew exactly what was expected of them and were very disciplined with and without the ball.
I think he’ll do very well in his next job with better flair players.
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I didn't think much of the referee yesterday either.
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I didn't think much of the referee yesterday either.
No nor me, some really strange decisions, a few very lucky not to be booked. Inc Targett, and I thought Nakamba was going to get a red for that challenge although I haven’t seen it again. Also one where he ruled out a free kick indicating a fair shoulder charge, then blew for it anyway.
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Brighton, the southern version of Sheffield United. 3-5-2, boring possession football with no end product. And their ground is a proper pain in the arse to get to. And whilst everyone thinks it’s a hip place, it’s just Blackpool with nicer weather. Piss off you wannabe cockney wankers. Oh and criticising our atmosphere, jeez that throbbing AMEX stadium renowned throughout the land and Europe.
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I used to chat to a Brighton fan at work get togethers, he was a nice bloke apart from his unfathomable dislike of Villa, something to do with taking Gareth Barry off them. I think it wound him up that I was utterly none plussed in an Alan Partridge way and always returned the conversation to how shit Steve Foster was.
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I went yesterday for the first time in nearly 2 years. Took my son for his 10th birthday for his first time so a nice winning debut there!
He’s Ollie obsessed so he went nuts when he smashed the first one in.
He’s already asking about next time so now I’ll definitely get a pass from the wife for more games!
Thanks to the 2 chaps (Trinity Upper) who chatted to him during the game. 2 nice blokes from Bournemouth, hope they had a smooth journey home!
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To be fair I did think the atmosphere was unusually crap yesterday, you could be understanding and put it down to nerves (as Gerrard himself alluded to). Personally I was disappointed considering there was a new manager in the dugout.
Great win though. Back five looked like the solid unit from last season. Nakamba had one of those good games where he looked up to the standard required. Watkins proved a point with the goal after being moved inside, I thought he was hopeless on the left wing and it was an excellent sub to give him a chance in his usual role. Ramsey and McGinn perhaps getting slightly more praise than I expected, they both seemed to disappear for spells during the game but definitely had really good moments. Buendia needs a rest. My MoTM was Mings, took some stick from the Brighton fans but I thought he was immense and showed incredible determination for the goal.
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Atmosphere was crap but for long spells there wasn’t much to get excited about. And, as has been written about at length, our first match for a long time without Villa fans leading the team, an end of one era and the start of one which will probably be more functional.
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It's difficult for the fans to get going when the opposition have most of the ball and there's really not much happening.
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I did think the atmosphere strangely flat yesterday, which I kind of attributed to some sort of left-over sense of disappointment that things ended up as they did with Smith.
On the pitch though, I'm sure that Gerrard will have learned alot from that game, and well done to him (and the team of course) for the win which, the way it came with two excellent late goals, was especially pleasing.
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Broke that losing habit, clean sheet and two goals. That'll do but plenty to improve on. If that's the sign of things to come, after only a couple of days with a lot of that team, I'm sold.
Targett's best game this season by far - Defence and keeper played well.
McGinn and Ramsay played well in the middle - Special shout out for Ramsay who was my MOTM. Best game in a villa shirt imo, with some great passing, movement and runs.
Nakamba was woeful... kept making tackles then getting caught on the ball. How good could we be with a player like Bissouma in that position?
Ollie also was woeful, until Ings was subbed off and he was put up front. I would have been happy for Ollie to get subbed for Bailey such was the level of frustration with his performance, but the Ings sub and switcharound was inspired.
Buendia - Hope he sorts it out, but so far he's been absolute garbage. Lacks strength, pace and the ability of a Premier League footballer on current viewing. What have we signed?!
Good start, and Gerrard spoke well post match. Lets see if he can keep that momentum going into the next game. UTV
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Tyrone MOTM , being dropped appears to have done him good, he's been superb since, back to his best. All the back 4 deserve credit and Emi dealt well with the only important save he had to make. Was not too happy, when I saw Young coming on, but what a 20 min display, his part in the first goal was class and what a strike from Ollie.
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Much improved. I like the aggresion, intensity and one touch football we are trying to play. Never really had that under smith.
I am pleased we won but that's just rubbish. We were very ordinary, cumbersome and outplayed by Brighton for about 80 mins. We had some fantastic football under Dean Smith.
Outplayed for 80 mins? That sounds churlish in the extreme and is certainly nothing like the game I watched. Brighton is a good team, playing pretty football, but they had two chances all game and hardly anything of note in the second half.
Not having the ball to play with is really being outplayed. The fact the they had no end product was their failing. Giving 63% possession to a sharper team than Brighton would not be pretty. Anyway my comment was more about revisionism on Smith's time here.
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For all Brighton’s possession they didn’t lay a glove on us at all 2nd half. They’re a good team but toothless up front. Ramsey first half, And the defence throughout were very good. Yes, Bundea wasn’t great but there is a player there. He hasn’t really settled in yet, I’m sure he’ll come good.
Was there any real difference than Dean’s Villa? I thought we looked more disciplined as a team and very solid at the back. Gerrard said we needed to be better in that respect and he’s done something about it already.
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The atmosphere was crap largely due to the stifling set up and football of the opposition.
Plus, they're a no mark club and it's hard to get worked up playing them.
I did notice after the goals there were quite a few of them complaining to stewards about the nasty men laughing at them in the lower north.
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It was my first game since last time we played Brighton with fans. Atmosphere wasn't as good as usual but as others said it was heading for 0 0. I would keep the front three that finished the game. Defence was much better - after the first couple of attacks I relaxed when they were in possession.
Train back was hell. Full of Brighton and West Ham fans and standing down the aisles. Most were fine but one really upset my 9 year old at Euston. Euston was extremely well policed with a definite direction they wanted you to go!
Hotel in town next time I think.
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I'm so happy with win and clean sheet good day out yesterday.
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Mostly it was a very boring game, Brighton happy to slow the tempo down to walking pace with their triangle passes to nowhere whilst Villa looked really nervous after consecutive 5 defeats. I couldn't see how we were going to win it, would of been happy with the point. However we did the business late on. Great goal by Watkins Mings was taking loads of stick from the away fans so it must have been nice for him to bang that one in. He should of ran down to the witton lower cupping his ears ;D
Target had a good solid game. It seemed to me Brighton's favorite tactic was to get the ball to lamptey every time and rely on him to get to the line. Target put a couple of reducers on him in the first half and had him in his pocket for the rest of the game, so much so Lamptey was hooked about 75mins.
Ramsey was really busy but continues to hang on to the ball for too long, if he could knock it first time we would look so much more fluent. Ings has got to fight hard now for a shirt. Will he be up for it or did he just move for one last big payday?
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Atmosphere will be flat with a game like that. Brighton are so fucking dull.
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I thought there were times where we clearly were moving better off the ball in midfield, making more angles and options than before, and the was definitely an emphasis on taking fewer touches before the pass. Also, notable absence of hopeless long punts and long throws.
The new coaching team has only had the players for three full days of work, so we can't expect miracles just yet - and indeed, I thought it was interesting how well they started each half after SG had had donne minutes to remind them what to do before falling back into some older habits. Overall though, I thought there were some really encouraging signs.
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There must have been a general nervousness in the crowd too. It's the kind of game you want/need to win. SG's first. 5 losses on the spin. Then Brighton take the sting out the game and keep the crowd subdued.
The ground will be rocking next time we're back at VP.
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Yes, the lack of long throws and MacPhee tear arsing round the place was quite noticeable.
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I thought it was a proper professional performance.
I know its tough to watch Brighton outplay you in a possession sense, but Gerrard had clearly done his homework as no doubt he had watched the Liverpool Brighton game.
Liverpool fell into the trap of losing their shape as they got frustrated by Brighton keeping the ball so well.
As another poster mentioned, Brighton wanted us to get pulled out wide, we refused.
I could be wrong but on corners did we man mark and but leave Mings as the free defender to attack the ball? If that was the plan Mings did it brilliantly.
Thought Target deserves a mention as he was getting a bit of stick on here but played well against a tough opponent. I like the work rate of Ings and Ollie but its not quite working. I trust Gerrard to either get it working or drop one or the other and currently for me it would be Ings.
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The ground will be rocking next time we're back at VP.
The atmosphere was crap largely due to the stifling set up and football of the opposition.
Plus, they're a no mark club and it's hard to get worked up playing them.
Yes indeed Wednesday 1 December could be interesting. I wonder who's popping back to town if he's not too busy with his media stuff?
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Yes, the lack of long throws and MacPhee tear arsing round the place was quite noticeable.
A noticeable difference from recent times, I don't recall seeing any of the coaches come out of the hutch to join Gerrard pitchside while the game was playing.
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Fair play to El Ghazi, without that run Watkins doesn’t have the goal open up for the (excellent) finish.
We looked far more solid and that has to be the basis for now, let’s get back to being hard to beat. Feels like we’ve tried to change a bit too much too quickly this season at a cost of defensive shape and solidity. There’s plenty for Gerrard & co to figure out but if we can just get that back first, we’ll start getting points on the board.
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I thought there were times where we clearly were moving better off the ball in midfield, making more angles and options than before, and the was definitely an emphasis on taking fewer touches before the pass. Also, notable absence of hopeless long punts and long throws.
The new coaching team has only had the players for three full days of work, so we can't expect miracles just yet - and indeed, I thought it was interesting how well they started each half after SG had had donne minutes to remind them what to do before falling back into some older habits. Overall though, I thought there were some really encouraging signs.
Busy old fool, unruly sun...
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I thought there were times where we clearly were moving better off the ball in midfield, making more angles and options than before, and the was definitely an emphasis on taking fewer touches before the pass. Also, notable absence of hopeless long punts and long throws.
The new coaching team has only had the players for three full days of work, so we can't expect miracles just yet - and indeed, I thought it was interesting how well they started each half after SG had had donne minutes to remind them what to do before falling back into some older habits. Overall though, I thought there were some really encouraging signs.
Busy old fool, unruly sun...
Thou saucy pedantic wretch.
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I thought there were times where we clearly were moving better off the ball in midfield, making more angles and options than before, and the was definitely an emphasis on taking fewer touches before the pass. Also, notable absence of hopeless long punts and long throws.
The new coaching team has only had the players for three full days of work, so we can't expect miracles just yet - and indeed, I thought it was interesting how well they started each half after SG had had donne minutes to remind them what to do before falling back into some older habits. Overall though, I thought there were some really encouraging signs.
Busy old fool, unruly sun...
Thou saucy pedantic wretch.
I am two fools, I know.
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Nice to see Donne get a mention on here, 'At the round earth's imagin'd corners, blow' is the only poem I recall studying at school, along with 'Paradise Lost'.
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He's a giant. One of the very best, in my arrogant opinion.
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That fucking idiot dressed up as a 30 year old Harry Enfield sketch, mugging for the TV cameras like a ******. What an absolute weapon. It's so cringe and small time. Complete arsehole.
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John Donne?!
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That fucking idiot dressed up as a 30 year old Harry Enfield sketch, mugging for the TV cameras like a ******. What an absolute weapon. It's so cringe and small time. Complete arsehole.
Calm down calm down.
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That fucking idiot dressed up as a 30 year old Harry Enfield sketch, mugging for the TV cameras like a ******. What an absolute weapon. It's so cringe and small time. Complete arsehole.
Yeh I thought the same too. Massive fucking bell end.
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He's a giant. One of the very best, in my arrogant opinion.
Him and Marvell above Herbert for me of that lot (there's something in Herbert's religiosity that just doesn't reach me like Donne manages).
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That fucking idiot dressed up as a 30 year old Harry Enfield sketch, mugging for the TV cameras like a ******. What an absolute weapon. It's so cringe and small time. Complete arsehole.
Totally agree Stu, what an absolute clown.
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That fucking idiot dressed up as a 30 year old Harry Enfield sketch, mugging for the TV cameras like a ******. What an absolute weapon. It's so cringe and small time. Complete arsehole.
Figured it was a Paddy Power stunt or some such.
Shirley our own fans wouldn't be that daft.
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He's a giant. One of the very best, in my arrogant opinion.
Him and Marvell above Herbert for me of that lot (there's something in Herbert's religiosity that just doesn't reach me like Donne manages).
He stands alone in my view (although posts passim will illustrate that you're way more learned than me!)
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Ashley Young and El Ghazi were absolutely fantastic after another horrendous display from Buendia. Lightweight and not up to the Premier League
Thought Mings had a great game and defence more solid
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Rare for me to sing El Ghazi's praises but he really made an impact today coming off the bench. Great run to open up a bit of space for Ollie to cut inside and score. I honestly believe he's better without the ball than with it. ;)
I wouldn’t consider getting rid of AEG.
A great squad player.
Maybe not a starter for us, but he’s a player who will influence a game when he comes on.
Will always look for the ball, isn’t afraid to take players on and is certainly a goal threat.
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Ashley Young and El Ghazi were absolutely fantastic after another horrendous display from Buendia. Lightweight and not up to the Premier League
Thought Mings had a great game and defence more solid
What do you think of the metaphysical poets?
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Ashley Young and El Ghazi were absolutely fantastic after another horrendous display from Buendia. Lightweight and not up to the Premier League
Thought Mings had a great game and defence more solid
What do you think of the metaphysical poets?
The use of complicated conceits is a DISGRACE!!
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Ashley Young and El Ghazi were absolutely fantastic after another horrendous display from Buendia. Lightweight and not up to the Premier League
Thought Mings had a great game and defence more solid
What do you think of the metaphysical poets?
The use of complicated conceits is a DISGRACE!!
And the pies were appalling.
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John's were a bit over Donne but Andrew's were Marvellous.
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That fucking idiot dressed up as a 30 year old Harry Enfield sketch, mugging for the TV cameras like a ******. What an absolute weapon. It's so cringe and small time. Complete arsehole.
Totally agree Stu, what an absolute clown.
Who, what, where, when?
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John's were a bit over Donne but Andrew's were Marvellous.
Andrew was never a deep-lying playmaker for me.
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That fucking idiot dressed up as a 30 year old Harry Enfield sketch, mugging for the TV cameras like a ******. What an absolute weapon. It's so cringe and small time. Complete arsehole.
Totally agree Stu, what an absolute clown.
Why do the TV companies give them air time? I hope it was only that couple of twats and not like the Toon army dressing up in robes like their Arab owners.
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Brighton, the southern version of Sheffield United. 3-5-2, boring possession football with no end product. And their ground is a proper pain in the arse to get to. And whilst everyone thinks it’s a hip place, it’s just Blackpool with nicer weather. Piss off you wannabe cockney wankers. Oh and criticising our atmosphere, jeez that throbbing AMEX stadium renowned throughout the land and Europe.
Brighton is fantastic. Home of British instrumental surf music. I won’t hear a thing against it!
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That fucking idiot dressed up as a 30 year old Harry Enfield sketch, mugging for the TV cameras like a ******. What an absolute weapon. It's so cringe and small time. Complete arsehole.
Totally agree Stu, what an absolute clown.
Who, what, where, when?
This guy. He was on MOTD.
(https://i.ibb.co/7Yh9GLL/tit.png) (https://ibb.co/7Yh9GLL)
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John's were a bit over Donne but Andrew's were Marvellous.
Thomas Carew, Carew, he's more elegiac than me and you..
He's gonna write a verse or two...
Tom Carew, Carew.
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That fucking idiot dressed up as a 30 year old Harry Enfield sketch, mugging for the TV cameras like a ******. What an absolute weapon. It's so cringe and small time. Complete arsehole.
Totally agree Stu, what an absolute clown.
Who, what, where, when?
This guy. He was on MOTD.
(https://i.ibb.co/7Yh9GLL/tit.png) (https://ibb.co/7Yh9GLL)
The guy standing by the toilet sums it all up.
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That fucking idiot dressed up as a 30 year old Harry Enfield sketch, mugging for the TV cameras like a ******. What an absolute weapon. It's so cringe and small time. Complete arsehole.
Totally agree Stu, what an absolute clown.
Who, what, where, when?
This guy. He was on MOTD.
(https://i.ibb.co/7Yh9GLL/tit.png) (https://ibb.co/7Yh9GLL)
The guy standing by the toilet sums it all up.
I can’t see what the problem is. It’s only like the fancy dress for the last away game.
Do I think it’s funny? Not overly, no, but, sorry, these comments are pretty ott
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Ashley Young and El Ghazi were absolutely fantastic after another horrendous display from Buendia. Lightweight and not up to the Premier League
Thought Mings had a great game and defence more solid
What do you think of the metaphysical poets?
The use of complicated conceits is a DISGRACE!!
That's poetry
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John's were a bit over Donne but Andrew's were Marvellous.
'John Donne
Undone
Anne Donne'
Shortest poem in the English language? Or is it:
'Madam
I'm
Adam' (Yeah, it's a palindrome too.)
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Apart from the first ten minutes of the first and second half and the glorious final ten minutes, there were whole stretches of the game that were a yawn-fest. It was clear that BHA had come for a bore-draw or maybe capitalising on sending one or other of our players to sleep and nicking a solitary goal. To think I voted for Graham Potter in the manager poll. Perhaps the club is under-resourced and he's doing the best with what he has, but we may have dodged a bullet there.
Positive for me was that we didn't wilt in the final stages - makes such a change from blowing smoke out of our arses after 70 minutes in far too many games.
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There is clearly a deep affinity between AVFC and the Metaphysical poets... John Dunn was in goal in the 1970s, Herbert had two stints in the chair, we all remember Carew and now we have Marvell ous in midfield,
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Apart from the first ten minutes of the first and second half and the glorious final ten minutes, there were whole stretches of the game that were a yawn-fest. It was clear that BHA had come for a bore-draw or maybe capitalising on sending one or other of our players to sleep and nicking a solitary goal. To think I voted for Graham Potter in the manager poll. Perhaps the club is under-resourced and he's doing the best with what he has, but we may have dodged a bullet there.
Positive for me was that we didn't wilt in the final stages - makes such a change from blowing smoke out of our arses after 70 minutes in far too many games.
We were pretty poor in that 70 minute period. Far too many mistakes and giving the ball away far too much. Those last 10 minutes were brilliant though and if Bailey's volley had gone in,I think the roof would have come off!
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Apart from the first ten minutes of the first and second half and the glorious final ten minutes, there were whole stretches of the game that were a yawn-fest. It was clear that BHA had come for a bore-draw or maybe capitalising on sending one or other of our players to sleep and nicking a solitary goal. To think I voted for Graham Potter in the manager poll. Perhaps the club is under-resourced and he's doing the best with what he has, but we may have dodged a bullet there.
Positive for me was that we didn't wilt in the final stages - makes such a change from blowing smoke out of our arses after 70 minutes in far too many games.
We were pretty poor in that 70 minute period. Far too many mistakes and giving the ball away far too much. Those last 10 minutes were brilliant though and if Bailey's volley had gone in,I think the roof would have come off!
As I said elsewhere, take out the Gerrard factor and it was a bog standard Premier League game between two mid-table sides.
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Mid-table? We were 16th, and they were 7th before the match.
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Mid-table? We were 16th, and they were 7th before the match.
And it showed. I dream of us controlling possession BUT with a couple of strikers up front.
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Mings was immense. Maybe spurned by SG captain comment and earning it etc.
Special mention to Targett as he was under incredible pressure as everything for Brighton went through Lampty. For all the ball he saw he did nothing with it.
Lots of boring possession from Brighton but I never felt they would score.
I think there is much more to come from our team and now they have a full week with the whole squad I look for us to improve further
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Apart from the first ten minutes of the first and second half and the glorious final ten minutes, there were whole stretches of the game that were a yawn-fest. It was clear that BHA had come for a bore-draw or maybe capitalising on sending one or other of our players to sleep and nicking a solitary goal. To think I voted for Graham Potter in the manager poll. Perhaps the club is under-resourced and he's doing the best with what he has, but we may have dodged a bullet there.
Positive for me was that we didn't wilt in the final stages - makes such a change from blowing smoke out of our arses after 70 minutes in far too many games.
We were pretty poor in that 70 minute period. Far too many mistakes and giving the ball away far too much. Those last 10 minutes were brilliant though and if Bailey's volley had gone in,I think the roof would have come off!
As I said elsewhere, take out the Gerrard factor and it was a bog standard Premier League game between two mid-table sides.
I think Spartacus’ description of a yawn fest is spot on. They controllled the ball, but thankfully with no end product, and we toiled manfully but with no pattern to our play. Nobody stood out particularly, though I thought Targett generally did well against Lamptey, with some good covering by Mings. I also thought the performance was reflected by the atmosphere, which was very flat.
I feared Maupay coming on would see him sneak a goal so was ecstatic with our two goals. Our substitutions made us stronger and would pick out Young, not only for his pass but also for his vocal impact and leadership. He is always in the ref’s ear, which I don’t recall from a decade ago.
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Poor match, but we won - i think we will continue to be towards the bottom 7 of the league for the remainder of this season, we are miles off were the owners want us to be, I hope that they have very deep pockets, I would imagine a fair few who started on Saturday will be moved on during the summer.
If Gerrard wants to implement a more ball retention game plan, then you can see why he will be bringing in a centre half who can pass the ball either in January or next summer, Mings in the 2nd half just went back to hoof ball down the pitch
Ramsey did well on Saturday and for me was our MOTM
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It's gonna take time I guess for him to get where we wants to with possession. Way I see it, we get to January and re-assess. We're 4 points off 18th with not exactly the easiest run of games in December and January so we have to keep picking up points here and there with the next game against Palace a case in point.. Got Burnley mid-December at home so if its not a 6 pointer and we have some breathing space by then, he'll have done well
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The next 10 include Palace Leicester Norwich Burnley Leeds Brentford all have won 4 games or less just like us. The other 4 are the top 3 and Manure.
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Yeah I 'd want something at Palace (hopefully the ex-striker curse lays off), City at home, unlikely, Leicester at home, could be managerless by then or just appointed someone, must be looking at a win there, Liverpool away, nope, Norwich away is the wild card and then burnley…. 5 points upto Burnley minimum.
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It was clear that BHA had come for a bore-draw or maybe capitalising on sending one or other of our players to sleep and nicking a solitary goal. To think I voted for Graham Potter in the manager poll. Perhaps the club is under-resourced and he's doing the best with what he has, but we may have dodged a bullet there.
Look at the resources Potter has and the cost of that squad.
They have no cutting edge and no pace up front.
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Seen some stats on Saturday's game.
We were 5th lowest and Brighton 5th highest pressure before the game, but managed to out press them and lead to their 2nd lowest XG of the season.
That was the lowest XG on our own goal since December 2020.
Think Brighton being dull as anything helped.
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Saturday was always going to be about getting a result after 5 defeats so considering the new management setup had, in some cases maybe 2 days to prepare with a full squad a 2-0 win and a clean sheet was just what the doctor ordered.
A decent start and the massive plus for me was that for once the substitutions made a huge difference to the team.
Onto the next one.
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Our recent issues can be associated with a lack of confidence......as soon as Olly scored it came streaming back resulting in that last 10 minutes. We looked like the side that battered Everton and beat Utd.
The edgy crowd didn't help and fairplay for SG to mention it. I expect us to go at Palace from the off. Set pieces are their weakness.
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Agree mostly with the comments about Ramsey (what a player he’s turning into) Buendia (mostly not great, but will find his feet eventually) Mings (bossed it) McGinn (much improved over recent matches). It’s Nakamba’s performance that stuck out for me though- I’ve never really rated him that much, but I thought he did well. Was a tough one for him trying to break up the Bournemouth posession. And he did give the ball away a few times. But he looked more effective. Had to do a double take at one point where he was so far fwd - level with the 5 yard box, but to the right of the penalty area. Don’t think I’ve seen him ever that far forward the whole time he’s been here during open play. Decent team performance - got the job done eventually and with not much fuss. Probably should’ve been 3 if Bailey (think it was him) had scored at 2-0. Pretty pleased with it over all. 2 more wins will probably see us top half again.
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John's were a bit over Donne but Andrew's were Marvellous.
'John Donne
Undone
Anne Donne'
Shortest poem in the English language? Or is it:
'Madam
I'm
Adam' (Yeah, it's a palindrome too.)
Isn’t there something by Muhammad Ali?
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Agree mostly with the comments about Ramsey (what a player he’s turning into) Buendia (mostly not great, but will find his feet eventually) Mings (bossed it) McGinn (much improved over recent matches). It’s Nakamba’s performance that stuck out for me though- I’ve never really rated him that much, but I thought he did well. Was a tough one for him trying to break up the Bournemouth posession. And he did give the ball away a few times. But he looked more effective. Had to do a double take at one point where he was so far fwd - level with the 5 yard box, but to the right of the penalty area. Don’t think I’ve seen him ever that far forward the whole time he’s been here during open play. Decent team performance - got the job done eventually and with not much fuss. Probably should’ve been 3 if Bailey (think it was him) had scored at 2-0. Pretty pleased with it over all. 2 more wins will probably see us top half again.
Bloody hell he was everywhere if he broke up the Bournemouth play aswell as Brighton's. ;-)
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Agree mostly with the comments about Ramsey (what a player he’s turning into) Buendia (mostly not great, but will find his feet eventually) Mings (bossed it) McGinn (much improved over recent matches). It’s Nakamba’s performance that stuck out for me though- I’ve never really rated him that much, but I thought he did well. Was a tough one for him trying to break up the Bournemouth posession. And he did give the ball away a few times. But he looked more effective. Had to do a double take at one point where he was so far fwd - level with the 5 yard box, but to the right of the penalty area. Don’t think I’ve seen him ever that far forward the whole time he’s been here during open play. Decent team performance - got the job done eventually and with not much fuss. Probably should’ve been 3 if Bailey (think it was him) had scored at 2-0. Pretty pleased with it over all. 2 more wins will probably see us top half again.
Bournemouth? 5 yard box?
Our win has discombobulated you, Robbo! :-)
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I suppose the final ten minutes, makes up for the final ten minutes of the Wolves collapse. They do say these things even out.
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The most pleasing for me was the defence regaining the solidity of the first part of last season. Mings was obviously the standout but they played well as a unit. Once you have that you give yourselves a chance of picking up points from average performances.
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Spot on Chris, and we have enough quality in the forward half of the pitch to turn tight games in our favour, something our opponents on Saturday and others do not.
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Our main issue at the moment is a lack of creativity and obviously that's because our (and the league's) best creative player was sold in the summer and the replacements haven't yet fired. But we did look solid again and that's a good platform from which to sort the other things out - so much easier to do if you're not shitting it about getting relegated.
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We looked like the team we were before we descended into those bizarre, throwback shithouse tactics. Limited going forward due to Ollie being shunted out left, defensively sound but lacking creativity in midfield, able to register a result but the team needs work.
Hopefully the new manager will sort this.
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The most pleasing for me was the defence regaining the solidity of the first part of last season. Mings was obviously the standout but they played well as a unit. Once you have that you give yourselves a chance of picking up points from average performances.
It’s something the manager emphasized from the time he got to the club. Keeping it tight, a clean sheet ideally, always gives you a chance to win games at the end. The great Man U sides, as much the notion of “Fergie time” was vomit inducing, fundamentally was always about having a chance to win games or at minimum draw them from losing positions at the very end. Quite noticeably we stepped up a gear in the last 15 and it proved the difference. I want us to start well and finish strong. There will always be periods in the middle that are more balanced or mundane.
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We looked like the team we were before we descended into those bizarre, throwback shithouse tactics. Limited going forward due to Ollie being shunted out left, defensively sound but lacking creativity in midfield, able to register a result but the team needs work.
Hopefully the new manager will sort this.
Not a single long throw into the box. The problem with them is that in the 99% of times they don’t work, you give up possession and the central defender you were aiming at is now miles out of position.
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We're 4 points off 18th…
On the other hand we’re 6 points off top 6.
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The current difference between Villa and wolves is simply a crazy ten minutes. Without that we would both be on 16 points. They are having a 'great season' yet we are somehow viewed as being in a relegation scrap. Ten crazy minutes is all the difference.
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The current difference between Villa and wolves is simply a crazy ten minutes. Without that we would both be on 16 points. They are having a 'great season' yet we are somehow viewed as being in a relegation scrap. Ten crazy minutes is all the difference.
Titles have been won and relegations decided on less.
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The current difference between Villa and wolves is simply a crazy ten minutes. Without that we would both be on 16 points. They are having a 'great season' yet we are somehow viewed as being in a relegation scrap. Ten crazy minutes is all the difference.
Yes, but those ten crazy minutes were a symptom of the problem that had blighted us since we got promoted: just a little bit too easy to beat and, aside from project restart, not able to grind out a point when a game is slipping away from us. Fine margins and all that but losing 3-2 at home when you had been 2-0 up with ten minutes remaining isn't merely 'crazy' it is unforgivable in elite sport.
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It was clear that BHA had come for a bore-draw or maybe capitalising on sending one or other of our players to sleep and nicking a solitary goal. To think I voted for Graham Potter in the manager poll. Perhaps the club is under-resourced and he's doing the best with what he has, but we may have dodged a bullet there.
Look at the resources Potter has and the cost of that squad.
They have no cutting edge and no pace up front.
Potter ball seems a weaker version of Pep ball. Start without a centre forward and own the ball at times but no threat really. They havent won for a while and you could see why. But I don't think we were 2 goals better than them on balance of play, or even 1 if I'm being honest. They have two exceptional players who stood out a mile on Saturday.
From an Irish perspective, Duffy has done really well to turn his career around but he was dreadful for Watkins goal showing him inside onto his right foot. Eventually he crashed into his own man letting Watkins curl in a cracker unchallenged.
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We were 2 goals better.
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Although it was only a ten minute spell, once we scored the first it could of been 3 or 4.
I tend not to focus too much on the opposition, but what i did perceive, was whereas against West Ham i thought they held us off with ease and always looked like they had another gear to move up to when needed. But Brighton did literally nothing for all their keep ball. Me and some lad near me thought the game was destined for a sneaky 1-0 to Brighton, but in hindsight this was based on nothing more than pessimism on how the seasons gone so far. Its the first time in a long time for good or bad, that ive been bored watching a Villa game and that is largely down to how Brighton knock it back and forth, side to side, tedious.
Im presuming the two outstanding players on the pitch are Bissouma and Lamptey? I dont see it with Lamptey, he ran up the wing a lot, but i dont remember Targett letting him get many searching crosses in.
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It was clear that BHA had come for a bore-draw or maybe capitalising on sending one or other of our players to sleep and nicking a solitary goal. To think I voted for Graham Potter in the manager poll. Perhaps the club is under-resourced and he's doing the best with what he has, but we may have dodged a bullet there.
Look at the resources Potter has and the cost of that squad.
They have no cutting edge and no pace up front.
Potter ball seems a weaker version of Pep ball. Start without a centre forward and own the ball at times but no threat really. They havent won for a while and you could see why. But I don't think we were 2 goals better than them on balance of play, or even 1 if I'm being honest. They have two exceptional players who stood out a mile on Saturday.
From an Irish perspective, Duffy has done really well to turn his career around but he was dreadful for Watkins goal showing him inside onto his right foot. Eventually he crashed into his own man letting Watkins curl in a cracker unchallenged.
El Ghazi should be credited there too though. Duffy didn't know whether to stick or twist.
Had a chuckle upon seeing the replay of the goal with the recently subbed JJ Ramsey pointing to Bailey, imploring Watkins to lay it off. I wonder could Jacob have shared an assist had that happened.
It would have been our most effective substitute-play since Steve Sidwell quickly got us motoring from the sidelines with a quick throw-in under MON that led to a goal if memory serves (Hull at VP, maybe?).
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Brighton had tons of possession but had absolutely nothing up front.
They had 63% of possession, and 2 shots on target, 0 off.
We had 5 on target, 1 off.
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And both of them were in the 1st half. They created zip 2nd half.
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Not seen anything but the highlights.
Brilliant result. Great goals.
Really got a good feeling about Ramsey under Gerrard. You couldn’t wish for a better mentor for a young midfielder.
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It was clear that BHA had come for a bore-draw or maybe capitalising on sending one or other of our players to sleep and nicking a solitary goal. To think I voted for Graham Potter in the manager poll. Perhaps the club is under-resourced and he's doing the best with what he has, but we may have dodged a bullet there.
Look at the resources Potter has and the cost of that squad.
They have no cutting edge and no pace up front.
Potter ball seems a weaker version of Pep ball. Start without a centre forward and own the ball at times but no threat really. They havent won for a while and you could see why. But I don't think we were 2 goals better than them on balance of play, or even 1 if I'm being honest. They have two exceptional players who stood out a mile on Saturday.
From an Irish perspective, Duffy has done really well to turn his career around but he was dreadful for Watkins goal showing him inside onto his right foot. Eventually he crashed into his own man letting Watkins curl in a cracker unchallenged.
One lovely image was the ball hitting the net and 3 Brighton defenders flat out on the turf
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Only five shots on target but the three that didn't end up in the net all needed decent saves from the Brighton 'keeper.
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Just watching Brighton Leeds. See that the Brighton fans still do the "you're shit-ah" at the opposition goal kicks. Do you think they still shout "ref, ref, do you want my glasses?" and " you're a homo" at their ground?
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Oh, and good to see Ian Wright praising JJ Ramsey for his performance on MotD.