Rapid Vienna 1 - 1 Aston Villa - Post Match Thread

[not3bad]

Albrighton is going to be awesome.

...and then we'll sell him.

We'll be ok, Man City have a winger now

What, and that would stop them?

[Toronto Villa]

To repeat from the match thread the bit of play from Albrighton for the goal was absolutely world class wing play.  Turned the defender inside out and then had the composure too look up and pick out his man in the box.  2 games in now and he's looked top class on both so far.

What a prospect.

I said on Saturday that he looks a proper winger. His sole intent is to take the full back on with speed or with a trick and get a cross in. I actually wish Ash and Downing did that a little more.

[TonyD]

To repeat from the match thread the bit of play from Albrighton for the goal was absolutely world class wing play.  Turned the defender inside out and then had the composure too look up and pick out his man in the box.  2 games in now and he's looked top class on both so far.

What a prospect.

Yep, looking forward to seeing him play this season.

[deero83]

Worst. Referee. Ever.

I'm not usually one to go for referees, but my God I've never seen anything to rival this. He literally always gave the opposite of the correct decision, whatever was wrong, he did it. Astonishingly poor. That handball near the end was the last straw for me.

As for the team, inexperience told. They started off really brightly, held the ball so well, but faded around 25 minutes and never really recovered. NRC was good though, I hope he keeps proving me wrong, and Bannan was sprightly and very close to really good on several occasions, so I hope he keeps proving me right. As for the others, Albrighton started well but seemed to be trying too hard, Beye did some good things and some mysterious things, Lichaj kept getting dragged out of position, which was unfortunate, Heskey started ok but it was downhill from there, Downing was generally good but one-footed and should perhaps have played centrally more to give himself more opportunity to do something, Hogg was decent in defence although his positioning was occasionally suspect, Curtis was solid if jumpy and Guzan did nothing wrong and some things very well.

The real worries, though, were Weimann's injury and of course the shocker had by Warnock. I don't know what came over him, but he's been off-form recently and that was the worst of the lot.

Curtis was solid? Not sure which game you were watching. I thought he was pretty shaky and was at fault for their goal thanks to jumping for the header at completely the wrong time. Very poor positioning generally.

Thought the kids did well.

The ref was abysmal, how he got selected by UEFA god only knows.

[Matt Collins]

I feel a bit underwhelmed, but I would have taken that result before the game.

Guzan a good shot stopper but wobbles awfullly with balls into the box. Defensively we were an absolute shambles. Let's remember that Rapid looked like a weak championship side at best, Davies was hopeless, and although Lichaj looked tidy on the ball he was crap under pressure. Beye looked light a good right back playing at centre back. Hogg didn't look to be up to it. Not sure about Bannan - moments of skill but his technique didn't impress me as much as I thought. NRC was NRC - battled well, and crucial to breaking up play, but the guy can't do anything with the ball!

Albrighton wasn't top class throughout, but was very good for spells, and easily the best player on the pitch. Downing had a good first half, but poor in the second. Heskey was rubbish and I really hope Gabby or Carew are fit for Sunday.

Overall, pleased with the result, but wasn't left thinking 'this is our version of the West Ham / Man Utd / Leeds youngsters'.

Don't think we can expect to play that team and stay in Europe too long, but might be enough to get to the group stages.

[dave.woodhall]

There was one big difference in the build-up to this game compared to Moscow (and yes Mac, it was you who said it). The manager's attitude before Moscow seemed to be "It's a hard task, we've got other things on and I'm not going to try." This time round it was "Go on lads, we can do this." And they did.

[Toronto Villa]

To repeat from the match thread the bit of play from Albrighton for the goal was absolutely world class wing play.  Turned the defender inside out and then had the composure too look up and pick out his man in the box.  2 games in now and he's looked top class on both so far.

What a prospect.

Yep, looking forward to seeing him play this season.

He's a kid, so we just need to make sure he's used sparingly. Don't want to burn him out, and the more he plays the more teams will prepare for him. I wouldn't be against us getting another winger because Ash will likely play inside a bit more this season.

[hilts_coolerking]

There was one big difference in the build-up to this game compared to Moscow (and yes Mac, it was you who said it). The manager's attitude before Moscow seemed to be "It's a hard task, we've got other things on and I'm not going to try." This time round it was "Go on lads, we can do this." And they did.

I agree witht that.  With Moscow you just got the feeling that the attitude from the top was "This doesn't matter."  Tonight we went with another inexperienced side but in the expectation that they'd get a result, rather than in hope.

[Can Gana Be Bettered!?!?]

Good result, at times our football was at a standard that reflected the players on the pitch.

Davies is now 5th choice centre-back with Beye ahead of him and can leave if/when someone wants him. Downing is still bottling challenges and can give the ball away cheaply and Warnock can be very strange at times.

However, Albrighton played well, Lichaj looks more than adequate to replace L.Young if need be (NOT Cuellar) and Hogg did everything asked of him.

Occassionaly we looked like playing some good football so, once some of these players link in with the first-teamers, hopefully they will come on some more.

An unspectacular, good result, with some good, and bad, points taken from it.

[Monty]

Worst. Referee. Ever.

I'm not usually one to go for referees, but my God I've never seen anything to rival this. He literally always gave the opposite of the correct decision, whatever was wrong, he did it. Astonishingly poor. That handball near the end was the last straw for me.

As for the team, inexperience told. They started off really brightly, held the ball so well, but faded around 25 minutes and never really recovered. NRC was good though, I hope he keeps proving me wrong, and Bannan was sprightly and very close to really good on several occasions, so I hope he keeps proving me right. As for the others, Albrighton started well but seemed to be trying too hard, Beye did some good things and some mysterious things, Lichaj kept getting dragged out of position, which was unfortunate, Heskey started ok but it was downhill from there, Downing was generally good but one-footed and should perhaps have played centrally more to give himself more opportunity to do something, Hogg was decent in defence although his positioning was occasionally suspect, Curtis was solid if jumpy and Guzan did nothing wrong and some things very well.

The real worries, though, were Weimann's injury and of course the shocker had by Warnock. I don't know what came over him, but he's been off-form recently and that was the worst of the lot.

Curtis was solid? Not sure which game you were watching. I thought he was pretty shaky and was at fault for their goal thanks to jumping for the header at completely the wrong time. Very poor positioning generally.

Thought the kids did well.

The ref was abysmal, how he got selected by UEFA god only knows.

Have to say, I wasn't focusing greatly on Curtis but I thought he was put into a few problems by Beye, who seemed to like the mad rush ploy. Several "FFS Curtis" moments though, I do recall.

[gervilla]

Well considering we had 8 changes from the West Hammering , loads of kids playing and Emule was on the pitch it is a fantastic result. I wish Warnock would sort himself out, he looks poor at times.
Looking forward to seeing Ireland creating things for us.

[PaulWinch again]

Decent result and if we play a few first teamers next week we'll win I expect. Thought Albrigton looked good, and Lichaj was decent. I'm concerned over Guzan as he doesn't seem to be improving. Davies and Warnock were very poor and Hogg was anonymous. But overall a decent result, and roll on Sunday.

[Villa'Zawg]

It was a solid enough performance and getting a result of any kind from an away fixture in Europe is decent.

There were mistakes but that's to be expected from such an inexperienced and rusty team.

First part of the job done, we'll finish it off nicely next week with a bit of luck.

Stevenjos has me smiling, he's a funny guy.

[Mac]

Man of the Match must be Rapid's Nikica Jelavic for refusing to play.  With him in the side the result could have been very different, so ropey was our makeshift defence.

Still we got away with it despite the ref determined to get every decision wrong.  1-1 away from home, not a bad outcome.

[Karl Bridges]

Look at the team Man City have put out against minnows, still 0-0.