Manchester United vs Aston Villa Post-Match Thread

[Smirker]

Just outclassed really. Could have been worse. Credit to the lads for keeping it tight in the 2nd half.

Congrats to Man. United too, deserved winners.

Still think we'll stay up, UTV.

[Witton Warrior]

No shame in tonight's performance - Manure are just better at the football thing than most others - at least we had a couple of shots. Maybe being a bit of a sideshow to the main event will mean any negative vibes pass us by.

Were the three goals really all offside?

[Mister E]

Didn't see / hear the game but the stats suggest an even encounter ... apart from the goals.
Seems to me that PL played it rather naively - a la Chelsea away - with the inclusion of Charles as well as the three fellas upfront.

Hopefully, the team will take their steer from the second half and come out with confidence and purpose next Monday. They need to.

[Stu]

The situation; This is going to be an unpopular opinion. Don't dive down my throat, because I'll probably disagree with myself in the morning. After the initial sadness and depression (of which there would be a lot) I think I'd be quite excited by the Championship.. I think I'm fed up of the bullshit of football now. Sky's bullshit, bias bullshit, all the bullshit. Had we "scored" those offside goals, the flag woulda been up. Had one of our players made the challenges Evra did, he'da been sent off. It's all a load of shit.

I'd rather be in the Prem than the Championship. Man U can fuck off, I'm more concerned about the cash it'd cost my club if we went.

[barrysleftfoot]

 Glad that game is over.We did better than i thought  in the end, not tight enough, to far up the pitch, too open in midfield.

 However, did show some balls in the 2nd half, played some good football, and looked a tighter unit with KEA on.If we stop up, we have enough good players to make a reasonable team.

  Guzan......should have come out for the 1st goal, apart from that ok
 Lowton........ok, not sure hes any better than average, but hes ok.
  Bennett.....thought he played well against Valencia, needs to strengthen up
  Baker.....should have done better for the 1st goal, but ok overall.
  Vlaar........thought he played well tonight.Over exposed in the 1st half, played too high a line, managers instructions?
  Westwood.....ok, but needs to track runners better, and keep the ball moving better.Not a bad player, but for me probably should'nt be a 1st teamer at the moment.
  Delph.......one of our better players tonight for me.
  Gabby.....ok, but for me lacks quality
  Benteke and Weimann.....never stopped working, play well together, our future.
  Charlie.....ok, lacks a touch of lack of responsibility, probably should'nt have started.
  KEA.....played well, kept his position well.


 PL worries me sometimes, a bit too naive at times.Should have been more conservative to start with, played deeper, and tried to frustrate.

[paul_e]

No shame in tonight's performance - Manure are just better at the football thing than most others - at least we had a couple of shots. Maybe being a bit of a sideshow to the main event will mean any negative vibes pass us by.

Were the three goals really all offside?

They were all questionable.  At the other end I have doubt the flag would've been up every time.

[avfc_1874]

I think what summed up our defending was seeing a 40 year old man beat Lowton for pace.

[mal]

Best fans in the world...?

only if he is wearing a suicide vest...

[Smirker]

No shame in tonight's performance - Manure are just better at the football thing than most others - at least we had a couple of shots. Maybe being a bit of a sideshow to the main event will mean any negative vibes pass us by.

Were the three goals really all offside?

I think van Persie's 3rd might have been but they were borderline to be honest. Couldn't say for certain as I haven't seen them clearly, could not be arsed watching the replays.

[PaulWinch again]

No shame in tonight's performance - Manure are just better at the football thing than most others - at least we had a couple of shots. Maybe being a bit of a sideshow to the main event will mean any negative vibes pass us by.

Were the three goals really all offside?

Yes they were, and there was plenty of shame in the first half. We recovered a lot in second half and KEA massively helped that, his best 45 minutes in a Villa shirt.

[Mortimer's Bear]

Bennett becoming the new Bannan on here I see.

[nigel]

Peoples opinions on the goals:
All 3 looked to have an offside element, or am I seeing things?

[john2710]

Lunacy from Lambert, to try and go toe to toe with United, tonight of all nights. With the defence we have, embarrassingly naive.  Not another manager in the country, outside the top 5 would have started with that lineup. Second half was better, but lets be honest United could have scored at will. It's like someone playing FIFA on the XBOX in easy mode, one or two passes and our defence evaporates. N'Zogbia shows absolutely no interest in defending. 

My worry is that if we stay up, will we address the obvious flaws in the team or will we just hope the players improve?

[ktvillan]

I'd have thought a sensible game plan should, logically,  have included a) keeping it tight the first 15-20 minutes to take the sting out of them and quieten the crowd b)  close Rooney and Carrick down quickly to stop them dictating play c) keep a close eye on Van Persie.  If so, that went well then. 

I suppose we should be thankful it wasn't a Chelsea style tonking, for the sake of shattered confidence at least.

We actually looked half decent going forward as usual, especially when Utd had put their feet up second half, but Lambert will never be a good manager until he learns how to get his team to defend anything like effectively.  Knife through melted butter at times.

For all the stick Bennett gets, the image that sticks out for me is (S)Lowton being outpaced nonchalantly by 65 year old Ryan Giggs in a bathchair.   A whole new defence needed whatever league we end up in.

[Matt Collins]

Bennett's done well recently but like a rabbit in headlights tonight

I thought delph looked good again though.