Manchester United vs Aston Villa Post-Match Thread

[saunders_heroes]

All the talk of packing the midfield is a bit redundant when it was long balls from Rooney that caught us out. We just lost to a much better side but at least once it settled down we had the bollocks to have a go at them.

The game was lost and they took their foot off the gas before we started to play a bit. We were dicked 3-0. No positives out of last night's game.

Most sides would have been 'dicked', as you so eloquently put it, by the way they started last night. The credit is that we didn't just fall to pieces but kept at it.

We fell to pieces after 1 minute. No credit in that performance at all. Wake up, Chris!

There's never credit if you don't know how to spot it. We played the best team in the country, by a mile, and they put in a start that would have blitzed most teams in this league. 

We were in the game for exactly 1 min 30 seconds, and then the game was lost. If you want to take credit because Man Utd took their foot off the gas second half you're welcome to it.

[pauliewalnuts]

All the talk of packing the midfield is a bit redundant when it was long balls from Rooney that caught us out. We just lost to a much better side but at least once it settled down we had the bollocks to have a go at them.

The game was lost and they took their foot off the gas before we started to play a bit. We were dicked 3-0. No positives out of last night's game.

Most sides would have been 'dicked', as you so eloquently put it, by the way they started last night. The credit is that we didn't just fall to pieces but kept at it.

We fell to pieces after 1 minute. No credit in that performance at all. Wake up, Chris!

There's never credit if you don't know how to spot it. We played the best team in the country, by a mile, and they put in a start that would have blitzed most teams in this league. 

We were in the game for exactly 1 min 30 seconds, and then the game was lost. If you want to take credit because Man Utd took their foot off the gas second half you're welcome to it.

Isn't the obvious positive to take the fact that - regardless of whether it was because Man United took their foot off the gas, or because we improved, it doesn't matter - we ended up losing 3-0 and seeing a fair amount of the ball in the second half, rather than taking what looked like turning out to be a 7 or 8 goal drubbing, which would have seen us go to pieces in the remaining more winnable games?

It doesn't matter if it was because they stopped trying or we turned into Barcelona, the important thing is that it panned out like that, when it could have been so much worse.

Can't you see that as a positive to take?

[Chris Smith]

All the talk of packing the midfield is a bit redundant when it was long balls from Rooney that caught us out. We just lost to a much better side but at least once it settled down we had the bollocks to have a go at them.

The game was lost and they took their foot off the gas before we started to play a bit. We were dicked 3-0. No positives out of last night's game.

Most sides would have been 'dicked', as you so eloquently put it, by the way they started last night. The credit is that we didn't just fall to pieces but kept at it.

We fell to pieces after 1 minute. No credit in that performance at all. Wake up, Chris!

There's never credit if you don't know how to spot it. We played the best team in the country, by a mile, and they put in a start that would have blitzed most teams in this league. 

We were in the game for exactly 1 min 30 seconds, and then the game was lost. If you want to take credit because Man Utd took their foot off the gas second half you're welcome to it.

You do have an odd way of looking at things, or perhaps it's just the way you express yourself, but I don't want to take credit for anything. I'm just giving an honest appraisal of the game, not one filtered through my pre-conceived expectations.

They were a lot better than us and put in a 25 minute performance that would have had a similar outcome against most teams. I'm not even claiming anything for the offside goals as I suspect they'd have scored soon after in any case. What I am saying is that we had the bottle, and the ability, not to fold and, when the opportunity presented, put in decent performance for the rest of the game.

[saunders_heroes]

All the talk of packing the midfield is a bit redundant when it was long balls from Rooney that caught us out. We just lost to a much better side but at least once it settled down we had the bollocks to have a go at them.

The game was lost and they took their foot off the gas before we started to play a bit. We were dicked 3-0. No positives out of last night's game.

Most sides would have been 'dicked', as you so eloquently put it, by the way they started last night. The credit is that we didn't just fall to pieces but kept at it.

We fell to pieces after 1 minute. No credit in that performance at all. Wake up, Chris!

There's never credit if you don't know how to spot it. We played the best team in the country, by a mile, and they put in a start that would have blitzed most teams in this league. 

We were in the game for exactly 1 min 30 seconds, and then the game was lost. If you want to take credit because Man Utd took their foot off the gas second half you're welcome to it.

Isn't the obvious positive to take the fact that - regardless of whether it was because Man United took their foot off the gas, or because we improved, it doesn't matter - we ended up losing 3-0 and seeing a fair amount of the ball in the second half, rather than taking what looked like turning out to be a 7 or 8 goal drubbing, which would have seen us go to pieces in the remaining more winnable games?

It doesn't matter if it was because they stopped trying or we turned into Barcelona, the important thing is that it panned out like that, when it could have been so much worse.

Can't you see that as a positive to take?

No. It's like we're scraping the bottom of the barrel. We lost yet another game and made our diabolical goal difference even worse. It really hurts to think that some fans are taking it as some kind of positive that we didn't concede another 8 goals instead of 3. That's humiliating for us.
I know we're all trying to make ourselves feel just that little bit better, but it really is as bad as it looks. This team isn't good enough for Aston Villa, and the worst part is that in my opinion they never will be.

[pauliewalnuts]

No. It's like we're scraping the bottom of the barrel. We lost yet another game and made our diabolical goal difference even worse. It really hurts to think that some fans are taking it as some kind of positive that we didn't concede another 8 goals instead of 3. That's humiliating for us.
I know we're all trying to make ourselves feel just that little bit better, but it really is as bad as it looks. This team isn't good enough for Aston Villa, and the worst part is that in my opinion they never will be.

Look at the table, we're not a good side. Everyone can see that, I know you can, as you've told us it all season, so it's not a surprise for anybody really, that we've lost at Old Trafford.

I just think that if your mindset is that even not taking a humping and getting our confidence shattered is not a positive, then you're really never going to see the bright side of anything.

Getting shafted 8-0 by Chelsea earlier in the season was humiliating, but it wasn't that match which was the worst thing about it. The worst thing was the way it hung over us, it shattered our confidence, and launched us on a run of truly horrible results.

If we'd got totally screwed last night, we'd be at risk of that happening again, precisely when we can't afford for it to.

Nobody is pretending that not getting humped is some kind of gigantic achievement - you'd have to be nuts to think people really are thinking that, and I don't think you're daft enough to really believe it - but the fact of the matter is that we weren't going to get anything away to a club who have won 15 home league games this season, and who were clinching the title.

That match last night was not going to relegate us - not winning enough of the remaining fixtures will do, though.

Given that, entering this next period as mentally strong as we possibly can do is surely a positive? Surely you can see that?

[saunders_heroes]

No. It's like we're scraping the bottom of the barrel. We lost yet another game and made our diabolical goal difference even worse. It really hurts to think that some fans are taking it as some kind of positive that we didn't concede another 8 goals instead of 3. That's humiliating for us.
I know we're all trying to make ourselves feel just that little bit better, but it really is as bad as it looks. This team isn't good enough for Aston Villa, and the worst part is that in my opinion they never will be.

Look at the table, we're not a good side. Everyone can see that, I know you can, as you've told us it all season, so it's not a surprise for anybody really, that we've lost at Old Trafford.

I just think that if your mindset is that even not taking a humping and getting our confidence shattered is not a positive, then you're really never going to see the bright side of anything.

Getting shafted 8-0 by Chelsea earlier in the season was humiliating, but it wasn't that match which was the worst thing about it. The worst thing was the way it hung over us, it shattered our confidence, and launched us on a run of truly horrible results.

If we'd got totally screwed last night, we'd be at risk of that happening again, precisely when we can't afford for it to.

Nobody is pretending that not getting humped is some kind of gigantic achievement - you'd have to be nuts to think people really are thinking that, and I don't think you're daft enough to really believe it - but the fact of the matter is that we weren't going to get anything away to a club who have won 15 home league games this season, and who were clinching the title.

That match last night was not going to relegate us - not winning enough of the remaining fixtures will do, though.

Given that, entering this next period as mentally strong as we possibly can do is surely a positive? Surely you can see that?

Yes okay I'll give you that. Going into the next game with the hangover of another 8-0 thrashing would have been soul destroying. So yes it's some kind of positive I suppose. Not much though.

[Jimbo]

It is a positive that we didn't lose 8-0. I'm very glad that we didn't suffer another utter annihilation like that. But from what I saw of us in the first half, it looked like if Man Utd had needed to win 5:0 or more, they probably would have.

Best to move on, we have much smaller fish to fry.

[Nev]

All the talk of packing the midfield is a bit redundant when it was long balls from Rooney that caught us out. We just lost to a much better side but at least once it settled down we had the bollocks to have a go at them.

The game was lost and they took their foot off the gas before we started to play a bit. We were dicked 3-0. No positives out of last night's game.

Most sides would have been 'dicked', as you so eloquently put it, by the way they started last night. The credit is that we didn't just fall to pieces but kept at it.

We fell to pieces after 1 minute. No credit in that performance at all. Wake up, Chris!

There's never credit if you don't know how to spot it. We played the best team in the country, by a mile, and they put in a start that would have blitzed most teams in this league. 

We were in the game for exactly 1 min 30 seconds, and then the game was lost. If you want to take credit because Man Utd took their foot off the gas second half you're welcome to it.

Isn't the obvious positive to take the fact that - regardless of whether it was because Man United took their foot off the gas, or because we improved, it doesn't matter - we ended up losing 3-0 and seeing a fair amount of the ball in the second half, rather than taking what looked like turning out to be a 7 or 8 goal drubbing, which would have seen us go to pieces in the remaining more winnable games?

It doesn't matter if it was because they stopped trying or we turned into Barcelona, the important thing is that it panned out like that, when it could have been so much worse.

Can't you see that as a positive to take?

No. It's like we're scraping the bottom of the barrel. We lost yet another game and made our diabolical goal difference even worse. It really hurts to think that some fans are taking it as some kind of positive that we didn't concede another 8 goals instead of 3. That's humiliating for us.
I know we're all trying to make ourselves feel just that little bit better, but it really is as bad as it looks. This team isn't good enough for Aston Villa, and the worst part is that in my opinion they never will be.

I agree with every word but you have to view football in context or you would have to view the last 31 years as failure because we have failed to win the European Cup again. I was pleased that we didn't get humiliated last night but that does not mean I'm pleased with our current position. We are fighting for our lives and must take any positive, however small. There is no other way to approach it.

[Des Little]

We need to understand that, at this moment in time, we are cannon fodder for the likes of Yernited, Citeh, Chelsea et al.  We rarely trouble them and take our punishment without much of a whimper (with a couple of exceptions). I sat in with United fans last night as we are not viewed as anything other than sitting ducks, which is shame but that's the way it is.  The days of us challenging at the top rather than the bottom - sadly - are years away.  And I don't take any satisfaction in saying this either.

[pauliewalnuts]

Yes okay I'll give you that. Going into the next game with the hangover of another 8-0 thrashing would have been soul destroying. So yes it's some kind of positive I suppose. Not much though.

I think it'd be worse than soul destroying, it would have condemned us to relegation.

As it is, we're still in with a fighting chance.

That doesn't mean it isn't all pretty humiliating, though, it is. We've had two seasons of continual struggle, and before that, another one which was mostly struggle until the last handful of matches.

I hate mooking about down the bottom with the Wigans and the Readings of this world, but I'd hate actually getting relegated 100 times more.

I am one of the people who can see what Lambert is trying to do. I don't like the drastic scaling back of spending which Lerner has launched now that he's lost interest. There are lots of things I don't like about the way the club is run. The chairman has detached himself and the CEO is clearly out of his depth.

For all that I support Lambert, though, he can not inflict another season like this on us next year. The failure to strengthen the defence in January was absolutely insane, a massive, massive gamble.

There is not, and can not be, any excuse for being as powder puff weak at the back next year as we have been this.

[saunders_heroes]

Yes okay I'll give you that. Going into the next game with the hangover of another 8-0 thrashing would have been soul destroying. So yes it's some kind of positive I suppose. Not much though.

I think it'd be worse than soul destroying, it would have condemned us to relegation.

As it is, we're still in with a fighting chance.

That doesn't mean it isn't all pretty humiliating, though, it is. We've had two seasons of continual struggle, and before that, another one which was mostly struggle until the last handful of matches.

I hate mooking about down the bottom with the Wigans and the Readings of this world, but I'd hate actually getting relegated 100 times more.

I am one of the people who can see what Lambert is trying to do. I don't like the drastic scaling back of spending which Lerner has launched now that he's lost interest. There are lots of things I don't like about the way the club is run. The chairman has detached himself and the CEO is clearly out of his depth.

For all that I support Lambert, though, he can not inflict another season like this on us next year. The failure to strengthen the defence in January was absolutely insane, a massive, massive gamble.

There is not, and can not be, any excuse for being as powder puff weak at the back next year as we have been this.

Same here. Worrying about what the Wigans and Readings of this world are doing is humiliating for a club like Villa. The main worry for me is that even if we do survive this season I can't see it being any different next. I disagree with most on here about our players. I really don't see them getting much better at all. They're simply not good enough and never will be. The club is going nowhere but downhill with Lerner's constant cost cutting. Pack your team out with players from the Football League and eventually you'll end up there.

[olaftab]

"Took their  foot off the gas" is bunk argument  No team does that however sycophants and  luvvy Pressies like to use that term to describe any event where they find it incredible that a inferior team could possibly be capable of changing things and fighting instead of lying down.  There is no doubt that Manu players wanted to put on some sort of exhibition and  score as many as they can but their own complacency and  Villa refusing to give up and  switching a few things around stopped that.

[pauliewalnuts]

You are right, some of them haven't looked good enough because, frankly, they're not good enough, but the balance has been wrong right from the start.

It's all well and good deciding you're going to follow the Ajax model and mix home grown products with cheapish players from selling European leagues and the English lower leagues, but we're operating in a totally different set of circumstances to Ajax, so it is flawed from the start. Ajax are the biggest club in their league and get the pick of the best youth players. We are not, and do not. Ajax can offer their players CL football every year, which not only helps keep them, but it helps them improve fast as they experience a higher level of football.

The project is ultimately rather naive - not because it can't work, but because someone at the club has decided it needs to be done so quickly, and on such a scale. Bringing through youth players / kids is fine. Throwing them all in at the same time, having a whole team of them, gets you where we are right now - flirting with relegation.

This summer, if we do not sign more experienced players, we are going to struggle again next year.

We wouldn't have struggled so much this year had we made the right signings in January. What we thought Dawkins was going to add to the party, for example, I really don't know. Compare him to the effect an experienced defender would have had.

[itbrvilla]

Yes okay I'll give you that. Going into the next game with the hangover of another 8-0 thrashing would have been soul destroying. So yes it's some kind of positive I suppose. Not much though.

I think it'd be worse than soul destroying, it would have condemned us to relegation.

As it is, we're still in with a fighting chance.

That doesn't mean it isn't all pretty humiliating, though, it is. We've had two seasons of continual struggle, and before that, another one which was mostly struggle until the last handful of matches.

I hate mooking about down the bottom with the Wigans and the Readings of this world, but I'd hate actually getting relegated 100 times more.

I am one of the people who can see what Lambert is trying to do. I don't like the drastic scaling back of spending which Lerner has launched now that he's lost interest. There are lots of things I don't like about the way the club is run. The chairman has detached himself and the CEO is clearly out of his depth.

For all that I support Lambert, though, he can not inflict another season like this on us next year. The failure to strengthen the defence in January was absolutely insane, a massive, massive gamble.

There is not, and can not be, any excuse for being as powder puff weak at the back next year as we have been this.

Same here. Worrying about what the Wigans and Readings of this world are doing is humiliating for a club like Villa. The main worry for me is that even if we do survive this season I can't see it being any different next. I disagree with most on here about our players. I really don't see them getting much better at all. They're simply not good enough and never will be. The club is going nowhere but downhill with Lerner's constant cost cutting. Pack your team out with players from the Football League and eventually you'll end up there.

I agree with both of you.  With the exception of maybe 3-4 players who are good, the rest are woeful have have been most of the season. We've barely been comfortable in any game even against so called shit teams. It'll be much the same next year with plenty of baffling tactics to match.  We are in a mess and if we manage to stay up this year will be find ourselves in the shit again next year.

[saunders_heroes]

"Took their  foot off the gas" is bunk argument  No team does that however sycophants and  luvvy Pressies like to use that term to describe any event where they find it incredible that a inferior team could possibly be capable of changing things and fighting instead of lying down.  There is no doubt that Manu players wanted to put on some sort of exhibition and  score as many as they can but their own complacency and  Villa refusing to give up and  switching a few things around stopped that.

We lost 3-0. It wasn't a plucky 1-0 defeat, nor a 2-1 or a 3-2. We lost by 3 clear goals.