Liverpool v Aston Villa Post-Match Thread

[PGW]

Stan's happy, i'm happy.....Ron Vlaar outstanding, Delph played very well and Benteke becoming the beast once more. Shame we lost Gabby...didn't look serious though.

Must admit started biting my nails when Luna came on.......Bertrand gonna be a class act, hope he will want to stay!

[Goldie.7]

Much better performance. He should of brought on Albrighton instead of Holt apart from that a very decent unexpected point.

[Smirker]

Come on lads, Guzan should have been more cautious considering Suarez' reputation. I don't think we were robbed exactly. A draw was a fair result.

UTV.

[Toronto Villa]

Benteke is looking like Benteke again. Such a relief. Ryan Bertrand brings so much more stability to LB position.

[Richard E]

Also, an encouraging display from Holt.

I was impressed with him, a bit of nous about him.

[ktvillan]

Well that was a turn up, best display since the first week of the season, and if we can carry on in that vein we won't be anywhere near trouble.  There was evidence of having done some coaching on the training pitch, we looked confident and everyone played well even KEA and Westwood.   Reverted to hoofing a little after Gabby went off but still could have nicked it.  Holt did okay, had some nice touches and flicks, Bertrand was excellent and Vlaar outstanding.  Gabby is using his strengths really well and improving as a player, the top sides seem to hate playing against him.  I think we deserved to win, and if it hadn't been for a ref who is the only person on the planet who doesn't know that Suarez is a diving cheating c**t,  and Gabby's injury, I think we would have.

[supertom]

Performance of the season probably for me. Suarez spent the whole game moaning, cheating and trying to con the ref, succeeding for their winner sadly. Thankfully the ref didn't send off Guzan.

Thought we played superbly first half. We lost a bit of attacking edge without Gabby, but we still looked a threat on the break. Benteke was back to his best. Weimann played well. Holt didn't do too badly when he came on.

Delph was superb. Vlaar too. Bertrand had a solid debut. KEA had his best game in a Villa shirt and Westy looked back to his best again.

Play like that every week and we'll be more than okay. We also showed we're capable of playing football. It makes a difference injecting a bit of attacking intent and some movement into our play.

[Jimbo]

Excellent performance, very unlucky to draw this thanks to the league's biggest cheat, but perhaps this is a sign we've turned a corner and we can press on from here. Up to 10th.

[mrastonvilla]

Should have been all over before half time. Looking forward to taking on the saggy baggies!

[darren woolley]

Great performance we played really well I'm happy with a point unlucky Gabby had to go off he terrorised them in the first half Vlaar was a rock in defence we passed the ball better just hope we can play like that every game.

[supertom]

We showed today that we look a much better side when we don't just sit back and let the opposition have 70% of the ball. We used it pretty well at times to day and just had a lot more intent and movement.

[Fergal]

Come on lads, Guzan should have been more cautious considering Suarez' reputation. I don't think we were robbed exactly. A draw was a fair result.

UTV.

He dived, he cheated, that's not Guzans fault...

[Karlos96]

Thought we played really well and we should have won.  Lambert that is how we want to play each week none of that long ball shit anymore.

I despise the bin dippers I hate them more than any club so it's nice to put an end to any thoughts they had of winning the title :-)

[Legion]

Come on lads, Guzan should have been more cautious considering Suarez' reputation. I don't think we were robbed exactly. A draw was a fair result.

UTV.

He dived, he cheated, that's not Guzans fault...

Agreed. If he hadn't come for the ball and the buck-toothed twat had scored he'd be criticised for it.

[hilts_coolerking]

Terrific first 45 minutes, best in ages.  Then after the pen we more than held our own.  We were aggressive, energetic, attacking and scored two really excellent goals.  When you compare that to our home performances it's a real head scratcher.

The pen was a shame because although Brad never touched him the replay from the ref's angle did make it look like a pen.  Ah well, these things happen.  Prefer to focus on how good we were.  We look at our best when we play with pace and width so it was good to see Bertrand do well at full back and Gabby was excellent in the first half.

I'm not sure Holt and Benteke together is the way to go and whoever said in the match thread that it's Gabby we need cover for was spot on: after he went off we didn't look as good.  In retrospect Albrighton might have been a better option than Holt but I can see why Lambert was keen to give him some game time.  Holt didn't do anything wrong mind, and in fact he played a part in a very well worked free kick by us that could easily have fallen to someone in the box.

Very encouraging stuff but I'm at a total loss to explain the disparity between our attitude in away games with the insipid stuff we play at home.