Aston Villa vs Arsenal Post-Match Thread

[Gregorys Boy]

Thought we did well for twenty minutes, then the extra class showed, and they controlled the game in the second half without being at their best.  We faded, but it is still just one bad day at the office and may prove a good wake up call.  I wouldn't have taken off Weinmann I think he did alright first half.  It was a shame that Bent wasn't on the bench just because he would have been worth throwing on second half.

[ciggiesnbeer]

I doubt any of us liked that second half, but it was preferable to the Chavski game when we made no effort to shut up shop and were lucky to only concede 8. I know going for it in the second half doesn't automatically mean conceding a bunch more, but with that side we had out today I think we would have.

I think so too. I hate it, but I think you are right. A 0-5+ hammering would have smashed us morale wise.

[barrysleftfoot]

 You can't stand off Arse.You have to close them down quickly, and physically impose yourselves on them.Thats what Chelsk always do, and what Dortmund did, you play with high energy.We looked strangely lethargic today, partic in midfield.Makes me wonder if this "bug" was a bit more widespread than reported.

 Also PLs tactics worry me.No team tactics apart from counter attacking.Fine when you're away from home, or against a better team,but when we go a goal down there's no plan B.

 I actually thought Gabby was ok today, but we need CB or Kozak back, and a quality forward to play off them.

[john e]

Not even attempting to get back into the game was a disgrace.
40,000 people deserve better than that.
I don't buy this we did the right thing by keeping the score down.

I agree with you, but if 3 then turns to 5 or 6 we then can't moan, you can't have it all ways

[SoccerHQ]

Typical Villa.

[Toronto Villa]

I think those late changes and Sanchez coming and looking off the pace didn't help the balance in the middle. Unfortunately same with Clark who wasn't sharp and affected the balance and chemistry of the defence. Not blaming him for everything but it was a part of the issue. Let's see what we learn from this.

[PeterWithesShin]

Thought we did well for twenty minutes, then the extra class showed, and they controlled the game in the second half without being at their best.  We faded, but it is still just one bad day at the office and may prove a good wake up call.  I wouldn't have taken off Weinmann I think he did alright first half.  It was a shame that Bent wasn't on the bench just because he would have been worth throwing on second half.

I wonder if Weimann was another who was affected by the virus? It seemed strange that he was subbed for any other reason as he did okay first half.

[Toronto Villa]

We also need that dominant player up front to slow things down and hold up the ball. He's a few weeks away so we'll need to get through this and pick up points where possible. Let's not smash the side given we've done so well up to today. Disappointing as the result is it doesn't change what we have achieved so far this season.

[Gregorys Boy]

You can't stand off Arse.You have to close them down quickly, and physically impose yourselves on them.Thats what Chelsk always do, and what Dortmund did, you play with high energy.We looked strangely lethargic today, partic in midfield.Makes me wonder if this "bug" was a bit more widespread than reported.

 Also PLs tactics worry me.No team tactics apart from counter attacking.Fine when you're away from home, or against a better team,but when we go a goal down there's no plan B.

 I actually thought Gabby was ok today, but we need CB or Kozak back, and a quality forward to play off them.

I think we did that pretty well for most of the first half, but that mad five minutes just stunned us and we never recovered.   I would have liked more of a go second half, but sometimes you just have to accept that we are playing a much better team who know how to punish weakensses. 

[Toronto Villa]

Thought we did well for twenty minutes, then the extra class showed, and they controlled the game in the second half without being at their best.  We faded, but it is still just one bad day at the office and may prove a good wake up call.  I wouldn't have taken off Weinmann I think he did alright first half.  It was a shame that Bent wasn't on the bench just because he would have been worth throwing on second half.

I wonder if Weimann was another who was affected by the virus? It seemed strange that he was subbed for any other reason as he did okay first half.

You do wonder how many were actually affected by it and were just about able to play through it.

[SoccerHQ]

More of a go in the second half would've probably resulted in 4 or 5 nil tbh which could've really fcuked things up like xmas 2012 did.

The key moment was 0-0 and Clark's miss. Yes Schzeney did well to save but from that range you simply have to score that especially against the top teams as you won't get countless chances.

Arsenal wouldn't have been scoring 3 goals in 30 seconds if we'd scored there and we probably deserved it from the first half hour.

This game reminded me of the Man. United home game last season. Played well but in a blink of an eye three nil down. Sadly we have much pyschological issues playing Man. United and Arsenal at Villa Park, would rather today's game had been at the Emirates as we'd probably have nicked a result.

[pauliewalnuts]

I can see both sides of the "why didn't we try to get back into it" argument.

Yes, the fans deserve that at the very least.

On the flip side, two years ago when we won at Anfield, we picked up similar plaudits as this season having done the same, only to embark on a run of hideous hidings. It wasn't those hidings that soured the rest of the season, it was the enormous knock to the confidence we took which hung around us for months afterwards.

The thought of that happening had we ended up shipping five or six today doesn't really bear thinking about.

[ozzjim]

From what a couple of reporters are saying Lambert knew going in it was going to be a long day when the players reported in there were a fair few in the squad suffering from this bug. We will never know who, but if you take out 3-4 first team players, then put 3-4 more at even 80% against a side like Arsenal, you are buggered quite simply. We did well to keep the score down and get through the day in my opinion.

We did well enough first half hour, Clark scores that opportunity great. But he didn't, and while that would have made Arsenal more tense and tight, they took the let off and went for it.

[andyh]

To approach the second half like that, at home, is an utter disgrace.
Bollocks to keeping the score down. We should have been in their faces, closing them down, forcing them in to errors, who knows, maybe we might have created a chance or two, bloody hell, we might even have scored!!
In the end that second half wasn't even a heavy training session for Arsenal, it was a complete stroll in the park.

[PaulWinch again]

Well that's back down to earth with a bit of thud, I had a horrible feeling Ozil and Welbeck would have an impact today. Still other than those 5 minutes most of the first half was pretty positive. I didn't see the second half but sounds like we didn't do a lot. It's like I said on another thread we're going to have to learn to be more of a threat going forward.