Plucky little AFC Bournemouth vs nasty Aston Villa bullies post match thread

[Matt Collins]

Really happy with the result, considering the challenges we faced

Can't read too much into the good or bad today but I will admit I predicted several things incorrectly

Very surprised with the clean sheet for a start.

Sounds like gueye is the most ready as predicted. A grealish or Gil would really help add subtlety I imagine

[Villatillidie25]

Overall, an excellent win that, although a good number of you guys seemed to think we might get, I for one agreed with the majority of the rest of the population and thought it would be a very long afternoon.
There will be teething problems for the first few months and I think it is reasonable to say that we were somewhat toothless at times, which pundits may attribute to the loss of Tekkers and Judas. Nevertheless, we were more solid than I thought we would be (comments below aside) and I saw enough from the likes of Veretout to think that, coupled with Gil, Grealish etc. we will improve at the top of the pitch.
It was always going to be a tough first half with the Bournemouth fans etc. but, bar the final 10 or so minutes of the first half we didn't give much away, which was pleasing. Second half was better with the ball being moved quicker. With a bit of luck, a lot of the disjointedness will have been due to the fact that so many players were new to the team.

Guzan - 7 - Thought he played well, making a couple of decent saves in the first half. His kicking, though, is woeful and we will concede if we continue to insist on him using his feet to play out from the back. Nevertheless, a GK is there to save shots primarily and so his mark can't be affected too much.

Bacuna - 6 - Decent enough and I still quite like him, particularly going forward. His positional sense though still lacks a lot and, worryingly, I don't think it is improving. The cross field balls from Ritchie caused him problems all afternoon and I think teams will target him with those this season

Richards - 8 - Can't have asked for much more from our new captain. A couple of wobbly moments, notably the first half stab across the box, but in the second half, in particular, he was excellent. His pace and power will be a huge asset and he won far more in the air than I expected him too, which is promising.

Clark - 8 - My MOTM - Marginally better than Richards because he basically had no wobbly moments. Tying him down to a long term deal was a very good piece of business as he looks to have really matured in the last 12 months.

Amavi - 7 - Excellent debut. He looks a real threat on the break and incredibly comfortable with the ball at his feet. I think we have finally got a good left back. Solid defensively, especially in one on ones although he does, occasionally, get out of position, which could prove costly. That is likely to be inexperience and, with a bit of luck, a strong partnership with Clark will form that should allow them to cover one another.

Gueye - 7 - Really important player for us today, breaking up play and passing it quickly. I would like to see him be slightly more dynamic otherwise we could find ourselves with 3 very similar players in Sanchez, Gueye and Westwood.

Westwood - 6 - Gets a lot of flack on here but someone I rate. I think he is probably fourth choice in midfield now but a valued member of the squad nonetheless. He reads the game well and does a lot of the unseen stuff such as closing down the angles to block those forward, incisive passes.

Veretout - 6 - Looks a good player and one that I hope will flourish at the Villa because he could be exactly what we have needed for years. He strikes me as a bit like Cabeye, which is no bad thing - capable of playing in a 2 man midfield but more effective when given the licence to push on. Villa fans should be patient with him as I doubt we will see the best of him until next year as he gets up to speed.

Sinclair - 6- Decent enough today, working hard and assisting Amavi where needed. His end product is somewhat lacking though and too often do attacks with him break down or fade away. Nevertheless, a good squad player and someone who is probably more suited to home games as I think he has a real eye for goal.

Ayew - 5 - Fairly disappointed in Ayew but I think he will be the one that takes the longest to settle. He has all the attributes though to succeed but his slightly hot and cold nature might mean that he struggles to find a run of form and possibly pitch time to really settle this season. He's talented though and should be persevered with. The game today though probably came a bit too soon for him and largely passed him by. I would definitely consider switching him out for United given that they are likely to have far more of the ball.

Agbonlahor - 6 - A typical Gabby game really. Showed glimpses of ability but flattered to deceive to often. The run before his effort was excellent but his shot was poor. I did, though, think he was better on the wing and expect that he will continue to primarily be used in a front three but out wide. Although many have written him off I think there is still a place for him in the squad, especially given that Ayew will take time, and we don't really have anyone who offers an Agbonlahor type threat - pace and direct running (as occasionally as he shows it).

Sanchez - 7 - Very good when he came on and made a difference. Will be first choice this season and I expect him to be a very important player for us now that he has settled in.
Gestede - 7 - Held the ball up well, played a few nice through balls and got the winner. Not much more you could ask for to be honest. I think he is somewhat limited though but will score goals. We should buy a new CF (or loan Adebayor) and loan Kozak out to a Championship team for 6 months with a callback option.
Richardson - 5 - Minimal time to make an impact but looked way off the pace. Cup games only for KR.

[Toronto Villa]

Result great, performance dreadful. Will struggle again if that's the true standard of what's to come. I suspect however there will be a gradual improvement with Gil,  Grealish and a new striker to come.

Think Amavi is our best left back since Bouma. Suspect Ayew is a bad un. And Rudy is gonna be very hit n miss.

Sorry to be negative. That's just how I see it.

Fair enough on your opinion but certainly didn't think we were dreadful. I certainly think we were way too cautious in the first half, possibly aimed and dulling their energy which we knew they would come with. We did get a bit lucky a couple of times in the first half, but in the second half we were much, much better. And this lot will get better as they play more. Bournemouth have players that for the most part came up and they have that chemistry that we don't yet. We'll get better and more fluid in the coming weeks.

[Deano's Mullet]

Excellent start. Nothing can a spoil a first day win.

[mr underhill]

i'd rather take any win than loose

[PaulWinch again]

Excellent result. I could only follow by BBC text today and it seemed like everyone else wanted Bournemouth to win, but we did it. Great for Rudy to score on debut. Anyone else standout?

[Matt Collins]

For those who watched / went, how did the midfield look when it was Westwood, gueye and Sanchez? Did one of them play further forward (gueye?)

Looks like Andre Ayew has settled in a bit more quickly than his bro. Lovely goal

[Steve R]

I thought Bournemouth played very well. They covered every blade of grass and gave us no room to work with at all. It made for ugly football, but by extension we played very well ourselves in the way we saw the game through. I am fairly sure that over the 90 minutes we shaded the 'maybe should have scored' count. Being naturally nervous watchers we tend to notice Bournemouth's moments more.

Maybe the best statistic is the number of players who have been mentioned on this thread as having very good games. I made it three or four candidates for man of the match. We profited from not needing a couple of players to play well as our best hope of wining. Today two would have been nowhere near enough. We certainly seem to have a better midfield.

Gestede is no Benteke. There was no salmon like leap for an elegant header. The goal had more of an Andy Gray hue if anything. The ball came somewhere near his manor so he made sure he got there first and bludgeoned it in. Another 13 like that in the league and we will have traded up on last season. Particularly if more than two come before March.

Not a great game to watch, but the Ligue 1 players will have played in nothing like it before in terms of intensity and hustle. I just hope of few of the ones hobbling at the end - particularly Richards - are there next Friday.

[manic-road]

Chuffed with the three points, now off for more than three pints.

[Risso]

I thought Richards and Clark on the whole looked very strong, Amavi was superb, and Gueye and Veretout showed enough.  The formation was wrong the first half, but we looked much better when Gestede came on.

[paulcomben]

We're Aston Villa/ We're not naive any more.

[Toronto Villa]

For those who watched / went, how did the midfield look when it was Westwood, gueye and Sanchez? Did one of them play further forward (gueye?)

Looks like Andre Ayew has settled in a bit more quickly than his bro. Lovely goal

Gueye was very good and likes to come forward. Westwood and Sanchez both sat deep and looked fine especially the latter who appeared way more involved. Vestetout I don't think was in his best position more on the right and it will interesting to see him develop. Looked decent.

Jordan is project but I think once he gets up to speed he'll be fine. There is no doubt Andre is much more the finished article.

[paulcomben]

BBC already dishing out pro-Villa, Bentekesque stats, the fickle fuckers. "Since the start of 2013-14, Rudy Gestede has scored 20 headed goals; five more than anyone else in the top four tiers."

[pauliewalnuts]

Gueye and Amavi both looked extremely impressive.

Gueye is a very good passer of the ball, works very hard, and I noticed he fights like fuck to get the ball back when he loses it. Very impressed indeed.

I mean this in a totally non-negative way, but Amavi will be somewhere like Chelsea inside three years.

[andyh]

Great result down here in the heat, lost my voice for the first time in two moths!

I thought that, as others have said, we struggled to impose ourselves in the first half, with Bournemouth fortunately not creating too much bar two shots towards the end.

Second half the midfield three flattened and stepped up a bit and we dominated them. Marvin looked very good, Richards was a beast, Amavi looked excellent going forwards and was nice and strong defensively too.

Defensively we marshalled them and you could see with Veretout and Ayew their quality on the ball, the extra time they give themselves and their movement, even if they weren't match sharp.

Gabby doesn't do it for me, while Guzans kicking is really poor.

Rudy won absolutely everything in the air and looks like Carew with a birds nest on his head. His goal was great, just bullied everybody out the way and drilled it in harder than most people can kick it. He's going to cause all sorts of trouble.

Gueye should have scored too and Gabby.

Very pleasing away win. You could hear the BBC rubbing their hands on the way down and we silenced them.

Marvin!

I bloody love it.