Spurs v Villa Post-Match Thread

[sirlordbaltimore]

Not really got much to add on yesterday's efforts apart from the following

Johnstone looked handy, apart from the one punch under no pressure
Grealish looked absolutely awful, as he usually does when he starts. So so lightweight and lacking any sort of urgency. Losing any faith I had in him making it
Hutton is absolutely appalling
Gabby will never be the answer to any striking problems. And i'm not going to applaud him for doing the absolute minimum he should, eg run about a bit
As much as i rate Chester, he did dilly dally on the ball far too long on a few occasions yesterday
Tshibola looked 'alright', not anything to set my pulse racing
Bacuna/Albert worked hard enough defensively I guess

[Rigadon]

I like what Grealish does, I just wish he would do it quicker. He has the great ability to beat a man or create space out of nothing, he  just needs to do it quicker and pass to a team mate faster. That would be enough I think to take him from "decent" to "good" in the Championship.

The thing is, as I said in the match thread, he was picking the ball up 10 yards outside our box, looking up and seeing 6-7 spurs players and gabby in the distance, how can he do anything creative in that situation?  I can understand being defensive in that game but ayew/kodjia/grealish picking it up deep in their own half with no pass forward available has been a consistent problem for the last 2 months.

You mention he can 'create space out of nothing' but who is he creating space for other than himself and if he's the only person who can benefit from it then he's really got no choice but to hold onto the ball.

The problems you describe exist at the team level and Grealish is a circumstance of that as much as anything else.  This isn't me attempting to white knight for him or ignore his part in it, I'm just pointing out that right now under Bruce we'd be better off playing long ball in a 442 with a big target man and a quick fucker running off him because players like Grealish just aren't going to work if we play so deep.

He is exactly the kind player who would shine in a better team.  Good first touch, can carry the ball and has good passing ability (when players find space ahead of him).  He does need to add end product with more assists / goals but that will come.

[Chico Hamilton III]

I think people are over analysing things here. We played a team ten times better than us, got the result that the vast majority of people expected, our only goalscorer wasn't there, Grealish ( I'm not one for having a go at him without good reason, by the way) gave the ball away and the new goalkeeper looks a decent prospect.

We're still miles away from premier league standard but we always knew that. Still, gabby touched the ball more than 4 times and we only conceded half as many as we did in last season's absolute debacle down here. I'm not slashing my wrists just yet

[cdward]

Take the defeat and move on. It was exactly as i thought.
We set up not to concede, sat deep and they had a single shot on goal for the first 45.
Not too bothered about losing, i still feel the pain of us getting ripped apart by Arsenal in the Final in 2015.

A cup run would have been a distraction that would have meant us meeting one of the top PL teams sooner or later, and it may have distracted priorities away from the league.
We don't know where we will finish, but i would prefer to not have the extra cup games to play this season. At least we never lost to lower league opposition.
Move on, our FA Cup destiny will wait, we need to concentrate on getting 3 points against Wolves.
Our supporters were fantastic, you have to take the piss where ever you can, and if that means pointing out empty seats, and sh*t support, or being Champions of Europe a long time ago fair enough.
Considering what our away support has endured over the last 5 years they were magnificent. You pay your money, you sing what you like.

[usav]

I think people are over analysing things here. We played a team ten times better than us, got the result that the vast majority of people expected, our only goalscorer wasn't there, Grealish ( I'm not one for having a go at him without good reason, by the way) gave the ball away and the new goalkeeper looks a decent prospect.

We're still miles away from premier league standard but we always knew that. Still, gabby touched the ball more than 4 times and we only conceded half as many as we did in last season's absolute debacle down here. I'm not slashing my wrists just yet

Yup.

[AV82EC]

Also we seem to have a new song about Baker and Chester. We were moaning before the game about our boringly predictable song book and hey presto a new song.

[Lobsterboy]

I thought Bruce set us up to keep it tight and that's exactly what we did - had Chester or Gabby scored that chance we had just before they took the lead then who knows what might have happened

I was fearing an absolute hiding so holding my head high in work today and drawing on the positives which in no particular order were:

1. Sam Johnstone
2. The organisation of the back 4-6 keeping Spurs chances down to a minimum
3. We were right in the game for 70+ minutes v a very good side
4. Bruce giving Davis and Green 15 minutes
5. We didn't get twatted
6. No injuries or suspensions
7. No sign of Westwood, Bunn or Gardner in the starting line up

Onwards and upwards and hoping for three points on Saturday...

[mal]

Oh and yes, Jack was shite again. While we're arseing around waiting for him to fire we're never going to do much. I won't write him off completely yet but he should be used just from the bench until we see him consistently have an impact on games, he's little more than a passenger at the moment.

Interesting attempt at doing a Carbone that didn't quite come off.

[Zouch Villa]

I like what Grealish does, I just wish he would do it quicker. He has the great ability to beat a man or create space out of nothing, he  just needs to do it quicker and pass to a team mate faster. That would be enough I think to take him from "decent" to "good" in the Championship.

The thing is, as I said in the match thread, he was picking the ball up 10 yards outside our box, looking up and seeing 6-7 spurs players and gabby in the distance, how can he do anything creative in that situation?  I can understand being defensive in that game but ayew/kodjia/grealish picking it up deep in their own half with no pass forward available has been a consistent problem for the last 2 months.

You mention he can 'create space out of nothing' but who is he creating space for other than himself and if he's the only person who can benefit from it then he's really got no choice but to hold onto the ball.

The problems you describe exist at the team level and Grealish is a circumstance of that as much as anything else.  This isn't me attempting to white knight for him or ignore his part in it, I'm just pointing out that right now under Bruce we'd be better off playing long ball in a 442 with a big target man and a quick fucker running off him because players like Grealish just aren't going to work if we play so deep.

Pretty much the way I see it too Paul. 

We have been quick to write off some of our younger players, but when you consider the team in which they are thrust into its little wonder they struggle to shine.  It's no coincidence that Grealish was beginning to look his best when we still had the likes of Delph and Benteke in the team.

Overall thought it was an ok performance yesterday, against one of the stronger squads in the Premier League.  On another day, we could have got a fortunate break on the counter to make it less of a formality but very few options to rely on.

It is critical we bring in a few more quality players this window to build a more convincing attacking threat.

[ASHTONVILLA]

Managed to find a bar in Zaragoza that had first half of the game on, and we coped better than I was expecting.

I was slightly nonplussed with us giving game time to a Man U reserve, but to be fair to Johnstone I was impressed with him. Hopefully the reports that we have an option to buy are accurate.

Gabby did OK, much as I dislike him he did not look totally out of the game and has definitely improved his fitness.

Grealish needs people running into positions and making space, else he will struggle to thread passes through. I will reserve judgement on both him and McCormack until Bruce has addressed midfield. I think the goals will flow once we have some pace and running in the middle of the park.

[Brend'Watkins]

I don't know what people expect of Grealish with so few options around him to play with.  He was the only player apart from Adomah who could hold onto the ball for any period of time.  Hardley his fault there isn't a player making a run or in a position to move the ball on.

[Hopadop]

Some twattish behaviour from younger Villa fans in the Haringey Irish centre pre match - knocking tables over and chucking plastic glasses around.  I felt like a warden in the cafeteria scene in Scum. Hope they have us back in the future though.

First time I've been embarrassed to be a Villa fan. 20 year old shithouses pissed on a couple of pints, filming each other breaking tables and chucking glasses. A decent, friendly, away-welcoming place to drink near the ground - wouldn't be surprised if it's not open to Villa fans next time we play there. The sight of that poor bar woman, trying to fix the tables while these pricks were singing and chucking stuff was pathetic. I was actually hoping for a group of Spurs fans to walk in and batter the living shit out of them. 

There was a few behind us on the way. One of them started "Big nosed ******, my Lord" which I'm glad to say didn't get taken up by many, but there was some real stupidity on show yesterday. They're a decent bunch in the Centre so I'm sorry to hear that.

Anyway, it was all very predictable. I thought we had a chance when I saw the Spurs team (I was told only two started against Chelsea) but one lose ball in the box aside it never looked like happening.

I've seen a few comments about the home support. There were a lot there that don't often go, including a lot of kids it seemed. And, let's face it, they weren't really bothered about playing us. I don't hold a torch for Spurs but it's been one of the better grounds over the years. New one will be another soulless bowl though.

[Chico Hamilton III]

Some twattish behaviour from younger Villa fans in the Haringey Irish centre pre match - knocking tables over and chucking plastic glasses around.  I felt like a warden in the cafeteria scene in Scum. Hope they have us back in the future though.

First time I've been embarrassed to be a Villa fan. 20 year old shithouses pissed on a couple of pints, filming each other breaking tables and chucking glasses. A decent, friendly, away-welcoming place to drink near the ground - wouldn't be surprised if it's not open to Villa fans next time we play there. The sight of that poor bar woman, trying to fix the tables while these pricks were singing and chucking stuff was pathetic. I was actually hoping for a group of Spurs fans to walk in and batter the living shit out of them. 

There was a few behind us on the way. One of them started "Big nosed c***s, my Lord" which I'm glad to say didn't get taken up by many, but there was some real stupidity on show yesterday. They're a decent bunch in the Centre so I'm sorry to hear that.

Me and Pat went back in for a few pints after the match, in the Spurs side of the centre, and had a good drink. I'm guessing the kids who tried to smash up the other side of the pub were fast asleep on their trains by this time. We've been drinking in there for, what, 8 years maybe and never had any trouble, always ended up talking to the locals and staying on long into the evening. The funniest thing was when one of my mates from London- who's not even a Villa fan but loves coming to aways with us -  pushed a Villa fan in the back when he was about to launch a glass. This kid tried again and my mate pushed him through the door this time. Then the young kid turned round as if he was going to smack my mate - and realised just how big a fella he is. Then he went all "hold me back" as if some invisible fella was stopping him from retaliating. We laughed at him. He looked a right tit in front of his mates

[Pat McMahon]

Some twattish behaviour from younger Villa fans in the Haringey Irish centre pre match - knocking tables over and chucking plastic glasses around.  I felt like a warden in the cafeteria scene in Scum. Hope they have us back in the future though.

First time I've been embarrassed to be a Villa fan. 20 year old shithouses pissed on a couple of pints, filming each other breaking tables and chucking glasses. A decent, friendly, away-welcoming place to drink near the ground - wouldn't be surprised if it's not open to Villa fans next time we play there. The sight of that poor bar woman, trying to fix the tables while these pricks were singing and chucking stuff was pathetic. I was actually hoping for a group of Spurs fans to walk in and batter the living shit out of them. 

There was a few behind us on the way. One of them started "Big nosed c***s, my Lord" which I'm glad to say didn't get taken up by many, but there was some real stupidity on show yesterday. They're a decent bunch in the Centre so I'm sorry to hear that.

Me and Pat went back in for a few pints after the match, in the Spurs side of the centre, and had a good drink. I'm guessing the kids who tried to smash up the other side of the pub were fast asleep on their trains by this time. We've been drinking in there for, what, 8 years maybe and never had any trouble, always ended up talking to the locals and staying on long into the evening. The funniest thing was when one of my mates from London- who's not even a Villa fan but loves coming to aways with us -  pushed a Villa fan in the back when he was about to launch a glass. This kid tried again and my mate pushed him through the door this time. Then the young kid turned round as if he was going to smack my mate - and realised just how big a fella he is. Then he went all "hold me back" as if some invisible fella was stopping him from retaliating. We laughed at him. He looked a right tit in front of his mates

The pre-match antics in the Irish Centre made me feel old - not in years as such (though I am) - but more the gulf in attitude between the young lads and me. The teenage me would probably have thought it was fun whereas yesterday I just felt sorry for the staff.

[sirlordbaltimore]

I don't know what people expect of Grealish with so few options around him to play with.  He was the only player apart from Adomah who could hold onto the ball for any period of time.  Hardley his fault there isn't a player making a run or in a position to move the ball on.

I expect him to do whatever job he's in the side for instead of flouncing around doing nothing. He literally did nothing yesterday, AGAIN

He's not creating, he's not making runs, he's not providing a spark. What is he doing ?