Aston Villa 2-2 Stoke City Post Match Thread

[Pat McMahon]

Got back home and have eaten and warmed up so feeling more charitable now.

All in all today is probably a point gained as I thought Stoke were the better team and we had to come from behind twice. I think some posters are being harsh on them as they played decent football and used the width well. Generally they were better in midfield than us Joe Allen and Woods in particular.

Too many of our players were below par but unlike others I thought Whelan was better than most and did some good defensive work. He also played what looked like the best ball of the first half, curled behind their defence. Nyland also made a few good saves and held just about everything he could, though is starting to look more comfortable with the ball at his feet. I don’t have confidence in him though.

The front 3 were average today and I don’t think we won a meaningful ball in their half for about an hour. The wide players also didn’t protect the full backs as they should have done meaning we were always vulnerable down the flanks.

I knew it was another our day with a shit journey up, realised my seat in K4 was on the right of the Holte and there was an ongoing feud between a bloke and several stewards all through the first half just behind me. He had called McClean a “non poppy wearing terrorist c@#t” and refused to back down when given a warning by the police. It veered off into “I was in the army and he supports terrorists” territory for a while and even the bloke’s daughter was beseeching him to calm down.

Journey home was shit too - bad weather and slow traffic punctuated by two signs warning of people and then animals on the M40. I was waiting for the inevitable thud to finish off the day.

Play offs is the best I can see us achieve this season. We are too weak defensively.

[David_Nab]

Got back home and have eaten and warmed up so feeling more charitable now.

All in all today is probably a point gained as I thought Stoke were the better team and we had to come from behind twice. I think some posters are being harsh on them as they played decent football and used the width well. Generally they were better in midfield than us Joe Allen and Woods in particular.

Too many of our players were below par but unlike others I thought Whelan was better than most and did some good defensive work. He also played what looked like the best ball of the first half, curled behind their defence. Nyland also made a few good saves and held just about everything he could, though is starting to look more comfortable with the ball at his feet. I don’t have confidence in him though.

The front 3 were average today and I don’t think we won a meaningful ball in their half for about an hour. The wide players also didn’t protect the full backs as they should have done meaning we were always vulnerable down the flanks.

I knew it was another our day with a shit journey up, realised my seat in K4 was on the right of the Holte and there was an ongoing feud between a bloke and several stewards all through the first half just behind me. He had called McClean a “non poppy wearing terrorist c@#t” and refused to back down when given a warning by the police. It veered off into “I was in the army and he supports terrorists” territory for a while and even the bloke’s daughter was beseeching him to calm down.

Journey home was shit too - bad weather and slow traffic punctuated by two signs warning of people and then animals on the M40. I was waiting for the inevitable thud to finish off the day.

Play offs is the best I can see us achieve this season. We are too weak defensively.

TBH only Leeds and Boro (untill the last 3 games ) have looked solid at the back Norwich , Derby , WBA have all looked poor at back .Our problem is we are having to play catch up so draws now are not good enough.

Have only seen the highlights but both goals look really poor defending , the 2nd especially wtf was Elmo thinking

[clash city rocker]

Got back home and have eaten and warmed up so feeling more charitable now.

All in all today is probably a point gained as I thought Stoke were the better team and we had to come from behind twice. I think some posters are being harsh on them as they played decent football and used the width well. Generally they were better in midfield than us Joe Allen and Woods in particular.

Too many of our players were below par but unlike others I thought Whelan was better than most and did some good defensive work. He also played what looked like the best ball of the first half, curled behind their defence. Nyland also made a few good saves and held just about everything he could, though is starting to look more comfortable with the ball at his feet. I don’t have confidence in him though.

The front 3 were average today and I don’t think we won a meaningful ball in their half for about an hour. The wide players also didn’t protect the full backs as they should have done meaning we were always vulnerable down the flanks.

I knew it was another our day with a shit journey up, realised my seat in K4 was on the right of the Holte and there was an ongoing feud between a bloke and several stewards all through the first half just behind me. He had called McClean a “non poppy wearing terrorist c@#t” and refused to back down when given a warning by the police. It veered off into “I was in the army and he supports terrorists” territory for a while and even the bloke’s daughter was beseeching him to calm down.

Journey home was shit too - bad weather and slow traffic punctuated by two signs warning of people and then animals on the M40. I was waiting for the inevitable thud to finish off the day.

Play offs is the best I can see us achieve this season. We are too weak defensively.

Blimey....thought My day at villa park was just average    Glad it wasn't as bad as yours...!

[Deano's Mullet]

Just got back. Hard to believe there were four goals in that match when you think how poor first half was. I think Stoke had the better chances and Nyland had a decent game, first half from Villa felt like a Bruce performance. Kodjia had a good impact once he came on and v refreshing to see Hogan come on at 2-2 when previously we would have settled for a point. I don't think overall though we showed too much quality but McGinn was again MOTM. The ref was appalling and Stoke fans gobshites as usual. Days like today I think showed why automatic promotion will be beyond  us in my opinion.

[Meanwood Villa]

Not sure whether to be pleased we salvaged a point from a poor performance or just plain annoyed with the poor performance. I was disappointed with what happened after both our goals, thought we'd be pushing on but they overran us instead. I was pleased in the post goal euphoria that he brought Hogan on but in truth it was a daft move to leave us so light in midfield and we barely mustered a chance as a result.

[ChicagoLion]

I too thought Stoke were the better team but still played like Stoke.
Filthy weather and a Bruce style performance, we miss Jack.
Hourihane was crap, the amount of times he ran away from the ball and not offering himself for a pass was annoying. Surprised he was not replaced.
Both of our fullbacks exposed too often.
Too many draws toting up, we have to focus on the play offs.

[Abbeyfealeavfc]

Kippaxvilla2 and pat mcmahon probs got it about right. Point gained rather than 2 lost on a day when under smith we were under par. Abrahams seemed isolated (especially 1st half) Nyland and whelan did ok though i personally would like to have seen O Hare filling the Grealish role. Today was just one of those days when stoke did ok despite their obnoxious fans. Auto promotion was always going to be difficult (but not impossible) after bruce's mismanagement early season. In Deano we trust, keep the faith and the dream of promotion will be achieved whatever the means.

[SoccerHQ]

All teams at this level concede fair amount of goals. Colin Murray referenced on Quest Norwich fans are worried about the number of goals they've conceded and they're clear in second. They've just had an easy run of fixtures lately so can get away with conceding two a game.

Leeds conceded 4 at West Brom a few weeks ago.

It will level out when we start playing bottom half teams again as they won't have the quality to cut open our dodgy defence.

[andyh]

How long did their fucking no.9 celebrate scoring that pen?
It was like the fucker had scored a blinder to win the FA cup final.

[Risso]

Leeds conceded 4 at West Brom a few weeks ago.

Since then they've won 5 out of 5.

[SoccerHQ]

Leeds conceded 4 at West Brom a few weeks ago.

Since then they've won 5 out of 5.

Give us Bolton, QPR, Reading, Bristol City (a game you said they were awful in until Bristol got a red card).....

I think people are underestimating how tough a run we've had. All teams we've played since Swansea apart from Bolton have been top half. Think that's taken a fair bit out of the squad having to be full pelt every game. Need more breathers like Bolton at home.

The reason we're off the pace is we couldn't beat bottom of the table Ipswich who had 10 men half the game, Sheff Weds who've hardly won a game since, PNE who turned up at VP with the grand total of 5 points....

[Deano's Mullet]

Woods did well in midfield again for them - has any player ever done so consistently well  against us in recent years ?

[SoccerHQ]

Woods did well in midfield again for them - has any player ever done so consistently well  against us in recent years ?

Shane Long wishes we were back in the prem I think!

[Villafirst]

To think the run of games we've had has been really tough. I know it's too many draws but we've lost several key players through injury - Jack, Bjarnason, Adomah, Jedinak etc., so rotation has been difficult.

[Smoke]

It ain't over yet.

The table boxing day last year.