Rotherham United v Aston Villa Post Match Thread

[Axl Rose]

Work was highly enjoyable today despite getting up at 3:45am to watch the game and again at 8am.

Really impressive second half, Villa. What a wonderful player Jack is, and McGinn, too.

Mings hasn't been playing well these past few games, but I'll let him off.

Special mention for Taylor and Elmohamady. I've been on their backs since they signed, but they do look handy going forward.

And Jed is a calming influence between the sticks.

[simon ward 50]

Other negatives include the M62 being shut, leading to a diversion past Elland Road. But hey ho.


Hope you had a shower as soon as you got home?

[Lastfootstamper]

Highlights

[andyh]

Jack started the run for his goal 10 yards inside his own half. Beat half their team and played 2 one twos on the way, to slotting it into the bottom corner.

If that were Hazzard or Messi, or had taken place in the premier league the media would be in a frenzy about it.

[Lastfootstamper]

Hourihane's chance near the end. We're one goal up, need the points, away from home, down to ten men, and our entire midfield is in their box!

I fkn love this side.

[JUAN PABLO]

Jack started the run for his goal 10 yards inside his own half. Beat half their team and played 2 one twos on the way, to slotting it into the bottom corner.

If that were Hazzard or Messi, or had taken place in the premier league the media would be in a frenzy about it.

keep him understated

[Villa Lew]

Negatives that's 3 poor 45 mins in last 3 matches, can't afford to do that if we make the play offs, still concerned about the form of Connor, Adomah, El Ghazi and Green. However the positives far outweigh the negatives, superb comeback from the 10 men, 7 out 7 is a great effort, present form of Steer, Elmo, Taylor and Whelan a big plus. Big blow losing Mings on Saturday, but if SJM and Jack are at their best we'll get the 3 points.

UP THE VILLA

[VILLA MOLE]

Jack started the run for his goal 10 yards inside his own half. Beat half their team and played 2 one twos on the way, to slotting it into the bottom corner.

If that were Hazzard or Messi, or had taken place in the premier league the media would be in a frenzy about it.

he has a bit of Gazza about him when running with the ball

[Sexual Ealing]

Jack started the run for his goal 10 yards inside his own half. Beat half their team and played 2 one twos on the way, to slotting it into the bottom corner.

If that were Hazzard or Messi, or had taken place in the premier league the media would be in a frenzy about it.

he has a bit of Gazza about him when running with the ball

He'll be much better than that.

[exigo]

Grealish's goal, by the way. Holy smokes.

Elmo produced a similar pull-back early on for the Albert chance. Looks like something they've worked on

If you go on the Villa YouTube channel, there's some vids from Bodymoor. Some of the drills seem to try to replicate situations that might, or could be made to, happen in an actual game.

Nothing we do now happens by chance.

Watch Jack's movement after he plays the pass, it's clearly something that has been trained for us to look for crosses behind the retreating defence. This is the sort of detail that shows the difference between Smith and managers like Bruce. At the start of the season we were getting plenty of crosses into the box but they were percentage balls played into an area where the plan was to just keep throwing the ball in there and profit on the ones that don't get cleared now we're trying to game the numbers by playing balls into different areas, there were a couple of crosses like it on Saturday as well.

First noticed it away at Boro. Pulis sets up with four big headers of the ball in defence, and Smith (and presumably his coaching team) simply drilled the team to pull it back along the deck to nullify them.

One of the most exciting things for me this season is that you never know where and how the next goal is going to arrive.
Smashed in from thirty yards? Check. Four passes that cut through the entire opposition? Check. Far post knock-in from a cross? Check.
It must make this current Villa side a nightmare to defend against.

[Lastfootstamper]

So the ref sees nothing wrong with a forearm and knee into the back of Mings after the ball has gone before his first booking, nor with Elmo taking out a man in the air moments before his second. Three seasons, and I still can't believe how poor the officiating has largely been at this level.

[Border villan]

Loved Dean's comment about John McGinn. 'So good I thought there was two of him'. S omaybe we weren't down to 10 men

I am convinced that Deano cloned SJM at half time because towards the end of the second half there were at least three of him on the pitch.

[Des Little]

How did a Yorkshire-based ref get that game last night?  A f*cking shit ref at that. 

[andyh]

Watching that jack goal again (and again and again) I can’t help thinking that as he takes out those Rotherham players and runs towards the box, he looks just like a kid, absolutely fucking loving it.

[mr underhill]

once the Emperor went off that was a Bruce side wasn't it? Could anyone ever see him coax that 2nd half out of them?