Aston Villa 2-0 Everton Post Match Thread

[brian green]

Just woken up.  Too tired and emotional when I got home in the small hours to come on this happy place. 

Two points for me are that the whole team was uniformly good no weak spots or soft underbelly.  Secondly how great it was that we got behind the lads so forcefully at the end.  Too frequently in the past we have retreated into nail biting in the closing minutes and it rubs off onto the players.  Proud to be part of that crowd.  I like doing ape shit.

Whisper it.  Engels might be as good as Tyrone.

[alanclare]

It was a truly memorable night, and I believe that the atmosphere generated by us, the crowd, had a lot to do with energising the players. I had been concerned about their fitness in the previous two games, but there was no flagging in this one, exemplified by Wesley’s determined run in the last minute to claim the ball that led to that goal.

Has anyone else remarked on the fact that the Holte End stood for the whole match?

[ktvillan]

Not going to get carried away, but certainly good signs we can compete and score at this level.  Everton are more than decent but helped us with their profligacy.  But I think we were owed a bit of luck after the previous two games.  I thought Freddie looked the business, Jota has a touch of the David Silva's about him - just needs to be harder to knock off the ball.  The left side was a disappointment, possibly because Taylor isn't much cop attacking wise.  Would like to see what Targett can offer in that respect.  Jack was a little too peripheral for my liking - he has the ability to control games but seems to drift out of it too often.  Anyway, Should give us a confidence boost to go into the Palace game - onwards and upwards.

[supertom]

 Great result. We were good value overall. That's a decent scalp too. Yes, but for a lethal striker, Everton would be pushing top 6, but I think that's a good result for us. We got a bit of luck when needed but we looked dangerous.

We were cautious to start, understandably. We kind of sized them up a bit. Once Jota warmed into the game, he turned it for us I felt, and that in turn encouraged Grealish to express himself a bit more. Guilbert got was great going forward. I'd be wary of having him and Jota on the right together against better sides as they'll get exposed, but on the whole it worked yesterday.
Mings imperious. Early doors, everything coming in when they were pressuring a little, Mings was clearing. He's like Laursen, he's an absolute magnet in the penalty area. A few sloppy passes aside, he was superb.
Engels solid too. Taylor kept shape on the left. Heaton was savvy.

McGinn was good throughout. Love him. He never seems to drop below 7/10 for performance, and never less than a 10 for desire and energy.

Dougy was good. Kept plugging away.

Grealish warmed into the game. He then started to prance with more approaching that majesty we saw so often last season.

Trezegeut was quiet, but held shape well and worked hard.

Jota. He's the type of player I love to watch. It won't always be the game for him, but today suited and he was class on the ball. As soon as he found himself boxed in and did a little ZZ turn to escape just outside our box to escape (and that's ballsy given our first 2 games) he just seemed to switch on his confidence.

Big Wes. Who would you take of the three CF's tonight? Calvert-Lewin, Iwobi or Big Wes? I know who I'd prefer. Put himself about well. Nice touches when getting deep. Good run and finish for the goal and you could see how much weight dropped off his shoulders after it.

AEG. Looked fired up. Love how he wasn't interested in time wasting, took an opportunity and went for it. Why hold on when you can put it to bed? Nicely done Anwar.

Ironically that was the least solid we've looked defensively too. We rode our luck a couple of times, but we got the clean sheet and the McGraths were smiling on us last night. One thing that worried me was how small we looked compared to Everton, but overall we actually defended solidly from set pieces. Everyone threw themselves in front of the bus to keep the clean sheet. Deano got the game plan right.

 

[brian green]

I should also add that in addition to the sheer volume of the support of the Villa crowd, there is genuine wit mixed in with all the passion.  The blasting of "England Number Two" at Pickford when he was waving his handbag about in front of the Mighty Holte was beautiful.  Even moreso the next time Tom Heaton touched the ball  the chant changed to "England Number One".

[PeterWithe]

I’ve not enjoyed too many games over the last 5 years but that was right up there. We fought for every ball and our defensive shape and discipline was, in the main, fantastic.

All defenders were excellent, as were McGinn and Wesley.

Crowd got the team over the line when they needed a boost.

A few areas for improvement, whilst we looked stronger and quicker we still need to improve physically and Trezeguet really needs some intense one to one coaching on his input when we don’t have the ball, Jotawas very disciplined but again needs some time in the weight room.

Everton lacked adventure and looked very one paced, their two centre midfielders must have had a bet on us to win with the dark haired one in particular looking like a Poundland Pirlo, that might have been to do with the complete lack of movement in front of him. Even so they still had 4/5 clear chances which is a concern.

[Richard E]

I thought McGinn was fantastic again last night, what an engine on the guy, an absolute ball of energy.

[LeeB]

I thought McGinn was fantastic again last night, what an engine on the guy, an absolute ball of energy.

Me too, my man of the match.

[PeterWithe]

I’d imagine I’m in a minority of one but I wish we’d lose the end of game music and revert to spontaneous singing. Guess that battle is lost mind.

[leylandalbion]

Fucking hell I'm choked up. Maybe I'm being a bit of a drama queen but there was something cathartic about this.

Have a fucking brill weekend everyone.

Me too. It was the way Carragher and G. Neville were talking about is that did for me.

What were they saying Perce? If anyone manages to find a video of it I'll be very grateful 😊

Somebody else asked me in another post so I’ll try and answer. They were just going on about what a massive club we were, how fitting that we were back in the PL, what a fantastic atmosphere etc. Very gushing in their praise but it seemed like genuine fondness and respect. Put it this way, the noses would have been hating it.,

Yeah watched it when I hot back at half twelve.  It was like a villa park love in from 7pm to 11:35!

[PeterWithe]

I thought McGinn was fantastic again last night, what an engine on the guy, an absolute ball of energy.

Me too, my man of the match.

And mine, I wasn’t as sure as others that he’d look as at home in the Premier but very happy to be proved very, very wrong, he was superb with and without the ball.

[Deano's Mullet]

I’d imagine I’m in a minority of one but I wish we’d lose the end of game music and revert to spontaneous singing. Guess that battle is lost mind.

At least Oasis have gone?

[alanclare]

That awful “conquered all of Europe in 1982” chant seems to have caught on. Will it ever die now?

[Risso]

I thought McGinn was fantastic again last night, what an engine on the guy, an absolute ball of energy.

Me too, my man of the match.

And mine, I wasn’t as sure as others that he’d look as at home in the Premier but very happy to be proved very, very wrong, he was superb with and without the ball.

I also wasn't sure, and I also am a massive div, who's very often wrong.

[Mister E]

All of the above.
A special shout-out for Freddie. His pace and timing are awesome. Positioning was dodge early on, but Engels coached him through that.
He is a star in the making.

And, after 10 minutes or so, I said to a mate I thought Jota looked Championship quality: i had eaten my words by the end. He's a clever footballer and will provide an alternative outlet to Jack.

Amazing evening.