Aston Villa 1-0 Norwich City Post Match Thread

[auntiesledd]

Blimey. I’m extremely relieved to snaffling the points, but that was bloody agony! Jack was his magnificent-self; Heaton superb; and great finish by Conor. Hopefully our luck will hold out a while longer: otherwise the Watford Strikers will be licking their lips (if they aren’t already).

[Scovilla]

Couldn't watch the game but just feel relieved considering most of the posts which I must admit are not very reassuring for the future unless good new players arrive in jan.
Anyway a win is a win.

[PaulTheVillan]

The result was more important than the performance, but you know it's bad when we can't even perform against a team worse than us.

I really think we need to give Jota and Kodjia a run in the side for Wesley and which ever one of the useless wide players, take your pick.

[olaftab]

Vital win. Rubbish display, but we needed that win.

This.

[john2710]

Guilbert was all over the place vs Southampton, showed a complete lack of composure & ability to defend. That's why he was dropped, a standout in a  shocking team performance.  Same for Engles.

We defended well today, but Nakamba was a liability, poor touch, no right foot & I struggle to see what he does.

Wingers don't offer much, but at least Trezeguet supports the defense .

Other than that, we were OK, a win more than we deserved. We are totally dependant on Jack.

[olaftab]

Once again we made a terrible start to second half. Could have been 3-0 down before we scored. Fix this please Dean...and the other stuff.

[olaftab]

Jack is the best. The absolute best.

Absolutely fucking reliable in any situation.

[brontebilly]

Highlights

Highlights ?? Grim watching, Norwich missed some utter sitters. Credit Luiz for stopping one, the bar another and Heaton with some smart stops.

[not3bad]

The result was everything. We went 1-0 up and then saw it out. Psychologically this is important. Great goal too. We go again.

[Keeno]

It was the win of a team that's incredibly low in confidence. I wasn't surprised by how shaky we looked once we went ahead - after the run we've been on they were bound to be on edge in the closing stages.

If nothing else, we showed a lot of team spirit to get the win - that was not the performance of a team that has given up on the manager or not trying. We have a chance to pick up some more points on Saturday, and if we can build a better run of results, confidence will return and we'll begin to play a bit more football.

However, Watford will be just as big a battle as today - and we are crying out for a decent defensive midfielder who can stop teams just waltzing between the lines against us. It is this simple: if we do not improve defensively in the midfield, we will be relegated.

We kept our heads above water today and crucially cut the bottom two adrift. Feel as though this may go down to the very final few weeks of the season. Any form of survival is victory for us this year, and we're going to have to scrap for every point like we did today to make that happen. Relief.

[not3bad]

A massive 3 points that could keep us up.
Still dreadful starting formation and player selection from Dean. 
Saved by Jack and Heaton.
Smith still OUT. 

Oh fuck off.

[RichardBatchelor]

My Tuppeny-halfpenny's worth:

Heaton 9 For obvious reasons
Elmo 5 Poor distribution, though he does have a killer cross on him at times. Not today.
Targett 4 One moment of skill aside was poor and left huge acres of space for Norwich to exploit second half.
Hause 9 Brilliant good old fashioned blood and thunder centre half performance, no pissing about and enjoyed watching it. Keep him in.
Konsa 7 Decent
Douglas Luiz 6 Thought he was pathetic against Saints but much more committed today and what a clearance!
Grealish 9 Amazing skill for the assist and carrying the team utterly.
Nakamba 2 I'm a fan in general but he was dreadful today. But he gives his all.
El Ghazi 5 Don't think he was as bad as some are making out.
Wesley 5 Better than some of his performances but the concept of a striker who holds the ball up but never wins a header in the box and hardly ever even shoots is weird, and would probably require a midfield of Messi, Modric and Zidane to make it work. Heskey was so much better in this role. He did do one exquisite pass though, which took me aback.
Trezeguet 0 Laughable and totally egotistical display.
Hourihane 7.5 Delivered as he so often does - and was a calming influence in midfield. Needs to start every game.
Jota - not enough 'data'

[CT Villan]

Like most said, Heaton, Konsa, Hause and Jack performed very well. Targett, AEG , Trez, Luiz (clearance-excepted) and Nakamba were utter shite.

There is no way Wesley and Luiz are Brazilian...maybe Suso misheard and they are both really fishermen from Buckie with a penchant for man-scaping.

[Small Rodent]

I really think we need to give Jota and Kodjia a run in the side for Wesley and which ever one of the useless wide players, take your pick.

Wesley is undroppable for some reason, so I’d go Kodjia Wes Jota for a go.

[Bobby Boy]

What a relief! Big, big result but, let's be honest, we will lose way more than we'll win if we continue to play at that level. How Norwich weren't 2 up at half time I'll never know.

Villa were setting up crossing situations before the game but the crossing during the game was wretched. We had 2 wingers who can not pick out a man from a cross. Rank.

However, Luiz's goal line clearance was astounding, just amazing and gave us a chance to win. Worth a goal to us any day. The only one similar was Matt Lowton against Fulham some years ago.

More fight particularly after we'd scored but the quality has got to improve if we're going to stay up.