Aston Villa vs Burnley Post Match Thread

[eamonn]

El Ghazi's free kick was fantastic and Pope's save world-class. Anwar also has such little backlift in his shots that it's no surprise he has the confidence to pull the trigger so often. Just lacked some composure last night.

[The Edge]

I can't understand the negativity aimed at Traore. He was a solid 7 last night. He's classy on the ball and while he could be said to be a bit of a luxury player he still put a shift in. He deserves a lot of credit for tracking their player right into our area for a clearance following Ming's error. I thought Jack looked magic in patches in the No 10 role and he's just a couple of goals away from being devastating in that role. And a mention for Martinez. There's a kind of relaxed confidence in our defenders that I haven't seen for years and it's largely down to him.6 clean sheets from 11 games is phenomenal especially after the years where we've suffered far too many humiliating defeats.

[ktvillan]

Just read that we have had the most clean sheets (6) of any side in the league so far this season. Given the issues of last season that is a real turnaround.

But you do know that Mings is the worst centre half in the League?

He still does something stupid and casual in every game. Last night, up for a corner in the first half, he tried to trap the ball nonchalantly on the edge of Burnley's box, messed-up and they broke and probably should have scored. It's really annoying how often he tries to show-off with an extra touch.

No-one has said, ever,  that he's the worst CB in the league.  That's bollocks.  What has been said is he has a tendency to overrate his own ability and/or drop a bollock at least once a game to gift the opposition a clear chance.  Last night did nothing to contradict that view.  A better attacking side than Burnley would have buried that breakaway after he lost the ball yet again in the opposition half.  If he cuts out the needless errors and poor positioning he would be one of the best CBs around.  But you could say that about loads of CBs. 

[andyh]

Keeping a positive vibe going, I thought Hause did really well, coming into the team after so little game time so far this season.
I think a physical battle against bruising centre forwards suits him much better that playing against smaller, faster forwards.

[Small Rodent]

Just read that we have had the most clean sheets (6) of any side in the league so far this season. Given the issues of last season that is a real turnaround.

But you do know that Mings is the worst centre half in the League?

He still does something stupid and casual in every game. Last night, up for a corner in the first half, he tried to trap the ball nonchalantly on the edge of Burnley's box, messed-up and they broke and probably should have scored. It's really annoying how often he tries to show-off with an extra touch.

I think he does stuff like that because he's really enjoying playing and maybe over-confident.

[simboy]

Just read that we have had the most clean sheets (6) of any side in the league so far this season. Given the issues of last season that is a real turnaround.

But you do know that Mings is the worst centre half in the League?

He still does something stupid and casual in every game. Last night, up for a corner in the first half, he tried to trap the ball nonchalantly on the edge of Burnley's box, messed-up and they broke and probably should have scored. It's really annoying how often he tries to show-off with an extra touch.

No-one has said, ever,  that he's the worst CB in the league.  That's bollocks.  What has been said is he has a tendency to overrate his own ability and/or drop a bollock at least once a game to gift the opposition a clear chance.  Last night did nothing to contradict that view.  A better attacking side than Burnley would have buried that breakaway after he lost the ball yet again in the opposition half.  If he cuts out the needless errors and poor positioning he would be one of the best CBs around.  But you could say that about loads of CBs. 

Exactly. Has to be remembered that he's in his second season of playing regular first team Premiership football at centre-half. He's still developing. It's clear one of the things they have been working on is him breaking forward with the ball, couple of occasions he's found himself in front of the midfield. That's showing confidence in his partner at the back and the keeper. he will occasionally get caught out, and is prone to mistakes but it's about him progressing and as he does benefitting the team.

[Drummond]

I can't understand the negativity aimed at Traore. He was a solid 7 last night. He's classy on the ball and while he could be said to be a bit of a luxury player he still put a shift in. He deserves a lot of credit for tracking their player right into our area for a clearance following Ming's error. I thought Jack looked magic in patches in the No 10 role and he's just a couple of goals away from being devastating in that role. And a mention for Martinez. There's a kind of relaxed confidence in our defenders that I haven't seen for years and it's largely down to him.6 clean sheets from 11 games is phenomenal especially after the years where we've suffered far too many humiliating defeats.

I think you're right actually, I was surprised how often Traore helped to defend and that tracking back into our box was great. Smith really has got the team working for each other.

I's also like to add that it's great that we're disappointed with a 0-0 draw and 27 shots had, for years we'd have been happy with that as it meant we hadn't lost.

[ktvillan]

I think there's a lot of fair comment on here - played some good stuff but need to finish better - but also a fair bit of interpreting the performance in the light of the disappointing result.  A bit like at West Ham. 

The football is so much better than the last few years.  We play some very good, creative stuff, we make chances, we take teams on.  Ultimately though our profligacy lets us down too often, but to me we are a pleasure to watch after the dire stuff under Bruce, Lambert, McLeish and even O'Neill. 

As for individuals, Traore was ok in my view, did some good stuff, chased back to save Mings' bacon, but is a little too casual at times.  A bit more focus and intensity and there's a player there.

AEG was basically Trez with more skill.  His best game in terms of being consistently involved getting into great positions, but then fucking up at the crucial moment.  One shot was basically a pass back to Pope, the rest mostly way over the bar. 

Hause and Nakamba did ok although both gave the ball away cheaply at times. 

My big concern is Watkins.  He looks great away from home where teams don't sit back but where teams come and park the bus he seems to be largely nullified (and you could say the same for the team as a whole) . 

He's not physical enough to battle it out with gritty centre halves and he can't utilise his pace and clever runs.  He doesn't seem adept at finding the space in the box like Trez, Traore and AEG have been doing, which is a shame because he probably has the composure to finish more effectively that the other 3 seem to lack. 

When he does find space he is often ignored - Jack's been guilty of that a couple of times, and AEG was last night as well.  Perhaps he needs to give colleagues more of a bollocking for not playing him in when he's in a better position to score.  But maybe could also make a few ore runs to the near post to get to a cross before the first defender, which even Wesley was able to do once or twice. 

Jack was great again but still has a tendency to pass when he should shoot, and vice versa.

Overall I'm frustrated at the points we've dropped at home but enjoying the way we are playing,  the fact we are doing much better than I expected despite the home form, and that there is still room for improvement if we can improve the home form. 

[john e]

if we play that game with our first pick 11 we win
Any changes at all the team is weaker
we had at least 4 last night that’s why we struggled

it’s as simple as that

[chrisw1]

if we play that game with our first pick 11 we win
Any changes at all the team is weaker
we had at least 4 last night that’s why we struggled

it’s as simple as that

Maybe.  But this doesn't explain our lack of cutting edge against Wolves, West Ham & Brighton.

[Lastfootstamper]

if we play that game with our first pick 11 we win
Any changes at all the team is weaker
we had at least 4 last night that’s why we struggled

it’s as simple as that

Of the five regulars that were absent from last night, three of them haven't scored this season, so I don't think they'd have helped with our slipshod finishing. If Grealish can't score playing as a '10' then I've little reason to think Barkley would've done better with the same chances. I'd say the only one that might have been more likely to score, all things being the same, would've been Konsa with that header Hause had.

Overall play-wise, I was pretty happy with that Villa 'B' team display last night.

[Smithy]

I can't understand the negativity aimed at Traore. He was a solid 7 last night. He's classy on the ball and while he could be said to be a bit of a luxury player he still put a shift in. He deserves a lot of credit for tracking their player right into our area for a clearance following Ming's error. I thought Jack looked magic in patches in the No 10 role and he's just a couple of goals away from being devastating in that role. And a mention for Martinez. There's a kind of relaxed confidence in our defenders that I haven't seen for years and it's largely down to him.6 clean sheets from 11 games is phenomenal especially after the years where we've suffered far too many humiliating defeats.

I think you're right actually, I was surprised how often Traore helped to defend and that tracking back into our box was great. Smith really has got the team working for each other.

I's also like to add that it's great that we're disappointed with a 0-0 draw and 27 shots had, for years we'd have been happy with that as it meant we hadn't lost.

It wasn't just that he tracked back, look how much ground he made up when he got back into our own half.  He's also still getting proper match minutes under his belt.  I thought he was OK, and I also think it takes time for the players around him to better anticipate what he'll do in any given situation.  I think a fit Trez keeps his spot ahead of him, but he's a useful option from the bench, and can clearly do a job if called upon.

[fbriai]

I can't understand the negativity aimed at Traore. He was a solid 7 last night. He's classy on the ball and while he could be said to be a bit of a luxury player he still put a shift in. He deserves a lot of credit for tracking their player right into our area for a clearance following Ming's error. I thought Jack looked magic in patches in the No 10 role and he's just a couple of goals away from being devastating in that role. And a mention for Martinez. There's a kind of relaxed confidence in our defenders that I haven't seen for years and it's largely down to him.6 clean sheets from 11 games is phenomenal especially after the years where we've suffered far too many humiliating defeats.

I agree with all of that. Regards Traore, other than that one touch to many in their box and one other ballooned pass, I thought he was right on it yesterday and caused them plenty of problems.

[Dick Edwards]

I thought we played well last night given the changes we had to make en masse. Elmo, Hause, El Ghazi and Nakamba all had decent games as replacements which bodes well for the squad strength and if we'd taken just one of those many chances we'd have been very happy. As for Traore, you can see he has lots of ability and he works hard. Let's give the guy a chance to settle.

[john e]

if we play that game with our first pick 11 we win
Any changes at all the team is weaker
we had at least 4 last night that’s why we struggled

it’s as simple as that

Of the five regulars that were absent from last night, three of them haven't scored this season, so I don't think they'd have helped with our slipshod finishing. If Grealish can't score playing as a '10' then I've little reason to think Barkley would've done better with the same chances. I'd say the only one that might have been more likely to score, all things being the same, would've been Konsa with that header Hause had.

Overall play-wise, I was pretty happy with that Villa 'B' team display last night.

Fair enough
I still maintain we win that game with our first team 11
lack of quality cost us against a bottom 3 club imo