Post-Match Thread - Aston Villa 1 - 3 Abominable Kit Stealers

[PhilVill]

Morning after the night before. It was crap, the team know it, the manager knows it and we've all acknowledged it. Saturday isnt far off so I would have Marvelous back in, Trez on the right and contemplate 60 minutes for Sansom. Barkley goes, as does Traore/AEG and Luiz too as he really looks knackered, not at all himself.

[fbriai]

They were better than us last night. They pressed our full backs well and made it really difficult to break them down through the middle. Coufal did a really good job limiting the space Jack had available to him. We were also a bit slack in possession. I lost count of the number of times we lost the ball cheaply.

I thought when we got to half-time we would see Traore early on as El Ghazi was getting nowhere, but I don't think the defence had a particularly poor game, although Martinez will be disappointed with the third goal. It was more that we tried to play further up the field second half, but it ended up meaning we were easier to cut through on the break.

They beat us and deserved to win. It's not the end of the world. We'll be tighter against the Arsenal on the weekend.

[Three Spires Villa]

Last night Moyes showed the blueprint on how to beat Villa. I have not seen a team press us for so long. They really stopped us creating anything. For us I agree with some of the comments about the players, and this is where our lack of squad depth may be an issue. John and Douglas, for me, looked poor or tired or both. We were very easy to defend against. Over to you Dean to have a think about the Arsenal game, on that showing AEG, Barkley, Douglas, John could not moan if they lost their place. Maybe this is our poor run, because from the 2nd half at Burnley, the Southampton game (yes we won) and last night, we haven't played well.

But lets not get carried away, because to be in the position we are is still very good

[The Edge]

It worried me slightly that Coufal was so effective in stopping Jack. But that wasn't Jack at his best. Like everyone else he seemed to be running on empty. AEG's performance level was alarming he didn't just look off form he looked totally out of his depth. With hindsight it was a mistake to start him but I don't think the staff could of expected him to be so out of sorts. It kind of set the tone for me. It soon became apparent that the whole team was just not with it last night. West Ham took a firm grip on the midfield and bossed it for the whole game. West Ham are a decent team right now and Moyes got his game plan spot on in total contrast to Deano who looked for inspiration but found none. If our fanbase is anything to go by we underestimated West Ham big time. There were posters saying 4/5 nil before the game. That was never going to happen. A bad night for us and only a couple of days to prepare. They have a huge task now to put some energy back into the players because Arsenal come here smarting from the 3-0 drubbing we gave them and one thing they do have is lots of energy. Maybe time to freshen things up a bit but this team has performed superbly at times so we shouldn't be making wholesale changes. Starting with the keeper. Barring injury he has earned his place as our No1 choice. Right now I'd be happy with a draw on Saturday but who knows in this very unpredictable season.

[Ads]

We didn't react quick enough to change things, but the first half was such a confidence builder for them. I'm still astounded at how absolutely abysmal El Ghazi was. He would have made the 2015/16 team embarrassed.

[Rudy Can't Fail]

We didn't react quick enough to change things, but the first half was such a confidence builder for them. I'm still astounded at how absolutely abysmal El Ghazi was. He would have made the 2015/16 team embarrassed.

He must have come close to beating Gabby's record in the Spurs game where he only touched the ball 8 times. At least Gabby completed a pass with one of those touches, El Ghazi I think didn't even manage that. Traore did more in one minute than AEG managed in 45. It's Bert's shirt to lose now. He was one of the few positives from last night.

[The Edge]

We didn't react quick enough to change things, but the first half was such a confidence builder for them. I'm still astounded at how absolutely abysmal El Ghazi was. He would have made the 2015/16 team embarrassed.

Agreed. AEG wasn't just poor he looked like a kid who'd won a game in a raffle. Baffling how bad he was. It could be an underlying problem that we don't know about. Hopefully just a blip and he'll be back and firing on all cylinders. Same as the rest of them.

[passport1]

Tactically totally  out thought last night. The most insipid performance of the season.Deano needs to have a rethink.

[LukeJames]

Everything they did was right, everything we did was wrong. The amount of mis-placed passes, over hit passes, loose control was border line 'comical'.

We've had a few bad defeats this season but we have had moments or periods in all those games were we were on top and putting the opposition under pressure. Yesterday there was no point at which we gained the upper hand throughout the game. I'd say it was the complete performance for them.

Its probably impossible for us to be so collectively bad again (hopefully).

[Risso]

According to Whoscored, El Ghazi attempted 14 passes, and only completed 7 of them.

[fbriai]

According to Whoscored, El Ghazi attempted 14 passes, and only completed 7 of them.

Surprised it was as many as 7, to be honest. He just wasn't at the races yesterday.

[Chris Smith]

Everything they did was right, everything we did was wrong. The amount of mis-placed passes, over hit passes, loose control was border line 'comical'.

We've had a few bad defeats this season but we have had moments or periods in all those games were we were on top and putting the opposition under pressure. Yesterday there was no point at which we gained the upper hand throughout the game. I'd say it was the complete performance for them.

Its probably impossible for us to be so collectively bad again (hopefully).

Mostly agree but there was a short spell in the middle of the first half where we could have scored three times. Watkins header, Watkins shot that hit the post and Barkley shot pulled wide. Before and after that they were on top but in an overall poor performance we did create chances. West Ham deserved to win but the fact that even when we are second best we still threaten is a crumb of encouragement.

They look a decent side, Moyes has instilled the same sort of toughness that his Everton teams had.

[ChicagoLion]

Smiths achiles heel showed up again. We were lucky to go in nil- nil at half time and all Smith did was a like for like substitution.
He has got to start reacting quicker to the game situation. Look what Burnley did to us second half so Dyche and Moyes have done a number on him.

[Legion]

It was 0-0 at HT.

[Pete3206]

As bad as the pre lockdown drubbing at The Monster Munch

Abysmal