Post match thread Villa 3 Fulham 1

[cdbearsfan]

I've always hated the idea but I think that it's acceptable when no fans are allowed in, as a way of trying to give encouragement to the players. Obviously, no such encouragement will be needed once fans are back and I would expect no goal music then or they can fuck off.

[The Edge]

Well we have only come from behind to win one league game, so I doubt having the crowd in the stadium would have made things much worse in that respect. We managed to overturn deficits in vital games against Brighton and Watford last season when the crowd was there and we had a far inferior team to now.

You also seem to have arbitrarily decided that the crowd would have totally altered the final fifteen minutes but would have had no impact on the first 75.

We don't really know what impact the lack of crowds has had, but I see no reason to assume that Villa would have suffered more or less than anyone else.

Precisely. I don't understand why anyone thinks a packed Villa Park would have an adverse effect on the result? The crowd gets edgy when were losing but so does the crowd in any other ground. I don't think you can say that the crowd can cause us to lose a game but a packed Villa Park can help us to win a tight game as we have witnessed many times. I wish that would happen more often though.

[Risso]

Well we have only come from behind to win one league game, so I doubt having the crowd in the stadium would have made things much worse in that respect. We managed to overturn deficits in vital games against Brighton and Watford last season when the crowd was there and we had a far inferior team to now.

You also seem to have arbitrarily decided that the crowd would have totally altered the final fifteen minutes but would have had no impact on the first 75.

We don't really know what impact the lack of crowds has had, but I see no reason to assume that Villa would have suffered more or less than anyone else.

Precisely. I don't understand why anyone thinks a packed Villa Park would have an adverse effect on the result? The crowd gets edgy when were losing but so does the crowd in any other ground. I don't think you can say that the crowd can cause us to lose a game but a packed Villa Park can help us to win a tight game as we have witnessed many times. I wish that would happen more often though.

Agree with you both. Given the home games we have left it's entirely possible that our home record this year won't be any better than last year's, so if anything the lack of home fans would seem to have had a negative effect on the team.

[ChicagoLion]

Well we have only come from behind to win one league game, so I doubt having the crowd in the stadium would have made things much worse in that respect. We managed to overturn deficits in vital games against Brighton and Watford last season when the crowd was there and we had a far inferior team to now.

You also seem to have arbitrarily decided that the crowd would have totally altered the final fifteen minutes but would have had no impact on the first 75.

We don't really know what impact the lack of crowds has had, but I see no reason to assume that Villa would have suffered more or less than anyone else.

Precisely. I don't understand why anyone thinks a packed Villa Park would have an adverse effect on the result? The crowd gets edgy when were losing but so does the crowd in any other ground. I don't think you can say that the crowd can cause us to lose a game but a packed Villa Park can help us to win a tight game as we have witnessed many times. I wish that would happen more often though.

Agree with you both. Given the home games we have left it's entirely possible that our home record this year won't be any better than last year's, so if anything the lack of home fans would seem to have had a negative effect on the team.

Agree, hasn't the home advantage been lost / reduced for many teams this year?

[Hockley Lion]

Useless fact - Today's Villa game was the first time that all the starting players from both teams were born after the first Premier League game on 15th August 1992 !

Utterly, utterly, useless fact. Anyone would think that organised football didn't begin until the antichrist  Premier League was born. Every stat, like this one, is related to Premier League history these days. It's like Cambodia starting at year 1 during the reign of Pol Pot ( if anyone's old enough to remember that ?) They'd like us to forget that there's over a hundred years of football history before the PL, with many glorious games and great clubs, non of whom are included in their "Big Six". They go round with their little eraser rubbing out history and replacing it with their own meaningless drivel.

I feel better for that 😁

I feel better for reading it, never truer words spoken!!

Good stuff Hockley.

Amen

Just look at this garbage on the BBC website! Same stat regurgitated. Dendoncker clearly inherited Trez's crown for one night. I don't believe the BBC has the personnel to dig out this kind of garbage ( I certainly hope not ) so they must surely be coming from the PL. Who else would give a shit about such rubbish!

Before his two goals against Fulham, which came just 160 seconds apart, Trezeguet had attempted more shots without scoring than any other player in this season's Premier League (29).

Leander Dendoncker's goal for Wolves was his first in the Premier League this season from his 28th attempt at goal - before this game, he'd had more shots without scoring than any other player this term.

[nordenvillain]

Useless fact - Today's Villa game was the first time that all the starting players from both teams were born after the first Premier League game on 15th August 1992 !

Utterly, utterly, useless fact. Anyone would think that organised football didn't begin until the antichrist  Premier League was born. Every stat, like this one, is related to Premier League history these days. It's like Cambodia starting at year 1 during the reign of Pol Pot ( if anyone's old enough to remember that ?) They'd like us to forget that there's over a hundred years of football history before the PL, with many glorious games and great clubs, non of whom are included in their "Big Six". They go round with their little eraser rubbing out history and replacing it with their own meaningless drivel.

I feel better for that 😁

I feel better for reading it, never truer words spoken!!

Good stuff Hockley.

Amen

Just look at this garbage on the BBC website! Same stat regurgitated. Dendoncker clearly inherited Trez's crown for one night. I don't believe the BBC has the personnel to dig out this kind of garbage ( I certainly hope not ) so they must surely be coming from the PL. Who else would give a shit about such rubbish!

Before his two goals against Fulham, which came just 160 seconds apart, Trezeguet had attempted more shots without scoring than any other player in this season's Premier League (29).

Leander Dendoncker's goal for Wolves was his first in the Premier League this season from his 28th attempt at goal - before this game, he'd had more shots without scoring than any other player this term.

I did preface my post by writing useless fact - All of you seemed to have been drawn to the 2 words Premier League. I was drawn to the fact that neither side had a player at just over 28 and a half years old. I would suggest that Villa and Fulham are probably the only 2 PL teams with such an age profile. Most teams have an experienced head or two in their squads and/or such aged players being the only ones they can afford. It also struck me that neither side are likely to be jettisoning players purely because of their age profile and so poor sell-on value.

[paul_e]

Well we have only come from behind to win one league game, so I doubt having the crowd in the stadium would have made things much worse in that respect. We managed to overturn deficits in vital games against Brighton and Watford last season when the crowd was there and we had a far inferior team to now.

You also seem to have arbitrarily decided that the crowd would have totally altered the final fifteen minutes but would have had no impact on the first 75.

We don't really know what impact the lack of crowds has had, but I see no reason to assume that Villa would have suffered more or less than anyone else.

Precisely. I don't understand why anyone thinks a packed Villa Park would have an adverse effect on the result? The crowd gets edgy when were losing but so does the crowd in any other ground. I don't think you can say that the crowd can cause us to lose a game but a packed Villa Park can help us to win a tight game as we have witnessed many times. I wish that would happen more often though.

Agree with you both. Given the home games we have left it's entirely possible that our home record this year won't be any better than last year's, so if anything the lack of home fans would seem to have had a negative effect on the team.

Agree, hasn't the home advantage been lost / reduced for many teams this year?

Almost every club has seen their home form suffer, last season only 1 team had an average of less than 1 point per game (ppg) at home, so far this year there are 4. For us 20 points from 14 this year compared to 24 from 19 last year means we're on course for a slight improvement at home. It's the change in our away form that's making the difference though, it's more than doubled already. Also last season 7 teams had less than 1ppg away, this year it's down to 3.

The concern this raises is that our improvement has been based on away performances in a season where the balance has been skewed. However we have improved home and away, West Ham are the only other team who can say that.

[The Edge]

Useless fact - Today's Villa game was the first time that all the starting players from both teams were born after the first Premier League game on 15th August 1992 !

Utterly, utterly, useless fact. Anyone would think that organised football didn't begin until the antichrist  Premier League was born. Every stat, like this one, is related to Premier League history these days. It's like Cambodia starting at year 1 during the reign of Pol Pot ( if anyone's old enough to remember that ?) They'd like us to forget that there's over a hundred years of football history before the PL, with many glorious games and great clubs, non of whom are included in their "Big Six". They go round with their little eraser rubbing out history and replacing it with their own meaningless drivel.

I feel better for that 😁

Round of applause for this 👏👏👏

[Smithy]

I'd be interested to see the average points earned per home game vs per away game this season, compared to the average.  It does feel like home advantage is less at the moment, but that's more of a gut feeling than based on any analysis.

I always thought we benefitted from no fans after Project Restart because all of the coaching we were able to do during we were able to implement with clear communication during games, both between players and from the touchline.  Again, no evidence beyond gut feeling, but it seemed to me like the players being able to communicate much more easily meant we were much better organised across the pitch.

[paul_e]

I'd be interested to see the average points earned per home game vs per away game this season, compared to the average.  It does feel like home advantage is less at the moment, but that's more of a gut feeling than based on any analysis.

I always thought we benefitted from no fans after Project Restart because all of the coaching we were able to do during we were able to implement with clear communication during games, both between players and from the touchline.  Again, no evidence beyond gut feeling, but it seemed to me like the players being able to communicate much more easily meant we were much better organised across the pitch.

Normally the average is 1.55 - 1.65 at home and 1.10 - 1.20 away.

This season is 1.35 home and 1.41 away.

[The Edge]

I'd be interested to see the average points earned per home game vs per away game this season, compared to the average.  It does feel like home advantage is less at the moment, but that's more of a gut feeling than based on any analysis.

I always thought we benefitted from no fans after Project Restart because all of the coaching we were able to do during we were able to implement with clear communication during games, both between players and from the touchline.  Again, no evidence beyond gut feeling, but it seemed to me like the players being able to communicate much more easily meant we were much better organised across the pitch.

Normally the average is 1.55 - 1.65 at home and 1.10 - 1.20 away.

This season is 1.35 home and 1.41 away.

Thanks Statto 😊

[The Edge]

That picture doing the rounds on Twitter of Emi giving Mings a massive hug after the game is just superb. It shows what great comradery our defence has and it's fantastic to see. Martinez is fast becoming our best goalkeeper signing since Bosnich. He could go on to legendary status.

[Risso]

The concern this raises is that our improvement has been based on away performances in a season where the balance has been skewed. However we have improved home and away, West Ham are the only other team who can say that.

We'd definitely massively improved in our away record. We're on 24 points already after 15 games, compared to a dismal 11 away points for the whole of last season.

Home though, not so much yet. Last season we got 24 points from 19 games. This season we're on 20 from 14 games, so you'd hope we do go on to better it, but with home games left against Man City, Man U and Chelsea I'm not sure we will. 

[cdbearsfan]

Just beat Man U, for once Villa, FFS. Surely that isn't asking too much? They're not even any good any more.

[Damo70]

Just beat Man U, for once Villa, FFS. Surely that isn't asking too much? They're not even any good any more.

Manure are guaranteed to get a penalty against us so we will need to score at least two goals to win.