Aston Villa vs Manchester City Post-Keeping the Score Down Thread

[Villafirst]

I'm watching the post mortem on Sky. All they've done is talk City for the last 30 minutes! Talk about fucking bias!

Talking about one of football pariahs. Never forget. Obviously sky do.

Agree, Sky carry on as normal. All forgotten already. Hope they get docked 10 points! But I doubt it.

[Legion]

They should but they won't.

[tomd2103]

I don't think the one goal defeat really tells the story. We were outclassed, and gave the performance of a team that just wanted to avoid being humiliated. Lesser teams than us have put up a far greater fight against them than we did this evening. I don't think any of us expected a win, but would have hoped their goalkeeper might see the ball without using binoculars at some point in the last 89 minutes.

Absolutely.  We just look so slow and lethargic, particularly in midfield.  We looked like we might make a game of it when we had the man advantage, but that went out the window with Cash's moment of madness and it reverted to an elongated Man City keep ball session.

[PaulWinch again]

I don't think the one goal defeat really tells the story. We were outclassed, and gave the performance of a team that just wanted to avoid being humiliated. Lesser teams than us have put up a far greater fight against them than we did this evening. I don't think any of us expected a win, but would have hoped their goalkeeper might see the ball without using binoculars at some point in the last 89 minutes.

Yep that’s it. It’s also a common occurrence in performances since early January. We look like a team going through the motions, there’s no zip, creativity or energy. It started before Jack’s injury.

[SoccerHQ]

Not sure what the shock is.

We've gained 4 points all season from losing positions.

From a team that's been top half for vast majority of season that's a very poor statistic imo and we've had Grealish on the pitch for many of those games aswell.

Generally in last two months we've been competitive in games when we're level but generally have no idea or belief to get anything once we go behind. Fulham was honourable exception but Spurs was more a case. O.k at 0-0 and barely do anything in attack until it got to 0-2 and we had some shots in last 10 minutes.

We've probably have had a spell of pressure 11 v 10 at some stage in second half but again the team just mentally accepted defeat as soon as it got back to 10 v 10.

If we ever want to be a top 6 team again in near future it's a skill we're going to have to learn sooner or later. The teams under MON were always good for getting draws and wins in games we were losing so that squad had the ability, this one simply dosen't.

[tony scott]

Lost 2 1 to a team who stroked it around and where seldom tackled only shadowed,they’ve got great ability to retain possession but we helped them a lot. I got impression we never thought we could win this game, which is a shame for us fans and team morale.

[Sexual Ealing]

leeds beat this lot with 10 men because they compete.  i hate leeds but they always compete, we certainly didn’t

Leeds under Bielsa are much more likely to kick on next season than we are under Smith. I hope I am wrong but I am really disappointed with the way things have fizzled out.

Bielsa as a coach (and maybe it's an unfair comparison with Smith anyway given the gulf in experience) has a defined way of playing. Clear strategy and a coherent approach. We have Jack Grealish. We don't have a plan b or c. It's been that way for a number of years. Until he comes back we will continue to play Burnley style football.

We had Jack Grealish when Dean Smith's Brentford used to make us look like mugs every time they played us. In the rain. With no roof above the fans. Yes, he's not Bielsa, but then again, nobody else is either. Dean Smith doesn't have the players - particularly when the best of them are out injured, suspended or just plain fucking stupid - to finish much higher than we are right now.

A bit like Bielsa's Leeds.

[Sexual Ealing]

On Foden, I've never been really convinced. I clearly hadn't been watching closely enough. He looks like a staggering player.

[ChicagoLion]

On Foden, I've never been really convinced. I clearly hadn't been watching closely enough. He looks like a staggering player.

He is getting better with every game.

[sid1964]

I thought we did okay for large parts of the game, however what disappointed me was the amount of times in the 2nd half their goal keeper had the ball and we just let him pass it to a defender on the edge of his box and we did not pressure them, into a mistake or the keeper being forced to kick the ball up the pitch

If Southgate does not have Foden in his starting 11 for the Euros he must need his eyes / brain looking at - the guy is fantastic

[Clampy]

I thought we defended reasonably well but we didn't seem to have enough belief or quality to grab an equaliser. We always seemed concerned with what they were going to do, which in a way was understandble because they were great at times in that first half.

[john e]

We are nowhere near good enough with the ball
It looked like a proper men against boys

I’m not particularly bothered about losing to Man City they are a class side
I was more interested in what sort of football we could play against them
The answer is not a lot

If we think we are a couple of players away from top six we need to think again
We are kidding ourselves if we think we have a decent side when there’s not a player on the pitch with the confidence to retain and pass the ball

considering We are supposed to be playing with no relegation or European hopes pressure now It was a pretty pathetic and spineless show

And you can make excuses about how good the opposition are all you want but the way we give the ball away relentlessly like rabbits in headlights is a complete joke

[frank black]

That was a shambles of a display. Embarrassing just how poor our possession play was. Also out of possession we were just very very lucky. Man city didn’t even need to get out of bed to beat us..

[Rudy65]

We are nowhere near good enough with the ball
It looked like a proper men against boys

I’m not particularly bothered about losing to Man City they are a class side
I was more interested in what sort of football we could play against them
The answer is not a lot

If we think we are a couple of players away from top six we need to think again
We are kidding ourselves if we think we have a decent side when there’s not a player on the pitch with the confidence to retain and pass the ball

considering We are supposed to be playing with no relegation or European hopes pressure now It was a pretty pathetic and spineless show

And you can make excuses about how good the opposition are all you want but the way we give the ball away relentlessly like rabbits in headlights is a complete joke

Agreed and this isn’t just a one off last night. It’s been going on throughout 2021

[Nunkin1965]

On Foden, I've never been really convinced. I clearly hadn't been watching closely enough. He looks like a staggering player.

He is getting better with every game.

Got to say him and Bellingham look brilliant talents. Hopefully he'll play a big part in England's future along with Jack.