Aston Villa 0-0 Everton Post-Match Thread

[Hookeysmith]

Emi - as assured as always - deserves to get the record before season ends

Cash - hope its not the last we see of him this year - he does bring a dimension to our game

Mings - one of his better games although how many great opportunities has he missed this season from free headers?

Konsa - I like that he takes no shit and stands up to all comers

Targett - Mr 8/10 every week - real pity he has Chilwell and fatty Shaw in front of him

Luiz - one of his better games but still annoyingly gives the ball away with ease

McGinn - see Luiz - our ball retention and then giving it away was painful last night - i hope Sansom brings something better to either of these positions next season

El Ghazi - without the goals he is anon most of the time and in some cases pretty weak in challenges

Traore - carbon copy of El Ghazi - we cannot support 2 in the same team

Barclay - I actually feel for him as his form and fitness has just drained away - he will go back to Chelsea then drift down the leagues until no one remembers him  - such a waste but not unique really

Davis = Oh dear - everyone of us wants him to turn into a great player for us but the sorry facts are he makes Heskey look like Pele. Will slip down the leagues regrettably but just not good enough at this or even championship level.

Subs:

Elmo - Adequate

Ramsey - Still learning but decent energy

Jack - a microcosm of his play was when he went on a mazy run across the box and 4 of their players were shitting it - we are not a one man team but boy is he the heartbest

welcome back

[eamonn]

Thought it was Luiz's best game in a while. Cut out the silly errors, and tried to quickly get us going forward with neat passes. He still at times has a tendency to over-play/try a clever pass in a tight situation and we lose the ball in dangerous areas as a result. Only happened a couple of times yesterday, thankfully.

I feel bad for Keinan. That was his first start in a year and he's completely isolated most of the time, feeding off scraps. There's been plenty of games where Watkins has been just as anonymous.

As part of our evolution, playing an average of five-ten yards further up the pitch will help bring our strikers more into games and get the best out of them.

I'd like Davis to start with Watkins for the rest of the season just to give us a Plan B to think about for next season but the way Dean spoke about 4-4-2 in the pre-match presser suggests that he is not a fan of it unless we're chasing a game.

[Chris Smith]

Thought it was Luiz's best game in a while. Cut out the silly errors, and tried to quickly get us going forward with neat passes. He still at times has a tendency to over-play/try a clever pass in a tight situation and we lose the ball in dangerous areas as a result. Only happened a couple of times yesterday, thankfully.

I feel bad for Keinan. That was his first start in a year and he's completely isolated most of the time, feeding off scraps. There's been plenty of games where Watkins has been just as anonymous.

As part of our evolution, playing an average of five-ten yards further up the pitch will help bring our strikers more into games and get the best out of them.

I'd like Davis to start with Watkins for the rest of the season just to give us a Plan B to think about for next season but the way Dean spoke about 4-4-2 in the pre-match presser suggests that he is not a fan of it unless we're chasing a game.

The drawback with 442 is that the midfield have less freedom and can get overrun by teams with a 5. That means Jack, for example, gets pushed back and the front 2 can get be as isolated as KD was last night.

[Duncan Shaw]

I put on the transfer's thread - Luiz had most touches of any player on the pitch last night (84) and a pass completion rate of 92.7% so a lot of misconception that he kept giving the ball away!

[eamonn]

Thought it was Luiz's best game in a while. Cut out the silly errors, and tried to quickly get us going forward with neat passes. He still at times has a tendency to over-play/try a clever pass in a tight situation and we lose the ball in dangerous areas as a result. Only happened a couple of times yesterday, thankfully.

I feel bad for Keinan. That was his first start in a year and he's completely isolated most of the time, feeding off scraps. There's been plenty of games where Watkins has been just as anonymous.

As part of our evolution, playing an average of five-ten yards further up the pitch will help bring our strikers more into games and get the best out of them.

I'd like Davis to start with Watkins for the rest of the season just to give us a Plan B to think about for next season but the way Dean spoke about 4-4-2 in the pre-match presser suggests that he is not a fan of it unless we're chasing a game.

The drawback with 442 is that the midfield have less freedom and can get overrun by teams with a 5. That means Jack, for example, gets pushed back and the front 2 can get be as isolated as KD was last night.

True...but last night Everton played with Ricarlison (sp?) and DCL up-front. Had Watkins been fit, that might have been a game for both him and Davis (and no effing Barkley). There must be other teams who play with two strikers?

[WarszaVillan]

I put on the transfer's thread - Luiz had most touches of any player on the pitch last night (84) and a pass completion rate of 92.7% so a lot of misconception that he kept giving the ball away!

I thought he was very good. The role of he plays is very under-appreciated and he seems to be developing into an excellent player (with some bumps along the road of course.)

[brontebilly]

Thought it was Luiz's best game in a while. Cut out the silly errors, and tried to quickly get us going forward with neat passes. He still at times has a tendency to over-play/try a clever pass in a tight situation and we lose the ball in dangerous areas as a result. Only happened a couple of times yesterday, thankfully.

I feel bad for Keinan. That was his first start in a year and he's completely isolated most of the time, feeding off scraps. There's been plenty of games where Watkins has been just as anonymous.

As part of our evolution, playing an average of five-ten yards further up the pitch will help bring our strikers more into games and get the best out of them.

I'd like Davis to start with Watkins for the rest of the season just to give us a Plan B to think about for next season but the way Dean spoke about 4-4-2 in the pre-match presser suggests that he is not a fan of it unless we're chasing a game.

Could always try Watkins on the left wing, Davis in middle and Jack or Ramsey at 10. Davis was isolated last night for sure but he did look very limited to me. Difficult up against three centre backs but his passing was very poor at times and never looked a threat.

[paul_e]

Thought it was Luiz's best game in a while. Cut out the silly errors, and tried to quickly get us going forward with neat passes. He still at times has a tendency to over-play/try a clever pass in a tight situation and we lose the ball in dangerous areas as a result. Only happened a couple of times yesterday, thankfully.

I feel bad for Keinan. That was his first start in a year and he's completely isolated most of the time, feeding off scraps. There's been plenty of games where Watkins has been just as anonymous.

As part of our evolution, playing an average of five-ten yards further up the pitch will help bring our strikers more into games and get the best out of them.

I'd like Davis to start with Watkins for the rest of the season just to give us a Plan B to think about for next season but the way Dean spoke about 4-4-2 in the pre-match presser suggests that he is not a fan of it unless we're chasing a game.

The drawback with 442 is that the midfield have less freedom and can get overrun by teams with a 5. That means Jack, for example, gets pushed back and the front 2 can get be as isolated as KD was last night.

True...but last night Everton played with Ricarlison (sp?) and DCL up-front. Had Watkins been fit, that might have been a game for both him and Davis (and no effing Barkley). There must be other teams who play with two strikers?

Yes but whatever their team was on paper they were actually playing a 5 2 1 2 With Coleman and Digne as wing backs and Doucoure and Allan sitting in front. the 3 attacking players stayed higher up the pitch mainly because their plan in attack was quick counter-attacks and crosses. Given who their manager is I thought their approach was fucking awful.

[Risso]

Yes but whatever their team was on paper they were actually playing a 5 2 1 2 With Coleman and Digne as wing backs and Doucoure and Allan sitting in front. the 3 attacking players stayed higher up the pitch mainly because their plan in attack was quick counter-attacks and crosses. Given who their manager is I thought their approach was fucking awful.

They had a lot more attacking intent than we did second half, and spent more time in our ⅓ than we did in theirs.

[Rudy Can't Fail]

I put on the transfer's thread - Luiz had most touches of any player on the pitch last night (84) and a pass completion rate of 92.7% so a lot of misconception that he kept giving the ball away!

I thought he was very good. The role of he plays is very under-appreciated and he seems to be developing into an excellent player (with some bumps along the road of course.)

I thought he improved as the game went on and the shackles were removed in the last 20 minutes as he drove forward joining the attack. I'd still like to see him have a shot or two. If he can bring that back to his game we'll have some player.

[Drummond]

Luiz reminds me of Petrov.

[paul_e]

Yes but whatever their team was on paper they were actually playing a 5 2 1 2 With Coleman and Digne as wing backs and Doucoure and Allan sitting in front. the 3 attacking players stayed higher up the pitch mainly because their plan in attack was quick counter-attacks and crosses. Given who their manager is I thought their approach was fucking awful.

They had a lot more attacking intent than we did second half, and spent more time in our ⅓ than we did in theirs.

They attacked more but it was still 99% getting the ball to Digne and Coleman/Iwobi and trying to give DCL chances with his head.

[SoccerHQ]

Thought it was Luiz's best game in a while. Cut out the silly errors, and tried to quickly get us going forward with neat passes. He still at times has a tendency to over-play/try a clever pass in a tight situation and we lose the ball in dangerous areas as a result. Only happened a couple of times yesterday, thankfully.

I feel bad for Keinan. That was his first start in a year and he's completely isolated most of the time, feeding off scraps. There's been plenty of games where Watkins has been just as anonymous.

As part of our evolution, playing an average of five-ten yards further up the pitch will help bring our strikers more into games and get the best out of them.

I'd like Davis to start with Watkins for the rest of the season just to give us a Plan B to think about for next season but the way Dean spoke about 4-4-2 in the pre-match presser suggests that he is not a fan of it unless we're chasing a game.

The drawback with 442 is that the midfield have less freedom and can get overrun by teams with a 5. That means Jack, for example, gets pushed back and the front 2 can get be as isolated as KD was last night.

True...but last night Everton played with Ricarlison (sp?) and DCL up-front. Had Watkins been fit, that might have been a game for both him and Davis (and no effing Barkley). There must be other teams who play with two strikers?

Leicester been doing it last few months.

[SoccerHQ]

Yes but whatever their team was on paper they were actually playing a 5 2 1 2 With Coleman and Digne as wing backs and Doucoure and Allan sitting in front. the 3 attacking players stayed higher up the pitch mainly because their plan in attack was quick counter-attacks and crosses. Given who their manager is I thought their approach was fucking awful.

They had a lot more attacking intent than we did second half, and spent more time in our ⅓ than we did in theirs.

They had a bit of pressure in last 20 minutes but even then Emi only made two serious saves, rest was Gomes just constantly firing over the bar.

I've watched Everton about 10 times this season and to me they're nothing but a bang average team for what they've spent and who manages them. No one can type with a straight face we have no chance of finishing abovee them next season if we sign well.

It's incredible they're still pretty clear of us and have a chance of still finishing top 6. Seems whenever we've got really close to them this season they've won away to an Arsenal or Liverpool for first time in 20 odd years so that's the unlucky element to things.

Last night's point meant we're now a point clear of what we got in 10/11. We finished 9th on 48 points, this season we could get 55 points and only be good enough for 11th!

In 16/17 Southampton finished 8th on 46 points. That's where losing to Sheffield United really really hurt us.

[Toronto Villa]

Yes but whatever their team was on paper they were actually playing a 5 2 1 2 With Coleman and Digne as wing backs and Doucoure and Allan sitting in front. the 3 attacking players stayed higher up the pitch mainly because their plan in attack was quick counter-attacks and crosses. Given who their manager is I thought their approach was fucking awful.

They had a lot more attacking intent than we did second half, and spent more time in our ⅓ than we did in theirs.

That stat would look a lot different if two of our best and most attacking players were playing. With Jack in the last 15 or so we looked far more dangerous and we finished the game stronger. And let’s not forget, Everton are pretty good team and especially away from Goodison, so I expected them to have more possession against us. But we’ve taken 4 points off them so we’ve done well.