Aston Villa vs Chelsea Post-Match Thread

[RamboandBruno]

https://www.skysports.com/football/a-villa-vs-chelsea/report/446468

That Mount miss was horrific, two Chelsea forwards waiting for him to square it. Martinez got away with one there. Konsa saved a certain goal from Alonso too. We were battered in the second half.

No we weren't.

I agree we werent battered. In the whole game they were completely on top for about 15/20 mins at the start of the second half. We were the better team first half and i thought Chelsea were there for the taking, but our final ball was just off, but once Cash made his mistake it had a degree of inevitability about how it would end.
I thought we needed to make the subs when we made them, but unfortunately we seemed to get worse when the changes were made.
On a positive Sanson is another good option in the middle and Ramsey continues to impress. Brentford away on Sunday is more of a marker of where we are than yesterday. 

[Simon Page]

Winds me up that the media not only air the rich kids' self-entitled tantrums but actually present them as if they're serious news. Wouldn't it be nice if a hack turned to a Tuchel and said: "As you're so keen on fairness, don't let us delay you while you tell Abramovitch to stop bankrolling you." I don't like football.

Anyway, Buendia looks the very definition of "mercurial". In an age where consistency is king among Premier League players, we might have bought an occasional showboat from the 90s, complete with Ginola-style theatrics.

Please make me eat those words.

[supertom]

I thought we did okay, and got outdone by a particular player who would love to play us every week. Lukaku plays like a world beater against sides outside the top 6, and intermittently looks that good in the 'big' games. Or whenever he fancies it. Just a pain that he always fancies it against us. Because him aside I don't think Chelsea were really up to much. All fart and no shit until he provided some directness.

We had some good spells with the ball but never capitalized and sadly started slowly from the break. Our final third decision making was particularly frustrating, because Ings and Watkins both had blocked shots where squaring it to someone in space would have been better. Ollie in particular, with Beundia wide open (and he did not like that). Up to the final third some of our counterattacking was very good, just the final ball was lacking. I feel like we still lack a 'cute' player who regularly finds the right pass. Beundia is very hit and miss on that, often trying the difficult option rather than doing the easier thing well (like you know who may have done). 

The game passed Sanson by I thought. Emi2 and Ings also struggled to get in the game. Disappointing from Cash. Konsa's late challenge wasn't great but slightly different in that he probably felt there was no option. I actually thought he should have seen a red for it. Emi1 had one of his worst games this season, but still kept us in it a couple of times.

We really missed SJM. Might have made a significant difference in midfield, and whilst he can be erratic with final ball, he still pulls off some gems, and might have found the right ball on several of those opportunities we had. We probably missed Gerrard on the touchline too. Good to see Traore back as he's a bit of a forgotten man and it least kept the ball better. Atypically inconsistent around the box, but swings and roundabouts with that type of player.

Frustrating, because we fall a bit short against one of the top 4 again, where honestly it was a day we could have taken at least a point off them. They weren't great.

[Nunkin1965]

Winds me up that the media not only air the rich kids' self-entitled tantrums but actually present them as if they're serious news. Wouldn't it be nice if a hack turned to a Tuchel and said: "As you're so keen on fairness, don't let us delay you while you tell Abramovitch to stop bankrolling you." I don't like football.

Anyway, Buendia looks the very definition of "mercurial". In an age where consistency is king among Premier League players, we might have bought an occasional showboat from the 90s, complete with Ginola-style theatrics.

Please make me eat those words.

I'm finding myself more and more frustrated with the guy the more I see him.
I don't want to give up on him as he clearly has a talent but it's currently a selection of misplaced passes, being knocked off the ball, lots of arm waving along with the occasional piece of brilliance.
It's down to the gaffer to decide if he merits a place I suppose.

[Ads]

Sanson played really well.

[The Edge]

I thought the game panned out exactly as sky and the general media wanted and expected it to. It's Christmas and the big franchise clubs are beamed around the globe to showcase exactly what the Premier league gravy train is all about. It would be great to smash the cosy cartel and ruin things for the chief execs but that ain't gonna happen when Oligarch FC can bring on a 100 million pound sub to force the issue. We couldn't cope and we were just the patsys who played our part perfectly. Merry fucking Christmas.

[eamonn]

Sanson played really well.

I've been clamouring for him to play whenever he's been fit but last night I was really disappointed. The game passed him by for the most part, he lost possession quite a bit and I can't remember anything clever or intelligent like he has done in his recent sub cameos. I think there was a large level of rustiness,  as with Ings.

It was Morgan's first start of the season so I'm sure, like Naka, he'll soon prove his worth.

[sickbeggar]

Sanson did okay. Promising in the context of basically starting his career again. For me the pick of the bunch was Luiz - very good 1st half.

[Ads]

Bizarre opinions. He used the ball well, took players,
on, was good out of possession and just (unsurprisingly) ran out of steam.

[The Edge]

I've just got round to watching the highlights and it doesn't make good viewing for our defenders. The first pen was a ridiculous challenge by Cash and the other pen is equally bad by Konsa with both feet off the ground he left the ref with an easy decision. Lukakus header makes Mings look like a schoolboy. Awful and embarrassingly bad from him. All three goals were totally avoidable and we were guilty of 3 massive brain farts. Steven Gerrard had the ideal view from his sofa and will be pretty pissed of with all three.

[SoccerHQ]

Other than the own goal, our ball into the box was really poor tonight.  If Cash is going to be a quality right back for us over the years, his distribution needs to improve.  Targett was just as poor.  If we are to get anywhere under Gerrard, we need upgrades at left back, central midfield and a regular scoring midfielder.  Douglas Luiz, for me just isn't the answer, seems to go missing for long periods. We missed McGinn's hard work and pressing tonight I thought.

Targett is a really poor crosser of the ball isn't he?

Ironic the own goal came from his cross but how many times in the game does he have space to cross under no pressure and he just puts in a flat one the first defender easily clears?

Compare that to Alonso whipping one in first half that went right across our six yard box with pace and we just scrambled it clear. Another in the second half where Cash nearly scored an OG.

I think with rumours of new LB Gerrard has clocked it already and wants a better offensive full back who can whip in decent balls, Targett can stay as back up.

Actually surprised we haven't been linked to Trippier given he does set up goals with decent crosses and can play either position pretty comfortably but guess he's too old now for our recruitment policy and Newcastle will probably offer double what we could offer.

[kippaxvilla2]

Easily our worst performance under Mr Gerrard and worryingly like the Villa of old.

[TonyD]

We just don’t seem to play well for two halves.

I thought we were excellent in the first half.  Some truly great passing going forward.

If Watkins was a better striker he could have a hat trick in the first half. He first and second touches weren’t quite good enough.

I think with McGinn fit this squad can finish 6th as we should beat most of the teams for the rest of the season.

To push on from this we need up grades on Cash and Targett.   And to buy a top class striker.   

[Bad English]

I thought Traoré showed fuck all. However, this is to be expected when coming back from injury.

If this is your biggest issue with today's performance, then maybe football's not for you.

Well said!

Err it’s a comment on a player’s performance in the match, on the post match thread. Not sure where it says it was the biggest issue today?

Cheers Rooboy but it is too late. I have sent back my Claret Membership, cancelled my Golden Muppets subs and will be leaving this forum in order to concentrate on Formula One.

[Fred Crump]

The difference was they brought on a £90m striker.

Good first half, looked much the more threatening. Chelsea cannot play a false 9 like Man City or Spain of old could. We got into good positions and couldn't quite execute that final ball or shot.

Daft penalty, but a definite one nonetheless.

Second half they had somebody to lead the line and he's obviously very good. Felt we took a long time to react and were too deep and passive. We didn't create many chances, more positions of intent.

Without McGinn and our manager it was never going to be easy. Equally, it's hard to know who has been ill and who hasn't, how much time at BMH everybody has had. Difficult circumstances against the European Champions.

Sanson played well and we looked good in possession, making good runs and looking handy.

Mings does awfully poorly for the 2nd. Just go and compete with the big lump, don't try anything daft.

3rd goal is what it is.

A tough hand and just clearly 2nd best in the 2nd half. They had 2 good chances to add more, but the game was a lot closer than that.

Given the circumstances and playing 4 of last years top 5, we're probably a couple points shy of what we might have eeked out. We're competitive, albeit a long way behind the likes of Man City, Liverpool and Chelsea. Fortunately for us, so are 16 other clubs.

Strengthen in January, as we will, then I'm confident we'll be top half and then you're with striking distance of going a step further with some fair winds and results.

I disagree with almost everything Ads says on non-football matters, but I always look for his football posts as they are knowledgeable, insightful, full of good analysis and in my opinion almost always 100% spot on. Fair play mate, you’ve nailed it again.