Aston Villa 0 Watford 1 Post Match Thread

[olaftab]

Why weren't we given that most obvious of penalties in the 2nd minute? It was a clear penalty in real time, it took 10 seconds to see the replay and it was even more obvious.

VAR wants burning.

Watching from North upper I have a very clear view of it and just couldn't believe the ref bottled it and VAR backed him up. I can understand the ref letting it go because it was too early in the game and he wasn't totally concentrating but VAR?

[olaftab]

Ings looked knackered after an hour. He was puffing out his cheeks.

I guess he is not match fit as he has not played much lately. But generally he is not on pace. My grandson (6 years) shouted at him to run when he was actually running.

[Villafirst]

No scrutiny on the penalty controversy at the start from Lineker and co on MOTD. A joke - why wasn't Ings booked for diving if there was no contact according to the ref? I thought their defender caught the back of Ings leg to upend him. That was far more like a penalty than the Mo Salah/ Mings farce at Anfield in December. An early goal at that point would've completely changed the game as Watford would've had to come out of their defensive mode to open the game up. Also, VAR dismissed it so quickly!

[Bobby Boy]

No scrutiny on the penalty controversy at the start from Lineker and co on MOTD. A joke - why wasn't Ings booked for diving if there was no contact according to the ref? I thought their defender caught the back of Ings leg to upend him. That was far more like a penalty than the Mo Salah/ Mings farce at Anfield in December. An early goal at that point would've completely changed the game as Watford would've had to come out of their defensive mode to open the game up. Also, VAR dismissed it so quickly!

Yes, it definitely looked like Ings had been clipped. If the ref had given it no way would VAR have overturned the decision.

[Richard E]

The fourth official apparently agreed with Gerrard that it would have been a foul outside the box!

[Pat McMahon]

A horrible performance all round, and other than some good saves from Martinez I can’t think of a single positive from that game. The players were poor, the crowd subdued and I also didn’t even notice any animation Gerrard on the touch line. To cap it off the trains back to London were, once again, abysmal.

One thing that strikes me is that when Gerrard came I heard a comment from a Rangers fan that we needed to keep an eye on Michael Beale, as his substitutions were brilliant and helped turn games. I think they were very good in the first 6-7 games but going back to Everton away last month our substitutions seem to be making us weaker. When Luiz went off yesterday McGinn briefly looked more comfortable playing in a central role, but Watkins and Ings just don’t gel and we quickly lost our way. Young for Cash didn’t make sense at all and Bailey looked rusty - understandably.

Feels like we need to go back to basics as we did when Gerrard arrived and be compact and hard to beat.

[PeterWithe]

I must say I think Chambers is a solid meat & two veg stopper but the thought of him playing midfield isn't a particularly attractive one.

[Risso]

I must say I think Chambers is a solid meat & two veg stopper but the thought of him playing midfield isn't a particularly attractive one.

Same. He's not terrible, but watching him you just get an overriding feeling of "average utility player."

[Villan82]

Why weren't we given that most obvious of penalties in the 2nd minute? It was a clear penalty in real time, it took 10 seconds to see the replay and it was even more obvious.

VAR wants burning.

Watching from North upper I have a very clear view of it and just couldn't believe the ref bottled it and VAR backed him up. I can understand the ref letting it go because it was too early in the game and he wasn't totally concentrating but VAR?

I sometimes think there is a conspiracy. We have had very little change out of Var in the past two years.

[The Edge]

Just watched us again on MOTD and although we had 60% possession, the 4 good chances all fell to Watford. If not for Martinez that could have been 0-3 easily.

What are the chances? A goalkeeper doing what he's paid to do. Pity some of the outfield players don't follow his example.

[LukeJames]

The ref came across as very biased towards Watford all game, There was a 20 minute spell in the 2nd half were he blew every single 50/50 in there favour. The worst 'decision' for me was the Cash one by the Watford corner flag, he was been man handled by their defender and somehow it was given as a Watford Free Kick.

I didnt see the pen as i couldnt get my stream to work for the first 10 minutes.

I'm by no means blaming the referee for the loss. As bad as he was, we still managed to out do him.

[tomd2103]

Yep. You have someone on here saying Coutinho has turned  from a prince into a frog just because he's not had two great games. Some of our fans are just ridiculously childish.

Yes people who pay good money to watch are childish. You should have said fickle as well just to rub it in.

I do have to say that I think some of the comments in this particular thread have been way over the top and don't reflect too well to be totally honest.  Just my opinion of course.

[Brazilian Villain]

I sometimes think there is a conspiracy. We have had very little change out of Var in the past two years.

Most supporters think the same, I've read comments from Liverpool and Yanited fans complaining how refs and VAR screw them over (I know).

[Towser]

We were very quiet and even when Watford fans sang theres only one Graham Taylor we didn't join in.

[VILLA MOLE]

We were very quiet and even when Watford fans sang theres only one Graham Taylor we didn't join in.

yep that was disappointing