Aston Villa - 1 Southampton - 0 Post match thread

[ozzjim]

I thought McGinn had a decent game to be honest. Mings was very good too.

73% passing accuracy and dispossed 14-15 times in the game (at 65 minutes ish when the stat came up) is not good enough. He looked OK because he won it back a few times, largely because Southampton managed to be worse.

I still think he had a decent game personally.

I get why, he was better than he has been much of the season. I also think if that is a decent game for our central midfielder, it is sad state of affairs.

[cdbearsfan]

He had moments of his old self, but still occasionally wasteful in possession. Hope the Scotland games can reignite his season.

[aj2k77]

McGinn is crap. He does nothing with the ball and the amount of times he loses 50/50 balls is incredible. Not good enough, unless we want to finish 16th.

[CT Villan]

Like others on here I thought Konsa and Mings were excellent. Coutinho was very good too, but McGinn was absolutely crap in possession.

[Ian.]

Well we needed that win but we should have wrapped this up before half time. We hugged and puffed against a very poor team. Coutinho was a class above everyone on the pitch but we are so lacklustre in our movement and positional play.

McGinn worked extremely hard off the ball but he really slows the game down and gives it away to easily.

Thought Mings was excellent at the back.

Is that the same Coutinho who didn’t create a chance, didn’t last 90 minutes, didn’t score ?

He’s a busted flush.  We’ll never improve by starting with him.

In a very scrappy game of football his ability shone through, he was good to watch tonight. Maybe if we committed players going forward into space a little he could see something on but we are so lacklustre in moving into space it’s tiresome.

At one point he had the ball a third of the way into their half and wide left and we had a large bank of players right across the pitch, plenty of numbers but all in line with him. Not one player looked to move into space ahead of him.

It happens so often. We are so afraid of losing, which since February it’s been a lot, we’ve lost the spark and confidence we had when Gerrard first arrived.

[Allan C]

We won
We kept a clean sheet
We really weren’t as bad as some are making out.

If we’d played brilliantly and lost, the same people would have been moaning that we can’t win ugly.
What ever we do doesn’t seem good enough for some.

That absolutely spot on. The game was awful but we won.

[passport1]

It's football Jim but not as we know it. The O'Learyesque celebrations at the end say it all .

[Ian.]

I’ve just watched a decent interview with Gerrard and basically he’s admitted we’ve been asked to play far less gung-ho and more rigid across the pitch. We’re trying not to lose first and foremost at the moment. So it’s basically answered my own question from my post above.

I guess after the results we’ve had it makes sense to do this and to build from it.

[Garyth]

What continues to be concerning however is the lack of any kind of attacking identity. I've not seen a sustained period of play at all this season where we have attacked a team in a coherent way, with a clear plan for exploiting their weaknesses and creating chances.

 

This, for me. I think most supporters can put up with dropped points if there is evidence of a plan they are trying to implement. At the moment it’s hard to see what they’ve been doing for the last 2 weeks.

Defensive solidity, I guess.

[Axl Rose]

Just watched a full rerun of the game.

Very solid at the back. Mings man of the match for me. Digne ok, but I'm still waiting for more from him.

McGinn was a bit more involved, but playing a style of football similar to vintage Mark Kinsella. What on earth has happened to McGinn??

Coutinho is warming up and will be fully firing soon, I feel.

Ollie was a bit isolated but tried. The football and formation we play is ideal for Keinan.

Bailey, Ings....really lightweight and ineffective. I thought Bailey was going to be an absolute star. Ings has been a poor signing, too.

[ASHTONVILLA]

I’m in New Zealand, so didn’t watch it but happy with the result. Think Gerrard is out of the woods now. Onwards and upwards.

[lovejoy]

Horrendous last 24 hours as had to say goodbye to our beautiful dog. We’ll play a lot better and lose so just happy with the win. Small steps to building confidence.

Good to see Phil starting to get back at it.

I’m sorry to hear about your dog, it’s always very sad. They are part of the family and a household constant. Chin up!

[lovejoy]

Like others on here I thought Konsa and Mings were excellent. Coutinho was very good too, but McGinn was absolutely crap in possession.

Agreed.

The thing with McGinn is though he put in the effort but lacked a bit of quality. International break for him to reset hopefully.

[Richard E]

Towards the end I was bracing myself for Matt Le Tissier’s obligatory worldie late equaliser from 30 plus yards.

[nick harper]

I have no issue with Gerrard going more pragmatic and making us harder to beat. I’m fed up of being a soft touch and he doesn’t want to lose his job. Southampton are no mugs and can beat anyone on their day, but I thought we made them look poor and completely ineffective in our half. Really good intensity all round and I thought Mings and Young were excellent.

Bad news if Kamara is out for a while. It looked like a ligament or cartilage problem. Typical Villa if we end up with the same squad as last year with our two main signings out for lengthy periods.