Aston Villa v Leicester City Post Match Thread

[LeonW]

I think we saw today why Kamara is already so important to this side that when he has one bad game it affects us massively. I don’t think some our players were expecting him to lose possession in the areas he did and had already started moving forward. It happened a number of times. I think Leicester targeted him for this reason and pressed his options which is why we saw what we did irrespective of him just having a bad game. They also pressed us more on the right to let Mings have more possession which led to lots of punts down the pitch and them regaining possession. Thought we regained control of the game in the second half after a kamikaze first half. Unfortunately, it’s the same problems: Mings ability on the ball, Ollie not being anywhere near clinical and two many inconsistent players. Emery can only do such much. Until we have viable alternatives/improvements in the squad, things aren’t going to change much and the challenge is then about keeping our best players whilst that happens.

[brontebilly]

Criticising Watkins for his performance today is ridiculous. Sure he missed his easiest chance, and made a mess of the opportunity Coutinho laid on for him. But he did very well to react first for the goal, something he gets criticized a lot for. Stroke of luck for the own goal but his movement was sharp and he got a good shot off. Aside from those moments, he worked hard, held the ball up well and was a threat throughout. Miles better than he was v Southampton anyway.

[Steve67]

Criticising Watkins for his performance today is ridiculous. Sure he missed his easiest chance, and made a mess of the opportunity Coutinho laid on for him. But he did very well to react first for the goal, something he gets criticized a lot for. Stroke of luck for the own goal but his movement was sharp and he got a good shot off. Aside from those moments, he worked hard, held the ball up well and was a threat throughout. Miles better than he was v Southampton anyway.

With respect Bronte, why can't he put them all away?  He did brilliantly from the crossbar rebound but then misses some crazy easy chances through having a really poor touch.  I think he's a really hard working player but is so very inconsistent. Perhaps we can agree on that? 

[Goldie.7]

Criticising Watkins for his performance today is ridiculous. Sure he missed his easiest chance.

The bold bit is why the criticism is justified.

[brontebilly]

Criticising Watkins for his performance today is ridiculous. Sure he missed his easiest chance.

The bold bit is why the criticism is justified.

Every forward misses chances. Watching back the highlights here, Bailey's miss at start of second half was arguably worse. Watkins had a very good game today.

[Risso]

All he had to do was tap it into an empty net.

[LeonW]

Criticising Watkins for his performance today is ridiculous. Sure he missed his easiest chance, and made a mess of the opportunity Coutinho laid on for him. But he did very well to react first for the goal, something he gets criticized a lot for. Stroke of luck for the own goal but his movement was sharp and he got a good shot off. Aside from those moments, he worked hard, held the ball up well and was a threat throughout. Miles better than he was v Southampton anyway.

As a forward player, part of his role is making and taking chances so it’s entirely relevant to analyze that part of his game. It would be strange not to. It would be akin to saying that Olsen’s throwing is excellent but people shouldn’t criticize his shot stopping when 4 sail past him. And today whilst scoring one good goal demonstrating excellent reactions, Ollie missed 2/3 other presentable chances.

[brontebilly]

Criticising Watkins for his performance today is ridiculous. Sure he missed his easiest chance, and made a mess of the opportunity Coutinho laid on for him. But he did very well to react first for the goal, something he gets criticized a lot for. Stroke of luck for the own goal but his movement was sharp and he got a good shot off. Aside from those moments, he worked hard, held the ball up well and was a threat throughout. Miles better than he was v Southampton anyway.

With respect Bronte, why can't he put them all away?  He did brilliantly from the crossbar rebound but then misses some crazy easy chances through having a really poor touch.  I think he's a really hard working player but is so very inconsistent. Perhaps we can agree on that?

No striker scores them all, even the easiest ones. I've been critical of his first touch for a long time but didn't notice it as much today. Talk of replacing him is madness. He lost a year of his career under Gerrard and the madness trying to get him and Ings to "work", I think he'll improve a lot with Emery.

[kippaxvilla2]

Rodgers 'we thoroughly deserved to win it.'  Balls.

[Toronto Villa]

While I think he should have scored, the tap in for Watkins wasn’t as straightforward as that. It came at him really fast and he didn’t react fast enough. It just looks worse given how close it was to goal. A better striker likely scores it and the other chances. And that’s the thing. Watkins is a perfectly fine PL striker for a mid table side. To get into the top 6 we need someone way more reliable. That goes for a few of our players not just Ollie. I want us to keep playing out from the back. But that’s going to require these players to improve or more likely, players who are already better at it. We are in the storming phase of Tuckman’s Development Model.

[Risso]

I think to be truly comfortable playing it out from the back you have to be a lot less one footed than Mings is, and just generally miles more comfortable on the ball.

[brontebilly]

Watching it back, we still did create a lot of good chances in the second half. Bailey had to score his one, brilliant play from Buendia. Cracking delivery from Coutinho that nearly resulted in another own goal. Likes of Moreno and Coutinho had other decent chances. Watkins not sharp enough when slipped through by Coutinho another time. Our attacking play today was far better than it was against the likes of Southampton, Leeds or Wolves.

[AV82EC]

I think to be truly comfortable playing it out from the back you have to be a lot less one footed than Mings is, and just generally miles more comfortable on the ball.

After today the most positive I can be is that he wasn’t as bad as Konsa. I think he has it in him, but today wasn’t one of those days. Along with everyone else in the defence.

[SoccerHQ]

All he had to do was tap it into an empty net.

It did flick off the keeper's hand so wasn't straight infront of him.

I get the feeling he'll do enough and still be around next season. I mean if we sell him given we don't tend to sign replacements ahead all we'll have in the squad then will be Archer and Duran so immediately puts big pressure on the summer market.

The second half chance annoyed me more tbh. Coutinho plays through a lovely ball and he takes ages to decide to shoot and the defender easily blocked it. Leicester players gave a masterclass in how to time their run and round the keeper today so hopefully Ollie was watching properly as too often he hesitates and delays and the chance is lost.

Seems to be this idea there's hardly anyone we could realistically sign who could provide good competition for him. Iheanacho also scored and assisted today, is mid 20s and will probably be available for 20m in the summer so he seems an obvious player to target given he can play in a two or upfront on his own.

[kippaxvilla2]

First time I have seen it.  No way we lose that other than a defensive performance of Peter Sutcliffe proportions.