Aston Villa vs Crystal Palace Post-Match

[passport1]

To me it was a typical post international break game . Players all over the world with little or no preparation looked out of sorts. I wouldn't judge anyone too harshly.

[Bad English]

To me it was a typical post international break game . Players all over the world with little or no preparation looked out of sorts. I wouldn't judge anyone too harshly.

Yes, at times Emi looked like he was suffering from altitude sickness, jet-lag and the squits.

[The Edge]

Watched the penalty review again. What the fuck were they saying to the ref from VAR? It was a clear penalty, yet it seems they did everything possible to create doubt in the refs mind.

I really don't think it was a clear pen, if he gets a touch initially before he takes Watkins out then it isn't. I just don't think he quite gets that touch which is ultimately what he decided as well.

It took an eternity and even included a lengthy monitor review. It had to be a clear mistake to overturn and it wasn’t even a mistake.

It was a penalty in my humble opinion. It's a common misconception that getting a touch on the ball negates the penalty. It doesn't because he clearly bought down Ollie who could still have got to the ball and possibly scored.

[CT Villan]

It took an eternity and even included a lengthy monitor review. It had to be a clear mistake to overturn and it wasn’t even a mistake.

Definitely wasn't 'a clear and obvious error' so no review necessary, typical of VAR though.

Wrt Diaby's offside goal - does anyone know if we are playing with the chipped balls so they know exactly when it was passed ? I guess that is also dependent on the VAR video having enough frames per second to match up the exact spot too.

[AV84]

I've defended Watkins a lot, and I still think he brings more to the team than just scoring (or not scoring), but he does seem to be on a really bad run lately. I know some players have to play their way back into form but it's getting very close to the point now where it's hard to see why we wouldn't try something else up front.

I'm still not sure if Duran is a 90 minutes option for us, but even trying something like Diaby and Zaniolo upfront, especially when Ramsey is back, might be an option.

I agree entirely on that. Watkins gives constant effort and hard work to the team. There were a couple of times today when he was defending, launching a counter attack - it’s his usual commitment.

However, he is not a finisher. Even when he has been on form in the past, he’s missed a good few and has had a tendency to hit the post.

In short, I like him a lot. And I have tried to defend him, but I think given where we want to be, he’s not the answer. Sadly. I would have loved to him have been…

Maybe one day he’ll silence my doubts, but I still find myself doubting his ability to finish. In a 1v1, with a good premier league striker, the odds should always be in their favour. In Ollie’s case, I’d be favouring the keeper.

Duran is worth a punt, as is the aforementioned suggestion of Diaby and Zaniolo playing together with Ramsey just behind.

I think the European games might prove an excellent opportunity to try something else without blatantly dropping Watkins from the league starting lineup. He'll still have a chance to play himself back into form, but we can also give something else a good try midweek under the guise of giving him a rest.

[pauliewalnuts]

It is a cliché but it is also a fact, good teams play shit and still win.

How many times, for example, have Man United swanned up to our place, looked shit, we've got ourselves in a position where we are winning, only to then see them win it at the death?

We were poor for most of the second half, but fuck who cares, we won.

Look forward to seeing Moreno back soon and hopefully JJ, we miss him.

[The Edge]

Generally I don't pay too much attention to the whinging on the match thread, if people want to vent that way then fair enough but can the 'only 1 striker' thing be put to bed, Duran is a fantastic prospect who hasn't let us down and now has 3 goals from about 150minutes of game time this season.

The only other observation is that there was a bit of criticism of Doug on the match thread that made no sense to me, I thought he was the best player on the pitch by a very long way.

This is exactly the sort of analysis that is threatening to plague match threads. I put it to you. Do we want to read this sort of thing during a game?

Good thing this isn't a match thread isn't it.

You are missing the point; this is a post-match thread where you also get similar top-notch primary school ranting.

It's what we come on here for. It would be very boring if everyone agreed all the time.

[passport1]

To me it was a typical post international break game . Players all over the world with little or no preparation looked out of sorts. I wouldn't judge anyone too harshly.

Yes, at times Emi looked like he was suffering from altitude sickness, jet-lag and the squits.

What was it somebody said about a school child behaviour?

[pauliewalnuts]

Generally I don't pay too much attention to the whinging on the match thread, if people want to vent that way then fair enough but can the 'only 1 striker' thing be put to bed, Duran is a fantastic prospect who hasn't let us down and now has 3 goals from about 150minutes of game time this season.

The only other observation is that there was a bit of criticism of Doug on the match thread that made no sense to me, I thought he was the best player on the pitch by a very long way.

This is exactly the sort of analysis that is threatening to plague match threads. I put it to you. Do we want to read this sort of thing during a game?

Good thing this isn't a match thread isn't it.

You are missing the point; this is a post-match thread where you also get similar top-notch primary school ranting.

It's what we come on here for. It would be very boring if everyone agreed all the time.

No it fucking would not.

[TonyD]

I fully and completely back this manager after he took us to 7th in two thirds of last season.

Disappointing to see negativity creep into match threads when things go against us. We always have a chance of a turnaround with this manager.

We were losing 0-1 on 87 minutes and totally toothless, not to say wank, in the second half. We're not going to sing, I mean post,  "Let's all have a disco!".


Also, part of the fun of match threads is going totally OTT, you really shouldn't take them seriously.

Well said. 

[kippaxvilla2]

We don’t do draws do we.

[AV82EC]

We struggled against the low block but apart from a period at the start of the second half I thought we were much the better team and 3-1 didn’t flatter us.

[AV84]

"We played a lot [of other matches] like today and were winning in the first 20 or so minutes. We said at half time to keep going and controlling the game like we were doing. They have a very good team and good players and they did that transition and scored the goal. Then it was a difficult moment."

Interesting point from Emery after the match. We did, several times, take our early chances and effectively kill games off very early already this season. This match we played the same in the first half but didn't convert the chances we had.

I suppose the opposite is true too. We've conceded early goals and fallen out of games too easily too. So all in all I suppose we should be pleased with today's performance in that respect.

[Ian.]

Watched the penalty review again. What the fuck were they saying to the ref from VAR? It was a clear penalty, yet it seems they did everything possible to create doubt in the refs mind.

 The commentary on the game I was watching kept harping on that he got the ball, but you can’t foul a player and then win the ball? Why it took so long to decide was ridiculous.

[dave shelley]

Thanks gents for the replies on the added time.