Aston Villa v AZ Alkmaar Post-Match Thread

[Bad English]

Yes, we didn't look like scoring at all and it was all very flat for the most part. When Doug (plus Cash and Zanoli-soon-to-score-a-beltero) came on we immediately legged up the park and FTF!

[Pete3206]

I note the comment elsewhere about AZ Alkmaar being Championship standard and I have to disagree. This is a team that plays European football every year and got to the semis of this competition last season after pissing their group and knocking out Lazio and Anderlecht.

They've not been as good this time around for sure, but credit to Villa for persevering and getting the job done.   

[Dave]

I didn't see last nights game, reading reports it seemed to be another lack lustre performace until Dougie came on. We may be suffering the West Ham experience where our squad is not quite good enough compete in both competitions.

Aren't we fifth in the league and sailing through the group pretty comfortably?

[Risso]

I didn't see last nights game, reading reports it seemed to be another lack lustre performace until Dougie came on. We may be suffering the West Ham experience where our squad is not quite good enough compete in both competitions. We seem to have run out of energy and options in last couple of games, the spark is missing. I hope put half a dozen past Fulham at the weekend to make me look an idiot.

The Forest defeat was after a week off though.

[Villatillidie25]

So Im not sure what Mr & Mrs Dufus on TNT were talking about by rimming AZ all game. A

You must have been watching a different TNT to me, I thought they spent the entire 90 minutes practically sucking us off, they were so effusive in praising us.

The last ten minutes was borderline embarassing as they went on and on about how clever we are, closing down the game effortlessly.

I genuinely thought the whole match was the most fawning coverage I've heard in ages.

Yeah the bloke who kept calling Bailey Diaby is a massive fan of ours .

They were just bi-polar. If one team had the ball for any length of time they were prime Barcelona while the other one wasn’t at the races and was being dominated.
Think they were just poor commentators trying to create excitement in what was broadly a fairly flat game that we controlled for all but a 10 minute period around HT.

[pauliewalnuts]

The biggest problem last night was the same one at Forest, we didn't get Diaby into the game enough, or - to a degree - Watkins, as we normally do.

We played some nice passing football, it was clearly men against boys for most of that match, but we just couldn't find what we needed in the final third.

Douglas Luiz - and I still can't believe it, how much he has improved under UE - is a fucking brilliant footballer, though, and we saw that last night, we needed someone with his quality to make that difference.

It's a long season, the manager has only been here a year, there are going to be ups and downs.

I think we might be forgetting this a bit, we're so used to winning matches now.

We're fifth in the league, and looking good for further progression in Europe. Prior to the start of the season, I doubt anyone would have said no to that. It is going to come with bad performances along the way, though, that's inevitable.

[Risso]

Douglush Lew-eesh

I await Mark or Gary's correction - but isn't that a pretty accurate recreaction of how is would be pronounced in Brazilian Portuguese?

I don't think so, at least not the Luiz bit.

[pauliewalnuts]

Douglush Lew-eesh

I await Mark or Gary's correction - but isn't that a pretty accurate recreaction of how is would be pronounced in Brazilian Portuguese?

I don't think so, at least not the Luiz bit.

A propos of nothing, I was listening to a podcast recently which was taking the piss out of a Man U pod, and in particular how the presenter pronounced the name of the player Fred.

It was like "Fresh" or "Frez"

Glory hunting twat.

[tomd2103]

Did anything happen with the Cloggies in town before the match as the policing seemed very excessive for what looked to me like a few hundred fans?

We were prevented from going down Manor Rd and behind the North, then again from going out of the North stand gates after? And there were that many coppers it looked like a game v that lot. Maybe they were just practicing for Legia?

Guessing after all that business that Alkmaar had with West Ham the other season they thought it was better safe than sorry.

Mentioned it before, but wonder why was there a gap.in their supporters in the lower Doug Ellis last night? 

[Dave]

Douglush Lew-eesh

I await Mark or Gary's correction - but isn't that a pretty accurate recreaction of how is would be pronounced in Brazilian Portuguese?

I don't think so, at least not the Luiz bit.

A propos of nothing, I was listening to a podcast recently which was taking the piss out of a Man U pod, and in particular how the presenter pronounced the name of the player Fred.

It was like "Fresh" or "Frez"

Glory hunting twat.

It should be something like Fred-jey I believe.

[PeterWithe]

My guess would be that those were the AZ fans without pre bought tickets and the Police would rather have them in the ground than wandering about so had requested an area to put any who showed up.

It’s clear why they didn’t have any fireworks in the ground, they’d used them all up at New St. It looked better than the display at the Edgebaston Cricket Ground the other night.

[BC54 VFC]

Douglush Lew-eesh

I await Mark or Gary's correction - but isn't that a pretty accurate recreaction of how is would be pronounced in Brazilian Portuguese?

I don't think so, at least not the Luiz bit.

Correct. But on a similar subject Costa's first name is pronounced: Gee - eh - go.

[Lastfootstamper]

A memory crossed my mind whilst watching the game last night. A memory of being stood on the Holte with a mate, Wimbledon in town, Beasant in goal, and the pair of us booing him with every ounce of energy and breath we could muster because he was dribbling the ball a good two yards outside of the box before launching it up the pitch AND THIS IS ENGLAND AND THAT'S NOT HOW WE PLAY HERE, GET BACK IN YOUR BOX, YOU ANTI-FOOTBALL ****.

Fast forward to now and I can't imagine a future in which the sight of Martinez, ball at his feet, steadily edging up the pitch, attackers retreating, doesn't have me grinning and giggling.

[Dave]

Douglush Lew-eesh

I await Mark or Gary's correction - but isn't that a pretty accurate recreaction of how is would be pronounced in Brazilian Portuguese?

I don't think so, at least not the Luiz bit.

Correct. But on a similar subject Costa's first name is pronounced: Gee - eh - go.

Although that's not how his second name is pronounced. Or spelled ;-)

Our one, anyway.

[Percy McCarthy]

Their goal WAS offside. Just been clarified.
We shouldn’t have a corner. Obviously

But arise Doug n Ollie.

Clarified where? I turned BT off at FT.

Nothing has been mentioned about their goal but the Villa players have said the Ref apologised about our goal being disallowed.

The official has muddied the waters on that one. It's one you don't see often but by the laws of the game it was correctly given as offside

I suspect it depends on whether you think the defender deliberately played it or not.

A player in an offside position receiving the ball from an opponent who deliberately played* the ball, including by deliberate handball, is not considered to have gained an advantage, unless it was a deliberate save by any opponent.

*‘Deliberate play’ (excluding deliberate handball) is when a player has control of the ball with the possibility of:

passing the ball to a team-mate;
gaining possession of the ball; or
clearing the ball (e.g. by kicking or heading it)
If the pass, attempt to gain possession or clearance by the player in control of the ball is inaccurate or unsuccessful, this does not negate the fact that the player ‘deliberately played’ the ball.

That sounds like they got it right then.