Aston Villa vs Sheffield United Post-Match

[villadelph]

Absolutely should have won that but credit to Sheffield United for digging trenches into Villa Park. In a strange way, it’s almost a compliment.

I don’t think Diaby can be expected to be in behind the striker and have a wider player out to his right. He’s not one to play the quick pass to send someone in behind and doesn’t combine particularly well. His pace is nullified in Emery’s system. We need a true #10, which I think right now should be Tielemans when healthy.

For all the flak they catch, I think Leon, Cash and Zaniolo were fine. All worked their socks off and Zaniolo’s header was a cracker.

All in all, the result was a bit of a let down but our points total at Christmas is what matters. We’ve had some great results thus far (along with some stinkers) and need to continue to improve. This match will keep them motivated.

Had to be freakin’ Cam!

[Ducksworthy]

As I did say in the match thread, I do wish Diaby would take a shot a bit earlier. Last few games he tries to go one move too far

[pelty]

Appalling decisions tonight from VAR, though I do think they got the goal right. It would be lovely if there was some repercussions from the Premier League for such abysmal refereeing both on and off the pitch.

[Somniloquism]

Obvious penalty in the first half on Watkins.  Clear and compelling.  That aside, great we didn’t lose the game.

Agreed, thought it was a blatant handball near end too from Baldock. They were fortunate to get away with those two decisions.

Ramsey did foul their keeper so dont think we should be whinging about that one. Thought Duran should have been sent off too, if their defender had jumped to the ground he would have been.

I think the contention for some was Sheffield had the ball and could have cleared it anyway for a couple of plays and 15 seconds after the foul. So how far back does VAR check for a goal and how many "phases". There has been fouls in previous goal buildups which VAR haven't checked because it was a different phase or it was too far back.

[Astnor]

For me, the biggest tactical error today was playing McGinn too deep. He is so much more effective further forward.

That's why I wanted the Donk in there. Why disrupt the team, especially players on top of their game.

Totally agree with this. To make a goal against a defence like Sheff s today there need to be moments of quality, of our players today Mc Ginn has it in him as do Luiz (and Bailey to a lesser degree)

[villa for life]

We are just a couple of players short:

 a right sided Moreno to replace Cash
An upgrade on Duran (Archer?)

[PaulWinch again]

There was one tactical cock up tonight, Diaby and Bailey just ended up in the same place all the time.

[RichardBatchelor]

Would be nice to have someone like Buendia on the bench to bring on. I’ve never rated Ramsey - then again I didn’t really think much of Archer and shows what I know.

Ramsey is a good player coming back from a couple of back to back injuries. Hopefully the minutes get him back up to speed.

If you’ve never rated Ramsey, then with respect, are you knowledgeable about football?

[steamer]

I could not put anyone above a 5 or 6 today
In that rating you are going to struggle to win.
Goal should have stood
should have been a penalty
But we were lacking creativity and our main players were all well below their best
Hope that is a wake up call for boxing day. Need a bit more aggression and tempo
But not the aggression from Durhan , who was actually crap and could have been sent off

[villabear]

Troy Deeney has cheered my night up.

[Baldy]

I’d rather not be top at Christmas.

All the headlines when you don’t maintain the lead are embarrassing.

It’s only halfway through the season.

Exactly what I was thinking. The league is a marathon, not a sprint.

A tactical draw to position ourselves on the leaders shoulder ready for a sprint in the last two games.

Just trying to be positive.

[Ian.]

We are just a couple of players short:

 a right sided Moreno to replace Cash
An upgrade on Duran (Archer?)

There was one tactical cock up tonight, Diaby and Bailey just ended up in the same place all the time.

I thought that. I’d rather start with just the one of them and as form goes it’s Bailey all day long.

[coreyfeldman]

JJ needs to do a lot more for me. Too slow & ponderous on the ball.
Turns back too often when he used to drive on.
Mind you he wasn’t alone tonight, no snap for most of the game.

Jj isn't fit yet, chill out

[Ian.]

Fuck knows how I quoted Villa for life. Didn’t mean too.

[taylorsworkrate]

There were a couple of decisions that went against us, but don't think we did enough to win the game. The quality was lacking tonight