Man Utd vs Aston Villa post-match thread

[Drummond]

We've not been humiliated, nobody should feel ashamed.

The players should be proud of 3rd place and 39 points at the halfway point.

This game feels worse because of the circumstance but in reality we could have won the game.

There was a deflectrd goal, a ricochet off McGinn for an assist and a couple of our chances that could just as easily have gone in.

It's a sickener, and nobody is happy about it, but we are still 3rd (for now) and can continue looking up.

We've got Burnley, Middlesbrough and Everton before Newcastle on 30th Jan.

The players have time to recuperate and rest before we get into the business end of the season. We're in 3 competitions still.

[Monty]

We kind of humiliated ourselves, but when you set such high standards for yourself that can happen. We just have to focus on getting back to winning, and Burnley at home represents a colossal opportunity.

[ez]

The more I think about this game the more it looks like a managerial cock up. It's almost as if Emery wasn't expecting us to go two nil ahead and didn't know what to do with it. A rare rabbit in the headlights moment for him.

[ChicagoLion]

We kind of humiliated ourselves, but when you set such high standards for yourself that can happen. We just have to focus on getting back to winning, and Burnley at home represents a colossal opportunity.

I think it is a must win or it will look like the wheels have come off.

[The Edge]

The more I think about this game the more it looks like a managerial cock up. It's almost as if Emery wasn't expecting us to go two nil ahead and didn't know what to do with it. A rare rabbit in the headlights moment for him.

Unai Emery is notoriously meticulous in his planning so rabbit caught in the headlights is not a phrase that can be used to describe him in my view. How many times has he had to reshuffle the defence this season? We badly missed Kamara and Carlos was not the same player without Torres. These are things out of the coaches control.

[Monty]

We kind of humiliated ourselves, but when you set such high standards for yourself that can happen. We just have to focus on getting back to winning, and Burnley at home represents a colossal opportunity.

I think it is a must win or it will look like the wheels have come off.

Given the fixture, I think that's right.

[ChicagoLion]

The more I think about this game the more it looks like a managerial cock up. It's almost as if Emery wasn't expecting us to go two nil ahead and didn't know what to do with it. A rare rabbit in the headlights moment for him.

Unai Emery is notoriously meticulous in his planning so rabbit caught in the headlights is not a phrase that can be used to describe him in my view. How many times has he had to reshuffle the defence this season? We badly missed Kamara and Carlos was not the same player without Torres. These are things out of the coaches control.

He should have seen that we needed to change at half time and before they scored, it was inevitable the way we were playing.
He was 2 nil up with 5 subs to play, that is not out of the coaches control.

[Axl Rose]

We have blown a massive opportunity to confirm our top 4 aspirations and maintain momentum.
An absolute sickener.
I can not find any solace in that performance , snatching defeat from the jaws of victory.
How many times have we been humiliated by those detestable wankers?

It's dreadful mate. Ruined my week. A win against Burnley would help, but fancy losing to those useless fucks, the way they've been playing.

Defence was laughable. Carlos was utter shite. The whole team was to be fair.

The worst thing about it ,they were on their knees. A comprehensive defeat would have set the***** back even further. Now it’s glory glory days just around the corner
A bright new era, we even gave the useless twat with a face like a baboons arse a career changing goal to set him on his way.
A few of our lot should be ashamed.

I think so too, mate. Fucking crap

Hopefully they'll use that to spur them onto another unbeaten run.

And you know that Emery will be all over it, demanding a response. We've been really good at not falling into ruts since Unai came in. It's the main thing that meant I never fully warmed to Smith and his teams; once they started losing runs, it seemed to take ages to get out of them.

[ez]

The more I think about this game the more it looks like a managerial cock up. It's almost as if Emery wasn't expecting us to go two nil ahead and didn't know what to do with it. A rare rabbit in the headlights moment for him.

Unai Emery is notoriously meticulous in his planning so rabbit caught in the headlights is not a phrase that can be used to describe him in my view. How many times has he had to reshuffle the defence this season? We badly missed Kamara and Carlos was not the same player without Torres. These are things out of the coaches control.

He should have seen that we needed to change at half time and before they scored, it was inevitable the way we were playing.
He was 2 nil up with 5 subs to play, that is not out of the coaches control.

Yes. Staying as we were was not a realistic option but it's exactly what he did.

[ChicagoLion]

The more I think about this game the more it looks like a managerial cock up. It's almost as if Emery wasn't expecting us to go two nil ahead and didn't know what to do with it. A rare rabbit in the headlights moment for him.

Unai Emery is notoriously meticulous in his planning so rabbit caught in the headlights is not a phrase that can be used to describe him in my view. How many times has he had to reshuffle the defence this season? We badly missed Kamara and Carlos was not the same player without Torres. These are things out of the coaches control.

He should have seen that we needed to change at half time and before they scored, it was inevitable the way we were playing.
He was 2 nil up with 5 subs to play, that is not out of the coaches control.

Yes. Staying as we were was not a realistic option but it's exactly what he did.

What I don’t get is that we saw last season us getting ahead and shutting the game down.

[AndyB6]

The away game vs Brighton last year is a great example of this. We pretty much played 6 across the back from our penalty area and completely choked the game.
I don't know why we didn't do this on Tursday night?
Same as away at Man Utd last year they just kept hitting long balls over the top / through us to cause us problems. If we had denied them so much space in the final third then I think they would have found it very difficult to play through us. Plus we didn't have enough pace on the turn in defence when dealing with the long balls.
We should have shut up shop and played for a third on the break.

[Paul.S]

The away game vs Brighton last year is a great example of this. We pretty much played 6 across the back from our penalty area and completely choked the game.
I don't know why we didn't do this on Tursday night?
Same as away at Man Utd last year they just kept hitting long balls over the top / through us to cause us problems. If we had denied them so much space in the final third then I think they would have found it very difficult to play through us. Plus we didn't have enough pace on the turn in defence when dealing with the long balls.
We should have shut up shop and played for a third on the break.

I think that’s a fair point but he’s not going to do it. It was the same at Spurs in the first half when we were getting crucified on the break. What I would say is that he did change against Arsenal after the Man City game. We did play as a more defensive unit and they found it tough.
The high line is something he obviously won’t change very often and it’s not done us too badly. He definitely knows what he’s doing, wants his style implemented and is the most tactically aware coach we’ve had for decades.
An example of this is playing out from the back. He has adjusted this from time to time with the Man City game being the last time. Someone said he was like a rabbit in headlights but that’s very harsh. He hasn’t won what he has by being naive and tactically unaware.
Players making mistakes is all part of their learning and 1 loss won’t convince me he’s not a tactical genius.

[OCD]

United really struggle against teams who play with a low block and look to hit them on the counter too. So it's a real shame we didn't come out like that in the second half.

Worth remembering that Bailey and McGinn had great chances straight after their first 2 goals. If we had made it 3-1 or 3-0 (we nearly scored early in the second half too), it takes the game away from them again and they're probably a bit deflated.

[kippaxvilla2]

It was ridiculous set up after our goals he is supposed to be adaptable and read every situation.  He got it wrong.

[kippaxvilla2]

Do you think when new managers come in they’re given a history lesson on the do’s and don’ts.

1. Do take the cups seriously especially the onethat starts in January.

2. Don’t lose 2-0 leads and lose 3-2 in humiliating fashion against Manure.