Middlesbrough vs Aston Villa Post-Match Thread

[VillaBoy_23]

Dreadful, awful game but the result is all that matters.

Fred Flintstone.

[pauliewalnuts]

I'm not sure I agree with the comments about having to work hard, we had to be patient but for me we never really got out of first gear.

It looked largely like a training match to me.

[Rigadon]

Honestly got away with that a bit. Should absolutely be creating more than that.

Really? I thought we were well worth the win. We hit the bar, post and had a blatant penalty ignored.  Plus about 5 half chances that on another day would go in.  We won comfortably I thought.

Half chances though, and yes that header is a couple of centimetres more accurate and it's a different story, but for all our dominance their sitting in did that does to us quite a lot of the time. We desperately need to find ways of unlocking deep defences.

We rarely steam roller the teams sitting deep and compact - does any team these days?  Even Guardiola bought Haarland to get around this type of defence.   


We won, deservedly so, against a team who parked the bus/.

[Risso]

I'm not sure I agree with the comments about having to work hard, we had to be patient but for me we never really got out of first gear.

It looked largely like a training match to me.

Same here.

[paul_e]

I'm not sure I agree with the comments about having to work hard, we had to be patient but for me we never really got out of first gear.

It looked largely like a training match to me.

Same here.

Yep, that's how I saw it.

[SamTheMouse]

I'm not sure I agree with the comments about having to work hard, we had to be patient but for me we never really got out of first gear.

Yep, as you said, we make teams run a lot and logically if you're patient, chances start to come as the game wears on.

I remember when I was a kid, when English teams played in Europe, everyone was in awe of the forrins' ability to keep the ball and tire out the sad pasty-faced John Bulls, with their poor technique and Golden Retriever-like tendency to gallop forward on the rare occasions they won back possession.

Now we're playing like the Italian sides I used to be jealous of in the 90s.

[Behind Bluenose Lines]

A hard watch but we've reached the promised land. 4th round nirvana.

Smells like team spirit, in a manner of speaking!

Just hope we get a home draw, but it would be so Villa to have our first home defeat of this season in the FA Cup, and go out!

Everton?

Whoops: I'd forgotten that. My bad (as the kids say)!
Still hoping for a home draw, though: I'm still having PTSD from our most recent previous Man Utd (A) fixture!

[ldavfc4eva]

Same here, “Dreadful” “Awful” it was not, hard work as in getting the winning goal, but as Risso,Paul and Paulie have said it was a routine win in the end.

Solid performance and good to have Kamara back, thought he orchestrated things well as usual in the middle.

[Aldridge Villa]

Routine win it was not.

[rob_bridge]

For those old enough it was similar to 4th Rd v Sheff Utd away in 1996.

We were the better team in a season where we were doing well and they were doing well.

I hear Dion (who we all like) saying things like '....not moving the ball forward quick enough...' Sometimes but that isn't our game. Its about craft, guille and presicison.

DD the game has moved on in the last 5 years let alone 20 years ago when you were playing

[ChicagoLion]

We are going to have to get used to teams doing what Boro did. Everton will be  another version of the same system.

[kippaxvilla2]

One for BE to mull over.

Aston Villa manger Unai Emery speaking to BBC Sport after the game: "We were remembering before the match the past few years where we have not qualified past the third round, but today we played seriously for 90 minutes with a game plan and we controlled the game a lot.
"We created not very clear chances but, in the second half, we created very good chances and they had some good attacks.
"We were keeping in our mind the game plan and our passions. At the end we won and, more or less, I think we deserved it."
On Aston Villa's mentality: "The mentality that you have to be there everyday and you have to get experiences and see what we're facing.
"We were keeping in our mind the game plan and until the last minute we were trying to be very positive in our area and, at the end, we won. It was fantastic."
On Middlesbrough: "They had very good players trying to combinate, play with possession and trying to get in behind."
On currently competing in three competitions: "We have to go into each match and get the best result. The first target is to be consistent through the Premier League and then to try to be consistent in the Conference League and the FA Cup. But, of course, we have to be consistent and we have to face each competition and improve."

[Risso]

For those old enough it was similar to 4th Rd v Sheff Utd away in 1996.

We were the better team in a season where we were doing well and they were doing well.

I hear Dion (who we all like) saying things like '....not moving the ball forward quick enough...' Sometimes but that isn't our game. Its about craft, guille and presicison.

DD the game has moved on in the last 5 years let alone 20 years ago when you were playing

I thought that when Dublin was going on about Emi standing with his foot on the ball. "What's he doing?!" Watched us a lot recently have you, Dion?

[Bad English]

Why me?

[AV84]

The fact we had to bring on Watkins, Luiz, and Diaby means that we had to get into 2nd gear, at the very least.

On another note, as someone else kind of suggested, I'd like to have seen Zaniolo started up front. Maybe in the next round, depending on the draw, we might try something different in that respect, especially if Durán does go to Italy.