Aston Villa v Tottenham Match Thread

[AlexAlexCropley]

Just realised the knob jockey is Ekoku

[Axl Rose]

Boring so far.

[Sexual Ealing]

Well that was shit.

[Martyn Smith]

Pretty tepid stuff. If this is 4th and 5th then non wonder the top 3 are skating away...

[Axl Rose]

Just realised the knob jockey is Ekoku

Yep. Dreadful.

[Olof's Beard]

Formation's working well defensively, we are pressing well and crowding then out when they do come forward. But we massively miss the option of the wide players drifting inside when we attack.

[Proposition Joe]

So 1-0 to Spurs at HT, factoring in our patented stupid early second half goal against.

Watkins looks very tired, we may be seeing how fit Duran is in the second half ...

[SoccerHQ]

How bad is Ollie on the counter today? That chance before half time.

Get the feeling he isn't 100% after the early kick on him as one of those days where he's making some bizarre decisions in the final third. Bailey hasn't been great either when on the ball.

It's been a containment job so far and we're clearly conserving energy and just protecting space so interesting how the second half goes and whether we alter our approach or just wait for Spurs to gamble more as they surely will.

[SamTheMouse]

Not too bad. We've kept them at arm's length mostly, and are rightly looking to exploit the space they leave in behind. They have a shitload of recovery pace, though.

Still assuming we'll lose though. We look dead nervy.

[TonyD]

I’d be tempted to hook Tielemans for Diaby. 
Around 65 mins. 

[Smithy]

Well the starting XI meant Unai obviously wasn't going for the blitzkrieg start, so I think he's thinking back to the game at WHL when they ran out of steam after about an hour. We'll try and keep it tight and go hard once they tire.

That exactly how I see it. If we can keep it 0-0, I expect us to be dominating in the last 20.  It's been pretty dire, but they've had what, 1 shot?

[curiousorange]

I'm not fussed by the performance. It was always going to be a shit game with the importance it has. Both sides are better than this but anybody tuning in for a spectacle hasn't seen many six-pointers.

[PaulWinch again]

It’s pretty ordinary, we look laboured and are feeding off scraps. Midfield can’t get a proper foothold and generally speaking Spurs are coping with our attacks because it’s always one of ours vs several of theirs

[Rigadon]

We’re winning the 50/50s in a tight game between two quite well matched sides.  Watkins looks like he’s carry a knock to me.  Probably the tackle on the box that looked a borderline penalty. 

Man Utd would’ve had at least one penalty in that half.

[Sexual Ealing]

Well the starting XI meant Unai obviously wasn't going for the blitzkrieg start, so I think he's thinking back to the game at WHL when they ran out of steam after about an hour. We'll try and keep it tight and go hard once they tire.

That exactly how I see it. If we can keep it 0-0, I expect us to be dominating in the last 20.  It's been pretty dire, but they've had what, 1 shot?

The trouble with that approach is that they had a red card at their place. Relying on that isn't a tactic.