Aston Villa v Olympiacos - Post-Match Thread

[Villafirst]

Last night showed that we need far better players next season if we want to continue battling for a top 4 position in the league and be competitive in either the Champions League or Europa league.

Hopefully Unai, will have a plan in the summer to get at least 4 players in the summer that can improve our 1st 11.

I think you've overlooked the fact that we have about 8 players out injured/suspended. That is a big chunk of the squad. Our rotation options are threadbare, meaning players can't be rested, particularly those carrying knocks.
 

[django]

I thought there were pretty fine margins. We were nowhere near our best or our worst. Everything fell their way, the ref didn’t seem to like us and they looked like the best side we’ve faced in the competition.

Probably left ourselves too much to do but you never know, depends if we score first.

[ChicagoLion]

Labelling last night a Gerrard type performance is just nonsense.

It was a knackered type performance.
We have played 8 games in the last 30 days and have looked tired  in many of them, Bournemouth and Arsenal being the stand out performances energy wise.
It’s not surprising and we have done well to keep it going for so long considering the player absences.

[Demitri_C]

For me its clear defensively when you have lenglet and olsen as your spine it just does not work.

Unless we are forced into playing them both together again i never want to see that combo again

The only thing that gives me a glimmer is that their fans expect them to see the job through and all the pressure is on them now not us.

We caused them problems when we palyed high tempo. If we score early you might see a vreek tragedy as they get very nervous. They also fell apart at home to fenebache they were coasting at 3-0 and then squeezed a 3-2.

Its certainly not impossible but this patient passing around is not going to work. We have to get the ball forward quicker its as simple as that.

If emi and pau are back we wont see such a woeful defensive display i think (and pray) but its a very very hostile crowd.

Villa fans are going to have to make themselves heard to those going. We rarely heard them at lille until end of game when cash scored.. its a 35k stadium and i think we have just under 2k going. Make yourselves rowdy and loud for the boys. They need us

[Chris Harte]

Without Emi, Pau and Kamara we looks like Gerrard’s Villa rather than Unai’s.

No we didn't.  We really didn't.

I know we are all disappointed right now but over the last nine months this squad, the manager and the support team have performed admirably, despite having the odds stacked against them.

And I suspect that there's more to come.

[Baldy]

I thought there were pretty fine margins. We were nowhere near our best or our worst. Everything fell their way, the ref didn’t seem to like us and they looked like the best side we’ve faced in the competition.

Probably left ourselves too much to do but you never know, depends if we score first.

My thoughts exactly.

Score first and we are capable of scoring 4 or 5 against this lot.

Need Pau and Emi back as well.

[ADVILLAFAN]

On another night we could have scored 8 and they barely went in our half in the second half, but got the pen (not sure what Dougie was thinking) and big deflection.

Would be lovely if we could somehow beat Brighton and Liverpool win, so we can go all out in the second leg to claw it back.

Seems very unlikely that we'll get through now though.

Shout out to Cash, who was far and away our best defender tonight. Hope Diaby gets some confidence from his goal and assist.

[Demitri_C]

I still find it strange that Diego Carlos, after a man-of-the match performance in that epic win at Arsenal, has been largely ignored by UE. Him and Pau Torres playing last night and the defence looks stronger. The both have a lot of experience in Europe.

It speaks volumes to me. Carlos is going to be sold in summer i think. Not the same player since the injury and im ok with him being moved on

[colin69]

With the right players in the team we are capable of turning this tie around, but it’s going to be very difficult indeed.
Really expected a routine win last night but we were poor.

[Rigadon]

Good news on the fan.

Without Emi, Pau and Kamara we looks like Gerrard’s Villa rather than Unai’s. Very frustrating evening, as we won’t get an ‘easier’ chance to win a european trophy.

We don’t and didn’t. 

We did and we won’t.

Without those three we have no control over possession or calmnes on the ball. Add to this the tried and tested midfield of SJM and Doug that doesnt work.

And if you think the CL or even the Europa League, are easier to win than the conference then I’m not sure how much european football you’ve watched.

 

Huh? I don’t think those competitions are easier to win than the one we’re in the semi final of.  Not sure how you’ve reached that from what I posted?  The Europa would be a bit harder, and CL more so.  Olympiacos are no mugs (semi finalists innit) same as the last team we beat over 2 legs. 

You said we’re Gerrard-esque without those few players and it’s demonstrably untrue.  Weaker yes, Gerrard-like nah not at all. 

[Demitri_C]

On another night we could have scored 8 and they barely went in our half in the second half, but got the pen (not sure what Dougie was thinking) and big deflection.

Would be lovely if we could somehow beat Brighton and Liverpool win, so we can go all out in the second leg to claw it back.

Seems very unlikely that we'll get through now though.

Shout out to Cash, who was far and away our best defender tonight. Hope Diaby gets some confidence from his goal and assist.

I dont know if i agree with that mate to be honest. On that performance i dont think we would ahve ever scored 8. We had a good 5 mins when we scored towards end of half then as soon as we equalised we literally shot ourselves in both feet and handed olympiakos the victory. The performance was really poor collectively

Its going to have to be 10x better than that if we have aspirations to go through

When you look at our squad and value in comparison to theirs its embarrassing  how much better and easier they made it look to us. We can all say we are tired but if you think this is bad whats it gonna be like in CL?? Its gonna be significantly more difficult than the conference league

[wince]

Bbc breakfast complimentary to us this morning at least. They will think job is done next week. We need to unleash our inner barbarian!

[manic-road]

So many poor performances last night especially in midfield, no wonder Emery was going ape from the sidelines. The tie isn't over but that penalty by Dougie summed up our night.

[ChicagoLion]

On another night we could have scored 8 and they barely went in our half in the second half, but got the pen (not sure what Dougie was thinking) and big deflection.

Would be lovely if we could somehow beat Brighton and Liverpool win, so we can go all out in the second leg to claw it back.

Seems very unlikely that we'll get through now though.

Shout out to Cash, who was far and away our best defender tonight. Hope Diaby gets some confidence from his goal and assist.

I dont know if i agree with that mate to be honest. On that performance i dont think we would ahve ever scored 8. We had a good 5 mins when we scored towards end of half then as soon as we equalised we literally shot ourselves in both feet and handed olympiakos the victory. The performance was really poor collectively

Its going to have to be 10x better than that if we have aspirations to go through

When you look at our squad and value in comparison to theirs its embarrassing  how much better and easier they made it look to us. We can all say we are tired but if you think this is bad whats it gonna be like in CL?? Its gonna be significantly more difficult than the conference league

Of course it is and we are going to need to improve the squad depth and quality and be a lot luckier with injuries.
Adding Mings Kamara Ramsey Buendia will be a pretty good start.

[Exeter 77]

The centre back pairing last night looked really unsure of each other. Have Konsa and Lenglet played together before at all this season?