Aston Villa 2 Crystal Palace 2. Post Match Thread.

[PaulWinch again]

Can't agree on Torres , he's a poor and weak defender , yes he can pass (sometimes) today he was an absolute liability .

Yeah he was absolute garbage in our brilliant run in the first half of last season….

[olaftab]

Agreed. On current form he would only be on Middelsboughs bench.

Complete bollox. He's not at his best but you....

[VillaTim]

Can't agree on Torres , he's a poor and weak defender , yes he can pass (sometimes) today he was an absolute liability .

Yeah he was absolute garbage in our brilliant run in the first half of last season….

i said "today" and actually this season generally he looks a liability and weak , our defence is a mess and he's at the heart of it

[PaulWinch again]

Can't agree on Torres , he's a poor and weak defender , yes he can pass (sometimes) today he was an absolute liability .

Yeah he was absolute garbage in our brilliant run in the first half of last season….

i said "today" and actually this season generally he looks a liability and weak , our defence is a mess and he's at the heart of it

And it was brilliant when he was at the heart of it last year. Suggests to me it’s not actually the defence that’s the cause - it is completely exposed because the midfield does nothing to screen it. The midfield is the main problem.

[Demitri_C]

I think its both the midfield and defence.

No protection from the midfield to help , and some pretty woeful defending as a whole. Oue best defender was cash who came on at half time

[ChicagoLion]

Can't agree on Torres , he's a poor and weak defender , yes he can pass (sometimes) today he was an absolute liability .

Yeah he was absolute garbage in our brilliant run in the first half of last season….

i said "today" and actually this season generally he looks a liability and weak , our defence is a mess and he's at the heart of it

And it was brilliant when he was at the heart of it last year. Suggests to me it’s not actually the defence that’s the cause - it is completely exposed because the midfield does nothing to screen it. The midfield is the main problem.

I agree , the midfield is porous, week after week teams walk through us and it is just like we experienced under Smith.

[SamTheMouse]

Philogene's just a shit version of El Ghazi. He should be on loan at a Championship club until he improves.

Failing to replace Diaby is costing us. He wasn't great, but he still chipped in with goals and assists.

[Demitri_C]

Philogene's just a shit version of El Ghazi. He should be on loan at a Championship club until he improves.

Failing to replace Diaby is costing us. He wasn't great, but he still chipped in with goals and assists.

Agree Sam that and not getting a  right back in two of the biggest errors

El ghazi was better than Philogene i agree

[passport1]

Could have won it, could have lost it. In the end we got a point which keeps us in touch with the top four. Onwards and upwards!

[AlexAlexCropley]

Could have won it, could have lost it. In the end we got a point which keeps us in touch with the top four. Onwards and upwards!

Positivity. I like it.

[ldavfc4eva]

We miss Diaby, pure and simple. He had more quality than a lot on here gave credit for.

We replaced him with an ex-youth team player in Jaden who had one good year in the championship, he is nowhere near Diabys level.

The backup to Ollie is an untried and often erratic young player, so no real alternative in Duran than last season, yes he has the odd glimpse of greatness but then equally does nothing for several games.

Luiz is also a big miss in the middle, Tielemans has a couple of good games and then disappears for the next.

We are worse off than last season squad wise IMO and it is showing

[PaulWinch again]

We do miss Diaby, he was far from perfect but he did deliver output and gave us pace. We need to replace and haven’t.

The big miss is the combination of Doug and Kamara, they balanced the midfield perfect allowing the defence protection and linking up the attack. Somehow we need to replicate that.

[RichardBatchelor]

Ifs buts and maybes.

But for a brilliant save by Emi at the end we lose that game, go into the break in the lead from scoring the pen I felt we would win with ease. Fine margins.

Thought Rogers was anonymous
McGinn poor
Carlos too sloppy and too lackadaisical
Tielemans shit pen or great save? Not sure till I see it again
Philogene is a waste of a shirt

Better

Watkins scored a great goal
Bailey was better
Barkley very tidy

Must admit I thought  palaces last ditch tackling was superb

McGinn’s assist was brilliant. Faded in the second half but poor is harsh.

[eye digress]

The overwhelming feeling from this game was that, though we had the lion's share of the ball and chances, Palace could score every time they attacked. It was far too easy for them to run directly at our centre backs (poor from our central midfielders), and we did not have an answer to Mateta's physicality (poor from our centre backs).

Good to see Ollie score, but it didn't seem to give him a lift.

Is there something rotten in Elsinor?

Bailey was better than of late, but Rogers anonymous.

In midfield, Tielemans was ponderous on the ball (actually, was he fit?) - harking back to his early appearances last year. Barkley, as a pair with Tielemans, didn't convince (though he played quite well himself).

I disagree with some posts I've read regarding Philogene and Buendia: Jaden at last got himself down the line and centred the ball on one occasion. Buendia brought us a little bit of nous, niggle and presence. In any event, it wasn't down to them that we didn't win.

It was a wild, out of control game. Not great but then not (yet) disastrous either.

UTV!

[ChicagoLion]

We do miss Diaby, he was far from perfect but he did deliver output and gave us pace. We need to replace and haven’t.

The big miss is the combination of Doug and Kamara, they balanced the midfield perfect allowing the defence protection and linking up the attack. Somehow we need to replicate that.

That midfield was as good as any in the Pl. the platform of Kamara Luis then the combination’s of SjM , Tielemens, Bailey, Rogers, Diaby.
Now it looks like a bunch of good players thrown together unable to assert influence defensively or offensively.