Aston Villa vs Juventus post-match thread.

[sid1964]

i thought it was an excellent game - i still cannot believe how far this club has come in the 2 years under Unai, to be competing and being the better side against Juventus is unbelievable

Torres was sublime with his passing last night, but Kamara was MOTM

The ref was appalling.

[Ian.]

Having been at the game, I seemingly enjoyed it more than a lot of those who watched on TV, which maybe is due to the tension that was in the air at the ground, I dunno? But I thought we did well. Kamara was ace, automatic first choice when fit. The defence was good and I really appreciated Cash having a good game. I’m not his biggest fan but if he could stay fit that really helps with our squad strength and options. Four clean sheets that could have been five out of five were it not for that freak occurrence in Brugge.

Going forward we would have fared much better had lots of attacks not broken down at the feet of Morgz, but Ollie looked sharp first half and Bailey is improving gradually.

All that left me feeling optimistic as I left the ground.

Glad you enjoyed it, the atmosphere sounded amazing. I was at home on my sofa as per usual as it seems to be the case since I became a parent 20 years ago! These games just look and sound incredible even as armchair fan, so being there must be an incredible experience.

I must admit I enjoyed it too, I thought we were really competitive but we just lack that bit of magic or spark in the final third at the moment. I’m not sure if it’s confidence or just were a bit out of luck at the moment.

To think we’re competing at this level after only two years of Gerard going is incredible.

That save from Emi was outstanding and one of the best I’ve seen this season.

Special mentions too Kamara, McGinn and Cash who I thought were tremendous all night.

[Nev]

Looking at the last few games, things aren't really going for us, those little through balls and clever passes are being cut out or not reaching their man through fortune and a lucky block, equally, loose balls always seem to drop to the opposition particularly in and around the area. But that's what happens when you're in a bad run, it affects confidence and you can see that in the players. We lack momentum, rhythm and pace.

It will come back though and not losing is ok when you're in the kind of form we are.

[Rigadon]

Agreed Nev.  in all the games, had we had a bit more fortune we’d be flying points wise.  The game Sunday will be interesting. 

[Monty]

I was encouraged by Emery mixing up the system I must say. When I saw the system I thought 'ha, you stubborn fucker, hope you're right', and he was - but he'd changed it up substantially with McGinn central and Rogers left. Definitely beefed up in the centre with SJM and Kamara there.

[Ads]

Little video of Declan Rice, whose always struck me as oddly sporting with his insistence of clapping the opposition win/lose/draw, accusing last nights referee of being so bad he's probably been paid, when he was at West Ham. So he's got form for being fucking abysmal.

[Rotterdam]

Kamara was excellent.
Martinez's save was outstanding.
Ref was terrible.
Rogers lacking but we should remember he was struggling to get in Boro XI last year.
Bailey a bit better.
Goal should have stood.

[brontebilly]

Both our full backs were clearly under instruction not to get caught ahead of the ball last night. This gave us a strong defensive shape, admittedly against a weak Juve front line, but it makes things very difficult for the likes of Bailey who gets double marked easily. It's fine last night as we had to avoid another basketball type game with no control. But I do think we will have to get Maatsen's pace into the team sooner to stretch teams. Like Moreno used to.

[rob_bridge]

Martinez 8, Cash 8, Carlos 7, Torres 6, Digne 6, Kamara 8, Tielemans 6, Bailey 7, Rogers 4, McGinn 6, Watkins 6.

About right - think Kamara MOTM but best saw Bailey and Cash play for a while

[LeeB]

Rogers looked every inch the £8m Championship hopeful tonight, couldn't decide if was tiredness or an allergic reaction to moving slightly to the left.

I can empathise, I suffer from the same thing.

Ha!

[ChicagoLion]

I thought it was an excellent performance and what was needed with the run we are on.
We looked like the defensively assured Villa again.
The ref was absolutely shocking and must be disappointed that he didn’t fully earn his Rolex, without him we probably win that game.

[Demitri_C]

The day after

Some thoughts

Emi brilliant some top saves last night. Juventus  had a bigger injury crisis than us but still showed some real quality at times. Thought thuram and weah looked decent.

Thought the defence as a whole was very good. A lot more tight. Kamara a big reason for that as he wss excellent.

Duran to me his hot forms fizzled out abit (new contract curse grrrr) has struggled to make a impact since he has come on in recent games.

Rogers was bad. He might have scored but he was really bad last night. Looks like a but of fatigue. May benefit with a bit of a rest but who do we play there? Out of form buendia? If onana is back id be tempted to play youri there as kamaras back.

Enough has been said about that shit wanker ref. We all know we robbed bjt unfortunately if you put that aside we didnt do enough to win the game as has been said we played a lot of safe passes. I think if we can sneak a draw at least vs Leizpig then win one or two of the last two we might have  a chance at top 8.

Play offs though there  is a possibility we could play real madrid

[Somniloquism]

Juventus  had a bigger injury crisis than us but still showed some real quality at times.

Not like someone to rubbish the Villa by stating the other side was more weak then us.

[john e]

Typical game against an Italian well organised team
I enjoyed it though but can see why others didn’t so much, the end of the day we’re playing the supposed cream of Europe here and we look like we belong

I thought we were the better side overall but it was tight
As others have said Referee was as bad as it gets

But it’s another one of those games where we would have probably lost if we hadn’t got the best goalkeeper in the world
He is our greatest asset and absolute legend already

[darren woolley]

That Ref is all I will say.