Aston Villa vs West Ham Post-Match Thread

[Rico]

Really impressed with Buendia when he came on. He always looked to be trying to move the ball forward at pace, rather than the insipid slow sideways passing that we were doing before. With our current injury situation, I think it would be a huge mistake to let him go in this transfer window. Great to hear the fans singing his name too.

[Demitri_C]

Really impressed with Buendia when he came on. He always looked to be trying to move the ball forward at pace, rather than the insipid slow sideways passing that we were doing before. With our current injury situation, I think it would be a huge mistake to let him go in this transfer window. Great to hear the fans singing his name too.

I cant see him being sold now with injuries to barkley and mcginn

[Nev]

Yep, Olsen has earned ridicule in the past when we were a really tight unit, but nowadays when Martinez and the defence have gifted goals three or four times this season through hesitation or jittery play, and Martinez himself has played a couple of passes direct to opposition under no pressure, it is a hard claim to make that we look worse under Olsen when the opposition had 5 chances for most of the game.

The fact that our defending and Emi's form have dropped in standard doesn't make Olsen a better player. He didn't do much wrong on Friday and he looks like being our "Cup keeper" but I still don't think he's good enough.

[N'ZMAV]

Olsen dislike bias is truly mind boggling on this forum. If he had dropped as many clangers as Martinez has this season he would have been virtually hung, drawn and quartered.

if Olsen had played as many mins as Martinez then there would have been more mistakes. Lets not paint Olsen out to be anything more than a good keeper that rightfully sits on the bench.

[brontebilly]

Tielemans 5 - struggled again to make an impression in what should be his best position. Bit more prominent when he dropped back

Thing with Youri is that he can be devastating in both roles, deep and advanced. When he is blunt in the deep role, there’s much clamour to move him higher up the pitch, and vice versa. So it strikes me that the trick is to maintain enough flexibility in our formation so he can move to where he can do the most damage, depending on how the opposition is set up (to stop him).

On a side note, I was quite surprised to see him stay on for the full 90 (in this and other games), as to me he seems to run on fumes after 75 or 80 minutes, and his fatigue can be a bit of a liability when we’re looking to retain possession and run the clock down.

He did putting in one cracking pass in the first half to put Maatsen in down the left. Without him or Torres we don't really have a playmaker from deep capable of seeing those passes not to mind executing them. Cash, Konsa, Mings, Onana even Kamara are all quite limited on the ball. Even Barkley prefers to run with it or play it short. That's a problem when a team sits in against us and we need the ability to spread the ball quickly out wide.

But if there's no space near Watkins then Tielemans should be pulling to the wings or dropping deep. Games kind of pass him by too often in that role.

[eye digress]

Olsen dislike bias is truly mind boggling on this forum. If he had dropped as many clangers as Martinez has this season he would have been virtually hung, drawn and quartered.

if Olsen had played as many mins as Martinez then there would have been more mistakes. Lets not paint Olsen out to be anything more than a good keeper that rightfully sits on the bench.

Think there’d be a fair few subscribers to that view, but doesn’t that just make the hyperbole seem even stranger? In other words, he’s pretty decent backup.

I thought he played quite well on Friday. Emi, with his lower centre of gravity (I think), may have made something of the goal. There was the flap and one poor pass out, but by and large, I think his passing has improved significantly, especially his positioning during passing sequences, which seems to underline his heightened confidence in that area (the build-up to the second goal was a good illustration of that).

Just to put it back into context, wonder how many clubs have a better pair of keepers than us? RedScouse and Citeh for sure, but after that?

[LeeB]

Emi wouldn't have saved that shot, but he probably would have caught at least one cross came for, unlike Robin.

[VillaTim]

Olsen had very little to do and two of his key moments were errors , spilling a tame shot and then flapping at a speculative cross. He hasn't been good enough since he joined and still isn't now . So it isn't "Olsen bias" it's just the reality .

[VillaTim]

Really impressed with Buendia when he came on. He always looked to be trying to move the ball forward at pace, rather than the insipid slow sideways passing that we were doing before. With our current injury situation, I think it would be a huge mistake to let him go in this transfer window. Great to hear the fans singing his name too.

For the winning goal, he makes himself available in a pocket of space near the centre circle, receives a great pass from Tielemans then his first touch and turn are sublime and he then plays a well weighted ball to Watkins who does well good ball in good movement from Rogers and goal .

[KevinGage]

Really impressed with Buendia when he came on. He always looked to be trying to move the ball forward at pace, rather than the insipid slow sideways passing that we were doing before. With our current injury situation, I think it would be a huge mistake to let him go in this transfer window.

Aye. Why should Leeds get any benefit of that sort.

Why should Leeds get any sort of benefit from anything at all.

[eye digress]

Why should Leeds get any sort of benefit from anything at all.

Amen.

[Hampshire Villa]

Did anyone notice in the interview Morgan sounded like he had cold?

[Mortimer's Bear]

Can anyone help me, I got to the ground approximately an hour before kick off and every programme seller had sold out (we walked round the entire ground). I don’t want to be ripped off on eBay, however I am happy to pay a fair price if anyone has a spare they’re willing to part with? If so please DM me and we can sort it out, thank you…

[VillaTim]

Can anyone help me, I got to the ground approximately an hour before kick off and every programme seller had sold out (we walked round the entire ground). I don’t want to be ripped off on eBay, however I am happy to pay a fair price if anyone has a spare they’re willing to part with? If so please DM me and we can sort it out, thank you…

They were on sale on the official website days before the game , might be worth looking there

[Somniloquism]

Can't get it online from the club?  Edit: Just checked and Sold Out with no indication of a re-print.