Aston Villa Reserves v Forest Post-Match Thread

[VillaTim]

I'd probably say Maatsen was our MOTM today .

[walsall villain]

Strange game really. So dominant first half then a very worrying 20 minutes second half when we lost control. More even once we made the 3 changes. Considering we made 8 changes it’s a great result for us. Only concern for me today was Ollie, he had a very poor game.

[PaulWinch again]

It’s kind of crazy we could change 8 and have such a strong team.

[PaulWinch again]

It’s also really good to see Malen making an impact now and I’m sure he feels more part of it all.

[tomd2103]

I don't think the win was especially fortuitous or undeserved. We were much better than them for much of the first half. Also we still had some great chances in the second half.

They improved a lot in the 2nd half and they do have some good players. We let their wide players have too much influence and should have been better at cutting out the diagonals to them. Nevertheless it was a good win

We’ve been choosing to be narrow centrally and leaving space out wide lately. It’s partly responsible for our improved defence and results.

From what I saw, they made a definite change in the 2nd half and went from a pretty narrow 5-3-2 in the first half to more of a 3-4-3 and it caused us problems. 

Our wide players went up against their outside centre halves, which meant their wing-backs were free and our full-backs were 2 on 1 a lot. 

One to remember if we meet them again in a certain game at the end of the season. 

[Brazilian Villain]

It’s also really good to see Malen making an impact now and I’m sure he feels more part of it all.

Also good to see Rogers' interaction with him after he scored today, and the way he was pushed towards the away fans at Brighton to take some plaudits. Already seems to be a popular guy within the squad.

[VillaTim]

Great to see a big smile on Malens face.
Think he will be important next season .

[SamTheMouse]

Great to see a big smile on Malens face.
Think he will be important next season .

Yep, delighted for him. He's a classy player.

[Mellin]

It’s also really good to see Malen making an impact now and I’m sure he feels more part of it all.

Also good to see Rogers' interaction with him after he scored today, and the way he was pushed towards the away fans at Brighton to take some plaudits. Already seems to be a popular guy within the squad.

Rogers is good at that. Saw it with Duran too.

[garyellis]

After going 2-0 up and completely overrunning them we eased off. That was deliberate, personally I would have preferred to keep going but understand the tactics.
Second half they overloaded our right hand side and looked dangerous and in control for the first 25 minutes of the second half and when they scored it was a bit nervy.
But the subs did make a difference and we were not outclassed we should have wrapped it up because we had the better chances.
Forest are now a very competitive side at this level and in a rich vein of form.
Today is an excellent result the third in 6 days we should all enjoy it.
UTV

[Meanwood Villa]

Not quite sure how we got away with that to be honest. Pretty dreadful performance from about 20 mins onwards, notwithstanding some decent chances for us. They missed a hatful though.

[jon collett]

I'd probably say Maatsen was our MOTM today .

Can’t agree with this at all. He was a defensive liability. It was crying out for Digne but presume he’s played so much he’s close to the red zone.

[Olneythelonely]

I agree with Coopers, I also think Maatsen was one of our best players.

[kippaxvilla2]

And Elliot Anderson, their midfielder, was the best player on the pitch, I thought.

Delighted/relieved we won but I'm just surprised at how we were bullied for a lot of the second half.

They are third in the league, what do you expect?

They're also a tough, physical side who are that high in the league largely because they've got taking their chances and defending for their lives when needed down to a tee - as we did.

We're going to have to dig in and grind out results against good sides - we did that all the time last season, but not so much in the league this time (until recently).

Perfectly described.  Anyone thinking we were just going to roll over this lot.

[amfy]

What’s the matter with everyone? If we were Forest we’d simply bemoan out lack of ability to finish our chances. We go on like there’s not 2 teams trying to win the game. Why can’t we ever be happy?