Aston Villa v Bologna Post-Match Thread

[Mister E]

Pretty mediocre, really. Both sides lacked a cutting edge, and for Malen and Guessand - well, the the jury is out on both although both showed some energy and enthusiasm. It occurred to me that Guessand reminds me of Zaniolo - big, strong and enthusiastic but lacking pace and vision to see a pass.
Rogers was once again a shadow of his 2024 form - he needs some time out of the team (or perhaps he simply misses the forward momentum provided by the absent Tielemans).
Watkins never looked like scoring the pen; awful.
I agree with others who say that Torres looked much better; hurrah!
Last night, Kamara was player of the match.
Our ball retention is terrible and game control was totally lacking! A completely unconvincing game; pretty awful.
Elliott has obviously done something to piss off the management; bizarre not to give him time.

Emery has to find a way to inject some energy, intensity and accuracy into our game, and fast (hint: Elliott can provide those factors).

[Chip Butty 111]

Surprised by the attendance, 30,909, looked and sounded more than that?

[Beard82]

I read somewhere they Unai felt Elliot needed to adjust a bit more.  So far this season only Sancho has looked ok in more than 1 occassion - the rest of the forward line have had a few bright spots but have been poor overall.

Not right to jeer Rogers - I think some of the frustration isnt so much at him - more Unai's need to play him for every single second even when hes being shit.  That doesnt make it acceptable.

Great to win - sure the attacking play will click - but good the rest of the team is looking more settled.   Youri, Barkley and Onana back will also help.

[paul_e]

I actually enjoyed that game. There are plenty of positives.

We actually looked like we wanted to get forward and score. It was way more direct and pacey than any game we’ve played this season. It was definitely an improvement.

Yep exactly - far from perfect, but there was attacking intent there and the defensive shape was much better than it has been for a long time.

Yep, agreed. If we keep playing like that the confidence will build and we'll soon look more like the team we've been used to under Emery.

We pressed more effectively, our passing was sharper and our movement was better. Add Youri back in to give us a little more incision from midfield and I don't think we'll be far off where we need to be.

The most important thing is that Watkins and Rogers need a boost, a goal or 2 for each of them would kick start our season I reckon.

[mrfuse]

I read somewhere they Unai felt Elliot needed to adjust a bit more.  So far this season only Sancho has looked ok in more than 1 occassion - the rest of the forward line have had a few bright spots but have been poor overall.

Not right to jeer Rogers - I think some of the frustration isnt so much at him - more Unai's need to play him for every single second even when hes being shit.  That doesnt make it acceptable.

Great to win - sure the attacking play will click - but good the rest of the team is looking more settled.   Youri, Barkley and Onana back will also help.

Unai’s always pretty careful about throwing new players straight into the starting XI. After the cup game he even said Elliot wasn’t quite playing the way he wanted.

Don’t forget, it took Tielemans a fair few games before he nailed down a starting spot when we first signed him.

[DB]

Surprised by the attendance, 30,909, looked and sounded more than that?

That can't be right. The away end was sparse but apart from North Stand corner and a few in Lowe DE, it was pretty full. I was surprised to see it that populated tbh.

[tomd2103]

Surprised by the attendance, 30,909, looked and sounded more than that?

That can't be right. The away end was sparse but apart from North Stand corner and a few in Lowe DE, it was pretty full. I was surprised to see it that populated tbh.

Agree, for all the talk in the build-up of a low attendance, there didn't seem to be too many empty seats in the home stands.

[DrGonzo]

Whilst it wasn't a gerat performance, I thought Malen had a few hopeful moments.  He can collect with his back to goal and turn with the pace to beat a defender.  He times his runs well and was stopped on 2 occasions by some incisive keeping.  Considering he's hardly had much game time and is probably lacking in confidence a decent performance. 

[Percy McCarthy]

Surprised by the attendance, 30,909, looked and sounded more than that?

A typo or something. I’ve been there in 30k crowds and it looked like thousands more than that last night.

[TheToffnar]

Not quite at our best, but miles better then previous showings. Don't think there was any player that didn't look more up for it.

Kamara and Pau sensational all evening with the former looking bang in form. Guessand grew into the game very well and Malen, whilst still not entirely convincing definitely appeared a little brighter especially when receiving the long ball in tight spaces.

Will likely get slaughtered for this, but I thought Rogers had his best game of the season last night. That's not to say he looks anywhere near as good as he has been, nor that his passing was any good, but he received the ball on the half turn beautifully on several occasions and never really went missing. He was a frustrating watch because he actually turned up. The sarci cheer turned my stomach a little in all honesty.

Don't really know what to say about Watkins. Should have put his laces through the pen and probably a little slow to get a shot off at times but again, only frustrating because he was more visible.

[Crown Hill]

Surprised by the attendance, 30,909, looked and sounded more than that?

35,578

[kippaxvilla2]

I thought the ironic cheering of Rogers at the end was a disgrace to be honest. 

[walsall villain]

Surprised by the attendance, 30,909, looked and sounded more than that?

A typo or something. I’ve been there in 30k crowds and it looked like thousands more than that last night.

When I got back last night I read somewhere it was over 35k, can’t find it now. No way was is less than 31k

[Chip Butty 111]

Surprised by the attendance, 30,909, looked and sounded more than that?

35,578

Sounds more like it..

[PeterWithe]

Will likely get slaughtered for this, but I thought Rogers had his best game of the season last night. That's not to say he looks anywhere near as good as he has been, nor that his passing was any good, but he received the ball on the half turn beautifully on several occasions and never really went missing. He was a frustrating watch because he actually turned up. The sarci cheer turned my stomach a little in all honesty.

Something in that, he did what he was supposed to do, then gave it away, constantly. He's not there to spin his player then make the easy square pass, he's there to get on the ball and get us up the field. He just seems to have a mental block when releasing the ball.