Post match thread Go Ahead 2 villa 1

[john e]

we lost because we couldn’t convert easy chances in the first half

The penalty is on Unai
We still don’t have a recognised pen taker with all the analytics and deep dive tactical knowledge he’s known for he can’t find one team member who we can trust to put the ball down take a 4 yard run up and bang it on target towards the goal on a regular basis
Even Buendia last night is pissing about with a small step up kick trying to be clever

It does my brains in the utter incompetence of it all

[PaulWinch again]

This team, this squad - and I’m including Unai - has a mentality problem.
Whether it’s a massive, massive cup final or equivalent (olympiakos, palace, Utd), or what’s considered an ‘easy’,opponent, we show the wrong mentality.

We have it in us to completely bottle it, or act like swaggering prima donnas who believe they don’t need to put the effort it.


Unai has talked about our mentality since he got here.
He still can bloody well sort it though.

Not sure about that. We win plenty of big pressure and also “easier” games. If you don’t win the cup you’re in you’ll always look back at opportunities to do better - Palace in the cup wasn’t our mentality, they’ve just been better than us when they play us of late (same with lots of teams). Olympiakos, I think you could argue that was mentality. But a lot of the “lesser” games we necessarily rotate and that disrupts things.

I think generally our mentality is pretty good.

[Clampy]

I thought Malen was meant to be the penalty taker if he's on the pitch? Buendia took his previous one confidently enough but made a right mess of that one last night.

It was a desperate result and a desperate performance. Maybe a bit of complacency crept in after going in front so early but it was pretty woeful. Still, it's not the end of the world, results like this happen. It's up to the players to bounce back from it.

[RamboandBruno]

This team, this squad - and I’m including Unai - has a mentality problem.
Whether it’s a massive, massive cup final or equivalent (olympiakos, palace, Utd), or what’s considered an ‘easy’,opponent, we show the wrong mentality.

We have it in us to completely bottle it, or act like swaggering prima donnas who believe they don’t need to put the effort it.


Unai has talked about our mentality since he got here.
He still can bloody well sort it though.

Not sure about that. We win plenty of big pressure and also “easier” games. If you don’t win the cup you’re in you’ll always look back at opportunities to do better - Palace in the cup wasn’t our mentality, they’ve just been better than us when they play us of late (same with lots of teams). Olympiakos, I think you could argue that was mentality. But a lot of the “lesser” games we necessarily rotate and that disrupts things.

I think generally our mentality is pretty good.

I dont even think Olympiakos was mentality, Martinez saves at least two out of the three goals at Villa Park if not 3 out of the 4. It was an Olsen thing that night.
I dont buy the mentality thing at all. That group of players are good but I think we’d all agree are in the main not world class apart from a couple, yet ran PSG closer than anyone last year.

[kippaxvilla2]

At the risk of sounding a heretic I think Bizot is less hesitant than our ballon glove winner for their 2nd.

[kippaxvilla2]

Their coach spoke really well after the game last night.  I was impressed with him.

[Nelly]

Opted not to post in the heat of post-game fire, and I know we won't win every single game, but I feel we lost that because;

-Watkins somehow hits it right at the keeper from 6 yards with the whole goal to choose from
-Guessand missed his one-on-one
-Guessand choosing to cross it to OUR corner flag when he had 3 players to pick out
-a bunch of other, less clear cut, misc chances/opportunities

That's what I'm most disappointed about. We did more than enough to win this game but our total lack of finishing ability ended up piling on more pressure than there ever should have been. Sancho needed to beat 6 men every time rather than be clinical/decisive too, so a lot of good work but ultimately fruitless.

Also, respect to Go Ahead Eagles. A great night for that club.

[pauliewalnuts]

We are mentally not as strong as we've been in previous seasons of late.

[PeterWithesShin]

As a team we seem to be missing some mojo more than mentality imo. Everyone seems pretty inconsistent so far.

[aj2k77]

We're just not as good as we were.. Little by little the squad is degrading and no signings have come off for a while now. Prime Bailey to Guessand is like losing a leg and replacing it with a pogo stick.

[MillerBall]

A worry if the fringe players are not able to make the most of their opportunities at the same time as the regulars play below their normal standards.

[Villa Lew]

Has anybody asked Unai, if we practice taking penalties, because it certainly doesn't look like it.

[PaulWinch again]

I do think yesterday, in addition to recent games, shows our best CB pair is Konsa and Torres. It isn’t helped by Cash and Digne not being there, but balance was off.

[LeeB]

I do think yesterday, in addition to recent games, shows our best CB pair is Konsa and Torres. It isn’t helped by Cash and Digne not being there, but balance was off.

Those four are our best back four by a country mile.

[RamboandBruno]

As a team we seem to be missing some mojo more than mentality imo. Everyone seems pretty inconsistent so far.

I think we’ve started to look like the team of the past few years over the last month and the team that plays against Spurs, Feynoord etc, wins last night, so McGinn, Konsa, Cash, Kamara, maybe Digne, starting.
So I think the problem is the drop off from those players, which is a problem in itself.