That really was a piece of piss today. We didn't have to be good. Just solid at the back and it was a guaranteed 3 points
Poor 1st half but sprayed it around a bit more in 2nd half. Great save by Darlow and noticed Mitrovic chasing down more. Roll on Bristol.
Colback and Dummett were both OK. Diame looked anonymous for long periods. Feel for Gayle. Hamstrings can take ages. Let's hope he's not back at square one.
Really? He was horrendous in the first half, constantly giving the ball away, diving into tackles far too late and giving away free kicks. Looked okay in the second half but only cos Villa had given up and he could be casual and stroke it around a bit.
That makes it 1 point from the 24 in the league for Villa. Hopefully they keep that form up and get themselves relegated.
He was decent enough, and Dummett had a good game overall yet again, but you will still find negative comments about both on here. Fans just have it in for certain players sometimes.
Actually a win for Reading would be okay as they will have played a game more. We are now on 69 points from 32 games. 86 is average for automatic promotion although last 2 seasons have required 90points for 2nd place. Thats 21points from 14 games. Surely we can do that. Most ever was 95 which is another 26points or 8 wins and 2draws.
Last night was actually a good "**** you" to anyone who accuses us of buying the division and says spending guarantees success; Villa have spent far more than us, but they're churning out that cack. 5 wins and 2 draws from the last 7 is a great return seeing how bad we've been. We might just sneak past Bristol C on Saturday, but Brighton and Huddersfield would rip that team apart. Guess Gayle will probably be rested on Saturday, we need to try something new, maybe drop Diame and Gouff and have Mitro and Perez up front with Atsu and Ritchie feeding them.
The first half was forgettable, they didn't want to attack and at times neither did we. But in the second we controlled it and but for some decent saves from Johnstone could have doubled that score. They could still be playing now and they wouldn't score. Rafa tweaked at half time to great effect. The passing was controlled, then quite dynamic at times and both Colback & Dummett were different people in the second half. All it took was telling both they can use their legs and to not just give it away every time they had space. Teams rely on Dummett hoofing it and Colback laying it back, so tend not to press either of them - after half time both started to carry the ball up the pitch and it suddenly meant we had options. Well done Rafa. If we can do the same to Bristol, 6 wins and 2 draws - 72 points in total - is pretty good going. With the top lot also having to play each other - and given we're highly unlikely to lose all three away games, given our away form - it's getting close to being an enjoyable run in. I think we'll surprise some people with that run of games. Reading will be uncertain, Huddersfield may be over-confident and weirdly I fancy us to kill the game at Brighton - a la Wolves. In four games time, if we're on 81 points it's champagne time.
hmmm, while I agree it improved in the second half especially from Colback, I can't help thinking that Villa's massive lack of effort after the break contributed too - they went from scrapping, battling and occasionally looking threatening in the first half, to just being a bunch of uninterested wasters in the second half. If Rafa can get Colback back on form, then that'll be massive, Dummett always gets a bad rep imo, he's not spectacular, but generally just gets on with his job and is normally decent. Brighton I think we could pull a win from, we're the sort of team they don't like to play. Huddersfield is the worry, as they're on fire atm, and don't show any signs of letting up, I think we could beat Reading, but I'm worried we might be knackered after such a tight fixture schedule and not be on form.
What the feck are people watching I dislike Colback as a footballer as much as the next man but he was comfortably one of our better players last night. Dummett also had a very good game. There were plenty of poor displays. Clark was doing my head in pumping long balls, but some of that was down to Shelvey having one of his "I'm not showing for the ball and when I do I'm looking for a worldie pass" nights. He got better second half. Gouf was awful but nipped in and got a goal. Ritchie did ok but because Yedlin had one of his poorer nights the link up never really worked. Pleased for Darlow, he did well. Lascelles too looked really solid. Mitrovic changed the game, they were coping fine with Gayle, manhandling him. As soon as Mitro came on they did not have the centre halfs to deal with him. He looks fitter and he is doing really well. I don't like Diame, but I think he did ok in little spells personally. Those performances from Colback and Dummett came in a pretty poor performance against the worst side I've seen this season. Villa are atrocious. And I like it. I have to say I don't understand why we started against a team with zero confidence in the same old formation, and the same old counter attack style. That should have been a game where we ran in a truckload of goals. To be honest I thought Villa would eventually be ok, but after last night I could see them going. They are broken mentally. I'm not worried about the upcoming away run. We look really good away and the way we set up is the way you need to in order to get points. I think we'll come out of it with 4-6 points personally. That is perfectly acceptable. .
I certainty don't believe I am one to have it in for players but personally I thought Colback was in no way good. A player of his style needs to move less and read the game more. Its like having Stevie Taylor in CM. He tries hard but thats the problem.he spent the whole game running around chasing people then he looks up for a second and finds himself wildly out of position and usually in one of our own players way. It would do my nut in if I was Shelvey with him playing next to me like that. I want him to do well I just think he needs to get a bit smarter. As previously mentioned Dummett does a decent job most weeks.