I actually thought he was below par in the 1st , muscled of the ball too easily a couple times, but immense in the 2nd . ONe thing is for sure , we miss him badly when he's gone.
Not a clasic , was a real nervey edge to the game and the crowd but we won so thats all that matters. The only difference today was defoe, his touch under pressure around the box was class, he grafted and put the villa defenders under pressure and he was clinical i front of goal. Without him we would be in villas position now. Couple of other decent performances pva was back somewhere near his best, cats was good in the second half in particular and the centre halfs dealt with most things very well. Feel for the villa fans mind plenty made the trip made plenty of noise and weren't given much to cheer about from there team.
We have given ourselves a chance, the result was everything and with many key positions down to the bare bones it was a very pleasing outcome, yes there is a lot of work to be done but at least it still looks doable thanks to to-day. A good window could make all the difference, and I for one am very hopeful we will get it right this time.
I wonder how many times that`s been said about us. Can`t help feeling the next few weeks will tell us more about Ellis and whether he really means business this time.
Villa are shocking, they wont hit 20pts this season. They offered nothing upfront and never looked like scoring, their goal came as a shock, to be honest. Cattermole was MOTM for me, he was outstanding. He really is the heartbeat of the team, it wasn't just him breaking up the play, his passing short and long range was very good. Brown was brilliant again, he hasn't got the legs anymore, but his footballing brain more than makes up for it. He doesn't have to do anything special because he reads the game so early he's always in the right place. Our defence has been much more calm and organised with him in it. M'Vila again was outstanding, his all round game is on a total different level to what we have, his work rate, tackling, closing down, passing and reading of the game is world class. I love watching him. PVA had his best game of the season, he looked very good going forward and put some good balls into the box, which to be fair, Fletcher would have loved today. We definitely missed a tall presence upfront. Defoe showed why he is so important to us, he is the only natural goal scorer in the team and we must keep him fit at all costs. His running off the ball and first touch is brilliant and the way he took his first goal was outstanding. Good atmosphere today, it was the best it's been in a while. Still room for improvement, but for years now we have been told by the managers and players that a good atmosphere, does make a difference to the team. We also see it in performances. I don't know why we can't be like this more often... We are crying out for a midfielder to accompany Catts and M'Vila. Johnson and Toivonen aren't good enough, we need a quality AM with a good work rate and I feel that would really improve us. That definitely looked our weak spot today and against Liverpool, if we can nail that signing, we are in with a chance.
The interesting dilemma Villa face is whether to even bother spending any money now. As a business man, Randy Lerner should be doing the right thing and cutting his squad down now and beginning the rebuild by acquiring some good championship level players so they can hit the ground running next season. He probably won't though, he's a ****ing clown.
Brown ran to celebrate the win with team mates and Gestede elbowed him. Catts had a go at Gestede. Handbags really. Looked like both were carded to me
Anyone know why Watmore got taken off for Graham, after 54 minutes or thereabouts? I was baffled at the time and having slept on it I'm still baffled. He didn't look injured or tired to me, Graham was crap too didn't put in the effort he normally does.
No idea mate but it worked so we can`t really argue. iirc Graham missed (another) good chance in front of goal. That bloke really has go. A serious upgrade needed imo.
Nobody mate, that`s the problem. Paid far more than he`s worth and he`s far from alone in that regard. Contracts up in the summer I think although I fully expect the boardroom idiots to renew it. Mass clearout and huge investment is the only option Ellis has left I reckon.
