Excellent start to the weekend. After 15 minutes I thought there was every chance of that finishing 0-9 again or 9-9.
And where did this new version of Wilfrid Ndidi come from? Who knew he had that kind of game in his locker? Up until this season the crowd behind the goal would have been ducking every time he got into the penalty area. All credit to him and Maresca for unleashing this talent. He looks to be really enjoying his new role. So much more energy and effort this season. It was good to see JJ back. He was immense. Feared the worst in that final minute collision.
... yes ... just watched the highlights again and that's the last action ... rash challenge from their lad and looked really painful... apparently they are going to appeal the red! ... good luck with that!
I listen to the When you're smiling podcast and always prefer it when Pipes is on. I love his thinking and the way he can tell it as a fan, a former player but a critic as well. He was the first one for me who called out Rodgers and could see the writing on the wall so early. I shall miss him as he steps back.
Thought Hamza really led from the front last night after being made captain for the match. Looked like it meant a lot to him. It's pretty impressive how seamlessly players can now come in and out of the side and not fundamentally change the quality of the overall performance. The style of play is becoming far more enjoyable now that the players are becoming more confident in their roles. There is less passing for the sake of it and more ability to see the chance to move the ball forwards quickly. Some of our one and two touch play last night and the ability to get away from defenders was brilliant. We could have, and should have, been out of sight by 70 minutes if Iheanacho and Vardy had taken what were very good chances. Probably not too long before we see Daka being given a chance. The defence had their best game of the season. They held their formation and every dangerous ball in was attacked and usually cleared. It looks like conceding soft goals from set pieces has been addressed. And what a relief it is to finally have a confident keeper who dominates his area. Great all round team performance from a group of players who look happy together and happy to play for each other. Unfortunately for the rest of the teams in the league we are only going to get better.
Fully agree with all that, what I see happening from now is teams sitting deep against us when we’re at home, crowding the box and making it hard to fashion clear cut chances. Hopefully we’ll have someone who can find the passes to create the chances. On another note, I know many Villa fans who are less than impressed by Tielemans, he’s made a few appearances from the bench but they’re expecting a bit more impact from him. They’re suggesting he just plods about when he comes on and plays the odd nice pass. That seems about as much as he did for us for the last two seasons, bar those goals against Wolves and Everton. Getting away tickets seems easier now, I’m off to my first away game in a while at Blackburn next Sunday, can’t wait.
What a debut from Fatawu yesterday ... with him and Mavididi on the flanks, we are going to cause defences in this league nightmares ... hop Maresca plays both against Liverpool ... Robertson and TAA will get a right shock
Another fine away performance ... we are so dangerous on the counter ... and Vardy seems to have rediscovered his mojo
We were clinical today. Bit of a soft penalty but not complaining. Thought they pressed us well, and a goal has been coming in recent games with a screw up from tippy tapping in defence. Don't want us to stop doing it though, as we should just about have got it perfected come next season when hopefully we will be back in the Prem. Not always pretty to watch but we are transitioning quickly going forward and that was missing a lot last season. First time ever that we have won our first five away league games. More of the same please.
Never going to complain at winning so often but i do find it a hard watch at times. Walking it out from the back time and again does not make for exciting football. I understand the concept but i thought we were static and lacked options so many times whereas Blackburn were much quicker. Thought they were very good. Onwards and upwards though.
We seemed very lethargic in the first half. I don't know whether it was the kick-off time that affected us or the thought of Wednesday's match, but we never hassled and dominated the opposition. I hope it was lethargy rather than complacency. It was certainly lazy thinking from Hermansen that gave away the goal. That pass was so predictable and never on. It was a shame he spoiled his performance with that blunder because he was faultless otherwise. I actually thought Blackburn beat us at our own game in that half. They played so easily through our lines and should have punished us. Defending was too loose and we gave opponents too much time on the ball without a challenge. Positives were that the defence was strong and dominant, Vardy looked keen and scored a cracker, we were much better in the second half when changes were made and we hassled Blackburn, and KDH scored with a real classy finish after not one of his better games. Hopefully McAteer's injury isn't too bad as we need his eye for goal. Preston's performance will no doubt be defensive after their shocking defeat at the weekend, but 3 more points will really open up a gap. I'd take a 1-0 now.
Don't think it will be Preston (or Ipswich) that we will be concerned about after another 9 games ... Leeds look like they have a good squad with some very dangerous players ... but they keep cocking up - Saints and Norwich too ... West Brom are getting their act together and Sunderland have a good young team with some fine loanees...
I think you're right, Fosse. Preston have been in this position before and faded away. And many promoted teams bring their momentum up but fall back after a couple of defeats. At the moment it's just about beating what's in front of us, trying to build confidence and put as big a cushion as we can between us and the rest of the pack so we don't fall out of the top spots when we inevitably lose.
A bit of a mass love in for Eden Hazard from some city fans. I seem to recall we won the league by more than one point.
A bit of a fall out for Tielemans at Villa. Rumours he wants to move on in the winter. I told my Villa mates he wasn’t all that when they signed him but they accused me of sour grapes, changed their tune now.
