Aston Villa (home) Post Match Thread 3 - 2

[iancognito]

[bluefox9er]

Somebody call me an ambulance

you're an ambulance!

[Carl the Llama]

Drinkwater was immense today. Pinged a couple of excellent crossfield balls and was in the middle of all of our good moves. I thought Morgan had one of his best games too, dealt with their forwrds far better than Huth did. Kante is a must-start against Stoke, I haven't seen a player break up so many opposition moves since Lennon.

 

I was surprised Mahrez got so much praise again, from where we were sitting he just seemed to be taking one touch extra all the time and wasn't as effective but maybe expectations are higher after his good start.

That there were a fair few times where he ran it too far and ended up losing the ball or releasing it too late is only testament to the amount of times he made himself space on the ball.  On top of all the dead-ends he ran down he also managed to directly assist our first & third goals as well as carrying the ball on a superb run from the halfway line to the edge of the box before slipping Drinkwater in so he could tee Vardy up for the equaliser.  He was one of about 5 players who could stake a claim for man of the match today.

[Callabinho]

The frighting thing about us is we seem to be able to just flick a switch, and absolutely murder teams for a short period of time. Villa weren't brilliant yesterday but their game plan to stifle us worked, for about 60 minutes, then we just completely tore them a new one.

Kante's ability to read the game is breathtaking, and I'm not sure Gary Monk is all there, why is gods name did they allow Dyer to leave?

[KP Fox]

Where will Pearson turn up first - Villa or Slumberland ??

I'd put money on Republic of Ireland.

[ozleicester]

I have a confession to make, I lost the faith

 

After Villa's second goal I lost the faith.

 

I believed we would lose.

 

I must repent and beg forgiveness for my sin.

 

 

This.

 

 

Just say three "Hail Rachels" kneel before her and wash your mouth out with a pint of Everards and all will be forgiven

 

[Merging Cultures]

First game I've missed this season (I'm in South Africa) and what a game to miss!

Was getting goal updates on safari. I'm not sure if that's a humblebrag because I think many would rather have been at the King Power today!

Great result, sounds like Claudio had a stormer second half. Now to find some highlights...

DSTV supersports channel 225 for next time

[Colombian Fox]

nunca perdi el esperanza pero casi moje mis pantalones antes de salir a bailar

 

google                   I  never lost hope but almost wet my pants before going out dancing

[stripeyfox]

Well that was superb. Knew we'd grab at least a draw in that last 20 minutes so a win was really the icing on the cake. The two blokes behind me who moaned continually ask last season (until we went on the end of season run) were back at it yesterday. I don't think they know they are doing it. It's like they have to insist we are shit to insure themselves against the disappointment of losing. Classic one yesterday " the honeymoon is over - not convinced by Ranieri".

We did look a bit off the pace in the first half, but my insinct was that we would change it around. CR was able to tweak things on a way that some of his predecessors were not able to do. I expected Villa to shut up shop at 2-0 but Sherwood seemed to play into our hands.

Thought Villa fans were very loud but I think they could sense the impending result when we got our first goal!

[Legend_in_blue]

Ranieri, tactically, was superb yesterday.

[Devonfox1884]

Just say three "Hail Rachels" kneel before her and wash your mouth out with a pint of Everards and all will be forgiven

[Thracian]

Five star entertainment - another in the list of fabulous football memories. Such stirring stuff and a comeback to be proud of. I predicted a 3-2 win to my son before the match but hadn't imagined us going 2-0 down first but it only added to the drama.

 

Everything was wrong in the first half and right after the break. It's hard to remember a more pronounced turnaround.

 

Schlupp - after a nightmare first half in which he was totally negated and remembered only for errors caused by poor concentration and decision-making - suddenly started attacking people and pulling, having shots and pulling the Villa defence apart.

 

It was a statement of intent for the whole half and a sign that we weren't going to depend entirely on Mahrez but were going to play to all our strengths...including the great drive, determination and teamwork that has taken us so far and was so sadly missing in the first half.

 

For me the key weak link was Inler. Too many touches, too many poor or risky passes, too little determination in trying to recover the ball,  little or no running off the ball to make himself available or help create space for others and so much more I could mention. "Good full debut" as someone mentioned? Well, it's not the way I saw it and as a result we lacked any sort of cohesion.

 

Inler wasn't the only culprit by any means. Morgan apart no-one seemed to be playing well including Mahrez who seemed to want to play by himself and got plenty of chance because we seemed to treat him as our only attacking option.

 

Then came Kante. Why he'd not been picked from the start I've no idea anymore than I had no idea why we left out our best and most reliable passer in King. But Kante was an inspiration and his example seemed to lift to everyone else.

 

The unfolding drama was orgasmic to watch.

 

The linesman flagging for the first goal - while the bloke beside me was effing and blinding about the officials giving us nothing. The trademark determination of Vardy to dive in for the second and the bravest of brave finishes from debutant Dyer to see a full-house of fans explode in the ecstacy of winning when even a point had seemed unlikely.

 

What a game, what a day.         

[demon_dog]

Once again Claudio's substitutions do the trick.

There is no doubt in my mind that under Pearson we would have lost this at 2 0 down. That was one of N P's faults. He never substituted at the right time, sometimes not even the correct player!

This change yesterday showed what a good manager we have.

I do believe that with the current setup we will become even better.

[st albans fox]

we can't play at full intensity pressing for the whole game. rainieri seems content to attempt to get ahead early and if this doesn't happen, we then revert to a holding pattern - two banks of four and the strikers coming back into midfield to help. because teams defend deep against us, that provides for a lot of space for sides to look comfortable in possession and ping it around.

Maybe once we have got to 25 points, the manager will decide to unleash the side so that we try and kill off games in the first half and hang on in the second.

Spurs were unable to cope with us once we went into sixth gear (but was too hot that day ) and neither were villa. Will be a good comparison with last season when we play at Stoke. They will be so up for it. They are desperate for a result. could be a perfect opportunity for a counter attack job.

Arsenal in two weeks could be real fun. They only play one way. They will not sit deep. They will play it around in our half. if we defend well across the midfield, then we could win it.

to those who say it all changed after the subs, I disagree. The whole second half saw us on top. Their second was completely against the run of play. Moving Riyad more centrally until albrighton went off, seemed to upset villa's tactical plan. We pressed higher for the whole second half. we deserved the win in the end.

[Babylon]

Once again Claudio's substitutions do the trick.

There is no doubt in my mind that under Pearson we would have lost this at 2 0 down. That was one of N P's faults. He never substituted at the right time, sometimes not even the correct player!

This change yesterday showed what a good manager we have.

I do believe that with the current setup we will become even better.

 

I think that's exceptionally harsh and unfair on Pearson. Remember United? Over the years under Pearson we've always battled to the end, we also have an excellent second half record under him compared to the first... so he was doing something right tactically to change the game, despite the odd abomination of a substitution.

 

Ranieri's substitutions so far have been faultless, but there is no reason to run Pearson down whilst praising Ranieri.

[Nuclear_Greyhound]

Has anybody got the clip where Mahrez put 3 defenders on the floor at the same time? 

[Babylon]

to those who say it all changed after the subs, I disagree. The whole second half saw us on top. Their second was completely against the run of play. Moving Riyad more centrally until albrighton went off, seemed to upset villa's tactical plan. We pressed higher for the whole second half. we deserved the win in the end.

We made a sub at half time though, and I thought that substitution was the catalyst. As you say, we were already playing much better before the arrival of Kante and Ulloa. But with Dyer coming on and Mahrez going in the middle we seemed much more of a 4231 than a 4411, only a minor tweak, but it saw us playing "between the lines" as the pundits would say, rather than being very predictable in what we were going to do.

[egg_fried_rice]

Has anybody got the clip where Mahrez put 3 defenders on the floor at the same time? 

 

https://vine.co/v/eFpVdbHr9Fi

[Ric Flair]

I think that's exceptionally harsh and unfair on Pearson. Remember United? Over the years under Pearson we've always battled to the end, we also have an excellent second half record under him compared to the first... so he was doing something right tactically to change the game, despite the odd abomination of a substitution.

 

Ranieri's substitutions so far have been faultless, but there is no reason to run Pearson down whilst praising Ranieri.

 

I think it's somewhere in the middle. Pearson was very attacker friendly with his substitutions and managed to keep 4-5 strikers happy by playing 3 and often bringing more on in games, to the detriment of creative players in midfield. It took him a long while to realise you could play with 11 strikers and not create a single chance for any of them to stick it in the net. Ranieri on the other hand seems very reluctant to increase the striking options on the pitch, even when losing at home and it is initially quite surprising but so far it's working. How many fans would have taken a striker off at half time yesterday and not bring another on in their place? It worked though as Dyer was very effective and then Ulloa and Kante made us even more potent going forward when the game looked dead after a promising start to the 2nd half. He's very tactical and the players seem to be buying in to his ways, i'm pleased and I hope it continues.

[Babylon]

Multiple posts blaming for the ref on the Villa forums for "giving us everything".... oh and this...

 

"Leicester were never penalised for persistently pushing, grabbing and kicking Villa players who rode the challenges and went on to lose the ball.  This rewards thuggish play, disincentivises expansive players and tips the favour towards non-footballing sides.  It really, really pisses me off."

 

lol lol

[Babylon]

Don't know how to get a vine to show up on here. But this video I think sums up Sherwood perfectly... clueless.

 

https://vine.co/v/eFDqThpYEQO

 

[filbertstreet]

Don't know how to get a vine to show up on here. But this video I think sums up Sherwood perfectly... clueless.

https://vine.co/v/eFDqThpYEQO

Reminds me of

http://youtube.com/watch?v=JY6mMQYjTq4

[purpleronnie]

Has anybody got the clip where Mahrez put 3 defenders on the floor at the same time? 

[RGFox]

Five star entertainment - another in the list of fabulous football memories. Such stirring stuff and a comeback to be proud of. I predicted a 3-2 win to my son before the match but hadn't imagined us going 2-0 down first but it only added to the drama.

Everything was wrong in the first half and right after the break. It's hard to remember a more pronounced turnaround.

Schlupp - after a nightmare first half in which he was totally negated and remembered only for errors caused by poor concentration and decision-making - suddenly started attacking people and pulling, having shots and pulling the Villa defence apart.

It was a statement of intent for the whole half and a sign that we weren't going to depend entirely on Mahrez but were going to play to all our strengths...including the great drive, determination and teamwork that has taken us so far and was so sadly missing in the first half.

For me the key weak link was Inler. Too many touches, too many poor or risky passes, too little determination in trying to recover the ball, little or no running off the ball to make himself available or help create space for others and so much more I could mention. "Good full debut" as someone mentioned? Well, it's not the way I saw it and as a result we lacked any sort of cohesion.

Inler wasn't the only culprit by any means. Morgan apart no-one seemed to be playing well including Mahrez who seemed to want to play by himself and got plenty of chance because we seemed to treat him as our only attacking option.

Then came Kante. Why he'd not been picked from the start I've no idea anymore than I had no idea why we left out our best and most reliable passer in King. But Kante was an inspiration and his example seemed to lift to everyone else.

The unfolding drama was orgasmic to watch.

The linesman flagging for the first goal - while the bloke beside me was effing and blinding about the officials giving us nothing. The trademark determination of Vardy to dive in for the second and the bravest of brave finishes from debutant Dyer to see a full-house of fans explode in the ecstacy of winning when even a point had seemed unlikely.

What a game, what a day.

Thracian I do love your match report. Quality!

[surrifox]

he's on page 4 of "Managing Football Teams for Dummies"

 

"at all times ensure you are caught on camera waving your arms about in a random fashion and glaring at your players"