Villarreal Match Thread

[HybridFox]

On that evidence they'll be dropping back into the Europa League in no time 

[LCFCbwoi]

Fofana injury complete overrides everything about that game 100%, 

 

However, up until that point, I thought every single player (11 starting plus 3 subs) looked absolutely class and we schooled a Europa League winning side. Every player looked class, and I really hope Fofanas injury doesn’t have the lasting effect that it most certainly can.

Thought Ricky P looked his self of 2 seasons ago, and Fofana and Soyuncu looked so strong 😢. Bertrand especially gave us another dynamic in terms of set pieces and Daka has the potential to frighten the league. 
 

Long term injuries look set to cost us again but hopefully we can learn from past mistakes and we still have the luxury of almost a month to strengthen.

 

[copunk]

Cracking game to be at up until Wes’s injury, the energy and atmosphere understandably went after that 

[whoareyaaa]

2 hours ago, StanSP said:

Not a fan of those saying to end Nino's career either. He's only 20. Get in to him on the pitch as a result but ending another players career won't help bring Fofana back from injury any quicker. 

it would make me feel a bit bettet tbh absolute joke of a challenege rat

[st albans fox]

Impressed with how our players took different positions all over the pitch - very mobile. The full backs (especially Bertrand) getting forward into central areas. Cags and little wes (especially) bringing the ball a long way up and also popping up where you wouldn’t expect to see them.

 

hope the injury doesn’t scupper this approach as Brendan feels forced to change our basic shape. we certainly won’t have a second CB who comes forward like wes. 

[Stuntman_Mike]

Villareal didn't look very sharp but I was impressed by us up until that tackle on Fofana.

 

It was a great atmosphere for a friendly and UFS being at the front of that block makes such a difference. 

 

Oh and Bertrand with two assists 

[Pliskin]

Like many have said, we were superb up until that assault on Lil Wes. Very impressed with us going forward, and we have some nice depth now, bar right wing and CB…..

 

Fingers crossed wes has no complications and can bound back expeditiously, in the meantime a CB and a RW will sort us out. 

[SemperEadem]

19 minutes ago, Stuntman_Mike said:

Villareal didn't look very sharp but I was impressed by us up until that tackle on Fofana.

 

It was a great atmosphere for a friendly and UFS being at the front of that block makes such a difference. 

 

Oh and Bertrand with two assists 

Glad you felt UFS being further forward was better. I personally really enjoyed that spot last night.

[EastAnglianFox]

Starting to calm down a little now so able to process the performance a bit more.

 

I think Bertrand could well be like our Fuchs of the title winning season, very rarely getting the headlines but just does his job fantastically with solid 8/10 week in week out performances.

 

Wasn't particularly excited by his signing but seems to have fit right in personality wise and from the various social media posts is already one of the more vocal lads in the changing room

[Hales]

Great performance last night and really enjoying it until the injury then to be honest I couldn't care less about the result just that they all got off of the pitch safely as there were late tackles flying in all the time. Never play them in a "friendly" again! 

 

I felt for them all of them last night. The players that came on after the injury didn't really have a chance to put in a performance like the others as quite understandably it was all a bit flat afterwards.  The look on their faces was hard to see. 

 

Lots of positives to take forward though and this team is close and works hard so they will crack on for Wes I'm sure!

[drumbeat]

Yes, Wes's injury overshadowed (understandably) our performance up until then. OK, they were obviously off the pace and behind us in match readiness but we looked so impressive. And, as said above, Bertrand was - for me at least - an unexpected bonus. His free kicks were on the money, something we've been missing.

[goose2010]

44 minutes ago, SemperEadem said:

Glad you felt UFS being further forward was better. I personally really enjoyed that spot last night.

Sounded great to be fair even for a friendly. Cant wait for the Wolves game I think the place will be bouncing. 

[justfoxes]

4 minutes ago, Hales said:

Great performance last night and really enjoying it until the injury then to be honest I couldn't care less about the result just that they all got off of the pitch safely as there were late tackles flying in all the time. Never play them in a "friendly" again! 

 

I felt for them all of them last night. The players that came on after the injury didn't really have a chance to put in a performance like the others as quite understandably it was all a bit flat afterwards.  The look on their faces was hard to see. 

 

Lots of positives to take forward though and this team is close and works hard so they will crack on for Wes I'm sure!

Totally agree superb performances before the Horrific tackle on Little Wes and that did take its toll on a few of the players post injury Substitutions, thought the ref who not seen before don't know much of could have done a lot more by sending off Fer Nino but bottled any repercussions following the delay whilst Wes was being treated and allowed far too many previous reckless tackles by Villarreal players someone should have reminded them it was a friendly For Fuch sake !

On a positive Barnes looks back to his magical self, Nacho linked up with Daka well who really showed a hunger to score on his home debut, bit of a headache now for Brendan to pull in another CB to try and fill Fofana’s amazing boots, but with some displays last night showed we can do well next season in both Domestic & European platforms going forward !

Get Well Soon Little Wes 💙🦊

[Arkie Bennett]

Up to Wes's injury, I thought we played some flowing, entertaining football. Our players were finding each other with quick, accurate passing. No-one stood out because everyone played well. Villarreal were your stereotypical Euro team, cynical, throwing themselves to the ground, looking for nonsensical decisions. The assault on Wes was an utter disgrace. Yes, he got the ball, but in doing so he made sure Wes came out of the clash with an injury. Inevitably it changed the balance of the game and the atmosphere in the crowd. Still, a promising and encouaging performance.

[Corky]

10 hours ago, Gamble92 said:

Were the Villareal players really complaining about the lack of injury time at the end? That's some next level trolling

I've seen friendlies called off due to serious injury. Not having 5 minutes of a meaningless game when one of their players caused the injury is pathetic.

[Xen]

 

Quote

 

The end of the first half conditioned the Yellows’ hopes at the King Power Stadium

Villarreal CF were unable to get the win in the fifth game of the 2021/22 pre-season. The Yellows lost at the King Power Stadium against Leicester City in a match that was all but decided thanks to two goals in quick succession from the hosts at the end of the first half. Unai Emery’s side looked good at the end of the game, turning a game that was 3-0 after 51 minutes into one that was 3-2 after 83 thanks to goals from Fer Niño and Álex Millán.

The Yellow Submarine took to the King Power Stadium pitch full of determination. The first chance went to Fer Niño after a great cross from Manu Morlanes, although his header was off target. Leicester grew into the game, which became even, but the Yellows’ defence and Sergio Asenjo in goal looked strong at repelling the Foxes.

However, the home side were creating a lot of danger from set pieces towards the end of the first half. Brendan Rodgers’ side went ahead in the 40^th minute, with Caglar Söyüncü making it 1-0 after a Ryan Bertrand ball into the box. A minute later, a counter-attack started by James Maddison was ended brilliantly by Harvey Barnes, making it 2-0 before half-time.

After the interval, Leicester made it 3-0 in the 51^st minute through Ayoze Pérez. When it looked like the result was decided, the Yellows got one back in the 75^th minute. Fer Niño made it 3-1 after a great Rubén Peña pass. Emery’s side got back into the game even more after a Danny Ward error, which Álex Millán capitalised on to make it 3-2 with seven minutes left to play. Villarreal pushed forward, but the scoreboard stayed the same.

Next up for Villarreal CF will be their sixth game of pre-season against Leeds United on Saturday 7^th August at 8pm CEST, in a stadium still to be confirmed. The match will be shown live on À Punt in Spain.

https://villarrealcf.es/en/news/item/31349-villarreal-lose-to-leicester-in-the-fifth-pre-season-friendly-3-2

 

Not even a mention of the injury, let alone any condolences or well-wishes from Villareal. Understandable that they wouldn't throw their own player under the bus, but to not even give it a mention in their match report is shockingly poor from them. 

[brookfox]

Such a shame for Fofana personally and us as a club because up to that point we looked very good. Ricardo looked back to his pre-injury best. I was really looking forward to seeing KDH and he didn’t disappoint, great combination of tenacity and technique. Bertrand a big plus in both set pieces and open play. A much needed confidence boosting goal for Perez. Barnes being Barnes. Soyuncu looked very composed. Kelechi looking like he did last season (other than the Spurs game and FA cup!). Daka has clearly got something about him and should hopefully prove that there’s life after Vardy. Great atmosphere. Soumare looks like a Yaya Toure regen.

 

Despite all this I got home and have woken up completely deflated!

 

 

[weller54]

9 minutes ago, Xen said:

 

https://villarrealcf.es/en/news/item/31349-villarreal-lose-to-leicester-in-the-fifth-pre-season-friendly-3-2

 

Not even a mention of the injury, let alone any condolences or well-wishes from Villareal. Understandable that they wouldn't throw their own player under the bus, but to not even give it a mention in their match report is shockingly poor from them. 

Scumbags!

[coolhandfox]

Such a shame the injury distracted from the performance, for 65 minutes we put the Europa League Champions to the sword.  

[Ric Flair]

Both Villareal goals were offside IMO. 

[Lesta2014]

5 minutes ago, coolhandfox said:

Such a shame the injury distracted from the performance, for 65 minutes we put the Europa League Champions to the sword.  

This, Daka looked sharp too and is rapid! Think had there not been the injury he would of got on the score sheet.

[MGLCFC]

1 minute ago, Ric Flair said:

Both Villareal goals were offside IMO. 

The second goal, the free kick was taken 20m from where the foul was committed.

[Tielemans63]

11 hours ago, LCFCbwoi said:

Fofana injury complete overrides everything about that game 100%, 

 

However, up until that point, I thought every single player (11 starting plus 3 subs) looked absolutely class and we schooled a Europa League winning side. Every player looked class, and I really hope Fofanas injury doesn’t have the lasting effect that it most certainly can.

Thought Ricky P looked his self of 2 seasons ago, and Fofana and Soyuncu looked so strong 😢. Bertrand especially gave us another dynamic in terms of set pieces and Daka has the potential to frighten the league. 
 

Long term injuries look set to cost us again but hopefully we can learn from past mistakes and we still have the luxury of almost a month to strengthen.

 

This is absolutely the (second) worst part of it. Everything looked like it was clicking beautifully. So desperately unfortunate for Little Wes and the club.

 

Edited 5 August 2021 by Tielemans63

[turlo]

Was just listening to Blackwell and  he seemed to think Rodgers had a word with the ref half time about the persistent fouls in the first half. Makes it even worse if the Ref did f all about it. He could've had a chat with both managers to tell the players to calm the f down at least. 

[dmayne7]

20 minutes ago, MGLCFC said:

The second goal, the free kick was taken 20m from where the foul was committed.

Maybe a slight exaggeration . But the sentiment is right; that free kick was so far away from where it happened and the way the ref called it back meant they should never have been allowed the quick free kick (even if they had bothered to take it from the right place).

 

The officiating has been awful this pre season