Villa Reactions

[Foxy]

Most I've seen have been fairly complimentary, would be interested to hear what the couple we've got on here though, Villafaninpeace villain ?

Here's a few comments from around the web:

Well i thought today might be a shock result for the underdog with their collection of struggling poor lower league players, but as it was Sheffield United won it instead.

A sorry indictment of where we have fallen to as a football club. Out thought & outplayed by another lower league side.

As Keith Burkinshaw once famously said when leaving Spurs "There used to be a football club over there...."

Similar thoughts come to mind tonight at VP.

I had 6/1 on them winning 2-1 the very second we pulled it back to 1-1. You just knew it was going to happen.

Oh and yes I was there and Sheffield Utd were the better team by a mile.

One other thing that drove me mad today. What don't our full backs overlap? We never stretch teams down the flanks.

Albrighton did pretty well in the first half but they double marked him in the second and we did nothing tactically to counteract it.

Bacuna and Luna barely went past the halfway line all game - at home - against a 3rd division side.

For now, we have be played off the park by a 3rd division team....AGAIN!
Today, a 3rd division team showed more heart, desire, class and ability than our lot.
They showed how to pass and move, how to play with pace, power and passion.
A 3rd division on team exposed our bunch of prima donnas time and time again.

As a Cambridge boy, I actually went to see Sheffield United beat Cambridge United in the last round. Today I had the misfortune to see them again at Villa Park. All I can say is that Cambridge gave them far more problems than Villa did and played with more skill, tactical awareness and desire. They didn't just pass the ball endlessly sideways and then give it away. Enough said. Nearly 50 years a Villa fan and still waiting for FA Cup glory. Two semi finals and one let down of a final. Let's face it it isn't going to happen in my lifetime. This man is sleepwalking Villa to the Championship. For God's sake, go now!

Nigel Clough: never had any money to spend as a manager, knows exactly how to set a team up. Fit our criteria at all? This is the type of manager we need to look for

 

[Pinchy]

"They showed how to pass and move..."

Music to my ears.....

 

[Patrick Suffaux]

The best part was the ole's in the first half when we started knocking it in triangles. I do believe one refers to it as chasing shadows.....

 

[Pinchy]

The best part was the ole's in the first half when we started knocking it in triangles. I do believe one refers to it as chasing shadows.....

There are definite and hugely encouraging glimpses of where Nigel wants to go. The second and third goals against Tranmere for example.

I wasn't there but it sounded like we played some 'good stuff'?

We have a real football man in charge of our club. A man who respects the game and it's traditions. Thoughtful but also passionate. He's great.

 

[diplomat]

We were only 6-1 to win 1-2. Should have been more like 60-1!

Always interesting to see other fans perception of the same game.

 

[Jack Jarvis Esquire ⚔]

dunno what bookies he went to but i got 6/1 on us just winning the game 2-1 was will havedc been 40/1

 

[Selly]

We were only 6-1 to win 1-2. Should have been more like 60-1!

Always interesting to see other fans perception of the same game.

I think he means he had a bet as soon as villa equalised. With the game at 1-1, 6/1 for us to win 2-1 sounds about right...

 

[DazBlade88]

I thought we played some excellent football at times yesterday and not many would say we didn't deserve the win on balance of play. Some of our one touch passing was quality that I didn't realise we were capable of!

As for Villa, you can tell they're a team that's built for counter attacking football. When the onus is on them to break teams down, they can't do it unless it's from a cross. I'm not taking anything away from us though, we were disciplined, defended well and as a unit and showed resolve after conceding the equaliser. It was a perfect performance.

 

[Jehovah]

We were only 6-1 to win 1-2. Should have been more like 60-1!

Always interesting to see other fans perception of the same game.

Blades to win 1-2 was 18/1 pre kick off and my mate put a fiver on..................the piece!

 

[Ollessendro]

Blades to win 1-2 was 18/1 pre kick off and my mate put a fiver on..................the piece!

I took this pic inside the ground

 

[mattbianco1]

"They showed how to pass and move..."

Music to my ears.....

Interesting how fans see it differently. They passed and moved us all over the pitch first half. Just glad Benteke isn't quite fit or we wouldn't have gone in 1up.

2nd half we were outstanding.

 

[Pinchy]

Interesting how fans see it differently. They passed and moved us all over the pitch first half. Just glad Benteke isn't quite fit or we wouldn't have gone in 1up.

2nd half we were outstanding.

I wasn't there mate but yours is very much a minority view of the first half from what I've heard. That doesn't mean you are wrong of course. The Radio Sheffield commentary had us the better team in both halves. I've no time for Paul Wanker but Keith Edwards knows his stuff!

As for Benteke's fitness, that's just an everyday feature of football and not a valid point at all. If my Aunt Audrey had a pair of bollocks she'd be my Uncle Frank!

 

[Pinchy]

View attachment 6914

I took this pic inside the ground

Did you sniff out any decent ale? The West Midlands is not the beating heart of real ale so far as I'm concerned but that may be a matter of personal taste!

Any crimes against Hoof on show?

 

[mattbianco1]

I wasn't there mate but yours is very much a minority view of the first half from what I've heard. That doesn't mean you are wrong of course. The Radio Sheffield commentary had us the better team in both halves. I've no time for Paul Wanker but Keith Edwards knows his stuff!

As for Benteke's fitness, that's just an everyday feature of football and not a valid point at all. If my Aunt Audrey had a pair of bollocks she'd be my Uncle Frank!

They totally dominated play. Had 62% possession. Albrighton always had space on the right and they found him almost everytime. Now I'm not slagging united off. We had a game plan and boy did it work. The fact that we had 15 shots as opposed to their 12 with so little possession is a testament to just how well the boys played and how well the game plan worked.

If we could play like we did in the 2nd half in the league we would rip teams apart. They played with confidence and a fast counter attacking style which I haven't seen from us for a long time.

The non-biased view would certainly be that we had backs against the wall for the most part. 11 men behind the ball a lot of the time. But a great example of how counter attacking football can be played.

The Blade in me would say we hammered the. (That's not true).

Having said all that, easily up there with the best away days of my life.

 

[Foxy]

They totally dominated play. Had 62% possession. Albrighton always had space on the right and they found him almost everytime. Now I'm not slagging united off. We had a game plan and boy did it work. The fact that we had 15 shots as opposed to their 12 with so little possession is a testament to just how well the boys played and how well the game plan worked.

I'd suggest the game plan was to allow them all the possession they wanted in the areas they mainly had it, we simply sat back 10 yards inside our half and kept a disciplined shape allowing them to pass it around before closing them if they came any closer.

They had a bit of luck due to their superior movement/technique, but very little. It's hardly suggest backs to the wall, more happily soaking up what they had to offer.

 

[mattbianco1]

As for Benteke's fitness, that's just an everyday feature of football and not a valid point at all. If my Aunt Audrey had a pair of bollocks she'd be my Uncle Frank!

It is totally valid. Last seasons Benteke wouldn't have missed those two headers.

 

[mattbianco1]

I'd suggest the game plan was to allow them all the possession they wanted in the areas they mainly had it, we simply sat back 10 yards inside our half and kept a disciplined shape allowing them to pass it around before closing them if they came any closer.

They had a bit of luck due to their superior movement/technique, but very little. It's hardly suggest backs to the wall, more happily soaking up what they had to offer.

That's fair enough. I agree with that. A bit like us under weir. Passed to death then got picked off.

Would you say we were the better side?

 

[Silent Blade]

I'd suggest the game plan was to allow them all the possession they wanted in the areas they mainly had it.

This will go straight over "pass and move" Pinchy's head! He always talks about possession. Dont think he has seen the possession stats for yesterday's match yet (they are usually meaningless stats anyway!). We scored 2 goals and conceded only once yesterday which is good enough for us to win. Having 62 per cent possession didnt mean Villa won the match

 

[MBoreman]

They totally dominated play. Had 62% possession. Albrighton always had space on the right and they found him almost everytime. Now I'm not slagging united off. We had a game plan and boy did it work. The fact that we had 15 shots as opposed to their 12 with so little possession is a testament to just how well the boys played and how well the game plan worked.

If we could play like we did in the 2nd half in the league we would rip teams apart. They played with confidence and a fast counter attacking style which I haven't seen from us for a long time.

The non-biased view would certainly be that we had backs against the wall for the most part. 11 men behind the ball a lot of the time. But a great example of how counter attacking football can be played.

The Blade in me would say we hammered the. (That's not true).

Having said all that, easily up there with the best away days of my life.

They had possession but it was all in unthreatening areas and they only looked to have one plan. We had far more chances than them, and Hill didn't give Albrighton to many chances to get a good ball in. If anyone dominated that game it was definitely us!

 

[Patrick Suffaux]

They were always going to have most of the ball but that's how we set our stall out. If we had played a higher line and tried to chase everything down they would have picked us off. That's what they would have wanted. Instead we let them play up to the half way line and then squeezed when they tried to string things together in the final third.

United made much better use of the ball when they had it and that's why we won the game. The general quality of our play when we had it was very good as we were positive and smart in everything we did.

 

[Blackheath Blade]

That's fair enough. I agree with that. A bit like us under weir. Passed to death then got picked off.

Would you say we were the better side?

Yes! We were the better side. We wanted it so much more yesterday.

Fair and constructive comments from the Villa fans who dont seem to be up their own arses like the fans of the huge clubs in that division.

 

[WhiteHawk]

 

[Patrick Suffaux]

Interesting how fans see it differently. They passed and moved us all over the pitch first half. Just glad Benteke isn't quite fit or we wouldn't have gone in 1up.

2nd half we were outstanding.

Strange view that but you're entitled.

The Benteke chance aside, Villa were unable to create anything meaningful as United simply didn't allow them to. I wouldn't consider passing it from left to right, right to left and then back again to be passing and moving us about. We formed up, had them almost completely locked down and Villa didn't know how to pick the lock. They continuously went down the right with Albrighton looking for Benteke.....one was bound to reach him eventually.

Once we had got the measure of Albrighton (second half) they had next to nothing. Not sure how fit Benteke is but you need a little luck if you're going to beat a side of that quality and we had to rely on very little of that. We made our own.

 

[SandyMcBlade]

Choose who dominated or who didn't, for me yesterday showed we have a manager who is tactically capable of managing us at a much higher level, and that alone warms the cockles of my hart ..

Now all we have to do is back him....

 

[SandyMcBlade]

I'm not really bothered who dominated who, we won.
What I am overjoyed with is yesterday showed we finally have a manager who is tactically capable of managing us a at much higher level, and that warms the cockles of my hart...

All we have to do now is back him !!

Sorry about this, it was the first one I wrote and seemed to vanish into the blue when I tried to post it ...

Now it's just reappeared .....

 

[Pinchy]

It is totally valid. Last seasons Benteke wouldn't have missed those two headers.

No, it's totally invalid, I'm afraid. Last season is irrelevant, last week is irrelevant. Matches are played on the day not in a world of 'what if' or 'might have been'.

You are simply wrong. Leave it now before you look silly.

 

[itsinyerblood]

What's that cliche about you can only beat what's in front of you? All teams have injuries, poor form, players who don't give a toss, so Nigel did what he does. He set up United to play against (on paper at least) a superior side. The level of commitment and application we showed was an indication of what we can achieve if the players decide they want to be successful. I'm not suggesting it'll be easy, but footballers should set their own standards, and what we witnessed yesterday was a team struggling in Division 1 who competed and gave a Premiership team an example of what they were lacking. Benteke alone is worth more than the entire United squad, so as vital as money is, hard work is the key, not players who seek to live on reputations alone. What Nigel did yesterday is testament to his qualities as a manager, we're fortunate to have him steering the good ship United. As Sandy says, the board need to recognise what they have in Nigel and give him the support he needs to get us out of this division. UTB!

 

[WhiteHawk]

Not wasting my time talking about Villa. Fair play to Sheffield United! Sang their hearts out, played for the badge and deserved the win.

 

[Pinchy]

Strange view that but you're entitled.

The Benteke chance aside, Villa were unable to create anything meaningful as United simply didn't allow them to. I wouldn't consider passing it from left to right, right to left and then back again to be passing and moving us about. We formed up, had them almost completely locked down and Villa didn't know how to pick the lock. They continuously went down the right with Albrighton looking for Benteke.....one was bound to reach him eventually.

Once we had got the measure of Albrighton (second half) they had next to nothing. Not sure how fit Benteke is but you need a little luck if you're going to beat a side of that quality and we had to rely on very little of that. We made our own.

As I've said above, Benteke's fitness is a complete red herring. In any game, in any league, anywhere, anytime players will be less than fully fit, mentally slower than usual, got a hangover, had a row with the wife, etc. The variables are infinite. It's utterly pointless, absurd and devoid of any merit whatsoever to postulate how things 'would have been different' Firstly, that is unknowable and Secondly, it simply invites an infinite number of further variables - "they were so lucky to have that lad come off the bench - they'd never have scored otherwise". "What if Porter had stuck that chance away?"

Benteke played how he played. There will be times when he plays better but also times when he'll play worse. He'll have good luck; he'll have bad luck. The suggestion, however, that we were "lucky" to catch him on an off day is unfair. Off days are very much part and parcel of football. What Benteke, or any other player, might have done on a different day in an alternative universe is so speculative as to be entirely pointless, and it is quite literally nonsense to suggest that his shortcomings somehow tarnish or undermine our well-deserved win.

 

[Selly]

As I've said above, Benteke's fitness is a complete red herring. In any game, in any league, anywhere, anytime players will be less than fully fit, mentally slower than usual, got a hangover, had a row with the wife, etc. The variables are infinite. It's utterly pointless, absurd and devoid of any merit whatsoever to postulate how things 'would have been different' Firstly, that is unknowable and Secondly, it simply invites an infinite number of further variables - "they were so lucky to have that lad come off the bench - they'd never have scored otherwise". "What if Porter had stuck that chance away?"

Benteke played how he played. There will be times when he plays better but also times when he'll play worse. He'll have good luck; he'll have bad luck. The suggestion, however, that we were "lucky" to catch him on an off day is unfair. Off days are very much part and parcel of football. What Benteke, or any other player, might have done on a different day in an alternative universe is so speculative as to be entirely pointless, and it is quite literally nonsense to suggest that his shortcomings somehow tarnish or undermine our well-deserved win.

I wouldn't be so sure about that. He had an absolute mare, and credit must go, in some part to Harry for that.