So, a recap.
We’ve done very nicely, ta, over our first few games, with a loss at Newcastle, which is no disgrace to say the least and a couple of wins against Everton and Burnley.
So basically, about where we ought to be if we’re being honest.
Now the real tests begin and we face a team, that while currently in decline to my mind, is still a formidable opponent. Well, it’s just Pool away, isn’t it?
They’re never an easy game.
The thing is though, they are weakened when compared to the last decade or even more.
They have a Saudi club wanting to buy Mo Salad, who has basically announced by his silence that he wants to leave for their $2million a week and £150 million offer, which the club have knocked back. Expect them to come back with a £200 million offer and it just confirms that the game is just stupid.
He’s 31, ffs!
Whatever, I don’t see how Pool can account for this and I’ve heard of no replacement in place.
In fact, I personally think Pool are somewhat shellshocked.
I like Klopp, but see his days numbered at Liverpool.
Not that this affects our game tomorrow.
Except it does. This sort of event can totally unsettle everything and I’m hoping that’s happened here.
Squad news and nothing has changed for us, except Martinez will probably be straight back in after his calf twinge.
As for Liverpool, Van Diyk is suspended after his sending off last week and hopefully the inquiry into his abusing the ref will see another couple of games out too.
Curtis Jones is back is training, but Ibrahima Konate and Thiago Alcantara aren’t ready.
Useless fact;
Villa are winless in their last five league visits to Anfield (D1, L4), although only Manchester United and Chelsea have won more Premier League away games against Liverpool than Villa have.
I’m expecting a really good, all out, tactical game here.
Both teams can play at pace, while both defences, if I’m keeping my neutral head on, are prone to errors.
We are going to go for this, because Emery doesn’t do “taking a point”, which is yet another reason why I like him so much.
Let’s not forget;
“The aim of the game is to score more goals than the opponent”
I’m going for a 2-1 result.
The trouble is, I honestly don’t know who’s going to get it and can’t call it.
UTV, while hoping it’s us!
We’re so vulnerable to pace and an early ball down the sides.
We can only but learn from this. We won’t score today. Disappointing.
Holte you called it we are 3 down, they might only might bring on John Mcginn. I’m wondering if his minds on the international games, as you all can see we are well away from being a force to worry about ,the Newcastle game wasn’t a fluke we are nowhere near good enough yet , bring on the new guys uni please.
McGinn was tied up trying to contain Arnold Alexandre and we didn’t adjust
Terrible attempts from Duran but at least he knows what he is supposed to do
Firstly this is only one game. We’ve been in great form. Today will be a game to remember because we WILL learn from it. Villa today have been utterly unrecognisable, it’s not like Liverpool have been incredible. Why haven’t we turned up? Not a clue!!!!
Write off today, have a beer and look forward to the rest of the season.
(And don’t think for one minute I am not mightily p###ed off about this result).
UTV. SOTC.
I beg to differ Bum Bum – this is frighteningly like the Newcastle game.
Tactically we were poor; defensively we were poor – they won most of the second balls. Liverpool could and probably should have scored at least five.
Yes, we played some good football going forward but our decision making was terrible.
Emery has some problems which he has to address.
Palace next at home and if our defence plays like today against their quick players we’ll be found out.
Fair enough but McGinn had an awful game as did Luiz. I just don’t understand this bloody game!!!!
Ah well, fans do disagree, I thought McGinn and Luiz were pretty good 🙂
Not our finest 90 minutes but as much as I detest Bin Dippers FC they are a very good outfit, about the only team in that division that can lay a glove on Pep’s expensively assembled globe trotters.
2 games against last seasons top 6 teams 2 utterly useless performance.
We’re about middle table team at best to lower end.
This is what happens when don’t spend the money like the top teams.
They’ve all progressed we’ve stood still.
Everyone on about how great our owners are,their only interested what they can make not really bothered about competing at the top.
We’re just there to make numbers up in the league
How can Brighton and brentford keep finding players like they do.
Apart from diaby we’ve bought trash. And got rid of young hungry players for peanuts
Discussed fan since 1957 why do I bother
Newcastle are not all that (imo) have spent poorly and just big, physical hard to beat and harder to watch.
Can’t see Howe seeing the season out ( you heard it here first 😁).
They got the rub of the green that day, this on the other hand was a top team on their game.
As you say, we are a mid table team with maybe a cup run in us ?
I think we are upper half but all this talk of dark horses is completely over hyped.
No way should we be criticising our owners, they have pumped £100’s millions into the club and saved us from financial collapse. Even so we cannot compete financially with teams like Liverpool, United and they that shall not be named and we have to comply with FFP.
But it’s true in one sense – we bought in five players – two loan, one free and spent (based on a broad spectrum of opinion) around £70m on two players.
Top six teams are spending that on one player which probably says it all!
You say I shouldn’t complain about our ownership, but why aren’t we spending like so ca.led big teams.
A net spend of £40 million is pathetic for a couple of our status, just .ook how much forest have bought
And how can Chelsea spend so much?
We’re supposed to have a quality academy, where are these stars?they sold 3 and bought dross apart from diaby
No sorry there’s something wrong with the club,it’s not run for on field success
Looks like happy to play in sub standard European competition and stay in Premier league
Another wolves in the making
Roy, I think we’ll have to agree to disagree as fans do with differing views.
In common we both want the best for our club.
UTV
I did like Duran staring out Gomez just! Highlight of the match!
I think our manager needs a realthy check. Bringing Bailey on for Carlos, taking Cash out of attack, playing Watkins. Just hope he is big enough to learn
Given his track record against that lot (played 7, lost 6) I’d say maybe not?
I think our slow, slow, quick style of play has been found out twice and it looks like it might only work against the poorer teams in the league.
Unfortunately we are unable to compete financially against the big boys who seem to have a whole different set of rules when it comes to FFP!
I was really hoping that the Newcastle game was a one off and we had learned from it but today proved we aren’t at their level.
The positive thing is we are in a European competition which we are good enough to win which would offer us Europa league. This is certainly the most likely way we will qualify because we will struggle to get it through our league position.
Goal 1: 3, THREE Liverpool players offside.
Goal 2: Flukey own goal.
Goal 3: We switched off defensively.
Work that out. They were definitely the better team but that scoreline was flattering. Peter Schmiecal had a right gobat Howard Webb. If you didn’t see it he told him he was out of touch and had obviously never played the game and the whole thing was a joke.
I agree with your analysis Bum Bum but overall the score line didn’t flatter Liverpool.
Arguably we should have scored at least one goal which raises questions in itself.
Carlos off injured; hopefully not serious but Emery needs Moreno and Ramsey back as he has limited opportunities to change things, even more so with Coutinho likely to depart (which is scary given we’ve bought in five new players and shows how much of a rebuild is still needed).
Positives – Diaby looked good and Konsa was huge in defence; McGinn and Luiz were composed in mid field – after that it gets more difficult!
Wow didn’t take long for some very negative comments to start flying around.
Today we were not at the races.
Comments about us not spending money are way off the mark. The addition of Tilesman, Torres and Diaby really added value to our squad. What was not planned is 4 key players being out for a sustained period of time.
Firstly, Moreno added a great outlet down the left.
Secondly, Ramsey in my opinion was becoming international class and has been greatly missed.
Thirdly, Buendia gave guile that Bailey does not posses.
Fourthly, Mings is critical to the high line and our record of wins when he does not play us shocking.
Therefore, with 4 starters all missing the team is finding its way.
The addition of Lenglet and Zaniolo were to cover our ACL injuries rather than add another quality player.
Yes Emery will look at the defeat and I have no doubt will make changes. The good news is Moreno and Ramsey will be back after the international break. Then I expect to see an improvement.
It’s not the defeat Sid but the manner of the defeat.
As for Tielemans, never really got all the fuss when he was at Leicester, run of the mill pro (imo) on a free so can’t complain but not one to set pulses racing.
Negative or objective Sid?
I suppose it’s a difficult line.
Have to agree with Sid at this point. Very objective, factual comments. Ian Wright also adamant first goal was offside. But to be 100% objective, Torres’ error resulted in the corner which was subsequently poorly defended. Everything else Sid said, I’d agree with.
Personally, away at Anfield, I wouldn’t have played Carlos. I’d have gone with Cash at RB with Tielemans supporting the forwards with with Diaby and McGinn. Seemed an odd team to pick for such a tough fixture. Nevertheless, the injury ruined the game plan and there was no way back. 3 things cost us:
Defensive error
Injury
Biased referee
Standard fayre all round then
As Lady Bracknell said “To lose one may be considered unfortunate. To lose two is careless!”
It is said Unai can be found in his office at BMH up to 9pm, poring over what can be improved. Good news then, Unai, I can let you scoot off early tonight because this is the reason we lost 3-0 should have been 6-0 and could have been worse. Even better – it is the same reason we were tonked by the Toon – two solutions for the price of one!
“In a foot race from our high offside line towards our goal the opposition forwards are faster than our defenders!”
Normally I charge extra for solutions – but here is two for free you can cross off the list: a/ equipping the back 4 with roller-skates. b/ trying to make the players you have run faster.
Once a quality team know you will not sit back, park the bus and try to hit them on the break – they only need the one tactic to win. They track your forwards and midfield closely and when they win the ball their wide players start running – ready for a pass over the top or through the ranks, because they know they can outpace your defence. Then once they go ahead Villa are stuffed, pushing up and getting caught again.
It is not only careless, it is arrogant to assume Villa can impose their style on a good team rather than having to adjust. Where you need the space is behind their back four, not behind ours.
I’d have to totally agree with that. But not sure I’m liking the negative tone from a few against the boss. Have we forgotten how lucky we are already?
Gotta agree with you there Ron. The guy is a godsend. Imagine planning for the season only to lose 4 of your starting 11 and Martinez has taken a knock too. It’s going to take it’s toll. Even Bergkamp took a while to get used to the EPL…
Everyone is clearly entitled to their own view, and upset after losing a game in such a manner. I don’t think this is just a one-off personally. I saw these cracks in pre-season despite the results we were getting. For me, all our issues stem from defence. I think we have a really solid midfield, and I think we’re an elite striker away from being able to put goals away more consistently instead of 1 out of 3 or 4 shots on target as we are now.
Last season we rode our luck a little bit at times when we played such a high line, but it seemed to work because Tyrone is quick and strong at the press. Torres as others have said, just isn’t strong enough to play that level of sweeper. While he’s good on the ball, it’s just not enough and as a result we look rattled each time the ball comes past the half way line. At least last season we were able to pass the ball out with confidence – that now seems to have gone and it all started during pre-season when Emery started trying new things (which he had to do with new personnel). I just hope that he knows what he’s doing, that Torres is going to get up to speed. I also fear that without Mings that Konsa is going to struggle. He reminds me of Davies sometimes – only ever did well if he was next to a performing Laursen.
One thing I did notice in attack today, is that we didn’t seem on the same wavelength – especially once we brought Duran on.
There’s no doubt we are going to miss Mings – his injury more of an issue than Buendia’s.
However, it is early days and Liverpool don’t have a bad home record so losing at Anfield is not a disaster.
I’m hoping that Emery will at least find it a good learning experience and that he’ll use it to make the team better as the season goes on. We’re home to Palace next, a very winnable game. Win it and we’ll be in good spirits for the Legia game. Then it’s Chelsea away next and then Everton at home in the cup, IMHO all winnable games. So, here’s hoping for a good run.
It was like the Newcastle game. The error is one of tactics and it lies at the door of the Manager. In that post you must be realistic about the relative strength of your team and the strength of your opponents. We went into the games against Burnley, Everton and Hibs with our ‘we can boss this lot’ attitude and tactics. We could and did.
The stopwatch that Unai does not have would tell him that Mings was the only defender we had who could catch, for example Salah and Almiron before they could shoot after a sprint race from our high offside line. That weakness is the only one Liverpool needed to exploit, they could sit back and invite Villa forward, and concentrate on guessing and intercepting Villa possession passes. Some of our midfield are a bit obvious. One other superiority accounted for the 3rd goal: a Liverpool player could out-jump any defender we had. That would have been difficult to counter – but our stupid high line against fast opponents can be modified.
OLL, Texas Villan picked up on the same issue the high line, yes it does bring the skill from the opposition to anticipate and intercept balls intended to our players, and it needs to be addressed, you don’t play that way with clubs from the top six or your beaten before you play .I’ve said in the last post I will reserve my judgement when we come up against teams like Liverpool and Newcastle and it’s this. We have a lot to learn and we will in my estimation be just out of the top six . What was Duran upto where is Watkins and why did McGinn drop his standards? You only need that when playing to get others following the same standards, you sub a sub what’s that about?no wonder heads drop. Sorry I love the Villa but at my age I want success now not in the future I’ve not got that much time to wait year after year .
Agreed Bill. Emery worried me after Newcastle saying ‘we won’t change the way we play’. That’s bravado not pragmatism. If Villa cannot get a lot better at the way we play, then we need to change against the best teams.
Jermaine Jenas made a brilliant point. The high line should accompany a high press, but that high press can only be applied to the opponents in the middle of the pitch. The tactical masterpiece was Alexander Arnold sitting well back at RB and yet having the time and ability to spray perfect long passes from there – because he was out of range of the Villa forwards trying the press.
Bill, I think we are beginning to see a worrying trend of the top premier league teams enjoying playing against our high line. Konsa alongside Mings worked mostly because they are both quick in recovery. Torres and Carlos look like they are running through treacle in comparison. Without Mings we need to adopt a more conservative approach to the big teams. I remember Ian Wright saying last year he would have loved to play against Villa because he would only need to time his run right a couple of times in the game. And that was when we were doing well defensively. Also we don’t adopt a high press and that suits the likes of Alexander-Arnold to pick his pass.
I know it seems picky or even ‘fickle’ to criticise Emery’s tactics but we do need continuity in our manager after going through too many sackings over the last 13 years or so. Unfortunately it doesn’t take long for fans patience to run out so Emery must learn from his mistakes, including only playing Bailey against crap teams, move McGinn over to the right hand side and play Zaniolo or Ramsey when fit. The other thing is to try and figure out what’s going on with Watkins. Apart from the Hibernian game he looks totally lost and even his hold up play is poor at the moment.
Hitch
I hope my comments were objective.
I just believe when 36% of the starting 11 are out long term it has a significant impact.
Emery is going to have to learn quickly that the high line against the best teams without Mings is a recipe for disaster.
I really believe Mings pace and physical presence is greatly missed. Torres pre- season was played on the left and to tuck in. Further he was to be eased into the team, not a guaranteed starter from 20th minute of match 1 onwards.
This season will be about a good cup run and a very hard fight for 7/8. Am I right in thinking there are 5 Champions League teams, up to 2 Europa (based on Champions League qualifying winning the cups) and 1 Europe Conference League.
My feelings are the injuries we have suffered this summer have derailed a Champions League qualification. Just need to make Europe again in any format. Get the team fit and a couple of quality additions and we go again.
I think that’s objective.
Very objective, Sid.
If we’d have won earlier I’d be in a cracking mood right now, but like the rest of you just deflated. Pah! The Gods of football bugger us yet again.
No problem Sid – it was merely your opening line regarding a lot of very negative comments flying around.
There were a couple but in the main I thought posts were pretty objective given the result.
I suspect they would have been a lot more negative if Gerrard were still at the helm which demonstrates, I think, that generally we still have faith in Emery and the team accepting that we have been dealt some horrible injury blows.
Let’s hope Carlos’ injury is not serious.
Nicely put Holte, I think my comments sometimes get wrongly taken, to me Emery one of the finest tactical Manager’s in the game, he has his reasons for what we deem to be suspect moves .I for one understands he doesn’t have the players he’s worked with over the year’s and must be frustrating for him, I also get frustrated when you see players not performing in the team you’ve supported for 80 odd years and the money they get in today’s times .it’s all about playing for the shirt and not rolling over and crying wolf with every little knocks. What ever happens Aston Villa is my team till I leave this planet and I have the right to moan now and again .utv
Interesting quote by Emery after the match. “We are in the process of building a team after injuries”. Ivy hunk this is telling as he is acknowledging this has set us back and now he has had to change his plans. As a result I expect some i consistent resolution the short term.
Interesting comments.
Looking back at Emery’s time at Arsenal, it all started well and quickly tailed off with the fans being critical of his tactics and then cruel with personal comments.
Some ofvthe comments on here are already starting to take issue with his tactics and his post game comments – after less than a year in office and following his successes last season.
There is no doubt that amongst his peers he’s recognised as an exceptional and elite coach and whilst fans have every right to air their views – he is the manager not us.
Losing four of your major first team players (two of whom will be out for the season) when you are building a new team would cause significant problems for any side – particularly given the restrictions of FFP. Emery now has to work out how best to use the players at his disposal – particularly in defence where the loss of Mings is proving critical.
He reset after three losses on the spin last year and I have every faith he’ll adjust his tactics to reflect the strengths of the players at his disposal. In that respect I hope Carlos, Moreno and Ramsey are back after the IB as it’s essential we have these players available – even if initially it’s from the bench.
UTV
Can I just say that after four games, two of which we won, it’s a bit soon to be waving the white flag. Away losses at Newcastle and Liverpool are going to be a fact for most clubs in the PL so the negativity flying around is a bit premature to say the least. Can we as fans at least give Emery until the halfway mark in the season before we start throwing in the towel.
For me, a cup and another season in European competition would be a real success.
Just believe.
Just looking at Emery’s time managing various teams in Spain, if his track record there is anything to go by then expect us to finish anywhere from 8th to 5th?
But on saying that you have to appreciate the strength of the EPL so maybe 5th is a big ask?
He could make 5th I’d even 4th with a full strength squad. As things have panned out though, it’s unrealistic and unfair to demand. 7th again and a cup would be magnificent, taking full account of the injuries.
FWIW, I don’t think there’s a fan on this site who isn’t really happy with Emery. Just because there’s a bit of criticism doesn’t mean anyone wants him gone. It’s part of the game that we as armchair football managers will have an opinion on tactics or player selection, especially when a result goes the wrong way. Against Liverpool, its my opinion that he got a few things wrong. The good thing about Emery however is he will analyse every moment of the game to see what could have been done better, whereas the likes of Gerrard would just blame players and say they need to improve.
We were lucky last season with injuries which helped players build an on field understanding. Losing Moreno, Ramsey, Buendia and Mings is proving costly as all of them would probably have started against Liverpool.
It could take a few months before the new boys have settled in to the style of play. Fortunately we will have Moreno and Ramsey back soon which will feel like two new signings.
Until then we can all enjoy the beautiful football that Southgate employs and be forever grateful that he isn’t managing Villa.
Just got around to watching Holy Trinity – well worth a watch. Pete the Canadian nails it -strongly recommend.
Yeah, Canadian Pete understands perspective for sure.
According to Fabrizio Romano – ‘Aston Villa have agreed a deal for Brazil midfielder Philippe Coutinho, 31, to join Qatar side Al-Duhail on loan, with his new club set to pay all of his wages.’
Just as well as I couldn’t see him getting much playing time anyway.