Villa suffer defeat to the champions, this time narrow unlike the match at the Amex. It’s fair to say we witnessed vast improvement from last Sunday, whether playing on home turf impacted that or not, but yet again another game goes by without having a shot on goal.
I’ll start by giving my player ratings;
Suzuki – 7 – Distribution was absolutely fantastic however his positioning for the first goal lacked, and he also spilt one in the second half.
Cash – 6 – First half played okay but second half not good enough and outshone by Wan-Bissaka when he came on.
Lindelof – 4 – Poor defending for their goal and didn’t feel confident at all.
Torres – 5 – Again didn’t feel confident with our back line at all today but always offers something as a ball playing centre-half.
Maatsen – 7 – Been impressed with him in the last three games, offers something going forward and has improved defensively recently.
Kamara – 6 – Nothing special for his standard. Always solid to some extent but didn’t hold the ball long enough.
Barkley – 5 – Decent as a team player but our midfield is bang average with him in it, his passing was also not great and it could’ve led to a goal had that penalty been given.
McGinn – 6 – Not as productive as he usually is, but as always offered strength and lifts the team as a whole. He also should’ve shot and we’d have scored!
Buendia – 5 – Too lightweight sadly, but the physicality of Arsenal he’s bound to struggle.
Hemmings – 6 – First half he was very lively, however I believe he picked up an injury at the end of the first half and was limping so it likely explained his second half performance. Looked like a weak link and his passing wasn’t great at all.
Jackson – 7 – He looked really prolific as a forward and it was good to see him running at the opposition, as we’re used them playing it about.
I won’t rate the substitutes, but Abraham was utterly woeful and was running around like a headless chicken. It genuinely upsets me to think we sold Malen and replaced him with Abraham, he’s just not good enough at all sadly. On the contrary, Wan-Bissaka looked class and shown the rest of them how to get stuck in! Alysson also looked lively and posed a slight threat at the end. Garnacho didn’t do much in the cameo he had.
I’ve seen a lot of opinion regarding the performance, but I just cannot call a performance that didn’t witness a shot on goal at home “superb” or even “good” like I’ve seen someone say. But a vast improvement from last week as I said, but it makes Hull a must win now in my opinion, and you start to worry if we’re still struggling to create chances 5-6 games in.
There’s still a lot to come from this team, it’s clear they haven’t gelled together at all yet. I always say to the players I coach, that you need know what your teammates are going to do as well to make your decision, and it’s clear that we haven’t reached that point yet because this team has far from gelled. It has assured me that we will be fine this season once the team has gelled.
Our opponents, Arsenal, were decent as they pretty much always are but I don’t think they were absolutely fantastic, and their goal was more a testament to our poor defending and a lack of chances created also led to the result as a whole. But it’s important to give it a few weeks, as I implied in the previous paragraph.
We move onto Hull City away from home, where I do believe a win is necessary. But let’s try to stay positive, we just need to score and create more!
My player ratings:
Starting XI:
Suzuki – 7/10 – Distribution was top notch, and looked very comfortable on the ball. Made a few decent saves although his best save was offside. Did spill a few but hopefully just first game jitters.
Cash – 5/10 – Disappointing performance defensively, particularly struggled against Eze in the second half. However, still offers a decent amount going forward despite 0 shots on target.
Lindelof – 5/10 – He’s a backup option. And I honestly think he suits better as a DM than as a centre half. Not great today but solid as a backup.
Pau – 6/10 – Played slightly better than Lindelof, but thought his decision making was wide of the mark tonight, felt he should’ve used Suzuki more rather than trying to take on the opposition attackers. Felt that he didn’t have the confidence that he had in Martinez, but hopefully that will come.
Maatsen – 6/10 – Was okay going forward, but, similar to Pau, I think he should’ve used his teammates more rather than trying to do things by himself against the best team in the world. However, I think he looked stronger than last season tonight.
Kamara – 8/10 – Just never loses the ball. Have missed him so much. Great option in the middle, and was particularly good going forward tonight just a shame there was no end product. Unbelievable player.
Barkley – 5/10 – Couldn’t hit a barn door with his passing tonight. Again, another backup who is playing more than he should be as we tidy things up near the end of the window and managing newcomers’ fitness.
McGinn – 7.5/10 – Like Kamara, just rarely loses the ball. Aging backwards it seems. His strength on the ball is great, only problem was that it sometimes felt that he made the wrong pass going forward.
Buendia – 6/10 – Not strong enough. So weak, and struggles too much to use it to his advantage. He has potential to win much more fouls and frustrate the opposition more than he does.
Hemmings – 7/10 – Thought he looked confident with the ball at his feet, however, when it come to releasing it he seems so scared of losing the ball, and never seems to take much risk, which I’m sure is due to his lack of experience. Decision making was poor, and he took way too long on the ball.
Jackson – 7/10 – Wasn’t expecting him to start his Villa career off with a goal against the reigning champions of the league. However, I was expecting him to make some decent runs, and provide some hold up play, and he did that pretty well. Wish he pressed more in the first half but I’m sure that was part of Emery’s plan.
Substitutes:
Alysson – 6/10 – Decent dribbling and found himself in the box a few times. Exciting player.
Abraham – 3/10 – Honestly, looked a much weaker team when Jackson was taken off for him. Emery was also disappointed and made that clear in his interview tonight. Needs to seriously improve.
Wan-Bissaka – 7/10 – Looked better than Cash when he came on. The slide tackles were great to see, impressive defensively but doesn’t offer much going forward.
Garnacho – 5/10 – Didn’t offer much at all when he come on, Emery clearly wants him signed as he is playing every game so far, more than Elliot was, but then again we don’t know how many games he has to play.
Man Of The Match: Kamara – No surprises at all.
Alfie, whilst standing in The Holte last night, I recall a screamer of a shot from Buendia hitting the bar!
Also not sure with comments on Cash and Torres. Cash played well and midway through the second half was crocked by an Arsenal foul, which the ref ignored. Torres was excellent in the tackle last night, although his passing was not up to his usual standard.
Overall a solid performance. Arsenal are probably the second best team in the world and we pretty much negated them for the entire match. The good news is that we are going to become so much better with the new players being imbedded in the team.
Cash tired eventually but was really good before that. Also agree about Pau. He was quality last night, but Lindorf struggled.
Wan-B looked cracking when he came on! Hemmings forward play was poor although Arse have a tight defence.
Suzuki’s balls were incredible!!!! Fnarr, fnarr,,, I was bloody excited to see the incoming quality of the players in the stands!!! Can’t wait!!!!
That’s true Sid, but shot on goal surely means it can amount to a goal. That’s what I mean. Even if we had 1 shot on target, we still need to test the keeper more mate.
Good balanced review Alfie.
The lack of shots on target is a concern but encouragingly we did create some chances and, from what I saw of Jackson, he offers a similar style of play to that of Watkins.
The midfield did look average at best, Barkley was tidy but we’re asking a lot of him at present. Until Manzambi and Gomes are playing together it’s impossible to know whether ‘bang average’ is decisively improved. Then there’s the unknown quantity in Goretzka, the potential of Mbaye and Harwood-Bellis to consider.
Abraham is staying and has to dramatically improve – a point Emery made after the match. Last night he seemed to be trying too hard – chasing the ball rather finding positions where he could receive it.
Finally, concerned we haven’t seen Madjo back yet – what constitutes a ‘small injury’
I like Kevin, but he’s not good…Ipswich would fit.
We may not have a shot on goal in two games but tbf we didn’t even have a striker on the pitch against Brighton and played with 10 men for more than half the match so actually how relevant is that stat?
Let’s see what transpires at Hull before we get too ‘excited’ about it!
Sky reporting Emery as saying not expecting any more incomings today which isn’t surprising with Abraham ‘opting’ to stay.
I like his fighting attitude but he’ll have to considerably smarten up his act or I confidently predict he’ll be gone in January.
We must try and move Bailey out the door even if it’s a loan although with only one year left on his contract that wouldn’t be clever business.
Emery has explicitly stated Tammy hasn’t performed to the level needed and is going to be demanding of him. The words must have stung. But we don’t want passengers!
It wouldn’t surprise me if one more wide attacker was snuck through the door. What’s this I see about Amad or Toni Fernandes?
Meanwhile, expect to see Damia Vidagani hurtling out of VP in the dead of night with Leroy clinging to a rusty wheelbarrow screaming “me want to stay, man!” 🤭
With regards to Bailey, “Take him to the station” as they did in Yellowstone!! 🙂
I was thinking Walsall in the wheelbarrow, Holte. “The station” is a tad harsh!
🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣
We have the players. Now get them fit and drilled!!!!!!
Mbaye has completed his transfer. We have to be patient with him because he’s only 18 and coming from a club like PSG, he might think he’s already above any player we currently have. Hopefully he will be prepared to put in the hard work and intense training / meetings that Emery demands. I have watched a few videos where he plays on the left wing, so he offers competition to Garnacho and Hemmings as well as Alysson andMcGinn.
Lots of positives from last night and yes there is massive potential in this squad if unai can get this right we could be a force but it could take time UTMV
Villa fans on X pathetic going backs against the wall to prove to Arsenal fans that we’re not racist for booing Saka.
Oh ffs, who even cares either way at this point? It’s all you ever hear. Need to stop this victim mentality inside and outside of football.
Villa fans pulling up who signed the first black player of the two clubs to “prove” we’re not racist. FFS!
Rant over.
Minus the fact that we were booing Tzolis too. But I won’t relay that to Arsenal fans, I don’t care what they think of me or my club’s fans.
Villa fans racist don’t make me laugh birmingham is one of the most diverse cities in Britain and we are represented at Villa park by dozens of fans from different cultures that all get on
This from the right wing heartlands of North London 😂😂
A bit of a problem with anti semitism in Birmingham though. Currently under a worrying investigation.
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/cq5xe813w1do
Oh I totally agree with this mate. The ban on the Israeli fans was disgusting. The MPs who pushed for it should also be investigated but we know they’ll be protected!
I stood in solidarity with the banned fans before the game but couldn’t proceed with the protest or else I would’ve been locked in the cage and not been able to attend the game. Interestingly, the other side were allowed to walk free.
Genuine institutional discrimination that saw hundreds of Israeli fans banned from watching their team. Meanwhile, we’ll roll out the red carpet for Fenerbahce fans who trashed Forest’s stadium.
Make it make sense.
Unless your a Guardian reader…
Lol.
Any news on whether Manzambi or Madjo will be available soon? The game against Hull is one we can’t afford to lose. In fact, we really need to win to prevent confidence draining from players, and fans getting restless. Last season we had experienced players who could cope with a poor start. Younger players might find it hard to cope with.
Restless? I’m bang up for this season!!! I’d clean dogshite off the boots if I could hang around Bodymore Heath for a few days!!!!
Cannot wait to see all these new signings and Big Brian in full flow!!!
Madjo mid September; Manzambi joining full training this week for the first time.
Might see Manzambi on the bench before the IB but Madjo after the IB.
Above as I understand it after ferreting around a few sites.
Oo-er!!! Sounds a bit rude, all that ferreting about!!!!
😂😂
Best news of this transfer window. He so deserves a chance. Good luck Harvey.
Liverpool midfielder Harvey Elliott has joined Valencia on a loan deal until the end of the season.
BBC Sport understands there is no option or obligation for the La Liga side to sign the 23-year-old permanently at the end of the campaign.
“I wanted the opportunity to come here, play regularly and experience a different league” said Elliott.
This may be one of the best windows we’ve had (fingers crossed). If the new players can reach their potential then we’ll have a squad that can really take us to a new level. I think patience will be needed but I’m excited about the coming season.
COYL
Disappointed to see Illiman Ndiyai go to City. He won’t play much there. Very good player and would’ve been an ideal addition for us.
Ndiaye
I think we’ve really adopted an all or nothing mentality – if these players reach their full potential at the same time we could seriously mount a title challenge with this team.
As the dust settles on a frenetic window – I won’t say ‘unprecedented’, as Big Ron did similar in ’91 (don’t forget he didn’t want Platt to go for a record fee but rebuilt with that cash) – I think everyone at the club deserves huge congratulations on how hard they worked and what they achieved in the space of two crazy months. A team sold for optimum value; a whole new, younger team acquired within budget, but with real and present potential to become top-top players in the near future under Unai Emery’s guidance.
If they can manage to pick up 6 points before the 3 week break and put Brugges away, that would put them in a good position for when the PRL resumes because, in reality, that’s when the season will well and truly begin for Emery and his new team.
UTV!!!
Just to reinforce the congratulations on a job unbelievable well done, look at this:
https://www.bbc.com/sport/football/articles/c9861n79kepo
Well done to our owners, directors and manager. And thank you!
For the third (I believe) season consecutively Villa had the lowest net spend in the summer transfer window. This year a whopping profit of £51.5m
They’ve also reduced their wage bill which will (hopefully) improve further if Mr Bailey goes to Saudi – their window remains open.
Whilst I’m sure it wasn’t planned, I suspect we’ve rebased our SCR once and for all within the UEFA rules. If so the suspended £12.9m fine can be returned to the piggy bank 😄
Achieving Europe again this season may be a bridge too far but domestic cup competitions must still be within our compass.
Emery doesn’t not do Europe, Hitch. CL is always the target, I believe. If, due to the changes, that proves to be a step too far, Europa is the minimum. In which case, Villa will win it in 2028 and qualify for CL again!
I think European football will be a tough ask for next season given the ridiculous amount of spending by the Sky 6. Finishing ahead of any of these clubs will give us a chance of Europa but with teams like Newcastle, Brighton, Forest, Leeds and even Brentford pushing hard, it’s not a given we will finish in the top 7.
Based on the UEFA 85% SCR and PL 70% SCR, it might even be a benefit to skip a season without European football to allow our spending to be more flexible plus the added benefit our North Stand will be up and running again.
I would like us to have a serious attempt at the FA Cup this season which in turn offers another route to Europe.
Baily gone