Well, another week in the Premiership where we don’t look in the slightest bit bothered about the outcome of the match. Luckily, with no disrespect to the Clarets following their exceptional hospitality towards us Villans today, Burnley are that bad we were never going to lose. I thought I’d re-style my post-match review and give player ratings, because I have a lot to pick out when it comes to individual performances.
I seriously think we are at risk of having a one off cup final determine our season. Personally, in a game where anything can occur, I would not want that, and I cannot actually believe that we are throwing our season away. If we’d have increased the gear by one today we could’ve nailed on Champions League and not have had to work as hard against Liverpool, whereas now we need to play for a draw against them!
Now, let’s move on to the player ratings;
Martinez – 5 – Not a woeful performance but I cannot score a goalkeeper who has conceded twice to one of the worst sides in Premiership history more than 5.
Cash – 3 – Helped out in the attack first half, but ultimately cost us the second goal and constantly lost the ball in the second half.
Konsa – 5 – One of the only half decent defenders.
Mings – 2 – Seriously woeful. Sorry if you’re reading, Ty, but at the end of the day he didn’t even know Anthony was there for the first goal, and lost a duel to lead to the second goal. Not quick enough going forward either unlike Torres.
Maatsen – 2 – Again, no clue where Anthony was even though he was less than a metre from him! Meant to make up for it in the attack but offered nothing going forward either.
Lindelof – 5 – Half decent performance. Got caught out once or twice but I like him. He offers stability as a pivot.
Barkley – 6 – Played well and scored a fantastic goal. Overall a team player who knows the game, but just not at the level we need.
McGinn – 7 – As always one of the only good ones. Like most games this season, we’d have lost without him. The impact he makes is extraordinary.
Rogers – 3 – Lazy and did not want to run at all. What on earth has happened to him?
Tielemans – 5 – Played okay but overall not enough contribution, we need a lot more especially away from home. None of them central players seem to have a productive idea anymore. This is why we need to go more direct.
Watkins – 6 – Played with more confidence today up front after his perfect performance on Thursday, and scored a good goal that he generally misses. Overall a great advert as to why we must start playing more direct.
Overall, in terms of the bench, we need more to offer. We cannot be having to bring on Bailey to try and scrape a win against Burnley. Digne, similar to Maatsen. Bogarde just ruined our chances and should play right-back. Buendia – I thought we looked quicker when he had the ball and he looks like he wants to go forward. I have no idea why he took Lindelof off and not Mings!
We need to seriously shape up because that Europa League Final is going to seem like more of a season-saving bid rather than a great night where we are trying to win a trophy! I did say I wasn’t sure about this one and only predicted a win because I thought we needed it. It was actually before the Spurs game when I said that we wouldn’t win another Premiership match.
Another disappointing win as we extend our winless away streak, that has been ongoing since January… Newcastle away, can you believe it? Good job Newcastle are shocking. I still believe that we have been better in the last two years away from home than the four years prior to that, and may have even taken more points away in the last 2 seasons than them prior 4 combined.
We need improvement, and feel free to comment your own player ratings.
UTV 🙂
Ooh alfie spot on but ollie was brilliant today he never stops but yes points dropped massively the boys have dropped so many unnecessary points lately
The premiership is that poor this season we should of comfortably got third but with a couple of new additions next season could be up there to win it
To be honest I was probably harsh on Ollie but I didn’t see enough creative runs it’s always a run into that inevitable cul de sac that we get trapped in – especially when we play away from home.
Just been discussing that topic with Badger – the Premiership is so poor and we both agree.
What the hell has happened to Maatsen? From having legendary potential, he looks like a Championship player. Apart from Konsa, the rest of defence was awful, but Digne put a lot more balls into decent areas when he came on late. Cash had a stinker. Don’t get me started on Chesty. How many poor passes did he give away, especially in our half !!!!!????? I just groaned when Bailey came on… Yep, Watkins never gave up and a great goal. Barklay’s strength showed through too. Big Emi saved us on a couple of occasions so I’d give him a higher score. Little Emi hit a wall. Youri was surprisingly slow and off the mark. We need Mr Glass back asap.
I think we’ll complete a topsy-turvy season by beating Liverpool on Friday night. Don’t forget the 2 below us need to win BOTH of their remaining 2 games against Citeh and ManU…
Maatsen, Mings and Cash were diabolical. We now need to beat Liverpool…
Doesn’t anyone else think Cash was fouled for their second? And we should have had a penalty, should we not? Poor performance, fair enough. But that’s two key moments at each end (not for the first time this season) that we’ve been screwed.
https://www.bbc.com/sport/football/articles/cwyr2ye2y52o
I don’t think it was a foul personally. But it was a blatant foul on Buendia but we know that we don’t get penalties in the Premiership.
Emery has said in his interview that he is thankful for the players’ efforts. It’s so evident that he is telling them not to go full throttle to reduce injuries for the final. If we’d have stepped it up a gear then we would’ve definitely beaten Burnley, and now we have to beat Liverpool to confirm Champions League, the only side Emery has not beaten at Villa in this current Premier League!
The XI for the final needs to be:
Martinez, Cash, Konsa, Torres, Digne, Lindelof, Onana, Tielemans, McGinn, Rogers, Watkins
That’s our strongest realistic XI that we could have available for the final. Then if we win it Onana will take another 3 weeks off and Martinez probably won fancy it in the final day so we’ll have Bizot in goal! I am calling it now, remember it!
No Buendia??? You won’t get much creativity from Lindelof and Onana.
Just don’t think it’s Buendia’s game. He is a lot better with the home crowd behind him and we won’t have that in Istanbul.
We need to restrict Freiburg. Lindelof and Onana are the best options as a double pivot.
Restrict Freiburg? Shouldn’t they be thinking about restricting Villa?
Alfie, in the 2000 FA Cup Final, John Gregory’s Aston Villa boasted a front line of Dion Dublin, Paul Merson, and Benito Carbone. They didn’t lay a glove on Chelsea. Didn’t turn up.
It’s a showpiece final. Take it to them! F*** restricting them! Try holding us back would be a better approach!
Random: Mings is now 33. If West Ham go down, Mavropanos is 28 – same age as Konsa. Interested, or do we want younger? I.e. Konsa when we signed him young?
Also:
Summerville: 24
Bowen: 30 this year (too old?)
There’s literally nothing else in the West Ham squad you could even remotely consider. Shocking. No wonder they look to be on the way out.
But a word of warning, Villa’s squad, despite the superiority in quality, is similarly ageing. Big Ron failed to refresh his ageing squad for the 1994-95 season. He stuck with the core he signed in 1991, and a couple in ’92, spending the summer commentating on USA ’94. Only messrs Fashanu and King arrived. Villa started the season abysmally and Big Ron was gone by November. Brian Little immediately got rid of some old wood and got the average age down. The rest is history. Don’t let history repeat, Unai! If Trafford and Marmoush are available from City, I recommend cashing in on Rogers and bringing both in…
I heard a horrible stat on the news earlier. Daniel Malen is now Serie A’s second highest scorer.
Also consider he’s only been there since January…Sigh…
13 goals and 2 assists in 16 matches. Phenomenal. 27 years of age. Appalling decision making from the club. Are we obligated to sell? I think we are. And how much? Dare I say? Shocking. Those stats are worth 50 million plus! FFS.
Roma must be pissing themselves. Meanwhile, Villa scramble to pull their pants up.
And, let’s be honest, Tammy is a slightly less lummox than Guessand and nowhere near are dynamic as Malen, who is younger, faster, nimbler, and a better finisher. And he was a fan favourite in only one year at the club. If there’s any way Villa can legally pull out of the agreement, they would do very well to!
Most goals from a January signing in the top 5 leagues. And we wonder why Villa’s goals dried up. F****** horrible decision making! Horrendous!
“I don’t think Donyell Malen’s form on loan at Roma has got enough credit.
14 goals and 3 assists in 18 games… including strikes vs Juve, Napoli, Como and Bologna… phenomenal.
Only Lautaro Martinez has scored more Serie A goals this season than the Dutchman who joined in mid January!
4.5 shots p/90… is topped only by Undav, Krztovic, Mbappe and Yamal in Europe’s Top 5 Leagues.
With Dovbyk, Ferguson and Dybala barely contributing, Malen has put Roma in Champions League contention almost single-handedly.
Top work!”
Pass me a bucket.
He only turned 27 in January. Peak striking talent, which is very hard to come by. Sold for peanuts. Absolutely tragic from Villa. Beyond tragic.
Bum Bum, you had to bring this up?! It’s pissed me right off!!!
Sorry BFR! Pissed me off too when I heard it on TalkShite. They were discussing how he’s a target for a number of Top 6 European clubs in the summer 😡
Anyone think Friday’s game will be a bore draw? If Villa and Liverpool both get to 60 points, it’s unlikely Bournemouth and Brighton will win both matches.
Is the draw worth the risk?
I’d probably take a draw.
It simply does not sit right with me that Sancho Elliot and Bailey are here whilst Malen has been let go! An illustration of our dreadful business in the last few years!
Gotta agree our post Deano recruitment is not a patch on our aawesome Management.
Why?
I worry that the core of Villas best players are reaching the twilight years and we now have a bunch of morons in charge of players coming and going.
Like everyone else has said, we allow Malen to depart and we bring in Abraham and Bailey to add to Sancho and Elliott. All 4 of those have contributed less than Malen did.
Emery has done wonders but we have to question his involvement with the players coming in and leaving. I hear that he has FULL control of the players signed and allowed to leave. Therefore, based on that, he must take the blame surely. When Watkins, McGinn, Konsa etc are past their prime, will Emery depart and leave us with a bunch of useless replacements.
Sawris and Edens need to address this issue before we start free falling. Our current league form over last couple of months has been relegation form.
Interesting comments re players signed their just not good.
Maybe emery should stick with just coaching and someone else doing the buying
How about offering the job to smith he picked our best players then emery can mold them into a team.
The idea emery might leave us with dross is very possible i think as I can’t see him as a squad builder
Maybe villa and Liverpool come to an arrangement and draw as would suit both would also help Bournemouth or Brighton if villa stayed 5th and won europa
The Premier is corrupt let’s play them at own game.
I like the idea of a pedestrian bore draw against Liverpool. It works for both parties. With the huge caveat that City take at least a point from Bournemouth; if Bournemouth beat them and win their last game, we’d then need a point against City – and we’d still be relying on goal difference and a possible repeat of last year’s disaster! Bournemouth will know what they need, as we play 3 days before them. If we lose to Liverpool, the Cherries will be fired up and going for the win against City – they are at home and well capable!
I hope the pathetic Liverpool turn up and we beat them, ending all doubts. If we need to win at City on the last day, that will be horrendous. Unless, of course, we win the final and it all becomes academic. Far too many ifs and buts. We had 3 chances against Fulham, Spurs, and Burnley. We blew it with a pathetic one point from 9, and now our arses are squeeking.
This is giving me a headache. Sod it, just buckle up and try to enjoy the last week of the season without becoming nauseous!
Major squad surgery needed in the summer – which idiots will take all the junk off us?
Worst case scenario: lose the final and finish 7th. 7th is still a possibility. Anything less than CL qualification, given where we were for most of the season, where we are now (joint 4th), plus the final, would be a monumental disaster.
In my opinion, we should be going full strength and full speed against Liverpool and making sure we take the points. There should be enough left in the tank for a final. Then play the kids against City and get fined by the PL.
BFR if that worst case scenario comes true you have to look at Emery.
We don’t have any kids!!!! 🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣
Re offering a recruitment job to Smith. He’s already been at his boyhood club and united our fan base. Now he’s loved and living a great life in America! He wouldn’t come back and I don’t blame him!
They absolutely love him at Charlotte. And I bet the pay slip replicates it!
I need us to beat Liverpool on Friday! I will be on the plane to Istanbul during the City v Bournemouth game and I cannot take not knowing on that flight! Beat Liverpool and it’s mathematically guaranteed!
If anything happened to our CL hopes like last year at OT, I swear I would spontaneously combust!
Well if we don’t get Champions League this season then we’re a bunch of bottlers anyway!
We need a huge defensive overhaul next season – no way we can go into next season with Mings, Cash and Maatsen as some of our top defensive options!
If you want to control the game defensively higher up the pitch then you want Onana and Lindelof in a double pivot, and that’s what I think we should do in the final.
BFR – Re your comments about wanting to take the game to Freiburg, I think we could really benefit from taking full control of the game and simply tiring Freiburg out with possession football until we deal the sucker blow. We need to make them feel hopeless and take the sting out of them completely.
That would be Unai’s approach in Europe, I imagine…
True. Going all out attack could see us caught on the break. That’s the only thing that worries me.
I am going to spend some time trying to get the comments back on the side of the screen.
Pre-warning: If anything looks different with the site in the next few days it is simply because I have messed it up as I am shocking with WordPress, so take it with a pinch of salt.
Thanks, Alfie. It is very useful to have…
No problem BFR. It doesn’t look great at the minute, I think the colour scheme of the whole site is off. But I’ve spoken to Badger and I’m going to have a fiddle around with it all.
Don’t worry about colours. Try and get those latest comments links back…
What do you mean? I’ve already got it back BFR.
Are you on a mobile device? If so, it will only show up at the bottom.
On computer, it is there on the side.
Got it! Brilliant work, Alfie! Thank you!
No problem. Was you originally on a mobile device?
If not, then I wonder why it didn’t show up for you at first, because I did it at about 11PM last night.
I’ve done what I can for tonight after taking in feedback. What is really annoying me is that I can’t change the colour of the actual content of the reply to white, there just isn’t an option for it for some reason. I think it’s because the comments are in black so that has to be in black too. Not sure though.
It seems Wes Edens has been a naughty boy!
If he’s married, I hope his wife doesn’t demand half his fortune and force a sale like Randy Lerner…!
We now live in a world where you have to scan for hidden cameras before you get down to it!!!!
Oh bollocks. Not again…
Some people are quite sick, if what I’ve read is true.
Crazy effing bitch would be my interpretation.
Yeah.
It feels weird that so many could lift the European Trophy next week and not step foot on the pitch again for Aston Villa. They know the aim is simple to become one of the most memorable groups we have had at this football club, the ones who ended our painful 30 year trophy draught. Many have come under individual scrutiny during their time here, but they know they can paint themselves as legends if they win next week. We need this.
Alfie, someone on the site did the redesign who knows WP quite well. I forget bit ask Badger who it was.
Right, okay.
We went on the other week and saw a few people had administrator permissions and we weren’t sure of who had been helping with the site (I didn’t know and Badger had forgot) so we revoked them all just in case.
If anyone knows how to use WP then feel free to let me know. I should probably make my email available on the website.
But for now feel free to use aricketts108@hotmail.com
Adam Wharton being linked with Liverpool and United. 22 years old. 60 million, apparently. Maestro in the middle. Dare I say the English Pirlo? Anyway, Villa should be trying to get players of this calibre. He could give 5 years and still move to a bigger club at his peak. And we’d make a fat profit. We should be all over it.
Just don’t think we’d pay £60m for anyone at the minute. Personally, I’d look to make Jonathan Rowe from Bologna our top priority, we literally having nothing when it comes to out and out wingers.
In:
Jonathan Rowe (Bologna) £30-40m
Tommy Conway (Middlesbrough) £15-20m
That’s two good, young attacking options and it’s not exactly breaking the bank.
Different player, Alfie. Tielemans isn’t getting any younger. Someone with an eye for a forward pass and a calmness in midfield is priceless. Alex Scott (also 22) at Bournemouth would be another option, in my view. Like I said, at 22, you get an amazing player and still double your money in 5 years when the likes of United, Liverpool and Arsenal come calling for peak PL talent.. Villa need to be looking at that age and selling at 27ish in order to function in the football environment, given the financial landscape. Not selling players before they hit 30 is risky and probably plain wrong. We are now seeing that cloud emerge, as there are too many players past their peak.
I agree that Rowe would be a good acquisition based on the above. And I also agree that identifying the best young talent in the Championship – a very tough league – should also be a priority for Villa.
25 million for Malen. Joke.
Are Villa bound legally once the clause is activated? Or is there a way around it? He’s worth double that, comfortably. Absolutely scandalous business.
We are clueless. Cannot believe we’ve let arguably our best attacking player go for pennies.
Unai Emery has NOT been nominated for manager of the season.
Good riddance – he deserved manager of the month from October to December. That’s what our season is built on. We have otherwise been average.
My problem is that Bournemouth’s outstanding season has also been the product of a good run of form, so why does Iraola get the nod? No clue. I know it’s an agenda against Villa, obviously, but I’m not going to kick a fuss because realistically it doesn’t benefit our football club if Emery gets manager of the season.
With Inter’s victory in Coppa Italia, AS Roma is mathematically qualified (at least) for the Europa League. A condition that triggers the purchase obligation for Donyell Malen: the giallorossi will pay 25 million to Aston Villa : r/ASRoma https://share.google/C1f3kPUDq2rerUwwD
Read Roma fans’ comments. And weep.
They’re comparing him to Ronaldo – the Brazilian Ronaldo.
😡😡😡😡😡😡😡😡😡😡😡😡
25 for malen what a fuckin joke probably the worst transfer decision for years he’s worth 50 and I wouldn’t of let him go anywhere
Can anyone tell me what the giant F Villa are thinking with this one???!!!
It’s incomprehensible, inexplicable, and inexcusable. Feel free to add some more big words…
Incompetent. There’s another one…
Absolutely embarrassing business. It doesn’t shock me though, our recruitment under Emery has been far from good enough!
Rowe current stats 25/26 are 7 goals and 3 assists. He does hang on to the ball a lot with little result.
Sounds like a crap version of Rogers.
He was way better than Rogers when we played Bologna, with worse players around him! Definitely the best player of the two legs and scored against us.
How about him and Rogers playing together?
Double crap! 😆
Alfie, in my team of 9 year olds, I have players who don’t pass the ball and think they’re the bollocks. And I have players who see the pass and play it. Forward. I know what I prefer every single time.
I see your point. But when you don’t have the players who have the ability to dribble and have physicality up top, then you get bullied by the defence.
We need players who can hold their own up the pitch!