Liverpool 1-1 Villa; A defensive tactical masterpiece.

Consider this.
If we win against Brighton next week, we are guaranteed Europe, whether it’s the Europa or the Conference. Even if we lose, we still stand a chance.
How nuts is that?

Consider where we were when we sacked the scouser and it’s been an amazing turnaround.
But we all know this.

So what did I think today?
Well, the headline says most of it.
Mings was outstanding, let’s get that out of the way. I know I’m quick to slate him, but I also like to think I’m equally as quick to praise him.
Out of what seemed like a hundred touches, he got 95 right. That’s impressive.

I made a mental note to myself that I forgot Konsa was playing. Given that if a central defender can hide like that, it usually suggests to me that he did nothing wrong, one stray clearance apart.
Going back to Mings, I thought that was probably a deserved booking, but nowhere near a red. He got the ball pretty cleanly and the follow-through was just unfortunate.
The prick ex footballer co-commentating was practically begging for a red and I thought that would have been a terrible decision.

Which brings me to the ref. It seemed that he was letting McGinn basically get assaulted every five minutes.
But on reflection, I actually think if you take your Villa hat off, he was reasonable in just letting play flow, as per the instruction from the powers that be.
I actually thought he did a very reasonable job.

So Unai set us up with a very fluid back line, that didn’t quite go as high as it has done at times. What was noticeable was the way it varied from 4 to 6, as was needed.

And it’s this discipline that’s being real time conducted by the manager on the touchline that catches my eye.

Let’s get something clear here.
I tend to be pessimistic.
It stems from over 50 years of seeing us never achieving our potential, flashes apart.
And that pessimism is hard to lose.

The Saunders years were amazing, but I was only a kid, as much as I remember them like yesterday. I didn’t know any better and I suspect many are in a similar position, a few apart.
But I remember being full of hope and belief.

I’d love to be that same kid again, meeting up on the Holte at 1pm so I could get my regular spot with my mates.
But those days are gone.

The point is I am once again beginning to truly believe.

I didn’t think much of our chances today, yet we proved massively resilient against a Liverpool team that have been on a real roll.
They’ve only lost 2 or 3 in their last 30 home games.
So to go 1 up and hold them for so long was outstanding in itself.
Consider it should have been 2, if Ollie had got that pen and I think we’d have broken them completely.

McGinn was excellent again today and it was pretty obvious that one of Pool’s aims was to take him out. He went a bit over the top in the way he constantly called for some protection, but he was basically right.
Let the game flow, yes, but persistent targeting of a player shouldn’t be allowed.

What else?
Ah, for once VAR got it right.
Their disallowed goal was a mile off. If they hadn’t gone back that far, I’d have gone ballistic.

So a great result and a game where it showed that players 100% know what they’re doing and where the other players around them will be. Some of our one touch triangle type football was fantastic and at times had Pool looking clueless.

Yes, that’s how good I thought we were.

Pool came on strong in the last 20 minutes or more and it was expected. That’s where we struggle; the back up.
I’d expect this to be seriously improved, quickly.

How different do we look compared to when we’d just sacked the scouser?
It’s just unbelievable that this is basically the same squad.

That’s the difference between top quality and well, someone who hasn’t learned anything yet.

Villa-Brighton?

How tasty does that game look?