While my immediate reaction of any defeat is always disappointment, I really don’t know what to think about this one.
As we all expected, Utd came out and pressured us from the off. But I can’t help thinking that we caused our own problems, in allowing them to push us back so far, which made it seem to me that they more often than not had two men pressing our one player.
Perhaps that’s just the sign of a good team though and the first half can be pretty well summed up in saying that they had us under the cosh.
Still, there were a couple of positives, in that we had chances to counter. The problem was though that the required quality through balls weren’t there today.
The other plus is that I got the impression that the players are beginning to understand where their team-mates are likely to be. It was just little things, like flicks from Benteke, some of which worked and some didn’t, but it was encouraging, in that you can see that we might actually have some sort of plan in the way we play.
Even so, with a few minutes to half time, I was thinking that if we could hold it at 0-0, we’d have come out of it very well.
Until Herrera scored.
And Utd went in at half time with an easily deserved lead.
I don’t remember De Gea touching the ball; the whole of our midfield had looked over-run, the attack were getting no service and the defence was battered. But it was still only 1-0. Not a desperate scoreline, by any means.
A quick comment on Rooney’s penalty call and having seen it a few times now, I don’t believe it was at all.
Yes, Clark probably had his arm on Rooney’s neck, but I’m always sceptical when the attacker is looking around to the ref before he’s dropped a couple of feet. Shocking and even cheating, in my opinion. More importantly, it wasn’t given and rightly so.
We looked better in the opening of the second half, but to be honest, I suspect it was more down to Utd taking it easier.And then Rooney scored with a nice touch and volley that was always going to be difficult to stop.He should never have been given the space, but hey ho.
Cole hit the corner for Benteke to put the ball past De Gea, who was awful in his attempt at saving and at 2-1, I still felt we might have a chance of a point.
Then Utd got the third and that was it, all over.
Man of the match for us? Clark, by a mile.
Summing up, I thought we were poor today. But as much as I really don’t think Utd are that good, they aren’t where they are in the league because they’re rubbish.
And with our record against them, today’s result was no disgrace. And probably somewhat expected, judging by the poll in the preview. Hence I’m not too downheartened.
On to a more important game then against QPR, who tonked Albion 4-1 today.
After having had a conversation a couple of days ago with a Baggies fan who predicted that QPR would beat Albion and Villa, I’m now a bit worried.
MASSIVE game against QPR!
Pathetic performance..”matched only by the team selection and tactics!! 6 – 1 would NOT have flattered Manure!
Lambert woukd have (rightly so) been hammered for those tactics and for the team selection! Weimann……really?, when we have creative players such as Gil/Grealish on the bench…..again, Lambert got slaughtered for picking Weimann.
Dim, Grim, Tim Deadwood is way out of his depth just like McLeish and Lambert before him! Meanwhile, dearest Randy sits in his New York penthouse believing we will survive with his latest puppet. The ‘puppet master’ does not give a flying fuck about the club……one cheap and nasty option after another. Well, the daggers will be out after we lose on Tuesday!……and guess who will get the blame?……yes, .Dim, Grim, Tim deadwood.
We are fucked!!
He’s Grim, He’s Dim, and his real name is Tim, ……Deadwood OUT,Deadwood OUT
Fuck off LERNER, The Villa, is OURS!!
Such a 100% blinkered opinion, whch really doesn’t suit you Langford. But you’re entitled to it.
Yes, maybe Man U had six chances, but we had more than one, so that’s wrong for a start, imo.
And our record against Utd is shocking over the last 20 years, so it’s no surprise that we lost.
I’ve seen worse performances get a result in games, put it that way.
Either you blame the manager or the bloke that appointed him, imo.
Me, I still blame Lerner, but you can’t fault Sherwood for at least having a go. Not that I’m convinced we went for it today and it was indeed somewhat Lambertesque, complete with the back-passing that really hacks me off.
One thing I did think today was that Sherwood might be going down the Lambert road in trying to play safe. That would be a mistake and our only hope is to go balls out in every game, imo.
We started off on the back foot and that’s not good enough.
Sherwood has to get them to go from the off, running their balls off and getting in their faces.
I didn’t see that at all today.
an opinion so over the top its almost like it was deliberately posted just get a reaction or something …
All I know is if sherwood had not have come in we would be six points worse off and 3 points adrift.
This is Lamberts team he has not had the luxury of bringing players in and half the team is injured.
I get the feeling players were being held back in a game most thought we would lose. We have to beat qpr in only 3 days time.
“All I know is if sherwood had not have come in we would be six points worse off and 3 points adrift.”
Absolutely spot on, imo Steve.
Sitting in a room watching that with 5 other Villans. Each and everyone saying that was as bad as anything under Lambert!………Weimain instead of Grealish/Gil…..really. I am being serious when I say that I cant remember seeing De Gea even touch the ball in any meaningful way throughout the game AND he gifted us the goal!
It was a real embarrassment from start to finish. 2 wins against the Baggies was simply ‘papering over the cracks’…..the honeymoon is well and truly over!
I dont blame ‘puppet’ Sherwood….I blame the ‘puppet master’. One crap appointment after another. It was also blatantly obvious that half that team dont want to play for Sherwood…..a real lack of effort from Gabby, Benteke and Zoggy. Its only Clark and Okore who can take any credit from that performance!
He’s Grim, He’s Dim and his real name is Tim, Deadwood OUT, Deadwood OUT
“a real lack of effort from Gabby, Benteke and Zoggy.”
Well, that’s an interesting comment to say the least Langford, as many think they’re exactly the ones who have seemed most inspired by Sherwood.
Look, I’m not saying Sherwood is the total answer, but I do believe he was the right appointment after we got rid of the disaster that was Lambert.
The team, such as it is (and we all know it’s not good enough) was totally on it’s arse and had zero belief.
Contrary to what you seem to be saying, I now believe there is at least some belief.
Not against your Man U’s maybe, but we haven’t had that in a very long time, so it doesn’t count, imo.
We WILL believe that we can beat QPR though, which seemed beyond us under Lambert.
Ie, I didn’t think we could beat ANYONE under him, in the months before he was sacked.
Now we have a chance, where before we had none, is what I’m trying to say.
And we are not down yet, when you have the likes of Hull, Sunderland, Albion, Leicester and QPR still in the battle.
That’s the part that disappoints me in your latest replies, given your confidence in previous seasons.
Still, it takes two to make a debate, so fair play 🙂
Zoggy and Gabby were completely useless today in fairness. Gabby can’t read flick ons and Zoggy just sucks for the majority of games. Bar 2 good performances now. Benteke did try, he was actually trying to win everything in the air, came back to the half-way line to win the ball, but other than that, his overall quality is lacking. N’Zogbia hasn’t improved nearly enough to start, ever.
While yes I was on here getting annoyed like others, I don’t know what people expected. Other teams aren’t just going to lose every other game they play, they’re not rolling over and dying, and just because QPR thrashed West Bromich doesn’t mean we’re down and out. Newsflash, we’re still 3 points above the relegation zone, we beat West Bromich and went on to trash Sunderland and we’re still in a battle. We can still lose to QPR and stay up because they’re going to lose a lot more games, just like we will, just like every team around us will, 1 result doesn’t change anything.
Hear hear
not sure where all this dim deadwood malarkey is coming from he has single handed grabbed a team that was in freefall turned them around and gave a little confidence to the players and fans alike no one in the list of managers available could of done that im all ready for this rollercoaster ride and i intend to hang on to our premiership membership with both hands. scream if you want to go faster!
Well said, going to Old Trafford we were never going to play them off the park, and unlike under Lambert we didn’t park the bus. We often had 2-3 players up waiting for the long balls or 3-4 players waiting to play it out and commit to real counter attacks. Benteke never would’ve gotten into the box under Lambert today, we’d not have committed to attack to get the corner for the goal. We’ve scored 8 in 6 league games, I know 4 came in 1, but that’s still incredible compared to the 12 in 25. Biggest thing is, we didn’t park the bus, putting 10 men behind the ball, even United fans bar 1 I know admitted to it but he’s clueless about all football so yeah. We played like we were in it up until the 3rd goal, which came from a foul on Delph by Mata, which while soft, every single touch was a foul so baffled how that wasn’t called.
Billy’s boots,
again spot on.
We were totally fooked under Lambert. Now it’s better.
As you suggest though, still very worrying.
How is it better we’ve only won 2 league games v shite opposition
2 games I believe we’d have lost under Lambert, simple as that.
What was that drivel?! Thought we were chasing shadows and looked totally off the pace – no desire or hunger compared to QPR and Leicester. Why Weimann started I’ll never know. I thought Sherwood said he wasn’t going to play any players out of position. Well, if Weimann is a midfielder, or even a winger, I’ll eat my hat. With regards to Clark – we should try playing him in goal, as he seems to think this is where he’s supposed to be playing and he does a better job of keeping the ball out of the net than Guzan. Only positive for me was Benteke getting a goal, which won’t hurt his confidence. Sherwood is a great motivator, but I’m not convinced by his tactics or team selection. Still concerned about the future of the club.
Just watched Villa on match of the day,Delph at fault for two of the goals. A massive game against QPR a must win.
I wondered if the tone and comments would change after MotD. I watched the game live, getting the feed on my machine about 10 mins after the start so I missed the line-ups and I can honestly say the first time Nzog was mentioned was when he was subbed. He and Gabby have bucked up for the new Gaffer’s first month but now they are back to under-performing.
Delph is inextricably linked in my mind with Villa’s decline. He thinks he is Villa’s best player, and I fear that now he may be right. That does not make him fit to try fancy stuff against half the midfield opponents he faces in the EPL. In his own area he is a liability which is why England don’t let him do much there. Two goals were his fault maybe even the third. Delph stood off Rooney for the acrobatic, was robbed by Rooney (fairly after review) for the third and was in the way blocking the keeper’s view but not the shot for the first. He also slows down our counter attacks and when our defenders want to pass, is he running behind opponents looking for a through ball? No he his running towards the defender to collect it. How bad at passing does he think they are?
United played 4 up against our back 4, Sunday league style, but Villa could not be bothered to press their dodgy defence in the same way.
The fact remains the team is better now than under Lambert. The problem yesterday was qpr and Leicester getting wins. We were never going to get a result in all reality! We need to beat them in Tuesday, that matters more!
In what way is the team better then ?
haha sorry ooh, ahh you are on record as saying that anyone is better than sherwood several times, in fact, so … unless nothing you post is sincere, stand your ground and stick by your words. You should be defending the point that you so vehemently posted for over a year.
You should be on here supporting Sherwood and explaining and posting as to why and how he is better than lambert … an argument from you now claiming that the team is worse off under Sherwood .. well then, is anything you post to be taken at face value? or all just floppy floppy venting with no meaning or sincerity behind it, should we ignore it then? as it it likely to change 180% at the next post
^degrees not %!
Anyone is better than lambert that is^
Didn’t see the game so am unable to comment. Very mixed reaction on here so I guess the jury is still out on TS. It wasn’t yesterday’s result that hurt us it was the two late goals against Stoke and Swansea that really hurt.
We seem to continue to be jinxed by injuries; TS has now referred to it. Late goals lost and injuries are a common story with teams that end up in the relegation zone.
Ah well, keep the faith
We are WORSE under Sherwood! Leaving Gil out for Weimann for a start. Lets be brutally honest……we were terrible yesterday AND against Swansea. Sunderland just surrended. We also lost to Stoke and Albion could gave been out of sight in both the 2nd half of the PL game and the 1st half of the FA cup game!
Sherwood is MASSIVELY out if his depth….he’s NO better than either Lambert or Mcleish…..the ‘puppet master’ has once again turned to the cheapest available option! Not once yesterday or against Swansea did I get the impression that the team were up for ‘relegation battle’. That in itself is a disgrace!! Not only that, it tells me that the half the team have sussed out Sherwood already as nothing more than ‘a waffling cockney’ that talks a good game, but cant deliver! Contrast yesterdays game with the fight that QPR showed against the Baggies. If both teams give the same performance on Tuesday that they gave yesterday then QPR will piss all over us ……we are fucked….thanks Randy!
He’s Grim, He’s Dim, and his real name is Tim, Deadwood OUT, Deadwood OUT!!
Fuck off Lerner, the Villa is OURS
No, we simply aren’t worse under Sherwood. That would be impossible, as Lambert had destroyed any chance of us winning.
Whatever happens under Sherwood, we will not go through periods of not scoring like we did under Lambert either.
I still don’t understand your stance here Langford, as our position seemed worse last season and the season before, yet your attitude was the total opposite of what we’re hearing now?
Are you Lambert in disguise?
That said, I do agree about Gil being left out.
I can’t understand that at all and can only think they’ve had a fallout.
Why would I want to be Lambert?……given that I have already said he’s useless along with McLeish and now sherwood……where is the common denominator in all this?……Randolph Lerner…..we will never have a decent manager why he us in charge. His only interest is making money. Thats why we get one shit manager after another!
Sherwood = same shit, different name!
Fuck off Lerner, the Villa is OURS
Agree Langford I still think he will keep us up but you are correct he’s no better than mclown or lamberk imo. He is another cheap easy option for lerner. Fans should boycott club next season whatever division we are in if lerner is still here. It’s just pointkess
When Sherwood was given the job as Villa boss, I remember Pat Murphy on 5 live saying that Chris Ramsey was the real brains of the outfit and is regarded very highly in football circles as a forward thinking and highly imaginative coach. Maybe a Peter Taylor to Sherwood’s Clough if you like, not that I would ever compare Sherwood to Clough. Now they face each other on Tuesday, let’s all hope we can push the hoops closer to the relegation door, then maybe in the summer, with QPR in the championship we can persuade Ramsey to join us. Without him I really fear that Sherwood maybe found out to be all hot air, like many Spurs fans warned us.
Dave C…..100% correct mate. Sherwoods sheep might not agree with you though! Point for BurnleyAND Sunderland winning….we are well and truly fucked. Dim, Tim to pick Weimann over Gil again on Tuesday…..pathetic!
He’s Dim, He’s Grim and his real name is Tim Deadwood OUT, Deadwood OUT
i do think that the health and safety executive should make a visit down to bodymoor to find out where all these injuries in the workplace are coming from
It’s simple win on Tues may stay up lose and we’re down draw and we’re down its all about qpr
nothing is ever black and white villa 1996
If villa don’t beat qpr we will deserve to go down. Simple as.
That’s a fair point Steve.
We really should be looking to beat QPR at home.
We’re off to Wembley you miserable sods ffs enjoy the moment.
Well Tuesdays game just got even bigger. Sherwood needs to have a real think about his team selection this time. OUr performances in the last 2 games have been very poor.