The post will come later, hopefully.
Immediate thoughts.
Invincibles? More like untouchables, given the amount of frees they were given. How easy do they go down?
I’d suggest it’s nearly as much as Carra does on any of the top 6 clubs. What a tool he is.
Very importantly, they had two penalty shouts and they weren’t given.
Right, it’s okay, I’m back to finish my thoughts.
Generally, after a home game, the SIL, my daughter and the grandsons come round and we discuss the game. (It’s a good excuse for a drink, really) and that’s why I didn’t finish the post last night.
And there is one point that was interesting. My first comment was that I thought the crowd was a bit subdued, probably because of nerves?
He assured me that it was every bit as loud as Wednesday night and an excellent atmosphere. “Just like going back to the eighties” was his actual reply. It surprised me, but it was nice to hear. I much prefer how Amazon set their sound up, but hey ho.
The universal opinion was that the players are obviously shot, both physically and mentally and it’s why I’m putting this victory maybe on a par with the Man City one, albeit for different reasons. If you were to try and convince me that this was actually the better performance, purely because the lads managed to somehow keep going and hold on against the team that were top of the table, you wouldn’t hear any argument from me.
I was asking for fresh legs, as you could see we were struggling with the pace of the game, even though I didn’t think it was quick. But it wasn’t just that; there was a lack of zip to our passing and it was getting us into more trouble, purely because we were constantly giving the ball away at one stage.
Fortunately, the lord Emery was all over it and saw it too. Diaby came on at half time and I suspect it was because Bailey was feeling a bit of an injury, which was perhaps convenient, because he’ll have no reason to complain about being subbed.
Ramsey came on, followed by Cash, Dendoncker and Moreno and I thought it didn’t take long to show the benefits of an injection of fresh legs.
I think it was also fairly obvious that Arsenal looked jaded too. Not as much as our lads and the extra day’s rest had no doubt helped them, but even so, I didn’t think they looked fully on it. The Luton game took a fair bit out of them, I think.
Not that I’m making any excuses for them.
The penalties were correctly not given and that’s an area where I like to think I can always give a fair honest opinion, even if it goes against us. I’m not going to discuss why they weren’t given as it’s irrelevent. Not that Arsenal fans in the comments I’ve read elsewhere agree. To pretty much a man, they think every decision went against them and there’s a massive conspiracy to do the club down.
Er, tin foil hat alert lads! Every club outside the “Big 6” has been thinking the total opposite for decades!
A lot of them also think they were fouled off the park too.
Fortunately, many also agreed with me that they’re just a diving bunch of out and out cheats, in my opinion and it’s disgusting. I read a comment that Jesus said he “felt a touch on the back of my leg”. No doubt he’s using that to justify the fact that he went down and should have been given it.
Listen, my friend. A touch on the leg is not a reason for a foul to be given. Football is still supposed to be a contact sport and it’s this sort of view that is ruining the game. Grow a pair, get up and crack on with the game.
Rant over.
What was also interesting in the dozens of comments that I’ve read, was that many actually thought we were the better side, mostly because of the way we controlled the game and mostly stopped them playing.
It’s an interesting view, but I don’t think I could go that far. Arsenal had a lot more possession and while I’m a big exponent of the “possession means nothing” theory, it did mean I thought they dominated the game and looked the bigger threat, on balance.
Still, possession doesn’t win games. Goals do and ours was excellent.
The ball from Tielemens to Bailey, then his good work in supplying McGinn, who finished with great Dalglish-like aplomb.
Something came out of McGinn’s post match interview which says it all about Emery and his coaching team’s ability, I thought. McGinn said that normally he would have hit that with his right foot, but he’d been told it’s better to turn and hit it with his left, which is what he did.
I think we’re in a very good place now and it’s not just because we’re sat third in the league and two points behind the leaders, not far off the halfway mark.
We’re also equal top in the last 5 games current form table too, with our four wins and a draw only equalled by Liverpool and Bournemouth. As has been mentioned, our draw against them looks a lot better than I thought at the time.
15 games on the trot at home, a new record for the club. We’re just breaking them all the time it seems. I’m sure we broke one for Arsenal last night too, but I can’t think what it was.
Whatever, we can’t afford to dwell and it’s onto the next game (I think Emery’s even rubbing off on me too) which is Mostar on Thursday.
I wouldn’t normally encourage it, but having seen the lads so drained last night, the manager is going to have to seriously change it up.
But that’s for Thursday.
I’m still not at a stage where I fully expect us to win every game, but I’m getting there a little bit more every time.
UTV!
Comments
107 responses to “Villa 1 – 0 Arsenal; Shattered, but the lads dug it out.”
Stunned again.
I thought the ref had an excellent game…
For the Goooners.
Phew!
A good performance and another tour de force from UE. He obviously recognised the lads were jaded (mentally more than physically as the passing showed) and played to it.
Separatly, Bournemouth’s last two games puts a different perspective on our 2-2 result.
Good weekend to all UTV
Watched it in an Arsenal pub. No quarter given.
We are Aston Villa FC!!!!
I reckon we gave them a half, but of greater interest Bum Bum, how did you get out of the pub?
I thought when Dendoncker came on it would be Stevenage 2.0 and after his first short pass it nearly was. That scraping noise towards the end was either the bottom of the barrel or Arteta’s blunt shaver.
Head held high. Fk the Gooners, but showed them some respect and gambled they showed the same…
Drew against Bournemouth. Beat Citeh and Arse. Whouda thunk it?????
BFR. 96 hours…What a record…
Digne and Luiz out for the game away to Brentford, which will be tough.
Shame we don’t have anyone decent to bring on in their place…
Oh, Moreno and Ramsey!!!!! Silly me!!!! 😁😁😁
Luiz and Digne will certainly benefit from a few days rest…
Spuds humiliating the BarCodes today too. Chelsea lost again. ManU being utterly hilarious. Blose losing. What a weekend!!!
Ian Wright on MOTD tonight… I wonder how he will react to the Havertz handball and the penalty decision! 🤣🤣
Badly but who gives a shite 😂
Separately
Wow again! Toppled last seasons 1st and 2nd (by a country mile) in 3 days! What a team performance again. You can clearly tell we were fucked throughout the 2nd half so thankfully we can rest some key players in midweek (I think we’ve practically already won the group?) and hopefully get players fresh for a tough away game with a couple of suspensions at Brentford. I really expected the Jesus and Luiz decision to go Arsenal’s way but thankfully Jesus theatrics cost them a pen even if it would have been soft. We go marching on and long may this fun ride continue!
I’m exhausted just watching that. Now we need to start really putting away performances into a similar run….
Give Tony Adams his due, waxing lyrical about our defensive performance.
(Unlike Jamie Headnap on SKY)
Badger – you got it right about Carragher – cannot stand the whinging scouser.
Awful.
Truly f**cing awful.
Avoid sky coverage like the plague if at all possible.
What the manager and these players have achieved this week is beyond expectations, beyond understanding and beyond our wildest dreams. Don’t take any of this for granted because even the very best teams would have to go some to do what the Villa have done in the last 96 hours. Unbelievable. Congratulations to all concerned. That’s all I can say at the moment. Trying to process it all! Magnificent. 👏👏👏 🫶
Wow! 15 Premier League wins on the trot. That one was probably the most stressful win though. I felt like I had run a marathon when the final whistle blew. My heart rate has just about returned to normal. We had to dig in throughout with Carlos and Torres outstanding.
All hail Unai Emery!
I’ve just heard a rumour Canadian Pete’s head exploded at the full time whistle…🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣
Bum bum, in this here arsenal pub did you accidentally bump into anyone at the bar and they then proceeded to throw themselves to floor and roll around for 5 minutes in order to get you your ticket?
Just wondering mate 😁
Funnily enough Ron, they did! And Arteta ran around the boozer with his arms in the air, shouting at everyone about the injustice until the Landlady kicked him out for being a tw@t…What a weird night!!!
Just like London buses. You wait ninety two years for a 14, and right behind it is a 15 with the conductor sitting upstairs.
I feared for us in the second half as some are our players looked like they were treading water. However, Emery’s quick substitutions gave us some legs and we started to look better.
We rode our luck a little but the cohesiveness of the back line made the three points ours. We caught their forwards offside so many times and you can see a real understanding developing in our defenders which, going forward, is going to be crucial.
We didn’t dominate the game as we did against Citeh but it was still an Emery master class for me.
I’ve added some more of my thoughts to the post chaps 🙂
Good (additional) post Badger which is very balanced.
I’m over the moon with the win but I wouldn’t have felt cheated if it had been a draw – well, actually I would, but the point I’m trying to make is that the game was very even. That’s a massive plus for us particularly as before yesterday we’ve only won 2 of the last 21 games against Arse at VP.
Watched Villa on MOTD – Wright was moaning and shaking his head on the non – penalty decision. What would his opinion have been if it had been at the other end? His comments were that biased I’m surprised he wasn’t wearing his Arsenal shirt.
We’re still flying under the radar; many are not seeing us as ‘serious’ players – the Sky 6 hate anyone breaking into their party – but what they’re not taking into account is the consistency of Villa’s performances over the last 12 months. This is no flash in the pan.
I don’t think we can win the title (this season) because ultimately we don’t (yet) have a big enough squad. I hope we’ll win something this season and not unreasonable now to target a top 4 spot though.
UTV
Very good summary, Badger.
Villa made no mistakes against Citeh, but our play was littered with them yesterday. I can see why Gooners rate Salida, Watkins got little change out of him. Watkins also has some work to do on killing a long fast pass to his feet, twice that old gag ‘he traps it further than I can kick it’ came to mind as he gave the ball away. Fortunately Arsenal were nervous, snatching at chances as if it might be the only one they got. El Mundo#1 caught anything hit on target.
I watched the Villa feed ,and missed Carragher, thank goodness. The Scouse accent lends itself to whinging.
Let’s face it, both sides looked pretty knackered and error-prone yesterday. Nobody in their right mind would have chosen to play that game just 72 hours after the extraordinary contest against Citeh.
I’d say that one ‘bonus’ point from yesterday for us was that we’d actually had 24 hours fewer to recover than had Arsenal, which makes the result even better.
Loving every minute but we are all going to need “calming substances” before long. Maybe I missed it but it needs to be said that we are blessed with a great background crew. From free kicks and corners, players standing offside, numerous formations for corners we have teams wondering what next? But in my opinion our greatest assest is our medical and physio people. They are returning players from injuries, fully recovered, and able to blend into the team., In a lot of cases they are returning to a very different team than the one they left but they adapt quickly, as shown with Carlos, Moreno, Dignes, Kamara and Ramsay. Sadly that list highlights how bad it was for Ming and Buendia and how difficult it must be for them wonder if they will ever be strong enough to get back into the team.
You make an interesting point about Mings & Buendia. If/when they get back to full fitness they’ll be trying to get into a team which has moved on quite dramatically just in the last three months.
If Emery and his back-room coaches manage to keep developing the existing squad even further during the 2nd half of the season, it’ll become even harder for either of them to slip back into match-day squads.
Unless a huge upgrade on Zaniolo comes in (which would be ideal in January), Buendia would be welcomed back with open arms. Zaniolo couldn’t unlock his garage door, never mind a PL defence. As for Mings, strength in depth is key when competing on all fronts! A place for him, too. Although first choice is a long way back!
BFR, just look at how Tielemans and Carlos have progressed since the start of the season, to name only two.
They, like almost all of the rest of the squad have made a significant step-up . Not far off ‘elite’ level IMO.
And in itself that raises interesting questions about what transfer business Villa are planning for January; the sort of players who can actually improve the team are going to be even harder to find (not to mention more expensive) than they were in the summer.
Good summing up Badger.
Watching the game on alternate to sky, the pundits were Tony Adams and Shea Given.
Mr Adams couldn’t praise villa’s defensive formation highly enough, how disciplined and organised we were.
He even, tongue in cheek said “1-0 to Villa.” 😂
Random comment: Fulham are on fire since we dispatched them with minimum fuss. 3 out of 4 wins including back-to-back 5-0s, and should have won at Anfield. We’re disposing of some very good teams.
Not to piss on the parade, but there are numerous sub-plots coming up versus the Blades in our next home game: Archer’s return is one, but Wilder’s return is more significant and means United will be a totally different animal and this will be a test again. Most significantly, will they be out for revenge for the phantom goal that sent them down and kept Villa up?! I hope someone is briefing Unai on all this, as the festive results do throw in some random shockers! An early warning.
It is a good point BFR, but if you were offered a choice of a home match against a team we won’t have met once by the date of our next home game – there are only two to choose from. Sheffield United or Manchester United. Despite their results this weekend I would prefer the rusty blades.
Very good point.
Plus we haven’t demonstrated that we can get past these banana skin games intact.
If we want to really challenge, we need to beat the lesser teams and improve our away record.
I think that’s why, while I have a lot more belief, I’m not expectant.
Actually our recent record against Sheff U. (I.e. in the EPL) has been pretty poor.
Football throws up some very unexpected results so I see the home game against United as a real risk to our 15 match winning run. Hope I’m wrong but they will be a different proposition under Wilder.
Still, if we are genuine top 4 contenders these are the games we have to win and Emery, it seems, is totally uninterested in past results or even past sequences.
So, taking a leaf out of Mr. Emery’s book I’m just going to concentrate on the Mostar game. Emery will go for a win, even though we only need a draw, but will have to rotate although Luiz and Digne can play a full part as they are banned for the Brentford game.
I fancy us to win even with a ‘weakened’ (should I say rotated) starting eleven.
OLL. I honestly think I’d prefer to play Man U.
I think they really are junk and still think Ten Hag will get sacked soon.
“The Game”, is the Monday football supplement in The Times, and today its two centre pages are about Aston Villa, not Man Utd. The article concentrates on Villa’s highly organised offside trap which is not combined with a high press. A further topic is Emery sitting down to allow the one coach standing in the technical area to be McPhee when Villa have a set piece.
‘Organised’ is the opposite of what United are right now, and IMO they won’t be so long as they have 3 players as selfish and moody as Martial, Fernandes and Rashford into which to instil a team ethos. Maguire has been able to dominate in the air clubs with one target man. Bournemouth had three. Our draw at Bournemouth looks better now. Mings & Tielemans were Villa’s players with an attitude problem, but Tielemans has now bought into the team role and improved his performance.
Just been listening the Claret & Blue podcast and the faithfuls new name for John McGinn???
Brave – Arse 😂
Looking forward to a Happy New Year. Next games are Brentford (A), Sheff Utd (H), Man Ure (A) and Burnley (H). All winnable matches.
Brentford are without Mbeumo and, even under Wilder, Sheffield are eminently beatable as are Man Ure (who will probably take a bashing tonight) while Burnley are still a bit too naive for the PL.
Ten points out of that lot and I’ll be popping a cork or two to celebrate.
Blimey, I’d definitely take that.
The slightly odd part is that I totally think it’s possible.
I guarantee we’ll lost at least one of those. Not being negative – just the law of averages!
One for the oldies. Do you remember the Eagle comic and the front page strip of Dan Dare? I was watching Manure sleep walking to defeat against Bayern, which featured several minutes of Ten Hag’s oddly-shaped skull. Who or what does it remind me of? The answer suddenly came to me – the Mekon.
I do indeed OLL; used to be delivered weekly along with The Beano – and as I was reading your post the Mekon came to mind as you posed the question.
Was life simpler then?
Simpler yes, because there was much less choice. Today’s lonely youngsters may have a full collection of age-appropriate experiences, and yet nothing in common with a contemporary they meet because the two have different online experiences and cannot discuss them.
The Mekon / Tan Hag
He was created by scientific experimentation?
Maybe?
Engineered for very high intelligence?
A bit problematic.
As such he had a swollen head containing his massive brain.
Well if the cap fits 😂
I think the reign of Ten Hag is over now, what a humiliation this season been for Man utd, now they might understand the pain we have been through. On a serious note I see that on the death of them young lads in Wales one was a Villa fan ,such a young lost too their family and my heart felt sympathy too all the families god rest their sole’s rest in peace lads.
That was a bloody terrible accident wasn’t it, Bill. And Benjamin Zephania too. He lived by me. I thought it was nonsense until i bumped into him in the local garden centre! I’d have gone over for a chat but he was on his phone.
More of a reason to celebrate our beloved clubs current form!!!!
I think maybe Ten Haag has been found out. He’s not the Messiah. Just a very naughty boy!!! ManU are deluded enough to approach Villa and ask for our Manager, all our staff and squad! Lol!!!!
Bit concerned about the Brentford game. That’s gonna be tough and a real old school scrap.
Bum Bum. It would be simpler for Jim Ratcliffe if he offered to buy Villa instead of United. He then gets a complete package that works, no leeches and no leaking roof.
I really don’t understand what Ratcliffe is doing buying 25% of the club; given the present owners’ track record, they’ll take the money and say ‘thanks’ – but are hardly likely to let him run it his own way.
Still, hope nothing changes before we play them in a couple of weeks; we don’t want a ‘new manager bounce’ there just yet…
A man who, it seems, likes power and position and, no doubt, he’ll see ways of leveraging his money – maybe he foresees a takeover by a Middle Eastern State?
I doubt it’s for love of the game or United for that matter
Personally, I wouldn’t want him anywhere within a 1,000 miles of VP.
What odds United to be relegated by the end of the decade? Stranger things…
Who is this Oscar Gloukh we’ve been linked with???