[lilcurt]

That was Moyes-eque today. countless cross after cross. This game so desperately needed an extra man in midfield and ETH refused to do it. How can he continue to play Ronaldo, it is baffling.

Who was the alternative to Ronaldo today? In my opinion the only bad decision was playing Donny over Fred, despite that I can see the logic behind it, just didn't come off.

Ronaldo at the moment is a necessary evil. We didn't even have the players available to play a false 9.

For the sake of all, I really do hope we can move Ronnie on in January and sign a striker and RB... Dalot looks tired and games will only come faster post WC.

 

[sglowrider]

You just cant play Ronaldo and DVB together. Its like having a hollowed-point bullet but going backwards.

ETH's faith in DVB will be the death of him.

 

[joedirt87]

Who was the alternative to Ronaldo today? In my opinion the only bad decision was playing Donny over Fred, despite that I can see the logic behind it, just didn't come off.

Ronaldo at the moment is a necessary evil. We didn't even have the players available to play a false 9.

For the sake of all, I really do hope we can move Ronnie on in January and sign a striker and RB... Dalot looks tired and games will only come faster post WC.

Rashford or Elanga up front.

 

[bosnian_red]

The free kick goal is ridiculous looking back. Why didn't we keep complaining until it was fixed? We were so far back, it would've been blocked if we were in the correct location.

 

[croadyman]

I just hope it doesn't take us 5 fecking years like it did for arteta.

The board needs to back ETH with new players.

Once we started getting injuries to key players (Varane, Antony, even Martial) we started to go downhill. Predictable really.

Yankee doodles will restrict spending because all they give a shite about is dividends

 

[croadyman]

You can't go into a game with DVB and Ronaldo it's basically like playing with 9 men and it showed today.

Yeah like we had two red cards wasn't it

 

[Cantonagotmehere]

Sadly DVB is done here. Not sure he can handle the EPL, it was truly strange how nonexistent he was today.

Ronaldo can only be a sub. Play Rashford up there when you have to.

Thought Garnacho showed glimpses even with the team playing shite. Licha is man, love him so much.

 

[sunama]

I just hope it doesn't take us 5 fecking years like it did for arteta.
The board needs to back ETH with new players.

I think it's taken Arteta 3 years, but it will likely take us longer, as we'll keep firing managers and hit the reset button.
We'll keep spending big money (probably more than any other team) and keep losing to teams near the bottom of the league.
Before the game, Villa were sitting on 12 points, which is in the relegation zone - that's an easy 3 points for Villa.

 

[sunama]

We had a better team than Villa did on the pitch.

Debatable. The likes of Lindelof, Dalot, Ronaldo, Garnacho, Van de Beek and De Gea wouldn't improve Villa.

Haha.
You cannot possibly argue that Villa have a team, man for man, as good as us.
If you asked any Villa supporter if they would do a complete swap, they'd be ecstatic!

The problem we have had for several years is that we buy expensive players who play well for about 2-3 months, and then we destroy them.
We then look to buy new players, who we also destroy.
Bruno was the player who we wook longest to destroy. He lasted 18 months, before he also turned to junk.

 

[telstar96]

Have to say it's both bizarre and disappointing to see Ronaldo be made captain for this game. I understand ETH has his hands tied in terms of depth at striker, so playing is unavoidable but giving him the captaincy... Come on, that sets a bad precedent

 

[croadyman]

What has shocked me is that so many said they never saw this result coming today

 

[croadyman]

what are Ronaldo's mates in the press gonna say now?
Hope Keane and Ferdinand are happy

He is so finished, get him out of the club, shocked about the fact he walks out of stadium, is out of squad for one game, comes back and is captain 2-3 weeks later (even though it's just one game) and our teamc can't function with him in it, get rid ASAP

ETH should have played Fred instead of DVB, he can't compete in PL, done nothing for us since arriving and him and Eriksen looks a weak combo in every aspect

Stopped listening to them on Ronaldo

 

[amolbhatia50k]

These are the lessons I hope we've learned from this game

1. Drop Ronaldo. Our first choice strikers should be Martial then Rashford then Ronaldo.
2. Move Rashford to the left since he's in form. He's never been any good on the right.
3. Feels like ive been saying for ages but VDB is rubbish. Just never play him unless its a relatively unimportant match. PL games no fecking. And him and Eriksen with their lack of physical ability is suicide. ETH has to learn from this.
4. In Varanes absence I'd play Maguire over Lindelof.

 

[croadyman]

I know everyone is disappointed and being slightly knee jerk, but we've played far too many matches already, and with minimal rotation.

This was coming for a while now. October schedule was an absolute joke. The most matches we've played in a month in our entire 100+ year history.

We really need to rest players midweek even if it means throwing some of the competitions we're in. I don't even care if we crash out of Europa League if it means we just focus on 4th place.

Yeah totally agree we need to throw out other competitions to focus on 4th place maybe even 3rd if geordies drop off after World Cup.

 

[croadyman]

I hate to say this but a Casemiro, McFred midfield and Erikson as number 10 would of been a better option today.

Yeah exactly what should have happened

 

[Harry190]

Where is Anthony? It's not the same without him

 

[amolbhatia50k]

I hate to say this but a Casemiro, McFred midfield and Erikson as number 10 would of been a better option today.

Definitely. The issue with paying VDB is that he compounds the lack of physicality in the middle and also, he's absolutely terrible.

 

[croadyman]

No point going over the same old ground and calling out the same players who don't take their chance. We are forming a good first team, we are however 6 or 7 players away from being a good squad. Our depth is a million miles away from where it needs to be to compete with the better teams regularly.

What ETH has done to date has been good, but he needs 2 or 3 more windows at least to farm out those not good enough and bring in better quality.

Today has rubber stamped for me that VDB, Ronaldo and Lindelof simply must go and must go soon.

What worries me is that after the summer spend, the board won't give ETH anything in January and we need at least two first teamers - One being a striker!

Yeah they won't give him anything

 

[croadyman]

ETH should have had more protection of the back 4 in this game tbh. I chose Fred instead of VDB for this exact reason. Casemiro and Fred, with Eriksen in the number 8 position would have given us a stronger base against a Villa team who could be fired up and looking to impress the new manager.

Lindelof went wondering almost in the opposition's half chasing his man leaving a gap at the back which was exploted by Bailley.

I also feel the trip to Spain took it out of us today, we were good at times in possession, but Villa's energy and hunger was the difference today.

Ronaldo is getting a lot of stick here, but he is feeding off scraps. No pre-season at this level shows how important it is. He is finally looking fit enough for the level required.

Rashford is getting a lot of phrase here, but he is very inconsistent and goes missing too much.

VDB offered nothing in both games. Bruno was heavily missed today.

Ronaldo deserves the mauling he is taking

 

[Zetrio2002]

Where's Antony and Martial?

I know Bruno is suspended.

Where is Anthony? It's not the same without him

You seem to have spelt wrongly. Which Anthony are you referring to?

 

[blackhawk747]

We played poorly today...no question about it. But I want to point out that the ref had made a low level mistake here. The wall is more than 10 yards in eye vision. The ref has made atleast 2 significant mistakes out of 3 consecutive league matches which directly lead to goals against us. This has to be addressed.

 

[croadyman]

We played poorly today...no question about it. But I want to point out that the ref had made a low level mistake here. The wall is more than 10 yards in eye vision. The ref has made atleast 2 significant mistakes out of 3 consecutive league matches which directly lead to goals against us. This has to be addressed.

Not blaming refs when Ronaldo couldn't give a toss and Donny should never have been signed over Grealish in summer 2020

 

[SAFMUTD]

Who was the alternative to Ronaldo today? In my opinion the only bad decision was playing Donny over Fred, despite that I can see the logic behind it, just didn't come off.

Ronaldo at the moment is a necessary evil. We didn't even have the players available to play a false 9.

For the sake of all, I really do hope we can move Ronnie on in January and sign a striker and RB... Dalot looks tired and games will only come faster post WC.

With how little Cristiano actually contributes, I'd say anyone. Literally anyone. Get Elanga in on the right side and Rashford upfront. Or Pellistri, or anyone really.

Cristiano contributes in absolute nothing, he don't press, don't retain possession, doesn't run, can't even score from freaking open headers. I seriously mean it when I say I would take any starting striker from the premier league over Cristiano. Literally anyone.

 

[croadyman]

With how little Cristiano actually contributes, I'd say anyone. Literally anyone. Get Elanga in on the right side and Rashford upfront. Or Pellistri, or anyone really.

Cristiano contributes in absolute nothing, he don't press, don't retain possession, doesn't run, can't even score from freaking open headers. I seriously mean it when I say I would take any starting striker from the premier league over Cristiano. Literally anyone.

Yeah send him off on World Cup duty asap

 

[Oaencha]

Why are players earning millions every year happy to play like that?

 

[Lentwood]

We had a better team than Villa did on the pitch. And better than Burnley and Brighton. Where is the excuse for that? Tired? Gabriel and Xhaka have played 18 games. More than most of our team except Dalot at 19. And who is this brilliant 15 they have thats better than our back ups? We have an 80 mill England Captain on the bench. A 50 mill right back that should be back soon. Fred a brazil international. And on and on. Our squad should be fit enough and strong enough to beat Villa

I never said anything about tiredness BUT since you mention it, there's provable, demonstrable evidence that teams pick up fewer points after midweek European away games...

Anyway, I wasn't going to mention that. The real answer is a combination of....Villa are a decent side full of Internationals and we were off it, we approached the game wrong, we didn't have the right intensity, the team selection was strange, we were out-worked and out-fought AND we were missing a few key players...put Bruno, Anthony, Sancho and Varane into that side and I think you have far more quality and energy.

The days of turning up to Premier League away grounds and being able to stroll through games and let your class pull you through are over. Plus, arguably there's not so big of a gap between Villa's players and ours that we can afford to be lax like there might once have been.

 

[Lentwood]

With how little Cristiano actually contributes, I'd say anyone. Literally anyone. Get Elanga in on the right side and Rashford upfront. Or Pellistri, or anyone really.

Cristiano contributes in absolute nothing, he don't press, don't retain possession, doesn't run, can't even score from freaking open headers. I seriously mean it when I say I would take any starting striker from the premier league over Cristiano. Literally anyone.

Yeah he is absolutely diabolical. I am sick and tired of being in the position of watching club legends embarrass themselves because our SMT can't make tough decisions.

We saw it with Rooney...he's a far bigger legend of the club than Ronaldo but the fans ended-up turning on him because he was stinking the place out week after week and nobody would make the tough decision.

Again...I have been very impressed with much of what ETH has done but seriously this charade needs to stop. On ability, Ronaldo wouldn't start for any other team. CBs fear pace, mobility, energy, physicality, they'll relish playing against this version of Ronaldo and it's sad. At the absolute best he's a ten-minute impact man when we need a goal. He absolutely must not, under any circumstances, be starting games of football.

 

[tjb]

Yeah he is absolutely diabolical. I am sick and tired of being in the position of watching club legends embarrass themselves because our SMT can't make tough decisions.

We saw it with Rooney...he's a far bigger legend of the club than Ronaldo but the fans ended-up turning on him because he was stinking the place out week after week and nobody would make the tough decision.

Again...I have been very impressed with much of what ETH has done but seriously this charade needs to stop. On ability, Ronaldo wouldn't start for any other team. CBs fear pace, mobility, energy, physicality, they'll relish playing against this version of Ronaldo and it's sad. At the absolute best he's a ten-minute impact man when we need a goal. He absolutely must not, under any circumstances, be starting games of football.

Right now, in our squad its our attack and depth letting us down.
I really think we need to rethink our strategy in terms of purchasing strikers.
In the current market I don't think any striker is worth more than 60m.
In my personal opinion, instead of seeking one striker, rotating between 2 really good strikers puts us in a far better position that Inter or Atletico forcing us to buy players like Lautaro Martinez or Joao Felix for crazy amounts, then having poor depth when they get injured.

That's one weakness we and some other top teams have had over the last few years. A sole striker is a very important role in a team. Watching Ronaldo emphasizes this. The striker would need to lead the press, hold up, make runs, sometimes drop deeper, provide a consistent target for the rest of the team as the focal point and score goals. Poachers don't exist at the top level anymore and as a team, we haven't really planned for the position over the last 10 years outside of Lukaku's purchase.

 

[UpWithRivers]

I never said anything about tiredness BUT since you mention it, there's provable, demonstrable evidence that teams pick up fewer points after midweek European away games...

Anyway, I wasn't going to mention that. The real answer is a combination of....Villa are a decent side full of Internationals and we were off it, we approached the game wrong, we didn't have the right intensity, the team selection was strange, we were out-worked and out-fought AND we were missing a few key players...put Bruno, Anthony, Sancho and Varane into that side and I think you have far more quality and energy.

The days of turning up to Premier League away grounds and being able to stroll through games and let your class pull you through are over. Plus, arguably there's not so big of a gap between Villa's players and ours that we can afford to be lax like there might once have been.

You argued with me for a few hours then said the same thing I said in the first place. Oh well at least we agree now.

 

[Lentwood]

You argued with me for a few hours then said the same thing I said in the first place. Oh well at least we agree now.

I think you must have gotten me mixed up with someone else...sure I only replied once!

 

[Fluctuation0161]

Wow. is this what people think? Ok I am delusional. I actually thought we had the better team. If we have a worse team than Vila then why is everyone surprised we got beaten? And how are we ever going to get top 4 if half our team is a worse team than Villa? Lets just accept we are a 6-10th team then and stop complaining

Our squad needs strengthening. But I personally think the main cause of the defeat was fatigue.

 

[Hernandez - BFA]

A very bad loss, in regards to performance but also given it was a very good opportunity to give us breathing space in the table.

 

[Lentwood]

Haha.
You cannot possibly argue that Villa have a team, man for man, as good as us.
If you asked any Villa supporter if they would do a complete swap, they'd be ecstatic!

The problem we have had for several years is that we buy expensive players who play well for about 2-3 months, and then we destroy them.
We then look to buy new players, who we also destroy.
Bruno was the player who we wook longest to destroy. He lasted 18 months, before he also turned to junk.

@Leftback99 has a point though. Of course, our strongest XI is much better than Villa's strongest XI but once we start dipping into the squad it geta closer.

For a start, Villa have arguably got two better CFs than Ronaldo. DvdB wouldn't get in their team. It's close between Mings and Lindelof. It's close between Rashford as a RW and Leon Bailey. It's close (as an effective CM duo) between Luiz and McGinn and Eriksen and Casemiro. Dalot vs Cash is close. Martinez vs DDG is close. Garnacho might end up a world-beater but right now, he's just a kid.

So my point is, we can't really trot out the "we have a better team" line because its not as clearcut as it was when we had the likes of Rio, Vidic, Scholes, Rooney, RvP, Carrick, Giggs, (prime) Ronaldo etc...

Nowadays a hardworking Villa side vs our side with no intensity and missing key players is a coin-flip

 

[Marwood]

You just cant play Ronaldo and DVB together. Its like having a hollowed-point bullet but going backwards.

ETH's faith in DVB will be the death of him.

He's just played his first two games and it's November.

And only because we've a bunch of injuries.

It's hardly a show of faith.

 

[Lentwood]

Stopped listening to them on Ronaldo

Its embarassing listening to "straight-talking Roy Keane" lick Ronaldo's boots

 

[Telsim]

I woke up still pissed off, which doesn't usually happen. Humiliating performance. Could have been well ahead of Liverpool and Chelsea, and level with Spurs. But no. I bet the shitters who were on the pitch yesterday couldn’t care any less about any of that. Gutless and pathetic. Erik ten Hag, too - woeful lineup and subs. I can't wait for the World Cup to start now, so I don't have to watch this dross.

 

[stevoc]

Yeah like we had two red cards wasn't it

Yep, and I don't blame Erik for trying it as we're short with injuries but the fact we persevered with what clearly wasn't working for over an hour is baffling.

DVB is done he needs to go in January and we need to buy a striker and only use Ronaldo off the bench if he stays.

 

[#07]

 

[padzilla]

Does anyone else think De Gea was beaten too easily on the free-kick?

 

[Pogue Mahone]

Does anyone else think De Gea was beaten too easily on the free-kick?

Yes. Me. He was close to that side of the goal to begin with. And it wasn’t struck with any power. Considering shot stopping is his greatest strength it was disappointing he couldn’t get a hand to it.