Villa H Sat 10 Aug 17:30 BST

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sudoku said:
Great post. Toby tweeted that the fans kept the team going and watching my stream you could hear the noise. The comms even stopped talking so as to just let the TV audience listen. Fantastic!
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Toby's not wrong. From N'Dombele's goal onwards we had 23 minutes-worth of sheer incredible atmosphere. Not just noise - it was emotional atmosphere and kinship of the highest order. No player could have failed to be swept along on that tide of support. They'll be looking forward to Newcastle.
The Villa morons (because that's how they behaved throughout) shrank visibly after the equaliser and by the end of the game they were TINY. Their moment in the sun had shrivelled them into small, empty husks which were swept away on the breeze. Just what they deserved - ugly bunch.

Well done to Levy and the stadium designers. It's delivering in spades and repaying the investment already.
 
chubbs said:
TRAVEL
Bad luck on the travel mate. When I got to Cheshunt ticket office I discovered that WHL station was closed & tried to get onto the forum to warn people, but I couldn't make my phone work, so my attempt failed.
Used Northumberland Park station instead and got drenched, on the way to the ground, in the one & only major rain shower of the day lol. Luckily it was warm and we dried off in the cafe.
See you at the Dispensary next time!

SISSOKO & WINKS
From my position, behind the goal in the North (Park Lane) stand, we saw a great deal of close-up Sissoko throughout the first half. He was constantly linking up with the amazing KWP, working hard for the team and attempting to put ball after ball into the box. I rated his performance highly. He was clearly being asked to do something different and he was working his bollocks off to do it. Can't understand the nobs on here who seem to be unaware of this fact. Then, when his role changed in the 2nd half, back to a more central position, he was good too.
I could also see Winks from my position, who remained pretty central, had loads of opportunities to break through the middle (I could see them with my own eyes), but he chose to dither on the ball and then pass across the pitch. Statistically, these passes may have gone forwards, but none of them were penetrating passes and there were no forward runs from him to split the defence. We had to wait for Eriksen's arrival for either of these things to happen.
People who saw the game on TV may have been less aware of these facts (they're facts, not just my opinions for once). I can take the criticisms with a pinch of salt, because I was there and I know what happened. Sissoko was an asset to the team yesterday - Winks less so.
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I’m also behind the goal in North - 420 - let’s catch up next time.
 
Sissoko changed the game.

That magnificent foil to miss from a few yards with only keeper to beat, sending the ball out for a throw in, so as to allow our new man Nnnn"dombele to score, was sheer brilliance. Love the man..

:pochbye:
 
TheNewSpursy said:
Just finished watching the match as I was stuck at work all day with no internet.

Thought overall we looked good. Great to see Tanguy get the opening goal, and of course Harry adding a couple of his own was nice. We still struggled to find the back of the goal for a long time, we had plenty of opportunities though.

Glad we dodged that Grealish bullet last season though, I swear he had on makeup and that terrible cuntish haircut... :avbnaa:
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He's definitely their driving force and he started well enough. But I feel he would have just been a good squad player for us, and not what is needed if we are 'stepping up'.
 
chubbs said:
TRAVEL
Bad luck on the travel mate. When I got to Cheshunt ticket office I discovered that WHL station was closed & tried to get onto the forum to warn people, but I couldn't make my phone work, so my attempt failed.
Used Northumberland Park station instead and got drenched, on the way to the ground, in the one & only major rain shower of the day lol. Luckily it was warm and we dried off in the cafe.
See you at the Dispensary next time!

SISSOKO & WINKS
From my position, behind the goal in the North (Park Lane) stand, we saw a great deal of close-up Sissoko throughout the first half. He was constantly linking up with the amazing KWP, working hard for the team and attempting to put ball after ball into the box. I rated his performance highly. He was clearly being asked to do something different and he was working his bollocks off to do it. Can't understand the nobs on here who seem to be unaware of this fact. Then, when his role changed in the 2nd half, back to a more central position, he was good too.
I could also see Winks from my position, who remained pretty central, had loads of opportunities to break through the middle (I could see them with my own eyes), but he chose to dither on the ball and then pass across the pitch. Statistically, these passes may have gone forwards, but none of them were penetrating passes and there were no forward runs from him to split the defence. We had to wait for Eriksen's arrival for either of these things to happen.
People who saw the game on TV may have been less aware of these facts (they're facts, not just my opinions for once). I can take the criticisms with a pinch of salt, because I was there and I know what happened. Sissoko was an asset to the team yesterday - Winks less so.
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I counted 4-6 aggressive forward looking passes from Winks. A couple lofted balls to Kane and some really nice zipped passes up the pitch. I think his style isnt for some football fans cause they see the high involvement, but not the stats to back it up.

I love his ability though. There was one play that exemplifies his ability to me and that is a header from KwP that he gathered off his chest, took under control with a player breathing down his back and recycled the ball safely. Not flashy, but something he is just so good at. Plus the bottom of a diamond was not where Eriksen played. The bottom of the diamond is to do what Winks did, which is slide the ball around to the edges of the pitch and vertically when it opens up. He could be more aggressive though in those middle channel balls. Something I think skipp is a bit better at.

When he went out Ndombele took his place, we had a player that was looking to play far more 1-2s, which helped our aggressiveness as a team.

It will be interesting to see how Poch builds his best team. I for one think it is with more Winks and less Sissoko, especially against sides that are parking the bus.
 
chubbs said:
Yes - he was. ineffective. Had loads of opportunities to run at Villa, but seemed to be scared to, so passed sideways instead. I'd go so far as to say he was a waste of space, hence Poch replacing him with Eriksen, thank goodness. The game changed from that moment on.
Sissoko, on the other hand, tried to make an impact every time he got the ball.
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Diamond. Winks sits. KwP, Rose push high. Sissoko and Ndombele fill behind the high wingbacks. If winks pushes, he needs one of Sissoko and Ndombele to drop back. I really think Poch wants him to play conservative and get the opposition moving sideways so that his creative mates can create. I would have loved to see him with Eriksen instead of Sissoko. But I do agree with other posters that his ankle is sore and he is probably being protected for city.
 
bus-conductor said:
Just realised in those line-ups I'd mentally already got Eriksen leaving. I honestly think with two 8's like ND and LC we almost could evolve into a different beast without Eriksen - and I say that as one of his biggest fans - but if he stays I guess you push him into one of the wide forward roles, and give him more license to drift maybe.

The thing is, with ND and LC you will have two 8's that can play the kind of incisive passes from midfield that Eriksen can, both have vision and the technical ability to play them. I think we have to evolve into something different because chances are Eriksen goes sooner or later anyway.
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Hmmm, where have I heard this sentiment before? Surely there are laws against this. Hey RESPECT THE COCK RESPECT THE COCK we got another one.
 
Based on what we went for yesterday and who I think would make out strongest 18 man matchday squads we had 12/13 of our 18 not where I'd rank them either on the pitch from the off or on the bench:

Lloris- Lloris
Walker-Peters- Aurier
Alderweireld- Alderweireld
Sanchez- Vertonghen
Rose- Rose
Winks- Winks
Ndombele- Ndombele
Sissoko- Eriksen
Lamela- Lo Celso
Lucas- Son
Kane- Kane

Gazzaniga- Gazzaniga
Aurier- Foyth/ Walker-Peters
Dier- Dier
Wanyama- Sanchez
Nkoudou- Davies/ Sessegnon
Skipp- Lamela/ Dele
Eriksen- Lucas

That's a fair bit of disruption with no first choice and arguably second choice RB available, no DES from our DESK options, no Sessegnon as well so in theory we had 12/13 less options for whatever reason be it suspension, injury or management selection reasons unavailable to us from the off and off the bench.

5 of our strongest starting XI weren't available yesterday. Take that out of any team and they'd struggle. All in all it was a ropey performance void of tempo, patience and rhythm but with so many first team starters out and so little options from the bench, after going 1-0 down from a counter stemming from a corner to us I think we ended up doing just fine for the circumstances.

With so many bits altering our usual strength, the only thing that mattered was 3 points. I still can't figure out how we didn't get that VAR penalty for handball though.
 
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chubbs said:
Toby's not wrong. From N'Dombele's goal onwards we had 23 minutes-worth of sheer incredible atmosphere. Not just noise - it was emotional atmosphere and kinship of the highest order. No player could have failed to be swept along on that tide of support. They'll be looking forward to Newcastle.
The Villa morons (because that's how they behaved throughout) shrank visibly after the equaliser and by the end of the game they were TINY. Their moment in the sun had shrivelled them into small, empty husks which were swept away on the breeze. Just what they deserved - ugly bunch.

Well done to Levy and the stadium designers. It's delivering in spades and repaying the investment already.
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The acoustics of the stadium are bang on. Credit to Villa fans in terms of noise, but obviously you would expect them to be loud. I was surprised how many of them left when we scored our second. I thought they would stay and applaud their teams efforts. A fair few of their fans spent most of the game looking the wrong way back at us. A very gobby set of fans.
Reading their forum, I am shocked by their attitude. There is an expectation that they should be competing with us in terms of performance. Get real villa fans, on another day that could have been 6-0.
Stand out performances for me: Kane, KWP, Winks, Rose.
I think Ndombele had a mixed debut. Firstly, he is clearly quality. He grew in to the game and his goal gave him confidence after he had lost the ball a few times. I thought he didn't look as fit as the rest of our players - obviously this will come. Still he finished the game bossing the midfield so very exciting times.
A mention about Skipp's few minutes, the kid is class.
 
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