That’s right, your eyes are not deceiving you and this is a “post" match thread.
In the absence of the Dungeon Master’s excellent match ratings thread an opportunity to reflect on the Aston Villa game. I admire DM’s integrity in not creating a ratings article for matches he doesn’t attend, but we miss the opportunity to have a good old debate.
So without compunction I now offer my ratings for the Aston Villa game, which are all shamelessly based on what I witnessed via. the medium of Sky Sports. If anyone was actually at the game then please tell me that these are all wrong and supply some correct ones:
Schmeichel: Is probably an underrated part of our team. Already a PL winner and someone who rarely makes mistakes. Another game when he did most things right, but wasn’t really called upon to do too much – 6.5
Chilwell: Straight back into the side after Fuchs more than capably filled in for him in the last game. A much quieter game than Ricardo, but all round game was pretty solid – 6.5
Soyuncu – Another fine game from CS. One thing I noticed in this game is his anticipation of danger. He’s always bombing around to intervene. Whilst Jonny Evans uses his brain to get into the right position to intervene, CS uses his pace to get there first. A good balance between the two and now unarguably a notch up on Maguire – 7.5
Evans – See Soyuncu, but reads the game like a true professional. Rarely makes a mistake and was even on hand to score a goal and made the game safe – 8.000(rec)
Ricardo – Important role for the full backs in the diamond formation as the full backs needed to create width. Nobody did that better than RP and he was involved in the game throughout. Was unlucky to be booked when the referee was falling for Villa’s theatrics and also could have been injured by a reckless tackle. A fine all round game and my choice (narrowly) for MoTM – 8.5
Praet – Has deserved a start after his consistent cameos and it was interesting to watch him for 90 minutes. A very neat and tidy player in the Andy King mould . Always looking for the ball to feed the forwards and has the vision and ability to do it consistently. A solid, if not eye catching, display – 7.0
N’didi – Has a clear role under Brendan and seems to be thriving without having the confusion of another deep CDM next to him. Had his worst season last year under Puel, but is now back to his best. He’s suddenly found a range of passing to add to his all round game – 8.0
Tielemans – Probably the least influential of the midfielders, but still has moments of quality in possession – 6.5
Maddison – At the top point of the diamond and was in the game throughout. If his flicks and passing had come off and he’d scored from his chance you might be looking at a 10/10 – but unfortunately his passes were narrowly intercepted and his shot went just wide. A mixed bag – 7.0
Iheanacho – Who is this new player in a Leicester shirt? Driven, direct, decisive …. and something else beginning with ‘d’. A revelation in his last couple of games. Another goal and assist and caused a problem for Villa throughout – 8.0
Vardy – He just keeps on going. Even when he scuffed his shot he still had the presence of mind to carry on and put the ball in the net. The run continues and another two goals. What a player – 8.5
As for Villa ….. er ……
….. who cares?
And | probably don’t need to wait for Thorney to tell me the referee was pretty poor
Aston Villa v Leicester POST match
posted on 9/12/19
comment by The_Dungeon_Master (U4830)
posted 9 minutes ago
"It's actually quite rare that I copy and paste the same comment, but not completely unknown. I'll have to be more careful with you stalking me."
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Damn right you will.
"That doesn't sound like me at all."
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I still remember the effort I went to trying to mount an impassioned defence without rising to anything being thrown my way on that thread, only to see something from "Jobyfox" and wondering whether it was the same one from 606. I've wondered for years to be honest.
YOU DID NOT HELP.
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Wow! How long can you actually hold a grudge for?
No doubt you'll throw this back in my face in any future dispute.
Hang on ..... are you actually my Mrs?
posted on 9/12/19
Joby, Think Oliver is probably best of a poor lot of prem refs.Dont want to disappoint you, so this wasnt one of his better games, too lenient , especially with Grealish!!
Great team performance all round, amazing to think at nearly half way through season we have twice as many points as Arsenal.
Wonderful manager. Wonderful season.
Anyone seen Clueless Claudes criticism of Vardy in Mail over the weekend?.Doesnt even realise that he would be doing himself more credit if he just praised his old team and left it at that.
Dreadful manager.
posted on 9/12/19
Joby - It's done now. Mystery solved. All in the past.
...
...
Although I do reserve the right to take revenge against you at an as-yet undetermined future point of my choosing.
posted on 9/12/19
Thorney,
If the referee should air on one side or the other I would generally choose leniency. This game, like the Watford game, was characterised by players throwing themselves to the ground at the slightest touch knowing that they would get some sort of decision. Grealish was the worst culprit, but there were others. Let’s face it Maddison knows how to fall over. To make matters worse they have failed to make decisions when the tackles have been bad and waved the yellow card around for innocuous challenges and missing the ones where a card was needed.
These few games have seen us come up against inferior opposition who have pushed, pulled and dived when they have had the opportunity. It’s an understandable tactic to put us off from controlling the game, but less possible with strong, consistent refereeing. We’ve been somewhat fortunate that a poor refereeing decision hasn’t decided the outcome of these last few games. You could almost see it coming.
posted on 9/12/19
Nice to see all the half points Joby, gives the players an incentive to try and round them Up Next match.
posted on 9/12/19
^
Disagree. It'll just make them mentally tired as they have to calculate what they've scored out of 20.
posted on 9/12/19
Yeah I fink harf points r stoopid
posted on 9/12/19
A few points to pick up on here.
1. Good use of the half point system
2. Praet was clearly MOTM, and anyone who argues otherwise is a moron. Pereira, Soyuncu, Evans and Vardy make solid claims though.
3. When do we start discussing Tielemans’ drop in form? He’s been out of sorts for quite a few games now in multiple different formations. He still oozes class, but I don’t see him influencing games like he can.
4. The diamond. Ahhhhh, the diamond. I disagree with those who say it worked “well” yesterday. I like the change, and I like that we won with it, but there were real issues with our ability to defend. Villa could and should have scored 3 goals. We can’t go away from him and expect to score 4 to win. It’s great we have another option but I would not want us to play that against a team that uses width. However, great to see we have a genuine plan B AND C! Wow. Attacking wise it was exciting, but I feel we created more chances and looked a better, more balanced team when we went back to 4-1-4-1.
5. Nacho. What credit Rodger and Ian should both be given for this return to form. Great to see his link up play with Vardy too.
5.5. How dare you compare Praet to Andy King Joby. Yes he may go on to be considered as big as Andy over time, but right now I think Mancini or Cantona is a better comparison.
All things said, enjoyed your post match report and balls to dare post it when not watching live. For that reason I give your report a score 0.5 higher than Dunges.
posted on 9/12/19
In other news, I have to hold my hands up and admit I got Soyuncu totally wrong. I said if we were to rely on him as first choice we’d be in trouble.....
..... what I didn’t add but meant was that we’d be in trouble of winning the league. I’m sure you all worked that out though.
posted on 9/12/19
comment by Merseysidefox (U4842)
posted 4 hours, 12 minutes ago
In other news, I have to hold my hands up and admit I got Soyuncu totally wrong. I said if we were to rely on him as first choice we’d be in trouble.....
..... what I didn’t add but meant was that we’d be in trouble of winning the league. I’m sure you all worked that out though.
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To be fair you did say our new Centre Back signing was a world beater.
But I’m sure you said his name was Benkovic and not Söyüncü.