Reposting from the Pre-match thread.
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@Halmeister
Alisson : 2 - Probably one of the worst matches he's played for us. He had very very little to do (I think Villa had 4 shots 0 on target) but still contrived to mess up 3 times that we were lucky to escape from. However a great time to play so poorly, we still won and didn't concede.
Robbo : 8 - Up and down that left side like a yoyo. Bundles of energy and no little skill. He could have been a little more confident in front of goal but some of his interplay with Mane ripped Villa apart only for the final pass or recipient to fail to capitalise.
VvD : 6 - Far from at his best and whereas can normally be relied upon to make the correct decision every time, on occasion he clearly didn't yesterday. Maybe should have scored too - free header from 6-7m straight at the keeper, who reacted well but it was at the perfect height and position for him to save.
Matip : 7.5 - Was strong in defence against the very tricky Watkins and Ramsey who both played well with little possession. His now trademark runs were awesome
TAA : 7 - Lots of crosses, corners and interplay with Mo & Ox. but with little end result. Missed a couple of half chances himself. Put in a couple of superb crosses (one from a corner) that on another day would have resulted in a goal.
Fabinho : 7 - Not at his most fluent, in or out of possession, but still had what for mere mortals would be considered a good game. Just not at his highest standard.
Thiago : 7 - As Rurik has said elsewhere, he may not have reached his best but it was more than enough to dominate here. Put in good tackles and pulled the strings pushing us forward time and time again with silky passing. Messed up a couple of times to prove he's human. Standing ovation when he came off shows what the crowd thought. 15 wins and 1 draw when paired with Fabs. Is it 11 straight wins on the trot with Fabs this season? Something like that.
Hendo 6.5 - Had a relatively quiet game. Simply can't remember him being involved too often. Nothing exceptional or deleterious comes to mind !
Mane : 7 - I thought this one of his more effective games of late. He worked tirelessly with Robbo down the flank and most of the danger to Villa came from them pairing to create chances that, as I said with Robbo above, unfortunately failed to result in goals. Two utterly crap passes when in superb positions created from said interplay to the touchline. Otherwise gave them a torrid time. Can't make up my mind on a 7 (deleting 0.5 for the crap passes and fucking up breakaways) or a 7.5 for overall effectiveness and dribbling. I'm going with 7 because we should have scored at least once from 2 breakaways he was involved in.
Ox. : 6.5 - He didn't do much wrong, little in the way of misplaced passes or running into danger and losing the ball, but also ineffective in his new role despite his attempts at intricacy with Mo. Subbed off on 58 mins.
Mo. : 7 - Was very well marshalled for much of the game and his dribbling failed to create many chances (he had the beating of Targett but Mings was often on hand to help - but also Mo's pace forced Mings into giving away the penalty, which Mo. superbly dispatched). Should maybe have done better on a few occasions and when we had a 3 on 1 breakaway it was ridiculous how he and Mane contrived to totally mess it up.
Jota : 6 - A replacement for Ox. after 58 mins. Involved but rarely in a position to be effective, missed one or two half chances but nothing one could put a finger on and say he should have scored that. Energetic.
Millie :- Just a note here. Subbed on to replace a tiring Thiago he flew into tackles (or missed them entirely) which left our defence exposed and resulted in Villa pressure. He was the complete opposite of the calm experienced presence required to see the match out when he came on.
Villa will get kudos for staying in the game - but that was our inefficiency at putting away the many good situations we created. We would have won this by 3 or 4 had we done that.
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I agree with this ... we weren't flat per se, we showed high energy levels and effort all over the pitch that Villa simply couldn't live with (20 shots 5 on target.11 corners to 3), however we were just not clinical.
@Halmeister
Alisson : 2 - Probably one of the worst matches he's played for us. He had very very little to do (I think Villa had 4 shots 0 on target) but still contrived to mess up 3 times that we were lucky to escape from. However a great time to play so poorly, we still won and didn't concede.
Robbo : 8 - Up and down that left side like a yoyo. Bundles of energy and no little skill. He could have been a little more confident in front of goal but some of his interplay with Mane ripped Villa apart only for the final pass or recipient to fail to capitalise.
VvD : 6 - Far from at his best and whereas can normally be relied upon to make the correct decision every time, on occasion he clearly didn't yesterday. Maybe should have scored too - free header from 6-7m straight at the keeper, who reacted well but it was at the perfect height and position for him to save.
Matip : 7.5 - Was strong in defence against the very tricky Watkins and Ramsey who both played well with little possession. His now trademark runs were awesome
TAA : 7 - Lots of crosses, corners and interplay with Mo & Ox. but with little end result. Missed a couple of half chances himself. Put in a couple of superb crosses (one from a corner) that on another day would have resulted in a goal.
Fabinho : 7 - Not at his most fluent, in or out of possession, but still had what for mere mortals would be considered a good game. Just not at his highest standard.
Thiago : 7 - As Rurik has said elsewhere, he may not have reached his best but it was more than enough to dominate here. Put in good tackles and pulled the strings pushing us forward time and time again with silky passing. Messed up a couple of times to prove he's human. Standing ovation when he came off shows what the crowd thought. 15 wins and 1 draw when paired with Fabs. Is it 11 straight wins on the trot with Fabs this season? Something like that.
Hendo 6.5 - Had a relatively quiet game. Simply can't remember him being involved too often. Nothing exceptional or deleterious comes to mind !
Mane : 7 - I thought this one of his more effective games of late. He worked tirelessly with Robbo down the flank and most of the danger to Villa came from them pairing to create chances that, as I said with Robbo above, unfortunately failed to result in goals. Two utterly crap passes when in superb positions created from said interplay to the touchline. Otherwise gave them a torrid time. Can't make up my mind on a 7 (deleting 0.5 for the crap passes and fucking up breakaways) or a 7.5 for overall effectiveness and dribbling. I'm going with 7 because we should have scored at least once from 2 breakaways he was involved in.
Ox. : 6.5 - He didn't do much wrong, little in the way of misplaced passes or running into danger and losing the ball, but also ineffective in his new role despite his attempts at intricacy with Mo. Subbed off on 58 mins.
Mo. : 7 - Was very well marshalled for much of the game and his dribbling failed to create many chances (he had the beating of Targett but Mings was often on hand to help - but also Mo's pace forced Mings into giving away the penalty, which Mo. superbly dispatched). Should maybe have done better on a few occasions and when we had a 3 on 1 breakaway it was ridiculous how he and Mane contrived to totally mess it up.
Jota : 6 - A replacement for Ox. after 58 mins. Involved but rarely in a position to be effective, missed one or two half chances but nothing one could put a finger on and say he should have scored that. Energetic.
Millie :- Just a note here. Subbed on to replace a tiring Thiago he flew into tackles (or missed them entirely) which left our defence exposed and resulted in Villa pressure. He was the complete opposite of the calm experienced presence required to see the match out when he came on.
Villa will get kudos for staying in the game - but that was our inefficiency at putting away the many good situations we created. We would have won this by 3 or 4 had we done that.
