Ratings & Reactions: West Ham v Villa

[479Villan]

1 minute ago, thunderball said:

Just watching Arsenal, we have more zip and desire, there’s the Unai revenge factor too. I reckon Unai’s got this team primed this season.

In American Football, we have a saying that no team improves more than it does between Week 1 and Week 2. So, we'll see. Arsenal will want revenge because we certainly were the ones who killed their title chase, and we took them twice last year.

But I also know Unai loves nothing more than dumping dirt on their coffin.

 

Game. On.

[bcarpet]

Is it weird that I'm really looking forward to the league cup? You look at that bench and think about the players that weren't even involved in the match day squad and it has to be one of the strongest we've ever been. Even if we play our reserves in the league cup this season we could still give half the prem a run for their money, when was the last time we could say that? Say it quietly but I think there's a chance Unai could bring us a cup home this season

[The_Steve]

 

[allani]

Excellent result.  West Ham away is always tough and we've had some bad luck against them in recent years.  I predicted an optimistic 1-1 before and so am delighted to pick up an away win and even more delighted by the general performance.  Tielemans, Onana and McGinn had the right "balance" in midfield.  I thought Rogers was a real pain for their defenders and worked their back line really well on what was a slow return for Ollie.  Pau and Konsa looked solid in defence and I hope they get to play together a lot to build on that partnership and understanding.  Three subs combined for the winner.  It doesn't get better than that.

I thought the officials were OK today but seems like I was on my own.  The Kane penalty in the Euros was never a penalty and I don't think the one today for the kick on McGinn was one either.  I've seen them given but poor previous decisions doesn't make it the wrong decision.  I'd have been livid if it had been given against us.  I think the refs / VAR have been told to give fewer soft penalties - so hopefully they stand firm on that.  As for their penalty - sorry but everything that Cash did was wrong.  He was never going to win the ball, there was no immediate threat.  It was stupid and another example of Cash being really unaware of his angles in tangles like that.  You can't afford to give the officials a reason to have to make a decision.  It was mainly clumsy and it was on the soft side - but I'd be screaming penalty at the other end.  It was never going to get overturned.

A good win.  A good performance.  Room for improvement.  Plenty to be optimistic about.

[pregra]

1 hour ago, Tommo_b said:

Better than when Tony moon scored against Arsenal?

In general play, yes by a mile. But that win at Arsenal was more special, seeing as it was a big surprise. All downhill from that win though, can’t see us going that way after todays win thankfully

[Brumstopdogs]

Massive 3 points against a team we don't normally beat away. Emery you legend! UTV!

[flamingsombrero]

Onana will rightly take the praise but my god is there a superstar in there in Rodgers. So excited to see what he'll become,

If the shoe was on the other foot it was written for Duran, nice to see us on the right side of one of those stories for a change.

Excellent start that not even a disgrace of a ref could derail.

 

[El Zen]

What an excellent win. I thought we’d deserved to go into half time with a comfortable lead, and that their pen was a ridiculously soft one, and was damned pleased to see us have the spirit and resiliance to come back out and grab a deserved winner. 

The Oslo Villa Boys celebrated the three points in style, I can promise you. 

Edited August 18 by El Zen

[fruitvilla]

We were the better team, played the more entertaining football, and the penalty was really soft if it was a penalty at all
Encouraging first match

Unai ... did his job well ... team selection and getting minutes for the subs.

Martínez 7  Did not have that much to do and when called into action was befitting of a No1 promoted to No23
Cash 8 I thought he contained the left flank really well with the odd penetrating run down the left
Konsa 7 Did fine, I did not get a sense he put his usual mark on the game.
Torres 8 Pretty solid, distributed the ball well
Digne 7 Seven might be a little harsh, not much seriously wrong
Onana 9 The goal ... wow. Courtesy of McPhee of course. Dominated the midfield
Tielemans 8 Really good outing in combination with Amadou
McGinn 7 Good first half, seemed to fade in the second half
Bailey 8 A typical good showing for Bailey. In another a universe he would have scored
Rogers 8 A workhorse performance
Watkins 6 Needs to get Southgate ball out of his system

 

Ramsey 8 Brilliant cameo ... great assist
Durán 7 Excellent when attacking, but his work rate out of possession is suspect
Maatsen 7 Good cameo and nicely laid off to Ramsey for his assist
Philogene 7 More than OK
Nedeljković 6 Seemed nervous, but it will come

•  
   Referee ... distinctly average

[Herman22]

Just watching MOTD. Explain to me how the ref was overruled for the DCL pen on the “new” VAR rules? 

[Jas10]

 

[TheStagMan]

3 hours ago, TreeVillan said:

The only logical explanation is the assistant believed it to be the defender taking the man out and then stretching to get the slightest touch on the ball by shear chance to cover the foul. 

Logic and VAR? Behave!

[Hornso]

Playing away to start the season is great when you come away with the 3 points! UTV

[il_serpente]

I can't believe all the outrage over the penalty.  I thought it was clear as day.   The fact that he got the smallest of touches on the ball is irrelevant.  The ball was not cleared.   It was very much in play and Soucek had a clear oppportunity to get to it but Cash scissored him down.  Remember around 15 years ago when Gabby won a pen against SHA and their defender had gotten a touch on the ball before bringing him down?  The very clear explanation from the officials was that getting the ball first doesn't mean it's not a penalty.  Gabby had a clear chance at the ball and an opportunity to shoot and the Blues player brought him down.   What happened half a second earlier had no bearing on that.   The same was true today with Cash.   Blues fans were outraged back then and people on here had no hesitation in countering that it the touch of the ball was immaterial.  You can't have it both ways.

[AndyClarke]

2 minutes ago, il_serpente said:

I can't believe all the outrage over the penalty.  I thought it was clear as day.   The fact that he got the smallest of touches on the ball is irrelevant.  The ball was not cleared.   It was very much in play and Soucek had a clear oppportunity to get to it but Cash scissored him down.  Remember around 15 years ago when Gabby won a pen against SHA and their defender had gotten a touch on the ball before bringing him down?  The very clear explanation from the officials was that getting the ball first doesn't mean it's not a penalty.  Gabby had a clear chance at the ball and an opportunity to shoot and the Blues player brought him down.   What happened half a second earlier had no bearing on that.   The same was true today with Cash.   Blues fans were outraged back then and people on here had no hesitation in countering that it the touch of the ball was immaterial.  You can't have it both ways.

If only the tits at PGMOL (or whatever they are called) explained it similar to this rather than the nonsense that they came out with. Ultimately claiming that despite kicking the ball, Cash was not in fact trying to.....

[UpTheVilla26]

2 hours ago, Genie said:

Not much end product just on today though. Let’s see over the season

Yep, had elements of Adama Traore. All well and good skinning people and dancing about but end product is needed. 

[Indigo]

I don't dislike xG and appreciate what it can offer, but this is the kind game where I can see its flaws because it'll no doubt be judged without context. Going off it alone West Ham were unlucky today, but their total is predominantly made up of a spurious penalty and Soucek's off-balance (albeit great) chance at the end, meanwhile Villa had several great chances and deservedly won on the balance of play but on "paper" can consider themselves lucky to win.

Would have taken a draw today simply down to it being a tricky away fixture to start the season with less than ideal preparation, so was delighted with the performance overall. The first half pre-penalty especially felt like one of those where we'd regret not making the most of our chances, so was even more pleased at the impact the subs made to make sure that didn't prove to be the case.

[JPJCB]

10 minutes ago, Indigo said:

I don't dislike xG and appreciate what it can offer, but this is the kind game where I can see its flaws because it'll no doubt be judged without context. Going off it alone West Ham were unlucky today, but their total is predominantly made up of a spurious penalty and Soucek's off-balance (albeit great) chance at the end, meanwhile Villa had several great chances and deservedly won on the balance of play but on "paper" can consider themselves lucky to win.

Would have taken a draw today simply down to it being a tricky away fixture to start the season with less than ideal preparation, so was delighted with the performance overall. The first half pre-penalty especially felt like one of those where we'd regret not making the most of our chances, so was even more pleased at the impact the subs made to make sure that didn't prove to be the case.

Yeah XG doesn’t acknowledge game state- I.e the fact that there are times in a game where one side is content to hold a lead while another is pushing for an equaliser. As a result it systematically tends to look overweight towards a team chasing  the game. Not a flaw in the metric itself but a cautionary tale for it’s interpretation as you say 

[Zatman]

Lets skip the Unai is a genius blah blah blah we already know that

We finished the game with 7 players under 23. The future is not bright its absolute terrifying

[ChicagoVillan1983]

5 hours ago, Delphinho123 said:

Right.

Im just gonna throw a few things up for you motherf*ckers while it’s fresh in my mind and adrenaline gets the better of me.

In no particular order. Stuff.

1. Onana is a beast. A beast. He has SO much more to his game than I have him credit for. There is no way a 6ft5 bloke should be so calm bringing the ball down in mid air like he is. He tackles, he carries, he rarely loses possession. He’s a beast.

2. Onana cont. I liked Luiz. I thought he was decent. Overrated on here, but decent. In the first 5 minutes of today’s game Onana won a header from a set piece, a cross and then went on to win a tackle all in the same phase of play. As creative and slick as Luiz was, it was SO good to actually see that from one of our players. He brings something we haven’t had in a LONG time.

3. Onana cont. cont. We scored from a set piece. It felt…refreshing. Bullet header, albeit from 3 yards out. Only HE was winning that ball.

4. Tielemans and….Onana. That was one of the best central midfield performances I’ve seen in a long time. Probably since Luiz and Kamara were struttin’ their stuff in Q3/Q4 of 2023. They compliment each other very well. Tielemans is so silky on the ball. With Kamara coming back. erm. Good luck picking two to play in there.

5. I forgot what 5 was.

6. It’s a squad game. We brought on Ramsey and Duran who linked up for the goal. A lot of us have bemoaned the Summer window but look at our bench. Look at our options. That’s the best bench we’ve had for a PL game in probably 20 years. I mean that.

7. I thought we were phenomenal from the get go. Kudus aside, we put them to the sword. Watkins was poor, but that can be excused. I thought Rogers was oozing confidence turning and driving. He could and should have had a couple himself.

8. I just feel really really happy at that performance. I’m not going to talk about the penalty. It is what it is. Even if we’d have drawn, there was so much to like about the way we played. We moved the ball SO much quicker than we have in preseason and at the back end of last season. Emery deserves huge credit for setting us up the way he did.

9. Who needs Felix?

UTFV

 

But what about Onana?