Ratings & Reactions: Villa v Arsenal

[duke313]

Result didn’t go our way, but though we played well. Well batter lesser teams here.

[Wurzel]

Sometimes it's just not your day. Maybe this fixture can a little too early in the season, although at least we have it out of the way. Watkins still getting over his summer and was so unlucky. Really impressed with Onana, Nedeljkovic and Maatsen, but my MOTM was Rogers an England call up can't be too far away surely? Emery couldn't really have asked any more of the team, and on another day we would have been two up. Ref was good, so all in all not a lot to moan about. 

[ozvilla28]

3 goals in 2 games conceded. We need to improve our defence because it will cost us.

[osmark86]

1 minute ago, ozvilla28 said:

3 goals in 2 games conceded. We need to improve our defence because it will cost us.

It's not that bad honestly. I think we need a few more games before we start making any conclusions about that.

[Andy_10]

That result flatters Arsenal. We had chances & didn't take them but on another day we would have been 2-0 up before Arsenal think about making the subs that changed the game. And at that point, we would have been in "Emi time", slowing down the game & making things more difficult by playing narrow & deep with bodies, so we most likely go on to win the game.
But, we didn't take our chances & they did, so it is what it is. 
I thought Nedeljkovic did well before Trossard came on. I think that although he isn't the finished article, he has shown he has ability & lots of potential. So he looks promising to me with some more experience & tutelage from Emery. Rogers really looks a player. I have to admit that before he arrived, I questioned the amount we were paying for him. I rated him as a prospect, albeit not as much as I had a couple of years earlier. But he & Emery have proven me wrong because he looks like an absolute bargain now. His power when driving forward is exceptional. Partey & Rice are both quite physical players & he just shrugged them off with ease. I like him behind Watkins. 
I wonder if Onana & Bailey were still injured from the early knocks they had. Bailey didn't look as dynamic & Onana kept moving his jaw, so I hope they don't have longer term injuries when they are inspected.
I wont say anything about Watkins misses because Im positive that he will put away some difficult ones later in the season to make up for it. I only hope that it doesn't affect his confidence too much. 
Overall, the game was what it was. Both teams played slowly, neither team looked vastly better than the other & against title challengers thats not a bad thing. The only real difference was that the finishes were clinical from Arsenal & ours wasn't today. On another day, it's a flipped scoreline.
The big test now will be how we bounce back. UTV!

[Ponky]

Watkins is generally a slow starter. He took something like 4 games last season to get his first and then he was off and running. 

Can't deny he had a poor game but calls to drop him are ridiculous IMO.

Rogers fantastic.

Ned absolutely blanketed Martinelli but I thought Trossard's runs off the ball had him on the back foot. Great learnng experience for him.

Maatsen is and absolute baller. Looking forward to his first start.

[sheepyvillian]

As good as Rodgers is, and was, in this game, he still needs to brush - up on the defensive side of his game. After watching their first goal again, I actually think Rodgers could have been a bit more assertive when the ball came across him. 

[AVTuco]

10 minutes ago, sheepyvillian said:

I gave Tiellmans motm. I thought Rodgers faded after 60 minutes, whereas, Tiellmans kept trying till the end.

Me too. Rogers had a couple incredible runs, but gave the pass to their first goal. Tielemans was busier throughout.

[wishywashy]

Played great, looked significantly stronger than the 2nd strongest team in the league, deserved a pretty safe victory. In the words of Sir Alex Ferguson, we just lost to bad goals. It's football, finishing is nigh uncontrollable, it happens.

Pretty much the inverse of the game at the Emirates last season.

Onana with license to get forward once Kamara is back is going to be scary. And Rogers is going to be an England international very soon.

Edited August 24 by wishywashy

[Beastmix]

Frustrating one, today. A proper match-fit Watkins (let's face it, he just needs to shake the rust off) and we win the game. Should have been 2-0 middle of the 2nd half and I'd back us from there.

[It's Your Round]

Glad to see nobody blaming the new tunnel for the loss.

[maqroll]

I suspected the Ollie miss was always going to define the match. We simply cannot spurn those opportunities against sides we consider direct rivals. A really shocking miss. Ollie at normal mode would've buried that and may very well have headed his other effort across goal more and scored. Bit of a nightmare game for him. We've seen him get the yips before. Let's hope.he starts and scores next week because there's a break after that.

I can't find much fault with Emery, or any of the other outfield players. He might have had them press more and defend more aggressively generally. Passivity and a bit of naivety led to the goals.

Poor effort from Martinez on the second goal, but I really think the game was already lost at that point. 

The right back situation is a major issue and if we don't address it by next weekend, we are going lose games because of it and it could lead to major embarrassment in Europe. 

Pay Feyenoord what they want and let's get serious.

 

Edited August 24 by maqroll

[osmark86]

THAT **** NEW TUNNEL DID US

[villa4europe]

Who voted the ref very poor?!

There were a couple of yellow cards I'd have liked to be given but in the context of the utter shite that's served up most weeks he was ok

[TomC]

Rogers was immense. Obvious MOTM despite his role in Arsenal's first.

The first half was a bit of chess match. We've gotten good at those.

Ned wasn't perfect but didn't embarrass himself against top opposition. Pretty good for an 18 year old.

Arsenal's goals, as well as a good chance after the 2nd goal, came from the top of the box. We need to watch that area.

I thought that the Barkley substitution was weird...I would have put him in for Tielemans, who had faded more than Onana, instead. Furthermore, Tielemans + Barkley = 2 slow players.

That said, you could see how much Barkley's game has changed since the last time he was at Villa. I'm intrigued to see what he can do with more than a cameo.

I'm not saying the second Arsenal goal was an easy save for most GKs, but Emi was capable of saving that.

Watkins is out of sorts. That won't last.

Duran has a long way to go before he is anything more than a pure striker. He is nowhere near Ollie in his all-around game.

 

 

[Leeroy]

I wonder whether that defeat will make us go out and buy a bit more quality to improve the team. A right back and a second striker would help us a lot.

 

I suppose it depends on how much FFP headroom we have. 

[VillaChris]

15 minutes ago, HeroesAndVillans said:

Few years ago we'd have been happy to have kept the scoreline respectable, now we are disappointed we didn't win. Progress, lads. Progress.

It's disappointing as we did beat them twice last season.

However Man. City and Liverpool only took 1 point from Arsenal last season. They are that good and I could easily see them winning the league this time.

The fact we made them look pretty average for 70 minutes shows the levels we can hit now and will continue to do so in the next few months bar a horrendous run of injuries..2

[sheepyvillian]

5 minutes ago, AVTuco said:

Me too. Rogers had a couple incredible runs, but gave the pass to their first goal. Tielemans was busier throughout.

I've already commented on the "Defensive" side of Rodgers game. He was subbed a few times last season for not tracking back enough. For me, he was far too lackadaisical leading up to their first goal. That really cost us, yet no - one hardly noticed the error. 

[tinker]

We missed the 2 best chances of the game (raya saved well for the second) Ramsey had a decent chance as well,.looked like a good tackle stopped his shot.

Overall Arsenal were the better team, only marginally but they was. 

3 points from our first 2 games is a decent return especially against the teams we have played, has anyone had a harder start to the season? UTV 

[Justin]

Echoing the other posters, we deserved more. Watkins won't be this rusty for long and if he'd put that first chance away, we'd have won this.

 

Watching Rodgers was worth the entrance fee alone