Aston Villa Vs Liverpool post Match

[Gazzla]

Seen those on MOTD, they are wrong. PL has 3 on target and I certainly can't remember 18 shots, nevermind 9 on target.

Totally agree, Mignolet made 2 great saves from Benteke but other than that I'm struggling to think of another villa shot on target let alone 9 of them

[PTP]

Great result, take the win and run

Don't know what happened second half but we just seemed very leggy which isn't good

The game by passed aspas, we defo need another top attacking player

Plus also Henderson and in the second half Lucas, were pretty anonymous at times...who said we don't need another top mid

Luckily though we managed to more or less nullify benteke and the two chances he did get were well saved

So cant complain away 1-0 scrappy win, with a wonderful goal, that's what united have done for years

36 more of them and I'll be very happy

[BigChief]

The result is king and I was punching the air at the end. I doubt we'll play as bad as that 2nd half all season. Passing from midfield ranged from mediocre to awful. Not much your forwards can do when that happens, other than defend like mad.

[SB]

Part of that was down to Steve Hollywood Gerard at times going for the impossible pass. I kept yelling keep it simple but he wouldn't listen.

[Bender]

Part of that was down to Steve Hollywood Gerard at times going for the impossible pass. I kept yelling keep it simple but he wouldn't listen.

your in Australia he's was in Birmingham

[Mattshark]

your in Australia he's was in Birmingham

You're

[dww]

Great result, take the win and run

Don't know what happened second half but we just seemed very leggy which isn't good

The game by passed aspas, we defo need another top attacking player

Plus also Henderson and in the second half Lucas, were pretty anonymous at times...who said we don't need another top mid

Luckily though we managed to more or less nullify benteke and the two chances he did get were well saved

So cant complain away 1-0 scrappy win, with a wonderful goal, that's what united have done for years

36 more of them and I'll be very happy

I think Gerrard and Lucas did a good defensive job. I do agree that they didn't control the game well (arguably at all) in the second half. Part of it seems to be a lack of complete belief in the way we look to play. We don't keep passing to people under pressure like Barcelona or Spain do, but that is the only way to play out when teams press like Stoke and Villa did late in the games.

I actually think that Coutinho and Henderson were the ones whose influence dropped off the most. There is a tendency for Gerrard and Henderson to change the way they play and be more direct, which the forward line is not well suited too (especially without Suarez to create fear in the opposition). I think more confidence in our style will help us - if we keep winning I think it will come.

[BigChief]

Part of that was down to Steve Hollywood Gerard at times going for the impossible pass. I kept yelling keep it simple but he wouldn't listen.

I didn't want to say anything about Stevie as he did play well defensively. But by God, for a possession hogging team like us he doesn't half ruin how we build up from the back. Because of how he's played all his life I'm not sure he's the right man for Brendans total football.

Just my opinion and willing to he shot down for it. I'm not just basing this off the Villa game. Much like Reina he's very good, but we secretly all know we can get better (and probably hate ourselves for thinking it).

[RedReet]

I don't think we can get better than Gerrard currently.

[baitman]

it would have eased the second half pressure on gerrard and lucas if henderson and allen would have come back another ten yards and joined in the game for a bit

sturridge was coming back, getting some tackles in. did henderson or allen...

[Tee]

I didn't want to say anything about Stevie as he did play well defensively. But by God, for a possession hogging team like us he doesn't half ruin how we build up from the back. Because of how he's played all his life I'm not sure he's the right man for Brendans total football.

Just my opinion and willing to he shot down for it. I'm not just basing this off the Villa game. Much like Reina he's very good, but we secretly all know we can get better (and probably hate ourselves for thinking it).

Takes aim....fire!!!

Sort of take your point but he was better than most yesterday yet again.

[SB]

your in Australia he's was in Birmingham

The wife tells me that too but do I listen to her?

I didn't want to say anything about Stevie as he did play well defensively. But by God, for a possession hogging team like us he doesn't half ruin how we build up from the back. Because of how he's played all his life I'm not sure he's the right man for Brendans total football.

Just my opinion and willing to he shot down for it. I'm not just basing this off the Villa game. Much like Reina he's very good, but we secretly all know we can get better (and probably hate ourselves for thinking it).

[SB]

STARTING XI:

Mingolet - 8 - I really like this guy. An all around great performance that earned him a second clean sheet in as many matches.

Johnson - 6 - A terrible challenge at the end of the first half earned him a yellow card but Johnson was nonetheless better this week. His touches and passes seemed more on point than against Stoke, although he had a major goof up when he decided to go for goal with Sturridge and Coutinho open in the middle.

Toure - 7 - We were all asking ourselves how Toure would handle Christian Benteke coming into the match. On the whole, he did very admirably considering he was trying to mark an absolute beast. Well done again for the lad.

Agger - 7 - Rinse and repeat what I said about Toure. He had a hard collision with the opposing goalkeeper that left him on the ground injured for a bit.

Enrique - 7 - Enrique set up the Sturridge goal and was pretty excellent in the back. He's inconsistent but when he's on his game he can be very good.

Lucas - 6 - Careless on the ball at times and not quite as imposing as I'd like him to be, Lucas was disappointing in his second match of the year. Villa's counter attack is a big ask for a defensive midfielder but Lucas must be better next weekend against United.

Gerrard - 6 - Gerrard passed it at a decent 84% clip but wasn't at his best overall. I think he's going to really come alive against United.

Henderson - 6 - Hendo certainly wasn't at the same level as in the Stoke game, and this may have been because of how wide he was deployed by Rodgers. We've seen time and time again that Henderson is a better player when he plays centrally, but his managers don't seem to realize this.

Coutinho - 7 - He wasn't at his sharpest but he did have some key passes and brilliantly dummied to set up the Sturridge goal. He went down hard a few time under some nasty Villa challenges but didn't seem to pick up any real knocks.

Aspas - 5 - Aspas just was't very good. He didn't create anything and looked consumed by the occasion. I wouldn't mind if he gets put on the bench against Man U.

Sturridge - 8 - What a goal by Sturridge. He not only maneuvered past a defender and the goalkeeper, but also slammed it into the roof of the net whilst falling down. He has been great so far for Liverpool.

SUBS:

Aly Cissokho - 6 - Cissokho showed the urge to go forward and was neither bad nor good on the afternoon. What struck me most was the strength he appears to possess. I expected him to be small and quick but he's built like a bull.

Joe Allen - N/A - Allen didn't play enough minutes for me to give him a fair grade, but for what it's worth, whoscored.com gave him the worst rating on the Liverpool team.

NOTE: Player Ratings are extremely subjective and debatable. Feel free to challenge my ratings and offer your own.

http://www.anfieldasylum.com/2013/8/25/4655072/liverpool-player-ratings-v-aston-villa?

[ChesterDave]

Totally agree, Mignolet made 2 great saves from Benteke but other than that I'm struggling to think of another villa shot on target let alone 9 of them

Sky had 1 shot on target each after about an hour

[SB]

Lucas - 6 - Careless on the ball at times and not quite as imposing as I'd like him to be, Lucas was disappointing in his second match of the year. Villa's counter attack is a big ask for a defensive midfielder but Lucas must be better next weekend against United