Media view on Aston Villa beating Arsenal
Sunday, 16 November 08, 11:09 AM · Comments (60)
Yesterday was a fantastic result, possibly the best under Martin O'Neill, but we've got to move on and look to next weekend. As much as I'd love yesterday to be the match that began everything, we'll not know for sure until next Saturday and the chances are it wasn't.
When I say 'began everything', what I mean is the game that turned our fortunes around and the game that we can look back to in ten years time and say 'that is when it all fell into place'. You might think I'm mad but there has to be a game, doesn't there?
I mean, it doesn't happen overnight - we're told this by managers all the time, so there has to be a game when it actually does happen and in terms of all round performance yesterday there are not many, if any games, that we played better football and a better game under this manager.
But, I'm still a little high on the result and the way in which we beat Arsenal, so let's look at what some of the papers are saying, to see if they agree.
David Walsh, The Sunday Times: "Perhaps, from somewhere distant, you will look at this result and think, “Oh, bit of a shock at the Emirates.” It wasn’t. What was shocking was the ease with which Villa brushed Arsenal aside and reminded us that there will, after all, be a race for that fourth Champions League place. Arsenal fans were streaming out of the stadium long before Mike Riley blew his whistle for the last time."
Duncan Castles, The Observer: "Villa were better from the beginning, so good they could afford a penalty miss and still dominate. As their passing flustered the home side, there was no questioning Mike Riley's decision to penalise Theo Walcott's lunge at Ashley Young; nor the referee's wisdom in waiting to book Cesc Fábregas's crude tackle on Gareth Barry that halted the midfielder, but not Villa's move. Young's spot-kick was struck close enough to Manuel Almunia for the keeper to parry and William Gallas to clear."
Duncan White, Telegraph: "What will worry Wenger over the coming week is that this was not a slip by a superior Arsenal team: they were thoroughly beaten by Villa."
Jason Burt, The Independent: "For Villa it was a historic day capped by a thrilling display of pace and power from Gabriel Agbonlahor, their own young gun. It was also the first time Villa had won away to Arsenal for 15 years but, more relevantly, it put them level on points with their opponents.
Andy Dunn, News of the World: "Ashley Young should be in the vanguard of the post-Beckham generation of players. Quick, incisive with the mental agility to constantly vary his angled runs."
The bottom line from the papers is that it wasn't a lucky Aston Villa win or a below par performances from Arsenal, but that we were better, we dominated and we deserved to win. I am a little surprised as I expected to see the majority put it down as a 'blip' for Arsenal, but they haven't. It appears we've picked up exactly what we should have done from the papers and rightly so.
Man of the Match
This is going to Gabby, but it could just as easily be given to Young, Sidwell, Petrov, Laursen, Carlos, the other Young, Davies and dare I say it, even Barry. I'm also giving Gabby the first goal, not that it really matters.
His all round performance yesterday was excellent and very mature for a player so young. I hope he repeats it and I hope he learns from it and I also hope that we continue to play five in midfield, as it's clear to me anyway, that Gabby is better in this formation.
I've said for years now I think the way forward is to play 4-5-1 and attack quickly down the wings when we have the ball. Hopefully we'll play it again next week, much like Arsenal did the week before and you never know, this really could have been the game it all began.
Player Rating from againsthesun
Friedel 7 - un-troubled
Davies 8 - great performance for 94 min full
Laursen 8 - top performance as usual
L Young 7 - good match, clever defensively
Cuellar 7 - played it safe, no errors, solid
Milner 7 - not up to his best but runs and fights well
Barry 7 - composed and tidy as we like him
Petrov 8 - makes the balance in our midfield, great again
Sidwell 8 - very aggressive, won lots of balls and plays wise
A Young 8 - as always there wen't points are dealt (Damian: not sure what this means)
Gabby 9 and MotM - worked hard, took his chances, very good display
Aston Villa Blog Rating
I've eluded to it above but it really could have been the best performance from this Aston Villa side under Martin O'Neill. We had balance, composure and determination and looked like a team. We didn't just kick it long and we looked like we had a plan.
I'd love us to go out with the same starting eleven next Saturday.
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60 Comments · Add yours
I've always been a believer that so long as Villa play to their capabilities, we can beat 17 out of the other 19 teams in the EPL. The only two that really, one could argue are in front of us are ManUtd and Chelesea.
We didn't play well against Newcastle and Boro and we threw the game away. Neither of those beat us, we beat ourselves!!
This game on the other hand, was Villa at their best and I look forward to the future.
Great result, and well played by the lads. Very impressed by the all-round display and, as yu say Damian, this may just be the start of something great at Villa.
Whether we do it next week, infront of our fans however, is a different question.
But let's just enjoy the result for the time being !!
UTV!!
I know every player was brilliant but I think that it comes to show how important a player Petrov will be this season. Back from injury, bang a win at the emirates. He's turned into a great player.
Gabby was fantastic along with laursen, davies, sidwell, young AND EVERYONE ELSE!
Still unsure about milner's performances but I am sure he will eventually come good.
Still buzzin' from yesterday!! What a great game and great performance from every single one of the lads.
And to have four Villa players in the England squad is a great achievement too. I think all of them have a chance of playing against Germany.
On an unrelated topic, Juan Pablo Angel's team, New York Red Bulls, made it to the MLS final last night. They are one game away from winning the league. The final is next Sunday, against Columbus Crew.
Hey Damien, quick one, I'm doing an interview with Petrov after the Fulham game, just wondering if you'd like to use it on this site....
I think you missed one thing out Damian, MON tactically got it spot on. We didn't give Arsenal time on the ball and Ash Young and Milner played very wide to spread the play. Gabby played on the shoulder of the fullbacks which left Gallas and Silvestre marking nobody. The first goal was an example of this. We out fought, out paced and importantly out thought them.
An almost perfect perfomance.
I am a gooner and was the game yesterday. You deserved your win yesterday as you outfought and outplayed us the majority of the game. We were totally inept up front and I don't remember Freidal having much to do.
One moan - Mike Riley. He made some bizarre decisions all day and was totally inconsistent. For example, he stopped play when Davies was down, yet did not when Sagna was?!?! I also thought he let Barry and Sidewell get away with far too many fouls before finally booking them and yet both Fabregas and Denilson were booked for first offences?
As I said, that is not a moan and trying to blame the ref for our defeat as you deserved your win.
The most important thing to look at is not the win itself, but how well we did it. We totally outclassed them in the first half: Sidwell was a live wire in the middle, and this made for some great link ups coming out of defense. There just seemed a bit more quality about us. It re installed that hope i had a couple of weeks ago, before the Toon match, thats for sure. Ash and Gabby really are a hand full when they are on. Gabby makes most defenders look like they are underwater.....i mean he made Sagna look pedestrian and hes certainly no slouch.I think we are much more fluent when we dont have Reo and Petrov on at the same time. One worrying thing is the decline of Barry. I know im always going on about it, but we just need to move him and move on. Milner wasnt so great yesterday, but to be fair the ball just wasnt going down his side....the effort was certainly there though. Davies and Laursen were awesome yesterday, with Davies looking very assertive and commanding at the back. I thought MON subs policy, or lack there of, was strange. Sidwell gave his all and was clearly spent. Gardener could have provided some fresh legs perhaps. But if that is the only thing i have to whinge about this week, then we must of done pretty bloody well!!! UTV!
We are playing Manure next week you know!!!!
Whilst this is a great result, its one hole in a round of 18! Everyone was whinging and moaning last week that we were a shit team, but not that shit eh??
I will be happy with a draw but anything is possible after this, a win could take us third, so there's a kiss of death straight away.
Anway, Damian....Milner a 7, what were you thinking lmfao!!
always finding negatives aren't you leroy
Reply to RSamVillaFan:
SAM DO NOT MENTION THAT!!
WE HAVE TO STOP MENTIONING WE CAN BREAK INTO THE TOP 4 IF WE ARE TO WIN A CERTAIN GAME!
Damian read this too, NO MENTIONING OF WHAT MIGHT BE ACHIEVED WITH A WIN NEXT WEEK!!
Sorry about caps, thought I'd stress the point LOL.
I will be honest, i was close to not Going Yesterday fearing another Chelsea style drubbing after our last few performances I was fed up of the Hit & hope football. How Glad I am I decide to go & watch a good game of football dare i say it from Arsenal & maybe a break or two from ourselves if we were lucky.
Hopefully this will be the milestone if not at least it shows what we can be, if we play like this against the lesser sides it will be a great season
well done villa!
they had the ball for 4 minutes 1st half then we took over. Brilliant! No Reo-Coker significant? All games in the prem are difficult after Newc/Boro we have pulled together - credit to MON
Unfortunately, i did not get to see the game live, so had to wait several hours for the repeat broadcast. However, knowing the score and reading some of the comments i was expecting a thrilling end to end game where Villa dominated. Except what i saw was a tentative first ten minutes where either side could have scored and more importantly, Arsenal should have scored. They didn't and this for me was the only significant difference. I suppose you could argue Villas performance warranted the result, but we were more dominant against both Newcastle and Boro and got nothing. I have always thought that one of the top 4 had to slip up for Villa to get that 4th spot and following this game i have not changed my opinion. Lets hope i am wrong and Villa can repeat these results, but i for one shall not be parting with any money on them achieving it
i think that was the strongest 11 mon has played this season and another clean sheet which should give the defence a boost ahead of man ure next week
Cheers Ghosthunter,
I've never contacted anyone on this site personally, so that's why I try and contact Damien through the blogs. Just me being lazy I guess! I'll try sending him a message.
I think that playing as a tight unit undid Arsenal. Arsenal started brightly but we closed them down very well and they became flustrated. Arsenal are a very good team but they become disalusioned when things started to go against them. Thats how we beat them. If they don't get that problem sorted other teams will play the same tactics against them and they will drop a lot of points. That is where our chance of 4th place is. We need to see how the next four or five games go. Nothing is settled yet except we are still in the race.
taglor you about dude need you to log into the forum for a few moments mate....
Come on Taglor. You know it makes sense.
(Look out for the old bucket balanced on the door trick, mind)
Super happy, great result! I think everything has been said pretty much.
I was vocally delighted when we signed sidwell and i know i go on about him, but I want to again! The reason I like him so much is he is very direct. He picks the ball up, runs at the player at pace, plays the ball off to feet and continues his run. It enables a one two, a through ball or at least pulls a player out of position. Very Gerrard-esque. We didn;t have that type of player before and he'll be huge for us.
I've always said reo coker is not good enough. like everyone said his tackling is excellent, but he holds on to the ball for too long. His passing is not up to scratch. If you watch a good holding/defensive midfielder they win the ball and move it quickly, turning defense in to attack. He doesn't...
All in all excellent.
We was robbed... of a penalty re-take, not that it matters! But it could have. My son noticed on motd that the Arsenal defender who cleared the save was at least 2 yards into the area when it was struck.
Have to say that the comments from a lot of Arsenal fans on other sites and here are quite mature and very nice unlike the 'pool fans who come on and b*tch and take the piss. Its a refreshing change to be honest!
Great win Villa !!!! Lets take this upto ManU
I thought Young was better at left back than Shorey. I thought Sidwell was superb and linked really well with Petrov and Barry.
I strongly suspect we will bring back Carew next week at the expense of Milner and play Gabby wide.
actually think we might have seen the last of carew for villa...
Damian, you can say youd like to see the same XI next week but as we know we don't have the best record against united the last 10 years. Thats why i think Carew should replace Milner as none of uniteds defenders are incredibly tall which leaves Carew with an advantage which should be used to our full ability. I do agree with saying that Gabi prefers playing in a 4-5-1 formation but this time Carew can really use his height next week.
Another thing. Id like to point out that of the 'big four', Arsenal are my most preffered. As Av Kitt said above, about the comments from Arsenal fans being respectful. It will be a shame to see Arsenal out of the top four this season
Lets take this form to next week and do the same to united
UTV!
stop man ure scoring more than 2 that would be a step forward i think
not_so_silent_bob: You made a good last point there bout Carew and I believe that there may be some truth in that...
Worryingly, I have no idea how we should go about trying to get a result from Man U. Let's hope MON has another masterplan.
Best I can come up with is piss Rooney and Ronaldo off and hope they get sent off!
.. will someone plaese let me in on this issue with carew, a few people have mentioned problems with him at the moment. is it just speculation or are there some hard facts?
Reply to Nan_was_a_fan:
hijack the team coach would be a start as far as i know if they dont turn up at least 1 hour before the game starts they have to forfit the game to us lol.........now that would be a start...........anyone else got any serious suggestions
nath888 at mo its speculation but him not getting a game yesterday for no reason known to us then there must be some truth in it, im sure we will find out in time
Fantastic result...brilliant team display...exciting game all around!
Can anyone tell me why Barry didn't take the penalty?
UTV
he was injured and off field of play at time
Reply to Villa4ever:
He was off the pitch receiving treatment at the time following Fabregas's challenge on him.
Thanks for the summary Damien.
And what a good match I'm really speechless right now
mot so silent bob-you may have a point there. We were better without Carew (and NRC, for that matter) in the side. Maybe this was a tactical decision due to the way Arsenal play? He is our second highest scorer after all. I am happy to see a lack of NRC, though. He looks a tad lazy to me.
Reply to notsosilentbob:
Is that apart from the fact that he's practically a cripple ATM?
I really don't think there's anything in this.
Did you see the way he hobbled off last week?
He's not fit, that's all and hasn't been for a while, IMO.
He'll start any game MON thinks he can handle, I reckon.
Have to say we destroyed Arsenal yesterday...... Everyone played superb...
I thought A.Young should of provided more...rather hogging the ball ...but he had an ace game.
We need sliced thru Arsenals defence like a hot knife thru butter!! Gallas to slow...and Silvestre just couldnt handle Gabby.
Speed is what we need more of!!!! Lennon Walcott Gabby Ronaldo all products of speed all good player. Which leads me to this question? Wayne Routledge, isnt he meant to be a speed demon ? I havent seen him play yet!!
I really hope this is the result which shapes the future of AVFC. Every player should be filled with confidence, not just in themselves, but the team. We can, and should perform at the highest level on a consistent basis, beleving every game that we WILL win.
I'm glad Coker was dropped, as this allowed us to be more creative in midfield. Man. Ure will be an entirely different proposition as they are generally quicker and stronger all over the park. I would like to see JC replace MILNER from the start, with ASH, SID and GABBY feeding from lay offs and flick ons.
The reds are most susceptible when teams get in their face and disrupt the play. We can not afford to lose possession easily as they will punish us. Chances will come along and I hope we take them. This has the potential of being a cracker, with no spawny backheels from the portuguese p****.
As much as i want to, im not gonna get too carried away with this result. The players had a rest in the week, and it just goes to show what that can do for a team. The fact is, we should have beaten Arsenal away for the last 3 seasons now, but for late equalisers.
I was in dreamland however after hearing the final whistle go, we played exceptionally well. If we cant follow this performance up with a positive result about Man Utd, I feel this victory may become a bit of a red herring. As i said previously, we were on course to beat Arseal away twice before.
I guess to actually get the job done, and how it we went about it, is where the difference shows.
Keep it up lads...
(Adriano & Owen in January please!!)
I was there on saturday and it was fantastic. I was in an executive lounge with the Arsenal Fans and managed to stay in my seat when the first one went in but when the second hit the net I completely lost it and went bannanas. Not one Arsenal fan gave me any grief in fact a few were saying well done shaking hands etc..
Its a great time to be a Villa fan im loving every minute of it and I dont think it would be rude of us to ask for more. We deserve some success dont we?
Ghosthunter
All i was tring to say was that we have given similar performances in recent weeks and come away with nothing. In my opinion, we were lucky to keep a clean sheet in the first half and i am sure that generated a self belief for the second. I am (as MON would say) delighted with the perfornace and result, but will not get carried away until after Xmas. With regards to the only one in the country, i live oversaes where it never rains so always have a sunny disposition
Best performance of the season, any coincidence that Reo Coker wasn't in the side ? I think the toys will be out of the pram soon if he's left out against Man U and Fulham, I reckon he'll go in January.
Hope MON doesn't keep playiing Cuellar at right back, he's a good centre half but it's the same problem as with Olof it limits the attacking options down the right and will limit Milner's effectiveness.
How about Pederson at Blackburn for a January signing, he's a class act.
is it just me or have you guys watched the highlights about 10 times? Gabbys goal was stunning, if that was Torres wed hear nothing else
as much as id love to start the same 11 and i think MON will!
i think we would need carew againts Ferdinand and Vidic. two alot more physically stong and classy centre halfs! would be nice to get a result againts man u but im juss delighted with 3 points from these two games!
The point about seeing the last of Carew for Villa is probably one of the least considered arguments i have ever heard. He's our number 1 striker, even if on goals he isn't top of the pile, and MON loves a big man. Let's think back a few weeks ago to when we were criticising Gabby for being bone idle and get some perspective. There are some contributions made on here that begger belief sometimes. When Gabby scores 25 this year, and Carew doesn't assist with half of them, be it by touch ons or presence i will consider your standpoint.
Did you elude to it Damian, or did you allude to it?
if barry is injured next time we get a pen and is recieving treatment i think when the ref blows his wistle let ash wait for a wile and barry could run from the side(half way line) of the pitch and smash thr shit out of hit!
It was a magnificient result. Maybe 4-5-1 is the way against the teams in the top 4, but I hope Villa don't sit back against ManU because that won't work, our team need to be agressive against them. Go at them, if Hull can score 3 why can't we!
Having watched the game again I've got a little bit more hope of a result against Man U.
With NRC in the middle we are fairly tight but can onlt attack wide. So the opposition press on the wide men and know that little threat will come up the middle. With Petrov playing well they have to work hard in the middle giving us a little more space out wide.
Apologies if this is bullshit or blatantly obvious. As Damian himself might say, it is only my opinion.
He he he, what a nice day it is today. Just for once I really really wanted to go to work, so I could ask all the Gooners "Did you have a nice weekend?".
What is all this taslk about top four? This is a league. You only win in a league if you come top. Therefore we should aim, not for fifth, fourth or top four, but for FIRST. And why not, we have eleven men on the pitch same all the rest.
Come out, come out, wherever you are Taglor.
I had fun this morning.
Teacher next door is a big Gunners fan. Also one of the more outspoken little chaps in my class is a Gunner. Funnily enough I'd forgotten to rip into either of them with it being early on a Monday morning and my head being scrambled. The boy came in with his hand covering his face and said 'Don't say a thing, I'm not listening'. The teacher told me he was genuinely relieved when I didn't appear at his classroom door at 8.30am, he assumed I was off sick.
Long story, but the point is, it didn't cross my mind to slag them off. It was another big win, who cares who we beat, if we keep winning? In the world where MON is leading us the calibre/reputation of the opposition no longer matter.
Next match, 3 more points up for grabs.
Do we have a better record against the 'big' clubs than Liverpool by the way (I genuinely do not know)?
Nan, off the top of my head, comparing Benitez to MON I think you'll find that MON and Benitez have very similar records against the Big boys. This year's result for Liverpoo probably put thems ahead, but only just.
Whilst Liverpool got the goods this year against Man Utd and Chelesa, I think thats the first time they've beat either team under Benitez, and have yet to beat Arsenal. I remember reading something last year about Benitez's inability to beat any of the top 4.
Compare that to MON who has got results against Chelski and Arsenal... whether it be home or away! The only team we struggle against is ManUtd but then again, them and Chelesa are a league of their own in my humble opinon.
I echo yur statements ''In the world where MON is leading us the calibre/reputation of the opposition no longer matter'' Nan, except for the fact that ManUtd and/or Chelesa at their best, are at the moment, better then our best. But if they under-perform just that little, and give us the smallest of opportunities, I think, if we are up for it, we could just take something away.
Our duck against them is bound to end sooner or later... right ??
Well said RobL. Did I hear people slag off Carew and NRC - what flip-flop fans. Carew will be needed from time to time - we need a big man and NRC has been playing well and he saved us on numerous occasions with his tracking back and defending. Sidwell continued this game because MON does not want to discourage him by leaving him out after his error last week against Boro.
Let's not get carried away. Man U will be a different proposition. Arsenal may be a group of talented (inexperienced) youth, but Man U is a class act and on paper we are beaten everywhere in the park (apart from our CBs). To win we will need to be on top (and with 4 of our players coming back from England that could be a bit ask) and we have to hope that Man U does not fire on all cylinders.
I think MON would leave the team unchanged except possibly one of the following: (a) NRC instead of Sidwell (but unlikely given that Sidwell did well this game); (b) Carew instead of Milner (but again I think unlikely as we need pace more than power against Man U).
Reply to Tom:
Tom thats rubbish...you actually think NRC, a player that only tackles well, is better than Sidwell? Sidwell is an all round player and is top class. NRC shouldn't get his place back for Man U game at all.
Us 'flip flop' fans? NRC playing well?? You obviously haven't see any of the games since Ajax where NRC has been poor!?!
Villa-Chris,
I concur with NRC comments. His limitations have been exposed,but, is still a valuable player to have in the squad. I was interested to read the link we have with Standard Liege midfielder, Steven DEFOUR. I don't read too much in to links, but, he fits the profile as a possible replacement for BARRY. He's young and had good mentors in CONCEICAO and RAPAIC.
Reply to Villa_Chris:
Totally agree with you Chris. NRC hasn't won that many tackles in the last 4 games and lets be honest, if he isnt winning the ball then what use is he out there? I would stick with the same team as the last day and treat this game as an away game and sit back and try and bring Utd out so that we can catch them on the counter. Personally i think we will get well beaten next saterday as we cannot handle Man Utd high tempo game. Ronaldo might be tired after going to Brazil but Rooney will be totally rested after not playing for over 10 days and he just loves putting the ball in our net and im sure Gabby and Young will be giving everything in Germany to try and make a name for themselves which could lead to a bit of fatigue as well.
Just wanted to give an individual shout out to Luke Young, who I think has been immense so far this season.
May not be the best going forward but has been great at the back and did a great job against Walcott, despite playing out of position.
Could prove a great signing and surely another who deserves to be in the England squad.
Fantastic result, had a load of fun giving gunner mates banter about it.
Since when did Petrov turn into one of the Premierships best holding midfielders?? He's absolutely necessary for us now, more important than Barry...
VillaCraig 32, great shout on Luke Young, i thought we spent FAARRRR to much money on him, but the mans solid, and a bit unlucky to miss out on the England squad. I hope they start Curtis Davis in Germany, cant see that happening, god forbid England start with more than 1 Villa player in the team.
I agree, Luke young has been class. Top player.
Now before i say this, I want to mention that I never wish injuries on any player, esp not to a young English talent such as Theo Walcott. However as the Arse seem to be the most likely team to surrender the 4th place spot this season, him dislocating his shoulder last night could play in to the hands of Villa. There is a silver lining to every cloud, and this injury means Arsenal have lost there most creative player this season so far (debatable I know).
Just a thought.
I agree, they really were once again torn apart against Man.City. Without Gallas and Toure at the back they do not look anywhere near as solid! The amount of times Shaun Wright Philips and Robihno cut through their back line! oh dear!