Aston Villa 3 – 2 MAN CITY – PLAYER RATINGS
29 Sep
Hart - Questions will be asked as to whether he needed to rush out so far off his line for Villa’s third goal but he clearly wanted to narrow the angle as much as possible. For the second strike, the free-kick, he was rooted to the spot but as with Yaya Touré’s near-identical set-piece goals this season, credit has to be given to the scorer - 6
Zabaleta - Struggled to have as much impact in the final third as usual. Tried valiantly to bomb up and down the right but we didn’t work the ball to him quickly enough and his crossing was a touch iffy - 6
Kompany - Partially at fault for the third goal when a moment of indecision on his and Nastasic’s behalf cost us but he was a bystander for much of the game, such was our dominance - 6
Nastasic - Arguably played a role in Villa’s first when he got needlessly close to Kolarov, gave away the free-kick which lead to the second and was culpable for the third. Not his finest afternoon - 5
Kolarov - His partnership with Nasri was a feature of the first half, Kolarov’s constant overlapping runs making great use of the space and time he was afforded. After the break, Villa tightened up a little on that side, not allowing him so much freedom, and that impinged on his influence. Crossing before half-time was varied and threatening, but after half-time it became a tad predictable. Still, one of our better performers - 7
Y. Touré - Tried to exert his authority before the break on a weak Villa midfield and did just that, adding another goal to his tally, but seemed to drop his tempo in the second period and wasn’t the driving figure we needed when we were searching for a goal late on - 6
Fernandinho - After some bright showings which hinted at him settling down, this was a nervy, lightweight display. He was shrugged off the ball and out-muscled far too easily, and was slow in possession, often turning round to pass it back rather than drive into the space ahead of him. He’s adapting to a new role and there have been some promising signs, but this was a timid performance - 5
Milner - Excellent in midweek, he sadly found it tough against his former club. His crossing was awry, some great opportunities wasted as he couldn’t find an end product - 5
Nasri - Our brightest spark once again. Lost his cool with the referee at the end of a first half in which he had been the standout performer, his partnership with Kolarov down the left and his eagerness to run with the ball causing all sorts of problems. Taken off early, presumably to rest him before Bayern with doubts about Silva’s fitness, but that was a mistake with the lead only one - 7.5
Džeko - Scored again – a fluky effort off his back – but this was a thoroughly deflating performance from the Bosnian. His touch was alarming, attacks constantly breaking down or being slowed dramatically by his inability to control the ball, while he wasted a couple of decent chances. Remains infuriatingly inconsistent - 4
Negredo - Showed his physical side once more, making a nuisance of himself in the air and on the ground, yet combined that aggressive streak with a cultured touch, moving the ball quickly and incisively. One long-range effort in the second half was saved but more signs that he’s an upgrade on Dzeko - 6.5
Subs
Navas - Needed to drive at the opposition fullback more often, rather than cut infield and, because of his absent left foot, pass it back towards Zabaleta - 6
Jovetic - Unfortunate not to start after his terrific showing against Wigan in the Capital One Cup and he added a sense of urgency and trickery to our play. Didn’t always pay off but he injected purpose and intent - 6
We played excellently… We were not able to convert, y play two similar players in one match.. I think offside or not u have to defend..
You’re players like you’re supporters think all you have to do is turn up. To soft and no bottle. If we had gabby and benteke it could of been 5 or 6.
Are you for real? Enjoy your cup final parade, you won’t get away with that luck through out the season, well done earning your undeserved 3 points but don’t let that paper over the cracks within your team.
And if we had Silva and Auguero it would have been 3-2 Villa.
If buts maybes. How anyone can say “if this would have happened, then that would have happened” with such conviction is beyond me. You are not fortune tellers!
Villa fan here..i come in peace.
I hope and think you will win the league, you have a fantastic set of fans and I won’t forget the banner at VP when we fell short to United…you should have done us yesterday, but lambo got his tactics spot on..good luck against bayern.
In 40 years following the Villa I don’t remember a game where I was so shocked to win. Although, in truth, Guzan had a pretty quiet afternoon, even at 3-2 I thought you would come back. Thought you manager should a lot of class in the post match interview – refreshing compared to usual sour grapes when top 4 lose.
Good luck for rest of season (apart from the return match, of course).
sorry
“… showed a lot of class …”
What cracks we’re gonna win the league sure.
Well said the Villa fans…..except for 1982NH…..what a plonker!
Can’t believe Nasri and Kolarov getting top marks! What is going on????
All I can say is……..Dzeko – GET RID!!!!!!!!
(And Garcia!)
Ohhh a plonker
. Careful now you might offend me.
Dzeko is very wasteful. Interested to see what Jovetic is like when he gets fully fit and used to the team.
Negredo every time over Dzeko with Auguero or Jovetic.
What is score with Gudetti by the way? Saw him on tunnel cam the other day…
I largely agree with your remarks and scores. Dzeko is rapidly easing himself out of a starting berth with his failure to be more clinical. Not sure he knew a lot about his goal but when he starts we invariably struggle. Nasri’s improvement has been the brightest spot of the season for me. Hart, Kompany and Nastasic all below par yesterday.
What is it with the mob attack by Villa fans?!?! I blame it on the excellent Peaky Blinders – they think they own everything!!!
I was in one of the boxes with 3 Villa, 1 Wolves and a man utd fan and all couldn’t believe that Villa came away with it!
City’s possession and flair was a sight to behold, But there were some lack luster performances and costly mistakes from a couple, Nastasic gave away silly fouls outside the box and doesn’t seem to be the same player as last season?
Hart was not at the races and it’s sadly time for Pantillimon to get a couple of games.
Yes one villa goal was clearly offside which everyone bar the officials watched on the big screen moments later.
Toure had clear opportunity on a couple of occasions to shoot when in the box as we could clearly see being behind the goal leaving Villa fans open mouthed that he didn’t and very glad he chose to pass the ball. Way to many passes on to many occasions, yes it looks attractive and when you’re 4 in front put as much of a display on as you want but let’s get the 4
Disappointing City display but not unexpected! What has happened to the defence? – answer – there is no protection in front of them! No Gareth Barry any more to protect them. Nastasic needs to be rested – two mistakes in one game is unacceptable! Yes, it was his stupid trip that led to the 2nd goal. P needs to look at the videos from when City won the league – Richards, Kompany, Lescott and Clichy were fantastic. P needs to act now or City will lose lots more away games. I predicted away losses at the beginning of the season without Barry and sadly it is coming true! Does Fernandinho warrant a place at the moment, he doesn’t seem to move from the penalty spot. He will go by the end of the season – he can’t keep up with the pace and prefers to walk everywhere!
Oh pelegrini come on. Dzeko-Negredo up front? for heavens sake. you just can’t put Aguero at the bench. Either way the game against bayern is lost so it would have been better to use 100% of the team at the league
Wrong to single out Dzeko. What more do you want from your striker other than to score the goal that gives us the lead away from home as he did against both Cardiff and Villa. That’s all the Rags ask of RVP. The failings start and end with the defence and the keeper. It’s unprofessional to concede so many goals from set pieces and Nasty has been rushed into being a regular starter whilst he is still work in progress. None of the six goals conceded against Cardiff and Villa were anything to do with the absent Barry & NDJ or they were nothing to do with the strikers either. Great teams successfully protect a 1 goal advantage week in week out.
…”a fluky effort off his back”…there is nothing fluky about that goal , hope he scores 20 like that this year.Your rating is joke again.
Aleksandar Kolarovs of soccer
By Rory Smith | October 2, 2013 9:42:45 AM PDT
Let’s talk about Aleksandar Kolarov. Not enough people talk about Aleksandar Kolarov, which is a shame, because he’s a fascinating individual with many varied interests, including botany and Agatha Christie novels.
How would you describe Kolarov? Would you suggest that he is a fine footballer, owner of 43 caps for Serbia, possessor of a fierce left foot, adept at swinging in viciously dipping crosses and capable of scoring wonderful goals from set pieces? Or would you see him as one-paced, occasionally a little work-shy and prone to lapses in concentration?
As a personal view, it’s a little from column A, a little from column B. Kolarov is not perfect. He is not as quick as Marcelo or as consistent as Ashley Cole or as threatening as Jordi Alba. But he is not without his merits. He’s a seven out of 10. He may not have been worth 19 million pounds, but he is certainly not terrible. You do not have his CV without at least considerable ability.
Which is why it is so odd that he is so regularly treated as though he were a plodding, part-time Sunday league player, why it is so strange that to a significant proportion of Manchester City supporters he is a source of deep-seated, hair-tearing, garment-rending frustration.
Kolarov is a good footballer. The problem is that we have lost that classification. The game in the 21st century contains no room for shades of grey. Good, decent, solid, OK: These adjectives no longer apply. There is black, and there is white. There is acceptable, and there is not. There is perfect, and there is awful. Anyone who is deemed not to make the grade is subject to the catcalls and the jeers and the demands that he be sold, ostracised, cast out into the wilderness, naked and alone.
Kolarov, of course, is not the only victim. There are countless others. Theo Walcott, Antonio Valencia, Lucas Leiva, Ramires, dozens, hundreds more, from the rarefied air of the elite to the scrap at the bottom of the Premier League and beyond. All fine players, all with a host of positive attributes, all condemned — in some quarters — because they have the nerve not to be flawless, all taunted as soon as they put a foot out of place, the error seized upon as proof of their incompetence.
Without wishing to sound like a misty-eyed nostalgist, it did not used to be like this. Teams have always had their show ponies and their carthorses. There was a time when the latter were almost as cherished as the former, when working hard in the face of your limitations was considered a virtue, not a crime.
No more. Gone is the tolerance for adequacy. Gone is the idea that while your left-back might only be decent, perhaps that is cause for celebration — “we’ve got a decent left-back, that’s not a problem” — so much as a reason for concern — “Kolarov’s decent, but at the top level, he’ll get found out.” Decent, OK, all those words have become the insults they were never intended to be.
There are a multitude of reasons for this.
One, of course, is the accumulation and concentration of talent at the very top of the game. Teams can no longer afford a seven-out-of-10 player if they wish to win the title, or compete with the very best in Europe (although if you look at Bayern Munich or Barcelona, they have a smattering of players who are no more than decent, too: Daniel van Buyten plays for the former, after all). When you feel that your competitors can name a side of nines and 10s, the seven will no longer cut it.
Another — and this is something touched on here before — is that football seems to matter so much more now. Declining newspaper circulations and the desire to ramp up television and radio audiences has introduced a hysterical note to football coverage: As Arsenal boss Arsene Wenger remarked last week, suddenly every defeat is a crisis. The slightest failing is picked up on, whether it is collective or individual, and repeated ad nauseam on 24-hour television stations, analysed in countless blogs, picked apart by the insatiable jaws of the newspapers and the websites.
That has cost football its sentiment — consider how Manchester United fans have expressed their desire to see Patrice Evra dropped, despite almost a decade of fine service; is he not entitled to play as he enters the autumn of his career, for all that he has done? Do the club, and the fans, not owe him that thank-you, that support? It has cost its patience and perspective, too. Football is a shark. If it does not keep moving, it dies. If you stand still, you fall back. There is no room for emotion, or loyalty. The race matters too much. It will be a disaster — an absolute, irretrievable disaster — if you do not win it.
Perhaps the most important factor, though, is the globalisation of the sport in the past two decades. Thirty years ago, the only chance English fans had to watch the very best foreign teams were in occasional encounters in Europe, or every two years at a major international tournament. You knew that Michel Platini, for example, was a wonderful player, but you did not know quite how much better he was than your team’s star. The sphere of comparison was not quite so broad. Your left-back might have been limited, but so were 15 of the 21 others in the first division, so he did not look too bad.
That has changed now, of course. Fans can watch the very best in the world every week; they can see them play their side once a year. They can look at Barcelona and Bayern and know that is what football is supposed to look like, and they can then see quite how far from that standard their team is.
At the top level, of course, the fear is that they will never realise their ambition to conquer Europe until they have pared all the chaff from the wheat; lower down, the effect is more esoteric, less immediate. It is simply a heightened awareness of quite how many shortcomings each player has, quite how far they are from the ideal.
That breeds dissatisfaction. It breeds contempt. It turns decent and good into insults; it highlights everything that is wrong and casts a shadow over all that is right. It makes Kolarov, and all the others, criticised for what they cannot do, rather than celebrated for what they can. And it robs a little of the innocence of the game, makes it less of a sport and more of a demand for entertainment. It is an expression of a desire to see machines, not people. Part of the joy of sport is seeing your fellow man exceed his limits. It removes all of that. It costs football its humanity.