Re: Colchester United vs Aston Villa match thread

[Saunders82]

I like the look of the lad from spurs, always looking for the ball, O'hare is looking really sharp too, towards the end of the half we seemed to have taken our foot of the gas as usual and they have got into more, you could see the goal coming but a bit out of nothing really. We need to start on the front foot second half and push hard, need to put this to bed, entertaining tho so far.

[deadbuzzardalive]

After we scored the second we seemed to go flat, and overall there might even be a chance for saying that Colchester were the better team. Quite impressed with O'Hare and Onomah. Hopefully we wake up a bit second-half.

[gaffer85]

Have to say hourihane has to start for his set pieces alone
Steer onomah and o hare have been good

[VTID85]

Comical first 20mins.

Good first goal and Colchester keeper can fuck right off if he thinks Andre fouled him, he fumbled it like a bar of prison soap and got punished.

A minute later Samba thinks he's Jackie Chan and gives away a penalty but given the conditions it does look tricky on defense. Great save from Steer, very composed although the penalty is weak.

Samba getting a bit sloppy, looks quite nervous after conceding a penalty. Getting back into it as the half progresses though.

Adomah a good chunk offside to receive a through ball for the second which goes in off a Colchester player. They've obviously heard we've got problems scoring and have chipped in.

Thenwe go off the boil, barely soaking up the pressure until Colchester get a lucky strike on and score. Well fuck me sideways. We couldn't even manage a solid 45 this time.

Bjarnasson is abysmal, Green looks petulent, O'Hare is the star so far I think. Conditions look vile, game could go either way depending on which team gets nature on their side first.

[deadbuzzardalive]

I'd look to bring on Hepburn-Murphy now, Hogan's struggling to get into the game.

[De Kuip]

Sounds like we should be 3-1 up - hope these misses don't cost us

[Guest]

Spurs lad has been fantastic.

[VTID85]

Spurs lad has been fantastic.

Him and O'Hare.

[Guest]

Definately. O'Hare is my favourite Villa player atm. with some distance.

[Guest]

This is fantastic. RHM, O'Hare and Davis. Loving it.

[De Kuip]

Davis on -I like this lad - hope he bags a goal

[VTID85]

Again, considering the conditions, Steer has been excellent. That fucking low  fizzing cut back cross has been a real threat for Colchester and caught us out nearly every time.

[De Kuip]

I know we can say it's only Colchester, and we should have won easily, but they have a great home record, the conditions are abysmal, we have lots of changes and to be honest a win is a win - I'll take that and seeing the youngsters give a good account of themselves is a big positive as well. Sounds like Steer played a blinder as well.

I'm seeing all the positives from this and ignoring any negatives, through to the next round, 1 away game out of three out the way with a win.

[Guest]

Win is a win.

O'Hare is superb. This is my gripe with this whole sign players right left and centre tactic. You got players like O'Hare in the academy. I know it's tougher in the championship, but you can't tell me he's not good enough. I'm willing to bet we have 5-6 academy players good enough to be rotated in the championship. It's absurd we don't use them more.

Good performance by spurs lad as well.

[deadbuzzardalive]

Not a great performance, you can talk about the conditions but Colchester had to deal with them too. O'Hare played well and surely has played himself into at least a place on the bench at the weekend, I'd probably start him, also very impressed with Onomah, the ball seems to stick to his feet.

[gaffer85]

Thank fuck for that my sky hoodoo is over that's the first game I've seen villa win on sky since we beat Leicester 2-1 when Hutton scored the winner

[Guest]

Ahhh yes Hutton. I seriously can't be the only one who thinks we look a lot more balanced without Hutton in the side? It actually looked like we had an organised defence today.

[deadbuzzardalive]

Seeing a lot of people moaning about Hourihane on twitter, he wasn't involved much in the first half but I think he improved second and looked really steady, and you always get the feeling that he create something.

I think some are overly harsh on him, after seeing how many goals and assists he got for Barnsley and presume he's meant to some sort of a no.10 style playmaker, when really that's not his game.

[FoxyAV]

I agree with pretty much everything said so far. O'Hare and Onomah were both very good but for me Hogan squeezed MOTM over Steer, who looked like he hasn't just missed a season to injury. I remember watching Steer play half a match against Wycombe Wanderers three or four years ago and his distribution was miles better than Guzan's, as well as being a good goalie. It would be good to see him get some more matches. But Hogan I thought was excellent. If we can get him playing with Kodjia we really could be in for a very entertaining rest of season. Not much else to say really, we played one player with Premier League experience (Samba - actually did Steer ever play in the PL?) and considering how it was mostly reserves players and injury returnees I think we did ok. I also thought Colchester played really well, I enjoyed watching that.

[Villa Ranger]

he fumbled it like a bar of prison soap and got punished.

Though not the way you would normally get punished for dropping a bar of prison soap!

[mefromhere]

Steer won us the game
O'Hare is just as good as Grealish
Hutton is still our best option defensively and offensively
Green has no end product.

[VTID85]

he fumbled it like a bar of prison soap and got punished.

Though not the way you would normally get punished for dropping a bar of prison soap!

Did you not see Green pull his shorts down, pin him against the post and whisper "I'm yer daddy now" in his ear then?

[The Utterer]

Bjarnasson kept getting the ball, taking a few strides forwards and then passing it into the centre when nine times out of ten it went directly into the path of one of their players who then had a chance to set up an attack... atrocious, it must have happened at least eight times.

[FoxyAV]

They were essentially our reserves and returnees, with the exception of Chester, Hogan and Green. Some made a very good case for themselves while Bjarnasson didn't. There's a lot to be excited about though with the likes of O'Hare, Audrey and Davis coming through the ranks.

[AstonThriller]

Well that was both frustrating and enjoyable to watch really. Plenty of promising things and some very sloppy stuff too. Although if you read VT you'd think the world has fallen in

Steer= Was bloody impressive, wasn't he? When he first arrived I failed to see what the big deal was. But in this last pre-season in Germany he made one world class save that made me raise an eyebrow, and yesterday he was just brilliant tbh. I think he's gonna put pressure on Johnstone and that can only be a good thing.

Bree= Was Ok, kept things simple, done well defensively and got forward when he could. Don't think he dislodged Hutton though and with De Laet back in the fold I hope the kid goes on loan and keeps developing.

Thor= He was so vulnerable back there it was ridiculous. Clearly not a defender but to his credit he did try. Although tbh I'm struggling to see what he brings to the table really.

Samba= Was all over the place for a spell in the first half. The reason I think that was was because he was playing on the left-hand side of the defence. He went back to the right-hand side in the second half and was Ok from then on.

Chester= Was his usual calm and assured self. In the right place at the right time most of the game and lead by example.

Adomah= Good to see Albert back in the mix. Was a little rusty at times I thought but could have easily scored in the second half. Also got himself an assist for the second goal which is no surprise considering how many he racked up last season. Gonna be interesting to see what happens when he's fully fit. Will Bruce favour Elmo over him?

Hourihane= Was up and down and had a steady game I guess. But I'm still waiting for the Hourihane was saw tearing it up at Barnsley to turn up tbh.

Onomah= WOW!!..what a player this kid is. He looked a class above I thought. He can pass the ball, win it back, glide past players, has skill, pace, looks to be creative etc. This kid has the lot and reminded me of Delph. Him and Whelan In the middle of the park on Saturday should be something to behold tbh. Very Very impressed with him.

Green= He's young so I guess we shouldn't expect the moon and the stars from him just yet. But I was frustrated at how much attacks broke down with him making the wrong decision. He needs to not cut in so much and head to the by-line a little more imo to keep the full-back guessing. I'm hoping once he gets a goal or assist he'll calm down and really start to grow in his role.

O'Hare= UTTERLY BRILLIANT!!. Honestly, this was as impressive a debut from a Villa youngster that I have ever seen. We've been crying out for a number ten for years and for me this kid has all the goods. It's not just the fancy flicks and tricks that he does, the real quality about him is the positions he kept taking up on the pitch. He was popping up in little holes infront of the opposition's defence and causing all sorts of problems. His vision was also frightening to see. I'd start him on Saturday without question. We can't hold a talent like this back imo.

Hogan= Good to see Scott get a goal and I thought O'Hare's involvement allowed him to make those runs and actually have someone on the same wavelength. Hope the goal gives him confidence now and hopefully, he'll bag another one or two on Saturday.

Murphy and Davis coming on was also good to see. Murphy especially looked very dangerous. All in all I was encouraged by many of the things I saw.

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