So I have just got back from the game, and I am so annoyed with a large contingent of our so-called fans. I would say supporters, but they did nothing of the kind. Talk about getting on the teams backs and there is no doubt in my mind that this precipitated the nervy moments. Honestly, even before the Villa goal went in, some people were almost rooting for it! Anyway, enough of that rant.
The performance today was average. We won, but should have kept a clean sheet. No real stand out performances for me, but I would say Alli, Lamela, Dembele and Toby were our best players. We just seemed to switch off like Villa did the first 70 odd minutes, and some of our players were making some uncharacteristic (this season at least) mistakes such as Dier, Rose, Mason and Vertongen. This is one of those games that our players will learn from, and thankfully we did not lose. For the first time, Lamela seemed to be like an experienced head at the end, so he deserves credit for that despite nothing really working for him in the first half.
The bit that did not make sense for me was playing Alli further forward when Mason came on. Alli was having a good game and I thought Mason would play in the position he played in against Sunderland. Mason was a bit rusty but the Villa players were going in very hard on him.
We won, but gave away our clean sheet and had an unnecessarily nervy end (until the third goal). Still not many points behind the leaders. Onwards and upwards this week.
