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Boro v Aston Villa - Playoff Semi Final (First Leg) 0-1


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Hoisted with our own petard, slain by our own sword, set piece ninjas getting set piece ninja'd  :tear:

 

Fair play to Villa, they did a job on us, the kind of job we did to teams under Karanka actually.  It was tight as I expected it to be and ultimately we didn't have enough quality going forwards when it mattered.  At 0-1 we're still in it though, which is at least something for us to hold on to.  I'm not sure we could have done much different to change the outcome although I'd have started with Bamford rather than Assombalonga because I think Bamford is our best striker.

 

It's safe to say they sussed out our get the ball to Traore tactic and did a reasonable job of keeping him relatively quiet.  I don't think it helped that he seemed to regress to the scarecrow version of himself without a brain however.  Too many poor decisions, maybe he was just trying a little too hard in his defence though.  I thought Besic was a bit greedy on one or two occasions as well when he could have played someone else in or at least helped us work a good position.  Again though he was possibly trying too hard.

 

I don't think we played that badly but without really playing well.  Conceding in the manner we did at the time we did seemed to torpedo us to a certain extent and we didn't have the ingenuity required to cause them enough problems.  Having said that, Assombalonga possibly should have scored on one or two occasions or at least do better than he did.

 

Shame about Ayala although Fabio gave us more going forward than Shotton on the right and that was what we needed.  Bamford should have been on earlier as well, from the kick off as I mentioned above but certainly earlier than he came on.

 

We're still in it and play off games have a habit of being all over the place so I'm not too downhearted.  Or alternatively, the season is over so let's get the transfer thread up and liven this place up  :cheese:

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We're Villa good though? Not really. They were mainly mediocre. Just that their big / most influential players turned up and dealt with the pressure more than ours did. Mind set is a huge part of the play offs, and ours was entirely off.

 

Of all the things I considered about today, a lack of desire from our lads wasn't one of them.

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If we're to have any chance on Tuesday Pulis needs to get Traore to get back to what he's been doing the past 5 months not the blind alley beat anyone you can player he was before.

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We're Villa good though? Not really. They were mainly mediocre. Just that their big / most influential players turned up and dealt with the pressure more than ours did. Mind set is a huge part of the play offs, and ours was entirely off.

 

Of all the things I considered about today, a lack of desire from our lads wasn't one of them.

 

It wasn't entirely off.  If it had been we'd have lost by a wider margin.  They scored from a set piece and we didn't have enough in attack, which we haven't really all season long.  If that last line is suggesting that our players lacked desire then I think you're completely wrong.

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We're Villa good though? Not really. They were mainly mediocre. Just that their big / most influential players turned up and dealt with the pressure more than ours did. Mind set is a huge part of the play offs, and ours was entirely off.

 

Of all the things I considered about today, a lack of desire from our lads wasn't one of them.

 

They were good at stopping us playing, that's where Villa deserve credit.

 

I don't think it's a case of our players being unable to handle the pressure they just don't look as good against better opposition. Traore and Besic have looked like world beaters against teams that gave them acres of space to play, maybe some of our players are just not as good as we think they are.

 

Also I don't think you can discount the importance of the first goal in a game like today. That gave Villa the platform to shut up shop and at the back end of the game they had a back four and 3 holding midfielders sat in front of them.

 

We don't have a lot of quality to break down a well drilled and organised team, that's not down to a lack of effort or bottle it's just that we lack a bit of ability.

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We're Villa good though? Not really. They were mainly mediocre. Just that their big / most influential players turned up and dealt with the pressure more than ours did. Mind set is a huge part of the play offs, and ours was entirely off.

 

Of all the things I considered about today, a lack of desire from our lads wasn't one of them.

 

It wasn't entirely off.  If it had been we'd have lost by a wider margin.  They scored from a set piece and we didn't have enough in attack, which we haven't really all season long.  If that last line is suggesting that our players lacked desire then I think you're completely wrong.

 

I think we did lack desire - perhaps not psychologically, but in the physical performance. Any desire the players felt didn't translate into performance, meaning the *performance* lacked desire.

 

And that's entirely down to not dealing with pressure, nerves and expectation. Our most influential players buckled under that pressure and thus didn't perform to the best of their ability, or show they desire that they may have felt.

 

The play-offs often aren't decided by talent, more by mindset, psychology and how well players deal with the pressure cooker situation they find themselves in - Villa's players dealt with that better than ours today.

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I think we did lack desire - perhaps not psychologically, but in the physical performance. Any desire the players felt didn't translate into performance, meaning the *performance* lacked desire.

 

And that's entirely down to not dealing with pressure, nerves and expectation. Our most influential players buckled under that pressure and thus didn't perform to the best of their ability, or show they desire that they may have felt.

 

The play-offs often aren't decided by talent, more by mindset, psychology and how well players deal with the pressure cooker situation they find themselves in - Villa's players dealt with that better than ours today.

 

Not the first time you're seeing things that aren't there  :rolleyes: 

 

You're not Cracker son, so stop acting like it  :fist: ;)

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We're Villa good though? Not really. They were mainly mediocre. Just that their big / most influential players turned up and dealt with the pressure more than ours did. Mind set is a huge part of the play offs, and ours was entirely off.

 

Of all the things I considered about today, a lack of desire from our lads wasn't one of them.

 

It wasn't entirely off.  If it had been we'd have lost by a wider margin.  They scored from a set piece and we didn't have enough in attack, which we haven't really all season long.  If that last line is suggesting that our players lacked desire then I think you're completely wrong.

 

I think we did lack desire - perhaps not psychologically, but in the physical performance. Any desire the players felt didn't translate into performance, meaning the *performance* lacked desire.

 

And that's entirely down to not dealing with pressure, nerves and expectation. Our most influential players buckled under that pressure and thus didn't perform to the best of their ability, or show they desire that they may have felt.

 

The play-offs often aren't decided by talent, more by mindset, psychology and how well players deal with the pressure cooker situation they find themselves in - Villa's players dealt with that better than ours today.

 

Buckled under pressure? What game where you watching :)

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Ok Hun Xx

 

:heart:

 

Guessing you also though this Eurovision was one of the best collective performances ever? ;)

 

Eurovision?  Is it tonight?

 

You missed a corker mate. Almost as good as Fabio's crossing

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Ok Hun Xx

 

:heart:

 

Guessing you also though this Eurovision was one of the best collective performances ever? ;)

 

Eurovision?  Is it tonight?

 

You missed a corker mate. Almost as good as Fabio's crossing

 

I haven't seen it for years.  Did we win or does Europe still hate us?

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You missed a corker mate. Almost as good as Fabio's crossing

 

That pull back he did  :tear: :tear:

 

Still miles better than Shotton mind, which probably doesn't reflect that well on us really.

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