Just four days after a six goal thriller at Villa Park, Steven Gerrard’s Aston Villa had a stale trip up to Tyneside.
A poor overall performance saw Villa leave St James’ Park with no points, thanks to a Trippier free-kick in the opening 45 minutes. Initially given as a penalty, Chambers’ foul on Willock was overturned to a direct free kick, setting up Trippier for two goals in two games.
After this defining moment, Villa failed to redeem themselves and did not make a good account of their style of play, attacking strengths or any lessons learnt from Wednesday.
With very few players turning up, let’s rate the performances from Sunday’s shocker.
STARTING LINE-UP
Formation 4-3-3
Emi Martinez – 5
Martinez seemed to be thrown off by Buendia’s deflection on the free kick from Trippier, and was unable to make the stop. Otherwise, he mopped everything else up very easily, though not much was asked of him. Had a nervy moment when rushing out of the box and did not communicate well with Mings, leading to the conceding of a needless corner.
Matty Cash – 4
Defensively, Cash’s game was fine. He kept Saint-Maximin relatively quiet but his game was significantly let down by poor delivery in the final third. His crosses into the box and forward play were lackluster and are becoming a recurring frustration in this Gerrard set-up, in which the full-backs are pressing higher up the pitch for added attacking presence. Perhaps this doesn’t suit Matty, but this fixture particularly highlighted the poor quality of crosses into the box.
Calum Chambers – 4
A starting debut for Chambers that will be tainted by a clumsy error leading to Newcastle’s goal. A sloppy challenge on Willock on the edge of the area, initially given as a penalty, led to an easy free-kick opportunity for specialist, Trippier. Other than this momentary blunder, Chambers’ game was fine, but we can’t look past the defensive mistake that may ultimately have cost Villa a point or three.
Tyrone Mings – 5.5*
In what was arguably a big game for Mings after incessant criticism mid-week, he looked calmer and more organised for the most part against the Magpies. Made a very crucial tackle on Saint-Maximin to prevent a second goal, as well as other interceptions throughout. Tried to drive the ball forward, but again the forward passing was poor throughout.
Lucas Digne – 5
Similarly, Digne’s performance was fine defensively. The defense as a whole was not the main issue, instead it was the painful inaccuracies of crosses and forward passes that let the side down, including Lucas. On multiple occasions he tried to strike a cross but hit the first Newcastle man, and failed to really trouble the Geordie defence in his advanced role.
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Douglas Luiz – 4
The midfield had a rough game, but Luiz in particular seemed to stand out as a struggling body in the centre of the park. There were a few good moments of interceptive play, but these were overshadowed by the rest of the 90 minutes played. He failed to control the midfield, break up play and Villa were subsequently bypassed too easily. To top it off, his set piece delivery was particularly bad, with almost all free-kicks and corners overhit or just poor in end product. Booked.
John McGinn – 4
A very quiet showing for John McGinn, summed up by his oh-so-rare substitution in the 84th minute. He is back to playing in a deeper role, covering on the overlap for the advancing full-backs, but is drifting in and out of the game as a result. He did make a few good challenges, but nowhere near enough to warrant a higher rating. Seemed absolutely invisible on the attack, perhaps given his positioning, but certainly he could not complain when substituted for Carney. Booked.
Jacob Ramsey – 4
After a glorious performance on Wednesday night, where he registered two goals on the scoresheet and some beautiful attacking link-up with fellow midfielders, Ramsey had a bit of a stinker like much of his team. He was again drifting in and out of the game, failing to make simple passes and often running or passing into trouble. He, like the rest of the midfield, could not control the ball or maintain possession, meaning first and second balls went straight back to a black and white shirt. Very disappointing. Booked.
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Emi Buendia – 4
After a run of impressive performances and a clear boost in confidence, Buendia was a passenger in this game. He barely got into a rhythm, whether this was because of a knock in midweek, lethargy or a bad day at the office – who knows. His positioning for Trippier’s set piece goal was slightly suspect, but can’t be entirely blamed given he was not in charge of organising the wall (perhaps if he was elsewhere, Martinez may have gotten a clean view and shot to save). Subbed off after 70 minutes to no surprise.
Philippe Coutinho – 5
Much like Ramsey, Philippe failed to continue his star-dazzling form from mid-week. Coutinho did actually make some nice movements, and seemed to be the brightest of the bunch (not saying much…) but this still was not enough and he was absent for large parts of the game, failing to register or create any chances of note. Another disappointment, but good to get a full 90 minutes.
Ollie Watkins – 4
Watkins did have the ball in the net in the second-half, but his headed goal was ruled out for a marginal offside. While this was unfortunate and could have earnt a point on another day, Watkins’ overall game was poor and he looked a shadow of the player from 12 months ago. His hold-up play was not good, granted he was battling with a towering Newcastle back line (Dan Burn being the main nuisance at a humble 6ft 5). He was extremely quiet and was subbed off after 70 minutes to make way for Danny Ings, who will surely be knocking on Gerrard’s door for a start.
Substitutions
Leon Bailey, on for Buendia (72 minutes) – 4
Did very little after coming on, though these were his first minutes back in the squad for some weeks. His brief cameo was summed up by a poor waylaid pass in stoppage time, where he conceded possession and then committed a foul to allow Newcastle a restart – all while Villa were desperate to keep the ball at their feet in hopes of an equaliser. Booked.
Danny Ings, on for Watkins (72 minutes) – 4
Had a short amount of time to make an impact, but Ings was similarly poor up top with barely a shot. Decision making was poor and gave away the ball far too much in a short space of time. Expectations are high on Danny to be a direct, natural goalscorer, but today’s showing left a lot to be desired.
Carney Chukwuemeka, on for McGinn (84 minutes) – N/A
Did not see enough of Carney to make an impact or effect the game.
Subs not used: Robin Olsen, Morgan Sanson, Ashley Young, Kortney Hause, Ben Chrisene, Tim Iroegbunam.
Goals
Newcastle United | Trippier (35)
Opposition
Newcastle, 4-3-3: Dubravka; Trippier (Krafth, 47), Schar, Burn, Manquillo (Dummett, 46); Willock (Guimaraes, 90), Shelvey, Joelinton; Fraser, Wood, Saint-Maximin.
Subs not used: Darlow, Murphy, Almiron, Gayle, S.Longstaff, de Bolle.
THE BOSS
UP NEXT FOR ASTON VILLA
Watford | Villa Park | Saturday 19th February 2022 | 15:00
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