The author's personal notes on the game are shared, and I have accumulated enough content and ideas to share them in the hope that those who didn't watch the game can get a general idea of what happened, and avoid accidentally turning it into a running gag just for the sake of writing it. Since the content is relatively spontaneous, and the number of matches may make it lengthy, we'll just pick our favorite teams to watch! If you like it, please share it, and if there are any mistakes, please don't hesitate to comment on them!
Also, I have my own team to support, Manchester City.
Brighton
I will try to keep a neutral point of view when writing about the two teams, but it is very likely that I will unconsciously favor that team, so please forgive me! In contrast, I'll also try to keep a neutral point of view when I write about Manchester City.
Feel more confident in the quality of your content.
Fixtures to watch this week (click on the hyperlinks to jump to the page): Villa 2-1 Everton, Man City
4-0 Bournemouth (p.2), Nottingham 1-0 West Ham United (p.2), Chelsea
2-2 Tottenham Hotspur
(p.3), Liverpool
1-1 Crystal Palace (p.4).
There were no players in the backfield who dared to play with fire and use their dribbling to get away from the press, or who could make accurate long passes; there was no Richarlison's ability to hold the ball in front of him, or DCL's physical superiority to compete for high balls. Last but not least, Villa's dense defense in the middle of the field (this game set up a 4-4-2 diamond midfield) made Everton's efficiency in organizing attacks extremely low. The script of most of the offense is: backfield passes are pressed by the opponents → rush to the front with long passes → Villa recovers the ball and ends the offense.
In the first half there were only two attacks that managed to reach the opponent's penalty area. The first was a counter-attack initiated by Gordon's midfield break. McNeil's direct ball was aimed at Gray, but the force was too much for him and he missed the goal. A corner kick was disallowed for offside. After this attack, Alverton's intention of counter-attacking after a break in the midfield was reinforced.
The second time was when Gordon held the ball in the middle of the field and managed to break through the midfield defense, and then finished with 2 shots from corners.
Even in the second half, as the backs took more possession of the ball, the poor penetration into the penalty area (tackling, running, accuracy of key passes, etc.), in the end, had to rely on set-pieces to create chances on goal. In the first 85 minutes of the match, 6 out of 9 shots came from set pieces.
Back Kamara will drop back between the two defenders to help out when the ball is passed in the backfield and to strengthen the resistance against the opposing team's pressing.
Ramsey, named left midfielder, was actually more of a left winger in terms of aggression (at least when the scores were level), and the opening game featured numerous images of him pushing forward with the ball on the left flank, which, combined with Digne aggressively slotting in to overlap, led to the majority of Villa's attacking efforts coming from the left side of the pitch.
Two of the best left side attacks:
Villa looked to be in control of the game with 61.9% possession in the first half, and looked threatening with a stacked attack down the left, but in truth, Villa finished the first half with just two shots on target, fewer than Everton's four, and neither of them originated from the left.
There was also a twist: despite Villa's low number of shots on goal, these 2 shots, one was a BIG CHANCE - Villa's corner, Carlos' header in front of the goal, and the other was a GOAL - a midfield break and counter-attack, Watkins received a long pass on the right, crossed to find Ings, stopped, dinked, turned, and shot, and the other was a goal. A series of slick individual forward skills, shrugged off the marking to complete the goal and send Villa into half time in the lead.
The dangling game stats show the limitations of Villa's passing organization, allowing them to dominate possession but failing to capitalize on unrelenting offensive pressure.
The game didn't really come to a climax until after 85 minutes. Villa launched another counter attack with another midfield break, again with Watkins completing the assist to make it 2-0, and Alverton's Onana immediately redeemed himself by breaking into the box and crossing underneath the ball to force an own goal from Digne and help his team get back into the game to make it 2-1.
After that, Watkins had a one-touch shot parried by Pickford, Rondon had his shot blocked by Martinez, and Onana had a last-minute chance in front of the goal spoiled by Chambers. Villa couldn't kill their opponents and Everton couldn't catch up. It was a shocking game, but the end of Villa's victory didn't change after the melee.
