Very good point.

[Wile E Coyote]

we rode our luck, could have quite easily been a bad defeat but for the woodwork, that said, we are on the right course points wise. I have a soft spot for sheffield utd, and they are looking hopelessly lost whereas we seem to be slowly building strength again. it was definately a fantastic point , away to a strong team with some much improved displays by some of our players who have been off the boil.

[cricketfieldclarets]

Grealish absolutely ran the show and on another night would have made/scored 2 or 3. We got away with that after Dyche failed to address Grealish picking up so much space.

I disagree. We frustrated him massively. Yes he had a lot of the ball. But he did very little with it. That was largely in part to how we managed the game at the back.

At no point did I feel they would score.

[expoultryboy]

On the few occasions we kept it on the floor and past and moved off the ball , we cut them wide open . Unfortunately we don't do this enough .

[Hibsclaret]

At no point did I feel they would score.

Agree. ElGhazi could still be playing on Christmas Day and wouldn’t score. It does make me laugh when all the media bang on about 20 odd shots etc. The object is to score a goal not to shoot off target ~20 times in a game

[Coat Hook]

Possession doesn't always relate to final score, 0-0 was a great result with a much needed point. However it would be good to see us try to keep the ball in the oppositions half. Hendrick held the ball and we've not replaced this side of his game, we toss the ball over the half way line fence and expect it to come straight back.

[evensteadiereddie]

It's a delicate balance of keeping a very firm framework and passing, moving and attacking.
At the moment, in the position we're in, I'd rather go for the attritional approach and continue to reel in those teams above us.
It's not particularly pretty but it's an aspect of football that we are particularly effective at.

[Dark Cloud]

I think the problem is, we shouldn't be looking at games such as Villa and saying "we dodged a bullet". But we are because they moved forward during the summer and brought in serious reinforcements and we patently didn't.

[evensteadiereddie]

And if last night for them is the result of spending over £200 million, I'm rather glad we didn't.

[jurek]

Under the circumstances a very good point albeit we were also very lucky
that Villa forwards couldn't get too many good shots on goal in.
So great defending allied to luck against poor shooting allied to unluckiness.

I think to be fair if it had have been the other way round
(not that I can ever imagine us having 27 shots in one game)
then we'd all be saying 'we was robbed,' how didn't we win that game!' etc.
At the same time we'd be relatively happy (as Smith was) that we were
creating that many chances and playing good attacking football.

[NottsClaret]

I've not watched much Premier League at all this season but quite enjoyed that last night. I know it's very much frowned upon now, but watching two centre halves like ours working as hard as that, being physical without crossing a line and managing Villa's multiple threats was actually pretty interesting.

Maybe it's a problem more for fans brought up on YouTube showreels, or a lack of Sunday sides now mean many have never played the game at any level, but what we did last night and at Arsenal is far from easy and there's loads there to admire, or at least appreciate.

[Spijed]

I've not watched much Premier League at all this season but quite enjoyed that last night. I know it's very much frowned upon now, but watching two centre halves like ours working as hard as that, being physical without crossing a line and managing Villa's multiple threats was actually pretty interesting.

Maybe it's a problem more for fans brought up on YouTube showreels, or a lack of Sunday sides now mean many have never played the game at any level, but what we did last night and at Arsenal is far from easy and there's loads there to admire, or at least appreciate.

The problem is that some fans say they want to be 'entertained' and that parking the bus isn't proper football.

I'd rather get points first and foremost, and if that means defending like we did last night then so be it.

[JTClaret]

I'm surprised so many are saying about the strikers.
When we were in possession of the ball in our our half we were pretty poor, we didn't get the ball to midfield from defence well enough, meaning the midfield couldn't supply the forward line.

That being said, we are picking up points now. Hopefully as Dyche eluded to, they can work on the attacking side of the game now the defence is back and keeping clean sheets.

[Jakubs Tash]

I disagree. We frustrated him massively. Yes he had a lot of the ball. But he did very little with it. That was largely in part to how we managed the game at the back.

At no point did I feel they would score.

Fair enough. It's all about opinions. I felt we massively got away with it!

[Silkyskills1]

Grealish ran the game from virtually the first minute to the last. When he had the ball we couldn't get it off him; he also drew our players in creating space and time for his teammates. Fortunately their finishing was woeful for the most part. I felt there was naivety on our part once he had a grip of the game by not utilising an extra midfield player to afford us more.opportunity of closing him down quicker. We got away with it yesterday and a point away from home is always a good point but I couldn't have found any room for complaint had Villa taken all three points. In the second half El Ghazi had six opportunities in on goal and fluffed them all.

[Safron]

The shear amount of shots we afforded villa, all be it high and wide or blocked shows that our closing down needs addressing we stand off way too far, and like many posters mention it was a great point but realistically we should of got nowt if villa had there shooting boots on

[Stalbansclaret]

Why?

We can win with just one on target.

I'm fairly sure a team has won a game with no shots on target thanks to own goals

Yes...it was us ! Two years ago we beat Fulhan 2-1 with the 2 o.g.s and no shots on target I think (maybe it was one)

[Spijed]

The shear amount of shots we afforded villa, all be it high and wide or blocked shows that our closing down needs addressing we stand off way too far, and like many posters mention it was a great point but realistically we should of got nowt if villa had there shooting boots on

It's been said many times that we deliberately allow shots from outside the area. That's planned for and Pope hardly has any difficult saves to make as that's all we allow teams in terms of chances.

[Devils_Advocate]

It's been said many times that we deliberately allow shots from outside the area. That's planned for and Pope hardly has any difficult saves to make as that's all we allow teams in terms of chances.

18 of Villa's 27 shots were from inside our area.

[Rileybobs]

Villa’s expected goals stat was 1.81. So whilst I would have expected one of their shots to have beaten Pope based on sheer cumulative number of efforts, I can’t remember one particular chance that I think they should have scored.

We rode our luck for sure, and we can’t continue to give the opposition that number of chances without offering more ourselves at the other end (our xG was 0.32 for reference). But I don’t think Villa’s chances were as good as some are making out.

[Hipper]

Villa had lost their previous three home games:

Southampton 3-4
Leeds 0-3
Brighton 1-2

[GodIsADeeJay81]

18 of Villa's 27 shots were from inside our area.

Didn't make them anymore accurate though

[Spijed]

What's impressive as well is that aside from the Man city game we've only conceded one goal in the other five that we've taken nine points from. Don't concede and you are pretty much guaranteed to survive.

[Devils_Advocate]

What's impressive as well is that aside from the Man city game we've only conceded one goal in the other five that we've taken nine points from. Don't concede and you are pretty much guaranteed to survive.

Not true, i put some stats up several weeks back and you were more at risk of going down by having one of the three worst attacking records than one of the three worst defensive records.

Ultimately its a balance between the two and teams need to play to their strengths. For Burnley that is doing what we are doing now and doing it well but for other teams its attacking and scoring goals.

As long as we get the balance better than 3 other teams then we'll be ok

[Elizabeth]

Following on Hipper, I always look at the current form of who we are playing because I think it makes a big difference. We have picked up a good stash of points from Everton, Arsenal and Villa recently ( 5 points from 3 games of which 2 were away I believe)
There is a very good chance all three of those sides will end the season in the top half of the table yet we played them at a time their form wasn’t great which benefited us

[cricketfieldclarets]

It's been said many times that we deliberately allow shots from outside the area. That's planned for and Pope hardly has any difficult saves to make as that's all we allow teams in terms of chances.

Exactly and was same with Heaton. How often did he make saves look easy?

[CharlieinNewMexico]

Grealish ran the game from virtually the first minute to the last. When he had the ball we couldn't get it off him; he also drew our players in creating space and time for his teammates. Fortunately their finishing was woeful for the most part. I felt there was naivety on our part once he had a grip of the game by not utilising an extra midfield player to afford us more.opportunity of closing him down quicker. We got away with it yesterday and a point away from home is always a good point but I couldn't have found any room for complaint had Villa taken all three points. In the second half El Ghazi had six opportunities in on goal and fluffed them all.

Do feel that we were somewhat flummoxed by the idea of this guy Grealish doing really well? Do we ever watch tapes? Do we just consistently line up 442 without a plan? To see SD IW and TL deep in discussion after 20 minutes although admittedly we ended up with a point I just question what planning we actually do?

[Safron]

Do feel that we were somewhat flummoxed by the idea of this guy Grealish doing really well? Do we ever watch tapes? Do we just consistently line up 442 without a plan? To see SD IW and TL deep in discussion after 20 minutes although admittedly we ended up with a point I just question what planning we actually do?

They were simply discussing wether to have 1 sugar or 2 in the halftime brew