Alright folks, settled down with my third coffee today – needed it after watching that Villa match last night! Thought I’d share how I actually went about putting together my player ratings and figuring out what the heck happened during the game. Honestly, it got a bit messy at points.
So, first thing yesterday morning, after seeing the team sheets dropped, I grabbed my old, battered notebook – the one with coffee stains from like three seasons ago. Figured I needed to track things properly throughout the game. Started by scribbling down the lineups for both sides, Villa and Cardiff. Had to double-check the spelling for some Cardiff players, their names always trip me up!
Setting Up My System (Messily)
Flipped to a clean page and decided I’d track major events minute-by-minute. Left a big column for notes, another for ratings later, and just drew a big timeline down the side for timestamps. Simple stuff, nothing fancy. Was hoping to catch goals, cards, subs, maybe big chances. Put the notebook on the arm of the sofa, remote on the other side, laptop ready on the coffee table for looking stuff up during halftime.
As soon as the whistle blew, I tried my best to scribble things down live. Found it tricky! Some things happened so fast. Like, Villa’s early goal – Watkins missed that sitter inside 5 minutes! I frantically wrote down “5 min: Watkins HUGE miss” and already put a little sad face next to his name in the ratings column. Knew that was gonna cost him.
Kept juggling the pen, the notebook, sometimes pausing the stream for a sec if I missed something important. Ended up with notes that probably only I can decipher now:
- 22 min: Buendia shot saved – decent effort, keeper did well
- 30 min: Cardiff yellow card #23 – late tackle on Ramsey, deserved
- 41 min: GOAL VILLA! – Konsa header from corner! Relief!
Half-time whistle blew and I finally had a minute to breathe. Necked the rest of my lukewarm coffee. Quickly scanned my notes – realized I’d missed noting a couple of important Cardiff counters because I was too focused on Villa’s attack. Had to rely on the replay highlights during the break to fill in a few gaps, scribbling “35 min: Cardiff break, shot wide” afterwards.
The Second Half Slog
Second half kicked off and honestly? It became a bit of a scrappy mess. Less clear-cut stuff to write down. More fouls, more misplaced passes. I started focusing more on individual performances rather than just the events.
- Martinez made a crucial save around 58 min – wrote that down big and circled it.
- Bailey came on as a sub at 65 min, immediately looked lively, tried to take defenders on. Jotted “Bailey on – direct, pacey“.
- McGinn just seemed… off? Kept giving the ball away cheaply after the hour mark. Just wrote “McGinn – sloppy passing? Tired?“.
The final 10 minutes felt like an eternity. Cardiff threw everyone forward, Villa parked the bus, lots of headers, clearances, time-wasting. My notes just became frantic “cleared“, “throw-in“, “foul“. Relief at the final whistle! 1-0 win, but it wasn’t pretty.
Making Sense of the Scribbles
Right after the game finished, I cracked open a fresh page. Time to make some sense of the chaos. Went through my timeline notes event by event.
Then came the ratings. Based purely on what I’d written down and what stuck in my mind strongest:
- Martinez (GK): ★★★★☆ – Solid, that one big save crucial. Distribution fine.
- Konsa (DEF): ★★★★☆ – Scored the winner! Generally solid defending.
- Watkins (ATT): ★★☆☆☆ – Oh Benjy. That miss early on! Worked hard, but THAT MISS. Just terrible.
- McGinn (MID): ★★☆☆☆ – Started okay, faded badly second half, gave it away too much. Poor.
- Bailey (SUB): ★★★☆☆ – Livened things up, good impact off the bench.
Looking at my timeline, the pattern screamed out: Villa dominant first 20, goal, then Cardiff came into it. Second half was pure grit from Villa, not much quality, Cardiff huffed and puffed. My performance analysis basically wrote itself from the notes: “Good start, crucial goal from a set piece, then dug deep defensively to grind it out. Missed chances early made it harder than needed. Bailey provided needed spark.” Felt like Cardiff ran out of ideas attacking against a determined Villa block.
Sigh. Took longer than I thought! Closing my notebook, felt I had a decent handle on the game, though I know I missed tiny details. Still, better than trying to remember it all two days later! Might need a new notebook soon though, this one’s nearly full… and another coffee!