All things considered, it was a very good performance and result yesterday and for that, the manager should be recognised. I was going to write congratulated, but that seems a little too much for a draw.
I'm not sure of what the formation really was, but to me it looked like there was a little more width and I think we need that. I was quite surprised to not see either Buendia or Coutinho start, but as the manager said after the match, this match was less about having a technical player on the pitch and more about an engine, or something to that effect.
And it worked and a point is registered. And it is about points for us at the moment or yesterday, it was very much about the point. Had it been offered at the start of the match, most of us would have taken it, regardless of the performances. But the performance was quite decent too.
And I know I shouldn't write this next part, but yesterday was just something we had to get through by showing a little fight. The next two matches are the important ones. We play Leicester, currently bottom of the table and Southampton. We win both of those and we'll have ten points and we will then be sitting somewhere a little more respectable and not one place above the relegation zone.
The manager will also have his Aston Villa team on the same points Dean Smith had after six games of last season and very much in a place to take us higher than where Dean Smith was after 11 games and it will be very hard to say he has to go.
And despite all the feelings of late, keeping this manager should be what we all want, because keeping a manager is the preferred option and change is only going to bring disruption. But the chart doesn't lie and the next two games are very important, so hopefully we can bring a little of the spirit from yesterday into the next two games.
The chart
FPL August winner
And if your name is James O'Reilly and you manage Yes Ndidi in our FPG game, reach out to me. You won. Congratulations.