'It shows a degree of disrespect' - Aston Villa verdict delivered after edging past Wycombe

Aston Villa progressed to the next round of the Carabao Cup - but was it a convincing win against Wycombe?

Emi Buendia marked his return to the starting line-up and marked the end of a 16-month-nightmare, with a goal which saw Aston Villa progress in the Carabao Cup.

Was that enough to impress the claret and blue faithful in a game that raised a few eyebrows for being a lot closer than many people would have expected?

Cheops writes: "Barkley was poor. Good to see some of the young players given an outing. Good, if somewhat fortunate, result. UTV"

JamBob was not impressed, stating: "Things must have looked different at the ground compared to on tv as Villa were poor tonight, had very few quality passages of play and did not control the ball as they normally do. The senior experienced players were the worst performers on the night (apart from Buendia who was the best of a poor bunch). The kids were promising but don’t think anyone was above a 6 tonight. We were lucky Wycombe left their shooting boots at home"

READ | John Townley's Aston Villa player ratings as debutants impress in 2-1 Carabao Cup victory at Wycombe

READ | Aston Villa suffer another injury set-back in Carabao Cup clash with Wycombe Wanderers

Crichy feels it was a poor showing, saying: "Very poor performance but we got the win,much needed competitive minutes for a lot of them players well needed and will serve them well,great to see buedina back and getting a goal,that borland kid looks decent aswell always showing for ball and looked well capable."

The attitudes of Barkley and Bailey did not impress Mac 78, who claimed: "It was a poor match to watch but to be expected with so many changes, Barkley and Bailey had that 'I'm too good to be playing this game' attitude, both were poor. The young players did well on the whole, I liked the look of the Borland kid when he came on, kept it simple and did his job well."

Conzchat believes nobody took their chance to impress, stating:" Not an exciting match. You'd expect Villa to win even fielding a second team. No one stood out really. Highlights; Duran scored a well taken penalty but it wasn't a penalty. Buendia's looping header. Bailey struggled. Buendia seemed to get tackled a lot he's lost a bit of pace which isn't surprising. The goale made two decent saves. Young looks decent along with one or two others. In the past we've lost these sort of games, so we can't complain. If we get stiffer opposition in the next round, we can't play that tackling, unless we just want out!"

Chosen in 1957 believes players have to do more to fight for the shirt, arguing: "The MOTM was Unai.

"It doesn't matter what competition we are in he's totally committed and he showed that on the touchline.

"Those players who are on the fringes of the starting eleven need to realise that even though we were playing a much poorer team in every aspect you still have to battle .

"I am sure that Unai was really disappointed with that overall performance. He won't accept players on huge wages underperforming and whoever we get in the next round he will make sure that we improve and fight for the shirt."

Morrison123 says it was more like a pre-season game, saying: "Very much had a pre-season feel to it and through to the next round, gave a number of youngsters a taste of 1st team action Guci Swinkel Bogarde and Young all close to the 1st team, Emi getting back to match fit and got the other youngsters a chance, if we had put most of the 1st team out and won 7-1 what would have been gained? in an already bloated season of games, they were given a deserved night off and let the young Villans take the credit"

Kev UTV believes Wycombe deserve some credit, even if Villa didn't: "I've said it before, I understand why we change the team for these matches, and to be fair, the younger guys played pretty well for their first "proper" game. But I think it shows a degree of disrespect to the other team when we make wholesale changes like that."

"Om not sure I agree with the ratings for some of them, but it was goid to see Emi back playing, the keeper looked capable, and obviously trains with Martinez, the rest of defenders were quite goid considering its probably the first full match together.

"On balance, Young looked good, Bailey didn't.

"Credit to Wycombe players, the closed down our midfield and strikers.

"At the end of the day, job done. UTV"

The 27-year-old Buendia suffered a devastating ACL injury on the eve of the 2023/24 season and didn't feature at all last term. He returned to training earlier this year and built his fitness up in pre-season so he could be ready to contribute at the start of this campaign.

His header broke the deadlock in the 55th minute, before Jhon Duran won and converted a penalty later in the game. Wycombe scored a consolation goal to deny Joe Gauci a clean sheet on his debut.

"It was a really special night, obviously to come back and play again for this club," Buendia told Sky Sports after full-time. "It is my fourth season here and I really love this football club, so to help the team with a goal, it is an amazing feeling.

"It was where I need to be more often to get into the box. The defection came to me and I tried to head it over the goalkeeper."

Buendia added: “We have a really big squad, which is what she showed today. We have an amazing academy too, so today we showed quality. We knew that coming here would be really hard.

"They pressed hard and pushed us a lot. We tried to play our game and keep going in our philosophy and we got our win."

Left-back Ian Maatsen, who made his first start for the club against Wycombe, said: "He [Buendia] has come a far way after his long injury. It’s great to have him back on the score sheet and hopefully he can score lots of goals for us this season

"I am happy to get more minutes and get my rhythm up. I always give my best on the pitch. I am still learning and I am so happy to be here at Villa."

What did you make of Villa's performance? Tell us here

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