Wolverhampton Wanderers v Aston Villa Post-Match Thread

[gti2win]

both goals apart, thought we were average 1st and terrible 2nd half, thought we were lucky to get away with a win, but hey ho take that in a derby match and trying not to read too much into the performance

[carlos the third]

Heskey, Carlos and Young. A were absolutely immense. Absolutely brilliant win at a place where not many will do so this season. Very good first half, woeful second.  Who cares if it was slightly undeserved, two wins out of 2 for GH. 

[Le Lapin]

Made substitutions based on the blindly obvious, Petrov being shite, Allbrighton struggling against that big guys physicality, good start from Houllier.

[PeterWithe]

Great win but a concerning second half performance, there seemed to be a lack of energy from a lot of the players and we led a very ordinary Tatters side dominate.

Fair play to Sidwell, I dont think he touched the ball but managed to cripple two of their players. I'm not a fan of his but Cuellar was fantastic as was Collins, I also thought Warnock did very well defensively after the incident that should have got him sent off.

[Bad English]

Great to snatch that win from the jaws of the Wolves.

[Matt C]

Superb winner from Emile just as we had started to fade. Great stuff.

[Arsey]

Two goals from two of MON's most unpopular signings.

Great win.

[KevinGage]

We reverted to form second half to a certain extent but what a pleasing win.

Heskey's header incredibly impressive.

I'm not so sure.

We could have folded after their equalizer, but we made key changes at the right times and got a foothold back in the game. Most of the pressure we brought on ourselves was with the tendency to hack the ball out of our penalty area. But that's the trade off you get with Cuellar. Decent stopper but only one setting when it comes to distribution - hit it hard and hope for the best.

We didn't quite look like we had enough to win it, but I'd have been encouraged enough had it finished 1-1.

The win makes it all that much sweeter, obv.

[JUAN PABLO]

I heard the bench shouting Pass it , Pass it

so the management know the problem and that will come into the team.. Hold possession and pass the ball

[olaftab]

Good win Heskey goal machine creaked a little bit when they equalised Petrov problem  Played good football all afternoon

[Nev]

Considering some of the, frankly, disgraceful and appalling insults thrown at Heskey over the last six months on this site I'm delighted for him.

He's never going to be world class and I will never be his biggest fan, but he while he wears our colours he has my support. I'll save my vitriol and bile for more deserving cases, all of whom are not employed buy the club I support.

[Rancid custard]

Brad 8 - Solid

Young 5 - In and out, didn't really get forward
Carlos 7 - Did everything right
Jimbo 8 - MOTM did everything right, more prolifically, always up for headers and blocked everything, only wrong thing was letting Doyle goalside, captain material.
Warnock 5 - Got around and made a nuisance of himself, clumsy challenges though.
Downing 6 - Got about, in and out, well taken goal.
Petrov 3 - anonymous
NRC 7 - made himself available, tackled, got forward to support where possible
Albrighton 6 - tried to beat his man, good crosses but in and out.
Young 8 - great outlet, created the link up play as best he could, a few wasted chances.
Heskey 7 - lead the line as best he could, well taken header but could've done with more support.

Subs: Gabby 4 - Not his usual terrorising self. Sidwell 4 - Did more in his ten minutes than Petrov's whole match.

[supertom]

Excellent away win! Not perfect. A lot of room to improve, but I think there's been a different since Gerard took over. Certainly we look more organised at the back. Plus Cueller was immense.

Work needs to be done in january to sort the balance of the squad out, particularly in the middle. Sidwell and Petrov should be shipped out, and a couple of solid CM brought in. We're very light.

Friedel- 7
Warnock- 6 Looks off still. Made the winner for Heskey though. He has no one over his shoulder though, which is a worry.
Collins- 7 Good, but too many silly freekicks given away.
Cueller- 10 Absolutely brilliant. A master class at the back. Offered the sort of solidity we lacked while the unfit Dunne plodded along previously this season.
Young- 7 Excellent first half. Ran out of steam and made a few silly tackles in the tail end of the match.
Downing- 6 Drifted out the game. Well taken goal, but when we're under the cosh, he's a liability. In attack, he did well, but we didn't have much attacking in the 2nd half.
Petrov- 5 anonymous. Looked tired to started, looked dead by 80 minutes.
NRC- 8 Was almost left to face the Wolves midfield single handedly whilst defending. Full of running, and actually used the ball well. Rarely wasted a pass. Could become a key player. Should be skipper for now.
Albrighton- 6 Plenty of effort and running. Defensively needs to learn the game a bit more, as he leaves Luke isolated. Cracking ball for the goal though, absolutely superb.
Ash Young- 7 Didn't come off for him today but was always an outlet and always a threat. Just the final delivery, be it shot, pass or cross wasn't quite on it. There's a lot of promise with him and Heskey though.
Heskey- 9 Wow...quite easily his best display in a Villa shirt. Ran his socks off, lasted the pace well, cracking hold up play, especially in the first half when he got plenty of ball, rarely wasted it, and got a thoroughly deserved goal. 2 in 2 under GH, and two impressive displays. Sign of things to come? Hope so!

Overall a classic snatch and grab. A draw would have been a reasonable and fair result, but we've got 3 points. Job done. Sort out our fitness and our lightweight midfield, and we've potential to look at the top 4. I think Spurs will slip with the CL to play this season.

[The Man With A Stick]

Showed great character to come back after their equaliser and being up against it for the whole second half.  Fantastic goal by Heskey too.  Well done lads.

[Irish villain]

Do we need to look at who our captain is? Is Petrov just on the way out? I can't see him starting every game this season.