Villa's style of play

[eastie]

Interesting piece here by James nursey -

Jose Mourinho started it.

It was post-match after Chelsea had beaten Aston Villa and I thought it was trademark Mourinho mischief-making.

Mourinho was just in the process of patronising Villa boss Paul Lambert for reminding himself of how he used to behave 10 years ago when he dropped it in.

Aston Villa played long ball football, he claimed.

I smirked (because Mourinho entertains and fascinates me) and I thought Lambert was right to dismiss the comment soon after.

Lambert pointed out sides with skilful but slender midfielders like Ashley Westwood and Karim El Ahmadi would not be playing to their strengths to operate like that.

Mourinho's comment was soon forgotten about but then Andre Villas-Boas made reference to Villa's "direct" tactics again in midweek after Spurs' Cup win.

The fellow Portuguese manager said: "Villa were very very aggressive, long balls and direct."

I contacted the fine statisticians at Opta for their perspective and sure enough, the stats (see below) appear to back up the claims.

Villa have had the most flick-ons with 64 so far - thanks largely no doubt to Christian Benteke's aerial prowess.

They are also the third ranked team in terms of playing long passes with these attributing to 15 per cent of their distribution.

And they have launched the ball up the pitch 153 times so far playing hopeful long balls, which is the third highest total in the top-flight.

Guess who are the only side to be bracketed with Villa in all three categories?

Yes, West Ham, who are widely regarded as the biggest exponents of long ball football in the top-flight under Big Sam Allardyce.

It is not a particularly pretty picture for Villa on the face of it.

And with star striker Benteke out for up to six weeks with a hip injury , Villa may have to refine their so-called "direct" approach.


Opta
 
For example, I think the main reason Gabriel Agbonlahor has had such a good start to the season out wide - with numerous assists already - is he was latching on to Benteke's flicks to sprint clear or running on to his knock backs from deep.

The term 'long ball' has such a negative stigma in the English game, I think Lambert has to be careful here actually.

He is clearly a decent up-and-coming manager but being harshly labelled as a practitioner of such tactics has hindered people's careers before.

I imagine Lambert will get increasingly annoyed if rival managers keep claiming Villa play 'long ball' football.

The term alone does not accurately reflect Villa's tactics which are essentially a high tempo approach to get the ball forward quickly to utilise their pace in attack and their greatest asset - Benteke.

Villa also tend to be at their best hitting teams quickly on the break to score as they did at Norwich last weekend.

Setting up rapid breaks by the likes of Agonlahor and Andreas Weimann often however entails a long pass or ball to release them.

So the comments have to be put in perspective and really only reflect Villa trying to maximise their resources.

But the Opta statistics do underline to me how badly Benteke will be missed during his rehabilitation and rest to cure a hip problem.

Without him, I can't see Villa getting any change from forthcoming matches against Man City or Tottenham in the League.

The 'long ball' debate is also very ironic given ex-Birmingham boss Alex McLeish was hounded out of Villa Park by fans who constantly moaned at his tactics.

Villa came 16th in Big 'Eck's season at the helm with 38 points against a backdrop of Ashley Young and Stewart Downing being sold, supporter unrest and Stiliyan Petrov being diagnosed with Leukaemia.

Last season Villa came 15th with 41 points.

It was a heck of a lot of upheaval and change for one place higher and just three points more.

Fair enough, call it a transition year, but it does mean Villa will only really be able to claim genuine progress if they now kick on this season and climb to mid-table at least.



http://www.mirror.co.uk/sport/football/news/aston-villa-long-ball-team-2306575#ixzz2g0qR4uMB

[Billy Walker]

Nursey shit-stirring?  Never! 

[LeeB]

Has someone at the club shagged his missus or something?

[PaulWinch again]

I don't think we're a long ball team, in fact if and when we go long we struggle. At our best we're really sharp and snappy in how we play the game. Mourinho's got a nerve as well, dropping one of the most creative players in the league.

[Isa]

Not surprising when hoofing it to Benteke is central to how we play.

[PaulWinch again]

Not surprising when hoofing it to Benteke is central to how we play.

No when we 'hoof' it to Benteke we struggle, when we play it to him we don't.

[Isa]

Not surprising when hoofing it to Benteke is central to how we play.

No when we 'hoof' it to Benteke we struggle, when we play it to him we don't.

Playing the semantics card already?

[supertom]

I think that stat could largely be skewed by how unimaginitive and a bit desperate we get at home. When we can't string 5 passes together on the ground we inevitably look long. The Newcastle game in particular was wretched. We were utterly clueless going forward.

Honestly though, if we have to resort to playing even more like Stoke while Benteke's out, I'll settle for it, as long as the points are rolling in. I'd rather win ugly than lose playing pretty (not that we play pretty all that often in truth).

[PaulWinch again]

Not surprising when hoofing it to Benteke is central to how we play.

No when we 'hoof' it to Benteke we struggle, when we play it to him we don't.

Playing the semantics card already?

It's not semantics, it's a different approach. When we go long we struggle badly, I cite you Bradford and Newcastle as an example.

[ozzjim]

Our use of the ball this season has been seriously hampered by Westwood being out of form IMO. He ticked it over and we kept it well at times last season, although we started getting more counter attack and direct when the form improved after the Newcastle second half at home. That night second half we got it wide and went very direct. We do need to play more through the middle, but without a midfielder in an advanced role with the ability to keep hold of the ball, we are not going to change much. That lad who we were certain to sign but never did is the type we need to be going back in for.

[supertom]

Our use of the ball this season has been seriously hampered by Westwood being out of form IMO. He ticked it over and we kept it well at times last season, although we started getting more counter attack and direct when the form improved after the Newcastle second half at home. That night second half we got it wide and went very direct. We do need to play more through the middle, but without a midfielder in an advanced role with the ability to keep hold of the ball, we are not going to change much. That lad who we were certain to sign but never did is the type we need to be going back in for.

I think possibly in part too, is that we've not really played the midfield three that bought the best out of Westy, and the team as a whole last season. It's been a bit unbalanced. Having both Delph and Sylla provided plenty of energy and running, that made up for Westy's lack of pace and which also allowed him to utilize his vision a bit.

[Isa]

Not surprising when hoofing it to Benteke is central to how we play.

No when we 'hoof' it to Benteke we struggle, when we play it to him we don't.

Playing the semantics card already?

It's not semantics, it's a different approach. When we go long we struggle badly, I cite you Bradford and Newcastle as an example.

I'd agree but it doesn't change the fact that it is a common tactic when we can't successfully counter or dominate possession (which happens extremely rarely). Especially at home...

[Clampy]

Nursey shit-stirring?  Never! 

He does tend to have a pop every now and again, especially after a defeat or two.

[PaulWinch again]

I think Westwood's form has had an effect on us, as Ozz says we need to retain possession and play through the middle. This is why it is vitally important that was sign a Kagawa type player who can create through the centre. I obviously don't mean Kagawa as he's out of our league, but that style.

[eastie]

Nursey shit-stirring?  Never! 

He does tend to have a pop every now and again, especially after a defeat or two.

Or still smarting from seeing us beat his beloved Norwich last weekend