Is Sherwood right?

[Nastylee]

Since Tim has taken over he has said on a number of occasions that Villa are ill equipped to battle this relegation by eeking out results and that we need to play and attack. Is he right?

Although he has us playing and scoring, our defending is atrocious and contributing to our inability to get clear of trouble. I believe he is being too attacking. For example, Richardson and Bacuna at FB against QPR might have given us some attacking options but also left us woefully exposed in defence. Surely Lowton has proved a better defensive option in recent weeks on both flanks? This all or nothing approach has cost us what should have been draws against Stoke and Swansea when in the last 10 mins we opened up too much looking for a win when we should have ensured we got at least a point. Just think about those extra 2 points now given the league positions.

As for the 'we can't defend' statement: while Lambert's brand of football was atrocious we proved we could grind out a result. Think about those wins at Stoke and Liverpool for example. It seems that Sherwood has gone the complete opposite end of the scale and a middle ground might have been a safer bet. Will his 'all or nothing' approach work? We could really do with something to work.

[Risso]

The fence hasn't been helped with the injury situation.  Not having a decent full back to call on has hindered him massively.  I massively prefer Sherwood's approach to Lambert's though.  The football is better, the results are better, and we'll score more goals.  I think he'll keep us up but it'll be squeaky bum time for a while due to the damage inflicted by Lambert.  Next year will be much better, I'm sure.

[curiousorange]

The fact that under Lambert our attacking form was a national joke, and that it's been all but forgotten under Sherwood, shows me where my apprciation should lie. We don't have great players and we have an absurd injury list, and Sherwood has made tactical errors, but I think we have the best chance of staying up the way we're playing right now.

[Toronto Villa]

The football will be better in as much as it can't be worse than Lambert. What he must do is achieve what Lambert didn't, that is to not only score goals, but make us far better when we don't have the ball and have to defend. We all knew what was needed at the end of Lambert's first season. We were looking quite outstanding at times in attack, scoring goals, many quite outstanding. But we couldn't defend at all, and from set pieces utterly abysmal. We're in danger of slipping back into that and we can't expect Benteke to bail us out every week. I like Sherwood's approach, but we have too many players at the club who are simply not of the level required for a long PL campaign. What I do like is the coaching staff he has employed and that he has people in that he trusts to share the load. We simply have to stay up, and after that we can look forward to what will be an incredibly exciting (or at very interesting) summer.

[supertom]

I don't think our defence would be quite this bad if we had our first choices all fit and playing. I actually think we've missed Cissokho. He's absolute shite on the ball going forward, but defensively is better at LB than anyone else on our books. Hutton likewise has been in and out somewhat under Sherwood.

I also think many of our defensive problems have come from individual defensive errors more so than general organisation. The players need to show a bit more concentration, particularly late in halves.

If we get just a bit of luck with injuries and sort out the fullback areas, we'll look more solid and we'll pick up more points. But for lapses we'd have come away with a point from Stoke and Newcastle, and had 3 points against QPR.

He's definitely made an improvement on Lambert, but it's still clear as day that we need at least 5 decent new signings in the summer and a lot of dross needs discarding.

In terms of our attacking philisophy, we should keep it going. I do agree, we're not good enough to sit 10 men behind the ball and hold out. We should be going for wins, not 0-0 draws. Even under Lambert we rarely held out in games. Opposition if half decent would always find a way through.

[Toronto Villa]

No fair point about the defence specifically. What I meant was defending as a team as opposed to specifically the defenders. We seem to have huge holes that the opponents attack into when we press forward. We have to be more disciplined everywhere on the pitch, and get the ball back faster if we lose it.

[supertom]

No fair point about the defence specifically. What I meant was defending as a team as opposed to specifically the defenders. We seem to have huge holes that the opponents attack into when we press forward. We have to be more disciplined everywhere on the pitch, and get the ball back faster if we lose it.

In principal, playing Sanchez should help out, but he's not quite cutting it. I think Sherwood would probably fancy having another player with Delph's physical attributes to pair with Delph.

[silhillvilla]

We have gone from boring turgid shite to a gung ho maverick approach. We need to find a happy medium somewhere in between the two.

[pauliewalnuts]

I think we have been a bit gung ho at times, but scoring goals is what will keep us up, "not losing' won't be enough, so we really have to go for it.

I am 99% sure, though, that if Lambert hadn't been sacked, we'd have got relegated.

We still might, but if it happens, we will at least go down fighting rather than boring the nation to death like we did under Lambert.

[Toronto Villa]

99% is being quite conservative

[silhillvilla]

I think we have been a bit gung ho at times, but scoring goals is what will keep us up, "not losing' won't be enough, so we really have to go for it.

I am 99% sure, though, that if Lambert hadn't been sacked, we'd have got relegated.

We still might, but if it happens, we will at least go down fighting rather than boring the nation to death like we did under Lambert.

Agreed. That Hull away loss was the final straw.

[Mister E]

No fair point about the defence specifically. What I meant was defending as a team as opposed to specifically the defenders. We seem to have huge holes that the opponents attack into when we press forward. We have to be more disciplined everywhere on the pitch, and get the ball back faster if we lose it.

In principal, playing Sanchez should help out, but he's not quite cutting it. I think Sherwood would probably fancy having another player with Delph's physical attributes to pair with Delph.

I think that Cleverly has improved massively, actually; he's discovered some energy and is making some good runs.

[supertom]

No fair point about the defence specifically. What I meant was defending as a team as opposed to specifically the defenders. We seem to have huge holes that the opponents attack into when we press forward. We have to be more disciplined everywhere on the pitch, and get the ball back faster if we lose it.

In principal, playing Sanchez should help out, but he's not quite cutting it. I think Sherwood would probably fancy having another player with Delph's physical attributes to pair with Delph.

I think that Cleverly has improved massively, actually; he's discovered some energy and is making some good runs.

He has. Whether we can get away with a two man mid with just him and Delph remains to be seen. But we're still one decent player short in the middle. I think a 3 man will be required in most games.

[SamTheMouse]

I dunno whether his gung-ho style is going to keep us up, but one thing's for sure: if Sherwood had been here since the start of the season, there's no way we'd be shitting ourselves about the possibility of relegation right now.

[pauliewalnuts]

I dunno whether his gung-ho style is going to keep us up, but one thing's for sure: if Sherwood had been here since the start of the season, there's no way we'd be shitting ourselves about the possibility of relegation right now.

Despite being far from convinced by Sherwood, I'd agree with you on that.

If we go down, the primary cause will be standing by a manager who clearly was out of his depth for way too long.