Heroes & Villains, the Aston Villa fanzine
Heroes & Villains => Match Threads & Player Ratings => Topic started by: Legion on February 04, 2011, 06:21:51 PM
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Available Saturday evening.
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Your next project Mr.Houllier is to fix the defence. It isn't good enough. Very disappointing not to take 3 points today.
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Threw away what should have been a win with two goalkeeping errors. Makoun was good again.
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In the summer windo we need a 'keeper and a couple of defenders.
Kyle Walker should be signed up too if he's available.
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Those who thought we had a run of easy games and wins coming up and that we will beat teams like Fulham by 3 or 4 goals will now have to revise their predictions I suspect. At least, most of the other results went for us...
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Your next project Mr.Houllier is to fix the defence. It isn't good enough. Very disappointing not to take 3 points today.
Dont forget to learn how to make changes a bit earlier.
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Not that we will, but on balance we deserve to go down. Every time we've had a chance to put some daylight between us and the arse end of the table we have bottled it. Bent will get us a few wins, three teams will be shitter than us and we'll be safe till next season, but it won't feel very good.
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Although the draw was down to Friedal, why do we still persist the Young in the hole, Downing on the right and Gabby on the left wing. If these were changed around we might actually convert more chances.
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I don't think the defence as a whole was THAT bad. Friedel's errors cost us- really poor goalkeeping for both goals. The wider issue of out of position forwards is a head-scratcher right enough.
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Your next project Mr.Houllier is to fix the defence. It isn't good enough. Very disappointing not to take 3 points today.
In fairness to the defence, it was two individual errors by the goalkeeper that cost us today. Friedel has had some good games this season, but we need to have a replacement ready in the summer.
Makoun was decent considering he's not been here long. Reo Coker must be wondering what he has to do to get in the team ahead of Petrov who can't run after the first half an hour.
Gabby and Young, who, a couple of years ago, looked like the jewels of our best team in years, were shit yet again. Hopefully we'll replace Young. We should expect Gabby to be shit, considering he's out of position. Downing was pretty good considering he should be out on the left, too.
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Not that we will, but on balance we deserve to go down.
Don't be daft!
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Richard, please, stop putting ''....'' at the end of all of your posts! I enjoy reading them but there's no need to try and give them extra gravitas!
Anyway, yeah, we're still fairly mediocre aren't we? Disappointing to be honest, so little guile and craft.
Had to be Sidwell and Johnson to come up with the goods for them didn't it?
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Your next project Mr.Houllier is to fix the defence. It isn't good enough. Very disappointing not to take 3 points today.
Dont forget to learn how to make changes a bit earlier.
yeh, maybe. I'm not going to take him to task for that as there's no such thing as knowing the perfect time. But we shouldn't be so shit in the air from crosses, and as good as Brad has been at stopping shots we need to be more secure at set pieces. The goalkeeper is a bit part of that and he isn't as commanding as we need him to be.
Today, like a number of games this season shows how close we are, while at the same time shows how much there's left to do. Conceding late goals has killed us this season.
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Those who thought we had a run of easy games and wins coming up and that we will beat teams like Fulham by 3 or 4 goals will now have to revise their predictions I suspect.
Well yes. I think this run of `easy' games will be a pretty bumpy ride. We are not good enough to piss on anybody.
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Disappointing, but I did predict a frustrating draw and that's what we got. We've gone from huff and puff to tip and tap, with much the same end result. We appear to do everything we possibly can to make life hard for ourselves, and we simply don't learn from it. A huge improvement is needed, because we've played more than almost all of the relegation haunted teams, and we're not too far ahead of them.
Playing the likes of Gabby, Young and Downing in their propers positions might help. Petrov should be placed in a large baked bean tin packed with TNT and blown into orbit. A waste of space. Makoun played well, but showed signs that he might be catching the give-it-away-cheaply virus that has ripped through Villa Park in recent years. Good goal from Walker, which made up for a below-par performance. Brad - the glue factory can't be far off.
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Oh and Blose have three games in hand over us, we're far from out of danger yet.
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i havent rated Friedel for a very long time, but with what we have as backup, we have to go with him
30 million spent on that team last month?
im fitter than Makoun and i smoke 20 a day
very very annoyed tonight
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Not that we will, but on balance we deserve to go down.
Don't be daft!
I agree, daftest thing posted on this forum today.
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One does fear/hope (depending on your opinion) that Gabby and Young might well be gone come the summer
You just get the feeling, rightly or wrongly, that their time at Villa has run its course. As one does with Petrov...
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i havent rated Friedel for a very long time, but with what we have as backup, we have to go with him
30 million spent on that team last month?
im fitter than Makoun and i smoke 20 a day
very very annoyed tonight
Makoun was excellent.
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Ashley Young is fuckin useless.
Makoun is absolute quality.
Friedel should hang up his gloves.
Gutted, but at least they didn't nick a winner.
Oh and how many points is it now that we''ve thrown away in the last 15 minutes this season???
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If we'd kept going as we were up to the first goal we could have had the game won by half time. Why do we let teams get back into it?
As a result, Fulham didn't do much but deserved the draw as we offered little too.
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I think we were just unlucky to meet a side in their best form of the season. Our next few fixtures are a different matter though and I expect us to climb the table over the next month. Thought Fulham were impressive today, their confidence is clearly sky high so I'm not as pissed off with a draw as I would have been against other mid table sides. Defence is definitely the priority in the summer though.
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Petrov was shocking today, we had no legs in midfield, we were crying out for NRC.
Does Bent ever make a goal for himself?
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We're playing good football. Good enough to stay up! We just need to sort our defence out. Friedel will be dissapointed with him self when he watches the game back.
Without being reactionary, I still think if Liverpool or whoever offer £18m+ for Ashley I'd accept and invest elsewhere. Downing looked good today, we know what Albrighton can do, but I'm sure we could find 2 decent winger/playmakers abroad for the money we'd get from Young and still have change to spare!
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So frustrating this afternoon.
Petrov should have been subbed early second half.
Young needs to be out on the wing, Gabby up front with Bent,
Makoun had a poor 2nd half as the midfield went missing and Dunne/Collins reverted to hoof ball.
2 costly errors by Brad.
2 points dropped.
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Your next project Mr.Houllier is to fix the defence. It isn't good enough. Very disappointing not to take 3 points today.
In fairness to the defence, it was two individual errors by the goalkeeper that cost us today. Friedel has had some good games this season, but we need to have a replacement ready in the summer.
Makoun was decent considering he's not been here long. Reo Coker must be wondering what he has to do to get in the team ahead of Petrov who can't run after the first half an hour.
Gabby and Young, who, a couple of years ago, looked like the jewels of our best team in years, were shit yet again. Hopefully we'll replace them too.
Freidel is part of that defence. It was him today, but it's been the fault of other defenders this season. Games where Friedel has bailed them out. I just think as a group we are not composed enough. Much of that is down to the keeper, and much of that is down to the players who make mental errors or aren't comfortable enough on the ball and give it away more than they should.
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We play a lot of good stuff, but we need to created more chances for Bent.
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i havent rated Friedel for a very long time, but with what we have as backup, we have to go with him
30 million spent on that team last month?
im fitter than Makoun and i smoke 20 a day
very very annoyed tonight
Makoun was excellent.
for the 1st 45 as he was at wigan
then he disappears
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We scored two fluke goals and Friedel helped them to their two. A really poor performance. Bent but particularly Young and Gabby were hopeless. When Young was moved to the left very early on he drew two yellow cards but how he was left hiding up his own hole for 75mins plus beggars belief. I really think Gabby is a lone centre forward or nothing. Short of confidence and fitness he is nothing at the moment. Cannot see Bent and himself working together long term either for those reasons. Downing actually had a decent game. I felt sorry for our two midfielders as they tried to do the right thing but there was zero ahead of them today. That is a poor Fulham side but if we had taken 3 points it would have been undeserved.
Poor formation and tactics from the outset compounded by substitutions made far too late. Moving Downing to centre was a nonsense aswell as we were wide open totally after that.
That was really poor.
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Not that we will, but on balance we deserve to go down. Every time we've had a chance to put some daylight between us and the arse end of the table we have bottled it. Bent will get us a few wins, three teams will be shitter than us and we'll be safe till next season, but it won't feel very good.
Crikey, we didn't lose by 5 did we? It's disappointing, but there's no way on earth we're getting relegated.
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Benjamin Siegrist for the next game?
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Not that we will, but on balance we deserve to go down.
Don't be daft!
The bottom 3 at the end of the season deserve to go down, whoever they will be?
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i havent rated Friedel for a very long time, but with what we have as backup, we have to go with him
30 million spent on that team last month?
im fitter than Makoun and i smoke 20 a day
very very annoyed tonight
Makoun was excellent.
for the 1st 45 as he was at wigan
then he disappears
Disagree he didn't disappear he continued to pass pretty much faultlessly.
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let's hope west ham and blues draw tomorrow.
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I would love, just once in a while, a routine 2-0 win.
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I'm looking forward to seeing what Bradley can do. He likes to muck in, so it will help us defensively as much as he'll help up front. We need him to get up to speed as soon as possible.
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I would love, just once in a while, a routine 2-0 win.
That's not very Aston Villa is it?
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Really frustrating. We take the lead twice and don't win. We can't afford to sit back when we're winning, the defence can't cope with it.
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Richard, please, stop putting ''....'' at the end of all of your posts! I enjoy reading them but there's no need to try and give them extra gravitas!
I like to finish the last line raising an eyebrow, slowly raising my pinky toward my mouth and grunting DUM DUM DUUUUUUUM.
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Guzan's been great for hull in the last few game's excluding the penalty he gave away in the last game
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useful point today. I'm happy with any return whilst Houllier is manager...another point nearer safety.
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I would love, just once in a while, a routine 2-0 win.
That's not very Aston Villa is it?
It's the football equivalent of coming home from work and finding your dinner on the table, and your socks all washed and paired and put away.
It never happens so it becomes the Holy Grail
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i havent rated Friedel for a very long time, but with what we have as backup, we have to go with him
30 million spent on that team last month?
im fitter than Makoun and i smoke 20 a day
very very annoyed tonight
Makoun was excellent.
for the 1st 45 as he was at wigan
then he disappears
Disagree he didn't disappear he continued to pass pretty much faultlessly.
He gave the ball away a lot in the last twenty minutes.
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We never looked like winning, Fulham were always the better side on the ball and going forward, if anything we were lucky to come away with a point.
Sorry Houllier I see no point in a system that completely nullifies our 3 strikers. Why not play Bent on his own and replace Young and Gabby with midfield players like Bannan and Coker at least they would contribute to the game.
Awful tactics, and a waste of 2 points.
Friedel was abysmal apart from one save but the midfield was over run because Petrov and Makoun were often outnumbered.
Makoun, despite his one touch football, doesn't cover players he covers spaces and he gives the ball away at the wrong time. Still looks impressive, as did Petrov until he tired, but there was always one or two extra players in white.
They score 2 well engineered goals we scored 2 lucky ones, albeit a nice shot from Walker that 9/10 times would have gone wide.
You don't win matches if you don't give your strikers chances and today we didn't get enough balls into the danger area and created little else. Downing ran and ran but then ran out of ideas and then what happens we pass the ball back to Friedel and he kicks it up for it to come back, where is the player to hold the ball, to create the killing pass. Why are Bent and Gabby not played as twin strikers, as it stood neither contributed.
We need to pick up 3 points at home to survive, those tactics won't achieve them.
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That was garbage. Tippy tappy football at times but we don't create anything, we scored from an own goal and a long range effort and didn't create much more. We were the home side against Fulham, where was the sustained periods of pressure? Where were the efforts on goal testing their keeper?
Friedel is past it, a half decent display at Man Utd doesn't paper over the cracks. He's been a great keeper for years but not for us, he's just too old now. Add the two goals today to the list of goals he's cost us this season.
Our defence isn't good enough. Collins and Dunne are still error prone and clumsy and Clark isn't a left back.
Petrov should be dropped and never seen again, imo he's always offered very little and has been a poor captain but his legs have well and truly gone, he is so slow. He turns like an oil tanker and can only pass backwards.
Ashley Young was shit, like he always is and has been for ages now. So so overrated, i hope we sell him in the summer.
Agbonlahor is piss poor. I don't buy that he's playing poorly because he's out of position, he's a professional footballer and it's not as if he's playing left back. The problem is he hasn't got a footballing brain and has no clue how to play the position he's in, and he's shit up front let alone on the wing.
If Petrov and Agbonlahor start next week i'll be very annoyed.
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let's hope west ham and blues draw tomorrow.
Always want blues to loose hope west ham do it! Think Wigan will go down in place of them.
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Not that we will, but on balance we deserve to go down.
Nonsense. The three teams that come in the bottom three will deserve to go down and none of them will be us.
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After some decent games and promising signings we have returned to being predictable and unconvincing. GH is quick enough to publically criticise players. He might want to tell the public why:
• He plays AY and Gabby in wrong positions. I really feel for Gabby it is like watching a career car crash in slow motion. GH is determined to mothball him like a Harrier Jump Jet. I will never forgive him if he destroys Gabby career with the Villa.
• Why when it is obvious that the team is not producing the chances it takes 82 minutes to make a change?
• We need to score a goal and we bring on EH? Fulham really shit it at that masterstroke.
• Why he plays Petrov when there are alternatives?
• Why the crossing coach hasn’t been sacked?
• Where is Bannan?
GH is starting is to get on my tits again.
Well done to Walker and Makoun, good games.
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I would love, just once in a while, a routine 2-0 win.
That's not very Aston Villa is it?
It's the football equivalent of coming home from work and finding your dinner on the table, and your socks all washed and paired and put away.
It never happens so it becomes the Holy Grail
I don't want to eat the instant I walk through the door anyway.
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I think GH is moving to a 4-3-2-1 system with Gabby and Young meant to be tucked either side of Bent. It's not working that well just yet, and if it doesn't I'd expect GH to get in players that it will work with. If that means the departure of Ash then that's what it will be. Maybe Bradley can play in that role, or if not just behind it.
To add: The system will require two speedy full backs, which is why I think Clark at LB is temporary until he takes one of the permanent CB spots.
-------------------------------------New Keeper-------------------------------
-----Walker-----------------New CB---------------Clark-----New LB------
---------------Albrighton----------Makoun---------Bradley---------
-------------------------Young/or better----Gabby/or better----------
-------------------------------------Bent-------------------------
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I'm gutted that after the new signings we're still not very good
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We never looked like winning, Fulham were always the better side on the ball and going forward, if anything we were lucky to come away with a point.
Sorry Houllier I see no point in a system that completely nullifies our 3 strikers. Why not play Bent on his own and replace Young and Gabby with midfield players like Bannan and Coker at least they would contribute to the game.
Awful tactics, and a waste of 2 points.
Friedel was abysmal apart from one save but the midfield was over run because Petrov and Makoun were often outnumbered.
Makoun, despite his one touch football, doesn't cover players he covers spaces and he gives the ball away at the wrong time. Still looks impressive, as did Petrov until he tired, but there was always one or two extra players in white.
They score 2 well engineered goals we scored 2 lucky ones, albeit a nice shot from Walker that 9/10 times would have gone wide.
You don't win matches if you don't give your strikers chances and today we didn't get enough balls into the danger area and created little else. Downing ran and ran but then ran out of ideas and then what happens we pass the ball back to Friedel and he kicks it up for it to come back, where is the player to hold the ball, to create the killing pass. Why are Bent and Gabby not played as twin strikers, as it stood neither contributed.
We need to pick up 3 points at home to survive, those tactics won't achieve them.
I obviously didn't see the game but the Beeb and the guys on here seem to believe that their first was a long range shot that should have been held but was parried to Johnson and their second was only a goal because Friedal came out and didn't claim the ball ahead of the striker. Certainly well worked goals.
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Looking at the table we are still not out of the mire yet. More performaces like that and it is going to get snug down there.
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I'm gutted that after the new signings we're still not very good
I think this the reality that some of us will struggle with for a while. Just signing players doesn't get you three points. You still have to win.
The optimism is a good thing but at 1-0 and 2-1 today we should have cashed some of it in.
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We failed to hurt them despite lots of possession.
Makoun needs to get used to the league and then will be some player when he does. He isn't 100% there at the moment and some people need to realise that you need time to get used to a new league. Another couple of games and he should be there. Add that to Bradley and Bannan and we have a sweet midfield. These three have the potential to be considerably better than Petrov or NRC.
Our problems lie firmly with a lack of incisiveness or true flair. Plus ca change. We have players who just simply don't deliver in that sense. Gabby is not performing and does not deserve to be getting into the team. Ashley Young is not delivering in the hole and as such I would like to see him or maybe Downing dropped. I hope Bannan can come into the central midfield to replace either of these players and give us something they cannot.
Playing three wingers doesn't work. Why the fuck do we persist with it?
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Pathetic.
Worrying that we've failed to finish off Fulham twice this season and yet again when we've had the golden oppotunity to go into the top half of the table being 7 points clear of the relegation zone we've completely bottled it and now will put oursleves under more pressure to get a result next week.
We're still in a very dangerous position, all it needs is a couple of defeats to some not very good teams and we could be back down there scrapping again. None of us want to see us back in that position - it's too scary.
If we lose against Blackpool then I'll start to be feeling very nervous again.
A win for either West Ham or Blose and even Wolves drags us back down there again. All it needed today was a win so we could start to breathe easier.
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Just got in the car, bloody pissed off with that, we played some lovely stuff up until we scored, then we went into negative mode and stunk the place out, midfield was way to open, we let Sidwell have shot after shot, fair enough he's shit but the one thing he does have is a powerful shot, Friedel was terrible for both goals, a position we now need to look to replace, Downing was fantastic in the first half but woeful in the second but my biggest criticism is for Petrov, he offers us fuck all, his first thought is to always pass the ball backwards, he slows down all our attacks, just really pissed off with that performance, Walkers goal was brilliant as a plus
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Richard, please, stop putting ''....'' at the end of all of your posts! I enjoy reading them but there's no need to try and give them extra gravitas!
Anyway, yeah, we're still fairly mediocre aren't we? Disappointing to be honest, so little guile and craft.
Had to be Sidwell and Johnson to come up with the goods for them didn't it?
I will eammon if you also stop asking questions. You need to make your own mind up... ;-)
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16 points dropped this season after taking the lead in games- very very poor goalkeeping from friedal, and a disappointing result to boot.
Downing was star man , but not the best of games today from Clark, really frustrating to throw another 2 points away and I look forward to seeing Bradley make his debut in another huge game at Blackpool- onwards and upwards- it really is very tight in the premiership and so much to play for .
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Remaining games
Blackpool (A)
Blackburn (H)
Bolton (A)
Wolves (H)
Everton (A)
Newcastle (H)
West Ham (A)
Stoke (H)
West Brom (A)
Wigan (H)
Arsenal (A)
Liverpool (H)
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I'm gutted that after the new signings we're still not very good
I think this the reality that some of us will struggle with for a while. Just signing players doesn't get you three points. You still have to win.
The optimism is a good thing but at 1-0 and 2-1 today we should have cashed some of it in.
I agree. The new signings will be good for us, but they all need time to bed in, as much as the other players need to get used to them. I think we'll finish in mid table somewhere, so I'm really hoping that we can advance in the FA Cup. We need the summer to take exhale, rebuild and refocus.
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Looking at the table we are still not out of the mire yet. More performaces like that and it is going to get snug down there.
Yep.
We can't be counting on 'shit' teams to carry on being 'shit' and hoping we can get away with it. We won't. Wigan and Everton winning today has really but us back into 'sqeaky bum' time.
I'm more nervous now than I was before the start of the game.
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I'm gutted that after the new signings we're still not very good
I think the sooner we all realise this is a season of transition and there is probably another 4 or 5 players from the old regime to go in the summer, the better we will all cope, including me, with the crushing mediocrity of it all...
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Fulham have a good little run of late, so perhaps a draw was inevitable.
Disappointing that Friedel had a hand in both their goals. He's given away a number of points this season and, sad as maybe, perhaps time is catching up with him.
A lot of freak results today, but the way that teams in the bottom third are picking up points, I wonder if we might see 40 points not being enough to avoid the third relegation place? Regardless, we now need to win at Blackpool next weekend. They are the team around and about us in the league who are in a bad run of form and we need to take advantage.
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Remaining games
Winable
Blackpool (A)
Blackburn (H)
Bolton (A)
Wolves (H)
Newcastle (H)
West Ham (A)
Stoke (H)
West Brom (A)
Wigan (H)
Difficult
Everton (A)
Arsenal (A)
Liverpool (H)
Worst case I hope is we 5/9 winnable games and loose all of the difficult games. Gives us 44 points = safe!
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I'm gutted that after the new signings we're still not very good
I think the sooner we all realise this is a season of transition and there is probably another 4 or 5 players from the old regime to go in the summer, the better we will all cope, including me, with the crushing mediocrity of it all...
I can cope with transition but not very poor and obviously wrong tactical decisions from the manager.
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I think Makoun is good. That said, I also think he looks better than he is because of the paucity of talent on the pitch. He is not a run up and down at three hundred miles an hour but I've no technique English player, so he stands out.
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Only one thing strikes me after that really: BANNAN. MUST. PLAY. Even as an option from the bench, today we were crying out for a bit of spark and imagination, and when GH looked across the bench and saw Pires he HAS to have realised this. Today, our lack of creativity plus Ash's utter inability to play the role asked of him (to be honest, I'm caring less and less about him staying with each passing game) smacked of pure MON-ball. Unable to penetrate using any sort of movement or imagination in the centre, we were doomed to endless, hopeless foray down the wings, never getting anywhere. It's silly, we actually have a decent, or potentially decent, solution on the books, and we're not using him.
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I'm gutted that after the new signings we're still not very good
I think the sooner we all realise this is a season of transition and there is probably another 4 or 5 players from the old regime to go in the summer, the better we will all cope, including me, with the crushing mediocrity of it all...
I can cope with transition but not very poor and obviously wrong tactical decisions from the manager.
Shouldn't we all be used to them though?
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Remaining games
Blackpool (A)
Blackburn (H)
Bolton (A)
Wolves (H)
Everton (A)
Newcastle (H)
West Ham (A)
Stoke (H)
West Brom (A)
Wigan (H)
Arsenal (A)
Liverpool (H)
They might look easy on paper (except Arsenal away) but that won't reflect it on the pitch. We could easily go on a dreadful run against poor teams.
On the flipside of the coin, win our next two games and we'll be almost there.
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A draw was about fair, on reflection, even though I thought both of their goals were down mostly to Friedel. He seems to do that 'push the ball straight back out' thing rather too often for my liking. Although still capable of some excellent saves, he is becoming increasingly poor at the basics, and as such I would like to see a new goalkeeper come in sooner rather than later.
Makoun really does look a good player, though, I hope he settles in! Walker did well, but a couple of his crosses were very bad indeed, and I thought Agbonlahor had another good game out wide - it's not glamorous, and I'm not fully convinced it's making best use of our players, but he does work hard out there and he played some good forward balls today.
I imagine we'll see Bradley alongside Makoun soon...
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I'm gutted that after the new signings we're still not very good
I think the sooner we all realise this is a season of transition and there is probably another 4 or 5 players from the old regime to go in the summer, the better we will all cope, including me, with the crushing mediocrity of it all...
I can cope with transition but not very poor and obviously wrong tactical decisions from the manager.
Think that is all wrapped up as part of it Tony. Trying to fit players you didn't buy into a system you want to try and impose
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You could have posted that winnable list this morning, with Fulham in the piece of piss section. And then we draw.
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It does all beg the question 'where exactly are Bannan and Delph?'
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Frustrating as it was, it's inevitable that whilst GH tries to get us to play a passing game, we're going to draw and lose a few matches that maybe we should be winning. But, if we want to progress, in the short-term we're going to have to accept it. It's a complete change in the way we play compared to MON, so let's be patient.
Positives: We always look to pass the ball, I don't ever recall a Villa team trying to do this. Makoun looks a really good player.
Negatives: GH persistence with playing Gabby out left. Gabby either plays up front or he doesn't play at all. I really don't understand why Gabby plays over Albrighton when it's in a wide position. Petrov is, as we all know, far too slow, which didn't help.
However, it'll take time to change our game, so let's accept that things like this will happen. Personally, I think it's a given we won't go down and it's all about preparing the players for next season.
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Remaining games
Winable
Blackpool (A)
Blackburn (H)
Bolton (A)
Wolves (H)
Newcastle (H)
West Ham (A)
Stoke (H)
West Brom (A)
Wigan (H)
Difficult
Everton (A)
Arsenal (A)
Liverpool (H)
Worst case I hope is we 5/9 winnable games and loose all of the difficult games. Gives us 44 points = safe!
???
Sorry to have a go, I don't mean to, but that list means nothing, absolutely nothing. Where would you have put Fulham? I suspect in the "winnable" category.
Also, since when were winnable and difficult mutually exclusive?
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Blackpool seem to score at least 2 every game and our defence and keeper are shit. Gulp. Lose that and we're even more in the mix.
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Not that we will, but on balance we deserve to go down. Every time we've had a chance to put some daylight between us and the arse end of the table we have bottled it. Bent will get us a few wins, three teams will be shitter than us and we'll be safe till next season, but it won't feel very good.
How can we deserve to go down if three teams are sh!tter than us? Have some perspective man.
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Your next project Mr.Houllier is to fix the defence. It isn't good enough. Very disappointing not to take 3 points today.
It doesn't help having Mr.Slow in front of them not doing much.
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Blackpool seem to score at least 2 every game and our defence and keeper are shit. Gulp. Lose that and we're even more in the mix.
They conceded 4 goals to Saha who has had a season even our strikers can poke fun at. Bent could conceivably score 10 against them.
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GRRRRR !!! Utterly frustrating.
How long before the management wakes up once and for all and realise Ashley Young is wasted in the middle like that, because they work it out in EVERY game after 75 bloody minutes, then forget again by the time the next match comes round.
Friedal must surely be up there with the best in the 'assists' league table ..... for the sodding opposition that is. Why does he parry so many shots back into the danger area instead of pushing things away to the corner flag / tipping them round the post.
Sidwell touched the ball more often today than in his entire Villa career.....and why? Because we back too far off the opposition in EVERY game.
We have no creativity...... because our two central midfielders are still sat in front of our back four in nearly EVERY attack.
Still, positives are - Makoun looks a very good footballer - can't wait to see him play with a proper explosive box-to-box man (Bradley?)
Stunning goal by Walker.
I know he has his detractors on here but Downing also played well I thought.
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Blackpool seem to score at least 2 every game and our defence and keeper are shit. Gulp. Lose that and we're even more in the mix.
They also let in about 2 a game as well. So the attack need to create and finish the chances when offered them.
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Now makoun is here we do not need to start petrov with him, bradley must start at Blackpool and at least see bannan on the bench, gabby and ash are both under performing , whether it's because they are not in their best positions is debatable but ash for all his effort is not producing and gabby looks low on confidence.
If friedals contract situation is to be decided this month as reported then today it should be he has made up geds mind for him- woeful keeping and it's happened too often this season.
We have a huge game at Blackpool next week and really need to win, I was hugely impressed with downing today especially in the first half and surely albrighton needs to replace gabby with Bradley replacing petrov next weekend.
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Problem with Ashley Young is that he has forgotten how to do the basics. Each time he gets the ball its 10 step overs then a flicked pass. When was the last time he had a game consistently running at the full back?
Petrov looks fooked. Time to drop him.
Bent looked good and was playing off the last defender. Oh for a decent through ball!!
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Not read the thread but will catch up later. Not a disaster but dissappointing, many positives to take.
I imagine my thinking will echo others, a commanding centre half is needed and a Petrov replacement.
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Not read the thread but will catch up later. Not a disaster but dissappointing, many positives to take.
I imagine my thinking will echo others, a commanding centre half is needed and a Petrov replacement.
I think we have both of them on the books. In the case of a Petrov replacement, we have multiple AND one or two players who can make the difference in the final third against packed defences. We need to play what we have.
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Aston Villa boss Gerard Houllier: "We just have to blame ourselves for not keeping that result [from 1-0 and 2-1 up] but there were more positives from the game for us. I can take pride from the football and effort we put in at times."
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Aston Villa boss Gerard Houllier: "We just have to blame ourselves for not keeping that result [from 1-0 and 2-1 up] but there were more positives from the game for us. I can take pride from the football and effort we put in at times."
yes Gerard but where's my tea? and what's this big pile of socks doing on the bed?
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Aston Villa boss Gerard Houllier: "We just have to blame ourselves for not keeping that result [from 1-0 and 2-1 up] but there were more positives from the game for us. I can take pride from the football and effort we put in at times."
yes Gerard but where's my tea? and what's this big pile of socks doing on the bed?
lol
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I never saw us winning today from early on. We are good at moving it around at halfway line but unable to make chances and be effective where it matters in or around the box.
We are disjointed in there. Heskey needs to play to help Bent.
In midfield very impressed with Makoun but Petrov.... it's time to move him on. Need Delph back in there.
In defence someone other than Collins also needs to do some proper defending.
Their first goal resulted from indecisive play on the LH side first by Clark and than Dunne. I don't blame Friedel for not holding on however he must take the blame for their second. He is a good shot stopper but has always been rubbish at dealing with crosses. We must make a replacement signing soon. Westwood is out of contract in the summer. We can pre-contract him now.
And Houlier needs to make better use of subs. No point in bringing Heskey on with 4 minutes to go
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Its evident on today's performance that the midfield isn't right. Makoun can do what Petrov does, only better. I expect that Bradley is coming into the middle to provide a bit more drive and balance, but it was bloody annoying today nonetheless.
It was all a bit "I've seen this all before" against one of the poorer sides at Villa Park. Friedel dropping two ricks against a side that don't turn the screw and rarely put you under pressure. By the same token, there was only Downing with any drive coming from the midfield today. Young was nowhere to be seen and Gabby hasn't got the ability to work the flank.
I'd very much like if Andy Johnson could go play on the motorway too.
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I was going to say that the MOTM award to Makoun was bizarre but who else would you give it to? Hardly anyone stood out except in a negative way e.g. Petrov who was truly awful today.
Makoun was like Essien in the first half and Boteng in the second.
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Aston Villa boss Gerard Houllier: "We just have to blame ourselves for not keeping that result [from 1-0 and 2-1 up] but there were more positives from the game for us. I can take pride from the football and effort we put in at times."
True.
But we're still in a precarious position at the moment and winning first and foremost is the most important thing. Style of play will contribute to winning and how we win, but we've got to find the best way to play in which we're able to win and finish off teams like Flaming Fulham.
Ashley Young has got to get back on the wing. That's where he plays best, gets the best out of him and we're more creative which would hopefully contribute to scoring more goals.
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I never saw us winning today from early on. We are good at moving it around at halfway line but unable to make chances and be effective where it matters in or around the box.
We are disjointed in there. Heskey needs to play to help Bent.
In midfield very impressed with Makoun but Petrov.... it's time to move him on. Need Delph back in there.
In defence someone other than Collins also needs to do some proper defending.
Their first goal resulted from indecisive play on the LH side first by Clark and than Dunne. I don't blame Friedel for not holding on however he must take the blame for their second. He is a good shot stopper but has always been rubbish at dealing with crosses. We must make a replacement signing soon. Westwood is out of contract in the summer. We can pre-contract him now.
And Houlier needs to make better use of subs. No point in bringing Heskey on with 4 minutes to go
Would have to agree with that. Thought the game was crying out for Heskey halfway through the 2nd half.
Where was Bannan today as well? Is he injured?
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Ashley Young needs to get out on the wing. Playing in that hole isn't working.
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I am a big defender of GH, and a big fan, but I think Ashley Young presents us with a huge issue, partly because for 80 minutes of every game he is fucking atrocious, and for 10 minutes good, spread across the 90 in little bursts.
But the 2 that stood out in their crappiness today were Dunne and Petrov for me, the latter being a fucking disgrace to the shirt. Sorry but he was just so, so bad.
We need to stick Young wide and play a genuine 3 man central midfield, or play 4-4-2 with Young and Downing out wide and Bent with Heskey up top. Gabby then simply has to wait for his chance in the side, as does the fall guy of Downing and Albrighton. The former did well today and deserves to play.
Friedel showed again why we need to be replacing him come the summer.
Clark and Dunne kept piddling about with it.
If we want to play the 4-3-3, then the 3 needs to be 3 genuine midfield players to allow the other 3 to be genuine forwards, so Makoun, Bradley and Reo Coker/ Delph/ Bannan for me. Then upset Young and drop him for a game.
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Ashley Young needs to get out on the wing. Playing in that hole isn't working.
What difference will that make? He couldn't cross the road. I actually really dislike him, he's a jumped up little tosser, typical modern day footballer who thinks he's god's gift when the truth is he's actually pretty shit.
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Aston Villa boss Gerard Houllier: "We just have to blame ourselves for not keeping that result [from 1-0 and 2-1 up] but there were more positives from the game for us. I can take pride from the football and effort we put in at times."
Bullshit of the lowest quality. Awful tactics, all that effort wasted, Young, Bent and Gabby might as well have been playing on the parks pitch at Aston for all the use his tactics were to them.
We were lucky to get a point, not facing reality is a sure way of not avoiding relegation.
As good as our last few performances were this was a monumental tactical mistake.
Oh and if anyone thinks we can have a midfield with Makoun on his own, or with some unknown US starlet in there is nuts, I'm no Petrov fan, far from it but today he held what was left of our midfield together covering for Makoun time and time again.
As Johno said last night we have to stop making silly mistakes when not under pressure. Was he talking about Makoun. We desperately need someone to hold on to the ball or more than Downing as an outlet. why Young was so far up when the ball never reached him, same for Gabby and Bent, I'll never undersatnd. Its a game of 11 players not 8 plus 3 passengers
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The problem with Young back out on the wing is that he wasn't really playing very well out there either! Still better out there than in the middle though.
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Malcolm, you're on crack. Petrov was garbage today. He couldn't hold his own cock, let alone our midfield together.
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I have to agree that that was one of the poorer Petrov performances today. As I posted before, I'm pretty sure we'll see Bradley in there alongside Makoun sooner rather than later.
To my mind, though, I still think NRC is the better choice to support more 'lightweight' midfielders as an 'anchorman'.
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Ash needs to be dropped for a few games to let him know he's not Lionel Messi, with consideration being given to trying to move him on in the summer. He's been poor, at best, for a long time.
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Makoun was good first half - but at the end faded. Great vision
Downings best game for a while, really creating space.
Petrov crap - Brad fault for 2 goals
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As good as our last few performances were this was a monumental tactical mistake.
Oh and if anyone thinks we can have a midfield with Makoun on his own, or with some unknown US starlet in there is nuts, I'm no Petrov fan, far from it but today he held what was left of our midfield together covering for Makoun time and time again.
As Johno said last night we have to stop making silly mistakes when not under pressure. Was he talking about Makoun. We desperately need someone to hold on to the ball or more than Downing as an outlet. why Young was so far up when the ball never reached him, same for Gabby and Bent, I'll never undersatnd. Its a game of 11 players not 8 plus 3 passengers
Agreed to some extent, though I think Ash's inability to play the role is more problematic than GH's tactics, which were also dictated by his strange non-selection of Delph and especially Bannan. Pires was just filling space on the bench today.
Again, agreed to some extent on the midfield, though I thought Makoun was excellent first half and Petrov was not great overall. His good covering work, furthermore, was less covering for Makoun than simply covering space, I thought. Also Bradley's less an unknown starlet than a fully established international.
Completely agreed about Ash, though. He keeps on making selfish "put me through" runs instead of going to the ball and actually giving us the option of passing through the middle. I think he's stuck in the winger mentality, whereby the ball gets to him and he instantly tries the final ball, which is what you do on the wing because the ball will normally get to you in the last phase of the attack. In the centre, you need more patience and intelligence, which Ash doesn't have. Besides which, he actually overhits every single throughball he tries even when it's the right option.
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Could say a lot of things, but it all boils down to a simple fact. You can have as much of the ball you want in ineffective areas of the pitch, but if you don't defend well enough, and you don't create enough chances to score, you don't win football matches. Poor tactics, poor formation choice and poor selections by our management team. Not for the first time this season. A reality check to all those people who thought we had turned the corner. We still look like a poor team.
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Just back from a very windy Villa Park.
Poor defensively again today but we put too much pressure on them by allowing their midfield so much time and space. For long periods Sidwell, yes him, & Murphy ran the show.
Again, having gone 2-1 up we've failed to professionally close a game out. Where was Friedel for the corner ? Having said that he saved us again with that late save from Johnson
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Dropping Ashley Young to try and make a point when we're only a few points above the relegation zone would be a silly thing to do.
Not bothered about dropping Petrov though.
Is Delph STILL injured? No way can we afford to not be playing him. We need his energy.
Bradley - Makoun - Delph
Melt in your mouth midfield.
Just play it!
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The tippy tappy thing is all very pretty, but when your executing it in your own half, there's no end result other than the chance you're going to fuck up and lose possession.
We need to vary it a bit
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We never looked like winning, Fulham were always the better side on the ball and going forward, if anything we were lucky to come away with a point.
Sorry Houllier I see no point in a system that completely nullifies our 3 strikers. Why not play Bent on his own and replace Young and Gabby with midfield players like Bannan and Coker at least they would contribute to the game.
Awful tactics, and a waste of 2 points.
Friedel was abysmal apart from one save but the midfield was over run because Petrov and Makoun were often outnumbered.
Makoun, despite his one touch football, doesn't cover players he covers spaces and he gives the ball away at the wrong time. Still looks impressive, as did Petrov until he tired, but there was always one or two extra players in white.
They score 2 well engineered goals we scored 2 lucky ones, albeit a nice shot from Walker that 9/10 times would have gone wide.
You don't win matches if you don't give your strikers chances and today we didn't get enough balls into the danger area and created little else. Downing ran and ran but then ran out of ideas and then what happens we pass the ball back to Friedel and he kicks it up for it to come back, where is the player to hold the ball, to create the killing pass. Why are Bent and Gabby not played as twin strikers, as it stood neither contributed.
We need to pick up 3 points at home to survive, those tactics won't achieve them.
Agree entirely with everything you've said.
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Good in parts today but Petrov and Gabby didn't get up to speed today, Stan's legs had gone and Gabby is in the wrong position. Clark is good but not a left back and Friedel let us down with the two goals today. On the plus side Jean Deux Makoun looks good but we need to sort out our formation and GH needs to make changes earlier, still we could have lost if Brad hadn't have made that save so on we move to next week.
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was Bent off for the disallowed goal ? couldn't see from where I was sitting ??
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It will take time for GED to get all the pieces for his 4-3-3 preferred formation , ash and gabby are square pegs in round holes, I see albrighton and downing as the wide men supporting bent with a midfield of makoun delph/bannan and Bradley being a more viable option long term.
The system relies on defenders who are comfortable in possession of the ball and Clark would be better in central defence eventually, we need to bring in a quality left back and keeper in the summer , but I don't think for now playing players out of form and out of position is the answer.
Bent was offside for his goal but only by the slightest fraction , very close!
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I do wonder why so many of us see Delph as a magic solution to our problems in midfield. Is it just because he's never available?
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Okay so we didn't win and are still looking over our shoulder but we didn't get beat and Fulham are on a very good run at the moment.
Yes, Petrov is past his sell buy date but I have no doubt GH will put Bradley in to the team soon and that should take care of that problem.
Not a great performance nor a great result but have seen much worse from us this season so onwards and upwards
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Disappointing result. Haven't seen the disallowed goal yet but other than that one chance Bent had precious little service all afternoon. Random thoughts - Walker got in a good position to cross a few times but unfortunately failed to to deliver for Bent - although overall he had a decent game and showed that if you run at players and have a shot you can, er, score. Friedel is not the keeper he used to be and we need to find a top quality Number 1 for next season. Petrov is finished - although he broke up the play he invariably passed sideways or backwards (the new George 'the crab' Boateng?) or to them. Makoun's one touch passing is quality, but in the second half we got overrun in midfield and Houllier left it too late to change. Downing had a decent game. Gabby was again pointless in that position - if we want someone wide left it should be Downing or Young.
Overall - meh. At least it didn't rain
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I do wonder why so many of us see Delph as a magic solution to our problems in midfield. Is it just because he's never available?
I think it's a combination of his sexy name and that gruff Yorkshire accent that exudes control and confidence.
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I'm disappointed with the result and with some of our players performances Brad needs to keep hold of the ball or put it to safety and like i have said many times before Gabby and AY need to go back to there proper positions but that's another two points dropped.
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I do wonder why so many of us see Delph as a magic solution to our problems in midfield. Is it just because he's never available?
I agree with that. For me he is not creative enough to be the third man. He can pass, tackle but he doesn't have the creativity or the 'Sidness' to fill the role. I see him as in the position I expect either Makoun or Bradley to fill.
The magic solution to our midfield problems is Barry Bannan. He has some 'Sidness'!
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The magic solution to our midfield problems is Barry Bannan. He has some 'Sidness'!
Well I hope so. If Bradley can win the ball and makoun can keep it, maybe Barry is the one to make something of it.
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I do wonder why so many of us see Delph as a magic solution to our problems in midfield. Is it just because he's never available?
I agree with that. For me he is not creative enough to be the third man. He can pass, tackle but he doesn't have the creativity or the 'Sidness' to fill the role. I see him as in the position I expect either Makoun or Bradley to fill.
The magic solution to our midfield problems is Barry Bannan. He has some 'Sidness'!
Agreed whoeheartedly. A bit of Sid/Xavi/Pirloness is required.
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was Bent off for the disallowed goal ? couldn't see from where I was sitting ??
Going by the half time highlights, yes he was offside
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I thought Petrov was ok today, as good as Makoun. The problem is they're both square ball merchants
Downing had another very good game as did Walker
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Where is Delph, shouldn't he be back by now?
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Gabby played out of position = waste of time
Once again , why didn't Ged make changes earlier. We could all see it wasn't working - why couldn't he ?
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We didn't work hard enough without the ball in the second half. We made Murphy and Sidwell look better than they are. Fulham closed us down much quicker.
Downing was our best bet to create something but Young is not intelligent enough to play that role. You need to find space for yourself and link the midfield and striker in the 4-4-1-1 we were generally playing. He went through large spells when he wasn't involved at all. Not good enough.
I've always been a fan of Petrov but have to agree he was off the pace throughout. Reo-cooker should consider himself unfortunate not to have started today.
Big game next week. With both defences pretty poor, I think there'll be a few goals.
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You'd have thought having gone 2-1 up (against the run of play), GH would have brought on Cuellar for say Gabby and tried to close the game down
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I do wonder why so many of us see Delph as a magic solution to our problems in midfield. Is it just because he's never available?
I agree with that. For me he is not creative enough to be the third man. He can pass, tackle but he doesn't have the creativity or the 'Sidness' to fill the role. I see him as in the position I expect either Makoun or Bradley to fill.
The magic solution to our midfield problems is Barry Bannan. He has some 'Sidness'!
I'd been thinking that myself.
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I have a feeling that for GH, possession is the most important thing, more important than scoring. I think he'd be quite pleased if we had 100% possession and the final score was 0-0
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Other things that didn't impress - pretty shit officiating, and the world record long throw attempt at half time (after one decent and two weedy attempts, the chant of 'da da dada, fucking useless' was chant of the day).
Another aside - Doug Ellis sitting in Lower Holte? Wonder why
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Gabby didn't want to be there. Makounj impressed. Downing dithers.
Match - ctrap.
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Gabby did well first half, but was very poor second, and spent much of it trying to play through the middle with no effect at all before people start calling for him down the centre.
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With wolves having beat man u it means it's so tight between 8th and 20th- keep the faith!
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I don't think Gabby likes playing out wide. Makoun impressed. Thought Downing was good. We lost 2-2.
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We didn't lose though Lee, we drew, it is another point, and some of the things we did were quite good, especially first half. The season is a write off, we will get to safety, and on the way will learn a few lessons about the squad and the side. Bradley into the midfield, with Delph would be good, Young wide left, Downing right, both supporting Bent up top. GH has talked of control of the game afterwards and that he was disappointed we lost our control over it, and it is clear that through possession you gain control. Work in progress, and should have changed things much earlier after their second, but overall Brad does his job today and we win essentially.
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We didn't lose though Lee, we drew.
I know, mate. I was paraphrasing an after-match chat with Dave.
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With wolves having beat man u it means it's so tight between 8th and 20th- keep the faith!
Yea.
4 points either way.
I hope we go >>>>
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To the right?
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To the right?
Forward? In the right direction?
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Blackpool all of a sudden is a real 6 pointer
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Back from VP and a draw is disappointing.
Pros
Makoun looks a good signing - some really good balls and even when he made the odd error he did work hard to rectify it.
Kyle Walker and Downing linking up well and producing some nice moves and threats down the wing.
Great goal from Walker
Collins looked solid - on the whole
Cons
Ashley Young - has undeniable potential (and always has) but wants to spend far more time working on his own game and less on throwing his hands in the air and moaning at his team mates and the ref/assistant ref. Thought he was largely invisible today and poor when he did get the ball.
Petrov - desparately poor today. Not good enough. Slows play down and lost the ball time after time. Got in Makoun's way on more than one occasion.
Gabby - won a lot in the air against Pantsil first half but his touch is still poor and he is ineffective out wide.
Friedel - big fan normally but 2 bad errors today
Gerard - I can see what he is trying to do. I agree with what he is trying to do on the whole but needed to sub Petrov and Gabby sooner.
Looking forward to seeing Bradley play.
Think we will be ok this season and can push on next.
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Just got back.
Friedel, should certainly done better with the 1st, not much to do really.
Walker......great goal, a goal a midfielder should have scored, can't see Petrov doing that.Played well.
Clark.....thought he was poor today, too slow with the passing, always turning to play the ball back, did'nt open the game up.
Dunne and Collins......never in any trouble today for me , and yet the opposition score 2 goals.
Petrov........too pedestrian, the 2nd goal came from him passing responsibility onto somebody else.His time has come and gone.Never been a big fan, but not getting any better.
Makoun......quality player, always got a pass on, always an option.Great signing tbh.
Downing.....typical Downing, some good parts, but never convinces me.Lacks a bit of consistency in the final 1/3rd for me.
Gabby.......starting to worry about Gabby, Bent does'nt like a partner, so Gabby has to play more like an inside foward.Not sure he has the brains to do that.His movement off the ball is non-existant.
AYoung.......runs a lot, works hard, has'nt got a killer final ball.No assists, no attempts again.Went on the wing, no decent crosses.Starting to question why he's ahead of Albrighton tbh.
Bent,.......not sure he was offside tbh, apart from that should have done better with that chance in the 2nd half.Good movement off the ball, needs to be picked out better.
We should have held on after going 2- 1 up, gave them far too much space in midfield, and did'nt create enough chances.Badly need a LB , and need to replace Petrov in midfield.
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I think Makoun is ahead of everyone in terms of his quick passing, I don't think half the players expect to get the ball played so quickly. He had a great game in terms of his passing and vision. I think we need NRC or Bradley along side him in the middle, who have got the legs & energy.
Thought Gabby was poor today, I know he was out wide, but he didn't really get involved much at all.
Downing was ok in spells. He had a 10 minute spell in which everything he done was shit. Especially when he cut inside in the box on his left and twatted the ball high and wide when there was better options.
Didn't think Dunne & Collins did that much wrong & thought Friedel could & should have done better for both the goals.
Ashley Young is really getting on my tits lately. Drop him.
Overall I'm pissed off we didn't win.
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make no mistake
we are still very much in a relegation battle, and most if not all below us have games in hand
very very worrying times
and
i would be okay with Ashley telling Houllier where he has to play, if he feckin could play there
Gaby on the left? seriously can Gary Mac not say something to Houllier? i think that is petty payback by the manager for Gaby saying no to laying off the weights
I SERIOUSLY HATE FOOTBALL AT TIMES
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Gaby on the left? seriously can Gary Mac not say something to Houllier? i think that is petty payback by the manager for Gaby saying no to laying off the weights
You're right. You are mad.
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Without trying to get too technical, it seems to me Houllier is trying to set up in a sort of 4-2-3-1 system with Bent as the lone striker and Gabby and Ash supporting (from the left and centre), with Downing covering the right and coming infield to add an extra body to Makoun and Petrov.
Then in defence you’ve Walker who gets up to exploit the space on the right ahead of Downing, with Clark coming in on the other side to give us the third defender back there to stop the potential threat of the counter…
The signing of Adam made sense because he’d have played on the left side of the centre of midfield to feed Gabby (coming in from the left to exploit the space between the full-back and centre back), as well as Ashley and Bent through the middle. Adam would have given us the delicacy in the final third we lacked under O’Neill and don’t have anywhere in the team except from the inconsistent Downing, but more importantly would have enabled us to revert to plan B of the quick counter attack football (the ‘long passes’ into space for Gabby, Ash and Bent).
I really like how Houllier’s setting up, but there’s that one cog missing at the moment (centre halves need improving too but that’s not as urgent, IMO). Hopefully Bradley can bring what Adam would have.
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I thought Petrov was ok today, as good as Makoun. The problem is they're both square ball merchants
Downing had another very good game as did Walker
Petrov as good as Makoun? Really? That's the equivalent of saying Gabby is as good as Ronaldo wide left.
Makoun is the only player to pick the ball up and turn forwards. He is also the only player who is capable of first-time passing to a very high standard.
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Makoun's passing and awareness in the first half especially was top quality.
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We could easily have lost that game. I thought Fulham were very good, or, we let them appear good. With the first fortunate goal we seemed to go into our shell instead of pushing on, that's frustrating.
Makoun was good again, I only observed a few mistakes from him towards the end of the match. Gabby is a worry, he contributed nothing for 80 minutes. The system clearly doesn't suit him, therefore, he shouldn't be played in that position. Even when we reverted to a 4 - 4 - 2 he did little. Bent was also poor but then, the service to him was poor overall and I thought before the game we'd excel in this area.
Hangeland had a brilliant game for them.
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Just back from the game I would say I am tired and weary but the expression gives me convulsions. Agree with pretty much everything already said. Friedel is not being put under any pressure for his place. One on one he is still competent but it is the situations which require him to think and react quickly where age has caught up with him and he is not a shadow of the keeper he once was.
My main purpose of visiting the site is to ask if anyone knows what Johnson said to the linesman to make him and the referee reverse their decisions and then allow Fulham a free kick thirty yards upfield from where the Fulham player was flagged for a foul or did I dream it all?
Petrov was dire. Right back to the strolling mardy arse he was when we first signed him. I was hoping Makoun would smack him one.
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i havent rated Friedel for a very long time, but with what we have as backup, we have to go with him
30 million spent on that team last month?
im fitter than Makoun and i smoke 20 a day
very very annoyed tonight
20 a day and fitter than Makoun? Of course you are........ ;)
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Brian, the officiating today was bizarre at times to say the least.
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Aston Villa boss Gerard Houllier: "We just have to blame ourselves for not keeping that result [from 1-0 and 2-1 up] but there were more positives from the game for us. I can take pride from the football and effort we put in at times."
We were lucky to get a point, not facing reality is a sure way of not avoiding relegation.
As good as our last few performances were this was a monumental tactical mistake.
Oh and if anyone thinks we can have a midfield with Makoun on his own, or with some unknown US starlet in there is nuts, I'm no Petrov fan, far from it but today he held what was left of our midfield together covering for Makoun time and time again.
That is probably the most innacurate summary I have read on here for a very long time. I take it you weren't at the game today? Petrov held the midfield together? Not quite!
A big tactical mistake? Apart from him persisiting with Gabby out left, there's not a big problem. He's trying to get them to pass the ball at every opportunity and for it to eventually happen, the players need time.
Stop moaning and have a little patience.
MON had no tactics, GH has no tactics, DOL had no tactics, does anyone in your world have any tactics? Alex Ferguson maybe? Though probably not because they lost against Wolves, how shit a manager is he!!!
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Brian, the officiating today was bizarre at times to say the least.
Couldn't agree more. I often wonder what the opposition fans think, or neutrals, when you have refs that you think are rubbish. Do they notice or is it us just being completely biased towards our own team?
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i havent rated Friedel for a very long time, but with what we have as backup, we have to go with him
30 million spent on that team last month?
im fitter than Makoun and i smoke 20 a day
very very annoyed tonight
20 a day and fitter than Makoun? Of course you are........ ;)
i could also knock 5 years of my actual age as well if you want
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I thought before the game that if we played to the standard of recent games we'd win but unfortunately we only managed to do it for 30 minutes. Not sure why but we just seemed to lose confidence. Even then after getting the second we should have been professional enough to see it out.
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The tippy tappy thing is all very pretty, but when your executing it in your own half, there's no end result other than the chance you're going to fuck up and lose possession.
We need to vary it a bit
That sums it up quite well for me - the time to play pretty football is when you are 3 -0 up.
We finally sign a top striker and then give him zero service. Ashley keeps overhitting his passes and can`t cross for ****
Not seen anything from Makoun to suggest he is any better than Bannan to be honest - he treats the ball like a hot potato and gets rid as soon as he gets it.
I felt before the game that now the Utd game is out of the way we could kick on...how wrong I was . I have an awful feeling this is going down to the wire. Getting relegated by Liverpool on the last day of the season is not something that would be easy to swallow living up here.
Oh and Walker is exciting going forward but piss awful at defending - John Gidman Mk2 ?
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The more I see of officiating such as we witnessed today the more I think I can spot the fingerprints of Indian bookmakers. My good friend Adam who sits two up from me has become my prime suspect. When the Arse went four up after twenty minutes he said he thought the Humbugs would get back into the game. Then he said Wolves are going to beat the Red Filth tonight. Coincidence? I don't think so. Indian bookies looking for an alternative to betting on no balls? Could be.
Talking about no balls I thought Downing had a fair game today.
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Good post that JJ, and absolutely right.
He is tring to play the Barca system.1 holding midfielder, 2 narrow midfielders who play either side, and are basically passers, and then 2 inside fowards who are to create, and score.
If you like Gabby is Messi, and AYoung is Pedro.Trouble is our players don't score or create.
I would suspect that the holding midfielder will be Makoun, with Bradley and Bannan/Delph as the passers.
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I think those people looking at relegation need to lay off the crack - we're only 8 points off 6th.
The criticism of Brad Friedel is ridiculous - how many times has this guy saved a point or protected a lead? He makes a mistake, sell him!
I know its difficult given the white knuckle ride that is supporting the Villa sometimes but people need to have more faith we've got favourable fixtures and some decent players - I remember the Billy McNeill days, a draw against Fulham would have been treated like a cup final victory that season we're not that bad!
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Forgot to mention, Doug was in the row front of me in the Lower Holte today.
He went ballistic when the ref reverted that decision against Makoon..he really lost it. Thinking about it, it wasn't Doug that did that it was me.
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Disappointing performance, we fanny around too much at the back, fannying around ended with them getting a free kick that led to the corner they scored from, we have to stop fannying around.
Makoun was good until I told the person next to me he looked quality in the first half, then he got caught in possession as the game went on he made more and more mistakes but once he gets upto speed there should be a quality player there.
Gabby on the left wing certainly doesn't work well at home, Gabby scares the life out of centre halves because of his pace, they love seeing him out on the wing where he's less likely to cause problems.
As someone earlier said, Ashley has forgotten how to do the basics.
I thought Kyle Walker was excellent today, it wasn't just his goal, where he showed the determination and drive our midfielders weren't prepared to show, but it was his reading of the game at the back when he'd run from right to left to cover the through ball.
Downing scared them when he ran at them, he didn't do it often enough though.
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Aston Villa boss Gerard Houllier: "We just have to blame ourselves for not keeping that result [from 1-0 and 2-1 up] but there were more positives from the game for us. I can take pride from the football and effort we put in at times."
Bullshit of the lowest quality. Awful tactics, all that effort wasted, Young, Bent and Gabby might as well have been playing on the parks pitch at Aston for all the use his tactics were to them.
We were lucky to get a point, not facing reality is a sure way of not avoiding relegation.
As good as our last few performances were this was a monumental tactical mistake.
Oh and if anyone thinks we can have a midfield with Makoun on his own, or with some unknown US starlet in there is nuts, I'm no Petrov fan, far from it but today he held what was left of our midfield together covering for Makoun time and time again.As Johno said last night we have to stop making silly mistakes when not under pressure. Was he talking about Makoun. We desperately need someone to hold on to the ball or more than Downing as an outlet. why Young was so far up when the ball never reached him, same for Gabby and Bent, I'll never undersatnd. Its a game of 11 players not 8 plus 3 passengers
Absolutely ridiculous post, particularly the bold. You can not have been at the game today and have that opinion. Makoun looked a class above in the first half and we carried Petrov from 25 mins onwards. We were two goalkeeping mistakes away from a very comfortable win. Yes, there is room to improve. Yes, AY should be out wide but we played some very good football in the first half. We stopped playing attacking football in the second half and it was our lack of posivity combined with Friedel's mistake that meant we didn't win.
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And as soon as Petrov went off, we had no midfield. Fact.
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Forgot to mention, Doug was in the row front of me in the Lower Holte today.
He went ballistic when the ref reverted that decision against Makoon..he really lost it. Thinking about it, it wasn't Doug that did that it was me.
The chap who sits next to me said he'd been watching Doug walk, escorted, round the pitch to get to the Holte. We assumed he'd been red carded from the Directors Box.
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Very frustrating today,Fulham played well to be honest but i still don't get gabby on the left side and young in the middle ,we hardly got any crosses over or service to bent who looked very isolated indeed,gabby just doesn't look interested playing there to me,Petrov and Downing had decent 1st half's but tend to fade 2nd half.Feel sorry for Reo hasn't done a alot wrong.UTV
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Makoun's passing and awareness in the first half especially was top quality.
wouldn't disagree, but it is mostly square balls
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Forgot to mention, Doug was in the row front of me in the Lower Holte today.
Even our lifelong president had to make sacrifices for us to land Darren Bent - wonder if he has to pay 5 quid to park his bentley now as well? Used to be a time when Doug would have been eaten alive like Piranha in a feeding frenzy for sitting in the Holte end! Remember those shareholders forums? Good on the old fella.
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Not the best day, but we're improving. I'm convinced that we'll finish comfortably in mid table.
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i havent rated Friedel for a very long time, but with what we have as backup, we have to go with him
30 million spent on that team last month?
im fitter than Makoun and i smoke 20 a day
very very annoyed tonight
Makoun was excellent.
My thoughts exactly his vision is excellent he rarely wastes a pass and he constantly finds space
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They're all still trying to figure things out, and with that will come some good performances, some bad ones, but a lot of in the middle ones like today. We should have won this today, but Fulham kept at us to their credit. They didn't have many clear cut chances, but made us pay for two very costly errors. I thought Andy Johnson was very good and led the line impressively giving their midfield players like Sidwell chances to push on and take shots.
Yes, it's disappointing, but this is still very much a work in progress. We'll pick up enough points to finish comfortably in mid table and as we have seen anything can happen with teams in that middle bunch. We're as capable of going on a good run as anyone and this stint of games still gives us the opportunity to do that.
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Agbonlahor, Friedel & Petrov were terrible today, Ash wasn't much better, My mate said to me "has he broke sweat today?"
We have to give Fulham credit but after twice going ahead we should have been able to hang on.
Thought makoun & Downing played very well
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Makoun was class especially in first half. I kept a close eye on him and commented many times that majority of touches were one touch and probably over the whole game 95% of passes of his were a direct one to one of ours. Didnt run with it at all but moved it around very well. Can see him the holding middle player next to Bradley driving forward from middle...Petrov on bench
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Football is a simple game. I was distracted by the inspired signing of Bent (and Walker - what a goal, then his colleagues let him down), but Houllier will never last as Villa manager. As mentioned above, simple tactics elude him e.g. play Young on the right & Downing on the left and Gabby in the middle. What is the purpose of Gary McAllister & Sid, who must surely see what we all see?
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I think those people looking at relegation need to lay off the crack - we're only 8 points off 6th.
The criticism of Brad Friedel is ridiculous - how many times has this guy saved a point or protected a lead? He makes a mistake, sell him!
I know its difficult given the white knuckle ride that is supporting the Villa sometimes but people need to have more faith we've got favourable fixtures and some decent players - I remember the Billy McNeill days, a draw against Fulham would have been treated like a cup final victory that season we're not that bad!
If you remember the Billy McNeill days, you might recall that we took more points from our first 21 games under him than we have in the 21 games since Houllier took over
I'd like to believe that getting out of the shit is going to be a stroll in the park but it isn't.
We've got only 2 fixtures left that could be described as more "favourable" than Fulham at home, against Wigan (17th) and Wolves (20th). Who also happen to be the only 2 teams we've managed to beat away from home this season.
Mc'Neill even managed to get 3 wins against the top 10 teams that season but I don't recall treating them like cup final victories. We've managed 1 win from 15 games against the top 10 so far.
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Regarding Friedal -
Would like to see that second goal again on MOTD tonight.
Thats if I can stay awake long enough, we're bound to be on last after they finish whacking off over Wolves beating Man U, Toons comeback of the century, lowly Blackpools 8 goal thriller, even lowlier Wigans 7 goal thriller, Stokes last minute winner and of course Spurs winning a corner.
Anyway, I have a feeling Brad only gets about 6 inches off the ground when attempting to jump for the corner. He seemed to be punching at head height as if everyone else had jumped another foot or so. Just strikes me as another example of age catching up with the old fella. The agility and 'spring' has long gone.
If anybody saw the Wolves game tonight, Hennessy came for (and collected safely) a long ball in injury time way off his line in a way I've never seen BF do. That's the sort of thing that can take the pressure off a defence and something we've been missing for a while imo.
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I think those people looking at relegation need to lay off the crack - we're only 8 points off 6th.
The criticism of Brad Friedel is ridiculous - how many times has this guy saved a point or protected a lead? He makes a mistake, sell him!
I know its difficult given the white knuckle ride that is supporting the Villa sometimes but people need to have more faith we've got favourable fixtures and some decent players - I remember the Billy McNeill days, a draw against Fulham would have been treated like a cup final victory that season we're not that bad!
If you remember the Billy McNeill days, you might recall that we took more points from our first 21 games under him than we have in the 21 games since Houllier took over
I'd like to believe that getting out of the shit is going to be a stroll in the park but it isn't.
We've got only 2 fixtures left that could be described as more "favourable" than Fulham at home, against Wigan (17th) and Wolves (20th). Who also happen to be the only 2 teams we've managed to beat away from home this season.
Mc'Neill even managed to get 3 wins against the top 10 teams that season but I don't recall treating them like cup final victories. We've managed 1 win from 15 games against the top 10 so far.
Are you seriously comparing the state of the club today under Houllier to the complete and utter shambles as it was under McNeill? The two situations aren't even close to each other aside from the appearance of the league table. Back then, many of the players at the club had simply thrown in the towel and it was such a different environment. It's not like that now at all.
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Just got back.
Friedel, should certainly done better with the 1st, not much to do really.
Walker......great goal, a goal a midfielder should have scored, can't see Petrov doing that.Played well.
Clark.....thought he was poor today, too slow with the passing, always turning to play the ball back, did'nt open the game up.
Dunne and Collins......never in any trouble today for me , and yet the opposition score 2 goals.
Petrov........too pedestrian, the 2nd goal came from him passing responsibility onto somebody else.His time has come and gone.Never been a big fan, but not getting any better.
Makoun......quality player, always got a pass on, always an option.Great signing tbh.
Downing.....typical Downing, some good parts, but never convinces me.Lacks a bit of consistency in the final 1/3rd for me.
Gabby.......starting to worry about Gabby, Bent does'nt like a partner, so Gabby has to play more like an inside foward.Not sure he has the brains to do that.His movement off the ball is non-existant.
AYoung.......runs a lot, works hard, has'nt got a killer final ball.No assists, no attempts again.Went on the wing, no decent crosses.Starting to question why he's ahead of Albrighton tbh.
Bent,.......not sure he was offside tbh, apart from that should have done better with that chance in the 2nd half.Good movement off the ball, needs to be picked out better.
We should have held on after going 2- 1 up, gave them far too much space in midfield, and did'nt create enough chances.Badly need a LB , and need to replace Petrov in midfield.
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fustrating game today,thought the first half we played well then sat back at the start of the second half,and then as soon as Fulham equalised we started to play again,and then done the same thing again after a great goal from Walker! poor goals to give away. On the posotive side i thought Makoun played very well in the middle,Walker and Downing also played well!
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If we can't beat Fulham at home .....
The fear's coming back.
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I meant to say Ditto to the above.
Good assessment a lot better than some of the player ratrings you see in some of the newspapers.
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And as soon as Petrov went off, we had no midfield. Fact.
Well yes because we had Makoun and 4 wide players in Gabby, Albrighton, Young and Downing on the pitch. Subbing Petrov was the right thing to do however it should have been a lot earlier and NRC should have come on. Similarly Heskey shoud have been on for Gabby straight after our second goal.
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I think those people looking at relegation need to lay off the crack - we're only 8 points off 6th.
The criticism of Brad Friedel is ridiculous - how many times has this guy saved a point or protected a lead? He makes a mistake, sell him!
I know its difficult given the white knuckle ride that is supporting the Villa sometimes but people need to have more faith we've got favourable fixtures and some decent players - I remember the Billy McNeill days, a draw against Fulham would have been treated like a cup final victory that season we're not that bad!
If you remember the Billy McNeill days, you might recall that we took more points from our first 21 games under him than we have in the 21 games since Houllier took over
I'd like to believe that getting out of the shit is going to be a stroll in the park but it isn't.
We've got only 2 fixtures left that could be described as more "favourable" than Fulham at home, against Wigan (17th) and Wolves (20th). Who also happen to be the only 2 teams we've managed to beat away from home this season.
Mc'Neill even managed to get 3 wins against the top 10 teams that season but I don't recall treating them like cup final victories. We've managed 1 win from 15 games against the top 10 so far.
Are you seriously comparing the state of the club today under Houllier to the complete and utter shambles as it was under McNeill? The two situations aren't even close to each other aside from the appearance of the league table. Back then, many of the players at the club had simply thrown in the towel and it was such a different environment. It's not like that now at all.
Agree with Toronto on this one, I was at every (home) game that 86/87 season and believe me this side is light years ahead.
Don't forget there were mitigating circumstances to the first half of this season, what with the change of manager (twice), the injuries, the background mutinies and resistance to new methods and tactics.
Things are getting better now though, we have reinforcements and the players seem happier in themselves.
I firmly believe relegation won't be a worry from March-ish onwards.
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well I thought we'd lose, so I'm not too disappointed with a point.
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So Petrov the scapegoat now, pathetic
He was good again today, not sure how he'll work with Makoun though as Makoun plays only square balls
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About to watch the replay, it will be interesting after reading all the comments. Again i would suggest some posters are expecting too much too soon, there are players that will be replaced in the summer but until then we will have good and bad days. we need eleven points to be safe if we can't get them with the games we have left we won't deserve to stay up but i have absolutely no fear of that happening.
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Quite honestly that was awful!
As someone else has described it tippy-tappy football that looks very pretty but goes absolutely nowhere! Houllier obviously likes that type of football judging by his after match comments "I can take pride from the football and effort we put in at times." Playing like that without any urgency, passion, tempo, commitment or enthusiam is utterly pointless because it gets you nowhere!
I exempt only two players today from criticism (except perhaps the final ball) and they are Walker and Downing. I am not Downing's greatest fan but I thought he had an excellent game today with a superb cross for our first goal and worked brilliantly down the right with Walker. Walker epitomised everything which is wrong with our side with his goal; drive, commitment and determination, finished off with a cracking shot, only the second shot on goal in the second half when we are playing at home!
Makoun seems a very tidy player, always makes himself available for the pass and passes a maximum of about 10 yards, quickly and sharply almost always to a Villa player. This type of player is never going to get supporters flocking to see them or even get supporters of their seats but he could be very valuable with the right players around him and that does not include Petrov.
Defensively we were shit again. How on earth do we keep on giving 'sloppy' goals away, it is getting extremely embrassing. Don't they do anything on the training ground to try and retify this continual problem. Perhaps dropping Dunne for Carlos might be a step in the right direction but what do I know.
I also think playing players in their 'proper' positions might also help... I must be a bloody idiot, whoever would think of such a crazy idea!
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make no mistake
we are still very much in a relegation battle, and most if not all below us have games in hand
very very worrying times
Most of the teams below us not f in Barca. They are rubbish and that is where they will stay ...below us.
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So Petrov the scapegoat now, pathetic
He was good again today, not sure how he'll work with Makoun though as Makoun plays only square balls
Well, that may be so, but Makoun only needed one touch to instantly lay it off. Petrov took four or five, before running out of ideas, shifting around clumsily and then laying it off.
Don't want to be too critical though tbh, Stiliyan is/was a VERY good footballer. Just can't decide if he's struggling with form and fitness or he's another one that time has caught up on.
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Those who thought we had a run of easy games and wins coming up and that we will beat teams like Fulham by 3 or 4 goals will now have to revise their predictions I suspect. At least, most of the other results went for us...
Richard not 3 or 4 goals we just need to win 3 or 4 of those matches by 1 goal!
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It sounded a poor game from both teams from what I heard (very little, I admit) on the radio. It was never going to be an easy fixture, to be honest we have not got any easy fixtures. Every we team we play is fighting for something, whether its survival, Europe or the title, the league is that close.
I can not believe what I'm reading sometimes......"were still crap even with new signings"...."It's like playing with 10 men with Bent on the pitch"....."We deserve to be relegated".......bloody hell, the dramatics on here is rather comical.
I don't see any need to panic, I'm positive we'll end up mid table come the end and Houllier can see what is needed for next season. He has a plan and we'll see more faces coming and going during the summer that is for sure.
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well I thought we'd lose, so I'm not too disappointed with a point.
After Fulham's second equaliser, I also thought we'd lose. And kind of proving Richard Keys/Andy Gray's comments, as a female who couldn't explain the offside rule if my life depended on it [though I'd have a damn good go] even I could tell Young, Petrov and Agbonlahor weren't at their best today.
Can't imagine being upset when Young's sold, and Gabby needs a kick up the backside.
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Gabby is being played out of position so lets lay off him
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Petrov was fucking shit, lost the ball, has shit control and is slow as fuck.
We really missed NRC legs in midfield today.
Makoun took just one touch every time, Peteiv would take 2 or 3 touches and even then he would turn into trouble.
Second half we are applying pressure, Petrov gets the ball and turns backwards, luckily for him Walker picked it up and scored.
Then he lost the ball and gave away a free kick and they equalised.
Peteov was shocking and he is not a scapegoat, he is finished!
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So Petrov the scapegoat now, pathetic
He was good again today, not sure how he'll work with Makoun though as Makoun plays only square balls
Surely he can only be a scapegoat if he plays well and is still blamed / criticised for something?
If he plays poorly then he can't be a scapegoat. That accusation seems to be levelled at people a little too easily these days.
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I was at the game and didn't think Petrov was any worse or better than Makoun
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I think those people looking at relegation need to lay off the crack - we're only 8 points off 6th.
The criticism of Brad Friedel is ridiculous - how many times has this guy saved a point or protected a lead? He makes a mistake, sell him!
I know its difficult given the white knuckle ride that is supporting the Villa sometimes but people need to have more faith we've got favourable fixtures and some decent players - I remember the Billy McNeill days, a draw against Fulham would have been treated like a cup final victory that season we're not that bad!
If you remember the Billy McNeill days, you might recall that we took more points from our first 21 games under him than we have in the 21 games since Houllier took over
I'd like to believe that getting out of the shit is going to be a stroll in the park but it isn't.
We've got only 2 fixtures left that could be described as more "favourable" than Fulham at home, against Wigan (17th) and Wolves (20th). Who also happen to be the only 2 teams we've managed to beat away from home this season.
Mc'Neill even managed to get 3 wins against the top 10 teams that season but I don't recall treating them like cup final victories. We've managed 1 win from 15 games against the top 10 so far.
Are you seriously comparing the state of the club today under Houllier to the complete and utter shambles as it was under McNeill? The two situations aren't even close to each other aside from the appearance of the league table. Back then, many of the players at the club had simply thrown in the towel and it was such a different environment. It's not like that now at all.
No I'm not comparing the state of the club, it's infinitely better now compared to 86/87. I'm comparing the state of the results between the two managers and so far Billy McFuckinNeill's results are edging it slightly.
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So Petrov the scapegoat now, pathetic
He was good again today, not sure how he'll work with Makoun though as Makoun plays only square balls
Petrov was mostly good for an hour but increasingly, with Murphy/Sidwell outmuscling us in the 2nd half, it needed NRC. Houllier bizarrely replaced Petrov with Allbrighton. Makoun, who can certainly pass and looks a prospect, was superfluous and a rather baffling MoTM. We can admire his skills all we like, but it's the second match running our midfield has been overrun. It migjt not have mattered if Young and Gabby weren't so disappointing and wasted and our only really effective midfielder going forward was Downing, who worked his socks off with Walker to create anything for Bent. Can't understand why Heskey wasn't on earlier either, when clearly the type of football Fulham now play with Hughes demands something different than our attempted style.
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I was at the game and didn't think Petrov was any worse or better than Makoun
I'm not one of the anti-Petrov faction, but I thought he was absolutely terrible today, slow on the ball, passed it backwards pretty much constantly, and generally looked well off the pace. Awful.
Makoun, on the other hand, barely gave a ball away all afternoon, and everything we did passed through him at some point.
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So Petrov the scapegoat now, pathetic
He was good again today, not sure how he'll work with Makoun though as Makoun plays only square balls
Surely he can only be a scapegoat if he plays well and is still blamed / criticised for something?
If he plays poorly then he can't be a scapegoat. That accusation seems to be levelled at people a little too easily these days.
Of course it is, "scapegoat" is one of those words people bandy around on here without actually understanding what it means.
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I'm not anti Petrov but he looks slow and clumbsy in possesion.
Im sure he gave it away for the first equiliser
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Petrov was fucking shit, lost the ball, has shit control and is slow as fuck.
We really missed NRC legs in midfield today.
Makoun took just one touch every time, Peteiv would take 2 or 3 touches and even then he would turn into trouble.
Second half we are applying pressure, Petrov gets the ball and turns backwards, luckily for him Walker picked it up and scored.
Then he lost the ball and gave away a free kick and they equalised.
Peteov was shocking and he is not a scapegoat, he is finished!
Absolutely right on all accounts there. Didn't look at the races at all today. He is also supposed to be captain, at the moment I feel we desperately need a Roy Keaneesque captain. Particularly in games like today.
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Is feckin' "tippy-tappy" the new "fickle" or something?
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Is feckin' "tippy-tappy" the new "fickle" or something?
Don't care what we call it, It's better than most of the shit we've watched for the last couple of years @ VP
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Is feckin' "tippy-tappy" the new "fickle" or something?
Can't the mod's filter it out? It's nearly as bad as when two words are joined together to make one.
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Is feckin' "tippy-tappy" the new "fickle" or something?
Don't care what we call it, It's better than most of the shit we've watched for the last couple of years @ VP
Too fucking right it is.
We're lacking the final ball at the moment, but both at Old Trafford and today we passed the ball around confidently for long periods of time.
Houllier is not going to get it perfect immediately, there is plenty lacking with our play still, but he is at least getting us doing the basics well, something which suggests we'll develop into a much better team. Under Martin I always thought we were as good as we would ever get under him.
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I always have been anti-petrov and he lived down to my expectations today.
That boy Pantsil is useful isnt he?
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Houllier is not going to get it perfect immediately, there is plenty lacking with our play still, but he is at least getting us doing the basics well, something which suggests we'll develop into a much better team. Under Martin I always thought we were as good as we would ever get under him.[/b]
Spot on...We will have to be patient. Bradley, Bent, Makoun, Walker will all take time to bed in. The new system will take time and by his own admission, GH knows we must be more incisive, inventive and clinical in the last 3rd and hopefully that will come soon....
Possession is vital, if we've got the ball, it means the opposition haven't. It prevents pressure, it causes openings by moving the opposition around....I like what he's trying to do. It will make us a far better team in the long run if he's given the chance to stick at it and get his players in.
MON did great for us in the prem, 3 x 6th etc etc....but I always thought that's about as far as he was taking us.
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I was at the game and didn't think Petrov was any worse or better than Makoun
I'm not one of the anti-Petrov faction, but I thought he was absolutely terrible today, slow on the ball, passed it backwards pretty much constantly, and generally looked well off the pace. Awful.
Makoun, on the other hand, barely gave a ball away all afternoon, and everything we did passed through him at some point.
Hmm, I thought Makoun faded really badly after a good start and did nothing but give the ball away in the last 10-15 minutes.
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I was at the game and didn't think Petrov was any worse or better than Makoun
I'm not one of the anti-Petrov faction, but I thought he was absolutely terrible today, slow on the ball, passed it backwards pretty much constantly, and generally looked well off the pace. Awful.
Makoun, on the other hand, barely gave a ball away all afternoon, and everything we did passed through him at some point.
Hmm, I thought Makoun faded really badly after a good start and did nothing but give the ball away in the last 10-15 minutes.
I thought he faded no more than the rest of the team, and was one of the least guilty in giving the ball away throughout. We seemed to decide to let Fulham have the ball for long spells of the second half, for some reason.
It is all the more annoying that we only took one point from what was a pretty poor opponent.
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Disagree Paulie, he looked to have gone physically and I thought he should have been taken off. Not his fault, he's new to the league, but GH dropped a bollock.
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Disagree Paulie, he looked to have gone physically and I thought he should have been taken off. Not his fault, he's new to the league, but GH dropped a bollock.
I thought if GH dropped a bollock, it was leaving Stan on the pitch as long as he did. He looked like the post 70 minutes Petrov we're used to, except from the start this time.
Bit of a weird afternoon all round today. Neither team really looked like they deserved to win, though, so a draw was probably about right.
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Is feckin' "tippy-tappy" the new "fickle" or something?
Don't care what we call it, It's better than most of the shit we've watched for the last couple of years @ VP
If you think what we watched today is better than the last few years you are kidding yourself. I know O'Neill walked out on us at a terrible time, but people have conveniently forgotten the good stuff we played, and would rather believe that O'Neill did nothing for us. The football is not good at the moment. It goes nowhere. Its possession football in ineffective areas of the pitch. Ive said on this thread already, you can have as much possesion as you want in the game, look comfortable on the ball, play some nice passes etc, but if you dont create enough chances, or defend properly, we will get nowhere.
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The pretty poor opponent looked alot better than us second half. Our midfield faded after, what I thought, was a pretty good start from Stan and Makoun. Petrov always runs out of steam after about 60 mins and taking him off leaving a knackered Makoun and Downing holding the midfield was always asking for trouble. I'm sure there's a good team within our squad, don't think Houllier's found it yet though
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Is feckin' "tippy-tappy" the new "fickle" or something?
Don't care what we call it, It's better than most of the shit we've watched for the last couple of years @ VP
If you think what we watched today is better than the last few years you are kidding yourself. I know O'Neill walked out on us at a terrible time, but people have conveniently forgotten the good stuff we played, and would rather believe that O'Neill did nothing for us. The football is not good at the moment. It goes nowhere. Its possession football in ineffective areas of the pitch. Ive said on this thread already, you can have as much possesion as you want in the game, look comfortable on the ball, play some nice passes etc, but if you dont create enough chances, or defend properly, we will get nowhere.
Better than the stuff we played away from home? No.
Better than the stuff we played at home? Yes.
I saw plenty of home games in the last two years where we created next to no chances, and that was reflected in our abysmal goal return.
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How many chances did we create today Paulie?
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On another day Bent's goal counts, Clark doesn't miss an absolute sitter and our defence doesn't fuck up for both goals.
Things are improving, look at the upcoming fixtures. We will win a fair chunk of them.
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How many chances did we create today Paulie?
I'm not denying we didn't create many chances today, I'm saying that today was one match, which I'm comparing against the last two years of home matches.
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I think the key here is results. If Brad hadn't had the wobbles, we'd be celebrating a comfortable victory. It doesn't matter if you hoof it over the top or pass it all the way into the net. Winning is all that matters. We had chances, scored 2 goals and had one ruled offside which was a close run thing. In my opinion, we are getting there slowly.
My biggest criticism today is the square peg in a round hole scenario. I hope Mr Houllier realises soon that he has better options for wide players, than a central striker whose clearly struggling in these positions.
1 point from 2 games is not good, but we'll win enough games in the remainder of the season to banish any worries.
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The pretty poor opponent looked alot better than us second half. Our midfield faded after, what I thought, was a pretty good start from Stan and Makoun. Petrov always runs out of steam after about 60 mins and taking him off leaving a knackered Makoun and Downing holding the midfield was always asking for trouble. I'm sure there's a good team within our squad, don't think Houllier's found it yet though
A good summing up, particularly the last line.
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So, a day where an official gets a decision wrong, and our left back scores a header, to add to the own goal and long range shot from nothing. Stunning football that.
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I think the key here is results. If Brad hadn't had the wobbles, we'd be celebrating a comfortable victory. It doesn't matter if you hoof it over the top or pass it all the way into the net. Winning is all that matters. We had chances, scored 2 goals and had one ruled offside which was a close run thing. In my opinion, we are getting there slowly.
My biggest criticism today is the square peg in a round hole scenario. I hope Mr Houllier realises soon that he has better options for wide players, than a central striker whose clearly struggling in these positions.
1 point from 2 games is not good, but we'll win enough games in the remainder of the season to banish any worries.
I'd agree with that.
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So, a day where an official gets a decision wrong, and our left back scores a header, to add to the own goal and long range shot from nothing. Stunning football that.
So what's the solution, if you're unhappy with it?
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How many chances did we create today Paulie?
I'm not denying we didn't create many chances today, I'm saying that today was one match, which I'm comparing against the last two years of home matches.
I was referring to today in my original post. That was my point
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How many chances did we create today Paulie?
I'm not denying we didn't create many chances today, I'm saying that today was one match, which I'm comparing against the last two years of home matches.
I was referring to today in my original post. That was my point
I know, but you then went on to talk about people acting like O'Neill did nothing for us, and he had us playing good stuff etc etc etc.
I thought we looked toothless today, but I'm prepared to give GH time to sort it out, and I think he's getting there, albeit slowly. Under O'Neill, we were - my opinion - terrible to watch at home for at least two entire years, and I always had the sense that we weren't really going to get any better, as that was the only thing he knew how to do.
We've given Houllier lots of money to spend, and are clearly giving him time to make the job his own. We shouldn't be mooking around the relegation places, that much is definitely right, but to expect him to get us playing effective, devastating football within a few months is the stuff of fantasy.
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So, a day where an official gets a decision wrong, and our left back scores a header, to add to the own goal and long range shot from nothing. Stunning football that.
So what's the solution, if you're unhappy with it?
My solution would be to play our wingers more appropriately. We have two good, experienced wingers playing out of position currently, and a bright prospect in Albrighton on the bench. All capable of delivering quality first time crosses to the striker/strikers. The insistance in playing people on their weaker sides (and Gabby on the wing) means our attack slows down as they need to cut inside.
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How many chances did we create today Paulie?
I'm not denying we didn't create many chances today, I'm saying that today was one match, which I'm comparing against the last two years of home matches.
I was referring to today in my original post. That was my point
I know, but you then went on to talk about people acting like O'Neill did nothing for us, and he had us playing good stuff etc etc etc.
I thought we looked toothless today, but I'm prepared to give GH time to sort it out, and I think he's getting there, albeit slowly. Under O'Neill, we were - my opinion - terrible to watch at home for at least two entire years, and I always had the sense that we weren't really going to get any better, as that was the only thing he knew how to do.
We've given Houllier lots of money to spend, and are clearly giving him time to make the job his own. We shouldn't be mooking around the relegation places, that much is definitely right, but to expect him to get us playing effective, devastating football within a few months is the stuff of fantasy.
I was writing my 'solution' whilst you posted this Paulie. Why have you picked that out of my original post? I think you have jumped to a conclusion.
Someone said, on the post match thread, that the 'Tippy Tappy' stuff, was better than the shit we had watched in the last couple of years. I disagreed with that, and pointed out why I thought the way we played today was not good. Then that we didnt create anywhere near enough chances, and have now provided a my suggestions.
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Disagree, the fat lad at the back and the OAP in goal cost us.
We scored 2 goals, could have had 2 more. That's better than the drab bollocks under O'Neill where we scrape a 1-1 from a set piece after being behind for most of the game, waiting for the inevitable arrivals of Ivanhoe and Sidwell complete with a collective stadium-wide groan.
We didn't ever really get going but Fulham were spoilers, we'd have barely mustered a shot on target today under O'Neill.
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What the hell did Dunne do wrong? I can see the stick for Freidel, fumble for the first goal and nowhere near the second, but Dunne wasnt at fault for either goal.
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If he wasn't such a fat fucker he might have been quicker off the mark and stayed tight to Johnson for their first.
And for the second, clear the bloody ball and you don't have to worry about the eccentric old man behind. May have been Collins going up for that though.
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If he wasn't such a fat fucker he might have been quicker off the mark and stayed tight to Johnson for their first.
And for the second, clear the bloody ball and you don't have to worry about the eccentric old man behind. May have been Collins going up for that though.
You're trying too hard to be offensive, have you got a Top Gear audition lined up?
Dunne isn't fat and had a decent game today, Freidel had an off day and should have done better for both goals but he deserves a bit more respect than that as he's been mostly very good for us.
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Dont let a fact get in the way of slagging someone off though JJ. You just dont like him I guess. Its ok.
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You're right, I don't. I think he's unprofessional and he's too much of a hoofer for the current style.
Friedel's cost us more points than he's saved us this season.
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Bottom line is however aesthetically pleasing some think the football we are now seeing under Gerard is, we are still far from effective in creating chances or winning matches and this can't simply be blamed on "MON dross/deadwood". Looking around the Premier League today there were clubs with fewer resources digging out results when it matters. Horses for courses, while we're pissing about with dressage. I still think we'll pull clear but pretty patterns and possession around the centre circle will not save us from the drop.
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Well, stat fans, JIIM was once again our highest passer - 73 passes, 61 of which were completed.
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After watching the replay there's a couple of things that stand out. Bent is a great addition and will score heaps all we need is players with the skill to feed the through ball properly. Three times he made space but on each occassion the ball was over hit, none of those balls however were from a midfielder and that's the big problem. We now have two midfielders playing a defensive role, i didn't think Petrov was terrible he tried but he has no creativity for that matter neither does Ash when he plays more central. Fulham have no stars but are a hard working solid unit and deserved the draw. Finally not sure what Gabby is doing out on the wing but his first touch is terrible.
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Too many players didn't perform - Friedel, Young, Gabby and (because of the paucity of service) Bent.
Petrov was OK for hour - we all know he tires and should have been bought off earlier.
If GH persists with 4231 then he needs to spend/(trade Young and Gabby?) for players who are more suited to the 'inside forward' role.
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Well, stat fans, JIIM was once again our highest passer - 73 passes, 61 of which were completed.
Sounds about right, he plays in a position where he will see
most of the ball but I bet the majority of 12 not completed were in the last 15 minutes. I like him but he visibly wilted towards the end.
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Well, stat fans, JIIM was once again our highest passer - 73 passes, 61 of which were completed.
Sounds about right, he plays in a position where he will see
most of the ball but I bet the majority of 12 not completed were in the last 15 minutes. I like him but he visibly wilted towards the end.
I can not comment too much on the game, I only saw the very brief highlights on MOTD, but hopefully from what I hear is again played very well and if he did falter towards the end hopefully the more games he gets under his belt for sooner he will adjust to the speed of our game.
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I for one hope that IF Ash is going in the summer, that it's true City, Untied and Liverpool are interested.
Especially City because the price will be bumped up.
Everyone wants to keep Ash, but we want him as a wide player, if he is going too continue in the central role there are far better options out there. Remember if sold he will be played as a winger at his new club.
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Petrov needs to be dropped. Slow,ponderous and the ability to stifle our attacking play in an instant. The way Walker brushed him off the ball to run into space and score his goal summed it up for me. Fulham played well and fully deserved their point. I would bring in Heskey,Cuellar,Bradley against Blackpool and drop Collins,Agbonlahor,Petrov.
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Well, stat fans, JIIM was once again our highest passer - 73 passes, 61 of which were completed.
Most of them 5 yard square balls in our own half. Don't be deceived by stats
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Don't understand the proper football of today. No real ideas, terrible positioning of players, very late ineffective subs and to top all that more than desperate tactics at the end. I'm afraid that all who are waiting for the summer to finally have a real GH team will be up for a disappointment - nothing much will change. This is simply what the guy has to offer. I pray that I am wrong, as otherwise, baring in mind the persistence of the board with the current manager, it will be a waste of good two years.
By the way, is it only my feeling that McAlister brings almost nothing to this team?
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On another day Bent's goal counts, Clark doesn't miss an absolute sitter and our defence doesn't fuck up for both goals.
Things are improving, look at the upcoming fixtures. We will win a fair chunk of them.
mmm didn't we say that about fulham ? They were supposed to turn up like lambs to the slaughter no ? Next game Blackpool, we'll need to score at least 3 because they normally get at least 2 and create loads of chances, with our defence I can see a defeat here
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Piss poor defending and a bad performance from Friedel.
Until we somehow learn how to keep a clean sheet, we'll never push on.
Makoun did very well, Petrov looking too weary and I was surprised he was selected. Let's now see what Bradley can do.
Ashely behind Bent is a waste of time, as is Gabby on the wing.
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Ashely behind Bent is a waste of time, as is Gabby on the wing.
It seems that every manager has a 'blind spot' and this seems to be GH's,and both players suffer due to this.
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Ashely behind Bent is a waste of time, as is Gabby on the wing.
It seems that every manager has a 'blind spot' and this seems to be GH's,and both players suffer due to this.
You're right about a blind spot, virtually every supporter can see it except Gerard.
They should swap.
Gabby with Bent and Ashley back to his best position on the left wing.
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Ashely behind Bent is a waste of time, as is Gabby on the wing.
It seems that every manager has a 'blind spot' and this seems to be GH's,and both players suffer due to this.
They should swap.
Gabby with Bent and Ashley back to his best position on the left wing.
We did that in the second half.
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Ashely behind Bent is a waste of time, as is Gabby on the wing.
It seems that every manager has a 'blind spot' and this seems to be GH's,and both players suffer due to this.
They should swap.
Gabby with Bent and Ashley back to his best position on the left wing.
We did that in the second half.
From the off I mean.
Gabby is no winger and if Ashley plays behind Bent, he has to weigh in with the odd goal, which he doesn't.
We're not using them to the best of their abilities.
Hopefully the shift around in the 2nd half is the shape of things to come.
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disappointing...
ashley young, gabby and downing should all play in their correct positions, and petrov should be dropped....
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I wouldn't bet on it, Rip. I think we're more likely to see tinkering with the central midfield 2, my feeling is that once we get that right the rest will follow.
For most of the first half Petrov and Makoun dominated and we looked a threat but they faded in the second and we lost our way. We need to either get a pairing that can last the full game or be a bit smarter with substitutions.
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Felt like a defeat after the game. Poor defensively, didn't create enough chances and should have won. Makoun had a good game though.
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Other things that didn't impress - pretty shit officiating, and the world record long throw attempt at half time (after one decent and two weedy attempts, the chant of 'da da dada, fucking useless' was chant of the day).
Another aside - Doug Ellis sitting in Lower Holte? Wonder why
I pointed this out to the lad beside me on row OO and he said he sits in the Holte End once every season but I have never seen it before. Nice to see though, he did save our club in 1968.
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I didn't think we were anywhere near as bad as is being made out in the first few pages of posts. We didn't create enough, which is a disappointment given the amount of talent in our side, but we played patient progressive football, albeit within ourselves, and an on form Fulham side were very much second best, our lack of concentration gifted them a share of the points.
There were some very promising displays from Downing and Walker and Makoun was superb, I'd like to see how he does with a more defensive partner beside him and him playing further forward, those one touch passes with him closer to our pacy players may see teams being opened up more regularly.
I seem to be in a minority that saw Petrov as being decent, certainly he looked a bit ponderous in posession but his defensive work was sound.
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Well, stat fans, JIIM was once again our highest passer - 73 passes, 61 of which were completed.
Most of them 5 yard square balls in our own half.
Don't be deceived by stats
[/
Cobblers. He plays one and two touch. Keeps the ball moving quickly, and not always to the side. The opposite of Petrov at the moment.
Some of our passing yesterday was very gpod at times. We just lacked the service into Bent in the final third. If he doesn't get that, you don't get an awful lot else from him, apart from chasing the odd ball down. We need to adapt to this, but it will take time. We are trying to play more through balls than we did with MON in charge, which always baffled me considering we had Gabby up front to run onto them.
At 2 - 1 the scoreline was masking poor performances by some of the players.
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Agree Peter, Stan does a lot of solid work that goes unnoticed by many on here
Loving some of Makoun's cushioned headers to feet, would like to see him pass the ball forwards a bit more though
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Ashely behind Bent is a waste of time, as is Gabby on the wing.
It seems that every manager has a 'blind spot' and this seems to be GH's,and both players suffer due to this.
Rubbish O'Neill did the same move time and time again,even had Coker out there for a while as punishment.
He knows the three best striker he ahs are Bent, gabby and Young ans is devising a system to suit. It failed miserably but he'll change it.
Mods can we have a knife sharpening emoticon for the likes of tsvet when they go into 'Houllier is no Mon' mode.
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Petrov has to be dropped end of. The same pattern emerges nearly every home game. Start bright with plenty of energy, take the lead but fail to get a second. 1-0 half-time lead then slowly let the opposition dominate the last 20-25 minutes. A lot of this stems from Petrov being knackered after 50-60 minutes. GH should've put NRC on for Petrov after Walker scored the second. Cuellar should've been brought on as well. Fulham had far too much space in midfield in the second-half. Agree with other posters that Gabby wide left and Ash in the hole is a complete waste - it just doesn't work! The old saying square pegs in round holes comes to mind. Sort it GH! we're still in trouble at the bottom.
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You're trying too hard to be offensive, have you got a Top Gear audition lined up?
Dunne isn't fat and had a decent game today, Freidel had an off day and should have done better for both goals but he deserves a bit more respect than that as he's been mostly very good for us.
expensive off day mind
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For the first 40 minutes we were generally on top and untroubled but despite that we really failed to take advantage. Petrov and Makoun seemed to get in each others way but both had a good half. Makoun is good at what he does, moving the ball on first time, normally always forward. I'm still to be convinced he can tackle but he's a very tidy player although not the box to box player we'd heard about. He faded in the last 15 minutes but overall a decent performance but I can only see him as Petrov's replacement. Stan was out to prove a point yesterday and was certainly better than against Man Utd, it's just a shame he always goes for the safest option with his passing. We desperately need somebody in the middle who can drive forward with the ball and neither Makoun or Stan are that player.
The defence were overall much better today, Dunne and Collins kept were much tighter on the Fulham strikers whilst Clark and Walker put in decent shifts. Both are very talented players but still have a lot to learn.
Downing was much improved after a poor recent spell but his delivery is still his weakness. The same could be said for Ashley, despite all his effort, he produces next to nothing, the same goes for Gabby. I can't really see the point of signing Bent if we're going to continually fail to deliver him any kind of decent service. Ashley just gets lost in that free role and with almost everything going down the right, Gabby rarely gets to see the ball. I get the feeling GH is accomodating players in the team rather than playing to our strengths. After coming out and declaring Ashley's best position is not on the wing, he needs to accept he is wrong and switch him back out wide. Ashley's form dropped when teams started doubling up on him but that's no longer a worry as he's so ineffective playing in the vacuum. Plus we now have the threat down the right, so it's unlikely teams could try to cancel Ashley out the game without leaving them exposed elsewhere.
It will be interesting to see what Bradley brings to the team. Hopefully he can drive forward though the middle as well as providing defensive cover. We certainly need some creativity there and as it stands, Bent is getting no decent service from the wings. You get the impression that give him the ball in the right place and he'll score 9 times out of 10. Until that happens, he wasted up there by himself.
Disappointing score as all three points were there for the taking, despite Fulham being a decent side. It really does feel like a defeat.
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I am afraid this team epitomises the manager and assistant, bland and passionless!
I am also not of the opinion that we will easily get out of the position we find ourselves. We should have been looking for 3 points against Fulham at home! In my opinion that didn't happen, because of the manager's insistence on looking at the bigger picture and not focussing on the immediate aims of ensuring our survival.
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The pretty poor opponent looked alot better than us second half. Our midfield faded after, what I thought, was a pretty good start from Stan and Makoun. Petrov always runs out of steam after about 60 mins and taking him off leaving a knackered Makoun and Downing holding the midfield was always asking for trouble. I'm sure there's a good team within our squad, don't think Houllier's found it yet though
A good summing up, particularly the last line.
and the fact the 'pretty poor opponent' are one of the form teams at the moment, as Spurs found in the Cup
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Sidwell was arguably MOM, that's the most worrying aspect of yesterday
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Sidwell was arguably MOM, that's the most worrying aspect of yesterday
Was he? I thought he was ordinary, nice shot for their first but other than that he played as I expected him to, which isn't a compliment.
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Probably Hangelaand in reality but i thought we gave Sidwell a lot of time and space in the middle and he almost scored 1 st half (good save Brad) and obviously got the assist for their 1st, he certainly looked a bargain at 250k
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2 average teams drew.
That sums up yesterday's game for me !
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I'd actually forgotten Sidwell was playing for the first 20 / 25 minutes. Typical of his Villa career.
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Football is a simple game. I was distracted by the inspired signing of Bent (and Walker - what a goal, then his colleagues let him down), but Houllier will never last as Villa manager. As mentioned above, simple tactics elude him e.g. play Young on the right & Downing on the left and Gabby in the middle. What is the purpose of Gary McAllister & Sid, who must surely see what we all see?
Isn't this just what we did under mon and everyone moaned about that too. 442 with gabby and bent just won't work over the long term. They both play on the last man and don't have the technique to drop off.
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I said on the pre-match thread that it was going to be a tough game, but Fulham were'nt as good as i was expecting and it did feel like a defeat at the end.
Makoun looks a heck of a player and yes, he will tire towards the end of matches, it's a faster paced game than he's used to, but he'll get used to it in time. I'd rather have seen NRC than Petrov though. I think at this stage, Stan would be better coming off the bench to keep things tidy if we're in the lead, like he did at Wigan.
I think Bent needs someone different alongside him and Heskey would be my choice, especially away from home. Let's put Young back out on the wing and either Downing or Marc on the other side.
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Downing was much improved after a poor recent spell but his delivery is still his weakness.
Can't agree with that, The goal came from a Downing delivery, We also scored wednesday night from one of his deliveries
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Well, stat fans, JIIM was once again our highest passer - 73 passes, 61 of which were completed.
Sounds about right, he plays in a position where he will see
most of the ball but I bet the majority of 12 not completed were in the last 15 minutes. I like him but he visibly wilted towards the end.
I can not comment too much on the game, I only saw the very brief highlights on MOTD, but hopefully from what I hear is again played very well and if he did falter towards the end hopefully the more games he gets under his belt for sooner he will adjust to the speed of our game.
He started giving the ball away in the last 20 minutes as he got increasingly tired. It is difficult for foreign players to get to grips with the pace of the game initially, but I like what I see.
As I said yesterday, we need more dynamism in the middle of the park, which I'm sure we hope Bradley can provide. My above comments aside, he looks like something a metronome work ethic wise, so perhaps he’ll adapt quicker than most.
I’d be minded to see a more traditional 433 against Blackpool, with Makoun and Bradley supporting Bannan.
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Downing was much improved after a poor recent spell but his delivery is still his weakness.
Can't agree with that, The goal came from a Downing delivery, We also scored wednesday night from one of his deliveries
Given that almost everything goes down the right now, he only manages about one decent delivery a game.
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Some people just don't like Downing. He's been consistently our most dangerous player, yet he took a shot yesterday and took the most vile abuse for it from the idiots in the Holte.
The left side is unbalanced and its clear Gabby is playing there to cover for Clarkes lack of pace. Its a pity Luke is out.
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Downing was much improved after a poor recent spell but his delivery is still his weakness.
Can't agree with that, The goal came from a Downing delivery, We also scored wednesday night from one of his deliveries
Given that almost everything goes down the right now, he only manages about one decent delivery a game.
If we score from that delivery then it can only be a good thing Mark, He put a few good ones in as well and Bent was unlucky not to have scored from his shot
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Guzan's been great for hull in the last few game's excluding the penalty he gave away in the last game
Have you been watching his games or have you heard reviews second hand? If the former, how is he looking coming out for high balls and crosses?
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Downing was much improved after a poor recent spell but his delivery is still his weakness.
Can't agree with that, The goal came from a Downing delivery, We also scored wednesday night from one of his deliveries
Given that almost everything goes down the right now, he only manages about one decent delivery a game.
If we score from that delivery then it can only be a good thing Mark, He put a few good ones in as well and Bent was unlucky not to have scored from his shot
We do normally score from the decent one. When you consider how much of the ball he has and how few crosses he manages, it's not his delivery that's his weakness, it's his lack of delivery. I can't fault his effort, just the lack of anything productive for all the effort.
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Downing was much improved after a poor recent spell but his delivery is still his weakness.
Can't agree with that, The goal came from a Downing delivery, We also scored wednesday night from one of his deliveries
Well if Downing's deliveries are poor I wonder what the others deliveries would be described as.
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Agreed to some extent, though I think Ash's inability to play the role is more problematic than GH's tactics, which were also dictated by his strange non-selection of Delph and especially Bannan. Pires was just filling space on the bench today.
Again, agreed to some extent on the midfield, though I thought Makoun was excellent first half and Petrov was not great overall. His good covering work, furthermore, was less covering for Makoun than simply covering space, I thought. Also Bradley's less an unknown starlet than a fully established international.
Completely agreed about Ash, though. He keeps on making selfish "put me through" runs instead of going to the ball and actually giving us the option of passing through the middle. I think he's stuck in the winger mentality, whereby the ball gets to him and he instantly tries the final ball, which is what you do on the wing because the ball will normally get to you in the last phase of the attack. In the centre, you need more patience and intelligence, which Ash doesn't have. Besides which, he actually overhits every single throughball he tries even when it's the right option.
Good analysis of Young. So what would you do with him? Play him as a winger? Sell him? One would presume 'educate him' is an option already being attempted.
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Downing was much improved after a poor recent spell but his delivery is still his weakness.
Can't agree with that, The goal came from a Downing delivery, We also scored wednesday night from one of his deliveries
Well if Downing's deliveries are poor I wonder what the others deliveries would be described as.
Non-existent. That's our problem.
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Agreed to some extent, though I think Ash's inability to play the role is more problematic than GH's tactics, which were also dictated by his strange non-selection of Delph and especially Bannan. Pires was just filling space on the bench today.
Again, agreed to some extent on the midfield, though I thought Makoun was excellent first half and Petrov was not great overall. His good covering work, furthermore, was less covering for Makoun than simply covering space, I thought. Also Bradley's less an unknown starlet than a fully established international.
Completely agreed about Ash, though. He keeps on making selfish "put me through" runs instead of going to the ball and actually giving us the option of passing through the middle. I think he's stuck in the winger mentality, whereby the ball gets to him and he instantly tries the final ball, which is what you do on the wing because the ball will normally get to you in the last phase of the attack. In the centre, you need more patience and intelligence, which Ash doesn't have. Besides which, he actually overhits every single throughball he tries even when it's the right option.
Good analysis of Young. So what would you do with him? Play him as a winger? Sell him? One would presume 'educate him' is an option already being attempted.
Play him as a winger before he goes in the summer. Like it or not, I think he's gone in the next window, and will be played as a winger at his new club that's for sure. For now, he has to be on the wing, and for me Bannan has to play, he's the only one on the books with what Bentman called "Sidness". He's more the solution to our creative problems than Ash, both in the short and long term.
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I would like Ashley gone mainly because he wears a snood. Gross misconduct on a football pitch.
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Makoun did tire the last 15 mins, and Petrov should have been taken off after 6 mins.Sidwell and Murphy ran the show 2nd half.Sidwell looked the player i thought we had signed, much better player in a 4-4-2 than Petrov.
But Makoun will get fitter and sharper and Petrov will be replaced sooner rather than later.
But yday again highlighted my concearns about Gabby and AYoung.Not involved enough, not creative enough, and not enough threat.
I can see Ash going in the summer, and this time next year, Gabby as no more than a sub.
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Sidwell ran the show? I noticed him once or twice when he smashed the ball miles wide.
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The performance was alright but our final third was poor. Again. We were sort of like Barca - without the end product. Winky thing
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Sidwell ran the show? I noticed him once or twice when he smashed the ball miles wide.
Yes, it was a very poor show.
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Sidwell ran the show? I noticed him once or twice when he smashed the ball miles wide.
I agree, he looked every bit as anonymous as he did in his weekly fifteen minute cameos for us.
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Sidwell ran the show? I noticed him once or twice when he smashed the ball miles wide.
I agree, he looked every bit as anonymous as he did in his weekly fifteen minute cameos for us.
What makes it worse is the giant beacon he has on his head. He'd make an excellent thief.
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Sidwell ran the show? I noticed him once or twice when he smashed the ball miles wide.
I agree, he looked every bit as anonymous as he did in his weekly fifteen minute cameos for us.
What makes it worse is the giant beacon he has on his head. He'd make an excellent thief.
Well he robbed us every week of £40k for doing sweet FA.
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I didn't think we were anywhere near as bad as is being made out in the first few pages of posts. We didn't create enough, which is a disappointment given the amount of talent in our side, but we played patient progressive football, albeit within ourselves, and an on form Fulham side were very much second best, our lack of concentration gifted them a share of the points.
There were some very promising displays from Downing and Walker and Makoun was superb, I'd like to see how he does with a more defensive partner beside him and him playing further forward, those one touch passes with him closer to our pacy players may see teams being opened up more regularly.
I seem to be in a minority that saw Petrov as being decent, certainly he looked a bit ponderous in posession but his defensive work was sound.
Correct - the issue was not making the most of the first-half possession to create meaningful goalscoring opportunities. We should have been done and dusted by half-time.
Petrov played okay, but as Chris S said above, we should be making the most of the subbs on the bench to inject second-half energy.
For me, the poorest Villa player yesterday was Richard Dunne.
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Just got back.
Friedel, should certainly done better with the 1st, not much to do really.
Walker......great goal, a goal a midfielder should have scored, can't see Petrov doing that.Played well.
Clark.....thought he was poor today, too slow with the passing, always turning to play the ball back, did'nt open the game up.
Dunne and Collins......never in any trouble today for me , and yet the opposition score 2 goals.
Petrov........too pedestrian, the 2nd goal came from him passing responsibility onto somebody else.His time has come and gone.Never been a big fan, but not getting any better.
Makoun......quality player, always got a pass on, always an option.Great signing tbh.
Downing.....typical Downing, some good parts, but never convinces me.Lacks a bit of consistency in the final 1/3rd for me.
Gabby.......starting to worry about Gabby, Bent does'nt like a partner, so Gabby has to play more like an inside foward.Not sure he has the brains to do that.His movement off the ball is non-existant.
AYoung.......runs a lot, works hard, has'nt got a killer final ball.No assists, no attempts again.Went on the wing, no decent crosses.Starting to question why he's ahead of Albrighton tbh.
Bent,.......not sure he was offside tbh, apart from that should have done better with that chance in the 2nd half.Good movement off the ball, needs to be picked out better.
We should have held on after going 2- 1 up, gave them far too much space in midfield, and did'nt create enough chances.Badly need a LB , and need to replace Petrov in midfield.
pretty spot on that...
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Well, stat fans, JIIM was once again our highest passer - 73 passes, 61 of which were completed.
Someone has created a Chalkboard of Makoun's passes yesterday and given it a description of "Makoun's good passing but lack of penetration in the last 1/3rd", which is pretty accurate.
Makoun's passes - Clicky (http://www.guardian.co.uk/football/chalkboards/772ApVHO6439br4vv6VW)
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Why can we not just play wingers on their correct side. I'm sick of seeing downing on the right, ash in the middle and gabby on the left. Lets play them in the correct positions and have them putting pressure on the fullbacks by going forward and, god forbid, getting crosses in for Bent?!
And Petrov - should have been subbed at halftime and thats being kind. Lets see how Bradley does against Blackpool (or NRC), play 4411 with Gabby off Bent.
I'd also rest Dunne and play Carlos just to keep everyone on their toes.
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Don't understand the proper football of today. No real ideas, terrible positioning of players, very late ineffective subs and to top all that more than desperate tactics at the end. I'm afraid that all who are waiting for the summer to finally have a real GH team will be up for a disappointment - nothing much will change. This is simply what the guy has to offer. I pray that I am wrong, as otherwise, baring in mind the persistence of the board with the current manager, it will be a waste of good two years.
By the way, is it only my feeling that McAlister brings almost nothing to this team?
I think you could be right.
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Why can we not just play wingers on their correct side. I'm sick of seeing downing on the right, ash in the middle and gabby on the left. Lets play them in the correct positions and have them putting pressure on the fullbacks by going forward and, god forbid, getting crosses in for Bent?!
And Petrov - should have been subbed at halftime and thats being kind. Lets see how Bradley does against Blackpool (or NRC), play 4411 with Gabby off Bent.
I'd also rest Dunne and play Carlos just to keep everyone on their toes.
Agree entirely
I'm a halfwit and if I can see that AY doesn't work in the hole and that Gabby isnt a winger and that I can shit faster than Petrov then why can't our management team
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Why can we not just play wingers on their correct side. I'm sick of seeing downing on the right, ash in the middle and gabby on the left. Lets play them in the correct positions and have them putting pressure on the fullbacks by going forward and, god forbid, getting crosses in for Bent?!
And Petrov - should have been subbed at halftime and thats being kind. Lets see how Bradley does against Blackpool (or NRC), play 4411 with Gabby off Bent.
I'd also rest Dunne and play Carlos just to keep everyone on their toes.
[/quote
Agree entirely
I'm a halfwit and if I can see that AY doesn't work in the hole and that Gabby isnt a winger and that I can shit faster than Petrov then why can't our management team
I think you and 1'000s of others would love to ask GH these questions. He is fast becoming very frustrating.
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For the first 35+ minutes, Fulham were as bad a side as I've seen at Villa Park since Bolton and Hull at home last year.
Sometimes you can just tell when a side doesn't fancy it, and good teams exploit that to the full. Unfortunately, we're not a good team. And our failure to make that early pressure tell invited even an outfit as poor as Fulham back into it.
A win yesterday and we could have had realistic thoughts about top 8 - possibly even sneaking 6th if Sunderland and a few others gobbed it.
Now, with our own poor result and the way others have gone these past few days, I'm pretty certain we'll be involved in the struggle at the other end of the table. If nothing else, this period will show whether we have the balls to fight and grind out results. The sheer volume of late goals we've conceded might indicate a shortfall in that department.
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We'll be mid-table.
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Well, stat fans, JIIM was once again our highest passer - 73 passes, 61 of which were completed.
Someone has created a Chalkboard of Makoun's passes yesterday and given it a description of "Makoun's good passing but lack of penetration in the last 1/3rd", which is pretty accurate.
Makoun's passes - Clicky (http://www.guardian.co.uk/football/chalkboards/772ApVHO6439br4vv6VW)
Good analisys, lack of penetration but he does make himself available to recieve the ball and moves it quickly, i dont think we have had this type of player at The Villa
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I wonder if Bannan could penetrate and take advantage of Makouns obvious ability.
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The thing that concerns me most is that by playing 3 players out of position to the extent we do we are really playing with 8/9 men. We nearly came unstuck against against Fulham and better team have and will punish us.
I would love to see what we actually work on in training
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On the positives, Makoun who played tight passing for the middle hour, he started nervously and ended poorly, but I like what I saw otherwise. Walker was very good going forward, and should have been used more of an outlet than Friedels kickouts. Does need to work on his crossing. Bent ok, dangerous runs, not the greatest man up front. Downing great, good drive, good tracking back, nice distribution, our most consistent player. Clark, I dont think he is good enough, or we dont make enough of him wide, he is better through the middle, sometimes lunges in, and shows them the inside to often for my liking. Gabby, a willing worker, but he will have to work hard to make that position work. Ash, still looks dangerous in a poor game. Come on mate, the crowd wants to love you. Collins, poorer game than more recently, still would like him and Cuellar to play well. Dunne still seems shellshocked by being outrun by the other sausage roll smuggler Rooney 50 seconds into the last game. Friedel. Safe hands tagline is going quickly. No confidence, and it spreads through the back four who back into him now. Petrov. Bah. Too slow, slows the pace down, loses possession, late tackling, can only pass backwards, all signs that he is not fast enough now. Its not his workrate, or even pace that he struggles, he appears to take too long to think and make decisions. Thats a game we should have won
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Someone has created a Chalkboard of Makoun's passes yesterday and given it a description of "Makoun's good passing but lack of penetration in the last 1/3rd", which is pretty accurate.
Makoun's passes - Clicky (http://www.guardian.co.uk/football/chalkboards/772ApVHO6439br4vv6VW)
I couldn't resist having a look at Petrov's passing (http://www.guardian.co.uk/football/chalkboards/jdpYy2E61Mzvr269408D)
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I'm another one very impressed with Makoun, it was the speed of his passes which impressed me, which doesn't show up in the stats.
I looked at the tackling, and Petrov won 11 of 14 tackles, Makoun lost all 3 of his, you can make the stats fit any argument, but that stat doesn't give an accurate impression of what I watched on saturday.