Heroes & Villains, the Aston Villa fanzine
Heroes & Villains => Heroes Discussion => Topic started by: Ivo Stas on December 26, 2013, 08:04:40 PM
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Players half-season report grades:
Brad Guzan: one of the few to carry on his form of last season. A very dominant top-level keeper.
Nathan Baker: probably our fourth-choice centre back, looks suspect without Ron Vlaar alongside him. I still have hopes of him eventually developing into a Shaun Teale type defender.
Ron Vlaar: how we've missed him (and those clean sheets) recently. Looks every inch the Dutch international.
Ciaran Clark: a much-needed improvement from last season (remember Man City at home?) from probably our third-choice centre back. Was looking okay next to Ron Vlaar.
Antonio Luna: a real shame, after that goal away at Arsenal (which will live long in the memory), that he is fast becoming the new Joe Bennett. I'm struggling to remember our last good left-back (probably right-footed Luke Young).
Matthew Lowton: one of a few of the "young and hungry" to lose their appetite after signing a new contract. I'd still pick him every game because he puts a better ball into the box than anyone else.
Leandro Bacuna: someone tell me his best position please, I can't see him at right-back nor right-wing. Those two free-kicks might make him our best free-kick specialist of the whole Premier League era however.
Karim El Ahmadi: I suspect that he is giving his best for us, which is more than could be said for Ireland or Bannan who probably are both more talented. His two goals have been important but, as he is not one for the future, we really need a better central midfielder. (As an aside, would Brett Holman have given us a better option this season?)
Marc Albrighton: As I love to see a fan on the pitch, I'm pleased to see him back in the team. He tries hard so hopefully he can play himself into some good form.
Ashley Westwood: I'm hoping he will eventually do a Aaron Ramsey (or Jordan Henderson) for us, very much an inconsistent work in progress so far.
Fabian Delph: (last few games aside) one of our better players and part of a Guzan, Vlaar, Delph spine. His improvement in 2013 gives me hope for our other younger players.
Chris Herd: another utility player without an obvious position. I once saw him give a man-of-the-match performance at right-back against Everton, just before McLeish signed Alan Hutton. I'm not a great fan of him in defensive midfield nor at centre-back.
Yacouba Sylla: did a lot to save us from relegation last year (and looked really good against Chelsea in our last home game of last season) but has failed to kick on this season due mostly to an inability to pass the ball forward (or a great ability to give the ball away, depending on how you look at it).
Aleksandar Tonev: there is something comic about him, his shooting is pure slapstick, but there is also some raw talent there too. How he gets games ahead of the Helenius of pre-season I don't know.
Andreas Weimann: our most disappointing player. I really want him to do well, but I wouldn't start him at the moment.
Gabriel Agbonlahor: often excellent away from home (breaking into space), like the rest of our strikers he feeds on scraps at home. Will always have a special place in my heart though (and will no doubt come good when the chips are down in March again).
Christian Benteke: please, please, please come back to fitness and form soon. Really needs some good service (and, in my opinion, has missed Lowton's deep curling crosses since Bacuna took over at right-back).
Libor Kozak: I was surprised we spent £7 million on him and not a midfielder, but (as it turns out) we've need him this season and four goals is not a bad return so far. I like how he celebrates with the fans too.
Paul Lambert: I still believe but partly because I think changing yet another manager again so soon is madness and partly because a colleague is a Norwich fan who still raves about him. Much of what is wrong pre-dates him and I'm not going to panic West-Brom style after a few successive defeats but can we have the gung-ho approach that saved us last season back again please?
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Guzan 8/10: One of the best around
Lowton 3/10: Shadow of his former self
Bacuna 4/10: Couple of fantastic free kicks. Nothing at all in open play.
Vlaar 8/10: Concrete
Clark 6/10: Whole lot better than last season.
Baker 2/10: Should never wear a Villa shirt again.
Luna 2/10: Can't defend for toffee. Can't actually attack either if you think about it.
Herd 6/10: He's not very good but he puts a shift in. Alright for 5th choice.
Delph 8/10: Really good earlier in the season. Now he has nobody to pass to. Mainly KEA's fault.
KEA 2/10: Scored some really important goals yet is a fucking calamity. Really shit 95% of the time.
Westwood 4/10: Doesn't really add anything these days. One decent performance against Baggies.
Sylla 2/10: Bought from French League 2 and looks like a French League 2 player. Crap.
Albrighton 5/10: Good worker. Fluffs his lines whenever he's within 40 yards of goal.
Weimann 1/10: Useless. Completely useless.
Tonev 2/10: He actually looked decent against Malaga. Since then terrible.
Gabby 6/10: Same old. Top class one week, average for about six.
Benteke 5/10: Clearly been struggling with injury. Was good in the first five games.
Kozak 5/10: Scored some good goals. His all round play is a bit crap but getting much better.
Lambert 0/10: Sack him.
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Guzan 8/10: One of the best around
Lowton 3/10: Shadow of his former self
Bacuna 4/10: Couple of fantastic free kicks. Nothing at all in open play.
Vlaar 8/10: Concrete
Clark 6/10: Whole lot better than last season.
Baker 2/10: Should never wear a Villa shirt again.
Luna 2/10: Can't defend for toffee. Can't actually attack either if you think about it.
Herd 6/10: He's not very good but he puts a shift in. Alright for 5th choice.
Delph 8/10: Really good earlier in the season. Now he has nobody to pass to. Mainly KEA's fault.
KEA 2/10: Scored some really important goals yet is a fucking calamity. Really shit 95% of the time.
Westwood 4/10: Doesn't really add anything these days. One decent performance against Baggies.
Sylla 2/10: Bought from French League 2 and looks like a French League 2 player. Crap.
Albrighton 5/10: Good worker. Fluffs his lines whenever he's within 40 yards of goal.
Weimann 1/10: Useless. Completely useless.
Tonev 2/10: He actually looked decent against Malaga. Since then terrible.
Gabby 6/10: Same old. Top class one week, average for about six.
Benteke 5/10: Clearly been struggling with injury. Was good in the first five games.
Kozak 5/10: Scored some good goals. His all round play is a bit crap but getting much better.
Lambert 0/10: Sack him.
I'd give Sylla and Kozak one more and Delph and Herd one less. Other than that can't disagree.
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On the left back point: Wilfred Bouma. I witnessed his knee buckling in that pre season game yet failed to appreciate that it would take the team 5 years and counting to recover from it.
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Guzan 8/10 A top class keeper
Lowton 5/10 Gone backwards this season
Vlaar 8/10 no coincidence that our defending has gone to pot since he got injured. Our best centre-back and the only leader on the books.
Clark 7/10 Has improved this year, but needs Vlaar alongside him.
Baker 4/10 Gives everything and puts his body on the line, but often out of position and makes too many rash challenges.
Luna 3/10 Looks a bog-standard cheap player who isn't good enough.
Herd 4/10 Same as Baker
Bacuna 3/10 Good free taker. Can't do anything else though.
KEA 3/10 Looked good in pre-season before last year, but like Luna, not good enough for this league.
Delph 1/10 Awful first touch, gets too many bookings. Average Championship player at best.
Westy 4/10 Do like him, but needs an experienced player alongside him.
Sylla 2/10 Really liked him last season, but hasn't been up-to that standard this season.
Albrighton 6/10 Probably the only player in the squad who can make things happen, but needs to do it more often.
Tonev 4/10 You don't need to shoot time you get the ball.
Gabby 5/10 Can look brilliant, but often flatters to deceive.
Wiemann 2/10 The biggest disappointment of the season so far for me. Seems more interesting in talking himself into a yellow card than contributing anything.
Benteke 4/10 Started like a train, but hasn't looked the same since he came back from injury (whether its fitness or him sulking we don't know)
Kozak 5/10 Think he has improved since we signed him, although we'd have been better off bolstering the middle of the park than getting another striker.
Lambert 3/10 Told us it wouldn't be a quick fix, but 18 months in the same mistakes being made, poor substitutions and tactics. Needs to sort it and quickly
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Considering Delph was our best player for about 8 matches in a row earlier in the season I think 1/10 is a bit extreme. ;D
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Sorry, but don't see the big fuss over Delph when he misses so many games through suspension.
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Good enough to start regularly in the top flight - Guzan, Benteke, Delph and Vlaar. Other than that none of them look consistently good enough to be playing and that's our problem. The board needs a change of thinking.
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Guzan 7
Lowton 3
Luna 2
Baker 2
Clark 6
Vlaar 8
Herd 3
El Ahamadi 2
Delph 6
Bacuna 4
Weimann 2
Tonev 1
Agbonlahor 4
Benteke 4
Kozak 5
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Guzan 7 Feel for him. Has continued his progression from last year and becoming a real leader.
Lowton 2 Simply hasn't played enough. I think Villa fans sometimes judge players too quickly that haven't played much.
Luna 3 Sure he will be better next season.
Baker 2 Just doesn't concentrate on whats happening.
Clark 6 Better than last year, but he needs a leader next to him to shine.
Vlaar 7 Very good, and he is more like what I consider to be a Aston Villa centre back.
Herd 1 Never rated him, doubt I ever will. We rarely win with him in the team,
El Ahamadi 1 As above with Herd. Don't see what he offers.
Delph 7 Does everything well rather than being a specialist in a particular field.
Bacuna 2 Could never understand how he got MOTM against Liverpool. Constantly gave the ball away.
Weimann 2 Strikes me as having an immature attitude. Good potential though.
Tonev 2 Needs a run of games. Not a few sub appearances or 3 games, I think he needs a run of about 8.
Agbonlahor 3 Gets away with it a fair bit. During his development, he was never rested or dropped when he needed to be. He just played every minute.
Benteke 3 Sort the injury, and then judge. He won't get this "big money move" unless he sorts it out though.
Kozak 5 Again, I think he will be better next season.
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2/10
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Sorry, but don't see the big fuss over Delph when he misses so many games through suspension.
I don't quite rate Delph as highly as some (when being talked about as an international), but to say he's been our worst player when there has been a pacific ocean of shite all around him is quite frankly a ridiculous statement. Also, I think he's only missed one game through suspension this season.
Him, Guzan, Vlaar, Okore and Benteke (when on form) are the only players I would be sad to see leave from the current squad. The rest can fuck off
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Good enough to start regularly in the top flight - Guzan, Benteke, Delph and Vlaar.
Add Gabby and I'd agree.
The rest have all been varying shades of shit.
I wonder, did Lambert actually watch Luna play before we signed him? I'm not singling him out, he's just the first off the top of the head, what about Tonev? Or Bowery?
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Good enough to start regularly in the top flight - Guzan, Benteke, Delph and Vlaar.
Add Gabby and I'd agree.
The rest have all been varying shades of shit.
I wonder, did Lambert actually watch Luna play before we signed him? I'm not singling him out, he's just the first off the top of the head, what about Tonev? Or Bowery?
That's what I meant by saying he probably finds potential signings by randomly searching Football Manager.
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Very good - Guzan, Vlaar
Good - Delph
Good but not with enough frequency - Gabby
Nothing like good enough - everyone else.
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Very good - Guzan, Vlaar
Good - Delph
Good but not with enough frequency - Gabby
Nothing like good enough - everyone else.
In spite of his blip I'd have Benteke in the very good bracket.
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D+
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D+
Dreadful.
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Proud history shite future.
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Proud history, bright future, murky present.
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Good- Guzan, Vlaar, Delph.
Much improved- Clark
Okay- Gabby, Kojak
Let down- Benteke, Westwood, Lowton, Weimann
Not good enough and never will be- KEA, Bacuna, Luna, Bowery, Baker, Tonev, Westwood, Lowton, Helenius, and Lambert.
Poorest side I've ever known and the most tactically clueless manager. McLeish was awful at times but he had a game plan at the very least. It was fuck ugly but it was a plan that was going relatively comfortably until injuries.
Lambert winds the players up and then releases them out the tunnel hoping for the best.
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Lets face it for the last few years we've lurched from shambles to absolute garbage. We are not being run well, you can't run a Premier League team on the cheap for the most part. We need a change at the club, because our plans are not working and these cheap players we are buying are just not good enough.
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Lets face it for the last few years we've lurched from shambles to absolute garbage. We are not being run well, you can't run a Premier League team on the cheap for the most part. We need a change at the club, because our plans are not working and these cheap players we are buying are just not good enough.
Yep, change of tac definitely required. If Randy can't afford to put anything more into the side to get better players in, he has to look to sell because he'll sure as shite not make any money off us in the Championship.
Likewise Lambert needs to be looking at better quality. That's if he keeps his job, which in all honesty, I don't think he should. Hopeless. He's just way out of his depth.
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well Its loooking like keep Guzan and Vlaar and sell the rest ;)
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with only CB getting any decent money
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Guzan: has perhaps not been quite as good as last season but still generally excellent and well worth his place. A-
Baker: looks ok alongside Vlaar, not so much alongside Clark. Out of his depth at full-back and doesn't seem to be improving. C-
Bennett: I assume he's injured. Had forgotten about him until I consulted the back of the programme for the purposes of this post. Didn't impress when he was in the team. C-
Vlaar: has been much improved this term and we're hugely-better when he plays. If only he wasn't always injured. B+
Okore: looked ok before, inevitably, getting injured. I worry that he might be too short for centre-half and might eventual end up playing at right back. C
Clark: sadly, I don't think he's ever going to be good enough. Just about tolerable alongside Vlaar, hideous otherwise. C-
Bacuna: still learning at this level but has, occasionally, looked a liability in defence. Generally better going forwards but seems to have suffered a bit of a knock in confidence. A genuine threat at set pieces who we all hope gets the chance to thrive further forward. C+
El Ahmadi: I don't mind him as much as some and think he's improved this year. Still should only be squad-filler material though. C+
Helenius: has looked ok but nothing more. I'm not sure he'll ever amount to a top striker as he lacks half a yard of pace. C-
Weimann: one of the biggest disappointments. His goal scoring seems to have dried up and, worse, he sometimes goes missing. D
Agbonlabor: excellent work rate out wide albeit at the expense of a decent scoring record. B-
Albrighton: has shown some of the promise that got us excited when he broke through under Houllier what seems like decades ago. B
Steer: kept a clean sheet against Rotherham and I've forgotten all Spurs' goals so can't remember if he was at fault for any of them. I'll play safe and say C.
Luna: the initial impression seemed to be that he was poor defensively and good going forwards. Since then, his attacking play has faded. That said, he's been unlucky with injuries and I'm not writing him off yet. Especially if he can learn how to take a legitimate throw-in. C
Westwood: Albion goal aside, one of the biggest disappointments. Simply hasn't developed and has, if anything, got worse. D
Delph. Not always as effective as last season but has had weaker support around him. Still easily our best midfielder and the person that gave him 1/10 must be watching a different team. B+
Herd: I still don't know what position he plays but he's tried his best when he's been called upon. C
Sylla: one of the best performers in the run-in last year, another who has gone backwards. D+
Benteke: started brilliantly, got injured, came back shite. Seems to be lacking confidence. We desperately need him to rediscover his form and I think he will. C
Bowery: hasn't let us down when called upon but hasn't done anything special either. C. I mean, sorry got mixed up, utterly fantastic star, easily better than Ronaldo, Messi and Ibrahimovic combined. I just hope we can hold on to him with vultures like Barcelona and Real apparently set to swoop. A+++++++++
Tonev: another one I wouldn't completely give up as he has shown the odd glimpse. Sadly this has been pretty rare and his shooting is woeful. D
Kozak: looks ok, nothing more. Tries hard though and has scored a few. B-
Lowton: another who seems to have regressed. C-
Robertson: looked ok during his brief appearance. Wouldn't be fair to award a grade on the basis of a few minutes though. N/A
Lambert: disappointing. The results haven't got any better but the performances are getting worse. The defence is slightly better but the attack looks utterly-toothless when Benteke's out or lacking form and we are desperately lacking creativity. Most of our chances come from counter-attacks or long hoofs. Should be under pressure to save his job although I'd give him till after the Sunderland game. D
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Proud history, bright future, murky present.
Unless we get an owner who knows how to run a football club and a manager who knows how to manage properly it will be a long time before we see that bright future...
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Sorry, but don't see the big fuss over Delph when he misses so many games through suspension.
What one so far?
Best player by a mile this season with possible exceptions of vlaar and Guzan
Giving him a 1 out of ten discredits your whole post! Damn it even the whole thread.
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If he's staying we desperately need to add quality to the squad.
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I can't believe anyone's given baker and Clark the same score. No way.
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Guzan 8 very decent keeper, you can't fault his consistency and application
Lowton 4 always lacked the pace to be a top fb and has gone backwards
Luna 1 a simply abysmal defender who makes Bennett look like maldini. Offers little going forward either.
Bacuna 4 awful first game, improved, two great set pieces, then went to shite like everyone else. Not convinced yet.
Baker 1 brave but utterly brainless and with the touch of a runaway train. Never PL standard.
Clark 4 just about ok with Vlaar otherwise almost as bad as baker and not PL standard
Vlaar 7 much improved, steady,vital experience which is badly missed
Herd 5 haven't seen much of him, nothing special, but seems to do a steady job when picked
Sylla 3 gone backwards and looks like a French league 2 player
KEA 3 Some decent touches and a couple of goals can't disguise his shortcomings. Gives it away far too much and doesn't influence the game nearly enough.
Delph 8 would be a 9 if he didn't get booked so often. The only one who shows any comfort in possession and composure on the ball, who is happy to drop a shoulder or sell a dummy to create more time on the ball to pick a pass. Shame he rarely has anyone in space to pass to.
Westwood 4 never really saw what the fuss was about him always thought he lacked the pace and presence required. Ran like an old geezer vs Swansea. Not good enough.
Tonev 2 early days but seems to think he has to shoot from anywhere and do far his shooting is farcical. Lacks composure.
Gabby 6 got a couple of goal s and won some pens works hard but limited. Needs to be more consistent.
Benteke 6 for the early goals before the injury, not been fit since I think
Kozak 6 tries hard and got some important goals but seems to have been bought as Lambert's hoof option, this year's Cascarino or Heskey but with more goals.
Weimann 2 biggest disappointment for me. His movement is still good but everything else has gone to pot. His biggest problem is lack if composure. Needs to stop rushing everything and swinging a leg at everything, have a look at how the likes of Suarez, arguero or Berbatov do things and take note.
Albrighton 4 trying hard but a one trick pony whose trick wad Sussed out ages ago
Helenius 3 honestly no idea except he must either have a bad attitude or be monumentally gash if he can't get in to this team.
Okore 6 looks solid enough before the injury
Lambert 1 only gets 1 because we're not in the bottom 3 largely due to some rather fortunate wins we barely Deserved. Honestly doesn't deserve anything this season. Awful sub standard signings, worse than players we shipped out, and others gone backwards and playing without confidence or composure. No discernable tactical plan or sense that any coaching has taken place. Players don't seem capable of passing, movement is minimal, control piss poor, no creativity, no pace in the team except gabby we can't even retain possession from our own throw ins. I suppose w e have improved defensively on paper but God knows how, we look like a bunch of schoolboys chasing the ball when we defend. His resorting to hoofball takes us back to the Mon days but without the quality. There is little sign of the compelling football the change of manager was supposed to Herald, and he's actually managed to make McLeish' reign and the signing of Alan Hutton look not so bad by comparison, something I would have thought impossible. Plot well and truly lost and he needs to find it sharpish.