Heroes & Villains, the Aston Villa fanzine
Heroes & Villains => Match Threads & Player Ratings => Topic started by: Legion on December 26, 2015, 05:11:29 PM
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Away we go (again).
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Seems the place went dark for a bit.
Anyway, not enough is it. Much better second half but without a genuine goals corer all the build up seems for little. A point here and there between defeats isn't going to keep us in the PL
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Needed more than we got, and probably deserved more than we got.
But at least we look like we're fighting a bit.
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Merge with mine
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No home win all season. Better performances but can't score. We are down.
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2 games undefeated. We are unbeatable, we are unbeatable, we are unbeatable.
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The overall play was better but then West Ham have a lot of injuries and are not a great side anyway. We got lucky with Bacuna and Westwood who both could have been found guilty of handball in the box. Top performers again Ayew and Veretout.
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231 days without a Premier League win at home. :'(
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6 points from the next two games otherwise that's it.
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Probably our best performance of the season but feels like a defeat.
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Just didn't get why he didn't bring Adama on earlier. It gets the fans going, which can have such a positive effect on the game.
We desperately need better players.
The less said about Bacuna, the better!
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231 days without a Premier League win at home. :'(
Like not winning in 17, it would be harder to do if we actually tried to do it.
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Slowly improving.
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Just didn't get why he didn't bring Adama on earlier. It gets the fans going, which can have such a positive effect on the game.
We desperately need better players.
The less said about Bacuna, the better!
Through the middle he'd be a liability. On the wing he is restricted in his time and space. Yes there is plenty of potential upside but I don't know that he's the right player right now.
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At least we didn't lose (again) - which is as positive as I can be at the moment.
We go again... :o
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A point from every remaining game leaves us us...? I hope he can attract a decent one or two in Jan..Gokhan inler from leic, I hear.. Somebody, anybody
.we have too many anybodies already and have had so for half a decade. 'They're shite. Sell em to Villa' has to stop.
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At least we didn't lose (again) - which is as positive as I can be at the moment.
We go again... :o
Westwood at the end though. :o
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If we were in this position with five games left I wouldn't be throwing in the towel. I think we gained a point on the safety zone too which is better than nothing. We just have to make the window count, keep fighting and keep believing.
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Credit to a few of our players who have taken plenty of stick but did well today - Guzan, Bacuna and Westwood.
Players gave it their all but lacking quality. Great delivery from Bacuna at the end but we didn't have a player near getting on the end of it. Was a bit disappointed with Ayew and Veretout. Thought they both faded when we needed them to step it up.
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Nothing wrong with the desire of the side today. But once again we're held back by Gardes negative attitude. Substitutions made far too late again. West Ham were poor and had half there team out, but we still don't win.
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At this point where it looks like we're certain to go down, all I want is the team to show drive, effort and purpose. I think they're beginning to do that so hopefully a win isn't too far away. Garde was right when he said that confidence will come and go - what a shame we couldn't get a deserved three points today as it would have made the world of difference.
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At this rate relegation will come as a relief as opposed to the heartbreaking shock of going down on the last day. We can start our pre season in March and get well ahead with our preparations.
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At least we didn't lose (again) - which is as positive as I can be at the moment.
We go again... :o
Westwood at the end though. :o
I was doing some work - so listened to the game on the radio, Goldie. Consequently I've yet to witness what he did (or didn't).
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The lack of a striker was glaring today.
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I think Remie is doing his best with insufficient resources.
How any one could think that a bottom 4 team could lose its 4 best players and survive without replacing them.
We have 4 Prem class players Veretout, Ayew Okore and maybe Gana.
Too little too late I am afraid.
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6 points from the next two games otherwise that's it.
Agree. Needed a win n today. If we don't win the next 2 then it preparation for the championship.
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The lack of a striker was glaring today.
Just-Head was ok but Collins had his measure. Still he had to do better with that header at the start of the second half. When I saw him rise for it thought it was going to be a certain goal. Won the penalty tho to be fair to him.
Would prefer to see him coming on rather than starting mind.
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I think Remie is doing his best with insufficient resources.
How any one could think that a bottom 4 team could lose its 4 best players and survive without replacing them.
We have 4 Prem class players Veretout, Ayew Okore and maybe Gana.
Too little too late I am afraid.
Thought Okore was really poor in the second half, possibly playing his way out of the team in the process.
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How any one could think that a bottom 4 team could lose its 4 best players and survive without replacing them.
Benteke, Delph...I'm guessing Vlaar?
You've lost me. Luna? Helenius?
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They gave it a good go.
Use this transfer window to buy a goal keeper and a left back.
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Well the performance was spirited, the effort can't be faulted but the quality is just not there with this 11, we see it every week and it will continue.
It was interesting watching West Ham today. They were very limited which I'm sure left many scratching their heads as to how they're top 8. Well the reason is they were missing their best centre half (Winston Reid), their playmaker (Payet), their best wide player (Victor Moses) and their best striker (Sakho).
Basically that's their equivilant of what we had last season and lost in the summer. The difference is they'll have those players to come back eventually, we don't.
In fairness Veretout played well again today, he's got something as has Ayew but it's just not enough to win games. If we had any serious aspirations of staying up we'd have won with the momentum after the penalty.
Swansea hadn't won for ages either, they had a similar type game at home to West Brom and won that, that's going to be the difference at the end of the season. We are done at this level.
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Well the performance was spirited, the effort can't be faulted but the quality is just not there with this 11, we see it every week and it will continue.
It was interesting watching West Ham today. They were very limited which I'm sure left many scratching their heads as to how they're top 8. Well the reason is they were missing their best centre half (Winston Reid), their playmaker (Payet), their best wide player (Victor Moses) and their best striker (Sakho).
Basically that's their equivilant of what we had last season and lost in the summer. The difference is they'll have those players to come back eventually, we don't.
In fairness Veretout played well again today, he's got something as has Ayew but it's just not enough to win games. If we had any serious aspirations of staying up we'd have won with the momentum after the penalty.
Swansea hadn't won for ages either, they had a similar type game at home to West Brom and won that, that's going to be the difference at the end of the season. We are done at this level.
Exactly, we just don't have enough quality.
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How any one could think that a bottom 4 team could lose its 4 best players and survive without replacing them.
Benteke, Delph...I'm guessing Vlaar?
You've lost me. Luna? Helenius?
I'm guessing he means 6 good games Tom Cleverely.
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Deserved a win today but too many half chances went begging. At least I enjoyed the game which is some consolation. So much possession outside of their box second half, wish we would try shooting from there instead of gradually getting it to Hutton.
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It's also ironic that none of those 4 are setting the world alight at their new clubs.
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We need Richards back quickly. Thought Okore snd Lescott did well, defence will be stronger when Richards returns. Needed Adama on much earlier - 10 minutes is a joke. Garde is too cautious when wins are a must against the likes of West Ham.
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It's also ironic that none of those 4 are setting the world alight at their new clubs.
I would still rather have them than not. This team is significantly weaker than the one than finished last season although that was not the mainstream view on here.
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It's also ironic that none of those 4 are setting the world alight at their new clubs.
I would still rather have them than not. This team is significantly weaker than the one than finished last season although that was not the mainstream view on here.
No it's not. It's a better team lacking a brilliant striker.
It's still not a good team, but stick Benteke in this year's team and Gestede in last year's and this year's would win comfortably.
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Wet Spam had six first teamers missing today. We just had to win it.
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Negative again by Remi. We have no choice but to go for it every game
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It's also ironic that none of those 4 are setting the world alight at their new clubs.
I would still rather have them than not. This team is significantly weaker than the one than finished last season although that was not the mainstream view on here.
No it's not. It's a better team lacking a brilliant striker.
It's still not a good team, but stick Benteke in this year's team and Gestede in last year's and this year's would win comfortably.
I disagree, the defence is worse and we have no back up to the Goalkeeper who is a liability.
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We need Richards back quickly. Thought Okore snd Lescott did well, defence will be stronger when Richards returns. Needed Adama on much earlier - 10 minutes is a joke. Garde is too cautious when wins are a must against the likes of West Ham.
I don't agree. We'd be losing more with him back there.
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huffed and puffed against a poor west ham side who offered zero going forward. we deserved to win but didnt, the story of our season. garde was far too negative again.
half a season with no home win and 17 games without a win, 10 wins needed from 20 games which is top 8 form
we are down
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It's also ironic that none of those 4 are setting the world alight at their new clubs.
I would still rather have them than not. This team is significantly weaker than the one than finished last season although that was not the mainstream view on here.
No it's not. It's a better team lacking a brilliant striker.
It's still not a good team, but stick Benteke in this year's team and Gestede in last year's and this year's would win comfortably.
I disagree, the defence is worse and we have no back up to the Goalkeeper who is a liability.
Amavi is better than anything we had at left-back last season. The fact that he's injured doesn't change that.
Richards vs Vlaar is a flip of a coin. Both have had decent games for us with a lot of not-decent games for us. We didn't have any suitable back-up to Guzan last year either.
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It's also ironic that none of those 4 are setting the world alight at their new clubs.
I would still rather have them than not. This team is significantly weaker than the one than finished last season although that was not the mainstream view on here.
No it's not. It's a better team lacking a brilliant striker.
It's still not a good team, but stick Benteke in this year's team and Gestede in last year's and this year's would win comfortably.
Yup. In game after game a critical chance has been wasted. Benteke didn't guarantee us goals but he'd have converted more than a few of those as well as creating chances all on his own and creating general mayhem.
I think we did OK (but not amazing) this summer, but not replacing Benteke with anyone remotely as good is hurting us badly. And yes, I know this is the most obvious statement ever.
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Could've won. Probably should've won. We didn't. Frustrated, and becoming more resigned by the day. We played well, the sort of performance where if you're comfortably mid-table you think things look rosy, you're safe, maybe look to push on in January. But we needed all the points today, and we didn't get them. About the only straw left to clutch at is that somehow, the gap to safety has closed. But it's closing at a snail's pace, and we can't keep relying on the situation repeating week after week. We're not quite dead, but the miracle needed isn't getting any smaller.
Any news on a new centre-forward yet? I don't blame Rudy for not being good enough, it's not his fault someone has given him an opportunity way above that which his ability warrants, but if he can't bury those chances today, well, what's the use?
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Another game, another sick feeling in my stomach.
Played well yet their keeper made a number of great saves.
Bacuna at left back makes me miserable.
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Best we played since Wembley in April, should have could have etc..
Lescott's best game for us, Veretout looks like a genuinely good player. Ayew did well. And Gana probably had his best game for us.
Guzan made a couple of good saves but not see goal replayed - Hutton out of position. Bacuna below average but still better than Richardson. Big Rudy never stopped trying. Gil sub was the right one. The final sub was 5-10 mins too late. If we have had a player who has played 100 top flight games for us and is worse than Westwood then let me know.
More positives than negatives but much work to be done.
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Another game, another sick feeling in my stomach.
Played well yet their keeper made a number of great saves.
Bacuna at left back makes me miserable.
Needs must plus he wasn't even that bad today, their goal came because fresh legs 'Gil' was ball watching and Hutton just stands there looking like a right wally, instead of actually closing the ball down.
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Deserved a win today but too many half chances went begging. At least I enjoyed the game which is some consolation. So much possession outside of their box second half, wish we would try shooting from there instead of gradually getting it to Hutton.
Well at least we'll soon have Cissokho back as another outlet for crosses. :o
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6 points from the next two games otherwise that's it.
Agree. Needed a win n today. If we don't win the next 2 then it preparation for the championship.
In fairness if you had to pick 2 away games Sunderland and Norwich would be the venues (maybe not for the travelling support!) We always win at Sunderland and have had a very good record at Norwich in recent years although that was probably just down to a fired up Lambert on his returns.
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Another game, another sick feeling in my stomach.
Played well yet their keeper made a number of great saves.
Bacuna at left back makes me miserable.
Having to play Bacuna at LB is like choosing between the two ugly fat birds at the end of the night. Would you rather have the Richardson looking fat bird?
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Another game, another sick feeling in my stomach.
Played well yet their keeper made a number of great saves.
Bacuna at left back makes me miserable.
Having to play Bacuna at LB is like choosing between the two ugly fat birds at the end of the night. Would you rather have the Richardson looking fat bird?
Good point. No.
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Having to play Bacuna at LB is like choosing between the two ugly fat birds at the end of the night. Would you rather have the Richardson looking fat bird?
That's an image I didn't need, thanks !
Thought we played well today and deserved all 3 points. The only time we lost focus was when Sanchez went off and WH duly scored. Still, we fought back again and there are signs that we are improving, we need to win the next 2 to stand a chance, then confidence will be increasing and hopefully we can go on an extended run to haul ourselves to safety (yes, my glass is half-full).
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It's Christmas and the time of goodwill to all men. That is all men apart from that complete minge bag Leandro fucking Bacuna .
Yet another in the long list of complete shite recently given an extended & probably improved contract .
I could weep .
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Decent atmosphere today. With most of their best players missing West Ham were the worst team I've seen at VP this season (apart from us obviously). Failing to beat them is the prime example of why we're going down.
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Can't fault the effort or application...just like the second half against Newcastle - we are winning our battles in many cases but we simply do not have the quality required to convert it into an end product. This is precisely the reason we are dropping out of this league.
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our lack of quality is painful plus we didnt have a single leader on the pitch
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Next two are both must win. We've got to stop having a poor 1st half.
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It's Christmas and the time of goodwill to all men. That is all men apart from that complete minge bag Leandro fucking Bacuna .
Yet another in the long list of complete shite recently given an extended & probably improved contract .
I could weep .
Well in that case, have a pop at the bloke who signed him.
Or the bloke that organised his new contract. (I'll hazard a guess that even if he got a 50% rise, he's on less per month than Gabby per week)
Or the bloke that picked him.
Instead of the guy who's filling in on the wrong side and doing a far better job than the natural left sided player he displaced.
From what I've seen since he started at left back he's not let himself down defensively, probably generally been a bit more solid than on the right if anything and is still trying to get up and down in support.
Is he a world beater? Obviously not.
Is he an OK premier league player? Well if you put him in a half decent team, he'd probably stand out as mediocre but OK.
Put him in a struggling team and he looks like someone who's technique is a bit suspect at times which us what he is.
He doesn't hide and he tries to make best use of what he's got. Yes it's only the basic level you'd expect, but too many players who are worthy of far more criticism have coasted through contracts he can only dream about whilst giving f##k all in return. At least he looks like he gives a shit.
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There are a lot worse than Bacuna. He's doing o.k out of position and is the sort we'll need next year, same as hutton.
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Next two are both must win. We've got to stop having a poor 1st half.
It wasn't really a poor first half. Just a poor ending to an average first half. We had chances and with a proper striker we might have been a goal or two ahead.
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We're too far gone boys. Cant speak for the rest of you but even though it Im still so full of hope, and Villa always seem to pull it out (somehow), the table confirms it...We're gone. I remember the hopelessness of 86/87 and they were a better team. Randy you've presided over this fall..how could you have let it got to this after the promise...you have destroyed us. Oh, and O'Neil..you f**king prick.
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Should have won that game, Garde unfortunately was far too negative, I dont understand why we stopped attacking after the penalty, we had them shitting it up until that point, looked scared of losing rather than going all out for the win, 6 minutes for Traore? Their goal was fucking pathetic, we'd already had a 2 warnings in the 5 minutes before with Hutton getting caught out if position!
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Deserved a win today but too many half chances went begging. At least I enjoyed the game which is some consolation. So much possession outside of their box second half, wish we would try shooting from there instead of gradually getting it to Hutton.
A few times today, I caught myself screaming not only "shoooooooot", but "fucking shoooooooot, one of you fucking shoot". In A4, such utterances should be kept to the volume of "under one's breath". This is what they're driving me to.
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231 days without a Premier League win at home. :'(
Death to bullshit stats like this. I'm certainly not shedding any tears over our inability to win during June or July.
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I think Remie is doing his best with insufficient resources.
How any one could think that a bottom 4 team could lose its 4 best players and survive without replacing them.
We have 4 Prem class players Veretout, Ayew Okore and maybe Gana.
Too little too late I am afraid.
Thought Okore was really poor in the second half, possibly playing his way out of the team in the process.
How so? I thought the entire back 4 had probably their most comfortable 45 minutes since Garde took over in the 2nd half.
I can remember 1 instance where he half slipped as he went to clear the ball into touch so it went backwards 5 yards instead of 20 yards down field before going into touch. Other than that on the whole his distribution was steady with a couple of really good passes thrown in.
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I think once we pull back, we smell blood, and we didn't do enough to go for the kill :( Probably best performance for a while but still not good enough. I hope Remi Garde got 4 or 5 deals ready for next week.
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I am not sure what people want of Garde. He has taken a squad that was as dysfunctional as its league position suggested and in a few weeks has instilled belief, fight, organisation and a suggestion that it can actually play a bit of football.
We had 57% of possession and 15 sots at goal with 8 on target today. We are creating chances, but for whatever reason not putting them away. It has been frustrating in a few recent games that superior numbers have not been translated into maximum points, but that's the way it is when you are scratching a living at the shit end of the universe.
It is not over yet. We are improving and there is seeming intent to invest in the coming month. It may well be too late, but at least we have turned things around.
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Their goal showed exactly why he has to be conservative though. Go more cavelier and lose possession and concede more. Garde is doing exactly what the vaunted Moyes, Allardyce or Pulis would try and do with this squad
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Their goal showed exactly why he has to be conservative though. Go more cavelier and lose possession and concede more. Garde is doing exactly what the vaunted Moyes, Allardyce or Pulis would try and do with this squad
Never thought of if in that context but you are 100% right
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It's a game we should have won and had Gestede got a couple of his headers on target, we might have done. Not winning wasn't for the lack of trying though, they gave it a go and I thought we played pretty well. Last week was a point gained, but today felt like two points dropped. At least they haven't let their heads drop from going behind like earlier in the season.
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I notice Karen Brady has been mocking us on twitter about getting excited over winning a corner.
Not half as excited as you were about blagging a new stadium without having to pay for it Karen.
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Their goal showed exactly why he has to be conservative though. Go more cavelier and lose possession and concede more. Garde is doing exactly what the vaunted Moyes, Allardyce or Pulis would try and do with this squad
Totally agree regarding the risk in throwing the likes of Gil, Grealish or Adama in there. But I am not sure he is being all that conservative, just striking a very good balance. 15 shots at goal , 8 on target. Earlier this season we were going entire home games without registering a single worthy effort.
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We need Richards back quickly. Thought Okore snd Lescott did well, defence will be stronger when Richards returns. Needed Adama on much earlier - 10 minutes is a joke. Garde is too cautious when wins are a must against the likes of West Ham.
I don't agree. We'd be losing more with him back there.
I despair sometimes - how can the defence be weaker with Micah Richards at the back? Him, Okore and the improving Lescott would give the defence a solid look. They haven't played together at all yet.
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It's a game we should have won and had Gestede got a couple of his headers on target, we might have done. Not winning wasn't for the lack of trying though, they gave it a go and I thought we played pretty well. Last week was a point gained, but today felt like two points dropped. At least they haven't let their heads drop from going behind like earlier in the season.
If we go down it will be trying as hard not to. I just think we will run out of games.
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We played quite well and would have merited a win, but only in the context of a dreadful season. I agree with others about shooting more often. There were several times when another pass was played resulting in an inaccurate cross. We concede plenty of deflected goals, showing the potential of having a go.
I also agree that we really had them on the rack after equalising, but then inexplicably took the gas off and helped them by giving them 3 quick needless free kicks when they slowed it all down.
Thought defence was OK apart from the ridiculous lack of cover for their goal. Ayew did well and put in a real shift; Gestede did OK, so better than usual, but really had to score at least one of those chances.
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It's a game we should have won and had Gestede got a couple of his headers on target, we might have done. Not winning wasn't for the lack of trying though, they gave it a go and I thought we played pretty well. Last week was a point gained, but today felt like two points dropped. At least they haven't let their heads drop from going behind like earlier in the season.
If we go down it will be trying as hard not to. I just think we will run out of games.
I agree. In March/April we have Swansea away and Bournemouth, Southampton and Newcastle all at home so with a few decent signings in January and Remi working with the squad over a longer period I could see a win or two in that run of fixtures.
Think we'll be well adrift by then so will be all in vain.
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We should have won that.
That's the best I've seen us play for 90 minutes this season having only missed two games home and away.
West Ham were poor for most of the game and we didn't take advantage of the initiative when we had it....just after the penalty...like last week, Traore should have come on then, not with 6-7 minutes to go.
Guzan and the defence were pretty much untroubled, though Bacuna is not a full-back (no worse than Richardson though), Veretout and Gana did well and I thought Sanchez was doing a great job until he had to limp off. Gestede not too bad but missed a couple of straightforward headers where he should have hit the target, Ayew looked the business again but is desperate for a quality partner.
I've shouted for Gil pretty often on here but I don't think he did well today and Westwood ticked over, slowly.
Pretty much like last week at Newcastle, I thought the three points were there for the taking today and we got one...again.
Lack of killer ball in last third/striker is the obvious problem in games like these...and these are the kind of games we should be winning...and we're not.
IMHO we continue to improve but slowly, slowly...by the time we're good enough I fear it will be too late.
Still hoping for maximum points from Norwich/Sunderland!
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Their goal showed exactly why he has to be conservative though. Go more cavelier and lose possession and concede more. Garde is doing exactly what the vaunted Moyes, Allardyce or Pulis would try and do with this squad
Totally agree regarding the risk in throwing the likes of Gil, Grealish or Adama in there. But I am not sure he is being all that conservative, just striking a very good balance. 15 shots at goal , 8 on target. Earlier this season we were going entire home games without registering a single worthy effort.
shots on target and posession has improved but without being harsh you dont get points for that
we just need some luck and a win but then again we have been saying that since august
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We need Richards back quickly. Thought Okore and Lescott did well, defence will be stronger when Richards returns. Needed Adama on much earlier - 10 minutes is a joke. Garde is too cautious when wins are a must against the likes of West Ham.
I don't agree. We'd be losing more with him back there.
I despair sometimes - how can the defence be weaker with Micah Richards at the back? Him, Okore and the improving Lescott would give the defence a solid look. They haven't played together at all yet.
You're now adding stuff onto your original post, if you think we're going to play 3 CB's or were hoping to see Micah at RB, you'll be waiting a very long time.
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We were unlucky in not coming out with all 3 points today. Positives are another match where we have come back to gain a point and the performance of Vertout, Ayew and yes Lescott. Lescott was calmness itself. Team put in a big effort and at times had West Ham on the rack. We are obviously devoid of good quality in key areas and that was the difference in not winning. Gestede should have scored with at least one of his 3 headers but did really well for the penalty. We are not getting the bounce of the ball. Just as in the Watford game all loose ends fell to their defenders who cleared them rather than one of our players. May be we need to attack in force so that we have more numbers around to mop up any second chances.
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Lescott's best game for us, Veretout looks like a genuinely good player. Ayew did well. And Gana probably had his best game for us.
Shows how it's a game of opinion :-) I'd have agreed with pretty much everything bar Gana - first half I thought he was bottling every tackle & had no heart for the fight, second half he improved but the idea of controlling a football is not bad touch & chase it's a basic skill.
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I thought we played well and bossed them. Their goal was yet another defensive error from Hutton and completely against the run of play.
We created plenty I thought and Gestede should have put at least one of his headers away. Veretout was impressive, as was Ayew. Lescott played well when called on too.
We shoud have won, but that is at least two games unbeaten, some more confidence and two huge games to come where two wins woud put us within a result of 17th.
We need a goal scorer. Remy was menfioned in the French press and he would be ideal. Somebody mobile with an eye for goal would really complement the ever impressive Ayew.
We worked a lot harder off the ball and we looked much fitter and stronger than West Ham, which when you consider how much bigger they are, suggests a positive for me.
Veretout I think is a real piece of class. He looked in much better nick against Southampton and he has coverred every blade of grass since.
I am not ready to chuck in the towel or start looking for pubs in Huddersfield yet.
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Veretout was superb today as was Ayew.
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Veretout was superb today as was Ayew.
Or Ayez according to the official youtube. ::)
(http://i68.tinypic.com/6p1bar.jpg)
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Not seen he match yet but initial thoughts were that we needed to win. West Ham with several players out, winless in 2 months (show offs) and a Villa side on the improve it needed to be 3 points, no ifs or buts.
Must beat both Norwich and Sunderland now or that really is it, not mathematically but in footballing common sense.
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Veretout was superb today as was Ayew.
These are the ones Sherwood didn't want to have to sign.
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How any one could think that a bottom 4 team could lose its 4 best players and survive without replacing them.
Benteke, Delph...I'm guessing Vlaar?
You've lost me. Luna? Helenius?
I'd suggest Albrighton but maybe that's too long ago.
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Veretout was superb today as was Ayew.
These are the ones Sherwood didn't want to have to sign.
That's because he's an idiot
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I thought the fans at VP were fantastic today. We have, obviously, had no win to celebrate so far this season however we appreciated the effort the team put in today. Very few left before the end and the players received an almost standing ovation.
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Not seen he match yet but initial thoughts were that we needed to win. West Ham with several players out, winless in 2 months (show offs) and a Villa side on the improve it needed to be 3 points, no ifs or buts.
Must beat both Norwich and Sunderland now or that really is it, not mathematically but in footballing common sense.
Football and commonsense do not go together, my friend!
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Yes also best atmosphere I've been to down there for a long time for a bog standard fixture. Just under 40k after 5 years of largely crap and/or utter crap is incredible.
Disappointed with their fans though. They used to make a right racket. Hardly any singing.
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Veretout was superb today as was Ayew.
These are the ones Sherwood didn't want to have to sign.
That's because he's an idiot
No argument from me on that point.
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There was one beautiful piece of skill from Veretout I shall remember for a long time. He gathered a head high ball hard hit with the instep of his left foot, dropped it to the ground and passed it with his right foot in one movement that was almost balletic. Sheer class Mr Sherwood.
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Even if the worst happens, Villa might at least make a profit on Veretout
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Even if the worst happens, Villa might at least make a profit on Veretout
Depends what the dreaded relegation release clauses say but yeah take 30m combined for Ayew and Veretout (as you certainly don't need to spend 50m to be competitive in the championship) or just keep them as they would be a class above down there.
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Even if the worst happens, Villa might at least make a profit on Veretout
Depends what the dreaded relegation release clauses say but yeah take 30m combined for Ayew and Veretout (as you certainly don't need to spend 50m to be competitive in the championship) or just keep them as they would be a class above down there.
How many of Sherwood's Real Signings would we make a profit on?
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I don't know if it has been mentioned but their goalkeeper played a big part in them holding on to the draw. You forget what a big asset a quality keeper is.
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I don't think I've ever heard the award of a penalty celebrated like that by the Holte. It was like scoring five goals at the same time.
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Even if the worst happens, Villa might at least make a profit on Veretout
or we might even keep him and he'll will help get us out of the Championship immediately
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I don't think I've ever heard the award of a penalty celebrated like that by the Holte. It was like scoring five goals at the same time.
West Brom last season in the last minute was pretty roof-raising.
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Agreed about Ayew and Veretout. Garde might persuade them to give it a go for a season down there. The non signing of the Adebayor Sherwood thought he was able to get is more costly by the week.
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Agreed about Ayew and Veretout. Garde might persuade them to give it a go for a season down there. The non signing of the Adebayor Sherwood thought he was able to get is more costly by the week.
I didn't particularly like Sherwood's plan A but to have only Gestede as plan B was the killer.
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I don't think I've ever heard the award of a penalty celebrated like that by the Holte. It was like scoring five goals at the same time.
It was one of those that the ref could have easily bottled it and played on especially as he was somewhat behind the play however I think the Holte sucked his arm in towards the spot!
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I don't think I've ever heard the award of a penalty celebrated like that by the Holte. It was like scoring five goals at the same time.
It was one of those that the ref could have easily bottled it and played on especially as he was somewhat behind the play however I think the Holte sucked his arm in towards the spot!
I was convinced he was going to to that awful Mike Dean running-along-with-outstretched-arms cobblers
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I don't think I've ever heard the award of a penalty celebrated like that by the Holte. It was like scoring five goals at the same time.
It was one of those that the ref could have easily bottled it and played on especially as he was somewhat behind the play however I think the Holte sucked his arm in towards the spot!
I was convinced he was going to to that awful Mike Dean running-along-with-outstretched-arms cobblers
Like he's trying to take flight.
The massive tosser.
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The fact he didn't give them a couple of half shouts after ours was a Christmas miracle. He is still though, a massive twat.
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In the first half he played an advantage to us and then booked their bod. Good refereeing.
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Agreed about Ayew and Veretout. Garde might persuade them to give it a go for a season down there. The non signing of the Adebayor Sherwood thought he was able to get is more costly by the week.
I didn't particularly like Sherwood's plan A but to have only Gestede as plan B was the killer.
What Plan A. He had about 10 plans. All of them totally incoherent.
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Villa played really well today. Very unlucky not to win. Sanchez was missed when he went off.
The whole team played well.
Bacuna is not a left back but he's better than Richardson.
Two wins in our next two away games would be great.
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Have to be fair to Bacuna, he did try. It's just that his left foot is just for standing on which makes it easier to defend against him as you just shepherd him to the byline knowing that he won't be able to get a decent cross in.
Gestede gave his best and tried to gee up the crowd.
Is it just me or does someone need to train our players on timing their jumps for headers so they're not on their way back down when the ball arrives.
Guzan'so distribution is poor, but in the warm up he was practising kicking the ball in to touch. Why not practice kicking it up the middle?
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I don't think I've ever heard the award of a penalty celebrated like that by the Holte. It was like scoring five goals at the same time.
I'm funny like that. My reaction to a penalty is "who will take it?" followed by negative thoughts of spooning it over the bar. I never celebrate it.
Well done to Gestede for winning it today though, as I didn't think he had that in him. He never gave up.
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We can pick on individual players but at the start of the season we had lost our leading goal scored in fact the only player we had that ever looked like scoring and replaced him with a Championship player and crossed our fingers that he would work out. For me this is the one single reason we are where we are and today it showed again, after we got the penalty a number of crosses went into the box but with no finisher they all went to waste.
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I don't think I've ever heard the award of a penalty celebrated like that by the Holte. It was like scoring five goals at the same time.
I'm funny like that. My reaction to a penalty is "who will take it?" followed by negative thoughts of spooning it over the bar. I never celebrate it.
Well done to Gestede for winning it today though, as I didn't think he had that in him. He never gave up.
I didn't want to watch the pen. But the way Ayew grabbed the ball and stood on the spot gave me a good feeling. He had the air of the man at the front of the queue at Dixons on Black Friday
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Agree. I thought if Ayew takes it he'll score. Him and Vertout were the best players on the pitch along with their keeper
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Bacuna would have missed and be on suicide watch for the next fortnight
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"I notice Karen Brady has been mocking us on twitter about getting excited over winning a corner.
Not half as excited as you were about blagging a new stadium without having to pay for it Karen."
Yes, she was there at the game today, supporting the authentic cockney football club of the East End. How their real fans must love her, the Millionnaire Tory Baroness lady of the people. Me, I'd be utterly embarrassed to have such a vacuous phoney anywhere near a football club I loved and supported.
She should stick to arranging dinner club games for Cameron; preferably the ones that involved a pig's head.
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"I notice Karen Brady has been mocking us on twitter about getting excited over winning a corner.
Not half as excited as you were about blagging a new stadium without having to pay for it Karen."
Yes, she was there at the game today, supporting the authentic cockney football club of the East End. How their real fans must love her, the Millionnaire Tory Baroness lady of the people. Me, I'd be utterly embarrassed to have such a vacuous phoney anywhere near a football club I loved and supported.
She should stick to arranging dinner club games for Cameron; preferably the ones that involved a pig's head.
Well said - the great free marketeer's hyprocricy knows no bounds.
Cronyism at it's worst.
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I'm strangely immune to mockery. Kind of liberating really.
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Veretout was superb today as was Ayew.
These are the ones Sherwood didn't want to have to sign.
That's because he's an idiot
Albeit a rich one
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Veretout was superb today as was Ayew.
These are the ones Sherwood didn't want to have to sign.
That's because he's an idiot
Albeit a rich one
So is Prince Charles - life isn't always fair.
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"I notice Karen Brady has been mocking us on twitter about getting excited over winning a corner.
Not half as excited as you were about blagging a new stadium without having to pay for it Karen."
Yes, she was there at the game today, supporting the authentic cockney football club of the East End. How their real fans must love her, the Millionnaire Tory Baroness lady of the people. Me, I'd be utterly embarrassed to have such a vacuous phoney anywhere near a football club I loved and supported.
She should stick to arranging dinner club games for Cameron; preferably the ones that involved a pig's head.
I either heard a rumour or it maybe my imagination but her fanny apparently stinks of fish!!
and by the way
im watching motd and we are not as bad as we think we are
UTV
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Any mention of Brady and as night follows day...
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Oh well, it was nice while it lasted.
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Villa played really well today. Very unlucky not to win. Sanchez was missed when he went off.
The whole team played well.
Bacuna is not a left back but he's better than Richardson.
Two wins in our next two away games would be great.
was sanchez wearing his goggles today
im sure they affected him last week
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No goggles just his wig.
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Villa played really well today. Very unlucky not to win. Sanchez was missed when he went off.
The whole team played well.
Bacuna is not a left back but he's better than Richardson.
Two wins in our next two away games would be great.
was sanchez wearing his goggles today
im sure they affected him last week
He was.
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"I notice Karen Brady has been mocking us on twitter about getting excited over winning a corner.
Not half as excited as you were about blagging a new stadium without having to pay for it Karen."
Yes, she was there at the game today, supporting the authentic cockney football club of the East End. How their real fans must love her, the Millionnaire Tory Baroness lady of the people. Me, I'd be utterly embarrassed to have such a vacuous phoney anywhere near a football club I loved and supported.
She should stick to arranging dinner club games for Cameron; preferably the ones that involved a pig's head.
I either heard a rumour or it maybe my imagination but her fanny apparently stinks of fish!!
If that's the level of discussion that you want to have, feel free to go and do it somewhere else.
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No goggles just his wig.
That last sub for West Ham came on looking like Stevie Wonder
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No goggles just his wig.
That last sub for West Ham came on looking like Stevie Wonder
Alex Song In The Key Of Life
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"I notice Karen Brady has been mocking us on twitter about getting excited over winning a corner.
Not half as excited as you were about blagging a new stadium without having to pay for it Karen."
Yes, she was there at the game today, supporting the authentic cockney football club of the East End. How their real fans must love her, the Millionnaire Tory Baroness lady of the people. Me, I'd be utterly embarrassed to have such a vacuous phoney anywhere near a football club I loved and supported.
She should stick to arranging dinner club games for Cameron; preferably the ones that involved a pig's head.
I either heard a rumour or it maybe my imagination but her fanny apparently stinks of fish!!
If that's the level of discussion that you want to have, feel free to go and do it somewhere else.
I do apologise dave, loose lips sink ships and all that
its only what I heard though,honest gov
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motd saving the best till last again I see
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I think with Amavi we would not be in such a shit position, since his injury all our wide attacking threat has come from the right side and Hutton as hard as he tried just doesn't have enough quality with his final ball.Also its left us playing Richardson and now Bacuna at LB the latter of which has no left foot.
Guzan not sure if he could of made the save for the goal but his distribution is so woeful and I'd imagine that is high on the reasons why other options are being considered.
Gestede brought for heading ability fluffed his lines today , he works hard and did well for Pen but overall he just doesn't bring enough to the team.
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...Hutton as hard as he tried just doesn't have enough quality with his final ball
Although it's nice to see that even though we at last we have a manager who realises that the "Ashley Westwood floaty corner" is fucking rubbish, that we have Hutton providing half a dozen lofted, floaty crosses to their big centre-half per match to make up for it.
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"I notice Karen Brady has been mocking us on twitter about getting excited over winning a corner.
Not half as excited as you were about blagging a new stadium without having to pay for it Karen."
Yes, she was there at the game today, supporting the authentic cockney football club of the East End. How their real fans must love her, the Millionnaire Tory Baroness lady of the people. Me, I'd be utterly embarrassed to have such a vacuous phoney anywhere near a football club I loved and supported.
She should stick to arranging dinner club games for Cameron; preferably the ones that involved a pig's head.
She's like a walking advert for hypocracy and Toryism. Cannot stand her.
Nice to know we obviously still get under her skin though.
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I think with Amavi we would not be in such a shit position, since his injury all our wide attacking threat has come from the right side and Hutton as hard as he tried just doesn't have enough quality with his final ball.Also its left us playing Richardson and now Bacuna at LB the latter of which has no left foot.
Guzan not sure if he could of made the save for the goal but his distribution is so woeful and I'd imagine that is high on the reasons why other options are being considered.
Gestede brought for heading ability fluffed his lines today , he works hard and did well for Pen but overall he just doesn't bring enough to the team.
I actually thought at the time Guzan could have got fingers on it. May have been wrong though
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No goggles just his wig.
That last sub for West Ham came on looking like Stevie Wonder
Alex Song In The Key Of Life
Marvelous.
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I think with Amavi we would not be in such a shit position, since his injury all our wide attacking threat has come from the right side and Hutton as hard as he tried just doesn't have enough quality with his final ball.Also its left us playing Richardson and now Bacuna at LB the latter of which has no left foot.
Guzan not sure if he could of made the save for the goal but his distribution is so woeful and I'd imagine that is high on the reasons why other options are being considered.
Gestede brought for heading ability fluffed his lines today , he works hard and did well for Pen but overall he just doesn't bring enough to the team.
I actually thought at the time Guzan could have got fingers on it. May have been wrong though
It was right in the side of the goal. The only way he was going to get to it was if he'd left his near-post uncovered. One of those which was just a great finish (albeit facilitated by a wandering right-back) rather than much fault involved in preventing it.
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I am not sure what people want of Garde. He has taken a squad that was as dysfunctional as its league position suggested and in a few weeks has instilled belief, fight, organisation and a suggestion that it can actually play a bit of football.
We had 57% of possession and 15 sots at goal with 8 on target today. We are creating chances, but for whatever reason not putting them away. It has been frustrating in a few recent games that superior numbers have not been translated into maximum points, but that's the way it is when you are scratching a living at the shit end of the universe.
It is not over yet. We are improving and there is seeming intent to invest in the coming month. It may well be too late, but at least we have turned things around.
Yes Steve
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I am not sure what people want of Garde. He has taken a squad that was as dysfunctional as its league position suggested and in a few weeks has instilled belief, fight, organisation and a suggestion that it can actually play a bit of football.
We had 57% of possession and 15 sots at goal with 8 on target today. We are creating chances, but for whatever reason not putting them away. It has been frustrating in a few recent games that superior numbers have not been translated into maximum points, but that's the way it is when you are scratching a living at the shit end of the universe.
It is not over yet. We are improving and there is seeming intent to invest in the coming month. It may well be too late, but at least we have turned things around.
Yes Steve
and yes again
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Also starting to get a few more decisions the villa way.mike dean much more giving than his blatant incomprehensible disregard for stopping for Westwood head injury v spurs. The penalty and no penalty against just the luck needed.
Also think alot of spirit and good encouraging of the crowd by hutton and gestede . Think also there were strong signs of more urgency and despite attempts in vain the extra 2points alluded.
I think veretout was very good today and ayew continues to shine.
A win would have been fair and it showed something that in last two games have character to get a result
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I thought we played really well, and despite the disappointment of only taking a point, enjoyed the game.
Some of Veretout's passing was excellent, Gestede worked hard and was the best he's done in a Villa shirt-on another day he could have had a hat-trick. Ayew is great, always looks dangerous, how I would have liked to have seen him up top with Benteke.
Man of the match however was James Collins. I always thought he was very good overall for us. Seeing Okore trying to pass and clear balls, yet with all the grace of an ocean liner, made me long for a rock solid centre back. Collins would have been ideal for us at this time.
All in all, I still think we will stay up.
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I thought we were competent today, but truth be told West Ham were shite and lacking in confidence.
Veretout had a good game, Ayew was industrious and I thought Gestede was better than I have previously seen him - god only knows how slow that defender was to be overtaken by him for the penalty. We were the better side but just not enough quality to win the game.
Worst thing for me was that our creativity seemed mainly to come from Hutton's crosses and Gestede's headers. Nobody seems capable of knowing where his headers will land s so we don't get on the end of them- every second ball fell to a Wham defender. Collins showed he is a better defender than anybody on our books, though ( a player always overlooked when people evaluate MON's signings). We need more creativity through the middle to outfox players like him.
Unlike many on here I thought Bacuna was decent today. He is a right sided player and still had a go at getting forward on the left side. I thought Gil was disappointing but I was most annoyed at not going hell for leather in the last 10-15. We are better off winning alternate games than a series of draws and after Traore came on we actually lost momentum, partly because Veretout going off reduced our threat on the left. I would have brought Traore on earlier but sacrificed Westwood or Gana.
Today showed me the players have fight and were a team playing for Garde, but we lack the quality to stay up.
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I'm strangely immune to mockery. Kind of liberating really.
bring it on I reckon, we deserve it and we'd dish it out to the likes of west ham if the tables were turned. Karen Brady can fk right off though.
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Merry Christmas To all H&Vers by the way!
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Your posts are getting very professional Footy. Well done.
My little granddaughter aged 17 months does a perfect imitation of Mike Dean doing "no pen" except it is inspired by the turtle in Finding Nemo.
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Hutton is leaving himself stranded on the forward line too often, it's all very well to support the forward line but his main job is to defend. Not knocking his effort but it's happening every game.
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Hutton is leaving himself stranded on the forward line too often, it's all very well to support the forward line but his main job is to defend. Not knocking his effort but it's happening every game.
Yep he worked his arse off nut hia positional sense ans decision making is sub standard.
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"I notice Karen Brady has been mocking us on twitter about getting excited over winning a corner.
Not half as excited as you were about blagging a new stadium without having to pay for it Karen."
Yes, she was there at the game today, supporting the authentic cockney football club of the East End. How their real fans must love her, the Millionnaire Tory Baroness lady of the people. Me, I'd be utterly embarrassed to have such a vacuous phoney anywhere near a football club I loved and supported.
She should stick to arranging dinner club games for Cameron; preferably the ones that involved a pig's head.
She's like a walking advert for hypocracy and Toryism. Cannot stand her.
Nice to know we obviously still get under her skin though.
There's a tavern in the town
Some old has been is a clown
And that sad old slapper is still a f***ing slag.
She will stop blowing bubbles when she sells off her share in Wet Spam when some rich foreigner realises how much they can make from a club who is "given" a decent stadium in London
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Villa played really well today. Very unlucky not to win. Sanchez was missed when he went off.
The whole team played well.
Bacuna is not a left back but he's better than Richardson.
Two wins in our next two away games would be great.
Thats the problem: we currently need the whole team to play really well to get a point at home v an understrength West Ham.
To espouse a football cliche, you can' fault the effort yesterday. The intensity was there, just not the quality.
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Just got round to watching MOTD, due to health problems not able to get to matches at the moment, having hardly missed a home match in the last 50 years. It looked like for once Mike Dean did us a favour, whilst I thought it was a penalty on Gestede, other refs might have let the defender get away with it. Then later on we got away with a penalty shout, when Westwood handled the ball.
If you can't put teams like an injury hit West Ham away, having been on top for most of the match, then we've got no chance of staying up. The last time one of our strikers scored other than Ayew was Gestede against Liverpool 3 months ago, which shows how dire our situation is.
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Maybe I'm in a minority but I thought we played better after Sanchez went off.
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Maybe I'm in a minority but I thought we played better after Sanchez went off.
Not for the remainder of the first half, we didn't. I thought we became a bit rudderless. And ultimately, that cost us dearly.
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I agree levico once we had adjusted to the loss of Sanchez human JCB style of play we were slicker and smoother. Inability to put our chances away cost us the victory we should have got.
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It's also ironic that none of those 4 are setting the world alight at their new clubs.
I would still rather have them than not. This team is significantly weaker than the one than finished last season although that was not the mainstream view on here.
No it's not. It's a better team lacking a brilliant striker.
It's still not a good team, but stick Benteke in this year's team and Gestede in last year's and this year's would win comfortably.
I disagree, the defence is worse and we have no back up to the Goalkeeper who is a liability.
The defence is worse? you say we miss Vlaar but I don't see how you can miss someone that played 1 game and was then injured for 3.
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Did anyone else think it was a deliberate handball by Westwood like Shearer and Danny Mills thought on motd? I thought it was more ball to hand than anything.
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Did anyone else think it was a deliberate handball by Westwood like Shearer and Danny Mills thought on motd? I thought it was more ball to hand than anything.
Me to and presumably, so did Mike Dean
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Did anyone else think it was a deliberate handball by Westwood like Shearer and Danny Mills thought on motd? I thought it was more ball to hand than anything.
Me to and presumably, so did Mike Dean
I thought it was ball to hand too but if it had been a West Ham player it would have been a blatant penalty.
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Maybe I'm in a minority but I thought we played better after Sanchez went off.
Not for the remainder of the first half, we didn't. I thought we became a bit rudderless. And ultimately, that cost us dearly.
I agree with that.
Overall a lot to be happy with about the performance. The players and manager clearly haven't given up and with a couple of key additions I think we can at least make a fight of it. If that proves not to be enough then at least we can go into next season with recognisab pattern of play and some new found confidence.
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Hutton is leaving himself stranded on the forward line too often, it's all very well to support the forward line but his main job is to defend. Not knocking his effort but it's happening every game.
spot on
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Hutton is leaving himself stranded on the forward line too often, it's all very well to support the forward line but his main job is to defend. Not knocking his effort but it's happening every game.
spot on
Its also, in part, Gil not doing his defensive duty. Similar to grealish and Gil weak tracking back against Everton. Or veretout against arsenal.
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Maybe I'm in a minority but I thought we played better after Sanchez went off.
Overall yesterday we did seem better but he was playjng well
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It's also ironic that none of those 4 are setting the world alight at their new clubs.
I would still rather have them than not. This team is significantly weaker than the one than finished last season although that was not the mainstream view on here.
No it's not. It's a better team lacking a brilliant striker.
It's still not a good team, but stick Benteke in this year's team and Gestede in last year's and this year's would win comfortably.
I disagree, the defence is worse and we have no back up to the Goalkeeper who is a liability.
The defence is worse? you say we miss Vlaar but I don't see how you can miss someone that played 1 game and was then injured for 3.
Any comparisons with last season have to be put in the context of whether looking at the Lambert version or the Sherwood version.
The current team is probably not a million miles from the Lambert team, but the Sherwood pre-Southampton team was more exciting. Benteke, Delph, Cleverley and Grealish hit a spell of decent form and we played with tempo and aggression.
The table doesn't lie though: we are poorer than last season.
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We all know that a draw was not enough but overall I'm pleased with what Remi is working on. We were a cohesive unit yesterday and you could see how much the team wanted it. Gestede was a real handful but had 2 great chances from headers which is meant to be the main part of his game. Veretout gets better and better. Overall I'm 50/50 on us staying up but either way I believe Remi will eventually do the business and we will get back to being a major force in English football.....In Remi we trust.
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At least we didn't lose (again) - which is as positive as I can be at the moment.
We go again... :o
Westwood at the end though. :o
Now I understand! God knows how he got away with that. Brains of a rocking horse, as my Dad used to say.
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Garde has got to give Traore at least a full 2nd half. He was only on the pitch for a few minutes and got two corners and created a match winning chance .....
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the ideal opportunity to bring traore on was straight after we equalised fuck me gestede did the one centre half for pace so what would traore have done?
you cant tell me that gestede is a better option than traore and ayew playing off centre halves which would shit most teams up.
the best half of football i have seen was the first half against city, we let their centre halves win everything in the air but then won every second ball
its not that difficult to undestand is it
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I think that had we gone in at half time one up rather than one down, we'd have seen Adama a lot earlier. Maybe not straight away, but given it ten minutes, see if we still look settled, not getting pulled apart, then give him a good 35 minutes. We've not really seen him pitted against centre-halves, and there's only one way we'll find out if he's effective. At some point he has to be given a try, surely.
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The fact he didn't give them a couple of half shouts after ours was a Christmas miracle. He is still though, a massive twat.
I'm surprised more hasn't been made on here or elsewhere that Ogbonna should've been sent off after the penalty?
Did I imagine he was on a yellow before the penalty award as seems no one is talking about it.
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I don't think I've ever heard the award of a penalty celebrated like that by the Holte. It was like scoring five goals at the same time.
I'm funny like that. My reaction to a penalty is "who will take it?" followed by negative thoughts of spooning it over the bar. I never celebrate it.
Well done to Gestede for winning it today though, as I didn't think he had that in him. He never gave up.
It's funny when I first start going in the 90s and we had a very good team we seemed to miss a penalty every week at home....Alan Thompson, Dublin, Merson all seemeed to be missing them in 98/99 and we were never that great at them in that era.
Last 10 years we seem to score most of the penalties we get awarded at home....Barry never missed (and we got a lot of them in the MON era) then Young took over and scored a few then Benteke I think missed one v Evetrton and now Ayew has taken over the mantle. His record at taking penalties for Marseille and Lorient was very good so he's a very reliable option if we get a few more this season.
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The fact he didn't give them a couple of half shouts after ours was a Christmas miracle. He is still though, a massive twat.
I'm surprised more hasn't been made on here or elsewhere that Ogbonna should've been sent off after the penalty?
Did I imagine he was on a yellow before the penalty award as seems no one is talking about it.
We said that at the time, I don't think the ref said a word to him. Perhaps all that haranguing he was getting from their players made him forget.
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Second home game in succession and to be fair a marked difference. Couldn't decide on Veretout or Aye for MOTM.
Still not a Westwood fan and felt with him and Gil on (after Sánchez sub) we left Veretout with too much work to do attacking and covering for them both that he became less effective.
And god Rudy needs some help up front - how many balls did he send in that went across the box with no one making an effort to get on the end of one. No idea what's happened at BMH but surely Libor deserves a chance?!
Will we stay up, probably not, do I care, actually not that much. There will still be football at Villa Park and relegation issues aside I enjoyed yesterdays game and I hope the large volume of kids there (at least where we were) might support their local team and come back. If this is more about entertainment then I'm all for it.
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Definiteley a big improvement, we battled, passed it about well, kept possesion, and didnt look a half-bad side at times - if we`d played like that all season we would be mid-table if not higher, the one big negative was this, all that possesion, created numerous chances and still couldn`t score from open play.
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My first visit to VP in over a year - we were better than I expected. The main takeaway for me is that when the players actually go for it and show some attacking ambition the whole mood of the crowd is lifted and I thought the 10, 15 minute period that we had after the goal was a great atmosphere. If we'd scored again then I think there would have been a collective orgasm - it wouldn't surprise me if when we do finally get a win then we put together a bit of a run. However, I think it's all too late and we're down anyway. I hope we go down with a fight though.
I was quite impressed by Gestede too - no he's not the most capable player but he put a shift in, won a lot of balls and created problems for them. We don't play to his strengths enough , we should get the ball into him quicker. The general quality of crosses is terrible.
Hutton was another one getting a lot of stick from a bloke near me - he seemed to be blamed for everything. Again, he has his limitations but I wish some of the other players would show a nasty streak like him.
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There is hope. I saw Gestede trap a firmly-hit pass. Was it on MOTD?
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We had a lot of possession yesterday but our problem is that we do very little with it. The reason is that most of that possession is with players that do very little good work with it e.g. Hutton, Westwood, Bacuna. I am fed up with hearing that they put a lot of effort in. the truth is that they are wasting good possession. To be fair to Bacuna, he is playing out of position and his defensive work is not bad considering.
Our defence is weak and we are having to rely on Sanchez and Gana playing deeper than they should do. This is compounded by Hutton playing too far up the field, with no end result. We need more players of Veretout's ability to use the possession we have and then you might see the best from Traore.
Gestede's only good point is his ability in the air but he put 3 good chances wide or over. We cannot afford a player that cannot put away chances that are supposed to be his bread and butter.
We played better yesterday and like most, I am pleased with what we are seeing from Ayew and Veretout. However, our shortcomings are down to those player that have generally been around for the past 3 or 4 seasons. I still think we should be trying our hardest to add to the squad in January. I would say try and buy one key player that adds to the team whether we are relegated or not and bring the rest in on loan so as to, hopefully, get a better quality of player. I say we need a keeper, right back, central defender , one (preferably two) midfield players an a striker.
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The bare minimum is Goalkeeper Striker and Left Back just to deal with the obvious deficiencies.
The fact that we need a central midfielder and maybe centre half speaks of how weak this team is.
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There is hope. I saw Gestede trap a firmly-hit pass. Was it on MOTD?
No you didn't. If you did it was because of some bad cheese or the after effects of your Christmas overindulgence.
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I thought our support was magnificent yesterday and the second half performance from the team was as good as I have seen this season. I have more belief we can stay up now. Given the opposition the next few games are massive but we do seem to have some belief and spirit on the pitch and in the stands and in a season that is looking like 1986/87 that could be the difference.
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We had a lot of possession yesterday but our problem is that we do very little with it. The reason is that most of that possession is with players that do very little good work with it e.g. Hutton, Westwood, Bacuna. I am fed up with hearing that they put a lot of effort in. the truth is that they are wasting good possession. To be fair to Bacuna, he is playing out of position and his defensive work is not bad considering.
Our defence is weak and we are having to rely on Sanchez and Gana playing deeper than they should do. This is compounded by Hutton playing too far up the field, with no end result. We need more players of Veretout's ability to use the possession we have and then you might see the best from Traore.
Gestede's only good point is his ability in the air but he put 3 good chances wide or over. We cannot afford a player that cannot put away chances that are supposed to be his bread and butter.
We played better yesterday and like most, I am pleased with what we are seeing from Ayew and Veretout. However, our shortcomings are down to those player that have generally been around for the past 3 or 4 seasons. I still think we should be trying our hardest to add to the squad in January. I would say try and buy one key player that adds to the team whether we are relegated or not and bring the rest in on loan so as to, hopefully, get a better quality of player. I say we need a keeper, right back, central defender , one (preferably two) midfield players an a striker.
I think the top paragraph is harsh, we created chances to get 15 shots and 8 of them were on target. The problem is too many of our players get stage fright in front of goal and either miss the target or hit it straight at the keeper. Veretout, Westwood, Gana, Rudy could all do with a goal to get a bit of confidence to pick their spot, Ayew is the only one doing that right now.
Hutton I think is a different issue as well, my problem with him is that he gets far too narrow when we're attacked on his side which either gives too much time to get a cross in or means he's coming out to meet the ball and giving the opportunity to come inside and lose him. He needs to be forced 5-6 yards to the right by Okore but I don't think Okore has the confidence to shout at him right now. Bacuna, for all his faults, is far better positioned and it's telling that the chances on that side tend to come later in the game when he's tiring and starts to lose concentration.
I thought we played easily well enough to win yesterday and it was only really terrible positioning by Hutton which gave them a meaningful chance. Add on the good chances we missed and I firmly believe Garde has got us playing the right way and the performances are close to where they should be and now we need a bit of luck to go our way to get the results that go with it. The next 2 are absolute must win games and if we can get those wins I think we'll be in a much healthier looking situation ahead of the FA cup weekend.
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We had a lot of possession yesterday but our problem is that we do very little with it. The reason is that most of that possession is with players that do very little good work with it e.g. Hutton, Westwood, Bacuna. I am fed up with hearing that they put a lot of effort in. the truth is that they are wasting good possession. To be fair to Bacuna, he is playing out of position and his defensive work is not bad considering.
Our defence is weak and we are having to rely on Sanchez and Gana playing deeper than they should do. This is compounded by Hutton playing too far up the field, with no end result. We need more players of Veretout's ability to use the possession we have and then you might see the best from Traore.
Gestede's only good point is his ability in the air but he put 3 good chances wide or over. We cannot afford a player that cannot put away chances that are supposed to be his bread and butter.
We played better yesterday and like most, I am pleased with what we are seeing from Ayew and Veretout. However, our shortcomings are down to those player that have generally been around for the past 3 or 4 seasons. I still think we should be trying our hardest to add to the squad in January. I would say try and buy one key player that adds to the team whether we are relegated or not and bring the rest in on loan so as to, hopefully, get a better quality of player. I say we need a keeper, right back, central defender , one (preferably two) midfield players an a striker.
I think the top paragraph is harsh, we created chances to get 15 shots and 8 of them were on target. The problem is too many of our players get stage fright in front of goal and either miss the target or hit it straight at the keeper. Veretout, Westwood, Gana, Rudy could all do with a goal to get a bit of confidence to pick their spot, Ayew is the only one doing that right now.
Hutton I think is a different issue as well, my problem with him is that he gets far too narrow when we're attacked on his side which either gives too much time to get a cross in or means he's coming out to meet the ball and giving the opportunity to come inside and lose him. He needs to be forced 5-6 yards to the right by Okore but I don't think Okore has the confidence to shout at him right now. Bacuna, for all his faults, is far better positioned and it's telling that the chances on that side tend to come later in the game when he's tiring and starts to lose concentration.
I thought we played easily well enough to win yesterday and it was only really terrible positioning by Hutton which gave them a meaningful chance. Add on the good chances we missed and I firmly believe Garde has got us playing the right way and the performances are close to where they should be and now we need a bit of luck to go our way to get the results that go with it. The next 2 are absolute must win games and if we can get those wins I think we'll be in a much healthier looking situation ahead of the FA cup weekend.
With regard to Huttons positioning, it could have been better but the finish was excellent. Ten minutes after half time their goalscorere sliced a clearance terribly, that's our luck at the moment. Taking our chances might be a confidence issue but it could worryingly be ability too. I am old enough to remember Graydon scoring freely for us when we played at the second level but struggling when we got promoted to score fro what looked like similar chances. Ayew seems to be OK for this level but Gestede doesn't. We are playing well enough to win next time out though.
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We had a lot of possession yesterday but our problem is that we do very little with it. The reason is that most of that possession is with players that do very little good work with it e.g. Hutton, Westwood, Bacuna. I am fed up with hearing that they put a lot of effort in. the truth is that they are wasting good possession. To be fair to Bacuna, he is playing out of position and his defensive work is not bad considering.
Our defence is weak and we are having to rely on Sanchez and Gana playing deeper than they should do. This is compounded by Hutton playing too far up the field, with no end result. We need more players of Veretout's ability to use the possession we have and then you might see the best from Traore.
Gestede's only good point is his ability in the air but he put 3 good chances wide or over. We cannot afford a player that cannot put away chances that are supposed to be his bread and butter.
We played better yesterday and like most, I am pleased with what we are seeing from Ayew and Veretout. However, our shortcomings are down to those player that have generally been around for the past 3 or 4 seasons. I still think we should be trying our hardest to add to the squad in January. I would say try and buy one key player that adds to the team whether we are relegated or not and bring the rest in on loan so as to, hopefully, get a better quality of player. I say we need a keeper, right back, central defender , one (preferably two) midfield players an a striker.
I think the top paragraph is harsh, we created chances to get 15 shots and 8 of them were on target. The problem is too many of our players get stage fright in front of goal and either miss the target or hit it straight at the keeper. Veretout, Westwood, Gana, Rudy could all do with a goal to get a bit of confidence to pick their spot, Ayew is the only one doing that right now.
Hutton I think is a different issue as well, my problem with him is that he gets far too narrow when we're attacked on his side which either gives too much time to get a cross in or means he's coming out to meet the ball and giving the opportunity to come inside and lose him. He needs to be forced 5-6 yards to the right by Okore but I don't think Okore has the confidence to shout at him right now. Bacuna, for all his faults, is far better positioned and it's telling that the chances on that side tend to come later in the game when he's tiring and starts to lose concentration.
I thought we played easily well enough to win yesterday and it was only really terrible positioning by Hutton which gave them a meaningful chance. Add on the good chances we missed and I firmly believe Garde has got us playing the right way and the performances are close to where they should be and now we need a bit of luck to go our way to get the results that go with it. The next 2 are absolute must win games and if we can get those wins I think we'll be in a much healthier looking situation ahead of the FA cup weekend.
With regard to Huttons positioning, it could have been better but the finish was excellent. Ten minutes after half time their goalscorere sliced a clearance terribly, that's our luck at the moment. Taking our chances might be a confidence issue but it could worryingly be ability too. I am old enough to remember Graydon scoring freely for us when we played at the second level but struggling when we got promoted to score fro what looked like similar chances. Ayew seems to be OK for this level but Gestede doesn't. We are playing well enough to win next time out though.
I agree it was an excellent finish but Hutton made his mind up for him by being too central and then rushing out to stop the cross, it meant Cresswell was always going to come inside and have a go. The goal is only 1 example though, watch the game sfrom the last few weeks and look out for where Hutton's starting position is when the ball goes out to a player on that side and he is, almost inevitably, 5-10yards inside. It's as if he's so terrified of the ball played between him and Okore that he's decided to block it himself but that just leaves a huge gap out wide.
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We had a lot of possession yesterday but our problem is that we do very little with it. The reason is that most of that possession is with players that do very little good work with it e.g. Hutton, Westwood, Bacuna. I am fed up with hearing that they put a lot of effort in. the truth is that they are wasting good possession. To be fair to Bacuna, he is playing out of position and his defensive work is not bad considering.
Our defence is weak and we are having to rely on Sanchez and Gana playing deeper than they should do. This is compounded by Hutton playing too far up the field, with no end result. We need more players of Veretout's ability to use the possession we have and then you might see the best from Traore.
Gestede's only good point is his ability in the air but he put 3 good chances wide or over. We cannot afford a player that cannot put away chances that are supposed to be his bread and butter.
We played better yesterday and like most, I am pleased with what we are seeing from Ayew and Veretout. However, our shortcomings are down to those player that have generally been around for the past 3 or 4 seasons. I still think we should be trying our hardest to add to the squad in January. I would say try and buy one key player that adds to the team whether we are relegated or not and bring the rest in on loan so as to, hopefully, get a better quality of player. I say we need a keeper, right back, central defender , one (preferably two) midfield players an a striker.
I think the top paragraph is harsh, we created chances to get 15 shots and 8 of them were on target. The problem is too many of our players get stage fright in front of goal and either miss the target or hit it straight at the keeper. Veretout, Westwood, Gana, Rudy could all do with a goal to get a bit of confidence to pick their spot, Ayew is the only one doing that right now.
Hutton I think is a different issue as well, my problem with him is that he gets far too narrow when we're attacked on his side which either gives too much time to get a cross in or means he's coming out to meet the ball and giving the opportunity to come inside and lose him. He needs to be forced 5-6 yards to the right by Okore but I don't think Okore has the confidence to shout at him right now. Bacuna, for all his faults, is far better positioned and it's telling that the chances on that side tend to come later in the game when he's tiring and starts to lose concentration.
I thought we played easily well enough to win yesterday and it was only really terrible positioning by Hutton which gave them a meaningful chance. Add on the good chances we missed and I firmly believe Garde has got us playing the right way and the performances are close to where they should be and now we need a bit of luck to go our way to get the results that go with it. The next 2 are absolute must win games and if we can get those wins I think we'll be in a much healthier looking situation ahead of the FA cup weekend.
With regard to Huttons positioning, it could have been better but the finish was excellent. Ten minutes after half time their goalscorere sliced a clearance terribly, that's our luck at the moment. Taking our chances might be a confidence issue but it could worryingly be ability too. I am old enough to remember Graydon scoring freely for us when we played at the second level but struggling when we got promoted to score fro what looked like similar chances. Ayew seems to be OK for this level but Gestede doesn't. We are playing well enough to win next time out though.
I agree it was an excellent finish but Hutton made his mind up for him by being too central and then rushing out to stop the cross, it meant Cresswell was always going to come inside and have a go. The goal is only 1 example though, watch the game sfrom the last few weeks and look out for where Hutton's starting position is when the ball goes out to a player on that side and he is, almost inevitably, 5-10yards inside. It's as if he's so terrified of the ball played between him and Okore that he's decided to block it himself but that just leaves a huge gap out wide.
Problem is, players like Hutton make costly mistakes week-in-week-out. Off the top of my head in the last three games he gave a penalty away against Arsenal, was involved in that mix up against Newcastle which could have finished us off and was at fault at yesterday as well. When you are struggling to score goals you can't afford to be so slack at the other end.
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I wonder if Hutton's starting position has something to do with Richard's penchant for going walkabout up field leaving Hutton as essentially the right hand side of a 3 with either Lescott or Clark inside of him.
You'd quickly get used to getting sucked into the middle in those situations.
Anyway where is Richards? He's been out for nearly a month with "a minor knock to the knee" was how I think it was first reported. Lucky Okore was fit just in time.
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Gestede's only good point is his ability in the air but he put 3 good chances wide or over. We cannot afford a player that cannot put away chances that are supposed to be his bread and butter.
I thought he actually played better against Newcastle and yesterday than for a long time. His ball control was more confident, his flicks more directed and in both games he certainly caused the defence problems. However, I agree with you that he missed chances that he should have scored from. He's not the answer to our striking problems, but he's a bit better than I thought he was.
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Does anyone else get the distinct impression that some of our players are actually being coached and look a lot fitter than they did 2 months ago.
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Does anyone else get the distinct impression that some of our players are actually being coached and look a lot fitter than they did 2 months ago.
I imagine Bobby D is having an effect. A proper pre season with a proper fitness coach would have made a massive difference. And it has coincided with Gabby being shown the door. I know from the last time Duverne was at the club they didn't along.
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A ****proper pre season**** with a proper fitness coach
HOUSE!
I win AVFC new-manager Bingo!
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Does anyone else get the distinct impression that some of our players are actually being coached and look a lot fitter than they did 2 months ago.
Yes to both. Veretout and Sanchez in particular are lasting the course this last few games - Sanchez' injury not withstanding - and the form of Westwood, Bacuna and even Gestede has visibly improved.
Apart from a brief attempt by Houllier to impose a bit of professionalism - which caused insurrection at the time - we haven't shown obvious signs of coaching or fitness training since well before O'Neill's or O'Leary's times at the club.
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Gestede's only good point is his ability in the air but he put 3 good chances wide or over. We cannot afford a player that cannot put away chances that are supposed to be his bread and butter.
I thought he actually played better against Newcastle and yesterday than for a long time. His ball control was more confident, his flicks more directed and in both games he certainly caused the defence problems. However, I agree with you that he missed chances that he should have scored from. He's not the answer to our striking problems, but he's a bit better than I thought he was.
If we can get a decent striker in next month, then I think Gestede could have a role coming off the bench in the closing stages.
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Gestede's only good point is his ability in the air but he put 3 good chances wide or over. We cannot afford a player that cannot put away chances that are supposed to be his bread and butter.
I thought he actually played better against Newcastle and yesterday than for a long time. His ball control was more confident, his flicks more directed and in both games he certainly caused the defence problems. However, I agree with you that he missed chances that he should have scored from. He's not the answer to our striking problems, but he's a bit better than I thought he was.
I agree.
He was winning headers, holding the ball up well, and bringing other players into the game.
Of course, any striker that misses clear cut chances will be subject to justified criticism.