Heroes & Villains, the Aston Villa fanzine
Heroes & Villains => Match Threads & Player Ratings => Topic started by: Legion on October 16, 2010, 10:26:24 AM
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Available Saturday evening.
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Hard won point. Some bad passing and some bad misses from Ireland and Coker.
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Defo would have taken that at the start of the day.
Could easily have gone either way.
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some bad misses alright but to be fair we were shocking with the ball today. Thought Warnock up to the 80th min had a fine game but he totally ran out of steam then. Surprised to see Clark ahead of Cuellar. Hard to know what Cuellar has done wrong since Wolves. Ireland was hopeless, Carew equally as bad. Think we caught Chelsea at a good time. Defensively we looked a lot better today in fairness but an awful lot to improve upon. Downing's ability to pull out of anything close to physical contact continues to annoy.
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Although the last player we wanted on the 1 on 1 was Reo, not many of our players would have had the energy to be in that position after playing the full 90 mins.
For the rest of it, we didn't do badly playing 10 v 12. Carew needs to be dropped. I'm guessing Houllier does not like Cuellers play in some way. We need to do better with set pieces even if that means Young is taken off the duty.
Is Warnock now suspended from the next match on bookings or is he one away?
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Yep, I'll take that.
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Meh, a draw is probably a fair result, we had the better of the first-half and Chelsea had the better of the second-half. Missed chances are a bit annoying when we came so close to scoring a few times as Chelsea didn't really threaten us too much with Friedel not having too much to do, but like I said a few days ago, I wouldn't be disappointed with 1 point against the champions; we matched them on the field without 4 players who are in great form and we defended great again. I'm really proud of our performance today.
Lots of effort and passion shown today by all our players which is another positive to take away from this evening's match.
P.S. The ESPN commentators are dicks. Both clearly wanted Chelsea to win. I'd rather have Jim Rome commentating than those pair clowns.
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I thought we did quite well there, really. Ireland was disappointing; I can take him being mostly crap providing he produces 'that one moment of magic that can turn a match'. He didn't, sadly.
John Carew was also pretty poor, but then I don't expect much else from him anymore.
A bit strange about Cuellar, although I have to say I think Clark is very good indeed, very promising.
And despite his miss, NRC played really well throughout. His energy is remarkable, and he's certainly tenacious, and his passing isn't too bad when he keeps it simple. As Somniloquism says, he may have missed the chance, but he did well creating it!
Downing was also very good, and his improvement and consistency will serve us well.
So all in all, a sound performance and, in my opinion, another promising development in our style of play.
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Downing's best game in a Villa shirt for me. Very impressed. Good defensively, should have scored a few but that's par for the course. Would've taken a point and that's what we deserved.
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Downing man of match in my opinion, a good point against a quality team and very impressed by our lads performance, Carew was the weak point but midfield and defence fought like tigers and I'm very happy with how things are going under GED!
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I will take the point thought carew had a poor game and Ireland should have scored NRC full of energy but also should of scored very sound defensively.
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Just back. Dreadful game.Petrov was hopeless, Downing was good.
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Decent team performance.
Downing stood out, nobody did badly at all. Ireland is a very in-and-out player, but when he's in, he always seems to do something useful.
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I thought Ireland was constantly popping up in space and we never passed the ball to him. He hasn't played much football for a while so he needs a bit of time to get up to speed.
You can say what you want about Clark being chosen over Cuellar but it was very much the right choice, the kid is very calm under pressure. He made a couple of bad passes when he first came on and then calmed down and used the ball very well. I think he will be a big loss for England.
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Draw was a fair result. We really need to bring in a new striker though.
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I thought it was a good battling point. We were a bit fortunate at times but so were they. Just like at Spurs a brilliant first 15 minutes, decent rest of first half then we seemed to run out of ideas second half. At least we didnt resort to hoofing it and we defended well mostly.
Ireland showed some nice touches but seemed lost at times, He really should have scored early doors as should NRC late on. Carew looks a spent force. Downing was great first half but faded badly, Warnock was good again, and Beye did okay I thought.
Clark didnt look out of his depth, and the fact he was preferred to Cuellar perhaps suggests Houllier likes his CBs to have a bit of ability on the ball.
Fairly satisfied except Albion are still above us.
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Happy with the point. Downing did well, Beye slotted in well and Collinsnwas very vocal. Clark did well, would of had money on Cuellar coming on.
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I thought Ireland always looked like he could do something special. He's such a clever player and thinks so quick. I admit he wasn't out best player but considering how little first team football he's had I thought he was promising.
Good result and we had our chances. I think we have a lot to look forward to over the enxt few months as I think we will get better and better.
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This is how the 'neutral' viewed it:
By BBC's Kevin Darling
"A below-par Chelsea edged into a five-point lead at the top of the table after being held by dogged Aston Villa."
I don't normally get perturbed with media-hates-villa stuff. But that is re-writing history. Were Chelsea really 'held' by dogged Villa? We had all the best chances, Chelsea had more possession . A draw was a fair result.
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That's the happiest I've been with the defence all season, at times I felt we were too deep but we really dug in.
Petrov is looking too slow at times but he also managed to get stuck in and NRC, well, it was as someone earlier said, impressive that at that stage he had the energy for that burst but he seems to cack himself when he has the chance to score.
Ireland drifted in and out, he should have scored early doors, it was also a corking move.
Fair result, Chelsea battered us in terms of possession second half but we definitely created the most clear cut chances.
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Tony, good point about the defence. But, does anybody else notice that Warnock slips over EVERY SINGLE GAME? Is it his boots or what?
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Maybe GED wanted to take a good look at Clark in a match like this, I feel sorry for cuellar but GED liked rotating his team at Liverpool and it is refreshing to see everyone given a chance.
He has to take a look at what he has here and then decide who he needs to buy and the likes of luke , Clark, albrighton, bannan, heskey and reo-coker have all taken that chance to impress, beye looked solid today.
We are in need of a quality finisher and creative midfielder for sure but we have a decent squad in the main and I see good times ahead of us.
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Maybe GED wanted to take a good look at Clark in a match like this, I feel sorry for cuellar but GED liked rotating his team at Liverpool and it is refreshing to see everyone given a chance.
Just to take it slightly off-topic for a moment, what does GED stand for?
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Short for gerard,dave!
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Short for gerard,dave!
Oh, so Ged?
Got you. Losing the capitals will make it a bit more obvious.
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Just back. Dreadful game.Petrov was hopeless, Downing was good.
You serious? What game were you watching? Petrov had the best 90 minutes for a long time.
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Good game. Overall a fair result. What could have been had the early chance been taken and/or NRC taken his chance at the end.
Just how Petrov was voted MoM is beyond me. He was OK but Collins and Reo-Coker were far better. Downing also impressed.
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For some reason the iPod seems to make GED into capitals when typing it dave , but I take your point , same as it always puts a capital in Reading- strange iPod.
Several good performances but I would have given the champers to downing , I thought he was top class today with passing , workrate and effort.
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For some reason the iPod seems to make GED into capitals when typing it dave , but I take your point , same as it always puts a capital in Reading- strange iPod.
Understood.
Ignore me then, it's clearly trying to give you an acronym for something. General Educational Development if the first result on Google is anything to go by.
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Isn't it the name for average grades in the American education system?
They always go on about 'GEDs of 4.8' or some lark on this American high school dramas.
Don't get the Petrov bashing. Though he was very good like Downing and Reo Coker.
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More soundbites from BBC :
"Chelsea boss Carlo Ancelotti concedes that Aston Villa deserved their point after the 0-0 draw, and is hopeful that some of his injured stars may return for Tuesday's Champions League tie."
'Deserved our point'. Brilliant.
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And I think I'm right in saying that for 90% of the game we were missing five players who would have played had they been available, Chelsea were missing four.
So I don't think Chelsea's injury crisis is really all that in terms of excuses.
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Good performance. Didn't get torn to shreds by Chelsea. Could have been so diffenent if we had turned our early domination in to 1 or 2 goals. Chelsea pressed us hard in the first 15 mins of second half but we got back into it. I thought we invited that by playing Ash and Stewart almost as additional fullbacks.
I never imagined saying this but we did miss Heskey. Carew was the weakest link today.
NRC was the strongest link and yes he should have scored but the fact he won that ball just underlined what he had been doing through the previous 92 mins.
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NRC was the strongest link and yes he should have scored but the fact he won that ball just underlined what he had been doing through the previous 92 mins.
Agree with that. Anyone else in the team would have scored, but nobody else would have won that ball in the first place.
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More soundbites from BBC :
"Chelsea boss Carlo Ancelotti concedes that Aston Villa deserved their point after the 0-0 draw, and is hopeful that some of his injured stars may return for Tuesday's Champions League tie."
'Deserved our point'. Brilliant.
I had lot of respect for him but if he is turning into a SAF sort of patronising twat than he can **** off. You were playing Aston Villa at Villa park and it's your team that got away with it w**ker.
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Good result and very happy with the performance. Top marks to Collins, Downing and NRC.
Carew - just fuck off - now.
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Agree aftab, nige has been very good this season as has luke young - makes you think what might have been had they been given a fair crack last season , it's like having 3 new players with the form of heskey as well- I'm still not sure sidwell will be up to the task though, but the others have certainly taken the chance.
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Dcent stuff from us, Chelsea were crap and will still win the league by a mile.
What tonight showed is we need Gabby back a.s.a.p. Ireland will be quality when he's back.
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Overall happy, I wanted us to win (obviously) but I would have taken a draw against the best team in the league.
Really goes back to first 5 mins when we had two excellent chances, I would have put my life on Ireland putting that away likewise Carew, He did the right thing going across the keeper, I said to my mate that we wouldn't get another chance as good again.
I thought ireland did fade in and out a wee bit but when he did something it was decent, Was a good ball to NRC in the first half and he looks comfortable at times in possession. NRC did well, He's energy is 2nd to none also thought Warnock and Downing did well.
Was impressed with Clark when he came on, I think he was chosen over Cuellar as he's naturally a left sided player.
2nd half they were the better side I don't know how they missed that chance at the end that hit the bar. Although the one that hit the post could easily have gone in, I really wish it was someone other than Nige at the end although Cech did well.
I still don't think we are playing to carew's strengths at the min, he needs decent service from the flanks but when the ball was played into him his first touch was shocking he couldn't control the fucker and he was shrugged off the ball far too easily for a big man, He needs to pull his finger out he doesn't look right at all at the moment.
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Just got back. As others have said, would have been happy with a point beforehand. Downing seems to be improving as a player.
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Not been back long (thx to ESPN, wankers).
Overall probably a fair result. If only we'd taken one of those 2 chances in the opening 7 mins, who knows. At times both sides played some nice stuff, at others, both sides were awful.
Surprised Cuellar seems so far down the pecking order, what's he done wrong? Is he injured?
Apart from his miss, Ireland did well. What i've noticed is he plays balls and makes runs that actually seem too clever for the rest of the team to anticipate.
At times our off the ball movement was as dire as ever.
Ash dived, waved his arms about a lot and looked a threat at times. So nothing new there then.
We didn't seem to get going in the second half for the best part of 20 minutes, which was disappointing.
Carew, was well, Carew. Far too immobile to play as a lone striker.
NRC showed the best and worst of NRC. Chasing the ball back and closing down the defender leaving their defence under pressure, and then promptly fouling the defender to ease the pressure. Chasing down a seemingly lost cause to create a match winning chance, and promptly forgetting the ball has to go between the white things.
And it was bloody cold in the second half.
And finally, thanks again to ESPN for ensuring I don't get home to B32 from VP until after 9pm for a Saturday game.
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Good 1st 15 mins then we seemed to drop back, Downing, Petrov played very well most of the others were ok and Ashley needs to stop the backchat. On the minus points only Carew and Beye (who makes Glen Johnson look like a quality right back).I think Clark came on as he is left footed so he could play the "left sided centre half" if you get my drift, I thought he was excellent
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Good 1st 15 mins then we seemed to drop back, Downing, Petrov played very well most of the others were ok and Ashley needs to stop the backchat. On the minus points only Carew and Beye (who makes Glen Johnson look like a quality right back).I think Clark came on as he is left footed so he could play the "left sided centre half" if you get my drift, I thought he was excellent
I thought Beye did quite well
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So did I.
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I always become more calm when I hear Houllier talk after a game. For me he speaks a lot like Wenger in that he studies the game, and is always thinking of ways to tactically improve things. We are making progress a little bit at a time. I know he sees weaknesses based on the way he wants us to play, and will try and fix it in the next few windows. While Chelsea were mising key players, so were we, and we matched them all the way. I still have seen very little outside of the top 3 or 4 clubs to suggest that with a few additions in January and a bit of luck we won't be challenging for 5th or 6th spot come May.
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Just got back, i thought ireland did well, he always looking/asking for the ball but we never got it to him enough, when we did you can see msotly did good things with it, Suprised @ cuellar not coming on from dunne tbh, clarke looked ropey with some wayward passes initally but seem to steady down as the game went on, downing had another good game hopefully good news for the rest of the season. Ash looked a little out of the game after moving back out onto the wing, carew was poor.
RC @ the end, well you just new he wasnt going to score
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Just watched Houllier's post match interview on the BBC website. It could be a case of star struck by new manager syndrome, or the fact that imo hearing French people speak English sounds very nice, regardless of whether the speaker is a totally unattractive git, he's more interesting than MON, and not trying to make cryptic points.
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Most obvious plus point of today (aside from holding our own and not losing to a side that looked like they had our number last year) was it provided an opportunity for GH to see more of our squad utilised.
The two who it's fair to say would be some way off being first choice picks did themselves no harm today, and increase our options if others are injured or out of form in future.
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Just back. Dreadful game.Petrov was hopeless, Downing was good.
You serious? What game were you watching? Petrov had the best 90 minutes for a long time.
Petrov could have scored two, set up another two and cleared three off our line and garyfouroaks would have it in for him for not getting a hat trick. Similar to StevenJos and Heskey.
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Didn't mention in my earlier post, but I thought Beye was completely solid at right-back today. He's a good player, and a very decent back-up to L Young.
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We had nothing up front today, Carew was woeful (he'll be gone if he cariies on like that). We needed a striker, but Chelsea are probably saying the same thing. Ireland didn't get in the gameenough but Downing & Young were good today. Sorry if already been asked but why no Carlos today??? Clark did OK when he came on though.
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Was surprised to see Ciaran Clark get on ahead of Cuellar, but it worked out well and gets the Newcastle debacle fully out his system (not that he was the only culprit that day).
I think Petrov earned man of the match in a game which was a good overall team performance rather than any particularly star showings. Certainly pleased a couple of Bulgarian guys sitting next to us who had made the trip over when they announced that, "Stilly ! Stilly! "
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Just watched Houllier's post match interview on the BBC website. It could be a case of star struck by new manager syndrome, or the fact that imo hearing French people speak English sounds very nice, regardless of whether the speaker is a totally unattractive git, he's more interesting than MON, and not trying to make cryptic points.
I agree, but he appears to be under the misapprehension that we have a player called "Steve Dunne"?
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Just got back. Agree with most things on here. Petrov tried and worked hard today just as NRC, but neither are skillful. Dont know what Ireland is going to bring to the team, not seen him do much positive yet. Hope Gerard's scouts are working overtime abroad looking for a striker, or 2 for January.
On reflection time in the car, i think that it may be just as well we occassionally miss 3 like Luke Young, Heskey and Marc today so that Gerard has time to see the rest of the squad and see exactly what little quality back up we have
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Come in number 19, your time is up! I can only think the MOTM award was a result of a good time had by all in hospitality.
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There is a significant change in the way we play under GH, a decent result and a huge amount of effort, we are in transition but you can see the benifit of a more posession based approach, we still have a long way to go i am a little pissed off with the manager again talking about us as a 6th to 12th based club, talk about lowering expectations
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Haven't read the thread yet but looking forward to counting how many ''Reo-Coker in a nutshell'' quotes there are. To be followed in one of tomorow's tabs: ''Reo-Choker! Nige fluffs last minute sitter at the Villa''.
To be fair to the lad it would have been more NRC-esque if he had shot straight at Cech. He did well to make the goalkeeper commit, did the right thing in dinking it over Cech's body, just his co-ordinates were a bit awry.
As for the rest of the game, I missed the first 15 minutes which I believe was our best spell. Chelsea became more dominant as the game wore on, I was a bit disappointed at our lack of ideas, Carew became more prostate and isolated which meant we were effectively playing with ten. The defence worked tirelessly and got a bit of luck at times.
Our midfield worries me. Playing Petrov, Downing, NRC and Ireland together is just too powder-puff. Stan and/or NRC need replacing, Downing still flatters to deceive. When we're on the backfoot Ireland will be a passenger a lot of the time. It's the little nicks, runs into space, passes and through balls when we have possession where he'll excel, a little like Hendrie used to do. But Carew isn't on the same wavelength. I hope he was carrying a knock tonight because he looked well off the pace. I look forward to seeing how Ireland and Heskey/Gabby combine.
A point deserved just about but a bit of a comedown after the encouraging performance at Spurs. We still have a long way to go.
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OK My two penneth...
Good game between two sides who looked evenly matched (!!), our missing players not as badly missed as theirs.
Cieran Clark looks something special love the way he looks to use the ball out of defence (once or twice went for an overly ambitious crossfield ball that put us under pressure but put it down to youthful exuburance). and got some good clearances in as well
NRC was excellent, Irelands movement off the ball is encouraging (the rest of the team will hopefully catch up)
Thought Beye did well and didn't look out of place,
Petrov MOM............bemusing Collins and Clark were streets ahead
Carew............ frustating but did hold up the ball well in first 15/20 mins of 2nd half when we looked we were rocking and getting deeper and deeper
Referee and linesman on 'their' side second half utterly crap and behind the play.
Happy with a point but dissapointed we didn't edge it for all three
Oh! and Terry...hahahahahaha...your old slow and your going back to the gutter...........
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I thought Ireland was constantly popping up in space and we never passed the ball to him. He hasn't played much football for a while so he needs a bit of time to get up to speed.
Absolutely agree.
Ireland got into space plenty of times, and was calling for the ball constantly. We didn't get it to him anything like as much as we should have done.
When he did get the ball he had the little flicks or passes which are precisely what we've lacked for the last few years.
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I thought we were excellent for the first 15-20 minutes or so, but we had those two excellent chances, and didn't take either of them. How different it might have been if we had.
We were the better team for the first half. They were the better team in the second. Man of the match for me was Reo-Coker, who did exceptionally well, especially in the first half.
It is very early days yet for the new management team, but I'm really impressed with the start they have made. We passed the ball around extremely well at various points today, and looked composed on the ball.
Beye looked a little iffy and nervy to start.
Ireland (see above) was constantly looking for the ball and getting frustrated when we didn't get it to him enough, but when we did, he generally did the right thing with it.
Carew looked well off his game again. I wonder if we're seeing him moving towards the exit. I was a bit surprised to see a few people giving him a hearty standing ovation when he went off, I thought he'd contributed next to nothing. I also feel slightly uncomfortable about him waving at the Holte as they sing his song during the game.
Warnock I thoiught looked better than he has all season. I was surprised to see Clark come on rather than Carlos, but - after a few early shaky moments - he did pretty well.
Was surprised to hear Petrov got MotM. I thought he got away with it a few times today, and didn't really have one of his better games.
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Aye, waving to the crowd during a game is a little bit lax. Oh well, he IS bigger than me and you. Some time since he scored 1 (or 2).
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I always become more calm when I hear Houllier talk after a game. For me he speaks a lot like Wenger in that he studies the game, and is always thinking of ways to tactically improve things. We are making progress a little bit at a time. I know he sees weaknesses based on the way he wants us to play, and will try and fix it in the next few windows. While Chelsea were mising key players, so were we, and we matched them all the way. I still have seen very little outside of the top 3 or 4 clubs to suggest that with a few additions in January and a bit of luck we won't be challenging for 5th or 6th spot come May.
It'll be lack of goals that does for us, I'm afraid.
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I've been a fan of NRC since he came and glad he's improving again, if I'm at the game when he scores, I swear I'm on the pitch and giving him a kiss. Last season at West Ham he got loads of stick from hammers fans, he ran past 2/3 players and hit a shot just over the bar, as with tonights chance I've never wanted a player to score so much.
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Downing, Heskey and Reo-Coker are all rejuvenated players under MR Houllier. I'm impressed at the improvement in all 3 players already.
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I always become more calm when I hear Houllier talk after a game. For me he speaks a lot like Wenger in that he studies the game, and is always thinking of ways to tactically improve things. We are making progress a little bit at a time. I know he sees weaknesses based on the way he wants us to play, and will try and fix it in the next few windows. While Chelsea were mising key players, so were we, and we matched them all the way. I still have seen very little outside of the top 3 or 4 clubs to suggest that with a few additions in January and a bit of luck we won't be challenging for 5th or 6th spot come May.
It'll be lack of goals that does for us, I'm afraid.
It might. Or Gabby returns and gives us the energy we need, or Houllier finds a gem in January. Long way to go, but I get the impression he's seeing what we see. It's all good and well creating chances, but our inability to be clinical is costing us.
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Pretty happy with the outcome. A point against the best team in the country by a mile is not to be sniffed at. First half very good, second more battling. (Although Chelsea never dominated in the way thats bound to be portrayed. Friedel didn't have much to do and we still had our chances)
Must admit i'm pissed of with the 6th to 12th comment. 8th place should be the absolute minimum, even if we are in transition.
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Isn't it the name for average grades in the American education system?
They always go on about 'GEDs of 4.8' or some lark on this American high school dramas.
Don't get the Petrov bashing. Though he was very good like Downing and Reo Coker.
You mean GPA - Grade point average, and the max is 4.0.
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Our midfield worries me.
You are not alone in this. GH sees the issues here and views them as far more problematic than the striker position.
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Interesting... thanks.
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Funny how we all see the game differently. I thought NRC had a blinder, Downing continues to improve
and a few players who never got a look in under MON are showing that they can play. People are expecting too much of Ireland, he needs time to settle in. Petrov meh, man of the match ridiculous, still too slow and when he starts to tire is when we get pinned back. We played the best team in the prem both with players missing and did well to get a point.
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Football really is a game of opinions isn't it? Some very different takes on the game. Here's my take.
Chelsea were pretty woeful in the first 20 minutes, while we started very well but missed our chances. We were never likely to get many more, but we did get a couple of great ones.
Carew can't play that lone frontman role. Ireland would be much better in that role if he had Heskey or Gabby up front to provide better movement and / or stretch the defence more.
Downing was very good again. I'm not sure we've had a better player this season. Wouldn't say that was his best game for us though. I thought he was outstanding at Stoke.
We do look a lot more competitive with NRC in midfield. I thought Petrov did well in certain respects but did look very slow.
Warnock was excellent. Ash was in and out but as ever still had a hand in many of our better moments.
I am struggling to see how we can get Ireland and Ashley playing in their best positions at the same time. I like Young in a free role.
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“We are getting there, I think we are getting nearer the 90 minutes, proof of that is Stiliyan Petrov who got man of the match, but the previous two games I took him off because I didn’t think he was finishing [matches] in the right way.
Interesting quote from Ged. It's stating the bleeding obvious, but at least he's stating it!
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When Reo Coker broke free at the end I knew he was going to find a way to fuck it up. You knew he was going to find a way to fuck it up. His team mates knew he was going to find a way to fuck it up and, most importantly, he knew he was going to find a way to fuck it up. He had a good game but things like that frustrate the hell out of me.
Overall plenty to be pleased with, we more than held our own against the best team we'll play this season.
We struggled to get Ireland in the game enough but the few times we did he showed he has plenty to offer. When he had that chance i was sure he was going to score, you were sure he was going to score, his team mates were sure he was going to score and, most importantly, he was sure he was going to score. Frustrated the hell out of me when he didn't. I agree with Matt above, I prefer Young in that free role but I get the impression it's the only place Ireland can play. One for Houllier to sort out.
Carew was a waste of space, Downing was great, the defence was solid.
Clarke played because he is left-sided.
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Happy with the point and a much needed clean sheet.
Carew was a total waste of time, but there was little else with Heskey and Gabby out.
Every player bar Carew deserves praise.
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I thought it was a very good performance, and it looked like we were trying to play football which was nice. A bit of luck here and there and we might have nicked it. Agree with Chris about NRC, he had a good gem but when you need that little bit of composure he lacks it.
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agree with Chris smith's post..Pretty spot on... Draw fair result but little gutted we didnt win it at the end. If Heskey had played instead of JC , we probably would have won it. JC has legs like concrete pillars... glad Warnock is getting out of his dire form and downing is improving... Ireland will get better , he is a good player..
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Although the last player we wanted on the 1 on 1 was Reo, not many of our players would have had the energy to be in that position after playing the full 90 mins.
Precisley what I said to a fell aon teh train who was slagging him, disapointing though.
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With regards to the 6th -12th comments I agree with GH that's where we are at the moment, Chelsea, Man ure, Arsenal, Man City, Spurs and the Albion (winky) are all ahead of us at the moment, Im certain he's going to be aiming for 6th but we do need improving and whats the point in him saying "were challenging the top 4" when were clearly not!
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I thought we were fairly decent for the most part and I think Ireland showed glimpses of quality. Fair result, we just need to be much more clinical.
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Concur with Chris pretty much (almost thought for thought when he robbed that ball).
To me Ireland doesn't seem to quite know where he fits into the pattern of play and neither do his team mates. If they can work that out I think we'll have a level of invention and passing that we haven't seen for quite a while. I haven't a clue how I'd go about doing that so over to you Mr H.
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I really enjoyed the game. Some people are forgetting Chelsea had won all their previous seven games. I think Young and Ireland can work well together but this will take a few matches to gel. We have a manager who makes simple decisions and plays players in their right position, he also uses the substitutes. At last our fitness levels seem to be improving. Will be interesting to see if we can find a striker in the January window.
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I was really happy with this game.
We played really well.
Friedel didn't boot it up the pitch until the 80th odd minute, which meant we kept possession instead of loosing it.
There were a few miss placed passes, but that is to be expected when tryin to change our style of play.
NRC was brilliant today, he breaks up play without sliding around and making fouls, yeah he missed a sitter but he'd already done his job by winning the ball.
Downing was again superb, he is easily our most composed player on the ball and always seems to use it well.
Ireland was in a no win today because he had that useless shit Stan never looking up for a penetrive pass to him.
We really missed albrighton and heskey today, although we have a real problem with winning the second ball. As crap as Carew is playing he wins alot of headers and we just need to start playing slightly further up field to win more second balls.
All in all a well fought draw where we more than held
Our own against the current best team in the premiership.
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Some people are forgetting Chelsea had won all their previous seven games.
Manchester City?
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I do think Reo deserves a new contract, I thought overall he was very good yesterday. I also believe Ireland will be very good for us.
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I, and the blokes around me in the Lower Holte, were in agreement that we haven't enjoyed a game quite so much as this one for a fair old time. The result was absolutely fair and reflected the equal amount of effort and skill displayed by the two teams. They hit the woodwork and so did we; they missed chances and so did we. It was unfortunate for Nigel R-C that he blew his chance right in front of the Holte End in the dying seconds of the game.
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I imagine that's how Man City played against Chelsea.
Though Chelsea had lots of the ball, they didn't really create too much, only towards the end of the game.
Still not sure about Ireland. When Albrighton's back, I'd drop Ireland and put A.Young back in that position, Downing left and Albrighton right.
Everyone played their part though really. Clark looked fairly comfortable when he came on, Downing made some tackles, NRC did his job, Petrov was ok, but pace still lets him down on occasions.
A question to end though, would you have been confident that any of the players on the pitch would have finished the chance NRC had at the end? At a push, I'd say A.Young might have finished it, but not definite. Possibly Downing? I'm not confident that any of our players would score a one-on-one.
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Ireland needed someone with pace in front of him i thought, in fact pace up front was the only thing missing yesterday. He maybe should have bought Fonz on earlier than he did.
And not for the first time this season, i thought the ref was crap. 7 bookings, awarding free kicks for harmless challenges and awarding Chelsea a corner when it went out for a throw in.
Other than that, a game we should have won, but fairly happy with the draw.
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A game of two halves and a fair result at the end. Top marks for our defending - I thought the comment about Warnock blowing after 80 mins was a bit unfair - he pulled up with an injury and soldiered on or the last 14 mins or so.
Its early days but I am pleased with Houllier is addressing - our passing game has improved and the players at the back aren`t hoofing it - Friedel is also using the ball better.
I agree that Downing has improved - but lets face it last season he was very disappointing. Pity Ireland and NRC didn`t take their chances as it would have done their confidence the world of good.
Carew`s first touch was poor throughout.
For me MOM was NRC - his fitness levels are immense
Overall I was more than happy at the result
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Had plenty of possesion but was mainly between the back four and petrov, no real penetration but with carew lumbering about upfront and not really providing an option we wern't really going anywhere. I would have definately taken a point before though.
Downing and nige played well last night, and my heart skipped a beat when i found out Beye was playing and was facing Cashley and Malouda but i thought he did a decent job and didn't dive in too much either.
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I'm surprised so many people have been so negative about the game yesterday. The real plus point for me was that we played with a plan and stuck to it. At last we've seen a game where our tactics were spot on and the players showed the discipline to stick to their jobs. While it was not the most attacking of displays, we have to remember that we were playing the best team by far in the Premiership and this will be our toughest game of the season. Well done to GH and the coaching staff - at one point I noticed GH leave the dug out to calm down Gordon Cowans who was giving the ref an ear bending.
Chelsea are a bloody good team and 2 of the subs they brought on cost more than our most expensive player. Different from previous years, I think that our squad would have learned a lot from the game yesterday whereas under MON they would just moved on to the next game. This result should give them a lot of confidence, and I'm quite pleased with 4 points from the last 3 difficult games.
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Decent performance, but can't help feeling Chelsea were there for the taking yesterday - a few players out, and they never really dominated during the game.
We looked toothless upfront, Carew was pretty wasteful with possession, as was Ireland. In Ireland's case this is highlighted by not being integrated with the way the team play yet (possibly a good thing). Ireland looks to play the ball first time and it isn't quite working at the moment - some pace in front of him would help. When the defence are in possession he quite often is asking for the ball to feet with his back to goal, but our defenders don't have the confidence to play the ball through the gap to him. So instead they play a ball over the top for Carew/ Young/ Downing to chase, or someone like Beye advances with it a bit without threatening the opposition too much. Beye doesn't inspire me with confidence at all, especially with the ball at his feet. I don't think he is much better than Cuellar in this respect.
I don't think one player stood out in a reasonably solid but unspectacular team performance. Downing would probably have been my MOM, but Petrov broke play up well, and got some important tackles in when needed. He was tidy in possession also, apart from that misplaced back pass. Corner kicks were a bit disappointing, especially Downing's - far too often cut out by the first man.
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Agree with Paul , nige on this form deserves a new contract as does luke young, flog sidwell,Carew and davies and bring in a quality attacking midfielder and top class finisher and we will have a very good squad to move forward.
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Decent performance, but can't help feeling Chelsea were there for the taking yesterday - a few players out, and they never really dominated during the game.
We had as many first choice out as them. (Gabby, Heskey, Albrighton, Luke Young and Richard Dunne early on )
They never really dominated the game because we didn't let them. There was a dangerous 10 min spell early in the second half when they came at us and if that had been allowed to go on they would have scored but the team stood up.
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Totally agree
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Had Gabby or Heskey been playing I think we'd have won that game. Still, a solid performance by pretty much all the players on show apart from Carew. We are already seeing GH's influence in our style of play and with his squad rotation, it's a good start from our new manager.
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we were the better side in the first half, they were the better in the second...
both sides passed the ball about well, and neither resulted to hoofing it, which was a huge positive for us...
clark performed very well in for the injured dunne... its interesting that he came on in front of cuellar (this after davies being allowed out on loan), so shows that houllier must have faith in him.. that faith was repaid with a clean sheet... and not many sides have managed that against chelsea recently...
i like the look of that young chelsea lad, mchearan (?)... he showed glimpses of real ability, and despite a few mistakes, i think he looks a real player with huge potential... kakuta on the other hand, looked well out of his depth...
overall, a fair and decent result for both sides...
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Fair result. I like the way we no longer hoof it up from the back but just pass it back to Brad or across the back 4. Simple but we retain possession and don't give it away as cheaply as under MoN. I do like what I've sen so far and we definitely missed Emile and Gabby up front. Having said that we still got the result.
Much better performances by Petrov, Warnock and Downing.
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Did anyone hear Wingnut on MOTD?
He said
'Villa were good for the first and last 10 minutes, but dross in-between'
Shearer was nice about us though, said
'They'll be up therethis season'
and
'Not many teams will get a clean sheet gainst Chelsea, like Villa did.'
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i cant stand captain scarlett... he really did not want to give us any credit whatsoever...
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A few observations arising from yesterday's game (and I suppose from the season so far) ...
There were far more positives than negatives. Plenty of defensive cover. Good midfield performances from all concerned.
Ireland looks like a pig in a poke - of course it could all end well as we probably haven't seen the best of him - but when it was clear to all concerned we needed to buy either a solid central midfielder or a goal scorer the board decided on a poor man's Merson. I'd have thought it a golden rule that boards should not spend significant chunks of money on players without the manger's approval or more specifically when there is no manager to give the approval. I'll wager he won't be here this time next season.
There are real conundrums for GH to resolve; Petrov looks better with NRC riding shotgun but that makes us minus 10+ goals compared with last season. Heskey is rejuvinated but Carew seemingly finished - again making us 10 goals down. Albrighton has broken through but pushing Ashely into the middle has produced mixed results.
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Ireland looks like a pig in a poke - of course it could all end well as we probably haven't seen the best of him - but when it was clear to all concerned we needed to buy either a solid central midfielder or a goal scorer the board decided on a poor man's Merson. I'd have thought it a golden rule that boards should not spend significant chunks of money on players without the manger's approval or more specifically when there is no manager to give the approval. I'll wager he won't be here this time next season.
IMO that statement will come back and bite you.
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One thing really struck me yesterday: Petrov seemed a completely different player physically. In the 74th minute he was still snapping into tackles and closing down. Didn't show the qualities with the ball that he did in his Player of the Season year, though the lay-off to Ireland for the left-footed shot was excellent. First half, Downing was terrific, really excellent, but all the players weren't quite as dynamic second half. I think that was because of the introduction of Zhirkov for Kakuta, who for all his talent showed tactical naivety and left gaps in midfield. Zhirkov was much more disciplined, and there were long spells where we didn't see the ball.
There has been criticism of our use of the ball on here, but I disagree: firstly because I thought we did use it pretty well at times, certainly better than we did under MON, and secondly because we were playing Chelsea, surely without a shadow of a doubt the best team in the country. Against less good teams I think we would have won.
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Did anyone hear Wingnut on MOTD?
He said
'Villa were good for the first and last 10 minutes, but dross in-between'
I could be wrong but I thought he said 'the game' rather than singling us out.
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You're right Peter he did refer to the game.
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[We had as many first choice out as them. (Gabby, Heskey, Albrighton, Luke Young and Richard Dunne early on )
They never really dominated the game because we didn't let them. There was a dangerous 10 min spell early in the second half when they came at us and if that had been allowed to go on they would have scored but the team stood up.
In fairness you can only play one of Gabby/Heskey in our current formation and Ireland is a more senior/better player than Albrighton so though we were missing all the players you mention I think it was Young and one of Heskey/Gabby which might have improved things.
Anyway, at least it shows we have a bit of strength in depth, when not injured of course.
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Did anyone hear Wingnut on MOTD?
He said
'Villa were good for the first and last 10 minutes, but dross in-between'
I could be wrong but I thought he said 'the game' rather than singling us out.
You're right, after watching it again.
It wasn't dross though, rather unfair.
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Available here (http://www.101greatgoals.com/videodisplay/aston-villa-chelsea-7226985//)
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Also here (http://www.101greatgoals.com/videodisplay/chelsea-aston-villa-7226717/)
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Lots of plus points from yesterday. Good tactics with a game plan we stuck to. Also, if a RB is missing, put another RB in, not a CB. Think Houllier is giving all the squad a chance which is probably why we saw Beye in, as well as why Clarke came on for Dunne when Carlos doesn't seem to have done anything wrong when he's played in the middle. Thought a number of players have upped their game and for a change we weren't running out of steam on 70 minutes, even though Chelsea stepped up a gear and dominated in the second half. Think Ireland will show his value when he's got someone like Gabby moving in front of him. We could and should have scored in the first and last minutes, but they hit the woodwork a couple of times so a draw was fair, and something I would happily have taken before the game (I predicted we'd lose).
Only downsides for me - I thought Carew was poor again and think he'll be lining up a summer move in January (I believe his contract is up in the summer so he's free to talk to other clubs??).
Also the atmosphere was a bit flat, and disappointing to see so many empty seats. Official figure was just over 40000 but there were swathes of empty seats especially in the upper Trinity. Sign of the economic times I guess. And it was bloody cold!
Nice to be able to give EBJT and Cashley some stick. Chant of the day - "Terry's mum's a thieving bitch"
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One thing really struck me yesterday: Petrov seemed a completely different player physically. In the 74th minute he was still snapping into tackles and closing down. Didn't show the qualities with the ball that he did in his Player of the Season year, though the lay-off to Ireland for the left-footed shot was excellent. First half, Downing was terrific, really excellent, but all the players weren't quite as dynamic second half. I think that was because of the introduction of Zhirkov for Kakuta, who for all his talent showed tactical naivety and left gaps in midfield. Zhirkov was much more disciplined, and there were long spells where we didn't see the ball.
There has been criticism of our use of the ball on here, but I disagree: firstly because I thought we did use it pretty well at times, certainly better than we did under MON, and secondly because we were playing Chelsea, surely without a shadow of a doubt the best team in the country. Against less good teams I think we would have won.
I noticed that about Petrov too, wasnt as near as tired as he used to get... I think the new French fitness coach has been working closely with Petrov to improve his fitness - I'd say that was Stan's best performance this season, showed more effort and desire this time.
Yes, we also have to work on keeping possesion better and working with the ball more efficiently, but lets remember we're playing Chelsea, the champions and one of the best teams in Europe who have scored a ridiculous amount of goals in recent games; we weren't playing Wolves where we ran the midfield... we came up against tough opposition yesterday and i'm proud at that we held our own.
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[We had as many first choice out as them. (Gabby, Heskey, Albrighton, Luke Young and Richard Dunne early on )
They never really dominated the game because we didn't let them. There was a dangerous 10 min spell early in the second half when they came at us and if that had been allowed to go on they would have scored but the team stood up.
In fairness you can only play one of Gabby/Heskey in our current formation and Ireland is a more senior/better player than Albrighton so though we were missing all the players you mention I think it was Young and one of Heskey/Gabby which might have improved things.
Anyway, at least it shows we have a bit of strength in depth, when not injured of course.
Based on performances for Villa, I cannot see how you could possibly say Ireland is better than Albrighton. Even Sidwell has done almost as much as what Ireland has contributed, the only difference being Sidwell hasn't missed a sitter.
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[We had as many first choice out as them. (Gabby, Heskey, Albrighton, Luke Young and Richard Dunne early on )
They never really dominated the game because we didn't let them. There was a dangerous 10 min spell early in the second half when they came at us and if that had been allowed to go on they would have scored but the team stood up.
In fairness you can only play one of Gabby/Heskey in our current formation and Ireland is a more senior/better player than Albrighton so though we were missing all the players you mention I think it was Young and one of Heskey/Gabby which might have improved things.
Anyway, at least it shows we have a bit of strength in depth, when not injured of course.
Based on performances for Villa, I cannot see how you could possibly say Ireland is better than Albrighton.
How about based on performances for teams other than Villa?
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I agree that a big concern is where the goals will come from. In MON's first years, we weren't always aesthetically pleasing, but goals were always likely to come from Carew, Gabby, Ashley, Laursen or Barry - including from set pieces and penalties.
We need to improve our set pieces - I don't see there's any reason we can't score from more of them. And if we play NRC and Stan, neither of whom is likely to get more than one a season, then we also need Ashley, Downing and Albrighton to get close to double figures each, plus despite Emile's excellent performances of late, we probably need a fit Gabby getting more than 15, with goals now and then from Carew or Heskey.
Of course, we may buy a top class fwd in the winter, but experience suggests this will be diffcult. And presumably the wage bill isn't going to get radically smaller any time soon because we're actually using the squad.
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Downing - great 1st half.
Petrov - au revoir.
Carew - ditto.
Ireland - Needs time, needs to 'gel'.
Gabby - get back asap matey
Albrighton - Can be interchanged with Ireland ( plans A and B)
All the others last night, OK,specially 1st half - nothing special 2nd half.
If only NRC had longer legs !!
Houllier, we need a top notch striker and a quality, defensive midfielder who can command the middle of the park.
If we get these in January, the WIP theme can be continued in the Summer with some confidence.
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Also the atmosphere was a bit flat, and disappointing to see so many empty seats. Official figure was just over 40000 but there were swathes of empty seats especially in the upper Trinity. Sign of the economic times I guess. And it was bloody cold!
There seemed a hell of a lot of one gamers there, loads of camera flashes when ever Chelsea were in posession. There were also lots of groups of Japenese kids looking at those singing and getting involved with inane grins on their faces like it was a zoo.
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There were a LOT of 'one-gamers' there. Nice Australian guy bought a fanzine and a book. The Japanese seemed rather bewildered.
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Ireland looks like a pig in a poke - of course it could all end well as we probably haven't seen the best of him - but when it was clear to all concerned we needed to buy either a solid central midfielder or a goal scorer the board decided on a poor man's Merson. I'd have thought it a golden rule that boards should not spend significant chunks of money on players without the manger's approval or more specifically when there is no manager to give the approval. I'll wager he won't be here this time next season.
IMO that statement will come back and bite you.
Care to be more specific about which bit?
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Ireland looks like a pig in a poke - of course it could all end well as we probably haven't seen the best of him - but when it was clear to all concerned we needed to buy either a solid central midfielder or a goal scorer the board decided on a poor man's Merson. I'd have thought it a golden rule that boards should not spend significant chunks of money on players without the manger's approval or more specifically when there is no manager to give the approval. I'll wager he won't be here this time next season.
IMO that statement will come back and bite you.
Care to be more specific about which bit?
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Fair result and we would have taken a point at the start of the game, fair play to GH for rotating the squad!
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Fair result and we would have taken a point at the start of the game, fair play to GH for rotating the squad!
But did he rotate the squad? Weren't Luke Young and Emile injured and Albrighton taken ill overnight?
What I did like was the fact that he brought in players who play in the required positions, not try and fit someone else into the role. Also was surprised with him bringing Clark on ahead of Cuellar, but as someone has said he is a left sided player whereas Carlos is right sided, so it just goes to show that GH has faith in his players and plays them when required.
I also think that Ireland is being unfairly criticised - several times he was calling for the ball in space but didn't receive it either at all or quickly enough. When we get used to moving it to him quicker and moving for the return ball then his influence will increase.
Also thought we saw possibly one of the last outings by our current No.3 striker at VP. He has gone downhill so fast it is unbelievable - and I just cannot see him getting any of his former pace/movement back, his legs just seem to have gone.
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[We had as many first choice out as them. (Gabby, Heskey, Albrighton, Luke Young and Richard Dunne early on )
They never really dominated the game because we didn't let them. There was a dangerous 10 min spell early in the second half when they came at us and if that had been allowed to go on they would have scored but the team stood up.
In fairness you can only play one of Gabby/Heskey in our current formation and Ireland is a more senior/better player than Albrighton so though we were missing all the players you mention I think it was Young and one of Heskey/Gabby which might have improved things.
Anyway, at least it shows we have a bit of strength in depth, when not injured of course.
Agreed that we are coping. Not sure on what we have seen so far that Albrighton out Ireland in does not weaken the team.
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We were missing 3 starters in Young, Heskey and Albrighton 4 you include Dunne's injury. They were missing Drogba, lampard and Bosingwa.
So definately strength in depth.
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Chelsea still had 8 of their regular starting 11 out.
Main thing for them was the likes of benayoun, Kalou, Sturridge out injured so they didn't have any game changing options to bring off the bench. Certainly a decent time to play them.
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Chelsea still had 8 of their regular starting 11 out.
Main thing for them was the likes of benayoun, Kalou, Sturridge out injured so they didn't have any game changing options to bring off the bench. Certainly a decent time to play them.
No they never, the only people they had missing that are regular starters were, Drogba, Lampard and then Alex and Bosingwa( but he has been out a year)
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Ireland looks like a pig in a poke - of course it could all end well as we probably haven't seen the best of him - but when it was clear to all concerned we needed to buy either a solid central midfielder or a goal scorer the board decided on a poor man's Merson. I'd have thought it a golden rule that boards should not spend significant chunks of money on players without the manger's approval or more specifically when there is no manager to give the approval. I'll wager he won't be here this time next season.
IMO that statement will come back and bite you.
Care to be more specific about which bit?
You're probably right - it's hard to shift high wage earners. But it won't be for the want of trying.
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If I was John Carew I would be absolutely embarrassed with that 'performance' - dreadful touch, he was as mobile as a conker tree and his fitness was none existant. I won't talk about his attitude. He's 3rd choice striker at the moment, and very close to becoming 4th choice.
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We were missing 3 starters in Young, Heskey and Albrighton 4 you include Dunne's injury. They were missing Drogba, lampard and Bosingwa.
So definately strength in depth.
Gabby for us and Alex for them?
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We were missing 3 starters in Young, Heskey and Albrighton 4 you include Dunne's injury. They were missing Drogba, lampard and Bosingwa.
So definately strength in depth.
Don't think you can include Bosingwa - he came on as a sub for them in second half
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We were missing 3 starters in Young, Heskey and Albrighton 4 you include Dunne's injury. They were missing Drogba, lampard and Bosingwa.
So definately strength in depth.
Gabby for us and Alex for them?
If you go on regular first teamers from the last month, then they were missing Kalou, Drogba and Alex. Lampard has pretty much missed most of the season so far and Boswinga has been out for two years. We were missing Heskey, Gabby, Luke, Marc and lost Dunne early on. We were also missing Carew but as he has been missing all season I can't count him on the criteria mentioned above.
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Gabby is not a certain starter if Heskey's form continues.
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Has anyone read the match report in the NOTW. They did big us up. He even thought Carew was good.
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Gabby is not a certain starter if Heskey's form continues.
If we're using that logic, you can say the same about Lampard and Ramires.
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There were a LOT of 'one-gamers' there. Nice Australian guy bought a fanzine and a book. The Japanese seemed rather bewildered.
I got asked about where the Holte End was as I got off the bus. He was mid 20s. I turned my back on him and said to my sister, probably a bit too loudly, "Where's the Holte? Same place as it's been since 1897. Fucking day trippers".
I have great people skills.
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There were a LOT of 'one-gamers' there. Nice Australian guy bought a fanzine and a book. The Japanese seemed rather bewildered.
Strange, but I noticed a lot of japanese yesterday, and they were all, to a man, bedecked in claret and blue, plus - the giveaway - club shop bags.
I also heard - and it was only a few times, so I may have been imagining it - someone with what sounded like a Japanese accent sing "COME ON ASTON VIRRA" (excuse slightly racist l -> r conversion) randomly several times during the game. This was in A3, if anyone else heard it.
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There were a LOT of 'one-gamers' there. Nice Australian guy bought a fanzine and a book. The Japanese seemed rather bewildered.
Strange, but I noticed a lot of japanese yesterday, and they were all, to a man, bedecked in claret and blue, plus - the giveaway - club shop bags.
I also heard - and it was only a few times, so I may have been imagining it - someone with what sounded like a Japanese accent sing "COME ON ASTON VIRRA" (excuse slightly racist l -> r conversion) randomly several times during the game. This was in A3, if anyone else heard it.
Is it wrong that I'm laughing at this?
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Did anyone hear Wingnut on MOTD?
He said
'Villa were good for the first and last 10 minutes, but dross in-between'
Shearer was nice about us though, said
'They'll be up therethis season'
and
'Not many teams will get a clean sheet gainst Chelsea, like Villa did.'
Its not often that you play the league leaders and still end up second from last on MOTD,especially when it flashed up we were on next near the end of the first(man utd) game. It was about the only game we didnt get to see any analysis and replays too.Perhaps a coincidence but the Villa match was Talksports big game for saturday,maybe the slagging Collymore gave Linekar and pals recently bruised a few egos. Hansens fallen back out of love with the Villa now that MONs not there anymore but Garys always been a bit of a babbie.Shearer often sticks up for the Villa,think he gets fed up with Liverpool/Spuds lovefest.
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Freidel - i know they hit the post twice - but did he actually make a save all game?
Beye - was worried when i saw he was to start - but fair play - Cashley hardly got forward all game and Malouda was very quiet until he moved inside to get some ball towards the end
Dunne - no comment as not on long enough
Clark - i think he is an outstanding prospect
Collins - absolute rock
Warnock - did not get forward much but defended soundly
Petrov - I though was very good without being spectacular - he is no mug and is a quality player
NRC (MOTM) - Loads of energy - would have loved him to have won it at the end not just for the result but to ensure he cements his place in the team
Downing - honestly think he is the best footballer in the team - does drift out of games but i do think he brings some quality - his break and pass for Ireland was superb
Young - I am getting frsutated with him at the moment - cannot remember the last time he skinned someone and created a chance - plus he is now sussed by refs regarding the diving - just stop it
Ireland - Good game - needed a better front man as Carew was shit all game
Carew - good effort saved - enjoyed the push on Terry - other than that have never seen a bug poweful man as him knocked off the ball so easily - i always imagine him to be a powerhouse but he is a bit of a powder puff. Also he always seems happy - maybe a really angry Carew would be better?
Sidwell - i like the fresh legs and getting stuck in and he certainly has a role to play
Fonz - Bit lightwieght and di not see much of the ball
Decent game against very good team - As Big Al said - not many teams will snuff out their attack this season
Oh and as i am very close to the dug out all i can say is that gary mac is a monster and really knows his stuff
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Tell us more about Gary MacAllister :) in the dug out.
There is also a Spanish or possibly French guy next to me and he took so many photos with long lens camera. He behave like a French man and got a Barcelona cap.
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Tell us more about Gary MacAllister :) in the dug out.
There is also a Spanish or possibly French guy next to me and he took so many photos with long lens camera. He behave like a French man and got a Barcelona cap.
Tell us more about this French Barcelona fan with a long lens camera.
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Tell us more about Gary MacAllister :) in the dug out.
There is also a Spanish or possibly French guy next to me and he took so many photos with long lens camera. He behave like a French man and got a Barcelona cap.
Tell us more about this French Barcelona fan with a long lens camera.
How does a Frenchman behave? Was he wearing a stripy shirt and a string of onions? Singing the Marseillaise?
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No, he'd blocked the exit with burning sheep and articulated lorries.
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In spite of the 5.30 kickoff, he missed most of the first half because he was still having his lunch
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Under MON the backroom team hardly ever spoke to him during a game - Robertson would go out only to berate the ref or 4th official - it was like they had no input into the game play at all.
Gary Mac is constantly on the touchline and Sid is quietly pointing out aspects of the game to GED - once mac gets back the 3 of them chat and decide on actions and then mac goes out calls a player over and instigates the change / communication
What i do know there was times with MON when he would bark at a player and they would either just nod or (In Lukes case) ignore him, maybe that tells you why he did not get much of a look in! Now as soon as mac speaks Petrov / Young / Downing / Collins all take on board what is said and passes it on to other players
good to see and hear
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A bit late in the day for this, but I wanted to highlight how well Downing played again. For me he’s been our most consistent and best performer so far this season and is also our top scorer too. Its clear that he’s recovered fully from his injury and actually has benefited a great deal from having a pre-season.
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Can't argue with that point on Downing
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Yer ditto on Downing, especially as he was playing on the right side, whereas he's usually better on the left.
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We could have won it but it was a decent game and I would have taken a point beforehand.
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Warnock - did not get forward much but defended soundly
I agree about his defending - I think he's improved a lot after a shaky start to the season. He also created the chance for Carew right at the beginning.
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A bit late in the day for this, but I wanted to highlight how well Downing played again. For me he’s been our most consistent and best performer so far this season and is also our top scorer too. Its clear that he’s recovered fully from his injury and actually has benefited a great deal from having a pre-season.
I agree
And your last sentence proves those of us who said "wait till he's had a full preseason" etc etc and got laughed at to have been right.
So, yah boo sucks.
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Just a quick look at our midfield on the Guardian chalk boards shows Petrov made 30 passes, all successful; NRC made 24, 22 successful, Ireland 15, 12 successful; Downing made 31, 22 successful; Ashley made 23, 14 successful and Sidwell made 2, you can guess the rest..
Defensively they look strong, now we just need to start looking a bit more threatening going forward.
It was an interesting, rather than a great game but when you consider how many players we had out, we were highly organised and made life very difficult for Chelsea. I was suprised Chelsea sat so deep for most of the match but I'd imagine they were concerned about being caught on the break.
Only complaint from Saturday is we are still failing to deliver a decent ball in from corners. It really is time Ashley was removed from corner duty. We need to start taking advantage of set pieces, especially in games against the top teams, where chances are few and we're not creating too much up front.
I still think we miss Gabby.
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Only complaint from Saturday is we are still failing to deliver a decent ball in from corners. It really is time Ashley was removed from corner duty. We need to start taking advantage of set pieces, especially in games against the top teams, where chances are few and we're not creating too much up front.
I always find it ironic how people still talk about how dangerous we are from set pieces - Ancelotti did before the game - as I don't think we've looked that way for a fair while now.
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Said before thew game that i fancied us, and that was assuming that Gabby or Heskey would be playing.
We are not far off a very good team.I personally think MON did a good job, but under Hou, the passing, and slowly but surely, the movement is much better than under MON.
When we get a more mobile foward playing, a la Gabby, then the clever balls of Ireland, and the ability of AYoung and Downing to pick a pass, will improve us dramatically.
NRC is competent at the moment, as is Petrov on sats performance, but to move up we need better than these 2.
Beye, for me is better than LYoung, and had a very solid game on sat, his pace puts him ahead of LYoung for me, but we probably need a better RB.
Overall, i thoiught Chelsk in the 2nd half looked a good team, with Cashley in partic playing very well, but we deserved the point, and had the better chances.
For me we are not far off a top 4 team.
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I think Beye had a good game on Saturday, considering who he was up against but Luke young is by far a better player. Some much more composed on the ball than Beye, although young does dive in a bit would still have him as first choice right back with the others as cover.
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Was proud of the performance and felt we deserved the 3 points.