Aston Villa v Cardiff City Post-Match Thread

[silhillvilla]

I could have crushed a grape when Tonev all he had to do was slide Benteke in but chose to shoot and hit the north stand boxes.
Infuriating player.

[paul_e]

Missed the game, looked everywhere but can't find our formation, was it 4312, 442 or 352?  Cheers

All of the above is probably the best answer I can give, it changed around a few times during the game but tonev was always wide left, sometimes with clark behind him sometimes with clark more tucked in.  On the right Bacuna was often further forward than a traditional fullback but other times Sylla drifted quite wide.  I think we were 442 at the end but even then Bacuna was tucked in NRC style on the right when we didn't have possession.

[eastie]

@JamesNursey: In Mirror today, #AVFC deadball specialist Leandro Bacuna admits he fancies taking pens as well.

Leandro Bacuna may soon be knocking on neighbour Christian Benteke’s front door asking for his job as Aston Villa's penalty taker.

Bacuna lives next to striker Benteke in a Birmingham apartment block.

The pair are big pals - and Bacuna has now started to emulate Benteke’s scoring heroics.

His perfect free-kick broke the deadlock in the 2-0 win over Cardiff and was his second crucial set-piece of the season.

He also curled in a brilliant free-kick against Man City in September in the Villans' other home win.

And now the versatile defender-cum-midfielder, admits he fancies taking penalties too.

Bacuna, 22, played up-front as a kid and had a 100 per cent record from the spot for old club Groningen.

Benteke, on the other hand, missed a costly penalty in the home loss to Everton a fortnight ago.

Overall, the Belgium international striker’s goals have dried up since his fourth of the season went in on September 14.

Bacuna said: “The gaffer makes the decisions and Christian’s been taking the penalties. I won’t go there and start a fight!

“Christian lives next door to me. We hook up a lot and he’s a good guy. Sometimes we chill out together, we watch a lot of football on TV.

“I was taking penalties in Holland but I only just came to Aston Villa, Benteke takes the penalties here. I’m not going to be like saying: ‘I’m taking the penalties’.

“But I didn’t miss any in Holland and if I was asked I would take them here. If you take a penalty well then the ball is faster than the keeper.”

Bacuna’s 76th-minute strike after Gary Medel had brought him down finally broke Cardiff’s dogged resistance.

With keeper David Marshall again in top form, Cardiff were hard to break down with five across the middle and 10 men behind the ball.

It frustrated the hosts who had gone seven-and-a-half hours without finding the net.

But Cardiff had to open up after conceding and Libor Kozak headed in a second goal late on.

Victory leaves Villa level on points behind Midland rivals West Brom, who they visit next.

And boss Paul Lambert is delighted with Bacuna, a bargain £1million summer signing from Groningen - the Dutch club that developed Arjen Robben and first brought Luis Suarez to Europe.

The Scot said: “We got him for a really low figure and I’m pretty sure he’s not worth that anymore so his value - like a lot of them - has probably gone up.

“The way he is playing his confidence has gone up and he’s enjoying it. His free-kicks have certainly helped us. They came at critical times in games.”

[Dave Javu]

I wonder why they have changed the camera angle to be a lot lower?

It's at the front of the Witton Lane Upper Tier. They made a new permanent camera location for 3-D cameras (maybe the 3D effect works better lower down), but now seem to be using the position for the standard cameras too. Probably because it pisses me off royally whenever cameras are not there (the camera position is where my season ticket used to be)

[SoccerHQ]

I hate the new camera angle. I just thought it was there for Spurs as it was on Sky seeing as it was back to normal for the Everton game.

[bobdylan]

Missed the game, looked everywhere but can't find our formation, was it 4312, 442 or 352?  Cheers

All of the above is probably the best answer I can give, it changed around a few times during the game but tonev was always wide left, sometimes with clark behind him sometimes with clark more tucked in.  On the right Bacuna was often further forward than a traditional fullback but other times Sylla drifted quite wide.  I think we were 442 at the end but even then Bacuna was tucked in NRC style on the right when we didn't have possession.

Thanks, so Clark was left back/left centre back with Baker in the middle, that's odd Lambo has had Baker left of Clark up till now this season, he does love a tinker doesn't he.

[olaftab]

Missed the game, looked everywhere but can't find our formation, was it 4312, 442 or 352?  Cheers

All of those!

[rob_bridge]

Watched the extended highlights on Eurosport in East Asia but AVFC stream. Not sure criticism of Tonev is justified. Defensive lapse or two aside. Support play for him wasn't always timely.
As for The Big K worked his nuts off and deserved the goal. Benteke is about half a foot off the pace but will come good,  hopefully in time to put the Baggies to the sword.
Glass half full at the moment.

[not3bad]

A mention for the new serving lady on the Lower Holte concourse who confused me by smiling at people as she served them.  Makes a change.

[darren woolley]

I'll take the three points and another clean sheet Bacuna my MOTM.

[silhillvilla]

More of this villa please.

[Dave Clark Five]

I'll take the three points and another clean sheet Bacuna my MOTM.

Indeed.

[dcdavecollett]

just as we shout "Shoot!" whenever Lowton and Bacuna are on the ball in the opposition half, can we try shouting "Pass!" when Alex finds himself in a similar position?