Villa 3-0 West Ham: Post Match Thread

[Matt C]

Really enjoyed yesterday and one comment from Petrov above about playing with freedom summed up the whole afternoon for me - and not just on the pitch.

[Lizz]

I had one of the best days today I have ever had, Villa won superbly, Tamworth won and are top of the league, the company in The Bartons was top notch, I got soaked but enjoyed my first time selling fanzines.

Were you selling over the road from Dave Woodhall? That was where I bought my copy, and thought I hadn't seen the seller before.

[Dave Cooper please]

I had one of the best days today I have ever had, Villa won superbly, Tamworth won and are top of the league, the company in The Bartons was top notch, I got soaked but enjoyed my first time selling fanzines.

Were you selling over the road from Dave Woodhall? That was where I bought my copy, and thought I hadn't seen the seller before.

Yes that was me, drafted in as a late replacement!

[JUAN PABLO]

You must be proud of MA  Dave, being a Tamworth  lad  ;-)

[fredm]

I actually thought that, other than the chances he missed, Carew did pretty well. Put himself about, and caused a lot of trouble for them.

Carew worked hard throughout the game. He missed some chances but another time at least one of those will result in a goal.

Y'see, I thought he was poor; not for the missed cahnces and the poor first touch in his one-on-one in the first half. No, the reason is that when you've got a player like MA who whips the ball in from the wing the front man has to be there. Unfortunately, Big John - more often than not - was ambling into the penalty area rather than actually in the 6 yard box. He's actually not the player we need with Downing and MA out wide; we need a Gabby or Delfouneso who will anticipate and have the pace to get there.

Sorry to be critical, just my view.

You're view is wrong. Carew played very well. Held the ball up very well and had to deal with a lot of crap from the ref giving fouls against him for simply being stronger than his opponent. You moan he's not in the box, but he's usually had a part to play in the build up if he's not in the box. Not everyone can be as quick as a lot of the players we have. When he was not involved in the build up, he was in the box, hence he could (and should) have scored a couple of goals from being in the box.

How you can say he was poor is beyond me. You must've been watching a totally different game.

Maybe a bit harsh but there was one moment that summed up what you're saying about the shit he gets.  Carew running down the right with Upson, they go shoulder to shoulder and carew wins it easily, so Upson just held onto his arm.  After a couple of seconds hte linesman gave the free kick to Upson.  I absolutely couldn't believe it, truly shocking decision.  Another good example was when John hit the post in the second half, he was being pulled all over the place but you can guarantee there was never any chance of him getting the pen that he should've because he just used his strength and won the challenge despite being fouled.

All of the above is correct...........but the main fact is that JC, yesterday, was playing as our main striker.  He had 3 clear cut chances and failed each time.

If he is to continue as the main striker then he must convert those chances or else be replaced by someone who does.

[Dave Cooper please]

You must be proud of MA  Dave, being a Tamworth  lad  ;-)

Most of Tamworth is. (The one's that aren't will be the Blues fans!).

[damon loves JT]

as soon as he opened his mouth on MOTD my heart swelled with pride. He also has a big nose, which is a sign of divine favour

[peter w]

I actually thought that, other than the chances he missed, Carew did pretty well. Put himself about, and caused a lot of trouble for them.

Carew worked hard throughout the game. He missed some chances but another time at least one of those will result in a goal.

Y'see, I thought he was poor; not for the missed cahnces and the poor first touch in his one-on-one in the first half. No, the reason is that when you've got a player like MA who whips the ball in from the wing the front man has to be there. Unfortunately, Big John - more often than not - was ambling into the penalty area rather than actually in the 6 yard box. He's actually not the player we need with Downing and MA out wide; we need a Gabby or Delfouneso who will anticipate and have the pace to get there.

Sorry to be critical, just my view.

You're view is wrong. Carew played very well. Held the ball up very well and had to deal with a lot of crap from the ref giving fouls against him for simply being stronger than his opponent. You moan he's not in the box, but he's usually had a part to play in the build up if he's not in the box. Not everyone can be as quick as a lot of the players we have. When he was not involved in the build up, he was in the box, hence he could (and should) have scored a couple of goals from being in the box.

How you can say he was poor is beyond me. You must've been watching a totally different game.

Maybe a bit harsh but there was one moment that summed up what you're saying about the shit he gets.  Carew running down the right with Upson, they go shoulder to shoulder and carew wins it easily, so Upson just held onto his arm.  After a couple of seconds hte linesman gave the free kick to Upson.  I absolutely couldn't believe it, truly shocking decision.  Another good example was when John hit the post in the second half, he was being pulled all over the place but you can guarantee there was never any chance of him getting the pen that he should've because he just used his strength and won the challenge despite being fouled.

All of the above is correct...........but the main fact is that JC, yesterday, was playing as our main striker.  He had 3 clear cut chances and failed each time.

If he is to continue as the main striker then he must convert those chances or else be replaced by someone who does.

I too thought he was poor. His one on one when he didn't even get a shot in, two simple headers that sailed well wide, and getting a shot away that should have been in the back of the net but scuffed to hit the post. Was on the wrong end of some refereeing decisions but at the start of the second half he was awful. On one occasion he was running with someone who had a slight tug at him and Carew just stopped wanting a free-kick. At that point I was making excuses for him to my dad who was pointing out the obvious that he was lacking desire. He stayed on but didn't get much better. Did well in holding it up and did get better as the game wore on but overall he was poor.

[PeterWithesShin]

My initial comment wasn't so much intended as criticism of Carew, but to highlight the difference in attitude towards him and Heskey from a number of fans. Everything Carew is being praised for is what Heskey does. Does anyone believe Heskey would be receiving the same praise, even if we had won 8-0?

However, had Heskey muffed that 1 on 1 so spectacularly, or missed those headers, he would have been absolutely slaughtered. Can you imagine the reaction if he'd missed that unmarked header? There were even a few digs at the fella and he didn't even play yesterday.

Equality, it's a nice thing sometimes.

[gervilla]

My initial comment wasn't so much intended as criticism of Carew, but to highlight the difference in attitude towards him and Heskey from a number of fans. Everything Carew is being praised for is what Heskey does. Does anyone believe Heskey would be receiving the same praise, even if we had won 8-0?

However, had Heskey muffed that 1 on 1 so spectacularly, or missed those headers, he would have been absolutely slaughtered. Can you imagine the reaction if he'd missed that unmarked header? There were even a few digs at the fella and he didn't even play yesterday.

Equality, it's a nice thing sometimes.

Why not compare Heskeys scoring rate for us with Carews.

[JUAN PABLO]

Carew is paid to score , which he does most of the time..... Heskey is paid to score, which he doesnt..    Yes, Carew frustrates me at times but Heskey frustrates me just being in our great colours......

[pauliewalnuts]

My initial comment wasn't so much intended as criticism of Carew, but to highlight the difference in attitude towards him and Heskey from a number of fans. Everything Carew is being praised for is what Heskey does. Does anyone believe Heskey would be receiving the same praise, even if we had won 8-0?

However, had Heskey muffed that 1 on 1 so spectacularly, or missed those headers, he would have been absolutely slaughtered. Can you imagine the reaction if he'd missed that unmarked header? There were even a few digs at the fella and he didn't even play yesterday.

Equality, it's a nice thing sometimes.

Carew has regularly scored goals for us since joining, so has a bit in the credit bank.

Heskey has a pathetic scoring record, so has absolutely nothing in the credit bank.

[PeterWithesShin]

So no equality for 2 Villa players is what you're all saying then. Nice.

My initial comment wasn't so much intended as criticism of Carew, but to highlight the difference in attitude towards him and Heskey from a number of fans. Everything Carew is being praised for is what Heskey does. Does anyone believe Heskey would be receiving the same praise, even if we had won 8-0?

However, had Heskey muffed that 1 on 1 so spectacularly, or missed those headers, he would have been absolutely slaughtered. Can you imagine the reaction if he'd missed that unmarked header? There were even a few digs at the fella and he didn't even play yesterday.

Equality, it's a nice thing sometimes.

Why not compare Heskeys scoring rate for us with Carews.

Because that wasn't my point.

However, all the points I did make, no one really answered.

[PeterWithesShin]

So no equality for 2 Villa players then is the consensus. Nice.

[Dave]

So no equality for 2 Villa players then is the consensus. Nice.

That's exactly it. But, it's just as it should be.

If Sidwell plays the next game and is fairly rubbish then it will be pounced on because he is always rubbish.

If Petrov plays the next game and is fairly rubbish then it be excused because he is usually very good.

Dunne screwing up in the Carling Cup Final last year was excused because it was an anomaly rather than a regular thing.

As Paulie says, credit in the bank.