Aston Villa v Chelsea Post-Match Thread

[Rip Van We Go Again]

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.

[Legion]

Available here

[Legion]

Also here

[CJ]

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"

[The Situation]

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.

[Can Gana Be Bettered!?!?]

[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.

[Dave]

[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?

[Matt Collins]

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.

[TimTheVillain]

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.

[PeterWithe]

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.

[Legion]

There were a LOT of 'one-gamers' there. Nice Australian guy bought a fanzine and a book. The Japanese seemed rather bewildered.

[pestria]

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?

[Legion]

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?

[The Left Side]

Fair result and we would have taken a point at the start of the game, fair play to GH for rotating the squad!

[fredm]

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.