Sunderland v Aston Villa Post-Match Thread

[Fin Feds Dad]

Bad result - reasonable performance.

Reo Coker played really well and didnt deserve to be on the losing side.

And what the hell was Dunne doing again - gone from our most reliable centre half to our worst option - must be dropped.

And when was the last time Ashley Young beat a defender ?? He used to piss past defenders - I honestly cant remember the last time he went round one.

Its going to be a long, dull season.

[fredm]

This has probably already been said lots but..

1. Why the hell is Cuellar not playing?

2. Buy a bloody striker!

That's a seconding from me too.

Cuellar is a right sided centre back which is where Collins plays. Dunne (who is the one I presume you are saying should be dropped) plays left centre back and the understudy for that position is Cieran Clark - as was shown last week.

Are you saying that Collins should be dropped or that the defence should be turned around and unbalanced so that Cuellar plays?

[fredm]

Whilst I agree with everything that has been said about our lack of goal threat, I thought Emile had a very good game.  The first 20 minutes he pulled their defence all over the place and thought he did well thoughout, even to the extent of losing his temper and getting booked.

If he had converted the chance that Downing set up, we would all have been saying a satisfactory performance and didn't EH do well!

One other thing that I find puzzling is the persistent playing of Downing on the right hand side.  In the first half when he and Ash were the wide players they never swopped once, as far as I can recall, and in the second when Albrighton came on after a short while he went out on the left and Downing was on the right.  Previously Downing and Ash have swopped frequently giving the opposition something to think about, but by persistently playing in the one position, I think negates a lot of Downing's threat.  Also to me, Albrighton is out of his depth playing on the left at the moment.

[Can Gana Be Bettered!?!?]

And what the hell was Dunne doing again - gone from our most reliable centre half to our worst option - must be dropped.

Most reliable? He's always been prone to fuck ups. Why do you think Man City got rid of him?!?!?!?!

[Can Gana Be Bettered!?!?]

This has probably already been said lots but..

1. Why the hell is Cuellar not playing?

2. Buy a bloody striker!

That's a seconding from me too.

Cuellar is a right sided centre back which is where Collins plays. Dunne (who is the one I presume you are saying should be dropped) plays left centre back and the understudy for that position is Cieran Clark - as was shown last week.

Are you saying that Collins should be dropped or that the defence should be turned around and unbalanced so that Cuellar plays?

If it means Dunne doesn't play, the do it. Does it really matter that a right-footed player plays on the left hand side of a centre-back partnership. At this level, that should not matter.

[ronshirt]

Here's the votes of the Chopwell jury:

Friedel - 7. Didn't really have anything to do.

Beye - 7. Ditto. Wasn't afraid to go forward and looked comfortable.

Collins - 8. Hardly a foot wrong and dominated in the air.

Dunne - 6. Seemed to me that Bruce's game plan was to target his lack of pace and most Sunderland attacks seemed to go down our left: in the first half he struggled on occasions when the ball was on the deck but in the air he won just about everything.

Warnock - 6. Drifted inside to help Dunne and Sunderland exploited the space down the flank: the ball got caught under his feet so many times in the first half that it started to look like he'd left his guide dog in the dressing room.

Downing - 8. Looked comfortable and played a couple of killer balls into the box.

Petrov - 5. Seemed to be crocked from the start.

NRC - 8. Ran around a lot to very good effect.

Young - 5. Looked pissed off and disinterested to find himself back on the wing. Perked up when he was switched into the centre but was still below par.

Ireland - 4. It's just not happening for whatever reason.

Heskey - 6. Dominated his marker in the air and had a couple of clever touches on the ground but missed a sitter.

Albrighton - 8. Should start every game: pace, always looking to beat his man and a nice shot.

Sidwell -7. Did well. Deserves a run with NRC.

Even stevens in the first half. After half time we were all over them. But we could've played until Christmas and not scored. The passing in the second half was just fantastic but we need a killer passer and a killer goal scorer. Sometimes tippy-tappy is just tippy-tappy.

Ireland: right player wrong time - I don't think he'll be here in a year.

Young: cash him in.

First time at the Stadium of Light and I like it. Nice atmosphere. Good stewarding. Excellent facilities for the disabled.

Earwigging on the way back to the Metro - Sunderland fans couldn't believe they'd won.
 
Cattermole is a nasty twat. Bent looked good but would look better in a Villa shirt.

[Fin Feds Dad]

And what the hell was Dunne doing again - gone from our most reliable centre half to our worst option - must be dropped.

Most reliable? He's always been prone to fuck ups. Why do you think Man City got rid of him?!?!?!?!

I thought I had read somewhere he had been their player of the year 4 times - whatever, I don't think he's good enough for a starting position for us at the minute.

[AV82EC]

Just got back, votes from the manc jury

Friedel - 7 - nothing much to do except one top class save just after they scored.
Beye - 7 - A few nervy moments but got stronger as the game went on.
Collins - 8 - Top defensive performance, dominant and committed
Dunne - 5 - Own goal, numerous mistakes a chance to equalise and he hit the corner flag!!
Warnock - 5 - Seemed to be back at it last week but lets be honest he got raped in the first half though he got better in the second
Downing - 8 - Another quality performance our player of the season so far.
Petrov - 6 - not on for that long but not involved enough
Reo-Coker - 8 - everywhere and apart form the odd misplaced pass a great performance, should have shot in the first half
Young - 6 - Anonymous first half and not much better until he was put in the centre when he started creating all sorts of problems
Ireland - 4 - Anonymous and really don't know whats going on with him.
Heskey - 7 - the big man caused his usual problems and would have got MOM if he'd put that chance away.
Sidwell - 7 - Do my eyes deceive me. got stuck in, used the ball intelligently and helped NRC get a grip of the midfield.  Keep it up!
Albrighton - 6 - Certainly helped give us more of an edge, he's a young player so his use of the ball at times can be wasteful.

Msr. Houllier - 7 - took until the second half and the changes in personnel to really have an impact and unfortunate the changes didn't deliver the minimum point our performance deserved.

I'm glad we've missed loads of chances for the second week in a row, it means we're saving them up for next weekend!!  Our play certainly creates chances and the feeling I've got is we'll give someone a stuffing soon, hopefully next weekend. 

[luke25]

Just back, absolutely knackered, will give the thread a read later, few points, worst 1st half performance i've witnessed since Reading, they were faster, sharper, better technically and wanted it more, better 2nd half but I never felt like we'd get an equaliser at any point, fk knows whats happened to Dunne, hes gone from our best defender to a total liability, i'd drop him for Cuellar or Clark asap cus if he fks up next week I think alot will start to get on his back, absolutely shit myself anytime Beye has the ball, im waiting for him to slip, get it tangled in his feet or pass to an opposing player, he just seems so dopey with the ball, regarding Ireland- I want him to be a success, I think he will be a success but its gonna take time, he's clearly got bundles of ability, in a way none of our other players have, problem is we havent had a player like him for many years and I don't think most our lads quite know how to utilise him, im convinced given a few months he'll be invaluable to us though, one last negative, please get Ash the fk off set pieces, its getting pathetic, im not a cup half empty person, just tired n pissed off, Heskey put himself about well

[BC54 VFC]

Back from the game and read the thread. Agree with the majority of posts; essentially the substitition - Albrighton for Ireland - changed the game as it gave the chance for Ashley to link up with Heskey, as they seem to do pretty well. The 15 mins or so after this was the best, with Albrighton on the right and Downing back on the left, which is clearly his favoured role. Why, oh why, did they then switch wings, as they so often have this season, and end up trying to cross with their wrong feet! If opposition fans can see this then so should our manager. To those that think Downing had a good game I would say he had a very poor first half; either passed the ball back to a Villa player or forward to a Sunderland player, but was much better in the second.

Warnock and Dunne were rubbish in the fifteen minutes leading up to their goal; it was obvious they were going to score from a right sided attack. How Dunne is in instead of Cuellar I don't know; change it, Houllier to 'quell our' anger! Dunne certainly wasn't around at the time of the Irish Potato Famine in 1845!!

Atmosphere was rather subdued considering the numbers we had there - a much better turnout than last December when there were circa 670. However, I did think the average age was higher than usual which may have had some affect on the singing. I'm 52 but at least I join in with my two sons.

Oh, and to the Sunderland Slag who spat at the back of my younger sons jacket when she noticed his Villa shirt underneath it on the way back to the car park - FUCK OFF SLAG AND IF I EVER SEE YOU AT VILLA PARK YOU'RE IN DEEP SHIT

[ROBBO]

Negatives, Petrov had the ball at twenty six minutes and it was the first time i noticed him, Sidwell was an improvement. Albrighton came on did well on the right and sussenly switched wings with Downing, why? Young looks much better as a free agent than stuck on the wing. Positives. Heskey led the line well, yes he missed one but they all do, NRC in the best form of his Villa career, Downing after a slowish start played well
and Albrighton has a great football brain give him time to mature and he wil very good for us.

[OzVilla]

I'm sorry about the negativity of this post but it's how i've been feeling about the Villa now for a while.

Sunderland was a game we shouldn't have lost and i'm sure this thread is similar to the one Everton fans would've had after the game at VP earlier this season.  I expect we'll be getting results like this all year with this team.

Great to see NRC doing well but it's too much for him to do, he needs support.  Our Midfield now without Milner is hugely ordinary and Ireland clearly didn't/doesn't want to be here.

The balance of the side is wrong right now. Defensively we are leaking soft goals (Dunne needs to go out after today), midfield too lightweight with no driver, forward line that has no cutting edge.

To be fair to GH, I epect he'll know this too and act in the transfer window.  If he doesn't we may find ourselves looking over our shoulders.

Still a win against SHA and things will seem better - a defeat and we are in for a very long season indeed.


 

[Archie]

We returned to the good, old light blue  socks! 

[Dave Cooper please]

[
As an aside, why didn't Halsey book Downing if he saw that as a dive?  I haven't seen properly enough to know either way, but Halsey HAS to book Downing for cheating or give a penalty.

No he doesn't, he can just say that the attacker went down under a fair challenge.

[villajk]

Thanks for cheering me up Archie.

I needed somebody/something to do that.