Blackburn Rovers v Aston Villa Post-Match Thread

[pauliewalnuts]

Yeah, but Gypsum, if you are aware, as presumably Villa are that Blackburn's strength is in free kicks, corners and throw ins, that it's perhaps a teensie weensie bit naive to constantly give away stupid, stupid free kicks? Is that not a trifle foolish in your view?

As I said there is no doubt that Warnock's was stupid but football is a game with two teams and two lots of tactics.  Much of their game is based on long diagonal balls designed to win corners and lumped balls designed to produce knockdowns that draw fouls.  They do it every week and virtually every team that goes to Ewood ends up conceding lots of set pieces.  Shove a Collins and/or a Cuellar and a Heskey in there and we might have dealt with them better.  As I said, more experienced and certainly more physically powerful sides than us have been done by that bunch of cloggers and will be in future too.

It wasn't so much about the way we dealt with their tactics in that instance, though, was it? It was about the stupidity in gifting them so many free kicks around the box in the first place.

Warnock's gift for their first goal wasn't just a reflection that every team does that. He got clattered by Diouf, then a minute later, right on the stroke of half time, goes in unnecessarily hard on the same player, and look what happens.

[olaftab]

I am ashamed that there was player for us in our famous number 9 shirt who couldn't give a toss for his team mates or the club. F in disgrace. Apart from him we played ok just needed a bit of luck with woodwork and rebounds.
This is going to a long drive home....

[Richard C]

Don't know HTF i done that Troy.

However i will say this, and i said it before about the Villa.






Thank fuck for the wine induced comma that i am about to sink into.

[Shrek]

I'm really angry,

We kicked long ball after long ball with no success.

Ireland isn't interested, should never play for us again.

Ash is no longer a benefit to our team, he runs around alot with lots of energy but he has terrible passing and set pieces. And he refuses to make a quick simple pass instead looking to take everyone on every time.
There was a pass Bannan tried with the outside of his boot, it just went out of play and Ash was moaning and pulling faces at Bannan. I really don't like this.

[pauliewalnuts]

We kicked long ball after long ball with no success.

I have no idea how you could possibly think that.

There was only one side hitting long balls today - Blackburn, and they were usually directly at Friedel with someone assaulting him in the meantime.

If Villa ever resorted to the gash "football" Allardyce has his teams "play", I think I'd stop bothering with the sport. I see he's also picked up Pulis's trick and started trying to turn Pederson into a Delap, with all that fucking towelling the ball every throw in.

[taylorsworkrate]

I am ashamed that there was player for us in our famous number 9 shirt who couldn't give a toss for his team mates or the club. F in disgrace. Apart from him we played ok just needed a bit of luck with woodwork and rebounds.
This is going to a long drive home....

Ireland played a lovely through ball for Downing in the first couple of minutes.  I then stupidly thought this would be the game he turned it around.

I have consistently defended Ireland this season, but his performance today was a disgrace. 

[CT]

I thought Stew Downing always looked positive.

Warnock changed the game with his pathetic foul for the free-kick that led to their goal. I'm afraid Stephen Ireland was an utter joke IMO. Not a very funny one either.

[brontebilly]

Friedel 3 - really really poor. Was it windy in Ewood today a load of his kicks went nowhere.
L Young 7 - did pretty well. At least he attacked unlike our other full back.
Warnock 3- actually started alright, always down injured and went to pieces after incident with Diouf. Hardly pushed forward in second half either.
Clark 5 - got too tight to Roberts on occasions. Still think midfield is his best position
Dunne 7 - probably our best player today
Downing 5 - started on fire but was poor in second half. No real guile to him today. I really hate when he plays on the right.
Hogg 4 - did his best but not up to it at this level. Can't remember him playing a positive pass
Bannan 5 - tried too much in first half, better in second
Young 7 - great effort with header. Took too much out of the ball at times but the movement up front was non existent
Gabby 2 - just shades the worst player in the park award for me

[Shrek]

Friedel kept pumping balls forward without us winning any headers, then we kept kicking diagonal balls all game.

When hardly looked like scoring.

[taylorsworkrate]

Don't know HTF i done that Troy.

However i will say this, and i said it before about the Villa.






Thank fuck for the wine induced comma that i am about to sink into.

white or red?

i personally like a refreshing glass of rose.

[richard moore]

Nothing to be too ashamed about, they just had more nous and physicality than us and they didn't deserve to win 2-0, We played some really nice football at times but were too wasteful with the final pass. They played almost no football,  as ever, but managed to do a Wimbledon (of whom they remind me so much) on us
 
One of those days that reminded me of a few years ago when we'd turn up away from home, play some lovely football for 20 minutes and not score and then fall to two sucker punches, never looking like we would get back into it. We sorely needed a physical centre forward today to hold the ball up and bring others into play
 
Positives:
 
Bannan - again looked very good
Pires - thought he knocked the ball around well when he came on
Clark - for the most part, looked very composed again, you can tell there is a really good player there
 
Negatives:
 
Ireland - looks as if he has already left to me
Hogg - don't think he will be good enough at this level
Warnock - brainless, time and time and time again he dives in. Also, I remembered today that we bought him as an attacking left back but how often does he ever do anything in that respect these days
Ashley - far too much 'look at me' and almost nothing productive
Gabby - looked a yard off it to me though he didn't really get any decent service

[sfx412]

We kicked long ball after long ball with no success.

Have you mixed the Blackburn strip up with ours ?

[jembob]

We were Allardyce'd. Very disappointed in the first half defensive performance and our most experienced players let us down by playing into Blackburn's normal tactics. If one of our players know how they go about playing it is Warnock and he was the worst of the lost. His petty revenge foul on Diouf was a trap he should have been aware about and the resulting free kick gave them the lead.

I am very frustrated by the whole game really and some players are trying too hard to be clever when the simple would suffice. Ash thinks that he has to take on the whole world on his own while Downing mostly forgot how to pass to one of his team mates. Bannan good again but we need much better movement than we had if we are to take advantage of our much improved passing game.

Today's result owed as much to falling into the Blackburn game plan as it did lacking of a focal point up front.

[richard moore]

Very very poor.

It's all very well trying to play your way out of defence but whats the point if we can't pass a ball? We simply don't keep it for more than 3 or 4 passes.

We must have the thickest defence in the league, i've never seen a defence give so many needless, stupid free kicks away around their own box. What makes it worse is we can't defend the ball when it comes in either.

Warnock needs replacing, he's a liability. Every game he gives silly free kicks away and he just isn't very good.

Friedel should have saved their first and i hope we go for Given in January.

Ireland is dire. I honestly think he doesn't want to be here playing for us.

I don't think Hogg is good enough, he's only playing because of injuries.

Dunne still looks overweight and clumsy.

Ashley Young continues to frustrate and fail to deliver. He's so overrated it's unreal.

Agbonlahor was anonymous, that may have been down to the service but he hasn't got the football brain to know when and where to run.

I'm afraid we're in a bit of a relegation fight, we're so easy to play against and beat away from home, we're so fragile and weak and get bullied and when you never win away theres only one half of the table you're going to be in. Arsenal at home and Liverpool away next aswell, nil points and we'll be right in amongst it. I've got a really bad feeling about the Blues game aswell, i think they'll bully us and our players could shit themselves in that atmosphere and pressure.

I am at one with you BCV, very close to my thoughts indeed...

[Blackcountry Villa]

Re: Injuries. The worst players were Friedel, Dunne, Warnock, Agbonlahor, A.Young, Ireland, all first teamers. Granted Collins would have strengthened the defence and Albrighton would have been better than Ireland but Carew doesn't want to be here, Sidwell is shit, Cuellar doesn't play, Heskey has had 5 good games in about 50, Petrov is a snail who slows everything down and offers zero going forward or in defence, NRC would have battled well.

It's all very well saying we've got lots of injuries but the fact is a lot of those out injured are shit and wouldn't have done any better, don't forget we had almost everyone fit at the start of the season and we still couldn't win away and got dicked 6-0 by an average Newcastle side.