Newton Heath LYR v Aston Villa Post-Match Thread

[Chris Smith]

We had a decent go at them but were beaten by a top class side finding their best form. There's bound to be the usual nonsensical over reaction but I think there's plenty to positive about.

Makoun looks the business to me.

[glasses]

Far too comfortable for them.  This 4-5-1 thing just doesn't work, and hasn't worked all season.  Can we try something else please?  Oh and Dunne is back to his fat, shit worst after a brief respite.

Only at fault for one of the goals, and put a great tackle in on Rooney in the second half. Think thats a bit harsh.

Should have conceded a penalty, fell on his fat arse whilst trying to do god knows what. He's a liabilty.

A few others had bad games too. To single him out, is harsh.

[Villa'Zawg]

3-1 and Friedel was man of the match.

We did some nice be ineffective things.

Man Utd at hoome do that kind of thing to most teams, let's see what happens now we have our "easy" run of games.

[Banganappa]

Disappointing but a few positives; Makoun - excellent, Bent - Goal, Big Brad, movement and passing promising.

Negatives, shabby defending again, Young busy but ineffective and Petrov.... Petrov is like a shopping trolley with a wonkey wheel. You push it forwards then it veers left and then backwards. You then realise it's completely useless and it's best to leave it in the multi storey.

[Warren Aspinall]

I thought we played ok at times but they're a far better team than us & it showed. We're a team in transition & to get anything there you need to be at the top of your game.

Positives.... Makoun looked comfortable & it looks like there is a good player in him when he settles in properly.
                   Bent, one chance one goal
                   2-0 down at half time & we never gave up.

Negatives..... Petrov, too slow, past it, sell in the summer.
                     Not picking up the second ball enough.

[pr_N'villa]

3-1 and Friedel was man of the match.

We did some nice be ineffective things.

Man Utd at hoome do that kind of thing to most teams, let's see what happens now we have our "easy" run of games.

i dont want to put a downer on our next run of games but dont we normally struggle against this sort of opposition?

[Chris Jameson]

Am I the only one who thought Downing did well tonight?

Think I posted at the same time, he appears to be the latest boo boy who can do no right, I too thought he played well.

[The Togolese Zidane]

Would anyone have preferred us to play as we would have done against Man Utd under O'Neill?

[pr_N'villa]

Am I the only one who thought Downing did well tonight?

Think I posted at the same time, he appears to be the latest boo boy who can do no right, I too thought he played well.

i thought so too, better than young and albrighton

[BedsVillain]

Makoun looked great, needs to have someone just as quick thinking him, besides him. Lets hope Bradley turns out to be that player.

Have to agree with some posters on the match thread, that maybe Ashley is more hinderence then help. If people are still talking £18m + in the summer then cash in. I'm sure there are plenty of tricky wingers in GH's little black book, that would love to come and prove themselves in the Prem.

[eastie]

We gave it a good go against a top top team, early goal
was costly but we battled hard and plenty of nice passing and spirit and heart in the team, nice goal for benty- very impressed with makoun - now 11 games in a row against teams from outside the top 7.

Plenty of positives - bring on fulham!

[eamonn]

Only caught bits due to the dodgy stream. A pity that we didn't start to have a real go until we went two down. Makoun looks great with the ball, hopefully Bradley can add a bit more grit. By all accounts he can, plus not afraid to shoot. Jean II will always look to give the ball and move into space so that pairing is an intriuguing prospect.

Obviously you never want to concede but they killed us with the timing of their goals. A fair bit of luck with the deflection for Vidic's one that killed us off.
And what a difference having Bent as opposed to Carew makes. Holding the ball up, spotting the right pass, making the right runs and most importantly of all scoring when he has half a chance.

Fulham is really big now. They'll be up for it after their result over Spurs (not sure who they have tomorrow) and Hughes tends to do well against us. We owe them for their last second equaliser in November.

[ozzjim]

We had a decent go at them but were beaten by a top class side finding their best form. There's bound to be the usual nonsensical over reaction but I think there's plenty to positive about.

Makoun looks the business to me.

Spot on. All the 4-5-1 doesn't work crap annoys me too. We were fecking horrible to watch playing 4-4-2 for the last 2 years, and got some lucky, some deserved and some just attritional results.

Calling for Bannan - why damage his confidence after 90 minutes at the weekend, away at Old Trafford? Horses for courses so to speak, but thought we did ok, and the 4-5-1 is a work in progress that will take a while to settle and become something we are comfortable with. We will be fine, and we are moving in the right direction. It was predictable that some would be doom and glooming tonight.

[paul_e]

Agree, petrov was the weakest player on the pitch by quite a distance, he just doesn't have the mobility to play in the middle in such a competitive league, would be fine in a slower league but we really should cash in in the summer and build a side around 2 from makoun, delph, bannan and bradley (or a new guy if bradley doesn't prove as good as I think) as the central pairing.

Albrighton isn't a left winger, young isn't a forward and downing isn't a right winger, if we're going to play them together it has to be: young left, downing central and albrighton right.

[TheSandman]

Makoun looked pretty good. Would like to see him play with Bradley and Bannan (and I don't mean the bloke from EastEnders who looked like our CEO!) which would be a great middle three.

We just need to pick the right front three.