Newton Heath LYR v Aston Villa Post-Match Thread

[BannedUserIAT]

You can't put a spineless Downing in front of a right back who can't defend. Especially if Cuellar isn't there to cover.

Young needs to learn how to get a corner kick past the first man, needs to understand that every free kick he takes goes over the bar - I actually fast forwarded thru this as I knew where it was going to end up. He needs to learn that releasing the ball sooner is much much better than running at three opposition players and losing the ball.

Fuck I can't stand him!! There, I said it.
 

[VillaZogmariner]

Not read the thread, so not sure if it's been mentioned yet.

Makoun - 94 attempted passes - 85 complete.

When was the last time we had a player do something similar to that?

(The stats for the team - 565 attempted passes, 453 completed. Man Utd was 446, 342 respectively)

[Holtenderinthesky]

Not read the thread, so not sure if it's been mentioned yet.

Makoun - 94 attempted passes - 85 complete.

When was the last time we had a player do something similar to that?

(The stats for the team - 565 attempted passes, 453 completed. Man Utd was 446, 342 respectively)

As a  midfielder and looking at the team stats you posted, aren't his stats just average for his position?   

The teams pass completion was roughly 80%.   Makouns was slightly better at about 90%, which is good but he is a centre mid and so he should be better than the average player in the team as it is one of a midfielder's key attributes.  Then, he made roughly 20% of the teams attempted passes but again, in his position is that not normal?  I genuinely don't know.  I am not knocking him, I thought he was great, just not sure about the stats.   

[WALTERS WARRIORS]

Not read the thread, so not sure if it's been mentioned yet.

Makoun - 94 attempted passes - 85 complete.

When was the last time we had a player do something similar to that?

(The stats for the team - 565 attempted passes, 453 completed. Man Utd was 446, 342 respectively)

As a  midfielder and looking at the team stats you posted, aren't his stats just average for his position?   

The teams pass completion was roughly 80%.   Makouns was slightly better at about 90%, which is good but he is a centre mid and so he should be better than the average player in the team as it is one of a midfielder's key attributes.  Then, he made roughly 20% of the teams attempted passes but again, in his position is that not normal?  I genuinely don't know.  I am not knocking him, I thought he was great, just not sure about the stats.   

Are you saying that you are questioning Makoun`s 90% passing succces rate. Because that is "normal" for a midfielder ?? Really not sure if you are joking or incredibly naive. I would love to see those statistics for Sidwell or Reo Coker. I would put money on it that neither one of them has those stats since they joined Villa. Makoun was superb and with Bradley next to him i am very excited ....... 

[ROBBO]

Our final third was the problem, we broke at pace then instead af running at defenders start passing backwards Ash is probably the biggest offender. He shoud stay out wide and forget about being a midfielder, the one time we broke and got it in early we scored. We now have a natural goalscorer in the side we have to get the ball in early to him.

[VillaZogmariner]

v Man Utd

Makoun 94 (85)
Dunne 62 (50)
Walker 58 (50)
Downing 54 (40)
Young 52 (36)
Petrov 45 (42)
Clark 45 (39)
Collins 44 (33)
Friedel 38 (22)
Albrighton 25 (16)
Bent 23 (19)
Heskey 12 (11)
Agbonlahor 9 (6)
Reo-Coker 4 (4)

The highest Man Utd player's stat - Giggs 61 (38)

Also the most passing stats for the previous 10 league games

Wigan - Downing 60 (43)
Man City - Downing 49 (38)
Birmingham - Walker 60 (37)
Sunderland - Cuellar 59 (43)
Chelsea - Clark 47 (30)
Man City - Downing 70 (48)
Tottenham - Warnock 70 (42)
WBA - Lichj (49) 28
Liverpool - Warnock 79 (64)
Arsenal - L. Young 57 (44)

So I'd say that what Makoun did with the ball against Man Utd is a bit above average! Especially considering that there isn't a centre midfielder that comes top in any of them games (Delph is the closest).

Oh, and Arsenal who for some reason are known as the best passing team in the league, their stats for the game against Everton -

Team - 521 (429)
Sagna - 63 (57)
Fabregas - 60 (44)

All stats courtesy of Guardian Chalkboard. (I am turning into Villadawg - next week I'll tackle the wage issue!)

[SteveD]

Any stats about crosses/passes delivered into danger areas? That's clearly our weak point at the moment. We're keeping possession better, it's looking pretty and more aesthetically pleasing in the middle of the park and I like the look of Makoun as a different style of player than we're used to. But Downing, Allbrighton and Young have to deliver more consistently. A reminder, we actually won here - for a change - last season but were never going to tonight.

[eamonn]

In fairness to Petrov he rarely gives the ball away. But most of his passes are slow and measured - sideways or backwards around the centre circle. With the occasional fantastic hooked ball across to the wing.

Makoun is much less laboured, he always seems to be thinking one move ahead, and a lot of his passes are played in the final third.

[ozzjim]

I am excited about Bradley in there with Makoun, and Delph. I think it is clear from the post match interview from Gerard that he liked that we kept the ball well and passed a lot more, but was not happy that we did not try and penetrate enough with it. Work in progress, but from the stat of simply keeping possession at Old Trafford and not being always under the hammer, we did a lot better.

[Nev]

As defeats go at the biggest tourist destination in the North west, I didn't think it was that bad. Plenty of positives to take from the game but considering our last performance in that city, a definate improvement.

Still not sure about one up/one off, Downing or the central defensive partnership but was impressed with the managers reaction to the captains reaction at being replaced. He could've fudged it but was quite clear with his criticism.

I get the feeling that much like Carew, Petrov is an O'Neil player whose time is drawing to a close

[Somniloquism]

Any stats about crosses/passes delivered into danger areas? That's clearly our weak point at the moment. We're keeping possession better, it's looking pretty and more aesthetically pleasing in the middle of the park and I like the look of Makoun as a different style of player than we're used to. But Downing, Allbrighton and Young have to deliver more consistently. A reminder, we actually won here - for a change - last season but were never going to tonight.

Whilst not denigrating the win last seaon, we got it through dogged defending and poor Manure finishing, very similar to the way we played against Citeh the other week. Any chance of a repeat of that was dashed at 58 seconds which allowed them to sit back and absorb our chances first half. If we had gone in only one down and we went for it in the second half we might have got something but that was also not the case.

[rutski]

In fairness to Petrov he rarely gives the ball away. But most of his passes are slow and measured - sideways or backwards around the centre circle. With the occasional fantastic hooked ball across to the wing.

Makoun is much less laboured, he always seems to be thinking one move ahead, and a lot of his passes are played in the final third.

i dont think makoun hardly played a ball in the final third, he did have a cracking game, petrov wasnt that bad either, the seeds are being sown on our team to have aright go and play progressive exciting football! little more positive in delivery of final ball and we could have done more than upset them last night, ie, ash's shot which hit bar and was that a pen and sending off when bent brought down by evra?

[VillaZogmariner]

Forgive the ignorance - but what was Petrov's reaction to getting subbed and what has GH said about it?

[damon loves JT]

He shook his head a bit, and Gerard tutted and rolled his eyes. It was like World War III

[Chris Smith]

Forgive the ignorance - but what was Petrov's reaction to getting subbed and what has GH said about it?

A lot of head shaking as soon as his number was held up which continued as he walked off the pitch but haven't heard what has been said subsequently. Not a major strop or anything like that but equally not a good example for the captain to set.