Newton Heath LYR v Aston Villa Post-Match Thread

[Mazrim]

Yes, and we're after Moussa Sissoko in the summer too apparently.
He's a goner.

[Simon Ward]

We must play 4-4-2 no matter who the opposition, please listen Mr H!

[Simon Ward]

I would pick this team for next game.

                Friedel
   Walker Cuellar Collins Clark
   Bradley Makoun Reo Coker
Albrighton                       Downing
                   Bent

Swap NRC for Gabby and I think we have a winning team! 4-4-2 I say!

[Chris Smith]

We must play 4-4-2 no matter who the opposition, please listen Mr H!

There is no chance of that, we will be playing variations of 4-5-1, 4-3-3 in the majority of games. It's what he's been working towards all season and he's not going to abandon it now.

[WikiVilla]

Lets start with the positives

Bent scored again
Makoun solid (hope he isn't another square ball merchant mind)
Downing, Ash & Albrighton all lively
Friedel great game

Negatives
Defence were shocking
Petrov was poor + petulance when subbed
It could easily have been 6 or 7

[PaulTheVillan]

I can see why they're top of the league. It's not the end of the world. Lets move onto Fulham at home & get back to winning ways.

Thought Makoun & Friedel were very good tonight.

I'm really bored of watching NRC & Petrov play for us. The quicker Makoun & Delph/Bradley/Bannan get games together the better.

[john e]

always been a big fan of Petrov, and think he is underestimated in the team sometimes, we notice it when he doesnt play.

however his time is coming to an end, in the sense that he will not be a first team starter for most games,
 we have now got better and younger replacements, the team is shaping up and heading in the right direction.

when we play those little cute triangles that seem to lead to nowhere,
 remember thats called keeping possesion of the ball, something Villa teams for ages have not being able to do,

we created some decent chances last night, and also played some good football, Man Utd were the better side, but then they are top and so far unbeaten, but they had to play well to beat us,
 they have played crap for most of the year and still won,
but last night Rooney, Nani etc uped their game,
i'd like to think they had to.

positives last night for me were-
Makoun, looked very composed, didnt give the ball away many times

Bent, scored again, good for his confidence

played a good style of football, loved to see us keeping the ball for long periods at OT,

Negatives,

final ball in the danger areas

Downing, sorry i just dont get him

Dunne, massive mistake for the first goal, schoolboy defending, although did go on to make some good tackles later on,
 but the damage had been dunne [see what i did there]

MOM for Villa - Makoun 
MOM for Man Utd Nani [even though he's a cheating git]

[eastie]

Houllier is a huge advocate of the 4-3-3 system and when defending that can become 4-5-1, the days of 4-4-2 are gone and I'm happy with the new system, players will take a while to adjust their games but in the long run we will see the benefit.

[Mazrim]

He's not going to drop Young. Even if he deserves it.
He was our best player against Wigan.

In that team I'd swap Reo Coker for Delph or Bannan.
And probably Young for Downing on THE LEFT!

Dunne had a poor game but then he does every so often, even when in form. I'm not sure I'd be dropping him just yet.

[eastie]

What is pleasing to is we now have a really strong bench , although I think gabby will find it hard to get a regular place in the team, with heskey, bannan , cuellar , reo- coker as well it looks solid and the squad is beginning to look higher in quality.

[The Man With A Stick]

Just noticed on Sissoko's Wikipedia page that he was born in Le Blanc-Mesnil, which rung a bell because its twinned with Sandwell, West Midlands!  That must be a major draw for him, surely...

[achilles]

With Makoun and Bradley coming in and Delph and Bannan knocking on the door of the first team, I think we all know Petrov's days are probably numbered at the villa.

I am all for that!

[PaulTheVillan]

Dunne wasn't too bad. I thought he dealt well with Berbatov & did a couple of good tackles especially in the 2nd half.

Walker still looks a bit sloppy with the ball when defending and under pressure, sometimes he just needs to twat it down the pitch instead of trying something clever.

[pablopicasso_10]

The thing about the likes of NRC, Dunne, Petrov etc. They are what remains of the previous regime, and I don't think they'll be part of Houllier's Villa after the summer. They've served their purpose, but they're just not good enough for the next stage. The kids, plus players like Bradley and Makoun are the future, and I'd expect a good number of MON's players (even Ash if the right bid comes in) to be gone by August.

this is how i see it... houlliers recruites so far look very positive, and are being let down by some of o'neills expensive dross...

which for me, is a huge positive for the future, as if more players like bent and makoun come in, then we will improve, both in terms of the attractiveness of the football, and results... result against manure aside, im very positive...

simple fact is, we were beaten by the better side, and tbh, when their strikerforce cost them over 60 million, its hardly surprising, and certainly no shame in losing to them, but still competing for long periods... timing of the goals hit us, but thats what happens when certain players make the basic mistakes...

onwards and upwards!

[Brend'Watkins]

Lets start with the positives

Bent scored again
Makoun solid (hope he isn't another square ball merchant mind)
Downing, Ash & Albrighton all lively
Friedel great game

Negatives
Defence were shocking
Petrov was poor + petulance when subbed
It could easily have been 6 or 7

6 or 7?

I think we got unlucky in that Rooney for the majority of the game was back to his best.  The score line was about right  but we would have given ourselves a much better chance if we'd been on our toes from the first minute.