Aston Villa v Fulham Post-Match Thread

[Blackcountry Villa]

That was garbage. Tippy tappy football at times but we don't create anything, we scored from an own goal and a long range effort and didn't create much more. We were the home side against Fulham, where was the sustained periods of pressure? Where were the efforts on goal testing their keeper?

Friedel is past it, a half decent display at Man Utd doesn't paper over the cracks. He's been a great keeper for years but not for us, he's just too old now. Add the two goals today to the list of goals he's cost us this season.

Our defence isn't good enough. Collins and Dunne are still error prone and clumsy and Clark isn't a left back.

Petrov should be dropped and never seen again, imo he's always offered very little and has been a poor captain but his legs have well and truly gone, he is so slow. He turns like an oil tanker and can only pass backwards.

Ashley Young was shit, like he always is and has been for ages now. So so overrated, i hope we sell him in the summer.

Agbonlahor is piss poor. I don't buy that he's playing poorly because he's out of position, he's a professional footballer and it's not as if he's playing left back. The problem is he hasn't got a footballing brain and has no clue how to play the position he's in, and he's shit up front let alone on the wing.

If Petrov and Agbonlahor start next week i'll be very annoyed.

[johncvilla88]

let's hope west ham and blues draw tomorrow.

Always want blues to loose hope west ham do it! Think Wigan will go down in place of them.

[Tom_Mc9?]

Not that we will, but on balance we deserve to go down.

Nonsense. The three teams that come in the bottom three will deserve to go down and none of them will be us.

[TonyD]

After some decent games and promising signings we have returned to being predictable and unconvincing.    GH is quick enough to publically criticise players.  He might want to tell the public why:

•   He plays AY and Gabby in wrong positions.  I really feel for Gabby it is like watching a career car crash in slow motion.   GH is determined to mothball him like a Harrier Jump Jet. I will never forgive him if he destroys Gabby career with the Villa.
•   Why when it is obvious that the team is not producing the chances it takes 82 minutes to make a change?
•   We need to score a goal and we bring on EH?   Fulham really shit it at that masterstroke.
•   Why he plays Petrov when there are alternatives?
•   Why the crossing coach hasn’t been sacked?
•   Where is Bannan?

GH is starting is to get on my tits again.

Well  done to Walker and Makoun, good games.

[bob]

I would love, just once in a while, a routine 2-0 win.

That's not very Aston Villa is it?

It's the football equivalent of coming home from work and finding your dinner on the table, and your socks all washed and paired and put away.

It never happens so it becomes the Holy Grail

I don't want to eat the instant I walk through the door anyway.

[Toronto Villa]

I think GH is moving to a 4-3-2-1 system with Gabby and Young meant to be tucked either side of Bent. It's not working that well just yet, and if it doesn't I'd expect GH to get in players that it will work with. If that means the departure of Ash then that's what it will be. Maybe Bradley can play in that role, or if not just behind it.

To add: The system will require two speedy full backs, which is why I think Clark at LB is temporary until he takes one of the permanent CB spots.

-------------------------------------New Keeper-------------------------------

-----Walker-----------------New CB---------------Clark-----New LB------

---------------Albrighton----------Makoun---------Bradley---------

-------------------------Young/or better----Gabby/or better----------

-------------------------------------Bent-------------------------

[ez]

I'm gutted that after the new signings we're still not very good

[Somniloquism]

We never looked like winning, Fulham were always the better side on the ball and going forward, if anything we were lucky to come away with a point.
Sorry Houllier I see no point in a system that completely nullifies our 3 strikers. Why not play Bent on his own and replace Young and Gabby with midfield players like Bannan and Coker at least they would contribute to the game.
Awful tactics, and a waste of 2 points.
Friedel was abysmal apart from one save but the midfield was over run because Petrov and Makoun were often outnumbered.
Makoun, despite his one touch football, doesn't cover players he covers spaces and he gives the ball away at the wrong time. Still looks impressive, as did Petrov until he tired, but there was always one or two extra players in white.
They score 2 well engineered goals we scored 2 lucky ones, albeit a nice shot from Walker that 9/10 times would have gone wide.
You don't win matches if you don't give your strikers chances and today we didn't get enough balls into the danger area and created little else. Downing ran and ran but then ran out of ideas and then what happens we pass the ball back to Friedel and he kicks it up for it to come back, where is the player to hold the ball, to create the killing pass. Why are Bent and Gabby not played as twin strikers, as it stood neither contributed.

We need to pick up 3 points at home to survive, those tactics won't achieve them.

I obviously didn't see the game but the Beeb and the guys on here seem to believe that their first was a long range shot that should have been held but was parried to Johnson and their second was only a goal because Friedal came out and didn't claim the ball ahead of the striker. Certainly well worked goals.

[TonyD]

Looking at the table we are still not out of the mire yet.  More performaces like that and it is going to get snug down there.

[damon loves JT]

I'm gutted that after the new signings we're still not very good

I think this the reality that some of us will struggle with for a while. Just signing players doesn't get you three points. You still have to win.

The optimism is a good thing but at 1-0 and 2-1 today we should have cashed some of it in.

[TheSandman]

We failed to hurt them despite lots of possession.

Makoun needs to get used to the league and then will be some player when he does. He isn't 100% there at the moment and some people need to realise that you need time to get used to a new league. Another couple of games and he should be there. Add that to Bradley and Bannan and we have a sweet midfield. These three have the potential to be considerably better than Petrov or NRC.

Our problems lie firmly with a lack of incisiveness or true flair. Plus ca change. We have players who just simply don't deliver in that sense. Gabby is not performing and does not deserve to be getting into the team. Ashley Young is not delivering in the hole and as such I would like to see him or maybe Downing dropped. I hope Bannan can come into the central midfield to replace either of these players and give us something they cannot.

Playing three wingers doesn't work. Why the fuck do we persist with it?

[The Situation]

Pathetic.

Worrying that we've failed to finish off Fulham twice this season and yet again when we've had the golden oppotunity to go into the top half of the table being 7 points clear of the relegation zone we've completely bottled it and now will put oursleves under more pressure to get a result next week.

We're still in a very dangerous position, all it needs is a couple of defeats to some not very good teams and we could be back down there scrapping again. None of us want to see us back in that position - it's too scary.

If we lose against Blackpool then I'll start to be feeling very nervous again.

A win for either West Ham or Blose and even Wolves drags us back down there again. All it needed today was a win so we could start to breathe easier.

[luke25]

Just got in the car, bloody pissed off with that, we played some lovely stuff up until we scored, then we went into negative mode and stunk the place out, midfield was way to open, we let Sidwell have shot after shot, fair enough he's shit but the one thing he does have is a powerful shot, Friedel was terrible for both goals, a position we now need to look to replace, Downing was fantastic in the first half but woeful in the second but my biggest criticism is for Petrov, he offers us fuck all, his first thought is to always pass the ball backwards, he slows down all our attacks, just really pissed off with that performance, Walkers goal was brilliant as a plus

[richard moore]

Richard, please, stop putting ''....'' at the end of all of your posts! I enjoy reading them but there's no need to try and give them extra gravitas!

Anyway, yeah, we're still fairly mediocre aren't we? Disappointing to be honest, so little guile and craft.
Had to be Sidwell and Johnson to come up with the goods for them didn't it?

I will eammon if you also stop asking questions. You need to make your own mind up...     ;-)

[eastie]

16 points dropped this season after taking the lead in games- very very poor goalkeeping from friedal, and a disappointing result to boot.

Downing was star man , but not the best of games today from Clark, really frustrating to throw another 2 points away and I look forward to seeing Bradley make his debut in another huge game at Blackpool- onwards and upwards- it really is very tight in the premiership and so much to play for .