Sunderland v Aston Villa Post-Match Thread

[mr woo]

Of course you can make a comparison in terms of whether the chance missed was a good save or a poor finish. And that was a poor finish by any international strikers standards. And I didn't say Shearer had never fluffed a few - everyone fucks up from time to time - but he'd have buried that one yesterday 99 times out of a hundred. Our  Daz is about 50/50 in finding the net from what I can see.

OK give me some stats. Darren has played for  Charlton, Spurs, Sunderland and us in the same era as Drogba and Rooney have played for Chelsea and Manure. In this period Chelsea and Manu have dominated  oppositions so it is natural that these two will score heavily and the teams  Darren has played have been average at best. So how does he compare with them?

Stats are at http://www.premierleague.com if you want to sift through them. Rooney and Bent have a very similar shots on target ratio but as I suggested earlier Darren rarely shoots from further than 12 yards out whereas Rooney will take free kicks etc so its not a fair comparison. Are you really trying to suggest Rooney only looks good because he plays in a top side? Really?

[Eigentor]

It's impossible to know for sure, but it's not improbable that the main reason for Bent's lack of goals this season is that Young and Downing are gone, and that, at best, he is yet to develop the same kind of understanding with their replacements N'Zogbia and Heskey.

More likely, N'Zogbia and Heskey represent a serious downgrade from Young and Downing.

[Chris Smith]

It's impossible to know for sure, but it's not improbable that the main reason for Bent's lack of goals this season is that Young and Downing are gone, and that, at best, he is yet to develop the same kind of understanding with their replacements N'Zogbia and Heskey.

More likely, N'Zogbia and Heskey represent a serious downgrade from Young and Downing.

The whole side have had to find a different way of playing with the loss of those two. Most of us assumed that Albrighton would replace one of them but he's played himself out of contention. N'Zogbia started to look a player yesterday. Let us hope that's the sign of things to come.

The whole creative thrust of our side was ripped out in one go and it is little surprise that it's taking a while to gel. He's been scratching around for the right balance and has tried several different combinations but none have, as yet, been 100% successful. He's also been unlucky in that Jenas has been injured since he signed. There's no guarantee that he'll solve the problem but we should at least wait until he's played a few games before deciding that he won't.

[mozza]

AM reckons 'there's more to come' from this set of players, which implies to me same selection & tactics - oh dear no !!

Another comment from the manager suggested he was 'baffled' by the decision of the referee not to award free kick in favour of
N'Zogbia in lead up to the first equaliser ...............a word that perfectly sums up my thoughts on the selection of Ivanhoe in midfield - oh I forgot he is 'our Beckenbauer'

Would have taken a point before the match but to throw two away by such inept defending of a set piece yet again beggars the question what do the team do at Bodymoor Heath all week ?           

[olaftab]

Are you really trying to suggest Rooney only looks good because he plays in a top side? Really?

No I am not. Rooney is world class  footballer  where as Darren is a goal scorer and as such he is as prolific as Drogba and Rooney. You must remember despite Dogba and Rooney's other attributes their prime  job is still to score goals. I am therefore contesting your assertion that as a goal scorer he is  much worse that Linekar and Shearer which he is not. Having said that I am not a Bent  admirer  never have been but  he is the best  scorer we have had for a long time now.  For Bent to score he needs his team to dominate and create chances. Without that he is no more  of use than a lamp post on the pitch.

[Dave Clark Five]

I think we need to let N'Zogbia take some free kicks around the edge of the box. He has a good record with these and scoring would boost his confidence and hopefully improve his overall game.

[KRS]

the main reason for Bent's lack of goals this season is that Young and Downing are gone, and that, at best, he is yet to develop the same kind of understanding with their replacements N'Zogbia and Heskey.

Its more simplistic than that I'm afraid. The main reason why he isnt scoring many goals is simply because we arent creating as many chances regardless of the names on the timesheet. You cant score goals if you're not creating goal scoring opportunies.

Bent had great chances and should have scored against both Baggies and Sunderland (I'd quite easily have tucked them away myself!), but without knowing his stats, I would say he's probably a 1 in 3 striker (3 chances to score 1 goal). If he's only getting one decent chance per game then he's more likely to miss than score.

[frankmosswasmyuncle]

Emile Heskey. Why?

This.

Get rid asap along with Beye and Ireland if we're not going to give him a run, which seems unlikely.
Then spend the dosh on somebody half decent in Centre Midfield.
Any suggestions who that somebody could be?

[levico]

So where are we going with this format?

We win the very occasional game - we draw most games - we lose the occasional game.

Conclusion - likely to be around the bottom 5 come March.

[Shrek]

This is now reality.

[hawkeye]

The same frailties that affected us last season are coming to the fore again.I would be less worried if I thought that our team had more fight than those that are allready down the bottom of the league. We are in the mx with 10 other teams that will strugle this season. Our results against WBA wolves Swansea Wigan Bolton Sunderland QPR BBurn Norwich Fulham will define our season i think that is 13 games and we probably need to win 8 of them only 6 are at home, its not looking great

[Simon Ward]

The defending for the second Sunderland goal was poor but from the highlights I saw we seemed to play ok! We can't allow the defence to keep letting us down however.

[Greg N'Ash]

The whole thing is frustrating really. We need a top midfielder - no money. We need a good few defenders - no money. Welcome to the world of a Wigan fan.....

[JJ-AV]

I don't rate McLeish, and I wish we hadn't have appointed him - but I think he's doing a decent job (even if we're dull and the football is awful) in terms of results.

We really should have 2 away wins now - we don't, but we're talking silly goals right at the death. Once the team begins to gel more we should be OK and we'd be on 14 points from 10 games and a pretty decent start overall.

I don't want him here, but I reckon we've a pretty decent chance of finishing 7th or 8th this season.

[Concrete John]

I don't rate McLeish, and I wish we hadn't have appointed him - but I think he's doing a decent job (even if we're dull and the football is awful) in terms of results.

We really should have 2 away wins now - we don't, but we're talking silly goals right at the death. Once the team begins to gel more we should be OK and we'd be on 14 points from 10 games and a pretty decent start overall.

I don't want him here, but I reckon we've a pretty decent chance of finishing 7th or 8th this season.

Pretty much as I see it.

I think we've seen enough to be relatively optomistic of a top half finish somewhere.  If we can sort out the silly defensive errors, mainly from set pieces, I think we'll see more from N'Zogbia, Albrighton and Jenas between now and May to be able to finish 'best or the rest'.  The top six are definately better than us, but I'm not convinced anyone else is!