Aston Villa v Everton Post-Match Thread

[brian green]

Just got home from the game.   A totally drab game.   Steven Ireland was head and shoulders our best player.   Marc Albrighton never has a normal game.   He is either very good or very bad and today he was the latter.   His crosses and corners were barely non league standard.   Dunne, Collins, Hutton and Warnock with their collective lack of speed and nous are the root cause of our laboured lumberings.   Clark is no midfielder.

The big message which came across to me is lack of momentum.   When we have a period of dominance like we did when we scored in the second half we seem to regard it as job done and fail to sustain the pressure and go for the killer second and third goals.

We also lack momentum going forward.   We constantly dash forward on a break only to stop at the gain line and pass the ball sideways across the pitch or backwards.   The popular description of this failing is called "being patient" but it can only be being patient if the players have the speed and guile and technique to break forward at speed from a cross field pass but we do not have players of that calibre so all the territorial advantage of a quick break is lost when players bottle out of taking the opposition on.

We lose momentum and are put back on the back foot where our slow and accident prone defence struggles to regain possession.   Another bad day at VP.

[Villanation]

Cuellar does'nt really offer anything going foward.

  The problem today was in the 1st half he played Ireland on the left, and Gabby down the middle.Clark and Petrov played deeper, but did'nt move the ball quick enough to the more creative players.Then , fair play to McL , he swapped Ireland and Gabby and it worked better.Petrov and Clark were still too slow with the ball, and too deep, but at least Ireland was getting on the ball more.

 2nd half, we had more of the ball, but the final ball was generally quite poor.Then we scored, and for 10/15 mins looked a good team, but Gabby and Bents movement off the ball was quite poor, so we did'nt get that much needed 2nd goal.Then Warnock gave his customary goal away, and the confidence of the team deteriorated and we was hanging on.

  Yet again booing at H/T why?

 

Obviously you where at the game.

Did you find that when Everton doubled up in wide positions pulling our fullbacks all over the place, nobody went wide to help out the FB leaving them exposed, I noticed that from on screen and I've noticed that in previous games, poor defensive cover that is, such basic stuff, that said its not always that clear on screen as when your at the game and you can see the full width of the field.

[SoccerHQ]

I'm in a minority but I don't rate Felliani that much.

He'd cost 15m anyway.

[Villanation]

I'm in a minority but I don't rate Felliani that much.

He'd cost 15m anyway.

Looks a very confident composed player to me.

[luke25]

I'm in a minority but I don't rate Felliani that much.

He'd cost 15m anyway.

Phew, I thought I had watched a different match to the majority as he was as gash as ever, in my opinion.

[gervilla]

I'm in a minority but I don't rate Felliani that much.

He'd cost 15m anyway.

Phew, I thought I had watched a different match to the majority as he was as gash as ever, in my opinion.

I thought he did a good job for them today,mopped up well in midfield, composed and strong on the ball.

[Jimsta]

Why is everyone blaming Warnock for the goal, It was Albrighton fault for not tracking back or giving up trying to con the linesman he was offside.

[olaftab]

Talking about players who have gone down hill I can't believe how  poor Tim Cahill is now days.

[WALTERS WARRIORS]

It was Albrightons fault. He ran out of steam and tried to play Anchibe off side with Dunne still behind him. But i agree that Hutton and Warnock are both accidents waiting to happen. Warnocks header back to Given was unbelievable. Keane could not believe when he come on that no one was looking to recieve the ball and held his hands up in disbelief. Baker, Lichaj , Herd , any one of them would stabalise the back and help the forwards ......

[Rudy Can't Fail]

The big message which came across to me is lack of momentum.   When we have a period of dominance like we did when we scored in the second half we seem to regard it as job done and fail to sustain the pressure and go for the killer second and third goals.

We also lack momentum going forward.   We constantly dash forward on a break only to stop at the gain line and pass the ball sideways across the pitch or backwards.   The popular description of this failing is called "being patient" but it can only be being patient if the players have the speed and guile and technique to break forward at speed from a cross field pass but we do not have players of that calibre so all the territorial advantage of a quick break is lost when players bottle out of taking the opposition on.

We lose momentum and are put back on the back foot where our slow and accident prone defence struggles to regain possession.   Another bad day at VP.

I said something similar today, Brian, having Petrov and Clark playing so deep, nobody wanting the ball, we really failed to take advantage of what was a delightful spell of football. The players don't trust each others ability, nevermind their own. Everybody looking for the safest of safe passes, which normallt ends up going back. We're shot of confidence.

[gervilla]

Albrighton is to blame. He should get a good kick in the stones for what he did for the goal, lazy defending. Thankfully Stephen Ireland has finally started to show up for our games. He was easily our best player today ( Ya, I know). Another few performances like his recent ones and maybe we can say that his rehabilitation is complete.

[creeves]

Just got back.

The word 'mediocre' was invented for both teams but I understand we are in a period of transition/have perennially sold our best players etc etc so I should just stop complaining and get on with supporting the team. Yes, we tried and put in a lot of effort today (much better than Swansea/Liverpool etc), but the general quality of our play is truly appalling. I love the way we can seem to break backwards when we get an opportunity to push forward, they must practice it in training. It seems to be all about confidence, as just after we scored we looked great for about 10 minutes and passed the ball about really well and looked like a different team. We are unbelievably fragile mentally, which suggests a lack of inspiration, belief and leadership on the pitch and from the manager to convince the team to express themselves at 0-0. Then again, if I was playing with Warnock and Hutton, I'm not sure if I would be brimming with confidence either. If circa 31000 in the ground can see how inept our fullbacks are, surely their team mates must realise it too but we are all stuck with them for the time being.

Given (7.5) - a couple of excellent saves which kept us in it in the first half. Suspect distribution on occasion, a bit prone to try and hoof (unlike Howard who must get an assist for their goal with that awesome throw).
Warncock (4) tries hard and can't fault him for effort but would struggle to get into a league 1 team on current form. Cannot even get the basics right. Needs replacing. Quickly.
Dunne (7) Steady and solid imo, concentrated for 94 minutes. Still not convinced either short or medium term.
Collins (5) From where I was sitting (in the Holte) it appeared one of the Everton players just ran past him unchallenged in the build up for their goal? I don't know why he bothers to go up for corners only to head it to the same spot (in row Z) that Ash used to when taking free kicks. Hopefully Hughes or O'Neill will take him before then month is out to free up some wages.
Hutton (5) Marginally better than Warnock but Championship level at best imo. Again, can't fault his effort. He is just a limited footballer who tries his best.
Petrov (5) Been excellent recently, today he was poor. Needs to drive forward, inspire, be a captain and look for an incisive pass rather than backwards and sideways (his team mates don't help with their lack of movement which restricts his options)
Ireland (7.5) Excellent in flashes. Lots of effort and chasing back, he is listening to whatever the coaches are telling him. Looked up for it and some nice touches and can see a pass. Holte singing his name was a nice touch, as was his applause back. Justifiably MOM.
Clark (6) Again, been excellent of late but I thought he was poor today (Fellaini ran the midfield)
Albrighton (5) Decent effort and enthusiasm but no end product. Abysmal crossing. Hit first man too many times when we had 2 or 3 in the box in good positions. Did not beat a man all game. Weak.
Gabby (7) Decent game for me. The way he can hold the ball up, use his strength, turn and delivery a quality ball in the box. He is not a winger but has a decent go at it when asked to do so. Should have tested Neville more in the second half as he was on a yellow but he faded. Must long for Laursen, Ash, Milner, (early) Carew and Barry.
Bent (6.5) He is not a footballer. Offered nothing other than the goal, for which yes, he deserves credit as no-one else really looked like scoring and we would have lost 0-1 without his goal. Can't hold the ball up or win a header. Akin to playing with 10 men for 90% of the game. Catch 22. We sacrifice a player who can contribute to the team's general play to afford someone who can put it in the net.

McLeish (6) Set up with two holding midfielders at home? It was like O'Neill all over again waiting for the subs. Keane should have been on after 60 minutes. Should have given Zog a go to replace Albrighton after 70 minutes too. What does Cuellar have to do to get a start?

I will carry on supporting and hope we can improve but I am really struggling to fight off the apathy....

Next year's season ticket is in the balance. They have 17 games left to inspire me to part with £600 come May or June.

[kippaxvilla2]

was that the summary of the game?

[Lizz]

I will carry on supporting and hope we can improve but I am really struggling to fight off the apathy....

Next year's season ticket is in the balance. They have 17 games left to inspire me to part with £600 come May or June.

Have similar thoughts, especially with so many demands on my time, but suspect we'll still renew.

[creeves]

was that the summary of the game?

It was only my second post so I thought I would make an effort...!