Burton Albion 1 Villa 2

[SashasGrandad]

Hutton was shit.

Really? I can't believe this!

Under TSM he was utter shit  - so maybe he has improved!

[Matt Collins]

The problem I think we have currently is a lack off goal threat. The best Villa sides have all had a big centre forward and we need that now. Lambert used that in the form of Holt with loads of crosses going in, can't see where those crosses are coming from and who will be on the end of them

I agree theres a big question about our goal threat. I expect lambert to tackle this head on. There are different approaches and we might vary between games too. For example, one option is to get a more dominant centre fwd to play alongside bent, someone better in the air and better at holding the ball up, creating space for bent to get into scoring positions. Another route is to try and get back to the sort of style houllier was attempting: bent as the lone wolf, quality in floating behind him and out wide and more in the way of "football". I think the latter option is harder to get right, but ultimately the better route. The problem is that if you don't get it right, as we saw last season it can look utterly toothless.

I see the key decisions as being:
- do we get a number 9 in?
- what do we do with Ireland? He has the talent, but playing him probably means we only play one forward and thus we are trying to play a more sophisticated game that we may not be capable of, and then we risk getting into cycles where bent is isolated and not helping the team construct attacks
- if we do go two up top and two wide to get the crosses in, who partners karim and is that strong enough?

[supertom]

Perhaps we need one winger, a bit like Milner, who can help in the middle but also get out wide. I don't see us, even in a 4-4-2, playing with two out and out wingers. If you do that you need to have a couple of defensive fullbacks.

It's early days and our squad is still very light given injuries and players still on holiday too, so perhaps in a couple of weeks Lambert will change emphasis with formation.

As for Ireland. I just think we'd have to fit our formation around him too much. He's proved himself to be somewhat inflexible. He couldn't play as a free roaming wide man. If we played 4-4-2, I don't see where'd he'd fit. Again, dropping a front man might mean that we lose some cutting edge. Playing Ireland as one of a midfield 3 with 3 up top may work, but even then, because he's not disciplined enough positionally, it may end up more like a 4-2-1-3, which I think leaves us even lighter than a 4-4-2 would.

The 4-2-3-1 seems the most effective way to fit in Ireland but for me, we might lack goal threat, and to be honest I think Lambert prefers players to come in with a role and perform that to their best. Irelands too much of a mercurial player. I don't think he's a Villa type of a player. We couldn't get the best out of players like Ginola, Curcic, Hadji. Granted there were other factors too, and like Ireland, not the best attitude. We need a system and players who fit into the system. 10 players that fit together and gel together for the good of the team. Lambert would not be the first to struggle to fit Ireland in.

[silhillvilla]

Yes the 2nd half was a bit arsenal like, trying to walk the ball in
I think we will struggle to break down better opposition

[nigel]

Hutton was shit.

Really? I can't believe this!

He could have had a blinder and still been s**t in some eyes.
Personally, I thought he did okay. He was better than CN'Z, who's crossing and passing was a touch off, to say the least.
But remember this was a warm up game, new system new players, so we shouldn't read to much into it.
I only saw a few minutes of the second half and even Collins kept the ball down the couple of time I saw him with the ball.

[silhillvilla]

Tidy little ground by the way

[Andy_Lochhead_in_the_air]

Tidy little ground by the way

Lego is tidy.

[peter w]

We're Aston Villa - We Glow in the Dark!

~I think we've found our newest song.

We glow in the dark, we glow in the daarrrrrrrk
We're Aston Villa we glow in the dark.

[PeterWithesShin]

[UK Redsox]

Enjoyed the second half (got in for nowt at half time !) We seemed to keep the ball well , Holman was working his socks off and took his goal well. The problem I think we have currently is a lack off goal threat. The best Villa sides have all had a big centre forward and we need that now. Lambert used that in the form of Holt with loads of crosses going in, can't see where those crosses are coming from and who will be on the end of them  at the moment .By the way , how good was standing on a terrace full of fellow Villa fans! Bring back a standing area in our stadium!

I had no option but to stand and I was in the seated area. Stewards made no attempt to make people sit down.

Bad knees and back mean that I prefer to sit. I paid for a seat and should have been able to use it.

[DeKuip]

We're Aston Villa - We Glow in the Dark!

~I think we've found our newest song.

We glow in the dark, we glow in the daarrrrrrrk
We're Aston Villa we glow in the dark.

It was funny first time I heard it being sung by Leeds fans last season, and they probably nicked it off someone else too.
I suppose originality is a bit much to ask for though in these days of Internet forums and football saturation on TV.

[PeterWithesShin]

Try again Dekuip, 3rd edit may get it right 

[DeKuip]

Try again Dekuip, 3rd edit may get it right 

I gave up - must have started typing in middle of a quote. Big fingers, small phone !

[PeterWithesShin]

Try again Dekuip, 3rd edit may get it right 

I gave up - must have started typing in middle of a quote. Big fingers, small phone !

Did it for you, 'cos i'm nice like that 

[DeKuip]

Thanks