Aston Villa v West Brom Post-Match Thread

[clash city rocker]

 We need to defend better. We are not under a lot of pressure at the moment as the season is still young but come feb.&march if we are not in a good position the pressure on the defence will be immense as confidence will be low.

[Stu]

I noticed this in the Graun's minute-by-minute report:

19 min: Stands that are more impressive than The Kop: The Holte End.

Damn right.

[eastie]

Decent effort and commitment , deserved a draw at the least and maybe a win but good signs of progress.
Bennett and holman impressed today but Lowton and benteke were a bit below par - overall not a bad game though- onwards and upwards.

[Rip Van We Go Again]

Vlaar looking shakey again, excellent performance from Holman.

One more point to our safety figure of 40.

[DB]

Delph is lightweight, I'd go with Bannan next match and Bent for Benteke. We are still learning...

[ez]

We need to defend better. We are not under a lot of pressure at the moment as the season is still young but come feb.&march if we are not in a good position the pressure on the defence will be immense as confidence will be low.

Yes and this stepping up for offside is giving me twitchers.

[Steve R]

There were a lot of positives to that game. Never mind the result, save for the first bit of each half we were easily the better team ans played some lovely football in patches.

It could have gone a bit Southampton after they scored, full marks to the team for stepping up and taking the game back.

It said it all at the end that one team was desperate to run down the clock the other to keep the ball in play.

If we keep on like this the results will come as the team/squad becomes better co-ordinated as a unit - not to mention the defence.

Nice to bring a player like Bent off the bench to get a goal.

Albion have a very strong defence but little else to offer. Fuck off back to Smethwick.

[damon loves JT]

I think we need to score more first-half goals.

[mal]

Benteke's lack of confidence a concern, but overall good to see some fighting spirit.

Lack of accuracy maybe but no sign of a lack of confidence... sees goal:shoots = confident in my book.

[The Man With A Stick]

Hmm...worst league start since...

I can't put into words how much I hate it when Sky, etc. reel this one out.  How long is a "start"?  2 games?  5?  7?  It's as many as it takes to fit their silly little agenda, the complete c***s.

Played quite well today, shame we didn't get the points at the end there but we looked really good at times.

Right, I'm off to watch the golf for 6 hours...

[onje_villa]

Amazed at the comments here. I thought we were dire in that second half.
Time and time again the defence was exposed by Long and then Lukaku.
El Ahmadi was so slow and ineffectual, doesn't look the same player as he did pre-season.
Thought Gabby, Delph and Holman did well first half but sorry can't see anymore positives that that.
Thought we were outplayed.
Happy to accept ups and downs but thought we were as bad today as we were at Southampton to be honest.

As for "Concrete" Ron, billing him up as some sort of hard man, he barely won a header all day, Olsson showed him how it should be done. Long had him in his pocket all game.

[onje_villa]

Hmm...worst league start since...

I can't put into words how much I hate it when Sky, etc. reel this one out.  How long is a "start"?  2 games?  5?  7?  It's as many as it takes to fit their silly little agenda, the complete c***s.

Played quite well today, shame we didn't get the points at the end there but we looked really good at times.

Right, I'm off to watch the golf for 6 hours...

First time I've really disagreed with the majority on H&V.
I didn't see much good stuff played at all today.

[Matt Collins]

Delph is lightweight, I'd go with Bannan next match and Bent for Benteke. We are still learning...

I thought Delph was decent. Bannan was good when he came on, no question, and his set piece and wider delivery is a threat. But We played 442 at times and I think we'll struggle if we ask Bannan to partner KEA from the off in that system

[Risso]

Good match to watch, but overall a mixed bag:

Wasn't impressed at all with Vlaar again, he just looks like Cuellar with better teeth and a cool nickname.  He just switches off too many times.  He was rubbish against Southampton and wasn't much better today.  I thought Gabby (first half especially) was excellent, and Holman ran himself into the ground.  Albrighton did quite well, but Delph for me showed why he'll never really make it at this level.  I think it's dangerous having two such inexperienced full backs in the same side, although both were very energetic, and I thought Bennett had the better match.  Benteke though, looks like a huge gangling donkey.  Not impressed.  Still, it was an entertaining game, and a point was the least we deserved

[Goldie.7]

I think we need to score more first-half goals.

I think we need better players.