Aston Villa v West Brom Post-Match Thread

[paulcomben]

Roller coaster cliche applies. The next 6 fixtures look tough, bar Norwich. Our players need to apply Lambo's plan and not just erratically.

[not3bad]

Thought we were outplayed.

No we weren't. West Brom made plenty of chances but so did Villa and we deserved our equalizer.

[The Situation]

Should have scored more which would of seen us win probably.

Agbonlahor didn't produce as much as I would've hoped after his performance mid week... First half he did well getting in behind their defenders with his pace, not as good second half but he put the effort in. Benteke just lacked a bit of composure but you could see he was trying. Bent was the man to score that goal. Nice finish.

Overall I'm not too down, because I can see the positives. The performance was there today to get the win I think... We didn't play our best but we showed resilience and with 10 minutes to go I thought we might get a winner. West Brom are a well organized team who like to pass it around so we did well combatting what they wanted to do. Again, its just going to take time. I was really hoping for a win as 3 points would've been great but not going to focus on what could of been just take it game by game.

[Rigadon]

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

Agreed.  The biggest worry with Delph is that he disappears in games.  I haven't seen him have a whole good game.  He looks decent in patches.  Same with a few of our players actually - their age maybe. 

Bannan looked good when he came on but like you say, I don't fancy him in a midfield duo. 

[Matt Collins]

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.

I agree that at the start of the second we looked ropey at the back and lost confidence and shape. But I think that assessment is over the top. I don't think Vlaar lost too many aerial duels. I'm more worried by our offside trap and by Clark's positioning.

I thought Bennett was ok, not great, but ok. Lowton was inconsistent, though great to see him being so positive

I thought KEA played much better today than in recent games.

Work in progress. It's true we've got some tough games to come, but I think we are improving.

And we did play some really good, positive football at times. West Brom are a well drilled, in form, confident side. Give it some time

[garyshawsknee]

Thought we done pretty well overall,apart from the spell they had after scoring.

The desire to win the ball back,and to keep was impressive,even Charles looked up for it when he came on. It's good that the managers got a few selections to ponder before the next game. Were slowly moving in the right direction. UTV.

[Toronto Villa]

The thing about this season we are going to win, lose or draw games we don't expect to. Now and then we'll even win, lose or draw games we expect to.

[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

Agreed.  The biggest worry with Delph is that he disappears in games.  I haven't seen him have a whole good game.  He looks decent in patches.  Same with a few of our players actually - their age maybe. 

Bannan looked good when he came on but like you say, I don't fancy him in a midfield duo. 

There was one move where Delph let the ball run across his body and then accelerated into space, before finding his man with a crisp pass. I thought he looked full of promise in that moment and the player I thought we were getting.

Games ebb and flow. I imagine baggies fans were worried at half time. And of course if we'd scored 2 of our very good chances in that half, then the Baggies would have been whining just like some of our fans were on the match thread when we were losing!

[Risso]

The thing about this season we are going to win, lose or draw games we don't expect to. Now and then we'll even win, lose or draw games we expect to.

1 win in 6 so far.  Any chance we could win a few more games, whether we expect to or not?

[ez]

We were the better side overall. When you look at the last few games between the clubs they are not a better team than us.

[Boz]

We are work in progress but there's a need to be more creative to break well organised defences down and we found that hard to do today. On the showing so far, we look a mid table side at best, so if we can hold that through the season hopefully we willbe much stronger for the next one.

Without a doubt Holman our best player today, could have scored with a bit more luck

[ktvillan]

With only 5 points from 6 games after a relatively easy opening fixture list I would normally be very concerned, especially if TSM were still in charge.  But you can see a lot of positives in what Lambert is trying to do so it doesn't feel so bad.  We dominated possession again and just need to convert that into goals, and cut out the defensive gaffes. 

Vlaar is playing like  Richard Dunne, great for most of the game and then ruins it all by giving a goal away.  Needs to cut it out.  I quite like the look of Bennet.  Though he's still very raw it seems like he can play a bit.

[Summers]

First half we were very good, but needed to score. Took too long to get into the game in the second half. I wish Delph would settle, and he played okay but he isn't commanding enough really. Holman was brilliant today. Hard working, always moving.. just really fantastic.

Benteke is raw, very raw. He'll be a great signing for us though. Thought Albrighton could have done better, was pleased when he came off. Vlaar & Clark are still impressing me as a partnership. KEA is a great pivot for the midfield. Always makes himself available.

Thrilled we got back into, felt we could have got a win though.

[DB]

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

Agreed.  The biggest worry with Delph is that he disappears in games.  I haven't seen him have a whole good game.  He looks decent in patches.  Same with a few of our players actually - their age maybe. 

Bannan looked good when he came on but like you say, I don't fancy him in a midfield duo. 

There was one move where Delph let the ball run across his body and then accelerated into space, before finding his man with a crisp pass. I thought he looked full of promise in that moment and the player I thought we were getting.

Games ebb and flow. I imagine baggies fans were worried at half time. And of course if we'd scored 2 of our very good chances in that half, then the Baggies would have been whining just like some of our fans were on the match thread when we were losing!

That was the only thing he did. He got shoved off the ball a few times and didn't really contribute.
We need to keep the ball better, as said we are still learning with the new manager & players.

[Toronto Villa]

The thing about this season we are going to win, lose or draw games we don't expect to. Now and then we'll even win, lose or draw games we expect to.

1 win in 6 so far.  Any chance we could win a few more games, whether we expect to or not?

Yes, I'm sure we will