Aston Villa v West Brom Post-Match Thread

[Can Gana Be Bettered!?!?]

Before I give my thoughts on the game, I can safely say that I have not felt that excited and tense at Villa Park for a very, very long time. Thank-you Paul Lambert.

Good first half, some nice passing and a few chances. Liked the way Guzan played it short and the midfielders come to get it and turn round and go forward. Benteke looks similar to Carew.

Second half didn't go so well for a while, but we kept at it, PL made the three changes and they more than played their part.

We seem to be quite narrow when defending and they had moments where they had two players attacking our full-backs, so thus I'd something PL needs to work on, but I'm sure he knows this.

The most pleasing aspect I found was after we equalised, we went looking for a winner, knowing they could catch us on the break and score. Playing for a win feels good and is enjoyable.

We'll be fine this season and I think we'll have some fun along the way. Some great play, some bad errors, but always trying to win.

[gervilla]

With every passing game I'm getting less convinced that Clark is a centre back.
Competent DCM maybe but centre back, I'm not too sure.

[peter w]

Guzan - 6 - didn't have a great deal to do but one rush out to try and catch the ball sticks out because he missed it by a mile. tidy otherwise.

Lowton - 6 - was quite ineffective today.

Bennett - 6 - Great free kick that was just a shade wide. I've only marked him down for no overlapping.

Vlaar - -7 - Didn't think he was as bad as some or saying.

Clark - 6 - A bit quiet.

Albrighton -7 - Some good crosses.

Al-Ahmadi - 8 - Thought he was very good first half.

Delph - 6 - Not too bad. Stayed in his position better than usually seen.

Holman - 7 - Good all action first half with a couple of good digs.

gabby - 7 - Didn't stop running.

benteke - 6 - i thought he slotted in nicely and was a nuisance first-half. He'll get better

Subs:

N'Zog- 6 - Thought he did well when he came on.

bent-7 - Scored.

Bannan - 6 - Good energy.

Surprised by a lot of what I've read here. yes we didn't start as well second-half but what did you expect? they didn't sit as deep and after a half time rocket would have come out all guns blazing. vlaar was unlucky with the goal, very unlucky as it just hit Long and went in.  What i liked is that with the 3 subs we changed and went to plan b and din't look for the big man to to play attacking possession football. it was like a ManU lite when they were losing a few years ago and just kept coming at you.

We deserved 1 but could and should have had 3. Onwards and upwards.

[levico]

Doubt if many will agree with me but I thought we looked like a Championship side grinding out a plucky draw against a superior PL side.

Glad we got a point but I'm concerned about this squad. And Delphi - just shocking IMO.

[London Villan]

Don't know if this has been mentioned elsewhere but can someone point out to me how Long was allowed to stand in an off-side position at every goal kick or clearance from the keeper, then run into an on-side position and challenge for the ball.  Surely he should have been flagged as being off-side?

That was pissing me off, Gabby did it once and got flagged straight away.

You can't be offside from a goal kick. It was a clever tactic and caused us plenty of problems.

[Lizz]

The record of TSM no longer bothers me. I'm looking to the future.

Me too. No point in getting agitated over something you can't change, imo.

[Richard Richard]

Doubt if many will agree with me but I thought we looked like a Championship side grinding out a plucky draw against a superior PL side.

Completely disagree, I think we controlled the game apart from 20 minutes around their goal.

[saunders_heroes]

Don't know if this has been mentioned elsewhere but can someone point out to me how Long was allowed to stand in an off-side position at every goal kick or clearance from the keeper, then run into an on-side position and challenge for the ball.  Surely he should have been flagged as being off-side?

I thought it was just me that spotted that. He was offside for every goal kick, and was never flagged even when the ball went straight to him, which it did on many occasions. Has there been a change of rules or something?

[Legion]

Don't know if this has been mentioned elsewhere but can someone point out to me how Long was allowed to stand in an off-side position at every goal kick or clearance from the keeper, then run into an on-side position and challenge for the ball.  Surely he should have been flagged as being off-side?

That was pissing me off, Gabby did it once and got flagged straight away.

You can't be offside from a goal kick. It was a clever tactic and caused us plenty of problems.

[Can Gana Be Bettered!?!?]

Doubt if many will agree with me but I thought we looked like a Championship side grinding out a plucky draw against a superior PL side.

Completely disagree, I think we controlled the game apart from 20 minutes around their goal.

Without beating around the bush, in my opinion, to suggest we are a Championship side who were lucky to draw is complete bollocks. What game were you watching?

[dave.woodhall]

Doubt if many will agree with me but I thought we looked like a Championship side grinding out a plucky draw against a superior PL side.

Glad we got a point but I'm concerned about this squad. And Delphi - just shocking IMO.

You are Radio WM and I claim my prize.

[preston28]

The record of TSM no longer bothers me. I'm looking to the future.

I was only clarifying myf's post. You can make what you want out of stats. It's the teams performance & effort on the pitch that is most important to me.

[gervilla]

Doubt if many will agree with me but I thought we looked like a Championship side grinding out a plucky draw against a superior PL side.

Glad we got a point but I'm concerned about this squad. And Delphi - just shocking IMO.

We were by far the better team in the first half.
Started slowly in the 2nd and went behind,
Fought back admirably and were unlucky not to win it.
Delph did o.k. but still a liability with his crazy attempts at tackling. If he doesn't injure someone, he will injure him self.
So, ya, I disagree.

[Legion]

The record of TSM no longer bothers me. I'm looking to the future.

I was only clarifying myf's post. You can make what you want out of stats. It's the teams performance & effort on the pitch that is most important to me.

I thought our performance and effort were great today.

[saunders_heroes]

Thought Bannan did well when he came on. Not normally a fan of his but credit where it's due. Holman, man of the match for me though. Reminds me of Des Bremner.
We should have won today. We played the better football and made the most and best chances of the game.