Good enough/Not Good Enough

[oldham_villa]

They are clearly lacking so much confidence also, which clearly shows at football.

For all these people who say Gabby was brilliant at Man City, may I ask who saw the full 90 mins?He was absolute gash in the first half.

One concern with midfield (there are many), is that the centre two ate within 8 yards of each other all the time. A little square pass here and one there and we aren't expansive enough. As soon as it gets in a forward zone there is no-one to support, so our strikers have no option but to run in a dead end of shoot from miles out.

Ireland needs to play with people who move, namely Bentecke and Wiermann. Gabby can only play direct kick and rush football as he is the proverbial greyhound chasing the hare. The season Bent went through last year has rendered him very low on confidence but his lack of effort isn't endearing him to people.

Albrighton would not get in my team at all, he needs a loan move somewhere to give him confidence.

I've tried to keep positive for the team, believing they will come good. It pains me to say this is the worst Villa team for quality since another GT mk2.

To answer the question;

Gk
Both good enough

Def
Good: Vlaar, Clark, Baker,
Jury out: Lowton, Bennett, Lijhai
Poor: Dunne, Hutton, Warnock

Mid
Good: Kea, Ireland,
Jury Out: n'Zogbia, Bannan, Herd, Westwood, Holman
Poor: Albrighton, Delph

Att
Good: Bentecke, Bent, Wiermann
Jury out: Agbonlahor, Bowery

[curiousorange]

I'm not splitting hairs re: Delph, but I recall he looked great v Fiorentina in pre-season 2009-10, awful v Wigan on the opening day and was injured not long after. The only other game I recall him living up to anything like his reputation was in the FA Cup v Brighton in 2010

[not3bad]

I seem to remember a couple of cameos in which Delph looked very good.  Couldn't tell you which particular matches they were now.  Was Brighton at home?  Don't know if that was one of them.  I was on holiday in Austria when we lost to Wigan.

[curiousorange]

Yes, Brighton was at home in round 3. Delph scored, I seem to recall he powered through their midfield and played a short one-two, leaving him clear and he slotted his finish underneath the keeper.

That was also the game where Albrighton started, created a goal then had to go off with an injury which turned out to be quite lengthy. ACL? Achilles?

[olaftab]

Guzan- Yes
Lowton-Yes
Bennett- Yes but...
Clark- Yes
Baker- Yes
Vlaar- Yes
KEA- Yes
Herd- Yes
Ireland- Yes
Holman- Yes
Bent- Yes
Benteke- Yes
Weimann- Yes

Given- No
Hutton-No
Lichaj- No
Warnock-No
 Dunne- No
Delph- No
Bannan- No
Albrighton- No
N'Zogbia- No
Agbonlahor-No

[pedro25]

Delph had a great game home to Man U about 3 years ago.

[Mister E]

Interesting that people's memory of Delph playing well is as an attacking MF, which is what he did well at Leeds.
Successive managers have been trying to shoehorn him into a DMF role: perhaps he needs some time in the role where he made his name; perhaps he should be playing behind the lone striker?
How about Benteke upfront with Weimann and Delph supporting; with a MF three of KEA, Herd / Clark and BB?

[curiousorange]

Maybe it's because he's shown himself subsequently to be rubbish at getting the ball to another Villa player?

[Chipsticks]

My main gripe is the crticism of Bannan. He could be a class player for us, we just need to put him in the right position in the right team with the right mentality. Playing him out wide does not suit to his nature, as does playing him deep. I think playing him behind Benteke with two defensive midfielders behind him would bring out the best in him and we would see a very talented footballer emerge. We often see little flickers of brilliance from him, and if he could become consistent there'd be no stopping the lad.

Maybe for his career he's better off leaving then?

Well, yes... but that's probably true for most of our team.

I'm not saying that I want him to.

[The Left Side]

Many of you have said a no for Lichaj, I think he is worth keeping as he is versatile but of course it is always a matter of opinion.

[eastie]

Many of you have said a no for Lichaj, I think he is worth keeping as he is versatile but of course it is always a matter of opinion.

I think lichaj is a decent squad player, not sure he'd win a regular spot but worth keeping.

[john e]

Maybe it's because he's shown himself subsequently to be rubbish at getting the ball to another Villa player?

i thought he had a 90% pass completion stat on saturday ?

[johncvilla88]

Eric Lichaj is our version of Tony Hibbert (Everton) good squad player may become a regular in latter years if he hangs around.

[Matt C]

Interesting piece from Sam Wallace from Sunday's Independent which seems appropriate to this thread - apologies if already posted elsewhere.

http://www.independent.co.uk/sport/football/news-and-comment/sam-wallace-aston-villa-owner-randy-lerner-must-be-ready-to-dig-deep-to-insure-admirable-youth-policy-8229965.html

[PeterWithesShin]

Maybe it's because he's shown himself subsequently to be rubbish at getting the ball to another Villa player?

i thought he had a 90% pass completion stat on saturday ?

Delph has a pass success rate of just under 90% for the season. It still surprises me.