QPR v Aston Villa Post-Match Thread

[curiousorange]

Curious orange,

I have just read it and enjoyed it. I don't agree with everything you write but you reflect a lot of my own thoughts both during and after the game in the pub with a few other London villains.

Thank you very much. Like I say, I'm a Villa fan first and a writer second so I always put my honest opinion.

[ozzjim]

Any particular reason why you don't post the article on here as well as providing a link to it?

None really, just because it helps get people to site I write for I guess.

A bit cheeky then

[JUAN PABLO]

just watched Swansea .  oh my Im so f**king jealous .   

Do you think Swansea collectively woke up one morning and started playing like that? Or do you think it took years of coaching and acquiring the right players to get there?

no but Im still jealous and can see Villa never playing like that to be fair even in 6 years .

Is this the same Swansea we played off the park a few months ago?

so you think Villa are better than Swansea at the moment .   Why do people come out with these things . So Man Utd are shit because they got beat by Norwich or wigan should be top 4 as the beat Spurs away.

I watched a game with Swansea , which I thought the football was fantastic after watching that tripe at Loftus road .

[dave.woodhall]

Nobody said Villa are better than Swansea at the moment. Maybe people come out with these things because they're getting a bit tired of supporters who constantly praise just about everyone else while running down every positive aspect of their own team.   

[tomd2103]

We also have to remember when talking about the likes of Swansea is that this is as good as it is ever going to get for them and it was not that long ago that they were facing being relegated to the Conference on the final day of the season.     

[brontebilly]

Watching the BBC highlights this morning it brought home to me how awful Holmans ball control is. He was on for a chance just outside of their area lost the ball and they went straight up the far end and Guzan made one of several saves.

I watched Swansea beating Arsenal and saw exactly the style of play I was expecting under Paul Lambert....from Swansea that is.

I know you cant get a good impression from the highlights but we do look very average at times.

We have four players Benteke,Guzan,Baker, and Lowton who have Premiership quality in my opinion and seven triers making up that team.
Plus Bent who is top quality but it would seem not wanted by our manager.

Mr Lambert I would like us to play like Swansea do . Hopefully you will have a few pence come your way in Jan to buy some technically  gifted players that your staff have identified abroad.

PS and get Robbie Keane back for another few months.

good goal from Holman but he has one of the worst first touches I have seen in a Villa player. For all his 'workrate' he is about as effective without the ball as Albrighton. Powder puff tackling and running around so much like a headless chicken that his legs are gone after an hour. I dont rate him in the slightest

Baker's distribution needs to improve a lot. Solid lad alright but panics in possession. If you watch even someone like West Brom their players take their time on the ball, feint to play it with the left buy yourself a second to play it with your right. Id have to question how good the coaching is at the academy considering how poor some of the recent graduates have been on the ball. It pisses me off how gutless frankly our players are with the ball. At once stage at the weekend, we put together about 10 passes back to front, suddenly someone played a half arsed pass to Clark, he had no option in front of him, didnt bother trying to run it out, back to Guzan. Guzan hoofed it mindlessly straight down to Green. Gary Neville the co-commentator said something like fair play to QPR, great pressure on Villa and forced the turnover. It was just Mackie running at Clark that forced us to cough up possession.

As for players good enough. Benteke obviously. Guzan is thriving at the moment. Lowton is improving nicely but still a good bit to go positionally. The naive defending from him for Park's chance at the weekend was hard to believe for example. But tidy on the ball. decent going forward and is going to improve I feel. Vlaar has been an upgrade on Cuellar and Collins. Not brilliant but a decent defender for sure. These are all Lambert's players in fairness.

Clark is a decent defender but whether he is good enough for a decent Villa side is another matter. Baker is better than Clark physically but not as good on the ball. Only one of them is ultimately going to make it at a left sided centre half regular at the club. Question marks over very single defender on the roster. 3 - Dunne, Warnock and Hutton have probably played their last games for the club. Lichaj is a backup player but at right back only. Desperate player on the ball. Stevens isnt as strong a defender as Lichaj but is decent on the ball and has proved adequate backup thus far. Bennett has had a very slow start but early days for him yet.

Westwood had a very good first half yesterday and to be fair you can see he tries to make himself available for the pass and keep it moving to a colleague. He needs a far better player next to him though as he doesnt have presence and wont deliver goals. Bannan, Delph, Holman, Weimann, Kea, Albrighton, Herd, Ireland, Nzogbia - much of a muchness between any of them. Neither of them have nailed down a spot in a poor side. Ireland is the most talented but his wage packet seems to be influencing Lambert keeping him out I think. Then again he isnt good enough to be a luxury player in a decent team. really. What assists or goals does he deliver? Nice and tidy in possession but never in an area that hurts a side. Would be great if Nzogbia rediscovered his form when he comes back but what would be the level of confidence on here that he will - 20%? Then again wasnt too long Redknapp was trying to farm Gareth Bale out on loan to Nottm Forest so you never know. Midfield is by far our weakest area, Lambert doesnt seem to know what formation he wants there but we need better players if we are going to progress.

Up front, the penny surely has to drop with Gabby. I'm sorry to say but his day is done at the Villa. 3 years of just general shite and he seems to be getting worse. His running with the ball is horrific and cant get away from defenders as easy anymore either. Without that he has nothing really. Wasnt too long ago Bent was front runner to be partnering Rooney at the Euros. Guess we dont know if that injury he had has finished him a bit like JPA but he would add more on one leg than Gabby anyway.

[tomd2103]

Watching the BBC highlights this morning it brought home to me how awful Holmans ball control is. He was on for a chance just outside of their area lost the ball and they went straight up the far end and Guzan made one of several saves.

I watched Swansea beating Arsenal and saw exactly the style of play I was expecting under Paul Lambert....from Swansea that is.

I know you cant get a good impression from the highlights but we do look very average at times.

We have four players Benteke,Guzan,Baker, and Lowton who have Premiership quality in my opinion and seven triers making up that team.
Plus Bent who is top quality but it would seem not wanted by our manager.

Mr Lambert I would like us to play like Swansea do . Hopefully you will have a few pence come your way in Jan to buy some technically  gifted players that your staff have identified abroad.

PS and get Robbie Keane back for another few months.

good goal from Holman but he has one of the worst first touches I have seen in a Villa player. For all his 'workrate' he is about as effective without the ball as Albrighton. Powder puff tackling and running around so much like a headless chicken that his legs are gone after an hour. I dont rate him in the slightest

Baker's distribution needs to improve a lot. Solid lad alright but panics in possession. If you watch even someone like West Brom their players take their time on the ball, feint to play it with the left buy yourself a second to play it with your right. Id have to question how good the coaching is at the academy considering how poor some of the recent graduates have been on the ball. It pisses me off how gutless frankly our players are with the ball. At once stage at the weekend, we put together about 10 passes back to front, suddenly someone played a half arsed pass to Clark, he had no option in front of him, didnt bother trying to run it out, back to Guzan. Guzan hoofed it mindlessly straight down to Green. Gary Neville the co-commentator said something like fair play to QPR, great pressure on Villa and forced the turnover. It was just Mackie running at Clark that forced us to cough up possession.

As for players good enough. Benteke obviously. Guzan is thriving at the moment. Lowton is improving nicely but still a good bit to go positionally. The naive defending from him for Park's chance at the weekend was hard to believe for example. But tidy on the ball. decent going forward and is going to improve I feel. Vlaar has been an upgrade on Cuellar and Collins. Not brilliant but a decent defender for sure. These are all Lambert's players in fairness.

Clark is a decent defender but whether he is good enough for a decent Villa side is another matter. Baker is better than Clark physically but not as good on the ball. Only one of them is ultimately going to make it at a left sided centre half regular at the club. Question marks over very single defender on the roster. 3 - Dunne, Warnock and Hutton have probably played their last games for the club. Lichaj is a backup player but at right back only. Desperate player on the ball. Stevens isnt as strong a defender as Lichaj but is decent on the ball and has proved adequate backup thus far. Bennett has had a very slow start but early days for him yet.

Westwood had a very good first half yesterday and to be fair you can see he tries to make himself available for the pass and keep it moving to a colleague. He needs a far better player next to him though as he doesnt have presence and wont deliver goals. Bannan, Delph, Holman, Weimann, Kea, Albrighton, Herd, Ireland, Nzogbia - much of a muchness between any of them. Neither of them have nailed down a spot in a poor side. Ireland is the most talented but his wage packet seems to be influencing Lambert keeping him out I think. Then again he isnt good enough to be a luxury player in a decent team. really. What assists or goals does he deliver? Nice and tidy in possession but never in an area that hurts a side. Would be great if Nzogbia rediscovered his form when he comes back but what would be the level of confidence on here that he will - 20%? Then again wasnt too long Redknapp was trying to farm Gareth Bale out on loan to Nottm Forest so you never know. Midfield is by far our weakest area, Lambert doesnt seem to know what formation he wants there but we need better players if we are going to progress.

Up front, the penny surely has to drop with Gabby. I'm sorry to say but his day is done at the Villa. 3 years of just general shite and he seems to be getting worse. His running with the ball is horrific and cant get away from defenders as easy anymore either. Without that he has nothing really. Wasnt too long ago Bent was front runner to be partnering Rooney at the Euros. Guess we dont know if that injury he had has finished him a bit like JPA but he would add more on one leg than Gabby anyway.

Would agree with pretty much all of that Billy.

[JUAN PABLO]

spot on Billy , very good post.

[LeeB]

Watching the BBC highlights this morning it brought home to me how awful Holmans ball control is. He was on for a chance just outside of their area lost the ball and they went straight up the far end and Guzan made one of several saves.

I watched Swansea beating Arsenal and saw exactly the style of play I was expecting under Paul Lambert....from Swansea that is.

I know you cant get a good impression from the highlights but we do look very average at times.

We have four players Benteke,Guzan,Baker, and Lowton who have Premiership quality in my opinion and seven triers making up that team.
Plus Bent who is top quality but it would seem not wanted by our manager.

Mr Lambert I would like us to play like Swansea do . Hopefully you will have a few pence come your way in Jan to buy some technically  gifted players that your staff have identified abroad.

PS and get Robbie Keane back for another few months.

good goal from Holman but he has one of the worst first touches I have seen in a Villa player. For all his 'workrate' he is about as effective without the ball as Albrighton. Powder puff tackling and running around so much like a headless chicken that his legs are gone after an hour. I dont rate him in the slightest

Baker's distribution needs to improve a lot. Solid lad alright but panics in possession. If you watch even someone like West Brom their players take their time on the ball, feint to play it with the left buy yourself a second to play it with your right. Id have to question how good the coaching is at the academy considering how poor some of the recent graduates have been on the ball. It pisses me off how gutless frankly our players are with the ball. At once stage at the weekend, we put together about 10 passes back to front, suddenly someone played a half arsed pass to Clark, he had no option in front of him, didnt bother trying to run it out, back to Guzan. Guzan hoofed it mindlessly straight down to Green. Gary Neville the co-commentator said something like fair play to QPR, great pressure on Villa and forced the turnover. It was just Mackie running at Clark that forced us to cough up possession.

As for players good enough. Benteke obviously. Guzan is thriving at the moment. Lowton is improving nicely but still a good bit to go positionally. The naive defending from him for Park's chance at the weekend was hard to believe for example. But tidy on the ball. decent going forward and is going to improve I feel. Vlaar has been an upgrade on Cuellar and Collins. Not brilliant but a decent defender for sure. These are all Lambert's players in fairness.

Clark is a decent defender but whether he is good enough for a decent Villa side is another matter. Baker is better than Clark physically but not as good on the ball. Only one of them is ultimately going to make it at a left sided centre half regular at the club. Question marks over very single defender on the roster. 3 - Dunne, Warnock and Hutton have probably played their last games for the club. Lichaj is a backup player but at right back only. Desperate player on the ball. Stevens isnt as strong a defender as Lichaj but is decent on the ball and has proved adequate backup thus far. Bennett has had a very slow start but early days for him yet.

Westwood had a very good first half yesterday and to be fair you can see he tries to make himself available for the pass and keep it moving to a colleague. He needs a far better player next to him though as he doesnt have presence and wont deliver goals. Bannan, Delph, Holman, Weimann, Kea, Albrighton, Herd, Ireland, Nzogbia - much of a muchness between any of them. Neither of them have nailed down a spot in a poor side. Ireland is the most talented but his wage packet seems to be influencing Lambert keeping him out I think. Then again he isnt good enough to be a luxury player in a decent team. really. What assists or goals does he deliver? Nice and tidy in possession but never in an area that hurts a side. Would be great if Nzogbia rediscovered his form when he comes back but what would be the level of confidence on here that he will - 20%? Then again wasnt too long Redknapp was trying to farm Gareth Bale out on loan to Nottm Forest so you never know. Midfield is by far our weakest area, Lambert doesnt seem to know what formation he wants there but we need better players if we are going to progress.

Up front, the penny surely has to drop with Gabby. I'm sorry to say but his day is done at the Villa. 3 years of just general shite and he seems to be getting worse. His running with the ball is horrific and cant get away from defenders as easy anymore either. Without that he has nothing really. Wasnt too long ago Bent was front runner to be partnering Rooney at the Euros. Guess we dont know if that injury he had has finished him a bit like JPA but he would add more on one leg than Gabby anyway.

Hard to disagree with that, generally a fair assesment and spot on with regard to the midfielders being much of a muchness.

I'd be looking to keep Bannan, who's shown a good work ethic and has more ability, and Westwood.

I'd listen to offers for anyone else.

[Ron Manager]

Watching the BBC highlights this morning it brought home to me how awful Holmans ball control is. He was on for a chance just outside of their area lost the ball and they went straight up the far end and Guzan made one of several saves.

I watched Swansea beating Arsenal and saw exactly the style of play I was expecting under Paul Lambert....from Swansea that is.

I know you cant get a good impression from the highlights but we do look very average at times.

We have four players Benteke,Guzan,Baker, and Lowton who have Premiership quality in my opinion and seven triers making up that team.
Plus Bent who is top quality but it would seem not wanted by our manager.

Mr Lambert I would like us to play like Swansea do . Hopefully you will have a few pence come your way in Jan to buy some technically  gifted players that your staff have identified abroad.

PS and get Robbie Keane back for another few months.

good goal from Holman but he has one of the worst first touches I have seen in a Villa player. For all his 'workrate' he is about as effective without the ball as Albrighton. Powder puff tackling and running around so much like a headless chicken that his legs are gone after an hour. I dont rate him in the slightest

Baker's distribution needs to improve a lot. Solid lad alright but panics in possession. If you watch even someone like West Brom their players take their time on the ball, feint to play it with the left buy yourself a second to play it with your right. Id have to question how good the coaching is at the academy considering how poor some of the recent graduates have been on the ball. It pisses me off how gutless frankly our players are with the ball. At once stage at the weekend, we put together about 10 passes back to front, suddenly someone played a half arsed pass to Clark, he had no option in front of him, didnt bother trying to run it out, back to Guzan. Guzan hoofed it mindlessly straight down to Green. Gary Neville the co-commentator said something like fair play to QPR, great pressure on Villa and forced the turnover. It was just Mackie running at Clark that forced us to cough up possession.

As for players good enough. Benteke obviously. Guzan is thriving at the moment. Lowton is improving nicely but still a good bit to go positionally. The naive defending from him for Park's chance at the weekend was hard to believe for example. But tidy on the ball. decent going forward and is going to improve I feel. Vlaar has been an upgrade on Cuellar and Collins. Not brilliant but a decent defender for sure. These are all Lambert's players in fairness.

Clark is a decent defender but whether he is good enough for a decent Villa side is another matter. Baker is better than Clark physically but not as good on the ball. Only one of them is ultimately going to make it at a left sided centre half regular at the club. Question marks over very single defender on the roster. 3 - Dunne, Warnock and Hutton have probably played their last games for the club. Lichaj is a backup player but at right back only. Desperate player on the ball. Stevens isnt as strong a defender as Lichaj but is decent on the ball and has proved adequate backup thus far. Bennett has had a very slow start but early days for him yet.

Westwood had a very good first half yesterday and to be fair you can see he tries to make himself available for the pass and keep it moving to a colleague. He needs a far better player next to him though as he doesnt have presence and wont deliver goals. Bannan, Delph, Holman, Weimann, Kea, Albrighton, Herd, Ireland, Nzogbia - much of a muchness between any of them. Neither of them have nailed down a spot in a poor side. Ireland is the most talented but his wage packet seems to be influencing Lambert keeping him out I think. Then again he isnt good enough to be a luxury player in a decent team. really. What assists or goals does he deliver? Nice and tidy in possession but never in an area that hurts a side. Would be great if Nzogbia rediscovered his form when he comes back but what would be the level of confidence on here that he will - 20%? Then again wasnt too long Redknapp was trying to farm Gareth Bale out on loan to Nottm Forest so you never know. Midfield is by far our weakest area, Lambert doesnt seem to know what formation he wants there but we need better players if we are going to progress.

Up front, the penny surely has to drop with Gabby. I'm sorry to say but his day is done at the Villa. 3 years of just general shite and he seems to be getting worse. His running with the ball is horrific and cant get away from defenders as easy anymore either. Without that he has nothing really. Wasnt too long ago Bent was front runner to be partnering Rooney at the Euros. Guess we dont know if that injury he had has finished him a bit like JPA but he would add more on one leg than Gabby anyway.

More or less how I see it Brontebilly. Excellent well thought out post!

[villaparkb6]

Watching the BBC highlights this morning it brought home to me how awful Holmans ball control is. He was on for a chance just outside of their area lost the ball and they went straight up the far end and Guzan made one of several saves.

I watched Swansea beating Arsenal and saw exactly the style of play I was expecting under Paul Lambert....from Swansea that is.

I know you cant get a good impression from the highlights but we do look very average at times.

We have four players Benteke,Guzan,Baker, and Lowton who have Premiership quality in my opinion and seven triers making up that team.
Plus Bent who is top quality but it would seem not wanted by our manager.

Mr Lambert I would like us to play like Swansea do . Hopefully you will have a few pence come your way in Jan to buy some technically  gifted players that your staff have identified abroad.

PS and get Robbie Keane back for another few months.

good goal from Holman but he has one of the worst first touches I have seen in a Villa player. For all his 'workrate' he is about as effective without the ball as Albrighton. Powder puff tackling and running around so much like a headless chicken that his legs are gone after an hour. I dont rate him in the slightest

Baker's distribution needs to improve a lot. Solid lad alright but panics in possession. If you watch even someone like West Brom their players take their time on the ball, feint to play it with the left buy yourself a second to play it with your right. Id have to question how good the coaching is at the academy considering how poor some of the recent graduates have been on the ball. It pisses me off how gutless frankly our players are with the ball. At once stage at the weekend, we put together about 10 passes back to front, suddenly someone played a half arsed pass to Clark, he had no option in front of him, didnt bother trying to run it out, back to Guzan. Guzan hoofed it mindlessly straight down to Green. Gary Neville the co-commentator said something like fair play to QPR, great pressure on Villa and forced the turnover. It was just Mackie running at Clark that forced us to cough up possession.

As for players good enough. Benteke obviously. Guzan is thriving at the moment. Lowton is improving nicely but still a good bit to go positionally. The naive defending from him for Park's chance at the weekend was hard to believe for example. But tidy on the ball. decent going forward and is going to improve I feel. Vlaar has been an upgrade on Cuellar and Collins. Not brilliant but a decent defender for sure. These are all Lambert's players in fairness.

Clark is a decent defender but whether he is good enough for a decent Villa side is another matter. Baker is better than Clark physically but not as good on the ball. Only one of them is ultimately going to make it at a left sided centre half regular at the club. Question marks over very single defender on the roster. 3 - Dunne, Warnock and Hutton have probably played their last games for the club. Lichaj is a backup player but at right back only. Desperate player on the ball. Stevens isnt as strong a defender as Lichaj but is decent on the ball and has proved adequate backup thus far. Bennett has had a very slow start but early days for him yet.

Westwood had a very good first half yesterday and to be fair you can see he tries to make himself available for the pass and keep it moving to a colleague. He needs a far better player next to him though as he doesnt have presence and wont deliver goals. Bannan, Delph, Holman, Weimann, Kea, Albrighton, Herd, Ireland, Nzogbia - much of a muchness between any of them. Neither of them have nailed down a spot in a poor side. Ireland is the most talented but his wage packet seems to be influencing Lambert keeping him out I think. Then again he isnt good enough to be a luxury player in a decent team. really. What assists or goals does he deliver? Nice and tidy in possession but never in an area that hurts a side. Would be great if Nzogbia rediscovered his form when he comes back but what would be the level of confidence on here that he will - 20%? Then again wasnt too long Redknapp was trying to farm Gareth Bale out on loan to Nottm Forest so you never know. Midfield is by far our weakest area, Lambert doesnt seem to know what formation he wants there but we need better players if we are going to progress.

Up front, the penny surely has to drop with Gabby. I'm sorry to say but his day is done at the Villa. 3 years of just general shite and he seems to be getting worse. His running with the ball is horrific and cant get away from defenders as easy anymore either. Without that he has nothing really. Wasnt too long ago Bent was front runner to be partnering Rooney at the Euros. Guess we dont know if that injury he had has finished him a bit like JPA but he would add more on one leg than Gabby anyway.

easily the best post on this thread, nail on head billy mate

[supertom]

Yep, spot+on.

[Risso]

I agree with most of that but would say the following:

Ireland - really like him even though I know he's inconsistent.  I still think that utilised properly he's a major asset for us.
KEA - underwhelming
Weimann - isn't a midfielder, so a bit unfair lumping him in.  He's an out and out striker being asked to play an unfamiliar role.
N'Zogbia - one of the worst buys we've ever had.

But we absolutely do need more goals from midfield.  When we used to have the likes of Milner, Young and even Downing weighing in with at least half a dozen goals exah season, it makes a huge difference.  Milner for example, would have buried that chance that KEA fluffed at the end of the game.

[Mister E]

Interesting post, Billy, and here's the Guardian's post-weekend review (mainly QPR-centric but gives the context to a difficult game for us; they praise us for holding back the Redknapp tidal wave).

I disagree that Lambert is still floundering for his best MF formation. It seems that he has settleed on a 3-man MF, with the flexibility to change the format up front and / or at the back (as he did on Saturday).

The issue that you've raised is much more about the quality of personnel available to him; and no one on here is going to disagree that we currently look light on quality. Lambert's taken a calculated risk that by not buying proven EPL players but rather by giving young potentials their head he can develop a squad that will grow together and become a useful EPL outfit.

It's a valid strategy if he gets the raw material right; which in many cases, he is.

The problem with the strategy is that we're relying on unreliable experienced players. With the exception of Guzan and Vlaar, our so-called experienced players are a bit 'in and out' (i.e. KEA, Holman, Gabby, Ireland, Bent, Charles).

Our challenge is not the kids, it's the older players who are not stamping their authority on games.

[supertom]

Interesting post, Billy, and here's the Guardian's post-weekend review (mainly QPR-centric but gives the context to a difficult game for us; they praise us for holding back the Redknapp tidal wave).

I disagree that Lambert is still floundering for his best MF formation. It seems that he has settleed on a 3-man MF, with the flexibility to change the format up front and / or at the back (as he did on Saturday).

The issue that you've raised is much more about the quality of personnel available to him; and no one on here is going to disagree that we currently look light on quality. Lambert's taken a calculated risk that by not buying proven EPL players but rather by giving young potentials their head he can develop a squad that will grow together and become a useful EPL outfit.

It's a valid strategy if he gets the raw material right; which in many cases, he is.

The problem with the strategy is that we're relying on unreliable experienced players. With the exception of Guzan and Vlaar, our so-called experienced players are a bit 'in and out' (i.e. KEA, Holman, Gabby, Ireland, Bent, Charles).

Our challenge is not the kids, it's the older players who are not stamping their authority on games.

Very true. Jan is key. Signing a couple of older heads in key areas could make the difference. They've got to be right. If PL can find us a bit of midfield magic akin to Bentekes level of quality then that would also be a very good move for us.