Aston Villa v Tottenham Hotspur Post-Match Thread

[ozzjim]

Lambert has the same problem now that he had 5 months ago, a weak - bordering on feeble - midfield. If he solves that we can be a decent side.

It is no coincidence that the three strongest midfields in the league have handed us our arses on a plate.

To be fair, Delph did show glimpses today of the player he should have become by now. But Westwood - who looks a very good prospect - should be the only one not on the 'to be replaced' list. We need presence and the ability to keep the ball.

To add to the problem our defence has been all over the place. We really have missed Vlaar. Individually the players have good qualities. As a unit they have been all over the place.

Against 2 sides with top movement and top players it has killed us completely. Today losing Baker was a massive blow as he was reading the through balls really well. Losing Westwood hurt us further. Vlaar, Baker and Clark, with Lowton and Bennett does not worry me at all, but there needs to be a better player than Herd if we are going to play 3, and there needs to be a more athletic, faster, stronger player with Westwood. Bannan has done well, but I still think he could play further forward. Without Gabby though we have nothing to stretch the game with either, so a real pacey, tricky forward would help our defense and midfield push up.

We are in the very early stages of a long work in progress unfortunately.

[pauliewalnuts]

Can't see any self respecting player wanting to join us in January, even on loan. We are now a laughing stock due to this pathetic ultimately doomed experiment and relegation is now a very real prospect.

Were we a laughing stock 10 days ago after winning 3-1 at Liverpool and 4-1 at Norwich?

No, but we're certainly a laughing stock right now.

When we beat Liverpool, we were nothing like as decent a side as a lot of people seemed to think we were.

However, up to that point, we hadn't been anywhere near as bad as some people thought we were.

The last two trouncings have been a very firm bringing back to earth (and that's putting it mildly).

We have Wigan at home next - that is a game we can win, even without the experience we desperately need. But can we raise the spirits of a team of kids who have shipped 12 and scored none in the last two games?

I doubt it, and that is precisely what is going to be our biggest problem for the rest of the season unless we buy well.

[saunders_heroes]

We gave away 15 corners today in the first half. That must be some kind of record from hell.

[ozzjim]

IMO he has bought well so far, so it will be interesting to see how he does in January. It will also be interesting if he swallows his pride on KEA and buys a replacement this soon, as we need one.

[SoccerHQ]

Well we got battered as probably expected. Ironic as we started off the second half much better. Indeed at 0-1, Benteke squaring the goal a bit better you don't know what happened.

Wigan massive game now. Probably going to be a nervous draw when we desperately need a win.

[Ads]

I tell you what, I would give him all the pies in the land for Fat Frank for the rest of the season. Him and Keane with some evil looking Germans would do nicely.

[hilts_coolerking]

We gave away 15 corners today in the first half. That must be some kind of record from hell.

According to the BBC it's five short of the record for an entire match.

[Somniloquism]

We have Wigan at home next - that is a game we can win, even without the experience we desperately need. But can we raise the spirits of a team of kids who have shipped 12 and scored none in the last two games?

I doubt it, and that is precisely what is going to be our biggest problem for the rest of the season unless we buy well.

And we have Wigan with potentially no Baker and no Westwood and definitely with no Delph and Weiman. Alongst with no Vlaar, Dunne, Gabby and Bent, I don't even know who he could pick that wouldn't be more kids thrown in the deep end.

[Goldie.7]

Guzan - solid, keep
Lowton ~ two years more experience needed
Bennett ~ three more years experience needed
Herd ~ never good enough go.
Clark ~ not a centre half, keep but in midfield.
Holman ~ a trier but not good enough I'm afraid ~ go.
Delph ~ never good enough. Go.
Albrighton ~ one season wonder, not good enough. Go.
Ireland.  Good enough, no heart. Keep on account of lack of other options.
El Ahmadi ~ not good enough. Go.
Benteke ~ good enough but not there yet. Keep.

Ireland good enough are you having a laugh.

He was extremely slow
Never made a tackle
Over hit the passes he made
Went missing a lot
He was the worst player by far today and he's getting paid the most!

Agree completely

I don't.  I think he gets a massively raw deal, he provided the best moment of our admittedly pathetic performance even if Benteke ran offside for it and had a hand in most of our better moments.  He has not looked disinterested to me all season as some have suggested and I have seen interviews with other players who have said he is the best trainer down Bodymoor.

He definitely got frustrated today but he is that sort of players and he wasn't the only one.  Holman didn't stop trying which is admirable but he can barely trap a ball or make a five yard pass either.  We work hard in general but fans pay to see footballers as well and (for all it might say everything we need to know about the current predicament), Ireland is one of our better footballers.

I'm entitled to my opinion as are you of course

He's getting paid £320,000 every 31 days for merit off one good season at Citeh. Since he came to Villa he's been a shower of shite.

We could have 2 decent players at 40K a week if we get rid.

[KevinGage]

Think Mr Green snr hit on something when he talked about sports psychology having a role to play.

Just brainwash the lot of 'em and tell them every game is a League Cup game.   We'll have the title in the bag by April, with a record goals haul. 

Jan/Feb are absolutely crucial to us.   The LC semi is an obvious incentive, and could help put some gloss on a brutal few years.  But home games against Southampton and West Ham could be just as crucial, in many ways.   

Win them  (and the Wigan game coming up) and we'll have seven wins on the board - the same amount that we managed in the whole of last season.   As bad as we can be (and as we've seen, that's bad)  we have to back ourselves in those type of fixtures.  Villa being Villa, we know it's unlikely to be that straightforward. 

If we do have seven wins in the league by early Feb (and a LC final to look forward to) we can maybe/hopefully look back at these past two games a weird anomaly.   

[PeterWithesShin]

Well, that was shit. Awful in the first. Started the second half reasonably well, conceded and went to shit. No idea why Guzan didn't go out and make more of a challenge for the second goal as that was the killer. I was behind the goal in the North Stand and looked to me he could make the challenge. And why has Benteke suddenly forgotten the offside rule?

Spurs fans did make me amuse with "even your telly's shit" when the big screen went on the fritz. They can go fuck off with that shit slow "Oh when the Spurs" bollocks, McGrath it's shit.
And fair play to the 2 Spurs fans who bought the fanzine from me.

[saunders_heroes]

We gave away 15 corners today in the first half. That must be some kind of record from hell.

According to the BBC it's five short of the record for an entire match.

Just appalling. The worst part about it is that they got on the end of most of them. It was only poor finishing that saved us. It could well have been another 8-0. It's humiliating. Lerner has sucked the life out of the club in 3 short years.

[andyh]

Wigan will be chomping at the bit to get at us on saturday.

See, what I don't get is this. How can the management structure at our club believe that you can put together a team of championship quality players, for peanuts, pay low wages, and expect them to succeed in arguably the toughest league in the world.

At best it's naive, at worst it's fucking negligent.

[Risso]

Can't see any self respecting player wanting to join us in January, even on loan. We are now a laughing stock due to this pathetic ultimately doomed experiment and relegation is now a very real prospect.

Were we a laughing stock 10 days ago after winning 3-1 at Liverpool and 4-1 at Norwich?

What an utterly bizarre question.  OJ Simpson was a respected sportsman and film star before he turned into a murderer and bank robber.  The fact that he is now a disgraced criminal can't be undone by saying "was he a criminal when he was making us all laugh in the Naked Gun films?"  So no, we weren't a laughing stock when we beat Norwich and Liverpool.  But now we've been absolutely battered 8-0 and 4-0, we are, because those sorts of results make you a laughing stock.

[pauliewalnuts]

Think Mr Green snr hit on something when he talked about sports psychology having a role to play.

Just brainwash the lot of 'em and tell them every game is a League Cup game.   We'll have the title in the bag by April, with a record goals haul. 

Jan/Feb are absolutely crucial to us.   The LC semi is an obvious incentive, and could help put some gloss on a brutal few years.  But home games against Southampton and West Ham could be just as crucial, in many ways.   

Win them  (and the Wigan game coming up) and we'll have seven wins on the board - the same amount that we managed in the whole of last season.   As bad as we can be (and as we've seen, that's bad)  we have to back ourselves in those type of fixtures.  Villa being Villa, we know it's unlikely to be that straightforward. 

That's what worries me.

This season there have been plenty of matches we've played some very good stuff. We're not going to face Chelsea at Stamford Bridge every week, and we're not going to be up against a more than decent Spurs side every week, either.

The problem I have is that we never really look like we are going to convincingly beat any opponents very often, regardless of how poor they are.

We now have an increasingly worrying injury crisis going on, which is the last thing we need.