Aston Villa v West Ham United Post-Match Thread

[ozzjim]

Not getting too carried away...but thank f**k for that! We did our best to mess it up but Guzan bailed us out. Defence was reasonably solid. Midfield still a concern though. Delph's first touch was appalling today. Westwood offered nothing as usual. Bowery didn't really impress and looked really rusty. He is faster then that. Weimann will rest easier knowing that sitter hasn't cost us. I don't really like him out wide anyway. Dawkins looked lively at times. Although I wasn't impressed with him diving for a penalty when he could've had a shot at goal. Benteke must be the coolest penalty taker we've had. Sends the keeper the wrong way every time. Great FK by Zog to win it. No amazing performances today and Clark probably deserves MOTM. Not pretty...but 3 points.

Watch the Dawkins one again. He is already stumbling and their guys thigh catches his back leg into his other when the ball has gone taking him to the floor. It wasn't a dive, but wasn't a pen.

[Toronto Villa]

Given the pressure, both the penalty and free kick were absolutely massive

[Flamingo Lane]

Sorry.  That was simply a terrible game between two very very poor teams.  We will be lucky to play against a team as bad as WHU in what remains of the season.  We are going down. 

[Dave]

Sorry.  That was simply a terrible game between two very very poor teams.  We will be lucky to play against a team as bad as WHU in what remains of the season.  We are going down. 

That's the spirit.

[Toronto Villa]

Sorry.  That was simply a terrible game between two very very poor teams.  We will be lucky to play against a team as bad as WHU in what remains of the season.  We are going down. 

So no positives at all then? I think the fact that we actually held on for a win, however it was achieved will do wonders for the psychology of the players. That dressing room while relieved will be really happy, and training next week will be so much better. Yes, we need to play better, and yes we got lucky, but don't downplay the impact of a win.

[ktvillan]

Relieved to finally chalk up a win, and for once not to throw away a two goal cushion - although we had a go.  Bent's clearance off the line was vital.  Baker is like a bull in a china shop at times, no wonder he gets crocked so often.   Felt a bit sorry for Weimann, he'd normally have buried that chance, and he was obviously gutted by it.   

Although a lot of it is bad defending, we do seem to have some ill luck with goals conceded, they seem to be flying in from all angles and distances with very little compensating fortune at the other end.

We need to build on that now.

[PaulWinch again]

I thought on balance we deserved it just about, and won ugly as Lambert had talked about.

I thought Vlaar had a good game and Clark made some essential interceptions on low crosses into the box. Guzan was, IMO, slightly out of position and got caught for the goal but had an excellent game apart from that.

Westwood looked and played like a man who had not eaten for a few days, and should not have been out there really.

Weimann let the miss kill his whole match and unless scoring, his all round game is very suspect. He is great with confidence and dire without, but works his bollocks off whatever so should be forgiven and is on the way to being an excellent player.

Benteke struggled I thought, and I think he feels the pressure a lot more at VP than away from home where he is a beast. Amazing pen though.

NZogbia was woeful until Bent and Dawkins arrived, and they drew defenders to give him the room to get at the defenders. Stunning free kick, and he is and has proven in the past to be a ticket out of the situation we are in. Give him the ball in areas he can hurt teams. Get him confident.


Delph I was impressed again. Energy, fight, some nice touches, but he runs the ball on his 3/4th touch too far time and again and loses it or has to make a tackle. Take a breath, calm and keep the ball lad.

Baker played well at left back IMO, but needs to not dive in. Brilliant header of Carroll.

Delighted to win. It feels nice to win.

I thought Baker was very suspect at left back, they constantly used that channel to get crosses in and he never stopped them and also he gave away some stupid fouls. Agree that Bent and Dawkins massively helped N'Zog.

[cdbearsfan]

Has Allardyce quit yet?

;-)

[Mortimer's Bear]

Just on my way home, thank god for that!

I thought Baker and Guzan were superb, N'Zogbia and Clark played very well, Bowery struggled and Delph was his usual enigmatic self.

On a side note, West Ham really are poor aren't they.

[Jockey Randall]

Can anyone tell me why Bent got booked? At the time it looked like one of the worst decisions I've ever seen. There was no chat about it on the commentary though.

[paulcomben]

Sorry.  That was simply a terrible game between two very very poor teams.  We will be lucky to play against a team as bad as WHU in what remains of the season.  We are going down. 

That's the spirit.

To be fair, the truth does lie somewhere in between. Both teams are poor. Big Sam is so cynical in his approach that he cannot win ongoing enthusiasm from Ammers fans. They just want to stay up, as do we now. Villa do have good players for the future, who need to learn to grind them out now. Lambert, rather than keep it simple, appears determined to confuse them without cause.

[barrysleftfoot]

 Still too lightweight in midfield.Need to try and beef it up in the centre, maybe get this Silla fella in.

 Bakers aeriel power makes a lot of difference tbh, he won a lot of important headers today, but dives in , and gets caught out of position a bit too much, but he should play.

 I thought Westwood was defensively poor today, lets players drift off him too much.

We were vulnerable today, but West Ham were too negative, and too shit to exploit it.

[Summers]

bang on about it but, 45% (or 47% sky have) of the ball at home is not very good. Wonder what it will be at the emirates...

We had 60%+ in the first half.

[beness]

Well after the loss of both my parents over Christmas, I now have a tiny tear in my eye and a small smile to match.

Thankyou Aston Villa

sorry to hear. All the best.

[The Man With A Stick]

Is Dunne close to getting back?

If the rumour I heard is correct, he's been fit for weeks.