Aston Villa v Manchester City Post-Match Thread

[Richard]

Did not deserve anything from the game - no idea in the final third and no options from the bench - how on earth were we ever going to create an equaliser with Dawkins Holman KEA and an out of sorts Gabby in that final ten minutes or so !? And why is it that we lump the ball forward to Benteke and no one is around for the knock down ?

[PaulMcGrathsNo5Shirt]

I thought we should have played Gabby and Y`Zogbia.

Why oh why does Ciaran Clark think he's become Franco Baresi?

As a side note, the last time we scored a league goal from open play at Villa Park was Man.Utd in November. Rab.C.Lambert not only can't get us to defend he can't get us to score either.

[olaftab]

Didn't see the game tonight due to work reasons but just seen the highlights on Spanish TV.
There is no point in people repeating the same old same old here tonight. We know what we are are! Tonight we played the Champions and ran them close. A dubious goal was scored  when the ref could easily have given us a free kick. A nailed on penalty when Benteke was fouled  not given.   Yes another defeat but....

[Legion]

[curiousorange]

Did not deserve anything from the game - no idea in the final third and no options from the bench - how on earth were we ever going to create an equaliser with Dawkins Holman KEA and an out of sorts Gabby in that final ten minutes or so !? And why is it that we lump the ball forward to Benteke and no one is around for the knock down ?

Benteke = great target man. Weimann = fantastic finisher. In a 4-4-2, could be as productive as Shaw and Withe. Instead, Weimann gets played on the wing and is expected to be a supply line to one man up top. I don't claim to be a tactical genius, but even I can see we're not getting the best out of these two by spanking flat balls over the top towards the six yard box, more in hope than expectation.

[SoccerHQ]

Did not deserve anything from the game - no idea in the final third and no options from the bench - how on earth were we ever going to create an equaliser with Dawkins Holman KEA and an out of sorts Gabby in that final ten minutes or so !? And why is it that we lump the ball forward to Benteke and no one is around for the knock down ?

That's the problem with playing all four forwards at once. With Bent injured, there is fcuk all game turning options on the bench if your forwards starting are being marked out of the game.

[olaftab]

Becoming cannon fodder for other teams really pisses me off.

Losing 1-0 to the champion's is not cannon fodder.

[Chipsticks]

Pleased with the performace, and I was never that bothered about the result. Nobody particularly worried me and I just felt quite relaxed and laid back throughout the game.

QPR on the other hand, I will need two buckets - one for sweat and one for shit.

[dave.woodhall]

Look at us Sky!!!! LOOOOOOOKKK!!!

[Chipsticks]

My old man reckoned Benteke's agent paid for them to do that. Not sure I buy it.

[pauliewalnuts]

L: Paul Faulkner
R: Randy Lerner

[curiousorange]

Just remembered: aren't we traditionally piss-poor in March?

[silhillvilla]

Ready made cover for the next H&V

[Des Little]

Let's be honest...we did well to keep them out for practically the first half. Clarky's bollock drop gifted them the lead and in the second half they were playing in 4th gear with the handbrake on knowing full well we wouldn't bother them. A pat on the head if ever there was one.

[Ads]

I thought it was a tight game all told. You can see where there extra quality was in the final third, but then what do you expect from a side that rivals some third world countries annual budget?

We were not sharp enough in that final third, yes they closed us down well and squeezed the space, but I thought we delayed the cross too often.

Ultimately it comes down to a really daft individual error that you just cannot account for at any level. Down stairs at half time it looked like he clipped Clark, but in any event he should not have been in that position.

I thought Benteke was offered zero protection and we should have had a penalty.

Delph will be a miss as he played very well. We look lile we have something about us these past few weeks. We should definitely have got a couple of points from these last two games and if you can take the effort and application over into the next few matches, then with poorer opposition and mpre space we will get more joy.

A lot closer than many people thought with Brad making one fantastic stop, Toure hitting the post and the lovely looking Tevez clearing one off the line.

Big games comimg up and I think we are looking fairly decent if still lacking at one or two moments. No bonus points to mark on the card this weekend, but we have at least closed the goal difference.