Aston Villa v QPR Post-Match Thread

[tomd2103]

Just got back in after staying out to watch the rugby.  Great win today and I thought we looked as dangerous going forward at times in the 2nd half as we have looked at home all season.  I don't think QPR are a bad side, especially going forward and are a bit better than their position suggests, so it was a good result.

When we had the flat three in midfield in the first half, I thought we missed having a player in the "hole" and lacked creativity.  I thought Sylla did OK in midfield and we kept possession well at times.  Special mention for the fans today, as the atmosphere (especially in the 2nd half) was great.

Oh yeah and on the subject of the ref, how on earth did he miss that backpass in the first half?

[Ron Manager]

For the rest of this season in midfield I would be very happy to go with Sylla/ Westwood/Delph. With Bannan on the bench.

[SoccerHQ]

The OS have picked up on Westwood's highly impressive stats today.

97% pass completion - 75 passes made, 73 successful

That's pretty impressive for someone who was playing for Crewe not long ago.

http://www.avfc.co.uk/page/NewsDetail/0,,10265~3111779,00.html

Westwood is a proper player, we need genuine central midfield class around him next season.

[Legion]

All the goals

[damon loves JT]

We all know how the atmosphere *can* be at Villa Park when things aren't going well. But when it really, really matters Villa supporters always step up.

I am very proud of everyone who made it there today. Some posters on here travelled long distances and made real sacrifices, and I believe the crowd made the difference.

Those were our three points.

[UK Redsox]

Kevin Friend was it?  Awful.  He must've found those 5 minutes in some kind of time warp. 

Thought the linesman was awful too second half, some very dodgy decisions when QPR looked offside. The ref, what can you say? So many shocking decisions, very poor. He booked Bannan for his first innocuous tug on a player and waved play on when Gabby was fouled several times, never went back to the players to book them.
As others have said, good job we all believe that the premiership is not corrupt in any way or you would start to wonder.........

Which QPR player was it that grabbed a Villa player round the ankles ?

The Ref rightly played advantage but then never even went back to have a word with the QPR player, let alone book him

[villan from luton]

For the rest of this season in midfield I would be very happy to go with Sylla/ Westwood/Delph. With Bannan on the bench.

Think we need the creativety of N'Zog for home games especially

[Legion]

Kevin Friend was it?  Awful.  He must've found those 5 minutes in some kind of time warp. 

Thought the linesman was awful too second half, some very dodgy decisions when QPR looked offside. The ref, what can you say? So many shocking decisions, very poor. He booked Bannan for his first innocuous tug on a player and waved play on when Gabby was fouled several times, never went back to the players to book them.
As others have said, good job we all believe that the premiership is not corrupt in any way or you would start to wonder.........

Which QPR player was it that grabbed a Villa player round the ankles ?

The Ref rightly played advantage but then never even went back to have a word with the QPR player, let alone book him

Twice.

[ktvillan]

Hugely relieved at the win, though I know little about it as for the second week in a row I stayed away from TV, radio etc. and checked the result after.  Will watch on Sky game of the day.

I also thought a win would mean the odds are we will survive, but with Wigan having two games in hand and Southampton beating 'The Mighty Reds YNWA' we aint out of the woods just yet.  Still a few teams just above us will be more nervous now and hopefully our confidence will be boosted by these two wins and it will be onwards and upwards.

Impressive attendance too.   Have we ever lost when Benteke scores? 

[tomd2103]

The OS have picked up on Westwood's highly impressive stats today.

97% pass completion - 75 passes made, 73 successful

That's pretty impressive for someone who was playing for Crewe not long ago.

http://www.avfc.co.uk/page/NewsDetail/0,,10265~3111779,00.html

Westwood is a proper player, we need genuine central midfield class around him next season.

Agree.  Get rid of Ireland and offer his £85,000 a week to Gareth Barry!!

[Toronto Villa]

The turn and finish by Weimann for our second is simply outstanding. Messi-esque given the time and space that he had to receive the ball, be aware of his surroundings, turn inside and wrong foot the defence and finish clinically and powerfully with his left foot.

[villan from luton]

Weimann's work for the third goal was absolutely superb

[saunders_heroes]

Guzan 8 - 2 outstanding saves in the first half. Dominant in the air again and passed it more into midfield than usual. been a big find for us this season and likely to be our keeper for many years
Lowton 4 - An assist and should have had a goal. One great block in the second half. In between all that he was horribly out of his depth. His form of late is in the same vein as Hutton or De La Cruz. Physically weak, positionally awful and beaten for pace throughout
Vlaar 5 - doesnt look fully fit. His organisation skills are desperate, definitely a follower rather than a leader. was the best of our back 4 but that wasnt saying much if anything
Clark 4 - woeful really. Same as Lowton decent on the ball but lots of the same weaknesses, physically weak, slow and rash. Not good enough I'm afraid and I had high hopes for him
Baker 5 - there is brave and then there is reckless. Baker falls in the later category and the injury he picked up was a result of putting himself in a position where he could have got seriously injured. Poor defender in any case
Sylla 5 - positionally seemed a bit all over the place today. definitely still very raw but his strength and mobility was badly lacking following his subsitution.
Bannan 4 - good game last week but hopeless in this one. the decision to replace Sylla and not him could have cost us the game. His limitations without the ball are pretty obvious but was very disappointed with him today with the ball. Thought the occasion got to him and certainly he didnt get on the ball as much as he should have.
Westwood 8 - despite his best efforts, without the ball he is almost as ineffective as Bannan. Was part of a midfield destroyed on the counter attack at time. However with the ball I thought he was excellent today. Always looking to get on the ball, great positioning and football intelligence about picking the right pass. He was involved in all our best football. Needs Delph next to him.
Weimann 8 - not in the game at all in the first half. But what leadership he showed in the second half. Another goal but his assist was our best play of the season. The contrast between the guts he showed and the lack that his direction opponent Fabio did was striking
Gabby 8 - shite in the first half, he needed to target Boswinga but instead floated around doing nothing. But the goal woke him up and with Benteke misfiring badly, he showed great leadership in the second half.
Benteke 5 - beaten up a stick by Samba today. Terrible defending on the opening set piece and offered us very little going forward. Still scored the winner and will have learned more today than the last couple of games where he was outstanding.

Bennett 5 - horrible start. tidy player on the ball certainly but too physically weak to be a defender at this level
Nzogbia 7 - slow enough start but soon found space and was involved in the winner with a good pass to Weimann. Bit unlucky to be out of the side at the moment
Bowery - not on long enough

Agree with these ratings. Awful first half, then Gabby scores one of the most vital Villa goals in years. Second half we really did show some fight and we deserved our win.
Special mention to two absolute tossers in Redknapp and the Ref. How the hell can he justify playing nearly 6 minutes in added time and nearly giving a heart attack? And that bastard Redknapp - his comments after the game were deluded beyond belief. Yes we were shite first half but in the second we took the game to them and punished the cockney bastards. You got what you deserved from the game.... Nothing!

[barrysleftfoot]

 Good atmosphere today, that shot was so close at the end, and QPR could probably argue that with their 1st half performance that they did'nt deserve to lose.

  Guzan......MOM in the 1st half, played well throughout
  Lowton.......not sure about Lowton, defensively gets beat too often, but looks good going foward, better 2nd half.
  Baker.......needs to calm down a bit, throws himself in to unwinnable challenges sometimes
  Bennett....mistake for 1st goal, played well for me after that, made the 2nd goal for Weimann
  Clark.....played ok, not a big fan, but has played well in the last 2 games.
  Vlaar....was very good today, very solid 2nd half, a proper captains game.
  Westwood.....nice footballer, moves the ball well, for me needs to be a bit more positive, and lacks physicality.
  Bannan....as above
  Sylla.......looks a good prospect.Quick, can pass, can tackle.Look a better team with him in.
  Gabby....until the goal, i thought he was poor, the goal was very important, and his pace always causes teams problems.Wish he had a better touch.
  Weimann....MOM, and probably my favourite Villa player atm.Always looks as if he has a goal in him, always lively, creative, does not stop working.If any player is worth a significant pay increase, it is him.
  Benteke.....wonderful, wonderful, player.As good a player as i have seen down VP.Need to keep him for at least another 1/2 years
  N'Zog....i thought he played well when he came on, and we looked better going foward.We have some good foward players.
  Bowery.....always does ok when he came on.Quite quick, nice touch, great cross for Gabby, think he could turn out to be a good purchase.

  I trhought we lacked physical presence in the 2nd half, and we need more power and pace in the central midfield positions in particular, that for me is why we don't win more games.

[nigel]

Bennett came back well after his mistake in fairness to him.

Agree.

Set up Weimann and made some great tackles.
But, even with his pass for their goal Jenas ran between 2 Villa players to get the ball.