Aston Villa v Liverpool Post-Match Thread

[Rotterdam]

We were outthought in midfield by Gerrard and Lucas who controlled things, plus a great finish by Sturridge.

[Nirog72]

I thought Delph was really good today but his footballing brain clearly works a lot quicker than his colleagues. When he appears to overcomplicate things he is waiting for them to catch up. I'd be really worried about him going before the deadline, as much as Benteke.

[Kent Villian]

If an attacking number 10 is needed how about Victor Moses on loan from Chelski - according to the Portuguese Gimp he is available?

[Toronto Villa]

Our players appear very coachable and they'll learn and get better from this. Liverpool have spent immense amounts of money and have only beaten us 1-0. We need a little more guile in midfield. For a fraction of the price we are hardly a million miles behind.

[Jimbo]

Awful first half, much better second. I think we should stop believing our own press and concentrate on the basics, like passing to Villa players, keeping possession, finding ways to break teams down. We have a long, long way to go yet, as I'm sure PL knows, but we could do with adding a midfield playmaker this transfer window, otherwise our home form could be our undoing.

[Matt Collins]

First half very poor indeed, but I'm prepared to give the benefit of the doubt due to the games we've played. Liverpool bossed it completely, but only had one chance.

Second half much better as we got on the front foot, even if we passed it badly still at times. Delph and Okore were the standouts, along with Luna. Overall, the defence looks a lot better than it has been.

Think we might be seeing a bit of second season syndrome with Weimann, Westwood and Lowton. They should all come through though.

Benteke's touch looked off, as it has done for many of our recent games actually. But he still threatens any team. Weimann's place must come under threat soon.

Overall, this is still a good start, as long as we go onto to take 4-6 points from the Newcastle and Norwich games.

We need to improve the crispness of our passing for those games.

Bacuna was awful in midfield for the most part, and a strange choice I thought. You could see in pre-season that he was giving the ball away a lot under pressure. But I certainly won't be writing him off.

I thought Tonev looked quite dangerous, but very greedy!

[ChicagoLion]

Think PL got it wrong by starting 4-4-2, their midfield ran the show and it was only when he changed near the end of the half that we started to get into the game.

You thought we were playing 4-4-2, it looked 4-3-3 to me,

It looks like we have got a lot of pretty average midfield players.

[eastie]

If an attacking number 10 is needed how about Victor Moses on loan from Chelski - according to the Portuguese Gimp he is available?

It's a yes from me.

[carlos the third]

We were awful for 40 minutes, but once we changed back to 4-3-3 we were easily the better team, and deserved at least a point. Also worth remembering that, although it is clear that we could do with someone to unlock a defence, Liverpool have had something like 7 clean sheets in their last 9 games so will be one of the better teams defensively that we have to face this season at home. My views on the team:

Guzan - 7. Barely had anything to do, couldn't do anything about the goal. Managed to elbow Agger in the head and get a free kick at the same time which is always a bonus.
Lowton - 6. Pretty poor game by his standards, didn't offer much going forwards.
Okore - 9. Looks so assured, was clearly tiring late on so I'll forgive him that dodgy back header.
Vlaar - 8.  A couple of vital interceptions, looks a lot better with Okore beside him.
Luna - 7. A bit dodgy occasionally when defending, excellent going forwards.
Bacuna - 5. Was looking poor in midfield, picked up a bit when moved to right back with some good tackles. Not writing him off by any means, definitely needs to improve on the ball though.
Westwood - 6. Pretty anonymous.
Delph - 8. Another great display from Fabian, looking like he could be a real asset this season.
Weimann - 6. See Westwood.
Agbonlahor - 7. Made some good runs, had to come deep quite often to get the ball.
Benteke - 7. Not his best game but could have still had a hat trick, we'll let him off this once though.

[Monty]

If an attacking number 10 is needed how about Victor Moses on loan from Chelski - according to the Portuguese Gimp he is available?

He's another winger rather than a proper central player. We just need someone who knows how to manipulate space, when to quicken the game up and when to slow it down, and who has the patience and technique to do it.

[eastie]

We were awful for 40 minutes, but once we changed back to 4-3-3 we were easily the better team, and deserved at least a point. Also worth remembering that, although it is clear that we could do with someone to unlock a defence, Liverpool have had something like 7 clean sheets in their last 9 games so will be one of the better teams defensively that we have to face this season at home. My views on the team:

Guzan - 7. Barely had anything to do, couldn't do anything about the goal. Managed to elbow Agger in the head and get a free kick at the same time which is always a bonus.
Lowton - 6. Pretty poor game by his standards, didn't offer much going forwards.
Okore - 9. Looks so assured, was clearly tiring late on so I'll forgive him that dodgy back header.
Vlaar - 8.  A couple of vital interceptions, looks a lot better with Okore beside him.
Luna - 7. A bit dodgy occasionally when defending, excellent going forwards.
Bacuna - 5. Was looking poor in midfield, picked up a bit when moved to right back with some good tackles. Not writing him off by any means, definitely needs to improve on the ball though.
Westwood - 6. Pretty anonymous.
Delph - 8. Another great display from Fabian, looking like he could be a real asset this season.
Weimann - 6. See Westwood.
Agbonlahor - 7. Made some good runs, had to come deep quite often to get the ball.
Benteke - 7. Not his best game but could have still had a hat trick, we'll let him off this once though.

Pretty much spot on that in my opinion.

[barrysleftfoot]

 Much better team/players than us pauilie?.
 
 Take out Coutinhio and Sturridge they look a very average team.I forgot Iago was playing, and if Henderson is a £20m player, then so am i.Their best player, apart from the 2 above was Toure.Their 2 FBs look vulnerable, and Gerrard looks a shadow of what he was 2 years ago.

 We could push on and not be far off them.For me we are in competition with Everton, Lplop, Swansea, and maybe Soton.They might finish 6th, but i can't see them finishing higher.

[Nirog72]

Tonev - re the selfish comments. Give a player who thinks he can offer a team more than the current starting team are 10 minutes and he will be bloody selfish. What exactly is Wiemann doing now to keep him out the team?

[Toronto Villa]

What's been encouraging so far is that we haven't shot ourselves in the foot defensively. We look more organised than last year and more resolute.

[danno]

They do have still the Uruguayan vampire to come back into their team.