Home truths

[supertom]

I would have Bennett and Luna down the left, with a more narrow 3 in the centre, one, drifting right to support Lowton but not holding position in the way a winger would so as not to give away 3 bodies centrally. Then Gabby behind Benteke.

We need genuine width on one side, and our best wide player in terms of delivery is Bennett, much maligned, but he could be a quality attacking wide player IMO. Albrighton having confidence and form would help too! Centre of midfield needs to house Sylla, Westwood and Delph to make sure we are not over - run, Gabby playing more in to out than out to in, and give Bennett a go down the left. Weimann has been poor for a long time, Sunderland home the exception rather than the rule.

We also terribly miss NZogbia at home, as he commits people and makes things happen. When fit, I hope Lambert realises this.

I'd pretty much written N'Zogbia off, but to be honest we do miss that quality and that kind of unpredictability in midfield. We don't really have any players who are really good at running with the ball at their feet. Or someone you could see just skinning someone and rifling in a 20 yarder. N'Zogbia could do that. He's technically good and the ball sticks to his feet when hes running with it. That is of course, when he's on it.
There-in also lies the problem, and also why he's in the bombers, there's not enough consistency.

We watched on saturday with a degree of jealousy over Ben Arfa. N'Zogbia has that sort of ability when he's on it.

[Boz]

The defence is still awful and without some clean sheets, it is too much to expect us to always score more then the opposition.

There is also a need to provide more help for Benteke on goal scoring, as Newcastle had worked out how to stifle him except at set pieces. The other players need to chip in more, otherwise we'll be in the bottom 6 or worse for most of the season.

[Clampy]

I would have Bennett and Luna down the left, with a more narrow 3 in the centre, one, drifting right to support Lowton but not holding position in the way a winger would so as not to give away 3 bodies centrally. Then Gabby behind Benteke.

We need genuine width on one side, and our best wide player in terms of delivery is Bennett, much maligned, but he could be a quality attacking wide player IMO. Albrighton having confidence and form would help too! Centre of midfield needs to house Sylla, Westwood and Delph to make sure we are not over - run, Gabby playing more in to out than out to in, and give Bennett a go down the left. Weimann has been poor for a long time, Sunderland home the exception rather than the rule.

We also terribly miss NZogbia at home, as he commits people and makes things happen. When fit, I hope Lambert realises this.

I'd pretty much written N'Zogbia off, but to be honest we do miss that quality and that kind of unpredictability in midfield. We don't really have any players who are really good at running with the ball at their feet. Or someone you could see just skinning someone and rifling in a 20 yarder. N'Zogbia could do that. He's technically good and the ball sticks to his feet when hes running with it. That is of course, when he's on it.
There-in also lies the problem, and also why he's in the bombers, there's not enough consistency.

We watched on saturday with a degree of jealousy over Ben Arfa. N'Zogbia has that sort of ability when he's on it.

N'Zogbia has got the ability but so far we've seen precious little of it. Yes, he can run with the ball but nine times out of ten, he just runs into other players and loses possession. I can't think of too many goals he's set up since he's been here. Also, he's not in the bomb squad, he's injured.

As for the home form, i can't quite put my finger on why it's so poor, it's a bit of a mystery. We could try altering the formation i suppose. Maybe a good win over a top side down here could be what kicks it off again. I think a lot of people were expecting us to do that against a Suarez-less Liverpool team and it did'nt happen. It needs to change soon though because as good as we are on the road, we can't rely on the away form.

Oh and a start would be to get rid of that horrible Fatboy Slim song they run out to.

[Irish villain]

The defence is still awful and without some clean sheets, it is too much to expect us to always score more then the opposition.

There is also a need to provide more help for Benteke on goal scoring, as Newcastle had worked out how to stifle him except at set pieces. The other players need to chip in more, otherwise we'll be in the bottom 6 or worse for most of the season.

How depressing. When we thought we had turned the corner.

[dekko]

Early days.  If Lambert employs the same tactics in our next home game against easily beatable opposition then I'll start to get worried.

What is really mystifying is why we never seem to get started until 30 minutes in.  Lambert always gets the team visibly fired up after half time, you'd think he could do that before the game as well.

[Ron Manager]

If you think about it the only players in the first team our posters have no complaints about are Guzan,Delph and Benteke.Thats just three out of eleven and that is not encouraging in any way at all.

[Deano's Mullet]

Our next two home games are Man City and .... Everton I believe? Have we ever lost all four opening home games? I cant recall it but the possibility is there. The worst start in general  I ever remember was the season after we signed Collymore, four straight defeats.

[Marlon From Bearwood]

I think there's a few reasons why away teams and their supporters enjoy coming to VP.

- It's in the middle of the country and easy to get to, therefore a lot of clubs probably bring an above-average following (whereas clubs probably bring below average numbers to Stadium of Light, St James' etc).

- They get a decent allocation, right alongside the pitch, so are able to really make themselves heard (unlike away fans at say, St James' or OT).

- It's not that intimidating. Yes, we can make a decent noise when we want to, but you wouldn't say it was a horrible place to visit with the home fans right on top of you (like say Upton Park, or Elland Road can be).

- The facilities are nice so make for a more pleasant visit than somewhere like Goodison or The Sty.

- Surely there's now a phsycological effect - As discussed, our record Vs Man U, Arsenal, Liverpool, is completely embarrassing. Maybe that now plays on our minds, whilst increasing their confidence by an extra 10% when they come here.

[Irish villain]

Maybe we should try sticking the away fans high up in the upper tier of the Trinity Road Stand?

[Meanwood Villa]

Our next two home games are Man City and .... Everton I believe? Have we ever lost all four opening home games? I cant recall it but the possibility is there. The worst start in general  I ever remember was the season after we signed Collymore, four straight defeats.

We've got Tottenham before Everton which on paper is a harder game. Maybe Man City and Tottenham will suit us though as it might be more like an away game. Or we could get spanked, we must have an awful record against Tottenham these past few years.

[frank]

Or we could get spanked, we must have an awful record against Tottenham these past few years.

Only beaten them twice (one home, one away) since 2004

[eamonn]

Maybe we should try sticking the away fans high up in the upper tier of the Trinity Road Stand?

Far too good for 'em. Might put-off our posh contingent too and they're pitching-in with Stephen Ireland's NI costs.

[Jimbo]

I think we're kidding ourselves that it's somehow the ground's fault. It's the team.

The players we've attracted in the last ten years or so have been more of the solid huff-and-puff variety than those with guile and creativity. Players who are more suited to a counter-attacking, kick and rush game that's often more effective away from home. We just haven't consistently had the players or the tactical flexibility to break down teams at home. Sometimes it only needs one Paul Merson type to split a defence. The last player we had of that calibre was Paul Merson.

And is it really surprising that the top four teams regularly give us a beating at home? They're top four for a reason. They have better players than us, and quite often better managers. Which is why they usually give us a beating away as well.

[dekko]

I asked a Norwich fan (who generally knows his stuff) on another forum about Lambert's selections and tactics and whatnot and here's what he had to say:

Me:
Does he have form for sticking rigidly to a certain formation/tactic even when its ineffective?

Villa look great away from home because we're perfectly suited for counterattacking, trying to do the same thing at home doesn't work (see every game Villa have played at home in the last 6 seasons). Also when things aren't working he sticks on another target man and goes 4-2-4, which would be fine if there was some width, but if 4 central strikers stood still on the edge of the box while the CBs lump the ball to them didn't work against Bradford or Millwall, it isnt going to work against Newcastle.


Norwich guy:
Tbh he has form for doing the exact opposite of that, but it took time.

First season he stuck with the diamond as it got the best out of Hoolahan, then the Championship season he added a similar counter attacking 4-2-3-1 to what Villa are currently using, while occasionally doing the whole 'throw on all the strikers' thing you mention, then in our first Prem season he went mental and started fielding different line ups and formations every game, I've never seen anything like it before or since.

He also mentioned the 'Lambert doesnt do clean sheets' thing (Norwich only managed 2? in the league their first season up)

[Irish villain]

Maybe we should try sticking the away fans high up in the upper tier of the Trinity Road Stand?

Far too good for 'em. Might put-off our posh contingent too and they're pitching-in with Stephen Ireland's NI costs.

`

Having them in an upper tier only location would at least isolate them from their players. I see your point with Trinity Upper. Maybe give them half the North Upper or half the Witton Upper?