Aston Villa v Tottenham Hotspur Post-Match Thread

[ciggiesnbeer]

Bennett was our only player who my Spurs mate thought was any good for what its worth.

[Percy McCarthy]

I think people are very quick to forget that football today is not the same as 10 years ago. The difference in spend is not a few million here and there now, it is hundreds of millions of pounds. Spurs can afford it through massive ticket prices, London location and huge backers that are richer than Lerner. We can't. They put out a side tonight, their reserve side, that would probably be better than our first team all season. It is not being defeatest either, it is acknowledging that the playing field is so far tipped towards the money sides now, that those without have to plan differently.

Lambert is building. He has been in the job 15 months? If we are playing like this in 5 years I will be worried, but seriously, the reason Everton are in a good state for Martinez to build if because they gave Moyes 10 years despite finishing bottom 5 a couple of times. Swansea are an impressive side because they have stuck to a particular philosophy and approach over a long period of time.

Our next step is to spend say 30 million of the TV money on 3 players not 10. This will elevate the rest of the players and improve us no-end. At the moment we only have 3-4 class players and the rest are work men. We need more quality, but Lambert started pretty much from scratch and we need to give him 4-5 years IMO to sort it.

Hear hear

Thirded. I don't see what choice we've got.

[Damo70]

I would have thought that with the money we have spent since Lambert took over we had a choice to either generally strengthen the squad in all departments or each of the two summers buy two or three players who would be almost guaranteed to strengthen the starting eleven. Having taken the long term view and done the former I would like to think we now have the luxury of doing the latter in future.

[mrfuse]

I think people are very quick to forget that football today is not the same as 10 years ago. The difference in spend is not a few million here and there now, it is hundreds of millions of pounds. Spurs can afford it through massive ticket prices, London location and huge backers that are richer than Lerner. We can't. They put out a side tonight, their reserve side, that would probably be better than our first team all season. It is not being defeatest either, it is acknowledging that the playing field is so far tipped towards the money sides now, that those without have to plan differently.

Lambert is building. He has been in the job 15 months? If we are playing like this in 5 years I will be worried, but seriously, the reason Everton are in a good state for Martinez to build if because they gave Moyes 10 years despite finishing bottom 5 a couple of times. Swansea are an impressive side because they have stuck to a particular philosophy and approach over a long period of time.

Our next step is to spend say 30 million of the TV money on 3 players not 10. This will elevate the rest of the players and improve us no-end. At the moment we only have 3-4 class players and the rest are work men. We need more quality, but Lambert started pretty much from scratch and we need to give him 4-5 years IMO to sort it.

Got to agree with this, Like it or not we've got to have patience as we cant compete financially.

[Dr Butler]

By the way the inaccuracy of the commentary on 5 live was astounding

Apparently we have citeh then Chelsea next, Lowton came up through the youth team, Suarez was playing tonight, we lost at Norwich at the weekend.

 

I listened open mouthed at the sheer incompetence of the "commentator" he also said former Everton striker Berbatov scored for Fulham....and sad to say Dean Saunders also got into the act....

last night ?  did not expect anything and got nothing.....the Spurs weakend side had two players in it that cost £17+£24 million....they scored on half time, should of been a pen and a red card....then the second came with in my opinion a dangerous foot up and two goals in 6 mins at the end.   perfect for Spurs.

UTV
The Doc

[Toronto Villa]

The morning after the night before, as thoroughly disappointed as I was, mainly because I was at the game, and it was my first one is ages, the points made by Ozz are worth bearing in mind. We are not at the level of Spurs as utterly shit as that is to admit, and once our squad is diluted due to injury it is even more exposed. I just hope that in seasons to come that we don't only persist with the current transfer policy. That once we have completely shed the remaining unwanted wages that we free up our transfer policy for signings that will actually move this club forwards at a more aggressive pace.

The current plan will keep us out of trouble (just), but it will never be enough to bridge the gap between the middle and the upper echelons of the table, and to make us competitive in all competitions every season. If things go to plan and we get into Europe in the next couple of seasons our resources will be stretched again, but as Swansea are showing it can be done with a sustained plan over many years and some very astute signings.

Let's hope the lads who didn't play last night, Benteke aside are well rested and put in a solid shift at the weekend.

[Virgil Caine]

 Some points that separated Spurs from the Villa last night:-
1. Confidence of a player in possession even under pressure, another player always available.
2. instant control of the ball which allowed for quick decisions.
3. Strength in and out of the tackle, Villa players, apart from Sylla,were too easily knocked off the ball.
4. Pressure, Spurs were far quicker to close us down.
5. Movement, the Villa midfield has to become more mobile and make those runs that split defenses, it is a worrying statistic on how long it has been since a Villa midfielder has been on the score sheet.

I am happy that all the above on work in progress but I wonder about the level of coaching being done with these young players.

[dekko]

Some points that separated Spurs from the Villa last night:-
1. Confidence of a player in possession even under pressure, another player always available.
2. instant control of the ball which allowed for quick decisions.
3. Strength in and out of the tackle, Villa players, apart from Sylla,were too easily knocked off the ball.
4. Pressure, Spurs were far quicker to close us down.
5. Movement, the Villa midfield has to become more mobile and make those runs that split defenses, it is a worrying statistic on how long it has been since a Villa midfielder has been on the score sheet.

I am happy that all the above on work in progress but I wonder about the level of coaching being done with these young players.

These are all excellent points, nice one.

Reagrding number 1 - is this something we're missing when Westy is out of the team?

[Matt C]

As much as it loathes me to say it, Spurs have a very good side - I think their squad as a whole is better than Man Utd now. Our squad is better than last season but still recovering from years of decay. Take our 3-4 better players out of the equation and we'll struggle.

All that said, it's still far, far too easy for teams to come and play at Villa Park at the moment and it needs addressing.

[stubbsyandy]

Some points that separated Spurs from the Villa last night:-
1. Confidence of a player in possession even under pressure, another player always available.
2. instant control of the ball which allowed for quick decisions.
3. Strength in and out of the tackle, Villa players, apart from Sylla,were too easily knocked off the ball.
4. Pressure, Spurs were far quicker to close us down.
5. Movement, the Villa midfield has to become more mobile and make those runs that split defenses, it is a worrying statistic on how long it has been since a Villa midfielder has been on the score sheet.

I am happy that all the above on work in progress but I wonder about the level of coaching being done with these young players.

Very good observations, our first touch seems to be missing compared to the latter part of the season. and our work rate in closing sides down seems to have dropped. I think all those qualities are there but need to be focussed on every game

[dekko]

One thing I was thinking about last night - the poor ball retention and playing at a million miles an hour when we do have the ball.

Might be a chicken/egg thing, but do we play quickly because we know we cant hold on to the ball, or can we not hold on to the ball because we play too quickly?

[PaulWinch again]

One thing I was thinking about last night - the poor ball retention and playing at a million miles an hour when we do have the ball.

Might be a chicken/egg thing, but do we play quickly because we know we cant hold on to the ball, or can we not hold on to the ball because we play too quickly?

I'm not sure why we do it, but it must be changed. We have to get a lot better at retaining the ball.

[badluckeric(gates)]

Best part of the night for me was the away supports 'is there a fire drill' when the droves left at 3-0. Bad as it was had to have a chuckle at that. Oh (and i'm not blaming anyone but) never heard the place so quiet.

[Dr Butler]

Best part of the night for me was the away supports 'is there a fire drill' when the droves left at 3-0. Bad as it was had to have a chuckle at that. Oh (and i'm not blaming anyone but) never heard the place so quiet.

I think we sung that at Arsenal this season....

[Stu]

It's fine if we're just waiting to clear the remaining big earners off our wage bill before spending again, so next summer I expect us not to be signing drek from shit foreign leagues, or making our one expensive-ish signing in a position that we don't need. I'm not holding my breath though.

I'm getting fed up with Lambert to be honest. I'm getting fed up with shite home results interspersed with the odd battering here and there (we've played Spurs twice at home in the last nine months and conceded 8 with no reply), I'm getting fed up of the tacit approval of our decline in status that comes with the lowering of expectations. I see above that we should be looking up to Swansea as a way to run our club.

Aston Villa should be emulating Swansea City.