Villa's style of play

[Clampy]

When a poster reckons that we're 'like Wimbledon' then you know it's time to stop taking him seriously and let him get on with being a grump.

[eastie]

When a poster reckons that we're 'like Wimbledon' then you know it's time to stop taking him seriously and let him get on with being a grump.

He "cannot be serious " is the only comparison I can make with his comments and wimbledon .
New balls please.

[Ads]

When a poster reckons that we're 'like Wimbledon' then you know it's time to stop taking him seriously and let him get on with being a grump.

Its because we scored from a long punt from the goalkeeper. You'd never see Everton score a goal like that, nope. Never.


H

[eastie]

When a poster reckons that we're 'like Wimbledon' then you know it's time to stop taking him seriously and let him get on with being a grump.

Its because we scored from a long punt from the goalkeeper. You'd never see Everton score a goal like that, nope. Never.


H

Liverpool scored many like that in their glory era,  big punt from Clemence, flick on from toshack and in the net from keegan .

[pauliewalnuts]

6 games is the time to make observations, not draw conclusions.

Nice quote there.

Indeed, very well put. It also works both ways, it's too early to decide if we're going to be world beaters this season, and similarly it is too early to decide we've given up and resorted to pre-planned long ball football.

[Ghost of Pongo Waring]

When a poster reckons that we're 'like Wimbledon' then you know it's time to stop taking him seriously and let him get on with being a grump.

Its because we scored from a long punt from the goalkeeper. You'd never see Everton score a goal like that, nope. Never.


H

The thing is it wasn't just a lucky punt up field. You can clearly see the moment when Guzan notices the opportunity. Awareness and good execution from both Guzan and Weimann resulted in that goal.

[eastie]

When a poster reckons that we're 'like Wimbledon' then you know it's time to stop taking him seriously and let him get on with being a grump.

Its because we scored from a long punt from the goalkeeper. You'd never see Everton score a goal like that, nope. Never.


H

The thing is it wasn't just a lucky punt up field. You can clearly see the moment when Guzan notices the opportunity. Awareness and good execution from both Guzan and Weimann resulted in that goal.

Also good movement from Kozak too .

[Concrete John]

When a poster reckons that we're 'like Wimbledon' then you know it's time to stop taking him seriously and let him get on with being a grump.

Its because we scored from a long punt from the goalkeeper. You'd never see Everton score a goal like that, nope. Never.


H

The thing is it wasn't just a lucky punt up field. You can clearly see the moment when Guzan notices the opportunity. Awareness and good execution from both Guzan and Weimann resulted in that goal.

As it didn't involve a 147 pass move, 3 back heels, a 45 yard overhead strike and 2 clowns, I think we should be embarassed about it and ask the league to take the extra 2 point away from us.

[dekko]

I remember after the first game of last season hearing lots of people complain about 'powder-puff, tippy-tappy' football, and wherever I sit at VP there's always somebody moaning at the players to ' GET IT FORWARD '

Whatever style you play, it won't please everyone.

However, comparisons to TSM and old Wimbledon sides are so far from the mark its unbelieveable.

[Ads]

When a poster reckons that we're 'like Wimbledon' then you know it's time to stop taking him seriously and let him get on with being a grump.

Its because we scored from a long punt from the goalkeeper. You'd never see Everton score a goal like that, nope. Never.


H

The thing is it wasn't just a lucky punt up field. You can clearly see the moment when Guzan notices the opportunity. Awareness and good execution from both Guzan and Weimann resulted in that goal.

I agree, the Goose had a good look up and saw a two on two, but I was being facetious. Somebody who described our play as "muck" pointed to Everton as an example of the type of football we should be playing, yet they scored a goal fairly similar to ours; long kick from the keeper and rank defending.

I bet Lambert wishes when he walked into the job just over a year ago, that he'd inherited a top six squad full of experienced quality players; but he didn’t.

He inherited the footballing equivalent of ground zero. 1874 and 2012 are both year 1 for Aston Villa FC in terms of football. He had a squad chock full of attitude problems, lacking in professionalism and absent in quality, who had played the worst football any of us will have seen.

I am sure he would have loved to have spent £40 million over two seasons on two or three players to strengthen the spine, rather than 15 plus in completely rebuilding the squad.

And despite all that, we play some good stuff. Bacuna unlocked Man City with a delightful pass. How many times did they unlock our back four to work Guzan? 0.

We’re by no means the finished article and to be honest, I haven’t read a comment which suggests we are. But given the start we’ve had, the football and results have been by and large good.

[PaulWinch again]

How on earth are Bacuna, Sylla and KEA hoofers?! Again nonsense.

[Monty]

The thing about a style of play is that almost nobody does exclusively one thing or another - that's why Pep Guardiola and Tony Pulis represent such extremes. The point is, what is the basis of your style? For Lambert, it is undoubtedly passing along the ground and from player to player rather than from player to general areas of the pitch. However, sometimes we feel the need to punt it, which is acceptable if we're being pressed back in our own half, but the players do rather resort to it a lot, which is frustrating. However, it does not make us a long ball side - that would be Allardyce's West Ham, who do sometimes pass but whose game is built on preplanned direct balls into specified areas of the pitch, rather than from player to player.

Yes we hoof it too much, but the style is based on passing, and will become even more so as we go along.

[Clampy]

However, comparisons to TSM and old Wimbledon sides are so far from the mark its unbelieveable.

I can only presume that it's an attempt by the poster in question to prolong the argument by coming up with different comparisons every day. The only thing they're doing though is coming across as stupid.

[Ghost of Pongo Waring]

The thing is it wasn't just a lucky punt up field. You can clearly see the moment when Guzan notices the opportunity. Awareness and good execution from both Guzan and Weimann resulted in that goal.

I agree, the Goose had a good look up and saw a two on two, but I was being facetious. Somebody who described our play as "muck" pointed to Everton as an example of the type of football we should be playing, yet they scored a goal fairly similar to ours; long kick from the keeper and rank defending.

I bet Lambert wishes when he walked into the job just over a year ago, that he'd inherited a top six squad full of experienced quality players; but he didn’t.

He inherited the footballing equivalent of ground zero. 1874 and 2012 are both year 1 for Aston Villa FC in terms of football. He had a squad chock full of attitude problems, lacking in professionalism and absent in quality, who had played the worst football any of us will have seen.

I am sure he would have loved to have spent £40 million over two seasons on two or three players to strengthen the spine, rather than 15 plus in completely rebuilding the squad.

And despite all that, we play some good stuff. Bacuna unlocked Man City with a delightful pass. How many times did they unlock our back four to work Guzan? 0.

We’re by no means the finished article and to be honest, I haven’t read a comment which suggests we are. But given the start we’ve had, the football and results have been by and large good.

I totally agree. My post was intended to add to yours not question it. 

The transformation of the squad in just over a year, especially with mainly young players being brought in, means that we're bound to be inconsistent at times.

Sometimes they do panic and lump it up field, when a more considered pass might be better, but the more experience they get the better their decision making will become. At our best we're a very good side but that consistency will take time.

We are not strong enough to play an expansive passing game against Man City, especially with four important players out injured. No conclusions about our style can be made from a game like that.

As for any comparisons to Wimbledon made previously

[Monty]

Lambert seems to have given up on rectifying... and have now put in physically stronger players for ball players e.g. Bacuna for Lowton and Sylla for Westwood.

What a load of crap.  Westwood is injured and everyone has noticed Lowton's loss of form.  This is not "giving up" at all.

by giving up I meant not signing a genuine creative midfielder this summer, a number ten that our side has been crying out for. An attacking midfielder that can create, get beyond the strikers and score goals. That player isnt Westwood

Instead he signs Helenius and Kozak. Seems to be making his intentions clear to me anyway

How many times does he have to say that 'Helenius is a different sort of player' and not a target man, and then bring him on in a Number Tenish position, for people to stop assuming that Helenius is another big man centre forward? He's never played like that, not in Denmark and not over here, so far.

I agree I'd have preferred the midfielder rather than the Kozak, but he was after several of these players, as we know, and probably never found the right deal (the argument I've heard some put about, by the way, that instead of Kiyotake he signed Tonev, is surely incorrect - Tonev was around £2m, and however cheaply he hoped to Kiyotake, it would never have been along those lines - ie, they're not like-for-like).