Aston Villa v Manchester City Post-Match Thread

[eastie]

Great result. Lets hope it's the start of something (at home). Stick to the formation maybe? I'd imagine it gives us more solidity at the back and certainly suits players like Bacuna, Luna and Wiemann.

I said this yesterday. It might work even better with Benteke and Gabby as the front two, although it would be a little harsh on Weimann.

The good thing is we have a variation in our play and can adapt the formation as and when needed , I have no doubt he will continue away with the 433 but the fact we can change things at home is no bad thing - we need to adapt our tactics and shake it up a bit if things aren't going well .

It's all good for the future, I agree with other posters that bacuna and luna are more effective as kind of wing backs than last season although I do feel sorry for Lowton .

[paul_e]

Just back to Manchester a short while ago. Its awfully quiet.......

Anyway not sure how we won but win we did.  I thought it was a very gutsy display and despite our frustrations as fans at the extremely limited set up Lambert put out I have to say the players delivered on it very well.  When we tried to pass the ball and players showed movement we put some nice little passing moves together but it was all too infrequent.

Guzan - 7 - Looked solid and for all Citehs possession didn't have a huge amount to do
Bacuna - 8 - Worked hard and put a shift in as he was often outnumbered 2 on 1. Sublime goal and assist
Vlaar - 7.5 - Much better.
Baker - 7 - Good interceptions and looked solid enough
Clark - 6 - Looked hesitant today and didn't step out enough to use his ability on the ball and create space for others.
Luna - 8.5 - My MOM, marked Milner out the game in my view and hardly gave Navas a kick.  It was his harassing and pressing that seemed to give the rest of the team a lift in the second half.
El Ahamadi - 8 -  Good goal and worked harder as the game progressed
Delph - 8 - this lad is coming of age and gave a very disciplined and committed performance in front of the back 3
Sylla - 7 - Incredible workrate but maybe not his best day on the ball
Weimann - 8 - Ran his nads off to little effect but then scored the vital goal
Kozak - 7 - Worked his balls off for the team and got precisely no service but his challenge from Brads long ball led to the winner

Bowery - 7 - Seems to have bulked up over the summer and did a job on that mouthy twonk Ya Ya Toure when he came on

Lambert - ? - I can't work out if that was a genius tactical set up to completely tie up the centre of the pitch so Citeh couldn't play through us and then rely on good defending to ensure their wide players  didn't capitalise or we were just plain lucky!

Us lot - 7 - Not bad when the team started playing

Right time for dinner.....

My ratings

Guzan 4 - threw in the first goal, rooted to his line for the second and his efforts with the ball at his feet left a lot to be desired.
Bacuna 6 - like many others very poor in the first half but a beautiful free kick. Aside from set pieces looks a limited player to me. Good to have someone who can take a decent set piece though.
Vlaar 6 - not too bad defensively and playing with three centre backs only highlights the lack of their collective ability on the ball. Solid though.
Baker 5 - very poor for the second goal and just the standard running around like a bull in a china shop. Hate the way he doesn't even attempt to block shots with his right foot. Sliding across on his left every time is asking for own goals.
Clark 6 - bit like Vlaar was solid defensively but offered nothing with the ball. Seems to be improving to be fair.
Luna 5 - thought he was atrocious up to the point Navas came on. Improved hugely thereafter. Think Bennett will get chances to get back in.
Sylla 4 - gave the ball away continuously and has a first touch that is up there with Holman's in its ineptitude. Shocking I thought and surely was going to be replaced before Bacuna scored.
El Ahmadi 6 -couldn't get near City in the first half but did improve after the break. A very average player though on all evidence to date in a Villa shirt.
Delph 7 - was disappointed with him in the first half as he should be better than the dross we were playing. Improved hugely after the interval, getting on the ball and creating things.
Weimann 5 - won the free kick and scored. He hardly got a kick in the first half and there seemed to be no understanding at all between our front two. Goal should be a big boost to him.
Kozak 5 - thought he was one of our better players in the first half but his lack of mobility is a real issue without Gabby in the side. Was blowing out his arse long before the end and should have been replaced I thought.

Bowery 6 - don't rate this lad in the slightest but he gave a decent account of himself when he came on.

I think I might have seen a different game to most on here but sure winning is all that matters

6-7 is considered average so you think we won at home against the most expensively assembled side ever and we had 1 player who was marginally above average and everyone else was poor... really?

The defenders pretty much restricted them to set pieces and pot shots from distance (as 7 shots on target from 21 attempts confirms) so all of them deserve 7s at least, for example.

[eastie]

Hard to provide rankings really from yesterday - it was the proverbial game of 2 halves and I doubt many at half time could have foreseen we would score 3 and win - a truly memorable 45 mins which reminded me of that arsenal 3-2 all those years ago.

We showed balls, character and guts and got rewarded for it - quite delightful

[Mike Jeffries]

Still have a sore throat and don't care!

[E I Adio]

The Argus or "the pink un" as my grandad used to say, landed about 610pm by us. We'd always be allowed some crisps and a chocolate bar too for Saturday night and if villa had won we were allowed to stay up late to watch Motd with old chinny .

I think some of us old buggers used to refer to it as "the pink 'un" because it's rival was "The Blue Mail", which was never a patch on the Argus.

[damon loves JT]

cue ridiculous naked jumping up and down and delirious shouting and acting like a total loon,
 kids looking at me in a non plussed embarrassed sort of way,
 other bathers wondering shouting 'is everthing alright over there'

to right they are matey, we just did a Dyanmo the magician act on Man City, and we still don't know how we did it
 

That is so funny and so true.

Football is great sometimes.

[Clampy]

cue ridiculous naked jumping up and down and delirious shouting and acting like a total loon,
 kids looking at me in a non plussed embarrassed sort of way,
 other bathers wondering shouting 'is everthing alright over there'

to right they are matey, we just did a Dyanmo the magician act on Man City, and we still don't know how we did it
 

That is so funny and so true.

Football is great sometimes.

How's the hangover Mr Green?

[richard moore]

The Argus or "the pink un" as my grandad used to say, landed about 610pm by us. We'd always be allowed some crisps and a chocolate bar too for Saturday night and if villa had won we were allowed to stay up late to watch Motd with old chinny .

I think some of us old buggers used to refer to it as "the pink 'un" because it's rival was "The Blue Mail", which was never a patch on the Argus.

I still have my copy from the day we won the league in amongst my keepsakes with programmes from various finals, Barcelona etc. Though I was in London for the day obviously, an old dearly departed friend of mine, Alan Fisher, used to send it me every week whilst I was at uni. Folded up into a roll with one of those address sleeves round it like they used to send newspapers through the post in olden days!

[eastie]

The Argus or "the pink un" as my grandad used to say, landed about 610pm by us. We'd always be allowed some crisps and a chocolate bar too for Saturday night and if villa had won we were allowed to stay up late to watch Motd with old chinny .

I think some of us old buggers used to refer to it as "the pink 'un" because it's rival was "The Blue Mail", which was never a patch on the Argus.

I still have my copy from the day we won the league in amongst my keepsakes with programmes from various finals, Barcelona etc. Though I was in London for the day obviously, an old dearly departed friend of mine, Alan Fisher, used to send it me every week whilst I was uni. Folded up into a roll with one of those address sleeves round it like they used to send newspapers through the post in olden days!

Still got my copy too in a battered old suitcase along with various old tickets and European memorabilia - not looked at them in years but they are precious to me.

[Steve kirk]

The Argus or "the pink un" as my grandad used to say, landed about 610pm by us. We'd always be allowed some crisps and a chocolate bar too for Saturday night and if villa had won we were allowed to stay up late to watch Motd with old chinny .

I think some of us old buggers used to refer to it as "the pink 'un" because it's rival was "The Blue Mail", which was never a patch on the Argus.

I loved the Argus, those were the days when on occasions you bought it not knowing the Villa score.

[Deano's Mullet]

Every week you never knew if Villa would be the main double spread in the centre or if it was going to be Albion, Blues, depending on that particular issue. Used to have the fixtures/stats box which they'd fill in with attendences and scorers as the season progressed. When we moved down south my nan would send me copies through the post.

[danlanza]

Radio 5 final score

good old days.

[eastie]

Every week you never knew if Villa would be the main double spread in the centre or if it was going to be Albion, Blues, depending on that particular issue. Used to have the fixtures/stats box which they'd fill in with attendences and scorers as the season progressed. When we moved down south my nan would send me copies through the post.

These old memories are making me pine for the old shoot magazine league ladders , i used to love them , and also roy of the rovers magazine , great memories.

[Breezeblock]

Ooh fuck my head!  Had a right skinful last night. Think someone must've spiked my ale with LSD or something 'cos I had this really vivid dream that we actually did Citeh 3-2. Better get ready for the game..... hang on, why does the clock say "Sunday 29 September" and where did this copy of the latest Heroes and Villains come from?

Fantastic result. Delph MOM for me with El Ahmadi and Bacuna a very close second.  I thought we gave them too much respect at the beginning of the first half. Second half was crazy and the Wimbledon-esque winner from Andi was both hilarious and wonderful at the same time. Best moment for me tho' was seeing 5' fuck-all Delph beat 8' man-mountain Ya-Ya Toure in the air.

What a contrast coming out of Villa Park was compared to the Newcastle game.

[olaftab]

My ratings
Guzan 4 - threw in the first goal, rooted to his line for the second and his efforts with the ball at his feet left a lot to be desired.
Bacuna 6 - like many others very poor in the first half but a beautiful free kick. Aside from set pieces looks a limited player to me. Good to have someone who can take a decent set piece though.

Jesus you are hard to please. Had to stop reading after your "like many others very poor" comment.  I do not really understand how people describe our first half performance as poor. Just remember who we were playing... man fuckin city. Top top world class players seasoned professionals major winners. Yes they had the ball but other than 3 long shots from Nasri, Toure and Milner how many times did they rip us apart?