WBA v Aston Villa Post-Match Thread

[Ian.]

I'm not buying this Lambert is ok cos of the 3 subs.
It was a monumental fuck up on his part leaving those guys out + Lowton.
The guy is very very naive.

Don't you think if it was not for a huge amount of injuries our squad has he might have picked a stronger first eleven?

[supertom]

I'm not buying this Lambert is ok cos of the 3 subs.
It was a monumental fuck up on his part leaving those guys out + Lowton.
The guy is very very naive.

So he should have started 5 players, those 3 plus Benteke and Guzan, who have had recent injury problems. What if we'd lost a few them after half an hour. Would it have been the right thing to start them? Or was it wise to not have half your starting lineup not fully fit?

Like he said, those three players didn't return to training until Friday.

It was a big gamble putting them on at all - as Gary Neville pointed out, after. Any one of them could have suffered an injury recurrence, and we might have lost the game anyway.

I mean I'd have started 2 out of 3 of the subs who came on. I'd rather see them start and play 60-70 minutes, rather than coming on at 55 (when the game looked gone, but thankfully wasn't).
We were utterly lifeless in midfield and the movement up front until 55 mins was appalling. West Brom had it way too easy.
Even if Delph's right leg fell off, I'd still play him over any of our other midfielders. If they're fit enough for the bench, they should be fit enough to play, and you should play your best players at this level.

[avfcpg]

Had Lambert started with those 3 and they got crocked he would have got pelters. He said that Gabby and Delph only started to train Friday...would have been plain stupid to just chuck them in after a win last time out...he changed it, he got a reaction, he got a result. Hindsight is wonderful thing...

At not lets forget the opposition don't just roll over cos they are playing us every week...this is a side who have beaten Man Utd away, drawn with Arsenal at home and were pretty unlucky to only get a point at Chelsea last week, they are no mugs...

It's gonna be up and down all season...but it's getting better.

[olaftab]

Mulumbu, Morrisson, Long, Brunt. All would walk into our team.

Tell me exactly what Long did other than benefitting from bad mistakes from us twice?
Brunt was useless all night. Imobile and wasteful gobbing at the ref and not much else.

[Monty]

The lack of calm in possession is still extremely infuriating, but I actually think this is a calculated risk from Lambert - he wants to keep them up-for-it and slightly unhinged going forwards as that sort of momentum is the best way to keep the young players' confidence on the crest of a wave. Long term? It can't work. But in the short term, he's taken a calculated gamble - much as he did with the triple substitution tonight - and we have to accept that he's not taken the decision lightly and hope it works out.

[Chris Smith]

I'm not buying this Lambert is ok cos of the 3 subs.
It was a monumental fuck up on his part leaving those guys out + Lowton.
The guy is very very naive.

Correct. Then he did the stroppy three player sub which always means 'you lot are crap'. It was not tactical at all. The bloke had fucked up again and is another O'Neill with his stubborness.

The players were not fit enough to start, they've hardly trained. He's got to manage his squad over the entire season not just tonight. If he had risked them and they limped off people would be slagging him off for risking them.

[PeterWithesShin]

We aren't the only club to ever have important players on the bench who if really needed are fit enough to put in half an hour but nowhere near fit enough to play more. Remember a nowhere near fit Fabregas a few years ago coming on after an hour and changing the game?

[supertom]

If there's one thing I'm really getting bloody bored of its head tennis. That seems to be one of our preferred tactics, but clearly our players need to practice the art a bit more! 

In terms of how badly we passed the ball, I expected no different, not least because you rarely get sexy football in an English derby. That some of our boys still struggle with 5 yard passes, is a bit worrying though.

[Hoppo]

I hate to change shifts and juggle loads of stuff. I'm glad I kept my ticket. What a game 2,500 Villa sang for 90 mins. 22,500 Bagheads were so so quiet.
Lambert got it right in the end.
Silhillvilla  so glad you never brought my ticket. A 'fan' supports ups and downs.

[PeterWithesShin]

I'm not buying this Lambert is ok cos of the 3 subs.
It was a monumental fuck up on his part leaving those guys out + Lowton.
The guy is very very naive.

Correct. Then he did the stroppy three player sub which always means 'you lot are crap'. It was not tactical at all. The bloke had fucked up again and is another O'Neill with his stubborness.

The players were not fit enough to start, they've hardly trained. He's got to manage his squad over the entire season not just tonight. If he had risked them and they limped off people would be slagging him off for risking them.

If he'd have started them and we lost one or two for most/all of the season reckon those slating him for not starting them would be saying he's a great manager and it was the right decision?

[supertom]

Mulumbu, Morrisson, Long, Brunt. All would walk into our team.

Tell me exactly what Long did other than benefitting from bad mistakes from us twice?
Brunt was useless all night. Imobile and wasteful gobbing at the ref and not much else.

I've never rated Long much, but those were two exceptionally classy finishes. We did make mistakes leading up to it, but the way he put them away was excellent, and he kept our back line on their toes for a good hour. He worked the channels well and won a few free kicks.
Martin O Neill probably got through a whole box of kleenex watching the game.

[PeterWithesShin]

Shane Long is Weimann like. Works his bollocks off, runs all game, harasses defenders and scores a few, with the odd ones being top class.

[supertom]

We aren't the only club to ever have important players on the bench who if really needed are fit enough to put in half an hour but nowhere near fit enough to play more. Remember a nowhere near fit Fabregas a few years ago coming on after an hour and changing the game?

Whatever the state of our players, I hope he doesn't put that starting 11 out too many more times this season. I would have liked to have seen 1 or 2 of the young lads get into the squad to try and shine.
Certainly all three of the subs looked fresh enough when they came on.

[Gareth]

Putting our performance to one side for a minute I just wanted to say what a pleasure it was after the games this weekend to see a fast, frenetic local derby refereed excellently...Oliver is easily the next best after Webb....

[Rudy Can't Fail]

I'm not buying this Lambert is ok cos of the 3 subs.
It was a monumental fuck up on his part leaving those guys out + Lowton.
The guy is very very naive.

Correct. Then he did the stroppy three player sub which always means 'you lot are crap'. It was not tactical at all. The bloke had fucked up again and is another O'Neill with his stubborness.

In at least one aspect I think he's the complete opposite of MON. Lambert actually believes in every player in his squad.