Fulham v Aston Villa Post-Match Thread

[Toronto Villa]

There's only so honest Lambert can be but I just want him to come out and say we played poorly and tell us that we have a lot of work ahead. I'm sure that they he will have a word with the players but that was very poor indeed. Fans aren't stupid and while we don't see everything the pros see, we're not complete morons either.

[Rudy Can't Fail]

Parker showed our midfield how to do it today.
Awful tactics, no movement, resulting in long balls.

I suspect that, if he persists with us playing long balls, the sizeable well of goodwill he still has is going to run dry very, very quickly.

Just wait until next weekend. It won't be pretty.

[mrastonvilla]

Poor. A large gap in the team where some sort of midfield should exist.

[KRS]

Predictably blew a good chance for 3pts away from home to a struggling team with a new manager ahead of our annual battering by Man Utd next week. This is definitely 3pts dropped which could have given us some breathing space between the relegation battle developing at the bottom of the league over the Xmas period, but we got nothing and deserved to get nothing on yet another piss poor performance.

[Monty]

We're still in the top half, but if we're not careful we'll fail to consolidate that and slip back down into chaos at the bottom. In order to avoid that, we need to:

1) Stop giving the f**ing ball away. I know 'ball' is a four letter word but we shouldn't censor its existence from our midfield.

2) Stop playing players who are out of form from sheer hope. Lowton was, in my view, rightly dropped for a poor start to the season, but what do Weimann or Westwood have to do get a seat on the bench for a game? I don't think they're suddenly shite, this time last season we were raving about Westwood and bemoaning the shitness of Delph and that's football, form changes, but Albrighton and Sylla have done nothing not to be given a shot, and it's absurd to deny them that (or bring Lowton back to right-back and put Bacuna in midfield with Delph. I don't mind, just try something).

3) (And this is related to 1)) STOP HOOFING IT. Early in the game, when it was 0-0, we got a free-kick just inside our half and everyone lumbered into their box for Clark to wallop it towards them, like we're Pulis' Stoke in the last minute. And we wonder why we have the worst possession statistics in the division.

4) Paul. I think we all like you. But please make some substitutions at a point earlier than Way Too Late, and please sign some players with a bit of creativity. Creative players aren't a disease, you know. Just because you look like MON doesn't mean your football has to, and on a fraction of the budget.

That said, it's not so bad, and Fulham were due a backlash, they do have some good players. But there needs to be a lot of improvement - the problems in the side are there for all to see, and they require addressing sharpish.

[curiousorange]

I do wonder how bad it will have to get for Lerner to contemplate the chop. He got rid of McLeish citing style of play. On that basis, Lambert might want to start putting some feelers out.

[ez]

At least it puts the frighteners on the bogies.

[Tom_Mc9?]

If we're so shite, it must be painful supporting the ten teams below us in the league.

[timeoutbigbar]

One step forward, two steps back.  I await with interest to see if Mike Dean is dropped from the next round of fixtures.

[DB]

Playing on the break looks great when teams pressure you up the pitch - but when that does not happen, we don't have a way of playing through teams, just hit long balls.

[Toronto Villa]

If we're so shite, it must be painful supporting the ten teams below us in the league.

It's not that. We've just played poorly in large chunks in games recently and very poorly in almost all aspects today. The teams below us have done that too and have other major flaws which is why they are below us.

[timeoutbigbar]

Playing on the break looks great when teams pressure you up the pitch - but when that does not happen, we don't have a way of playing through teams, just hit long balls.

I saw Fulham pressing us very high on a number of occasions.  The midfield and defence just weren't controlled enough in possession to take advantage of the space left.

[ez]

I do wonder how bad it will have to get for Lerner to contemplate the chop. He got rid of McLeish citing style of play. On that basis, Lambert might want to start putting some feelers out.

I can't see him doing anything. He'll just look at the table, see us 10th and go back to whatever he was doing. Add to that his previous record of appointments he won't want to be in the position of having to find another manager.

[VillaAlways]

Lambert has not got a clue how to change things when it's not working.its so frustrating.

[David_Nab]

Parker showed our midfield how to do it today.
Awful tactics, no movement, resulting in long balls.

I suspect that, if he persists with us playing long balls, the sizeable well of goodwill he still has is going to run dry very, very quickly.

Already is I suspect.The performance much more than losing pissed me off today.Midfield was so poor Delph tries but Westwood and KEA both lightweight today ,Tonev was wrong sub too IMO.Should of been Sylla