Aston Villa v Manchester United Post-Match Thread

[mr woo]

Make no mistake, Utd were beatable today.
The fact we didn't give them a game says a lot.
The fact Marc Albrighton was our only player who looked like he knew what he was doing says even more.

I see a side packed full of players who I doubt would stand out if they were on loan at Wolves in league one.

We are so disorganized and disjointed it's unreal. The back four is so brittle, Utd were walking through at will. Unfortunately our midfield, with no less than three defensive minded central players lack the experience to spot a threat and offer protection by marking up.

People keep telling me our players are young and hungry, but I have to say I'm struggling to remember a Villa side that consistently showed less desire than this one.

Never mind Carruthers and Grealish, Baker and Clark are at the level where they should be learning their trade at a lower level like Gary Cahill did.

Lambert needs to sort this before it too late and get a tough tackling midfield general and experienced cover at centre half -- even Gregory got Calderwood in as a stop gap I recall.
I am old enough to remember the last time we filled our defence with promising U21 internationals.......we were relegated and the likes of Tony Dorigo and Martin Keown went on to have excellent careers....at other clubs.

[john2710]

That being said however, Randy Lerner must make the decision of whether he wants to own a Premiership football club and accept that if he does it comes at a price and that price in this day and age is way above the bargain basement.  There is no truer saying than You Get What You Pay For.   The current Villa side is what we paid for.

Spot on & my concern is that it won't get any better any time soon. From a financial point of view we've had 3-4 years of overspend & 3-5 years of contracts that go with it. I'm assuming that Lerner is now happy for us to keep our head above water until the decks are clear. How long that is going to be the case is anyone's guess, we've been lucky enough to get away with it so far but we are woefully short of the quality needed at this level. It will catch up with us sooner or later.

For the first time I can remember I'm losing interest & there must be thousands like me.

[Legion]

[Clark W Griswold]

Years ago, we couldn't seem to put a foot wrong buying defenders, i'm struggling to think of a decent one we've bought since Laursen. Luke Young and Bouma were half decent, Cuellar wasn't too terrible and Dunne was good for a season. We must have bought at least 4 times that amount in that time and the rest have been total shite.

[Legion]

Okore.

[Ian.]

Ron looks good this season too.

[Clark W Griswold]

Okore.

He looks very promising, but i don't think you can count him just yet.

[rob_bridge]

Crap.

Would anyone do better?

[Marton]

One thing to be thankful for this Sunday: "Not being a Spurs supporter".
...but then again, that something to be thankful for on any given Sunday

[Clark W Griswold]

Ron looks good this season too.

Sorry, not sold on that one. He does have odd good games but a 'decent defender' he is not. Good enough to be first choice defensive cover, but not first 11.

[eastie]

Paul Lambert bemoaned the manner of all three conceded goals as Villa went down 3-0 to Man Utd.

Lambert felt there were basic errors at the back as Danny Welbeck [2] and Tom Cleverly earned maximum points for the Red Devils.

He said: "I thought we started the game really well, as well as we have started for a number of weeks.

"We looked pretty decent at that point.

"What is disappointing is the goals we lost.

"For the second and third goals, we were actually in possession of the ball. They turned it over. We had ball possession. It's not like we were cut open.

"We have to be better in possession of the ball, especially against a team like that.

"For the first goal, we just needed to stop a cross. That's just a basic part of the game.

"The goals were disappointing.

"But Man Utd are clinical. You cannot give them a sniff otherwise that will happen.

"From my point of view, the goals were disappointing after a good start."

Lambert revealed Chris Herd was due to play against the champions this afternoon but was pulled out of the side this morning after receiving a facial injury in training.

He continued: "That was a blow. He was playing and then got hurt in training.

"We had to change the whole structure. He was ruled out this morning.

"We had to change everything. He got a facial knock and it was too risky to play him."

On the plus side, Lambert was pleased with the effort and endeavour of returning Marc Albrighton, who worked his socks off throughout the 90 minutes.

He continued: "That was the plus point. He came back in and he was excellent. I am pretty sure he will be feeling it later on.

"But that was certainly the plus point. He's been really unfortunate due to his injuries. But today he was excellent."

Boss Lambert said there's no time for his side to mope and moan as he called on them to go again as they face Stoke next Saturday.

He also hopes to see an upturn in his team's home form as they face Crystal Palace and Swansea in quick succession.

He added: "There's no point feeling sorry for ourselves.

"We have to bounce back as quick as we can.

"We seem to be doing things the wrong way around - getting good results away from home and struggling at home.

"Whether you win, lose or draw, you look at it for a couple of days but then let it go. That's something we will do.

"I always say your home form has got to be good to have any chance.We seem to be doing it the other way around - winning away from home and then struggling at home. It's something we have to rectify."

[achilles]

That being said however, Randy Lerner must make the decision of whether he wants to own a Premiership football club and accept that if he does it comes at a price and that price in this day and age is way above the bargain basement.  There is no truer saying than You Get What You Pay For.   The current Villa side is what we paid for.

Spot on & my concern is that it won't get any better any time soon. From a financial point of view we've had 3-4 years of overspend & 3-5 years of contracts that go with it. I'm assuming that Lerner is now happy for us to keep our head above water until the decks are clear. How long that is going to be the case is anyone's guess, we've been lucky enough to get away with it so far but we are woefully short of the quality needed at this level. It will catch up with us sooner or later.

For the first time I can remember I'm losing interest & there must be thousands like me.[\b]

I have been there for some time now. Never expected us to win today so I can't say I am too disappointed as I have long gone past that stage. Really can't be bothered anymore, very sad indeed!

[Ron Manager]

Luna, without any doubt, is the worst left back I have ever seen down Villa Park.

and I have seen Wilson Briggs!

[Clark W Griswold]

Luna without any doubt is the worst left back I have ever seen down Villa Park.

and I have seen Wilson Briggs!

Bernie Gallagher?
And the more recent Nicky Shorey wasn't too clever either.

[ciggiesnbeer]

I look forward to the roar of support around Villa park when Joe Bennett returns to the left back position. The wheel turns and turns