Aston Villa v Swansea City Post-Match Thread

[saunders_heroes]

I think the username HodgeCallaghanGlover is available.

Or even worse, LambertLernerCulverhouse?

[Ad@m]

I think the username HodgeCallaghanGlover is available.

I was thinking BannanHuttonHodge.

What about TurnerMcLeishOLeary?

[Pat McMahon]

A few thoughts from today:

We started ok and Bacuna and Tonev actually got wide and made 3 decent crosses. Gabby up front gave us mobility. And we scored. In the first half. Yay!

At 1-0 we then went timid - we were dawdling to take free kicks, throw ins etc after 20 minutes FFS. We couldn't keep possession due to poor technique, no movement, players too far apart, nothing new there. Our throw ins are now ridiculous - like BosckoDjemba I actually laughed at a few of them.

Seeking for positives, we did limit Swansea to few direct shots and Guzan was not our MOM for once. A team with a true forward would have beaten us today. And lambert sending on KEA to give us 3 in midfield made us more solid. Also the Holte played a good role in the second half in supporting the team when they needed it.

One bleeding obvious point for Lambert though - this experiment of our goalkeeper also being our playmaker just isn't working. Swansea fans shouting "hoof" when we had the ball was embarrassing but true.

[Damo70]

Better in defence. Showed next to nothing going forwards. The opposition always seem to have two more players on the pitch than us due to better movement. I thought that by playing Tonev and Bacuna he was planning to get crosses in. So surely starting Kozak and Bowery would have worked better. But, as a glass half full person I suppose it was a small step in the right direction in a game that was always going to be particularly difficult after Boxing Day.

[brontebilly]

to me that game summed up everything about aston villa football club right now. and it wasnt good but the result makes it just about passable for some.

25% possession at home to a side a point ahead of us in the table is humiliation really. did we complete four passes in a row once during the second half? lambert made a good point during the week that bravery wasnt flying into a tackle but looking for the ball when the crowd is against you. on the basis of that reasoning most of the Villa players were cowardly in the extreme yesterday. Villa is a big club and you need to have character to play successfully at the club. Too many of our players lack it not to mention lack technical ability.

Im not sure how players at this level are unable to disguise a pass, show for a pass, move for a pass and keep possession for more than 3 passes. Obviously confidence is on the floor but the easy option is taken routinely. Pass to an isolated player or Guzan and hoof it forward.

As others have said these players arent kids but in their early 20s and going nowhere. These players are badly coached but getting rid of Lambert is only the start. A complete re-evaluation of coaching at the club from u-10s onwards is urgently needed and reform is required.

Watching the Swansea keeper pass every ball to a teammate, it was like they were playing a different sport to us. Hernandez and De Guzman were outstanding. There is a player in Shelvey somewhere and I think he will come good. Ben Davies played football the right way at left back. Bony looks out of place for them, doesnt seem anywhere near mobile enough for the football they play.

[avfcpg]

I ran a business with a 5 year business plan. After 14 months it was obvious it wasn't going to work so I shut it down before it got me in all sorts of trouble. I restructured it and started again. Took me a while but it's doing ok now....

This is how I see us. Injuries or no injuries something has gone horribly wrong since the end of last season. Continued horrendously low possession stats is gonna see us flirting with disaster. Assuming Lambert is to stay and be given funds, January should be his restructure time. And if he has to unload Benteke so add to those funds to develop us then so be it. I don't want him to go but if it's for the greater good, then so be it. 

[mr underhill]

I'm all for sacrificing one player for the greater good but the guy is both injured and out of form which will either greatly reduce his worth or render him non-saleable during the next month, even if we wanted to try and cash in now. The other problem is, I wouldn't trust Lambert with a bean at the moment. A few judicious loans would appear to be the best way forward next month  , at least that way, anyone coming in during the summer should Lambert go will at least have a transfer pot of their own plus any cash from sales. Assuming we have anyone by then who has played themselves into the market.

[cheltenhamlion]

The revelation I had yesterday was that Shelvey looks a lot like the lead character from Despicable Me.

[Richard E]

Shelvey looked bad enough to play for us.

[damon loves JT]

Those two occasions near the end where he mis controlled the ball and let it out for a throw near our corner flag were real highlights for me. Sadly.

[eastie]

Just watched motd- lambert seemed to think they were running to him at 1st when they ran past and went to the bench .

[eastie]

I honestly believe we are in serious trouble this season and if we don't go down it wont be thanks to Lambert it will be that amazingly there are three teams shitter than us.

Fortunately, there are several really poor sides this season.

This is true but a few of them are picking up wins recently whereas we are in an awful run against teams in the lower half - we have some really tough games coming up and could well be in the bottom 3 within the next 3 games.

[lovejoy]

The revelation I had yesterday was that Shelvey looks a lot like the lead character from Despicable Me.

Harry Potter, he's coming for you.

[CJ]

Those two occasions near the end where he mis controlled the ball and let it out for a throw near our corner flag were real highlights for me. Sadly.

I thought he did it deliberately knowing they'd regain possession directly from our resultant throw-ins

[olaftab]

Shelvey was our best midfielder yesterday.