Aston Villa v Swansea City Post-Match Thread

[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.

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

Bloody hell, you're right. Our throw-ins were unbelievably bad, weren't they

[olaftab]

This throw in deficiency has been there all season. We lose the ball from our throw ins 9 times out of 10. So what I don't understand is why our players always let the ball go out when it could be kept in play. Again I think it's to do with players taking the easier option  rather that the responsibility of doing something positive by keeping the ball in and ending up making a mistake. If it goes wrong from throw in you can ake collective blame!

[Des Little]

We can't even pass to each other when we pick it up. It really is ground zero.

[Dante Lavelli]

This throw in deficiency has been there all season. We lose the ball from our throw ins 9 times out of 10. So what I don't understand is why our players always let the ball go out when it could be kept in play. Again I think it's to do with players taking the easier option  rather that the responsibility of doing something positive by keeping the ball in and ending up making a mistake. If it goes wrong from throw in you can ake collective blame!

I agree with that.  There are a lot of players hiding right now. 

With regards to the throw ins, surely they could spend half an hour after training and work on a few routines.  Nothing too elaborate but some sequences beyond 'throw it to the big guy who might win the header and flick it on'.  It takes them so long to take them too.  There's no urgency.

[Ad@m]

This throw in deficiency has been there all season. We lose the ball from our throw ins 9 times out of 10. So what I don't understand is why our players always let the ball go out when it could be kept in play. Again I think it's to do with players taking the easier option  rather that the responsibility of doing something positive by keeping the ball in and ending up making a mistake. If it goes wrong from throw in you can ake collective blame!

I agree with that.  There are a lot of players hiding right now. 

With regards to the throw ins, surely they could spend half an hour after training and work on a few routines.  Nothing too elaborate but some sequences beyond 'throw it to the big guy who might win the header and flick it on'.  It takes them so long to take them too.  There's no urgency.

That's because the person taking the throw normally has zero options.

I can only assume in training that they don't challenge at throw ins because we never challenge the opposition at throw ins. That then just leads our lads to be confused when the opposition do challenge ours and we inevitably give away possession.

[Clampy]

Shelvey was our best midfielder yesterday.

One thing I did notice yesterday was for the first half hour or so, he was playing out wide. When he moved into the centre, it was then they started to have their good spell of possession which led to them scoring.

As for us, we were a bit better than we have been, a bit more solid but still overall poor. At least it's a point that stops the rot and might give the players a bit of confidence going into the Sunderland game, especially if Vlaar and Benteke come back in.

[silhillvilla]

A throw in crisis. This has to be a first.

[Dante Lavelli]

A throw in crisis. This has to be a first.

It's a new low.  It's a symptom of none of the players wanting the ball.  They all try and get marked rather than making a move to find space.

[Walmley_Villa]

Did Dortmund ever play like this in their project?

[Dante Lavelli]

Did Dortmund ever play like this in their project?

In 2007 they were 1 point above relegation?

[andyh]

A throw in crisis. This has to be a first.

I know, but given so many people are picking up on it, it is a real problem.
We have been saying for a while, we take an age over everything we do, including throw ins. It  gives time for all of our players to be marked, giving little or no option for the thrower.

[Mister E]

Too many poor players on the pitch for yesterday.
Luna - hopeless and laughable; just not good enough.
Lowton - terribly out of form and low on confidence. I do think he'll come good, though.
Baker & Clark - both C'ship players IMO. They both get pulled out of shape, dive in unnecessarily and seem to lack a good communication with Guzan.
Tonev - what is his point, really? Really poor.
KEA - hopeless, really.

We looked better with Westwood in MF, and Gabby and Weimann looked reasonable without getting much decent possession.

This is a really poor squad of players and It should be as bleedin' obvious to PL and RL as it is to us.


We don't even have the guile at set pieces to make the opposition think: throw-ins are bad but so too are corners and free kicks. We don't need the best players to cause problems but we do need good coaching and some intelligence ...

[andyh]

Just seen the Swansea goal on tv.
What the FUCK was Luna doing to defend that!!

[barrysleftfoot]

 See i think Westwood is the worst of a bad bunch.Two good passes yday does not constitute a good player.He never wants the ball, he is very rarely positive, he does'nt close down the opposition quick enough, hes not physical enough, hes not quick enough.I don't think hes even a Championship player.

 We made Swansea look like Barca yday, our ootball was incredibly poor, and completely unacceptable for a club like AVFC.

 Would'nt trust him to buy another player tbh, and this time next week i think he might be gone.I can't see us getting anything at Sland, and who knows against Sheff U, 2 teams about the same level of ability i suppose you could say.

 Yday was the final straw for me, awful football, no tactics, for me no positives, apart from another 37k crowd , who again was very supportive and patient.I'm not sure i want to go to any more games after yday with him in charge.

[baddowvillans]

As we dont seem to like conflicted opinions let me just say what I believe - no offense intended to anyone who doesnt agree :

1. Possession. I completely agree it isnt everything BUT generally the sides which finish higheidea in the league and do well in cups have majority possession OVER A SEASON.We rarely have more than 50% and when we do have no idea how to use it.  On balance keeping the ball IS advatageous.
2. Lambert.  Any suggestion that I or anybody else on here doesnt want him to do well is ludicrous. Support 'en masse' during games has been positive  with frustration only really boiling over in recent games.  If things were as they were a month ago I.e. 9/10 points over relegation and with a benign fixture list ahead I would be 'happy' to see him continue.  Then I was very confident that there were at least three teams worse than us.  I apologise for admiting that I would accept staying up as acceptable but I was being pragmatic.  A month on we have wasted the opportunity that those 'winnable' games offered and at the moment I honestly cant see a team worse than us.  I fear cannot see that this manager has any idea how to change that or have any confidence that even if guven money he woukd soend it wisely,  Defeat at Sunderland anf he MUST go.
3.  The players.  Whilst I accept that some are not up to it there are others who are no worse than many in other teams in the bottom half.  With coaching and a game plan (look it up Paul) I believe Lowton, Westwood, Weiman, Gabby, Clarke and Bacuna can look like Premier league players. Baker I will accept as back up but to me he appears to be in receipt of no coaching whatsoever.  These need to ge supplemented with some experience
4. Expectations.  I have three season tickets for the family with a 280 mile round trip oer game,  Not the longest by any means but not just round the corner. I know that a Champions league place is no longer possible (for now) and accept that.   I do not expect us to be flirting with relagation every season and playing kick and rush football but would settle for a level of football style with ability tobthreaten in cups - kets call its the Everton approach.  Give me that and then ill get greedy.

Everybody who takes the time to read and post on here cares about Aston Villa and EVERYBODY deserves a brighter 2014.  Happy New Year folks!