Aston Villa v Stoke City post match thread

[Clampy]

A more pertinent question would have been "how do explain the home record of 9 defeats, two seasons" on the bounce...

He's a prickly one when criticised .

Which managers aren't?

Indeed. Fergie wouldn't talk to the BBC for years.

[Simon Ward]

Well the result certainly didn't help my recovery from man-flu!

[amfy]

A more pertinent question would have been "how do you explain the home record of 9 defeats, two seasons on the bounce..."

Spot On, what would he have answered to that I wonder  ???

"I think our home form has been fntastic over the last two seasons, World class infact."
Or something similar.

It would have been a better question and we might have got a more enlightening answer.

Interestingly - a very different post match interview yesterday - he said that we were poor and deserved nothing from the game. I wonder what's changed? There have certainly been performances as bad as that when he has just talked about 'not being able to fault effort' etc. He obviously felt quite different about yesterday, and is more than likely as disappointed as any of us with them starting to show some form and then managing to revert to that shambles.

[not3bad]

"Whenever a side produces the kind of performance that saw Aston Villa topple Chelsea last weekend, they frequently become vulnerable in their next fixture. It’s one of those strange problems which seems to exist within football: the game after the ‘big result’ is often the harder one – players respond negatively to a perceived ‘lesser’ opponent, the crowd isn’t quite as feverish as it was the week before, and everything about the occasion just feels a degree or two less special."

[pooligan]

Just when i thought i could'nt read anything else about how awful yesterday was, i read that the 5 yellow cards we received has now put us bottom of the fair play league,replacing Stoke .We now have 69 yellows this season .Another unwanted record for Lambert

[Clampy]

Just when i thought i could'nt read anything else about how awful yesterday was, i read that the 5 yellow cards we received has now put us bottom of the fair play league,replacing Stoke .We now have 69 yellows this season .Another unwanted record for Lambert

I thought KEA's yellow was harsh. It looked a perfectly good tackle to me. Clattenberg didn't have the best of games.

[eastie]

Just when i thought i could'nt read anything else about how awful yesterday was, i read that the 5 yellow cards we received has now put us bottom of the fair play league,replacing Stoke .We now have 69 yellows this season .Another unwanted record for Lambert

I thought KEA's yellow was harsh. It looked a perfectly good tackle to me. Clattenberg didn't have the best of games.

Having watched the replay he clearly deserved it - no complaints about the ref from me .

[not3bad]

"Whenever a side produces the kind of performance that saw Aston Villa topple Chelsea last weekend, they frequently become vulnerable in their next fixture. It’s one of those strange problems which seems to exist within football: the game after the ‘big result’ is often the harder one – players respond negatively to a perceived ‘lesser’ opponent, the crowd isn’t quite as feverish as it was the week before, and everything about the occasion just feels a degree or two less special."

That quote was taken from this rather good assessment of Villa's problems yesterday:

http://thepremierleagueowl.com/aston-villa-a-lack-of-guile-and-some-very-predictable-football/

[SashasGrandad]

"Whenever a side produces the kind of performance that saw Aston Villa topple Chelsea last weekend, they frequently become vulnerable in their next fixture. It’s one of those strange problems which seems to exist within football: the game after the ‘big result’ is often the harder one – players respond negatively to a perceived ‘lesser’ opponent, the crowd isn’t quite as feverish as it was the week before, and everything about the occasion just feels a degree or two less special."

Best example of this was Bacuna who last week kept Eden Hazard quiet and yesterday was made to look stupid by the Stoke no 10 who appeared to have the same skill and pace of Grant Holt.

[Stu]

Stoke's tactics were simple and effective; bomb down Villa's completely exposed left flank all the way to the byline, then cross back into the box for their unmarked forwards to whack the ball into the Villa net. That's literally all it was and Lambert did nothing, or couldn't do anything, to stymie this incredibly limited approach. We should be harder to beat than that.

[martyn ellis]

The thing about Stoke yesterday was that they were able to combine strength and size with a pretty impressive passing game. I know that our defending was atrocious and we stood off them all day long, but Stoke completely controlled the game after about 20 minutes and not just with hoofball and bully boy tactics. Looks like those days are long gone, and some people on here should recognise that. In fact I think that the five yellow cards we picked up were all pretty merited and there was some unnecessarily aggressive tackling going in borne out of frustration as much as anything. And as for CB's penalty appeal - that was embarrassing.

[martyn ellis]

Stoke's tactics were simple and effective; bomb down Villa's completely exposed left flank all the way to the byline, then cross back into the box for their unmarked forwards to whack the ball into the Villa net. That's literally all it was and Lambert did nothing, or couldn't do anything, to stymie this incredibly limited approach. We should be harder to beat than that.

How many passes did they string together leading up to Nzonzi's goal? If we could get anywhere near that I'd be very pleased.

[eastie]

Stoke impressed me - much better than under pulis.

[pooligan]

One of the things that most people have not picked up on, is that ,Stoke had a reserve midfield out due to suspensions and in Ireland's case not being allowed to play and they still pissed all over us in the middle of the park

[Stu]

Stoke's tactics were simple and effective; bomb down Villa's completely exposed left flank all the way to the byline, then cross back into the box for their unmarked forwards to whack the ball into the Villa net. That's literally all it was and Lambert did nothing, or couldn't do anything, to stymie this incredibly limited approach. We should be harder to beat than that.

How many passes did they string together leading up to Nzonzi's goal? If we could get anywhere near that I'd be very pleased.

We dominated possession for Benteke's goal, it really was brilliantly worked.

As for the goals against, Vlaar apart, we need a completely new defence. Baker, for the third goal, was completely shit. He ball watches far too often.