Aston Villa v Newcastle United Post-Match Thread

[Gregorys Boy]

We do need another creative midfielder in the side. We know that Zog will have as many off days as on. We know Cole will spend large chunks of the season injured and has always struggled for consistency on top of that. And Jack is a young lad.
One more creative player is a must.

In terms of our front line. I think we can hold out until Benteke and Kozak returns. If we create enough chances for the likes of Bent and Weimann, they'll probably grab a few goals between now and the return of the aforementioned.

4 points from 6. 2 clean sheets. Improved results against sides we got extremely well beaten by. Stoke got a pretty comfortable 6 points off us last season. Newcastle beat us thoroughly convincingly at our patch too.

Given we're without are star striker, I'm more than happy with the start we've made. Unspectacular, but solid and resolute. Senderos has looked solid.

Long may it continue.

This is an old debate but why do we need to sign a striker when we know that Benteke and Kozak are not too far away from returning?  I agree that the attack was rubbish today, but part of that was down to lack of creativity and poor service from wide areas.

[rob_bridge]

I think Gabby and Weimann were pretty ribbish. CNZ flattered to deceive.

Delph and Westwood did well. Hutton and Cissoko were both very good too. Sanchez looked comfortable and Richardson did ok.

More work required.

[supertom]

We were terrible going forward no imagination no craft, Weimann should be benched, well played Delph the only player with any idea.

Delph was the best player today by a mile, shame others like Gabby do nothing week in week out and still get picked.

Gabby's seriously got to do something quickly. Poor in pre-season and very sluggish so far this season. I think even slapping Bent in at this point, would feel less like we're carrying a passenger. Plus even if Bent does nothing for 89 minutes, he might still grab you a goal.

[Tom_Mc9?]

Agreed that the substitutions were fairly negative. Creativity has been an issue since Downing and Young left, and I can't see it changing any time soon, sadly.

[supertom]

We do need another creative midfielder in the side. We know that Zog will have as many off days as on. We know Cole will spend large chunks of the season injured and has always struggled for consistency on top of that. And Jack is a young lad.
One more creative player is a must.

In terms of our front line. I think we can hold out until Benteke and Kozak returns. If we create enough chances for the likes of Bent and Weimann, they'll probably grab a few goals between now and the return of the aforementioned.

4 points from 6. 2 clean sheets. Improved results against sides we got extremely well beaten by. Stoke got a pretty comfortable 6 points off us last season. Newcastle beat us thoroughly convincingly at our patch too.

Given we're without are star striker, I'm more than happy with the start we've made. Unspectacular, but solid and resolute. Senderos has looked solid.

Long may it continue.

This is an old debate but why do we need to sign a striker when we know that Benteke and Kozak are not too far away from returning?  I agree that the attack was rubbish today, but part of that was down to lack of creativity and poor service from wide areas.

I didn't say we should sign a striker. I don't think we need to at all really. An attacking midfielder though is a must. As you say, poor service and no creativity is the biggest issue. Bent and Weimann can finish a chance if you give it to them.

I think there's a lot of promise with Sanchez, whilst Richardson might be better employed further up the pitch as he might whip a few crosses in.

[Nastylee]

People seem to be so harsh on N'Zogbia. He has just returned after missing a year. He has a talent that not too many of our squad have and it's going to take time for him to return to top speed.

As for signings - a striker would be a waste of money. Once the two are back they will be benched. If anything we need a creative spark to create some chances. I'm quietly satisfied thus far and don't think we need major tinkering. If the defence continue then we won't have too many major issues.

[dekko]

Agreed that the substitutions were fairly negative. Creativity has been an issue since Downing and Young left, and I can't see it changing any time soon, sadly.

I would've liked to see Cole or Grealish come on, but to be fair to Lambert, Newcastle were well on top and bringing on Sanchez gave us a bit more solidity.

Probably could've brought one of them on instead of Bent though.

[supertom]

People seem to be so harsh on N'Zogbia. He has just returned after missing a year. He has a talent that not too many of our squad have and it's going to take time for him to return to top speed.

As for signings - a striker would be a waste of money. Once the two are back they will be benched. If anything we need a creative spark to create some chances. I'm quietly satisfied thus far and don't think we need major tinkering. If the defence continue then we won't have too many major issues.

I like Zogbia. He's always going to be one of those players who performs in fits and starts. You have to account for that. He might be poor today, but next week he could do something sensational and win us the game. I think you have to gamble on players like that sometimes, rather than play someone who's consistently ordinary.

My personal issue is the alternatives should Zogbia be injured or in a rough patch. I don't trust Coles fitness and we can't rely too much on Grealish just yet. In addition we could do with more than just one flair player on the pitch in some games.

A signing is still a must.

[django]

I thought N'Zog was pretty good but his head went in the second half. Him and Hutton really were like having two new players.

Our team has plenty of room for improvement but I feel far more confident with our new back 4.

[TopDeck113]

Take the positives: (1) another clean sheet; (2) 10% of the way to 40 points after 5% of the games; and (3) for the most part our summer signings seem to improved areas of the team that needed improving. 

[ez]

We were terrible going forward no imagination no craft, Weimann should be benched, well played Delph the only player with any idea.

Delph was the best player today by a mile, shame others like Gabby do nothing week in week out and still get picked.

Gabby's seriously got to do something quickly. Poor in pre-season and very sluggish so far this season. I think even slapping Bent in at this point, would feel less like we're carrying a passenger. Plus even if Bent does nothing for 89 minutes, he might still grab you a goal.

It looks like Gabby is one of Lambert's favourites and will play in every game. That's a problem for us as it keeps someone else out who might do something.

[Gregorys Boy]

Am willing to give N'Zogbia a chance its just that he hasn't done a whole lot since signing three years ago so this is a big season for him.

[manic-road]

Happy with a point and another clean sheet.

[Rudy Can't Fail]

We were terrible going forward no imagination no craft, Weimann should be benched, well played Delph the only player with any idea.

Delph was the best player today by a mile, shame others like Gabby do nothing week in week out and still get picked.

Delph sat far too deep first half forcing Gabby to drop deeper to link up play. For the first 25 minutes of the first half he was great. Not sure why Richardson was playing central midfield, though to his credit he did put in a shift.

N'Zogbia does what he always does. Looks like he could do something but rarely does. Admitedly he's still coming back from injury so hopefully he can finally start delivering but I doubt he will.

Andi is no winger and stuck out on the right he's absolutely no threat. Newcastle's central defence were very compact and reduced the space for us second half. Fortunately Delph was allowed to get forward and we looked like we could finally open them up but the delivery still needs to improve.

We still don't look like we'll ever score from a free kick or corner. Something we need to work on as goals from open play don't look like they will happen in the near future. We're far too grouped at corners, making it easy for teams to defend.

Overall an improvement on last season, at least the commitment is there. I'd have taken a point before the game but then I'd completely overestimated the quality of Newcastle. There were 3 points there for the taking today but after what we've been through at Villa Park, I guess I'm relatively content with the point. We still don't seem to have a plan but we're getting a few of the basics right which is progress.

[Proposition Joe]

As David Byrne once sang: could have been worse, could have been a lot better.

Nice first touch from Sanchez (pass out to Hutton or Weimann), but it's clear we have to be a bit patient with him till he gets used to the pace of the league.

And full credit to Hutton - a real professional.