Ball possession

[Risso]

Well as I say, we'll probably soon see if this season is going to stay decent or descend into the abyss of the last two seasons' dismal fare.  The defence is much easier improved but the midfield looks crap still.

[Clampy]

With Benteke now back in the reckoning, it'll be interesting to see if Lambert goes back to the 4-3-3 we played with for a while (with Weimann and Gabby either side of Benteke).

I'd like to see us be a bit more solid in the middle as well. The defence did well considering the pressure they were under at times yesterday.

[saunders_heroes]

I like our defence this season (especially now we've actually got fullbacks worthy of the PL), but the midfield is still weak (I'm not a Westwood fan, never have been). Hopefully Lerner will put that right in January when he opens his wallet.
I hope we eventually do away with this horrible tactic of defending for 80% of the games and actually grab the match by the scruff of the neck and give the fans something to get excited about. Our home form under Lambert has been unforgivable.

[supertom]

We're still severely lacking guile in midfield. The trio of Westwood, Cleverley and Delph is tidy and balanced. The trouble is that there's no one who'll break forward to make a killer pass. TC and Westwood are both too similar. I think one needs to be sacrificed, certainly in home games. And I'd like to see us be brave enough to play a more attacking formation. Whether that be a 4-2-3-1 or to opt for two up front.

But again, what we perennially have failed to address is our creativity under Lambert. We've got no decent number 10. Joe Cole's legs have gone and N'Zogbia will continue to be inconsistent.  The nearest we have to a decent number 10 is Grealish but we can't rest all our hopes on him at this age.
Likewise pinning all our width on two fullbacks isn't working. We sorely miss what we lost when Ash Young left, and that's a reliable creative source. Someone who could make things happen, even if he wasn't in particularly great form.

There's still work to do in January because the last thing we want to do is slap back into the shite again. We need 1-2 players who can provide a cohesion between our midfield and attack. And we most certainly need to add some technical quality. Gabby should be an impact player now. Weimann shouldn't be in the side at all.

[SoccerHQ]

I like our defence this season (especially now we've actually got fullbacks worthy of the PL), but the midfield is still weak (I'm not a Westwood fan, never have been). Hopefully Lerner will put that right in January when he opens his wallet.
I hope we eventually do away with this horrible tactic of defending for 80% of the games and actually grab the match by the scruff of the neck and give the fans something to get excited about. Our home form under Lambert has been unforgivable.

We have plenty of central midfielders now although you're right still hardly anyone with a creative spark in them.

Only transfer I can see in January is Cleverley on a permanent deal and maybe a loan as in terms of numbers we're fine in most areas.

[Risso]

I was pleased we got Cleverley, but he's got a lot to prove before January.  He isn't worth anything like £8m as it stands.

[olaftab]

I have not looked into this  but I bet our possession % equals almost our win ratio  over the last 4 seasons. So despite the say that possession isn't everything it would appear that possession is most things.

[Risso]

I have not looked into this  but I bet our possession % equals almost our win ratio  over the last 4 seasons. So despite the say that possession isn't everything it would appear that possession is most things.

So then surely increasing our possession stats would be a good thing?

[olaftab]

Yes that is obviously what's required.

[supertom]

If you have the ball the opposition doesn't, and while they don't have it it's unlikely they'll score against you. Simples. If we persistently give opposition sides, even poorer sides, 60% possession, the liklihood is that we'll lose significantly more than we win, as has been proven over the last few seasons.
It's undoubtedly something we have to improve upon because our ball retention is appalling.

[Jimbo]

Please don't tell me where I do and don't give credit, especially when I said we defended "well", which you obviously failed to see through misty eyes.

You said it yourself; no strategy, down to luck, myths.

I said no such thing, but please allow me to spell it out for you in simple terms so you can stop putting words in my mouth.

I think it's a myth that we controlled the game against Liverpool like an Italian team of the ’90s. We didn't. We had 25 percent possession, probably less in the second half, but defended well against a below par Liverpool team trying to find its way without the all-conquering strike force of last season.

There was luck involved in our win, but it wasn't entirely down to luck. I'll say it again, we defended well.

Obviously we had a strategy, but to control the game by nullifying the opposition like Italians probably wasn't it. I don't think Lambert intended to give Liverpool 75 percent possession, while we comfortably swept up every attack with aplomb.

Rather, whenever we got the ball we couldn't keep hold of it. Liverpool didn't do much with it, however, and we defended well (there, I said it again). They hit the woodwork, they had chances. We dug out the result and it looked more of an opportunistic win rather than some masterful, assured, controlling display.

As I said above, the pattern would appear to suggest that we can't keep hold of the ball very well, and are generally punished as a result.

In any case, I want to watch the Villa play football, not run around while the opposition plays football.

[Risso]

I tend to agree Jimbo.  Unless the plan really did extend to throwing the ball to a Liverpool player from a Villa throw-in, almost every single time.

[Rigadon]

It really depends on whether this is some temporary tactic to keep us out of relegation places until we can sign some footballers, or a log term footballing principal.  The former I can stomach.  The latter isn't good enough.

Let's see what happens when we're playing teams from our league again.

[villan from luton]

Thats the whole point. We are now back to playing teams from our league now, lets see if we play a bit of football. I think Cleverley will be a good player for us and he delph and Westwood will dominate play against all but the top teams. They were yesterday and they had to change their tactics by bringing another midfielder on

[curiousorange]

What I'd really like to see at Villa is a pass where you just stop and say, 'fuck, that's brilliant'. But as we have trouble passing it ten yards between players, I don't think I'll be having my breath taken away any time soon.

It's frustrating that the team tries to play in such tiny areas of the pitch, when counter attacking naturally relies on pace and attacking empty space. What tends to happen is that a man will take it into a crowded space in midfield, fire it at somebody's shins and hope for the best.