Aston Villa vs Tottenham Post-Match Thread

[saunders_heroes]

There was a lot to be pleased about yesterday, we looked organised and played some decent football but whatever we do at the moment ends up with another defeat. For all our obvious deficiencies we really are long overdue some luck. That deflection for their goal, for instance, never seems to happen for us.

There was nothing to be pleased about. We lost yet another game at home and we had only one shot on target. The fact that we weren't as awful as we usually are isn't something to be pleased about. We were still poor.

[saunders_heroes]

One thing I will say about Kane, is that he stopped that whopper Lamella from waving an imaginary card around.

Exactly. A bit embarrassing seeing everyone having a go at Kane. A likeable character amongst the rest of that mob. Didn't do much wrong apart from come on, work hard and turn the game for Spurs with a bit of good fortune. He's also from Spurs' catchment area. Can't say we wouldn't love someone similar at our place.

We've got one - Jack Grealish. The difference though is that Kane is actually doing something on the pitch whereas Grealish hasn't done a thing of note as yet.

[Tom_Mc9?]

[saunders_heroes]

I've got that book, it's ace.

[Walmley_Villa]

Yesterday was an improvement but we lost and created very little again. Effort and workrate were there but it just reminded me of a very poor MoN team without the wingers. Benteke shouldn't have reacted and we are stuffed up front now for he next 3 games. I thought Lowton looked decent going forward and delivered a few decent balls (although all from deep which is the Lambert way obviously). Baker, Westwood and Weimann had good games in my opinion and surely we must play Weimann up front as he is the only one with an idea of where the goal is. Vlaar looks disinterested and not the leader he was, that is Nathan Baker now and all credit to him.
I do fear this season more than the last 2 though, Lerner and Lambert have ripped the heart out of the club and 40 points looks a very long way away.   

[Chris Smith]

There was a lot to be pleased about yesterday, we looked organised and played some decent football but whatever we do at the moment ends up with another defeat. For all our obvious deficiencies we really are long overdue some luck. That deflection for their goal, for instance, never seems to happen for us.

There was nothing to be pleased about. We lost yet another game at home and we had only one shot on target. The fact that we weren't as awful as we usually are isn't something to be pleased about. We were still poor.

The shots on target thing that keeps getting repeated doesn't really tell the story. Benteke at his sharpest would have scored three yesterday with the chances he had but was either just wide, just over or hit the post.

It doesn't help, we still lost, but it's a misleading statistic with which to summarise a game.

[oldhill_avfc]

I actually think sanchez is one of our best players by far but he likes to give the opposition the chance to score goals . lets out he stops doing it.

He was abysmal yesterday.  Error after error after error.  Rarely have I seen anyone so inept.

[Clampy]

I actually think sanchez is one of our best players by far but he likes to give the opposition the chance to score goals . lets out he stops doing it.

He was abysmal yesterday.  Error after error after error.  Rarely have I seen anyone so inept.

You can't have been watching football very long if you haven't seen anyone worse than Sanchez. Why do people make thoughtless posts like this?

[oldhill_avfc]

I listened to Souness et al after the game and they were saying that we lacked quality in important areas of the pitch.

I think this year injuries and suspensions are really hindering us, because with everyone fit and available I would think that the following wouldn't be out of place in a top 6 team.....

Guzan
Vlaar
Delph
Cleverly
Benteke.

That is just under half a team (though it rarely seems to get on the pitch at the same time).The others making up the team are not totally hopeless which leads me to the conclusion that they are just being coached ineptly. The really disappointing thing is that the inept coaching seems to have been going on for seasons now.

Cleverly did absolutely nothing yesterday, but the others are decenct players.

The problem is that the rest, with the possible exception of Weimann are way way off the standard required.

[oldhill_avfc]

I don't get the 'we played well - we were unlucky argument'. Spuds missed 3 + ? excellent chances 1st half. We didn't create anything bar the goal (although Benteke was unlucky with the shot that hit the bar). Two very poor teams today. I would hate to count the amount of sheer just simple mistakes by both sets of players. Sanchez in particular was truly abysmal - he must have 20 misplaced passes / missed tackles, basic f**k ups. The midfield is simply sh**te and if you cant defend, create or score you are doomed. Gonna have a sore head in the morning.

You must have been drunk if you thought Sanchez was 'truly abysmal'.

No he is spot on.  Admittedly I only counted 12 cock ups from him - and I haven't including the other free kick he gave away in a similar position where i thought the ref. was a bit harsh.  Then again 12 fuck ups form around 15 touches of the ball is without doubt abysmal.

[Tom_Mc9?]

I didn't think Sanchez was great to be honest - too many times he lost possession when the opposition snuck up on him without him noticing. There were enough touches to show that once he gets used to the Premier League he'll be an asset though.

[oldhill_avfc]

I actually think sanchez is one of our best players by far but he likes to give the opposition the chance to score goals . lets out he stops doing it.

He was abysmal yesterday.  Error after error after error.  Rarely have I seen anyone so inept.

You can't have been watching football very long if you haven't seen anyone worse than Sanchez. Why do people make thoughtless posts like this?

2 of the statements are factually correct, the other is my opinion based on 45 years of watching football.

What qualifies you to judge my post as thoughtless?

[Clampy]

I actually think sanchez is one of our best players by far but he likes to give the opposition the chance to score goals . lets out he stops doing it.

He was abysmal yesterday.  Error after error after error.  Rarely have I seen anyone so inept.

You can't have been watching football very long if you haven't seen anyone worse than Sanchez. Why do people make thoughtless posts like this?

2 of the statements are factually correct, the other is my opinion based on 45 years of watching football.

What qualifies you to judge my post as thoughtless?

So in 45 years of watching football, Carlos Sanchez is one of the worst players you ever seen?

[paul_e]

There was a lot to be pleased about yesterday, we looked organised and played some decent football but whatever we do at the moment ends up with another defeat. For all our obvious deficiencies we really are long overdue some luck. That deflection for their goal, for instance, never seems to happen for us.

There was nothing to be pleased about. We lost yet another game at home and we had only one shot on target. The fact that we weren't as awful as we usually are isn't something to be pleased about. We were still poor.

The shots on target thing that keeps getting repeated doesn't really tell the story. Benteke at his sharpest would have scored three yesterday with the chances he had but was either just wide, just over or hit the post.

It doesn't help, we still lost, but it's a misleading statistic with which to summarise a game.

No it really isn't.  No matter about how unlucky you are in a single match if you're only averaging 1-2 shots on target over a prolonged period you're not going to score very many goals.  Given the average conversion rate of shots on target to goals is about 30-35% (from all shots is about 15% but getting exact figures isn't easy) our number of goals this season is almost perfectly in line (statistically) with the league averages so pointing out missed chances, etc doesn't matter, we're not scoring enough goals because we don't shoot enough.  If we were statistically well out of line with expectations then I'd have some sympathy and hope that it really was just a patch where things weren't going for us (e.g Benteke's conversion rate in his first few games was statistically lower than expected but ended up being above average by the end of the season) but that's just not the case.

[pauliewalnuts]

I don't think yesterday or QPR were anything like our worst performances this season, nowhere near.

What concerns me is that, despite that, they were still far from convincing, and we came away with zero points.

The shots on target stat is perfectly valid, too, i have to say. It isn't everything, it is one of a number of statistics that tell a bigger story.

The problem we have is that every single one of those statistics makes grim reading, and although he has had over two seasons to sort this out, we don't seem to make much appreciable progress.

Yes, we were doing OK after four games, but it is all pretty pointless if you then go on a prolonged run of truly awful results - zero points from eighteen, one goal scored in the six games.

If this was the first time we'd had a situation of looking poor for a decent spell of time, the manager would get more patience - and this is exactly what happened after his first season.

The problem is, this now looks par for the course for Lambert, over a more than reasonable period of time, and he doesn't seem to know what to do to improve things.

It is daft to ignore mitigating circumstances, he hasn't had a lot of money to spend relatively to some other clubs, but as someone else said above, the poor results over two years would be more acceptable if we were sending out a cheap squad which returned more or less what you'd expect from those players, but we don't, we get less than you'd expect.

I don't really know why, but as a person, I still quite Lambert. Some of the stick he gets -"he's thick, he mumbles, he says 'we go again' all the time", honestly who gives a fuck about that? It might be mildly annoying at times, yes, but it is all pretty irrelevant.

What we have is a manager with a record with us that at significantly more than one occasion in the last two and a bit seasons would have got pretty much every other manager in the top flight the sack, yet not only is our manager still in place, he's just recently been given a four year contract.

That is the worst bit for me. The losing streaks are bad enough, but from where I am standing, I can't see any hope it is going to improve while the chairman makes idiotic decisions like that new contract.

Lambert has had huge amounts of support from the fans, I can't think of any manager who delivered results like he did in his first year and still maintained so much goodwill. I honestly don't blame anyone who thinks he has had enough time now - how much longer does he need, or deserve?