Aston Villa vs Bournemouth Post-Match Thread

[silhillvilla]

I don't see any issue with Bournemouth fans ? It's a big day out for them they came in their numbers and I didn't see any trouble. Fair play to them.

Interesting Clark was made captain today. Good to see him step up to the plate . He let nobody down today .

[usav]

Interesting Clark was made captain today. Good to see him step up to the plate . He let nobody down today .

He hasn't all season, to be fair.

[Colin B]

I think some of the criticism of Benteke is harsh. We are playing a different style and he needs a bit of time to adjust. For all that is being said he played a part in the first goal and also played a crucial pass to Westwood at the end.
 

[WALTERS WARRIORS]

Really happy about the win and both goals. Also the "Delph" news. But worried about Benteke. He lacked any enthusiasm and willingness to get on the end of balls made to him. Hope this is just a blip ....... Special mention for Clark and Okore. Who were excellent. Bacuna is not a first team player and with Delph back in the side, we will be a lot stronger and more attacking ......

[silhillvilla]

Interesting Clark was made captain today. Good to see him step up to the plate . He let nobody down today .

He hasn't all season, to be fair.

True.

[AlexAlexCropley]

I don't see any issue with Bournemouth fans ? It's a big day out for them they came in their numbers and I didn't see any trouble. Fair play to them.

Interesting Clark was made captain today. Good to see him step up to the plate . He let nobody down today .

There was a small incident by the Holte pub at about 240.Some balaclava wearing Bournemouth scrote came and gave a sly piledriver to a villa fan in a group singing on their way to the ground.Slinked off sharpish then.

[Richard E]

Good win, great news on Delph.

However, I realised that I'm at a stag weekend on semi final weekend and the subsequent wedding is FA Cup final day. Spare a thought for me when "it's our year" becomes a reality

Assuming it's not your own wedding (and even then it's touch and go) then remember where your priorities lie!

[john2710]

Very average first half, but we increased the tempo for the 2nd half & in the end we're comfortable. Quality goal by Gil, was right behind it in the Upper Holte, shifted the ball & shot in the blink of an eye.

Still a lot of work to do, but it's a start.

[dave.woodhall]

Very average first half, but we increased the tempo for the 2nd half & in the end we're comfortable.

How many times have Manchester United/Liverpool/Arsenal done just that against us?

[silhillvilla]

Hutton went on a few good pillaging runs today. Didn't realise how fast he was for a big bloke .

[amfy]

Start saving for the eighth one, Brigada.

Me, my husband, & Mike Jeffries & his mum are all in this photo!

As for bournemouth fans, the first time I heard them, ironically, was when they sung 'Is this a library?'. They are having a a good season, they brought a big following, I don't wish them any ill, but as a group of lower league fans coming here for a cup game, they don't rate amongst the noisiest or most consistently 'up for it' I have seen by a very long way.

[Flamingo Lane]

I imagine them leaving out a number of their best players would have dimmed some of their fans' enthusiasm.

[clash city rocker]

A couple of their fans had been getting a bit brave down in the corner towards the end  but towards the end cleared off and tried to blend in with the rest of them.

[brontebilly]

Echo the comments re Clark and Okore. Thought they were our two best players today. They had little protection in the first half as Bournemouth outnumbered us in midfield and O'Kane in particular attacked well. Disappointing that it took us until half time to fix this tactically. Our full backs were at sea defensively today too, Hutton is getting caught too far up the pitch of late and Okore is forced to cover behind him constantly. It was the case for their goal today with Okore being pulled out of position. Richardson gave us a bit more than Cissokho with the ball but positionally was all over the place. Bournemouth really should have scored ten minutes before they did when Rico switched off totally. Clark did well to babysit him for the game. Id be surprised if Cissokho didnt come back in next week but its certainly a substitution we should be considering when we need a goal.

Cleverley was a lot better in the second half. We seem more solid with three in midfield so probably should stay that way when Delph comes back in. Bacuna tried hard but a lot didnt come off for him. Would give him more chances though as he does give us more energy in there than Westwood or Cleverley. Sanchez seemed stuck to the ground today for some reason. Gil, goal aside, struggled to get into the game I thought but what a goal. Im far from his biggest fan but Weimann was really good today with an excellent finish. What was refreshing in the second half was that we sometimes had 3 or 4 players in their box at times and not just Benteke by himself. Just aswell as Benteke's movement really was non existent, he didnt anticipate a lot of decent balls that came into the box by the likes of Bacuna and Cleverley. Callum Wilson in comparison reminded me of Benteke in his first season in his impressive cameo. Confidence I guess.

My ratings: Given 7, Hutton 5, Okore 8, Clark 9, Richardson 5, Bacuna 6, Sanchez 5, Cleverley 7, Gil 7, Weimann 8, Benteke 4. Westwood was a good sub despite his miss.

Decent team selection from Lambert, tactical change at half time gave us the upperhand in midfield but was that obvious it should have been made earlier. Delph signing a new contract and Gil scoring on his full debut made it probably one of Lambert's best days at Villa Park.

[Dave]

Again from F365:

Aston Villa scored more than one second-half goal for the first time in exactly 50 matches.