Aston Villa vs Chelsea post match thread

[richard moore]

To compare Kane with Benteke is like comparing Sammy Morgan with Andy Gray. Like comparing Ricky Lambert with Diego Costa. Bobby Zamora with Stan Collymore. Benteke is an amazing footballer not applying himself to the task Kane is an average footballer applying himself amazingly to the task at the moment.

I think that's very far from certain quite frankly

[silhillvilla]

Kane looks the more complete player to me on the evidence so far.

[PeterWithesShin]

Kane is definitely a better player at 21 than Benteke was at 21.

[Toronto Villa]

As with any young player that suddenly appears on the scene, let's see him do it next season. A summer of increased profile and expectation might bring him crashing down to earth. That and teams will now plan to mark him better and he won't have the surprise element anymore. He's clearly a very good player but to get to the next level and perform at this standard consistency takes a lot more than just talent. He'll need to be focused and mentally strong.

[brontebilly]

Our subs didnt really have any impact when they came on. Granted Lambert should have made a change earlier as Chelsea were on top but in truth Gabby was better with his back to goal than Benteke, Ivanovic owned Sinclair while Cole just seemed to be getting in Gil's way. In hindsight, Sanchez should have come in earlier when we were getting overrun at 1-1. Would have been a very unpopular change though at the time.

In fairness to Lambert, the decision to bring Cissokho back in and continue the Okore/Clark partnership was justified. Clark in particular was outstanding. Okore should have done better for both goals although the second was a lucky one really for Chelsea. Gil was primarily at fault for the second while the majority of blame for the first should go to Hutton. His form defensively has really been poor of late. Totally switched off for Hazard's run to the front post yesterday.

For Tuesday night, Benteke will probably come back in. Gil will stay on the right so the question will be who will be on the left. Gabby, Weimann or Sinclair? Id expect Sanchez to come back in for Cleverley to combat the physically strong Hull trio. Arguably Bacuna would be the better call to protect Hutton and also enable Gil to play further up the pitch.

[PeterWithesShin]

After 22 goals I imagine teams are already making plans to mark him better etc. Doesn't seem to be doing them much good.

[Monty]

I don't think there's much evidence, and I certainly don't think it's clear-cut between the two of them. Kane gets goals which Benteke doesn't appear to have the movement to get, but Kane has never done something like the Norwich overhead kick, or the goal against Baggies, or the times where he can swagger through defences. They are many differences between them.

[Richard E]

We can all assess Kane better next season once defenders have had a chance to suss him out.

[PeterWithesShin]

There is zero doubt that Kane is better at 21. They are different style players, doesn't mean they can't be compared though, we do it all the time with players.

[Monty]

'Zero doubt'? Benteke was playing in Belgium when he was 21. Had he not been, who knows how he would have compared. And before anyone says 'well, if he were that good he wouldn't still have been in Belgium', who's to say that if Kane were Belgian he'd have played well enough to leave there yet? It's all very speculative.

[olaftab]

Grass is always greenest....
If Kane keeps doing it for the rest of the season and does it again next season I will proclaim him as the new messiah but until than no I don't see what's great about him as a footballer.

[PeterWithesShin]

'Zero doubt'? Benteke was playing in Belgium when he was 21. Had he not been, who knows how he would have compared. And before anyone says 'well, if he were that good he wouldn't still have been in Belgium', who's to say that if Kane were Belgian he'd have played well enough to leave there yet? It's all very speculative.

Yes zero doubt imo. At 21 Benteke was scoring 1 in 4 in a weaker league, Kane is scoring more than 1 in 2.

[nick harper]

My front 6 for Hull:-

    Westwood Delph
Agbonlahor Gil Sinclair
          Benteke

4-2-3-1. We need more movement and pace - and get Gil playing in the centre between the lines. Take the game to them and stop playing in straight lines.

[Monty]

I think he's playing with players who are a bit better than Benteke had at Genk. Lukaku was knocking them in for fun in Belgium when he still couldn't legally drive, but a few nice moments notwithstanding he's found it tougher in England. Benteke, by contrast, scored more in England than in Belgium. Yes England is a stronger league, but there are lots of factors around individual players which make direct comparisons complicated IMO.

[darren woolley]

I'm disappointed with the defeat but we score at last we need to beat Hull that's a massive game for us.