It's not Sherwood!

[Rudy Can't Fail]

Sanchez hasn't played well since he arrived, and does appear to be out of form generally. I don't get the Gil thing at all though.

What? Up until the Arsenal game he'd been our best player. No question he was shit against Arsenal and was poor after 60 minutes against Stoke, but then who wouldn't be after having to do his own job and that of Delph.

Gil is fully fit so there was no excuse to leave him out. He got bullied against Stoke and I imagine Sherwood thought Albion would be physical too. What surprised me last night on seeing how open the game was, Sherwood never brought him on in the second half. He'd have ripped them a new one. Maybe he's saving him for Saturday.

[QBVILLA]

Or for some of our fans judging by some of the early comments on this thread. That was the first Villa game I have actually enjoyed in a long time. Not just the result but the actual performance. The ball going sideways then forward rather than sideways, sideways, back. It's also shut those gobshites from Smethwick up for a few days. God bless ya Tim.

I enjoyed the high pressing too. Not giving them any time. We rarely did that under Lambert, even though on the few occasions we did, we got joy, but it never seemed to twig with Lamberk that we should keep that going. We merely sat back and invited pressure.

I'm in the minority as I liked Sherwood's approach at Spurs and his straight talking. He managed to get Adebayor putting a shift in, in itself no mean feat. If he can get Agbonlahor performing like he did last night just 50% of the time we've got a real threat up front. Not many players will burn Lescott like he did for the first goal.

[PeterWithe]

Sanchez got three MOMs in a row didn't he, and all deserved.

He may take a while to find his feet but I rate him, he'll be a big asset with pacy players, capable of carrying the ball, around him.

[Monty]

Sanchez hasn't played well since he arrived, and does appear to be out of form generally. I don't get the Gil thing at all though.

What? Up until the Arsenal game he'd been our best player. No question he was shit against Arsenal and was poor after 60 minutes against Stoke, but then who wouldn't be after having to do his own job and that of Delph.

Gil is fully fit so there was no excuse to leave him out. He got bullied against Stoke and I imagine Sherwood thought Albion would be physical too. What surprised me last night on seeing how open the game was, Sherwood never brought him on in the second half. He'd have ripped them a new one. Maybe he's saving him for Saturday.

Sorry, when I said 'he' I meant Sherwood. I like Sanchez, but if Sherwood's just basing it on his (admittedly limited) time here, then I understand his non-inclusion. I agree with you on Gil - it doesn't make sense to me. Perhaps he sees him primarily as a winger, not a no. 10. I don't get that though.

[Clampy]

I think Sanchez has been a pretty good buy overall. He's had one or two games where's he's struggled but most new foreign players do.

[Toronto Villa]

Gil will get his chance. They all will and especially those that might have thought their Villa career was over. What is now important is how he reacts to this. We want depth of quality and mentality in the bench. That when it is their turn the player comes in and performs. I'm sure Sherwood is testing them all to see who has those qualities for the run in. None of us thought that team he started with would give the display it did so you can't knock the manager because he was right. He just has to keep being right which is the challenge but at least we know he has weapons to work with. Actually we all knew that except the previous manager who found ways not to maximize their ability.

[rob_bridge]

I think Sanchez has been a pretty good buy overall. He's had one or two games where's he's struggled but most new foreign players do.

I think he was effective before Lambert decided we wanted to imitate Barcelona under Pep. Then he was found out as his passing is average and he spent a lot of time giving it away and then failing to regain.

[Rudy Can't Fail]

I think Sanchez has been a pretty good buy overall. He's had one or two games where's he's struggled but most new foreign players do.

I think he was effective before Lambert decided we wanted to imitate Barcelona under Pep. Then he was found out as his passing is average and he spent a lot of time giving it away and then failing to regain.

Average? Try 94% completion.

[aev]

I like Sanchez but that performance at Arsenal was truly woeful.

As someone said at the time, the only thing he did competently that day was to put his kit on correctly.

[paul_e]

To me they almost look, for want of a better expression, institutionalized.

When the equalizer went in, they kind of lost impetus but maybe I am just being over critical.

I agree - under Lambert, 'we go again' turned into 'here we go again' every time the opposition scored, and there was a bit of that last night. However, unusually, we actually stuck at it and got a reward, which should be beneficial for morale. We CAN actually win games!

I'm not sure, I actually thought we did a good job in the 15minutes after they scored of taking the heat out of the game, I thought we were quite composed and we nudged them back to their 'defend and counter' style rather than doing what we did under Lambert and retreating to the edge of the box and inviting them to push for the winner. 

[Ron Manager]

Sanchez hasn't played well since he arrived, and does appear to be out of form generally. I don't get the Gil thing at all though.

What? Up until the Arsenal game he'd been our best player. No question he was shit against Arsenal and was poor after 60 minutes against Stoke, but then who wouldn't be after having to do his own job and that of Delph.

Gil is fully fit so there was no excuse to leave him out. He got bullied against Stoke and I imagine Sherwood thought Albion would be physical too. What surprised me last night on seeing how open the game was, Sherwood never brought him on in the second half. He'd have ripped them a new one. Maybe he's saving him for Saturday.

Sorry, when I said 'he' I meant Sherwood. I like Sanchez, but if Sherwood's just basing it on his (admittedly limited) time here, then I understand his non-inclusion. I agree with you on Gil - it doesn't make sense to me. Perhaps he sees him primarily as a winger, not a no. 10. I don't get that though.

Sherwood has looked at footage of all of our games this season we are told. If that is the case he should be very impressed with both Carlos and Carles I should think.

[mr underhill]

if true I'm surprised the geezer hasn't topped himself. Fair play to the man for fortitude.

[supertom]

Sanchez got three MOMs in a row didn't he, and all deserved.

He may take a while to find his feet but I rate him, he'll be a big asset with pacy players, capable of carrying the ball, around him.

Yes. When we switched to Lamberts slow style. Sanchez was probably our best player for a couple of months.

He's just had a poor run of form in the last month though, but once he adapts to a quicker pace and reigns in the late challenges, he'll come good (I hope). Definitely too early to write him off. Every one gets a clean slate under Sherwood. Plenty are playing for their future now.

[OCD]

Watching our games back has probably made Sherwood into a narcoleptic.

[David_Nab]

Sanchez have to remember had little summer break and has to deal with a new league.He has looked great in some games but other's he has made some poor errors and dwelled on the ball.Still a good player in there though.

Not been impressed with Cleverly and would have had Sanchez over him but last night he was very good chased the ball down and kept it well so can see why he is ahead of Sanchez at moment.