Aston Villa vs Leicester City Post Match Thread

[London Villan]

Probably took Marshall's phone off him! Solid performance in the second half. Home draw please, just for once in a quarter final...

[Exeter 77]

Thank fuck - A WIN!

I'd forgotten what it was like not to have my weekend ruined.

Anyone else think Given should be our number 1 for the remainder of the season?

Yes

I am a big Guzan fan but was thinking to myself that Given should keep his place after today. Apart from anything else it sends out a message to both the players in favour and those out of favour that nobody is guaranteed a place and nobody is ruled out.

Before the start of the game we were trying to figure out whether Given and Sherwood had played together at Blackburn but couldn't come to a definitive answer.

Edit: checked it now and they were both there at the same time.

[villan from luton]

The Marshall twins were about to take Bacuna off just before he scored and had to tell Sinclair to sit back down for 5 minutes. 

To be fair I dont blame them, he was poor and not his natural position

[villan from luton]

Thank fuck - A WIN!

I'd forgotten what it was like not to have my weekend ruined.

Anyone else think Given should be our number 1 for the remainder of the season?

Yes

I am a big Guzan fan but was thinking to myself that Given should keep his place after today. Apart from anything else it sends out a message to both the players in favour and those out of favour that nobody is guaranteed a place and nobody is ruled out.

Before the start of the game we were trying to figure out whether Given and Sherwood had played together at Blackburn but couldn't come to a definitive answer.

Given was interviewed after and he did mention he knew him from Blackburn

[Chipsticks]

Very, very happy tonight. Not quite sure why Weimann was man of the match - Westwood, Given, Clark, Cleverley, and Benteke won us this game today.

Onwards and upwards, tickets for this weekend and Newcastle away sorted for the return of optimism! If the second half today was an indicator of the football we'll be playing under Tim then consider me satisfied.

[ciggiesnbeer]

Enjoyed that. I thought Bacuna's strike , Vlaar's setup and Givens save were all of incredibly high quality.

[nodge]

The Marshall twins were about to take Bacuna off just before he scored and had to tell Sinclair to sit back down for 5 minutes. 

To be fair I dont blame them, he was poor and not his natural position

At that point I thought he could have taken any of the midfield off. We needed some creativity and I suppose with hindsight Bacuna would be the only one who could do what he did.

[villan from luton]

The Marshall twins were about to take Bacuna off just before he scored and had to tell Sinclair to sit back down for 5 minutes. 

To be fair I dont blame them, he was poor and not his natural position

At that point I thought he could have taken any of the midfield off. We needed some creativity and I suppose with hindsight Bacuna would be the only one who could do what he did.

He is certainly not suited to that advanced role though. Has he ever been given a chance in the central midfield position? I actaully thought Cleverley was the best of the midfield today

[London Villan]

I think Bacuna playing wide right is much better for the team than him playing at full-back. He can shoot, pass and is positive. He should start on Saturday.

[avfcpg]

Second half was more like it and a step in the right direction..whatever was said at half time seemed to sink in.
More urgency to get it forward and hit Beneteke, we pressured thier back line when they had the ball, we seemed to have more ugency. We created more in that 2nd half than we had for a long long time...ok it was a poor Leicester side but I'll take it....it was encouraging and we could have had 3 or 4...
Onwards....

[Des Little]

It's our year.

[villan from luton]

I think Bacuna playing wide right is much better for the team than him playing at full-back. He can shoot, pass and is positive. He should start on Saturday.

I thought he was very poor tbh, great goal though. I do not think he is a forward type player

[adrenachrome]

Grauniad Blog

Tim Sherwood changes reaped reward for Aston Villa at Leicester’s expense

New manager Sherwood was not in charge but he made changes at half time that turned Cup tie in Villa’s favour

Michael Cox is editor of Zonal Marking

Tim Sherwood has never been one to underplay his own influence, and the the new Aston Villa manager will be delighted to accept some of the credit for this FA Cup victory. Technically Sherwood wasn’t even in charge, yet his decision to race down from his position in the stands and deliver a half-time team talk prompted a noticeable second-half improvement.

This cup tie was dreadfully slow before half time. The Premier League’s lowest-scoring side against the Premier League’s bottom club is hardly a recipe for great entertainment, and Nigel Pearson’s defensive 5-4-1 system was not particularly helpful. Villa had plenty of possession, yet struggled to create chances.

This is a familiar problem, which originates from the fact Villa badly lack creativity in midfield. Tom Cleverley continues to frustrate with his overly-safe distribution, at one point practically playing a sideways pass when Villa had a three-on-two counter-attack, while Ashley Westwood enjoyed freedom in his deep-lying position, but rarely hit penetrative balls into attack.

Fabian Delph is clearly capable of providing an attacking spark, but he usually excels when the opposition push up and press, allowing him to evade a challenge by receiving the ball neatly on the half-turn. With Leicester sitting very deep, those situations never arose.

Christian Benteke cut a frustrated figure, often dropping into surprisingly deep positions and wanting balls to feet. This left three Leicester defenders without anyone to mark, and only occasionally did Villa push a runner forward into that space – usually Delph or Andreas Weimann.

Villa’s best moments came down the right flank, first when Alan Hutton played a clever, measured cut-back to Weimann on the edge of the box, then when Leandro Bacuna whipped a deep cross towards Benteke’s head – the type of service the Belgian thrives on. Whenever Villa got into the box, however, there were always three Leicester defenders waiting to get their body in the way.

Leicester’s strategy was very simple – sit deep, counter-attack down the flanks and force set-pieces. The right-winger, Riyad Mahrez, was typically dangerous when he received possession, while on the other flank, Jeffrey Schlupp boasts a tremendous turn of speed and asked questions of Alan Hutton, forcing the corner which resulted in Marcin Wasilewski heading against the post.

This game desperately needed a spark, however, and both managers contributed to a surprisingly high-energy, exciting second half. Sherwood seemingly encouraged his new charges to hit longer balls to Benteke, and get midfield runners forward in close support. Within a minute, Bacuna crossed from the right on to the head of Delph, who was one of four targets in the box – which simply wouldn’t have happened in the first half.

Then came Pearson’s turn to change things, removing his centre-back, Wasilewski, introducing the centre-forward, Leonardo Ulloa, and switching to a 4-4-2. Immediately the game opened out: Leicester had another attacking option, and Villa’s attackers had more freedom. Perhaps Pearson’s move backfired, though: Bacuna might not have received such space to cut inside and curl the ball majestically around Mark Schwarzer for the long-awaited opener. Thereafter Villa had some excellent counter-attacking chances: Benteke should have done better when receiving the ball quickly in the channels, while substitute Scott Sinclair caused plenty of problems with his speed in behind, scoring the crucial second.

It was an unexpected early sighting of Sherwood’s simple, back-to-basics philosophy, and his players will be encouraged to get the ball forward quickly from the outset against Stoke City on Saturday.

[Ron Manager]

Given made one brilliant save but as we know he is not too clever on crosses. Guzan commands his area in most situations. Let Given have the cup games.

[ciggiesnbeer]

True but to be fair that was a cracking header that beta him.