Aston Villa vs Stoke Post Match Thread

[UK Redsox]

Team for NUFC

--------- given -----------
Hutton Okore Clark cissoko

Cleverly Delph Westwood Bacuna

---- Weimann ---- benteke ----

No Sinclair, or Gill?

Clive wasn't in the game second half yesterday. So maybe start with one and then bring the other on as sub

[oldham_villa]

His work rate was terrific yesterday. Only problem, when he got it, he was knackered from closing them down. He would stay in my team without a doubt

[Gareth]

I was in the concourse when it happened but on the screens I saw him being applauded as he was walking off. No idea how many did, but some definitely did.

You sure it wasn't "fucking nice one Ron, you idiot you just lost us the game" ironic clapping?

Because if it was "bad luck Ron, we still love you" clapping then those people are morons.

If someone was going to get a red & the challenge didn't involve Stephen 'the leech' Ireland then they should be ashamed not applauded

Clark & Okore for me now - Vlaar only if they get hurt / suspended

[silhillvilla]

Team for NUFC

--------- given -----------
Hutton Okore Clark cissoko

Cleverly Delph Westwood Bacuna

---- Weimann ---- benteke ----

No Sinclair, or Gill?

Assumed Gil isn't 100% fit
Forgot Sinclair I'd have him in for benteke

[oldham_villa]

I wonder how Gill would look being played off Benteke? I don't like seeing him as deep as he was yesterday. Offered nothing and was getting himself in trouble

He didn't look fit tho, think ur right pal

[peter w]

It's a shame Vlaar is out as I'd like to see Okore have a go at right back in an Ivanovic way with Hutton at left back...anyway for Newcastle

Guzan

Hutton
Okore
Clark
Cissokho

Westwood
Cleverley
Delph
Gil
Sinclair

Benteke

[silhillvilla]

Benteke needs dropping. He's a waste of a shirt at present .

[tomd2103]

I wonder how Gill would look being played off Benteke? I don't like seeing him as deep as he was yesterday. Offered nothing and was getting himself in trouble

He didn't look fit tho, think ur right pal

It's where I would like to see him play.  As you say he gets in trouble when he drops deep and there were times yesterday when he didn't track back. 

[tomd2103]

Benteke needs dropping. He's a waste of a shirt at present .

But who comes in instead of him?  Gabby?  Weimann?

[oldham_villa]

I'm not saying he could be as effective as Zola, but he (Gill) could bring other people into play in a similar fashion, through his vision and deft passes.

[JUAN PABLO]

Gabby is fucking pathetic and he needs to go.

That's all very well, but who instead?  Weimann is utter toss.

Well lambert should have sorted it . Hes rubbish now . Should have been replaced , not giving a new contract . Two championship players .

[Toronto Villa]

Sherwood did say after the game that 'yeah, perhaps' we played the ball long too much to Benteke. Let's hope we see a bit of a backtrack from that method, because it did not work. If Benteke's free, and you can get the ball to him so he can control it and hold it up, great, but he was surrounded by giants a lot yesterday and we still punted it up to his head. Not smart football from the defenders.

I think (and hope) he'll have learnt a lot from yesterday. He now has an Assistant who knows the players at the club well, and will have a full week with with his other coach and analyst. They'll know pretty quickly that they need to approach things differently to get the best out of the players we have. My thoughts with Gabby are that everyone knows he has a burst of pace and while it isn't what it was it can be a threat in the right circumstances. I think that's what managers hang onto with him because it is plain to see he brings little else.

As for Benteke they need to figure that one out quick, and maybe next week we revert back to something closer to 4-5-1 or a variation of it with Gil and Sinclair the most advanced in that midfield 5, with Delph and Cleverley/Westwood in front of Sanchez. Okore for Vlaar.

[Legion]

Hopefully Kozak and Senderos will be back in the reckoning soon.

[Toronto Villa]

Hopefully Kozak and Senderos will be back in the reckoning soon.

I don't think we'll put Kozak in for a few weeks yet unfortunately.

[tomd2103]

Sherwood did say after the game that 'yeah, perhaps' we played the ball long too much to Benteke. Let's hope we see a bit of a backtrack from that method, because it did not work. If Benteke's free, and you can get the ball to him so he can control it and hold it up, great, but he was surrounded by giants a lot yesterday and we still punted it up to his head. Not smart football from the defenders.

Once they equalised we ran out of ideas and steam really. The lads went back to tried and tested, what they've been taught for the majority of Lamberts reign, hump it to the big man.

What he does in midfield is absolutely key. A two man centre doesn't work because no matter who you put next to Delph (who's only a mid-table player himself) you're left week. So three man is the way to go. I'm not sure what I'd do, never mind Tim. If he wants us to up our tempo then Sanchez will be lost. TC and Westwood are too similar so playing both is redundant.
We could go brave and have Delph plus one, with Gil slightly ahead, or put Bacuna in the middle to provide some energy, and potentially goal threat, but Leandro's passing is too erratic.

One thing I think Sherwood did get right was having our wide man attacking the wings, rather than relying entirely on the fullbacks. We got some joy from Sinclair.

Actually they were getting it up to Benteke from minute one. Sometimes effectively, for Benteke to bring down, but a lot of the time they were just going for the slightly desperate flick-on. I agree, though, that we played well on the wings.

They were, but again I wonder if that was just simply a tactic Sherwood had to employ seeing as he only had a short time to work with the players.  I will be disappointed if our style of play doesn't evolve from that over the next few weeks. 

One of the main problems we have with playing that way is Guzan's kicking, particularly off the floor.  If you are playing against a team employing those tactics, you make sure you drop one of midfielders in front of the target man at every goal kick, as Stoke did with Whelan yesterday.  The problem we have is that Guzan 's kicks tend to fall short, which makes it very difficult for Benteke to win the ball, especially with someone in front of him.  I watched it quite closely yesterday and Benteke was having to make up ten yards towards his own goal at times to challenge for the ball off Guzan's kicks which makes it very hard for him to win the challenge.