Aston Villa vs Manchester United Post-Match thread

[mr underhill]

I  think it's a little premature to make judgements on new players yet!  I agree that gabby is shot, but frankly any talk of Tom Huddlestone joining is madness. This window, if it represents anything, is a complete repudiation of signing that type of player.

[Leicester_Villian]

lets give Ayew a chance to settle ...seem to recall not that long along a striker just sold for 32.5 million was dire for about 6 weeks when he joined and the same comments were being made

[walsall villain]

God almighty we lost 1-0 to Man Utd, some of the reactions to the new players are like we've lost ten on the spin. These players need a chance to gel as a unit, get used to the league and get match fit. Writing off Ayew after two games is genuinely insane. As I stated earlier in this thread Ronaldo struggled at first in this league, but he ended up doing fairly well for himself.

Absolutely agree! Getting used to the pace of this league is no easy thing and trying to judge players based on seeing them yourself for the first time is not very reliable. I remember seeing Ehiogu have a mare (was it Norwich?) and Luna play well against Arsenal, neither of those performances were much use in judging how their Villa careers would pan out.
I was talking to an elderly guy this morning on the train who had been last night. He was a Man U fan and thought we had more to be pleased about than they have as we now have a new group of players who will improve us where as they (in his opinion) haven't improved enough. I have always thought that six games in is the time to form an opinion on how the season is likely to pan out, not one or two.

[KRS]

Watched the game back and interestingly G.Neville noted how knackered our midfield looked after just half hour...Gueye and Veretout were visibly struggling with fitness and the pace of the game. Its going to take a while for these pair to get up to speed.

Any forward line with Gabby as the main goal throat is going to struggle to score...throw in the inconsistent Sinclair, new guy Ayew and a midfield thats blowing out its arse less than half way through a game, then its obvious that this team needs time and patience.

[ozzjim]

Watched the game back and interestingly G.Neville noted how knackered our midfield looked after just half hour...Gueye and Veretout were visibly struggling with fitness and the pace of the game. Its going to take a while for these pair to get up to speed.

Any forward line with Gabby as the main goal throat is going to struggle to score...throw in the inconsistent Sinclair, new guy Ayew and a midfield thats blowing out its arse less than half way through a game, then its obvious that this team needs time and patience.

Exactly. Gueye started too fast to continue that way without a breather, and he will have to learn to manage his stamina through a faster pace, while Vertout looks like a guy who has hardly played pre-season. Westwood on the other hand was still going strong late on, it shows that with time in this league they will learn. Curbing the enthusiasm on your home debut under lights against Man U is not really and easy thing either.

[Hillbilly]

I must have some sort of Stockholm syndrome - I just don't get upset at the result of this match anymore.

[Nelson Lodge]

Managers come and go, players come and go, even the ownership changes, but 20 years pass and it is the same old story.
Even with the new French connection. So:-
'Plus ca change, c'est la meme chose'
(the more things change, the more they stay the same).

[ChicagoLion]

People on here seem to think we played 4-3-3. It looked like a standard 4-4-2 to me, unless Ayew was told to drift and Sinclair wasn't. Veretout hugged the right touchline and it clearly isn't his position, and we didn't have enough bodies in midfield, resulting in us constantly having to turn backwards or go long. The system wasn't working at all, it looked more like a 4-3-3

it looked like 4 3 3 to me with occaisionaly going 4 4 2, i do not like the system it looks the way we played under Lambert. again we appear to surrender the middle of the park. which makes it impossible to get any foothold in the game.
Add this to some poor passing and lack of movement and we are back to squre one.
i hope that it will improve with other players commming in and some of these getting better but i am not convinced.

[Nelson Lodge]

 A lot has been posted about lack of fitness and stamina. Perhaps inspired by athletics and cycling the players could try 'blood doping' !
Joking !! 

[KRS]

I'm not going to criticise TS for his formation...for me, its just a formation to accommodate the players available at the moment, so essentially it should be a short term thing. Realistically what other formation and combination of players could he have used against Bournemouth and Man Utd?

[Monty]

I'm not going to criticise TS for his formation...for me, its just a formation to accommodate the players available at the moment, so essentially it should be a short term thing. Realistically what other formation and combination of players could he have used against Bournemouth and Man Utd?

Kozak or Gestede instead of Gabby or Ayew, and Veretout playing much more centrally than that slightly strange defensive inside-right weirdness he's stuck in at the moment.

[pauliewalnuts]

There's no point arriving at any conclusion from this match, for a number of reasons.

Firstly, if we looked like a bunch of players who hardly know each other, that's because that is what we are.

Secondly,  it's Man United we lost to. Not thinking of the fact we never beat them, more that they are a much better side than us. If we want to improve to be a mid table side, it isn't going to depend on how we do against the top sides, it is going to be about how we do against the crap sides, the same ones who handed us our arses so frequently the last few seasons.

Thirdly, some of the players are not only just starting to gel with the squad, they were playing in just their second match in this league. That doesn't happen overnight.

[KRS]

I'm not going to criticise TS for his formation...for me, its just a formation to accommodate the players available at the moment, so essentially it should be a short term thing. Realistically what other formation and combination of players could he have used against Bournemouth and Man Utd?

Kozak or Gestede instead of Gabby or Ayew, and Veretout playing much more centrally than that slightly strange defensive inside-right weirdness he's stuck in at the moment.

Kozak and Gestede aren't match fit either so unfortunately those changes wouldn't have made us anymore of an attacking threat or force a change in formation. I think its literally just a case of playing a formation to accommodate the players available rather than selecting the players to play a formation at this stage.

[JUAN PABLO]

Wasnt much difference between manure and Bournemouth really .

I'm just happy we got the typical manure lose out the way while we get everyone settled and fit thou gabby has had enough chances. He's a poor player now.

[ChicagoLion]

i do not understand why we are not playing Sanchez ahead of Gabby or Ayew,