Aston Villa vs Sunderland Post-Match Thread

[olaftab]

A very frustrating day. At time we were brilliant but wasteful in the final third. We need more quality in 3/4 positions but overall  very good performance. I have just seen the stats and they completely back up the match I saw at VP. We will get better and Tim had managed to gather real quality in Gana and Amavi add that to Grealish, Sinclair and Gil and we could be awesome. Sanchez was my MOTM today. Getting very close to Mr Reliable the sort we have missed since Barry and Petrov.

[LTA]

Without sounding harsh, we need better than Clark & westwood to kick on.
Simply not PL level.

Clark seems to have regressed from his high standards last season. 

[LeeB]

A very frustrating day. At time we were brilliant but wasteful in the final third. We need more quality in 3/4 positions but overall  very good performance. I have just seen the stats and they completely back up the match I saw at VP. We will get better and Tim had managed to gather real quality in Gana and Amavi add that to Grealish, Sinclair and Gil and we could be awesome. Sanchez was my MOTM today. Getting very close to Mr Reliable the sort we have missed since Barry and Petrov.

Pretty much as I saw the game mate.

[olaftab]

For the second game on the trot Tim didn't react to substitutions made by the opposition manager and again that cost us.

Yes I was screaming at him in the first 5 mins of the second half. Advacaat did well  and the tall blond guy dominated the midfield. He should have switched Westwood back in centre alongside Sanchez to see out their surge but.....

[Rudy Can't Fail]

My opinion - TS got it wrong today.

That may be the case but we have to remember how inexperienced he is and he's still learning his trade. The biggest adavantage he has is that unlike Lambert, he's a very willing student. He's set himself a massive task by bringing in so many new players, something even the most experienced manager would struggle with.

Saying that, I won't judge him by comparing him to Lambert as it's a pointless measurement. We need to judge him purely as what he does with his team. Right now there are some encouraging signs.

[Matt Collins]

The rotation of the midfield, including wide forwards, was so much better than under lambert. So much better

All in all I feel pretty positive apart from one massive issue - the number 9. We need to give the new guys time but I'm not confident at all. Ayew has lived up to the reports and Gestede may improve but he still doesn't look at all the sort of guy to play as a lone striker and feed on clever balls through that our attacking midfielders want to play.

[oswald funkletrumpet]

We should be honest with ourselves ....we will not play many teams worse than Sunderland.
I think its fair to say tonite we will be at best in the bottom six which is very disappointing
Didn't understand the manager today ....one change ....what does Kozak need to do to get time on the pitch
While we have a central midfield of the three we did today we are never going to create enough clear chances or score from those players
The balance of the team is not right and the players missing Jack and Adama are both wide men not central players who create  - remember Jack has yet to score
Next couple of days are massive in the transfer window with at least 3 first team players needed
So disappointed to write the above as I do not generally moan but today was poor and I don't recall 22 shots !

totally agree about changes,sherwood seems unable to react during the game. 

sunderland bought that bid number 20 on at half time and he helped tighten up their central midfield.

gil comes on and was playing so deep he was next to sanchez

gestede was getting nowhere but didnt get a lot of support so what not chuck kozak on or ayew just to shake things up? he did exactly the same last week when he took sanchez off and left gabby on

[Stinkin_Thinkin]

first half we were superb Gana and Hutton were excellent. Bacuna was the weak link in the team.

I thought it was a soft free kick for the goal my initial thought was to blame Guzan but I'll wait till I see it again.

Shame Gil did'nt start instead of Bacuna.

Gestede is what he is. A back to goal striker who'll flick it on and lay it off. He will never get you 20 goals. He looks like a carthorse if you hit it for him to chase and he has the turning circle of a car ferry.
I keep saying it but we really  need to bring in Austin from QPR especially if Gil and Grealish are going to thread precision passes through for a striker to run on to.

[Ads]

The result was much the same as the past five years, but the performance was the other way round. Usually against poor sides like Sunderland we fall to their level; we become static and create very little, but this was different.

We dominated for 90% of the game, showed good movement, good running and created plenty, yet we badly lack that goal scorer who would have seen us rattle 3 or 4 more in.

Pantiliamon should have been sent off for the most ridiculous of time wasting, I also thought we should have had another penalty and Richards missed the sitter of the season.

Amavi, Gana and Westwood impressive; what a shame that Traore wasn't available. Hutton was able to push right onto their left back, with Defoe not arsed in tracking. Traore overlapping would have created bedlam.

In light of late chuck always last and this season, the fact we got the point isn't all that bad, but still, it feels like a poor result against a side who will almost certainly prop the table up come May.

If we can bring a goal scorer in, then we will have a comfortable season. If not, then too many poor results (if not performances) like that at home may leave us more worried than we would like. But with Sinclair scoring, the window still open, Jack and Traore to come back, I reckon we will be fine.

[mr woo]

Sanchez and Gana very good, again.

All Clark had to do was stay on his feet and the chap would never have got his shot off.
Unsure if it was a free kick for their first, but nothing anyone could do about the strike itself.

Was it a 2nd half penalty on Gil? Couldn't see from my position.

I thouht Guzan positioned himself badly for the first.

Agreed.

Logic would say you cover the nearest post to the free kick taker yourself and tempt him to beat you at the furthest post from him, thus giving you more time to scramble across, as the ball has to travel further to reach the net.

Science lesson over.

That apart, worth a watch again on MOTD tonight, I also suspect someone in the wall wasn't prepared to get hurt there, I'm not sure it was that far from being 'blockable'.

[Matt Collins]

The result was much the same as the past five years, but the performance was the other way round. Usually against poor sides like Sunderland we fall to their level; we become static and create very little, but this was different.

We dominated for 90% of the game, showed good movement, good running and created plenty, yet we badly lack that goal scorer who would have seen us rattle 3 or 4 more in.

Pantiliamon should have been sent off for the most ridiculous of time wasting, I also thought we should have had another penalty and Richards missed the sitter of the season.

Amavi, Gana and Westwood impressive; what a shame that Traore wasn't available. Hutton was able to push right onto their left back, with Defoe not arsed in tracking. Traore overlapping would have created bedlam.

In light of late chuck always last and this season, the fact we got the point isn't all that bad, but still, it feels like a poor result against a side who will almost certainly prop the table up come May.

If we can bring a goal scorer in, then we will have a comfortable season. If not, then too many poor results (if not performances) like that at home may leave us more worried than we would like. But with Sinclair scoring, the window still open, Jack and Traore to come back, I reckon we will be fine.

What he said. Spot on. Crazy that four games in there have still only been 7 home wins all season (must be about 7 in 36 games now.

[rob_bridge]

A very frustrating day. At time we were brilliant but wasteful in the final third. We need more quality in 3/4 positions but overall  very good performance. I have just seen the stats and they completely back up the match I saw at VP. We will get better and Tim had managed to gather real quality in Gana and Amavi add that to Grealish, Sinclair and Gil and we could be awesome. Sanchez was my MOTM today. Getting very close to Mr Reliable the sort we have missed since Barry and Petrov.

Pretty much as I saw the game mate.

Same for me. Oft criticism of Westwood on my part was undone somewhat today. Sinclair miles n
better than Gabby,

Lied to have see the BigMan getbthe last 10 mins.

[pelty]

The people saying Gestede is not the answer after two games in which he has started are ridiculous. He held up the ball and distributed it pretty well and got himself in scoring positions. He needed to do better with the end product, but every striker has better and worse shots. People on here need to relax.

[Dave]

I agree, the future is brighter than ever but you don't think playing the worst team in the league at home is must win?

No. What is the consequence of not winning that game? Are we going to get relegated because we didn't win it?

If it's a "must-win" game, then it's a game-that-you-must-win. As in there are significant implications to not winning it. It's a phrase you hear a lot at the end of the season because there are clear and defined repercussions from not doing so. There aren't any from today.

Unless I'm wrong and you can tell us the direct consequences from not winning today?

[kippaxvilla2]

The way I see it you don't win league titles by drawing at home to Sunderland, the last time we won it, Sunderland were routed 4-0 at Villa Park.