Aston Villa vs Arsenal Post-Match Thread

[London Villan]

I thought it was the 4th official who gave the pen...

[kippaxvilla2]

RANDY LEARNER - YOU'VE FAILED!
RANDY LEARNER - YOU'RE FIRED!

And you can take those useless bastards Clarke and Guzman with you.

And sack the manger.

Get rid of Remy.

[David_Nab]

As started defence is a big problem ,chopping and changing doesn't help of course but the constant errors are killing us.If great teams goals were beating us or 30 yard rockets into the top corner but every goal we concede is just poor defending.

What's worse the mistakes in general are the older guys like Hutton who has now been involved in the last 3 goals we have conceded at home.

Amavi is a massive miss ,not the finished article but he was regularly making clearances and tackles plus with him we could attack both flanks. Bacuna there is better than Richardson as he has pace to cover his slip ups but neither add anything to our attacking play

Upfront is also an issue ,I see what he is trying to do with Gestede he wants him to flick the ball on or hold it up to bring Ayew/Sinclair / Veretout into the game but he is just no good at it.His other option them is Ayew through the middle but he isn't as effective there and gets on the ball less

Gestede we know was Sherwoods signing and he wanted Adebayor , I just can't see what he hoped to achieve with those 2 and its lefts us woefully short up top.

Midfield lacks experience and Sanchez who should be just protecting the back four but is trying to be a playmaker ..Gueye and Veretout are working hard but still need time.

I think we do have some talented players but the combination of what we have can no form a functioning team.

My throughts on Traore are that he is very very raw and will lose the ball...but I fancy him to cause more problems than Gestede over the course of the match and for that reason in our position he is worth the risk

Overall we are mentally shot ,I think Remi is seeing good things in training but in the matches they are falling apart.There is a nervousness about the team holding us back but the only way to cure it is to win a game ...we could also do with more leaders out there.

[Steve R]

Hundreds turned up to protest against McDoom's appointment. Thousands signed on line petitions objecting to the appointment.

I suspect Lerner will care not a jot for any protest. He wants out, we want him out.

Putting a rocket up Lerner's arse would do not harm at all. The problem would be that the only doorstep we can shit on is our own, we have no realistic way of doing it on his.

Ellis may not have been the owner, may have put 0% of Lerner's financial contribution into the club but he was still pretty bullet proof. The thing was, he was local. We could give him pain and were able every now and then to influence what he did.

I don't remember there being too many obvious 'other candidates' in 1968, but we still protested and it worked. If there is a chance it would hit the mark, it would be worth doing today.

We are clearly a sick club. Chucking yet more money into the furnace, acquiring a few players finding yet another new manager (I'd rather not) or a new CEO (yes please) is not really going to change that. We need significant reform throughout the institution and that will not happen by itself ... well not without a great deal more rot, at least.

[auntiesledd]

No doubt covered in another thread, but I think we now need to move on from who is at fault in this team and concentrate on who we should retain in next years Championship side.

I think Guzan, Veretout and Okore should be ok but most should be cleared out.

I take no pleasure in criticising any Villa player, but (!) I'm not even sure Guzan is good enough for a decent Championship outfit now. Admittedly the defensive 'unit' in front of him are about as sturdy as cheese strings, but I definitely don't think he inspires any confidence either these days. A move to MLS beckons.

There were balls today that the defence should of sent back to the keeper when under a little pressure for him to hammer upfield but they know his kicking is so poor they were turning the other way and putting the ball out for throw ins and inviting more pressure on to us. Guzan is shot.

Yep, I can't argue with any of your observations - yet nothing changes from week to sodding week. I can only conclude that the other 'keepers on our books are even more inadequate, which begs the question as to why that's the case? I guess it's yet another dysfunctional cog in the knackered workings of a doomed football club: OUR doomed football club.   

[ROBBO]

I watched the Albion game and looking through their players there was no brilliance just experience all through the team. They should have won it but the thing that stood out for me was their defence, Benteke was never given any room by tall solid defenders who looked dangerous whenever they went forward for corners. Some of their players were at one time mentioned as possible Villa players and if i recollect many were saying they were either too old too slow or just out for a pension. Oh and their manager was crap as well. Look at them now and look at us.

[postal]

Guzan couldnt do anything about the goals and the second was a breakaway that the midfield should have done something.

We are having shots which suggests attacking play, and it can be a small margin of them being on target and going wide.

Arsenal are no walkovers but we might have sneaked a goal. That said, the next 4 games are ones we need and should get 1 or 2 wins, because if we dont then the team havent made any progress.

Not sure if Gestade should ever start again, as not sure what he adds.

An Arsenal fan I know said that the game was closer than the scoreline suggested - I only saw MoTD highlights.

[cdward]

I noticed Mertesacke yesterday giving his defenders rollickings whenever we fashioned a half chance, and his leadership on set pieces, marshalling his team was noticeable. We need some of that. We have enough experience, Hutton and Lescott have at least 100 PL games each, even Bacuna.
Up top we created chances, Gestede and Sinclair had headers but didn't test the keeper. Overall we are not good enough. Positives are Ayew and Veretout gaining more game time.
Realistically we are down, we are too many points off the pace.
Biggest worry is will Randy decide it's not worth spending any money in January, as we are down anyway.

[oswald funkletrumpet]

We are down, 32 points needed from 22 games = no chance

Regarding spending in January - who would want to come here?

[ClaretAndBlueBlood]

I actually thought yesterday was our best performance of the season overall. Still give the ball away too cheaply on occasions and left ourselves wide open for the counter attack for the second goal. I think the signs in the performance were positive but pity we are starting 10 points behind. If we play like that against the teams who are around us then we should start picking up points

Need to pick up 7 points from the next 4 games as a minimum to retain any slender hope of staying up

[oswald funkletrumpet]

7 points from 4 games would leave us on 13 so we would still need 25 points from 18 games so 8 wins and 1 draw literally a 50% win ratio

not a hope in hell

[ClaretAndBlueBlood]

as I said, a slender hope

[rob_bridge]

As started defence is a big problem ,chopping and changing doesn't help of course but the constant errors are killing us.If great teams goals were beating us or 30 yard rockets into the top corner but every goal we concede is just poor defending.

What's worse the mistakes in general are the older guys like Hutton who has now been involved in the last 3 goals we have conceded at home.

Amavi is a massive miss ,not the finished article but he was regularly making clearances and tackles plus with him we could attack both flanks. Bacuna there is better than Richardson as he has pace to cover his slip ups but neither add anything to our attacking play

Upfront is also an issue ,I see what he is trying to do with Gestede he wants him to flick the ball on or hold it up to bring Ayew/Sinclair / Veretout into the game but he is just no good at it.His other option them is Ayew through the middle but he isn't as effective there and gets on the ball less

Gestede we know was Sherwoods signing and he wanted Adebayor , I just can't see what he hoped to achieve with those 2 and its lefts us woefully short up top.

Midfield lacks experience and Sanchez who should be just protecting the back four but is trying to be a playmaker ..Gueye and Veretout are working hard but still need time.

I think we do have some talented players but the combination of what we have can no form a functioning team.

My throughts on Traore are that he is very very raw and will lose the ball...but I fancy him to cause more problems than Gestede over the course of the match and for that reason in our position he is worth the risk

Overall we are mentally shot ,I think Remi is seeing good things in training but in the matches they are falling apart.There is a nervousness about the team holding us back but the only way to cure it is to win a game ...we could also do with more leaders out there.

Good summary

It annoys me when the pundits roll out the not experienced bollocks in relation to Villa.

Guzan, Lescott, Richardson, Clark and Hutton, Westwood, Gabby are all experienced. Hundreds of games between them. All well short of the required standard - granted Guzan could capture the form of 2-3 years ago and Clark could have another good 3 months as per last season. Maybe

[preston28]

We are down, 32 points needed from 22 games = no chance

Regarding spending in January - who would want to come here?

I would. I am a little past it, dodgy ankle and little speed these days. However for the sheer thrill of pulling on the Villa shirt and playing at VP you would get a lot of application, effort and energy. Oh and I wouldn't demand £10+K per week and I would have a clause in my contract that said I didn't get paid if I didn't deliver on my side of the deal.

[rob_bridge]

as I said, a slender hope

I think we need 9 from the next 4. Can't see it.