Aston Villa vs Arsenal Post-Match Thread

[old man villa fan]

Watching the game today, it was clear to me that our underlying problem is the back 5.  It is a main reason why the midfield and forward are not functioning.  Things that stand out as massive problems with the back 5 are: uncertainty, indecision, and lack of composure which you can put down mainly to lack of confidence, then come the real problems ..... poor positioning, no communication, playing players into trouble with passes, poor passing, unable to clear the ball cleanly, poor/weak challenges, easily pushed off the ball, failure to play as a unit, leaving massive gaps and probably a few more as well.  We are unable to effectively bring the ball out of defence and put ourselves in an attacking position.

People give Hutton praise because they say he puts effort in but I do not think he does.  His trotting back (if it actually reaches that pace) after the ball is lost up field is really annoying me.  For the second goal he was in front of Gana when the play broke down.  The question to me is why was he so far forward, he is a fullback leaving half the pitch exposed to the counter attack.  When they broke and had 3 on 1 I looked for Hutton's position on the replay after Ramsey scored and Hutton had only just made it back into our half.  Hutton is doing the easy stuff getting forward but is unwilling to do the hard work in getting back.  I am getting fed up with his half-hearted attempts at tackling, preferring to use his upper body weight and arms rather get into a good position to tackle or hold up play.  This to me is a symptomatic of a very lazy approach to the game.  What does he actually do when he pushes forward, it usually leads to a poor cross or putting other player under pressure with a ball inside and a massive gap behind him.  The guy is a poor player in my opinion and should not be in the side.  I would much prefer to see a more defensive fullback and leave the attacking out wide to midfield players or forwards so that we are more cohesive at the back.

I could go on in detail about the other defensive players but my general points above some it up.  We desperately need to bring in new defenders to the club that can actually defend.  Traditionally, that means a big lump in the centre that dominates the opposition forwards and a more ball playing player alongside and that's the way I think we should go.  I think Okore could be that ball playing player when his confidence grows a bit.  We then need two solid fullbacks and a goalkeeper that does not put the fear of God into the rest of the team, the fans and, I am sure, the manager.

The positives to me today were again, Ayew for his non-stop running and covering and Veretout for always making himself available, picking out good passes and being a player at last that offers some threat from dead ball kicks.

[QuintonVilla]

Hutton and Sanchez are two of the worst players in the league, they wouldn't get near anyone else's team.
How some people rate Sanchez is beyond me. Slow, pedestrian, dallies on the ball, lazy. Hutton is just utter turd.

[Clampy]

Sanchez didn't have one of his best games today, although he did spray some decent passes around at times. I'm not a fan of Hutton either. Richards has to go in his place once he's back.

[ChicagoLion]

Hutton and Sanchez are two of the worst players in the league, they wouldn't get near anyone else's team.
How some people rate Sanchez is beyond me. Slow, pedestrian, dallies on the ball, lazy. Hutton is just utter turd.

Sanchez or Westwood
Hutton or Bacuna
Guzan or a Lamp Post

Not a lot of choice really.

[Billy Walker]

I understand all the arguments regarding protesting but, at the end of the day, I'm inclined to think that we as a club will come out of such a thing looking silly and it just won't lift or help the team in any case.  I don't want us to be portrayed as a Newcastle United basket case kind of club with the media having a right old laugh at our expense.

Lerner has got away lightly over the past five years and there were many moments when we could - and perhaps should - have protested but such a time has passed now in my view.  As I said earlier, I just want Lerner to come out, show leadership and direction and address the fans.  It's a simple thing but it would be appreciated in the sense that he would be showing some kind of solidarity with everyone.  We need leadership, we need hope. Who knows, it might actually pull us all together and get us scrapping.  If he could announce that we're going to lay on free buses to all remaining away games this season and do all that we can to make the most of the next five months it would be even more appreciated and show fight.  There's been a leadership and communication vacuum at the top of the club for too long now.  As a final throw of the dice the owner of the club could break the (costly, ill thought-out) habit of a life time and fill both.

[old man villa fan]

As supporters, the only real way you can protest in the situation we are in, is to stay away.  Lerner wants to sell but cannot find a buyer, we are told.  Staying away will affect the club through lost revenue, so that action would actually harm the club.

Lerner has to make a decision to break the status quo.  Does he invest £50m in player acquisitions or does he reduce the asking price by £50m as I think it is something of this magnitude that is required.  With the latter, he loses another £50m, with the former he is gambling on being able to make it back by enhancing the value of the club.

The current malaise is down to trying to maintain the status quo and at the same time, find a buyer.  Time stands still for nobody and the inaction is killing us.

I think your numbers are a little out, the difference in value between the Championship and Pl is enormous at least £100 million, probably a lot more.
I doubt there are any buyers above say £30 million when we are relegated.

I was talking about what would be needed to get thinks moving not the relative differences in value between clubs in the PL or Championship.  Completely disagree with your £30m valuation.

[ChicagoLion]

As supporters, the only real way you can protest in the situation we are in, is to stay away.  Lerner wants to sell but cannot find a buyer, we are told.  Staying away will affect the club through lost revenue, so that action would actually harm the club.

Lerner has to make a decision to break the status quo.  Does he invest £50m in player acquisitions or does he reduce the asking price by £50m as I think it is something of this magnitude that is required.  With the latter, he loses another £50m, with the former he is gambling on being able to make it back by enhancing the value of the club.

The current malaise is down to trying to maintain the status quo and at the same time, find a buyer.  Time stands still for nobody and the inaction is killing us.

I think your numbers are a little out, the difference in value between the Championship and Pl is enormous at least £100 million, probably a lot more.
I doubt there are any buyers above say £30 million when we are relegated.

I was talking about what would be needed to get thinks moving not the relative differences in value between clubs in the PL or Championship.  Completely disagree with your £30m valuation.

You said he could gamble £50million on player acquisitions or lose £50million off the asking price. Confused

[aj2k77]

Who's going to come in January now? We are so far behind.

[Caribbeanvillan]

Watching the game today, it was clear to me that our underlying problem is the back 5.  It is a main reason why the midfield and forward are not functioning.  Things that stand out as massive problems with the back 5 are: uncertainty, indecision, and lack of composure which you can put down mainly to lack of confidence, then come the real problems ..... poor positioning, no communication, playing players into trouble with passes, poor passing, unable to clear the ball cleanly, poor/weak challenges, easily pushed off the ball, failure to play as a unit, leaving massive gaps and probably a few more as well.  We are unable to effectively bring the ball out of defence and put ourselves in an attacking position.

People give Hutton praise because they say he puts effort in but I do not think he does.  His trotting back (if it actually reaches that pace) after the ball is lost up field is really annoying me.  For the second goal he was in front of Gana when the play broke down.  The question to me is why was he so far forward, he is a fullback leaving half the pitch exposed to the counter attack.  When they broke and had 3 on 1 I looked for Hutton's position on the replay after Ramsey scored and Hutton had only just made it back into our half.  Hutton is doing the easy stuff getting forward but is unwilling to do the hard work in getting back.  I am getting fed up with his half-hearted attempts at tackling, preferring to use his upper body weight and arms rather get into a good position to tackle or hold up play.  This to me is a symptomatic of a very lazy approach to the game.  What does he actually do when he pushes forward, it usually leads to a poor cross or putting other player under pressure with a ball inside and a massive gap behind him.  The guy is a poor player in my opinion and should not be in the side.  I would much prefer to see a more defensive fullback and leave the attacking out wide to midfield players or forwards so that we are more cohesive at the back.

I could go on in detail about the other defensive players but my general points above some it up.  We desperately need to bring in new defenders to the club that can actually defend.  Traditionally, that means a big lump in the centre that dominates the opposition forwards and a more ball playing player alongside and that's the way I think we should go.  I think Okore could be that ball playing player when his confidence grows a bit.  We then need two solid fullbacks and a goalkeeper that does not put the fear of God into the rest of the team, the fans and, I am sure, the manager.

The positives to me today were again, Ayew for his non-stop running and covering and Veretout for always making himself available, picking out good passes and being a player at last that offers some threat from dead ball kicks.

Absolutely spot on Old Man.

[old man villa fan]

As supporters, the only real way you can protest in the situation we are in, is to stay away.  Lerner wants to sell but cannot find a buyer, we are told.  Staying away will affect the club through lost revenue, so that action would actually harm the club.

Lerner has to make a decision to break the status quo.  Does he invest £50m in player acquisitions or does he reduce the asking price by £50m as I think it is something of this magnitude that is required.  With the latter, he loses another £50m, with the former he is gambling on being able to make it back by enhancing the value of the club.

The current malaise is down to trying to maintain the status quo and at the same time, find a buyer.  Time stands still for nobody and the inaction is killing us.

I think your numbers are a little out, the difference in value between the Championship and Pl is enormous at least £100 million, probably a lot more.
I doubt there are any buyers above say £30 million when we are relegated.

I was talking about what would be needed to get thinks moving not the relative differences in value between clubs in the PL or Championship.  Completely disagree with your £30m valuation.

You said he could gamble £50million on player acquisitions or lose £50million off the asking price. Confused

To break the deadlock, not cure the problem.

[ChicagoLion]

As supporters, the only real way you can protest in the situation we are in, is to stay away.  Lerner wants to sell but cannot find a buyer, we are told.  Staying away will affect the club through lost revenue, so that action would actually harm the club.

Lerner has to make a decision to break the status quo.  Does he invest £50m in player acquisitions or does he reduce the asking price by £50m as I think it is something of this magnitude that is required.  With the latter, he loses another £50m, with the former he is gambling on being able to make it back by enhancing the value of the club.

The current malaise is down to trying to maintain the status quo and at the same time, find a buyer.  Time stands still for nobody and the inaction is killing us.

I think your numbers are a little out, the difference in value between the Championship and Pl is enormous at least £100 million, probably a lot more.
I doubt there are any buyers above say £30 million when we are relegated.

I was talking about what would be needed to get thinks moving not the relative differences in value between clubs in the PL or Championship.  Completely disagree with your £30m valuation.

You said he could gamble £50million on player acquisitions or lose £50million off the asking price. Confused

To break the deadlock, not cure the problem.

OK, this is a serious point, I doubt that there is an opportunity to get the players needed in January to break the deadlock.
I think we are too far gone and no one with the quality we need will come. I am pretty sure that Lerner and Fox were hoping that Garde would steady the ship and some January investment in the playing staff would see us remain in the league. This gamble has failed and Lerner is looking at a massive reduction in the value of the club in the Championship.

[timeoutbigbar]

What I can't stomach is the complete refusal to try something different.  This Ayew/Gestede/Sinclair front three is never going to work.  Give Kozak a chance, give Adama a go (not with two minutes left), give Gil another go.  We might not have a wealth of brilliant players but to stick with a proven losing side and not even entertain the notion of alternatives is mind boggling.  The problems are obviously more deep rooted than just team selection.  The club is dying on its arse, with no light at the end of the tunnel.  Its difficult to know who to blame - Lerner tried to sell the club, there were no takers, he sacked McLeish, Lambert and Sherwood at the behest of the fans and it's becoming very clear that it wouldn't matter who is in charge.  We're fucked, sadly.

[Witton Warrior]

Everyone has sussed how crap Hutton is - his every touch after the penalty was ironically cheered/jeered plus the "Messi" song - normally there is a frank exchange of views at the back of the Holte when the piss-taking starts but everyone just joined in today, we all know it's over even if some cling to some sort of "have faith" idea...

[QuintonVilla]

What Messi song? Didn't hear it.

I agree with the above poster, why do we keep picking the same dross every week? If we start Ayew, Grealish, Gil and Traore as our attacking four and we lose, so what? We lose every week anyway. They can't be any worse or more ineffective than Sinclair and Gestede. Can't even say there isn't as much work rate there with those four, look at the second goal today. Everyone stopped running and just watched.

[Fin Feds Dad]

These are the biggest collection of gutless tossers I have ever seen in claret and blue .

Apart from Veretout , Ayew and Okore I think we would struggle to sell the rest to a glue factory .