Papillon

Barcelona lost again, away to Valladolid. Barcelona losing... weird!

WBA's top-scorer is Berahino and he has four goals I think. Not a very pleasant statistic for them...

Eh? What is wrong with us buying Bertrand? We've tried to go the cheap way with two left backs, I'd say keep Luna as back-up to Bertrand as he could be useful if he sorts his defensive positioning out. Luna straightening up his defensive side? That's like asking Barry Bannan to be taller than he is

Because he has 0 games for Aston Villa, few of us have ever seen him and he's hardly known as the next Adnan Januzaj or Raheem Sterling? I always hope our Youth players are going to develop into Premier League-players we don't have to buy, but if we fielded players like Gardner, Grealish, Johnson and Carruthers et al at the same time it would be a fast-track to relegation. Over the last 10 years, how many of our Youth players have developed into mediocre or better Premier League-players? I can think of Agbonlahor, Weimann, Cahill (although he developed his real ability elsewhere) and perhaps Craig Gardner right now, I guess there are a few more, but it's not like we are producing like La Masia. Gareth Barry came from Brighton, don't quite remember how old he was at the time. We have players like Nathan Baker, but he is nowhere near being a mediocre PL player in my eyes, he shouldn't play in this league yet.

But why would that be England's thing to honor? we're at the competition - what's happened is everyone's responsibility. black armbands on every flag. Bullshit! What has happened in Brazil and Qatar is all down to the respective countries, safety laws and lack of corporate responsibility. These guys, and excuse me for being blunt about a very sensitive matter, would have been at the risk of peril no matter what they were doing. If it was a highway, a construction site to build a school or a huge corporate building or something else, the same rules and lack of safety would have applied. Care all you want since it's about football, but I guess you don't really pay attention to Brazilian construction ethics when it's not. Stop being Mother Theresa just to take the moral high-ground. This is football, those tragic deaths have nothing to do with the tournament and the other countries participating - it's an issue for the country they live in. I guess hundreds and thousands of people die in that country every year because of hazardous constructional work, but that's how it is in underdeveloped countries and there's nothing you can do to change it. The Olympics in Sochi was all about the same thing, people paying attention to what happened to workers before the games begun. The games were a success and the sites were wonderful, if political parties in various countries condone the ethics they should do something about it on a political stage before and after the games, not during, as it's highly opportunistic and it won't shed a single difference. Norwegian Prime Minister Erna Solberg tried to attack Medvedev on semi-live television about what's going on, and what happened? He got angry and she got attention in our newspapers, which was all she wanted. Medvedev and Putin don't give a shit about Norway in the big picture, other than keeping a good, albeit shallow relationship to us. I wanted to see the Olympics and all its glory, not see a pathetic attempt to gain political popularity by addressing something that cannot be changed even if the person devoted her life to do so. Let's see what happens in the foreseeable future, my guess is that political parties don't give a shit anymore about Russian EHS violations. The situation in Ukraine is of course a totally different matter, which I will not go into, as we all know a potential war is something that concerns every single country. Brazil is a divided country. They are very much on the rise because they have vast amounts of natural resources. In terms of GDP they are already 7th in the world and they ship out extreme amounts of iron ore to China and other countries. However, they are something like 75 in GDP pr. Capita and that paints a picture of a developing country with a lot of poor people who are obviously working their asses off for the minimum of wages to survive. It happens everywhere on this planet, but it's doesn't stop people from developed countries taking the moral highway saying it should be stopped. Stopped how exactly? By writing posts on an Internet forum saying England should wear black armbands and paint over the flag? What a stupid suggestion, it wouldn't solve anything. The world doesn't work that way, the country will change eventually but it will take decades of reforms. It's not like Brazil can put in new laws tomorrow and change everything in a week, resulting in zero deaths and safer environments. The workers are used to this, they have done it all their lives and their parents too, they are used to taking chances to get a job and they know the hazards presented with it. When one person dies there's probably 30 workers waiting to take his job the next day. The World Cup should be about football and celebration. How the stadiums were built is up to the individual country hosting the tournament. The only thing possible is to NOT give those countries the opportunity to host a tournament, which means you have to bitch to the FIFA and not pretend you care a whole lot about Brazilian construction workers. I am not saying this is OK at all, it's obviously tragic, but what's normal in the UK and my country Norway is not necessarily normal in Brazil. Just look at the legal systems around the world as well, what's insane and preposterous in one country might be the normal situation in Africa. A few armbands and a condemnation won't get you anywhere, except for the fact that you will probably feel a little bit better about yourself.

Knowing our luck he will pick up a cruciate injury Seems to be the going theme when it comes to Villa at the minute. Okore, Carruthers previously Gardner, Delph e.t.c Two first-team players in four or five years? Hardly a trend, more like the nature of this sport? People get injured all the time.

Being able to press high against two teams doesn't really mean we are capable of doing it every game. New game, new rules. Liverpool had already won the game before it started, that mentality can come back and haunt every team in the league. At the end of that game we were lucky to get away with a point when Suarez (I think) squandered a chance, it's not like we torturing them for 90 minutes. Norwich were extremely poor the other day, their defense didn't hold up at all and their midfielders didn't bother to track back. It happens, just like our team refuse to play sometimes and we leak in goals right, left and centre. It's naive to think we can just "play the way we did against Liverpool", one game out of many, like that will fix all our problems. Chances are we would lose a hell of a lot more games with that approach, because other teams will be more pumped up and tactically aware against us. Putting it in a different way, we have probably gone out with the same attacking mentality several times this season and still looked lost. When the other team is ready, they will put us back no matter what. If they are not, we might have a chance, but it's not like we always dictate a game against a better team. I don't want us to play a possession game for the sake of it, it goes without saying that our players aren't remotely good enough to do so. However, there are many possibilities between hoof and tiki taka. By possession, I don't mean Vlaar passing to Westwood, who then passes it back to Vlaar for five minutes. That is not possession, that is two players who don't know how to put the ball in an attacking position. A very high pressure from us (a la Dortmund) would kill us on the counter ten times each game, our players don't possess the level of passing ability to exploit the other team and our defensive unit it too weak to sustain the pressure that would come on the other side.

He sounds exactly like Zlatan when he is talking Balkan-Swedish... hope he becomes the new Zlatan...

They have 14 games to catch 9 points, with one game in hand. It's absolutely doable, but I sure as hell hope they fail to promote! You have Man City and Chelsea, and we have to say, they have built their way to success in a very professional manner. They have built their squads by spending huge amounts of money and forking out big paydays, but they have also built infrastructure and set themselves to earn big money for the next twenty years. QPR, not so much. Forking out cash to mediocre players, not thinking about the cohesion and even relegating in the progress. And what do they have now? They are behind in the hunt for promotion, a lot of shitty players on high wages and insane debt levels. Actually, spending so much money and ending up with a team like that is pretty much the worst job I have ever seen in modern football. Good luck, they're going to need it and I'll be laughing all the way.

Gareth Bale is a fantastic footballer. When he came to Madrid he struggled with injuries and was written off quite quickly, but people are idiots in that regard. Of course he will always be in the shade of Cristiano Ronaldo and also just blend in with all their stars, but he really stands out with his running style, technique and surprising shots/tricks. He does things nobody else is capable of doing, he glides through defenses with higher pace than Messi and Ronaldo combined. Not because he is that much quicker, but because he is one of very few who can run at full pace whilst also dribbling or passing the ball to himself. Messi makes 45 taps on the ball, shielding off defenders and slug through, but he is very often tackled and brought down. Bale is lightning quick with the ball in control, it's sick to watch. On top of that he has a wicked shot from all angles, great free-kicks and that extra bit of skill. He has 18 games in La Liga with 10 goals / 10 assists. Not bad for an initial flop! Stay clear of injuries (which I sadly doubt he will do) and he can become a legend right next to Ronaldo and Messi in five years. Too bad he looks like a chimp with stupid hair, a little bit of the looks a la Beckham and he would have been a marketing dream!

And who called Carragher and McManaman?

Soldado wouldn't fit in our wage structure, so we're safe from that. Why would Tottenham buy Benteke in the summer? Makes just as much sense as the rumor about Chelsea buying him last summer, when they already had a younger and dare I say better version of him in their ranks. Tottenham haven't thrown Soldado out yet and they are probably going to give him at least another season, some players need time as we all know. They also have Adebayor who has scored 8 and assisted 5 in 13 games this season, it's not like Benteke is delivering beyond these guys at the moment. Benteke has had a tough year and he has been pretty poor in many games, so again, why would Tottenham sell a proven but struggling striker for someone who is not yet proven and also struggling for many games? Maybe in two years, but certainly not in the summer. For Tottenham that is... Soldado is in his prime in terms of his age and Adebayor is only 30, he has one or two seasons at the top level in him. If Tottenham are buying another striker it will be someone who has a lot more to offer compared to Benteke, and someone with a bigger name I would presume.

His name is Kozák, shouldn't be too difficult to get that right after him being here for six months. Secondly, a poor player like Grant Holt is worse than not buying a player when we already have other options. This is what the squad is all about and then comes Lambert's tactical nous. Change things around, use a different approach/tactic, utilize players, play the ones that aren't getting any game time. Getting Holt in sends all the wrong signals to both our current players and fans. It's a bit like Solskjær buying all these Norwegian players, even though the initial plan is to gradually put them into the side over the next years. When he is sacked, I guess that's a when rather than if at the moment, that thing alone will be put up as the main reason. Lambert going for an out of shape, out of form, out of favor former player reeks of desperation no matter the reasons behind it. Third, my main worry ; options. Is Grant Holt the single best option in the market for a loan? If we want to bring in another player we should get someone who is ready to go, ready to score some goals and then bugger off back to his club in the summer. Job done. There must have been better options in the market and in other leagues, ready to come on loan on a low wage to do a difference. At his best, Holt wouldn't make a difference. But he isn't at his best, he isn't getting games at Wigan, so why the hell would he get games at AVFC in the Premier League? People always talk about players coming in with potential talent and a low wage, like it wouldn't matter if they fail because we paid so little for them. I strongly disagree, that player will always be a part of the squad, he will most likely play once in a while and most importantly; he will take the position in the squad from another potential player. Too many of those and our general quality will plummet dramatically, because we will have injuries and those players have to play every once in a while. That player will be a part of training and that is what our own players have to compete with on the pitch, it will lower our competitive edge. Vlaar and Okore will become better if they play against a better striker in training, our strikers will become better if they learn from better players in training and so on. There is no room for crap players or old, washed out, out of shape strikers in our team - no matter how cheap or nice these guys are.

You cannot possibly have seen many Everton-games this season. They keep a lot of possession, but they aren't all out attacking. In fact, if I was to describe them this year it would be by using the word "solid". Solid at the back, they are good at not losing games (5) and they have kept some 10 clean sheets. They have let in 27 goals (2nd best behind Chelsea) and they have scored only 38 goals (almost half compared to Liverpool), so I would say they are a team built on defensive power instead of attacking force. Besides, it's not like Everton are filled with exceptional players. They have lost three out of the last five, but I guess they are excused somewhat since it was against Liverpool, Spurs and Chelsea - and all were away from home. Smart managers adapt with the team they have at hand, Martinez is doing what he would have done at Villa. See what you have, make changes in personnel and stick to what is best for the team. Last season people were laughing at Wigan and said he was never going to make a team defend properly. Interestingly enough, in 2.5 years in the Premier League, our manager Paul Lambert has let in 174 goals in 104 games, impressive!

He's 32 years old by the time the next season kicks off and even though he might still manage for a couple of years, it's at this age injuries start to take it toll. I would be all for it if we could have signed someone like Tomas Rosicky (who's 34 next season!) who still plays like he is 24, but let's face it, Wes Hoolahan isn't a very good player and there is a reason why he isn't playing for Norwich. I often wonder why certain players aren't playing for clubs like City, United, Chelsea and Arsenal, but clubs like Norwich can't afford to bench their best players for no reason. It's the same with us, we can bench Weimann and Benteke for a few games to rest, but you know they will always play when they are fit. Hoolahan? No thanks, there's got to be other options in the market who are both better and younger. If not, our scouts need to be sacked

Come on, why read too much into things in terms of celebrating a goal? Sometimes these guys are just exhausted and relieved when they are playing and winning. Scoring 4-1 means you are going to win the game and you sometimes feel sorry for the other team, or just shocked things are going too well. Besides, if the score was 0-0 and we scored in the 94th minute you know he would have celebrated like a maniac. Nothing to see here

Didn't think it was that bad, not much force. However, if you do something like that you know exactly what will happen, so force doesn't come into question at all. Absolutely idiotic!

I don't think current results give us the breathing space and therfore the luxury of being able to bed a player in. This goes for academy players, and Helenius as well as Tonev. Exactly. One question though, how many games do people think is enough to give a player to adapt to a new league in a new country? Seriously. Tonev and kozak are been written off by some people already. Angel took nearly 6 months to settle and Petrov took 2 years to settle and he only came from Scotland Angel never really settled in did he? Had one good season in terms of goals in a season we had a good team, but otherwise struggled and ended with 44 league goals in 175 games. That's not even close to being good enough when you are the most important striker. Petrov might have taken two years to settle, but he was never a great player either. A great person and someone we all hold very dear because of his character, but let's not pretend he would have hacked it at a better club. He came here as an attacking midfielder, but struggled to get a hold of the tempo and ended up as a controlling midfielder. Besides, which club can wait two years for every player they sign? If that was the case then we would have relegated a long time ago, change is vital when players aren't performing. Petrov did play decent before he came into the role he played for the reminder of his career, and that's the big difference with him and let's say Tonev and Sylla. Kozak might be OK in the end, but his obvious lack of tempo and touch seems enough for me. Might be a decent squad player, which I think was the intention all along. Tonev however, is one of the most woeful players I have ever seen at this club and that says a lot. Holman was torrid to watch as well, he had lots of guts and running in him, but it was quite obvious that he was covering for the lack of the most important thing; footballing ability. Tonev is even worse, he doesn't possess one ounce of tactical nous, he doesn't know how to defend properly or cover his area. He has some pace and he tries to whack the ball from 50 yards (which might eventually turn into an asset), but I guess Usain Bolt could do exactly the same and still suck.

With regards to Lambert I think it's entirely wrong to say he has done a brilliant job. Surely there has to be another adjective better suited for him between crap and fantastic. I understand the restraints he has, but then again, he took on this job and he has in fact spent a certain amount of cash. Not top dollar, but not change either. 40M+ give or take a few sales and loans, and I do not think the incomings have been a successful ride. Benteke, Vlaar, Okore, Bertrand and a few others fit the bill, but when you factor in atrocious performances from Tonev, Luna, Bennett, El Ahmadi and Sylla you kind of even everything out and end up below par. The thing is, Lambert is doing what every other manager would have to do, namely bring in cheaper players at a bargain price. But he hasn't succeeded in any way better than another manager would have done in my opinion, because the failures have been so many. If we had gotten a few Jose Fonte's instead of Bennett/Luna/Sylla it would all look better, but we haven't and that's the big difference. Add tactical shortcomings, bad offensive displays and defensive mishaps galore and you are stuck with a poor club with a pretty poor manager. Not crap (as he would have taken us down last season), but certainly not brilliant (as he wasn't far from doing so either). Like so many of you, I don't want to sack him now but I am openminded when it comes to the summer. Has he taken us as far as he can? I mean, he hasn't taken us anywhere to be honest. If we are doomed for mid-table mediocracy or worse under him, are there possibly other candidates who can bring in better players at the same price and also entertain us a bit more? I am not the one to fork our silly suggestions before better alternatives are viable and available, that's not my profession, but I certainly hope we have people suited for that at the club.

We also have to add in the fear and adrenaline from relegation, I think that was a huge factor for our improved form at the end of last season. Reminds me of exams I had when I went to business school, for some reason I always excelled at the end of the term when shit got real.... Last season we were behind, now we are ahead. It's only a matter of a few points and games, but as long as we are ahead and 13th in the table, it doesn't look that bad and I guess the players don't feel it yet. As always, it's better to be in front no matter how small the margin, but things can get ugly in a matter of a few games. This is the ultimate game to put us in front with a good margin though, because a victory would mean we are three points ahead of Norwich, Fulham will most likely lose to Chelsea (10 points up if that happens), Stoke will most likely lose to Arsenal, Sunderland don't have a game in the league this weekend, Cardiff will lose to Spurs (9 points potentially), WBA don't play either and Crystal Palace are away to Swansea (although that can be a good game for them given Swansea's game against Napoli last night). A victory would in many ways mean we are on cruise control to stay in the league, but a lackluster loss would throw us right into the mix again. Our next games are "easy" mixed with a few sure losses so to speak, from Norwich to Chelsea, then Stoke to Man Utd, then Fulham and Crystal Palace, then Soton and Swansea, Hull and eventually Spurs. Lots of games to grab points, but also cup finals against direct rivals and we don't want to cling onto the last weekend for a result. Looking at that chain though, I think we will be absolutely fine and I'm generally pessimistic towards Villa. Out of Norwich, Stoke, Fulham, Palace, Swansea and Hull we are at least bound to get something like 2-1-3 and that alone brings us to 35 points. A better run than that, a lucky draw against Chelsea or a win home to Soton and we are safe. Many options! (True that about Liverpool, but they haven't been successful in my day and age, and their fans in general always talk about themselves as royals. Who can appreciate that In my office there are a lot of bitter 40+ LFC fans and I guess that has destroyed my objective nature)

Thanks bro. I am not pro United at all; I am just pro-football, I like traditions and history. I just don't have the hate for United like everyone else because of how they have built their success, but I do hate the fact that clubs like Man City and Chelsea can buy their way and catch up with 20 years of success in a matter of a few windows. Laughing at United right now is basically laughing at ourselves. Before City were taken over we were much better than them and they took Barry and Milner from us, they basically ruined our chances of challenging the top guns. Now Mourinho goes out to say City is the real villain compared to Chelsea and that he is basically playing with scraps in the market, which again is obviously taking the piss out on clubs like Villa. I also respect Moyes for what he did at Everton and I think it merited a move to a bigger club, again, he and his former club are built on sound values and traditional operation like 99% of the clubs unfortunate not to have an Arab sheik controlling the finances. That's all! As for Moyes' job at United thus far, it has been atrocious. He just isn't charismatic enough, he doesn't possess that natural respect from players and his tactics are not suited for the club. When talking tactics and Paul Lambert, it's much about the same I'm afraid. Not every manager can be Jose Mourinho in suiting every single tactic for every single game, he is obviously the best in the game when it comes to nullifying the opposition. On Sunday we will play Norwich, a team Lambert knows very well and a team everyone knows very well. They have scored a measly 20 goals in 27 games, which makes us look like Real Madrid in comparison. It will be VERY interesting to see how we attack in this game, if we can create some momentum and create clear-cut chances. If we go through this game and just grind it out 50/50 I will be very disappointed, because it would mean we are unable to take on teams. I want fluid football and forward runs from our midfielders, creating trouble for Norwich with our tempo. I mentioned the stationary midfielders we currently have, and I don't want to see Westwood just standing in the circle whilst the ball is in their box. Against Cardiff (I think) we had a promising attack on the way, and he just stood still watching the game unfold. He didn't take up room, he didn't mark any players or get ready for what happens next, he just stood there. That's suicide, and I wonder if that's his own idea or a tactical thing from Lambert. Both options are worrying, to say the least. Norwich suck at going forward, they never score goals and it means we can attack them to finish the game off without thinking too much about them punishing us. As usual, I won't be expecting much - but I think we deserve a good game now. Being a fan is about the illusion of success and hoping for blistering attacks, but laying low and just surviving is not entertaining in the long run and people lose interest. At least I do...

Dude, are you being naive on purpose? Snatching a few tap-ins in a matter of a few games doesn't exactly paint the whole picture. Suarez scored 18 goals in his first 12 games this season, that means he would have scored 57 goals or so in 38 games. In his last 10 games he has only four goals, so you get my point. Lots of strikers like Kozak score 3-4 goals in a matter of a few games, both because of luck and confidence, but very, very few sustain that over 38 games. From December 15th to January 11th, Danny Welbeck scored six goals in six games in the league. It happens, but you can bet your ass he won't be keeping that ratio if he suddenly plays 90 minutes the next six games. Kozak is limited and for that reason he would have gone long periods without a single goal, just like most of the players fitting into that bracket. Just look at Gabby Agbonlahor, he can look red hot for ten games and then vanish for 15 games. What is it, three goals this season for him? Kozak's four goals came against Norwich, Cardiff, Soton and Stoke, it's hardly something to strengthen the argument.

Jermain Defoe, aka retired to earn cash in the USA whilst having to travel a long way just to get there, is in front of Gabriel Agbonlahor? Makes sense....

7 goals from 22 games isn't totally awful given his injuries and our diabolical play. At least in isolation. However, he has scored two penalties and he scored on a rebound from a missed penalty against Arsenal - which takes his tally of "normal" goals to just four. I'm not going to take away penalties as goals, they are extremely important especially for a team that gets many of them like Real Madrid, but you know what I mean. If you score 15 goals and 11 are penalties, you aren't exactly pulling it off in regular play even though your tally looks nice. In Benteke's defense I do remember the goal against Chelsea for example, that was just sublime. The positioning, the touch and the release was pure class - it looked like Van Persie or Thierry Henry finishing that shot. The streak he went on without goals was shit though, and I don't think he wants to be here anymore. We don't play at his level and he is tired of carrying the team around, no matter how good you are you won't excel if you're only giving 75% each game. The sad thing is of course that his market value has plummeted since last season and the start of this one, I don't think anyone would want to pay above 25M for him now. Our only hope is that he goes on a real streak and scores a lot of goals in the next weeks...

Our problem is deeper than that. And we have a really good striker, someone who is way too good to play for our team. We said in the summer that he should stay so that he could bolster his chances for Belgium before the WC, but as it turns out he would have had a much bigger shot if he had left for a bigger club when he handed in the request for a transfer. Christian Benteke is a very good striker, and lightyears ahead of every other player we have in terms of ability. To use the old example again, even Falcao or Van Persie would struggle to score above 15 goals with this team, and by that I mean exceptional strikers who don't always create chances for themselves like Suarez or Ronaldo. Our problem is our midfield and general lack of attacking momentum. We don't create attacks by playing after set patterns, we score goals after circumstance and errors. All of our players want to score, they want to contribute going forward and the ball is tossed in that direction - eventually it will lead to a goal every now and again. For players like Benteke this is extremely painful to watch, because he knows he has to work on 200% capacity and receive very little in return. When he is off or just plain annoyed by lack of efforts, it looks really bad when watching it and he gets the blame. Sure if he is missing clear chances over time it's his bad, but when chances come by every third game it's not his fault. I paid attention to our midfield in the game against Cardiff, especially in the first half. When watching better teams you see their midfield players running after the ball when it's going forward, but our players lack the confidence, ability and tactical understanding to do the same. Westwood for example passes the ball to a player like Benteke who is in front of him in midfield, Benteke then pushes it out wide and runs forward. Westwood, instead of taking up space higher up the pitch to create room for others, stand absolutely still and watch what happens. Exactly the same can be said about Delph and the other guy playing in midfield in any given game. This of course leads to Gabby, Benteke and Weimann doing it all on their own, which is practically impossible when they have to attack four defenders in balance, as well as the returning midfielders who have taken their defensive run. If Weimann is already out wide, it's quite impossible to create anything for the two inside the box being guarded by 6-7 players. If we do score from this, it's back to what I mentioned earlier, a mistake by the defense, an error or just plain luck. It needs to change drastically, because no manager can succeed (on a budget or not) if he doesn't have a single clue how to attack on a football pitch.