Cambridge-AVFC

I do not rate this guy. Another poor performance by Delph.

I do not rate Delph. For me, Sylla, Westwood and Bannan in a 4-3-3 please. We can boss possession against Sunderland and dictate the game.

Dropped because of his Liverpool performance. Was absolutely dreadful and hasn't been seen again since... and hopefully we won't see him again. Yeap because we're doing great without him now (Y) . Delph is really really good....

I cannot see the reasoning behind Bannan being left out for this game and the likes El Ahmadi are still in.

Don't like Delph thought he was poor today. Happy with a draw, we needed 4 points from our last 2 games and we got it. As far as I'm concerned this wasn't a must win game and I was expected a draw going into it. Fulham have a better team than us and throughout the match we looked the better. Lads played well and got a good result. I would've liked us revert back to the 4-3-3, with Bannan, Sylla and Westwood centre mid, as I think we could boss possesion. I wouldn't of started Bowery as the only use for him imo, is playing against physical teams. Also can someone tell Lambert to STOP REVERTING BACK TO 4-1-2-1-2 IT DOESN'T WORK!!!! Also if we're going to play 2 up front it has to be Weimann OR Bent/Benteke. Bent and Benteke are not dynamic enough to be a partnership, however with Weimann's hard work and tenacity Bent/Benteke will be given more space and more opportunities to score. My match Ratings: Guzan 6 - looked solid, nothing he could've done about the goal. Lowton 6.5 - Defensively solid looked bright going forward Vlaar 7 - Solid as Concrete. Baker 7.5 - Was class today, saved us a few times and put in his customary big tackles...love him. Bennett 6 - Look at Lowton but slightly worse Westwood 6.5 - Kept things ticking over and was very efficient in possession. Delph 5 - He's woeful. Bowery 5.5 - Worked hard but was painfully quiet. N'Zogbia 7 - Wasteful at times but was a constant threat and was baffled when he got taken off. Weimann 7 - Worked tirelessly. He's becoming my favourite player I just love this guy. Always a threat and he makes everyone else around him look better. Cannot believe he was taken off as well. Benteke 6 - Decent hold up play. Looked bright and classy, but missed a golden opportunity. Subs: Sylla 6 - Made a good enough impact, I would like to see him in the Delph role as I think he would be a better enforcer and give our midfield that extra bite. Holman 5.5 - Just a shitter Weimann Bent N/A - Wasn't supplied with anything.

Tbf Bannan use to have Twitter but I he deleted it for whatever reason. So with that in mind, I don't think Bannan would have an Instagram account when he doesn't have a twitter one. Don't think social networking is Bannan's cup of tea.

Guzan 8 - Is there a better keeper in Europe which commands the area the way Guzan does? This guy just plucks everything out the air and he's a very solid shot stopper Lowton 7.5 - Got an assist and scored an absolute worldie, however he was at fault for Stoke's goal. Other than that had a solid game. Baker 6.5 - Didn't really notice him which is what I want to see from my centre backs Vlaar 6.5 - Look at Baker Bennett 6.5 - Gave us a decent outlet in terms of going forward, was very solid defensively. Delph .6 - Typical Delph performance, put himself about and made a few strong tackles. Was meh on the ball. Made a few good decisive runs. Westwood 6.5 - Kept us ticking over, very efficient in possession, defensively was meh. Becoming a vital player for us. Bowery 6 - Was unlucky to see his shot go wide in the first half and he should've scored in the second. Bowery worked hard today and was a bit of a threat. Weimann 6.5 - Non stop running, desperately unlucky too see his shot come off the post. Was a constant threat to Stoke, Weimann is vital to our success. Agbonlahor 7 - Constant threat with his pace. Scored a goal. Gabby looked up for it today. Benteke 6 - Apart from the goal was underwhelming, a few neat touches here and there but most of the time he lost possession, was sloppy in his link up play at times, but if he keeps banging them in, then I'm not complaining. Subs: Sylla 6 - Looked solid enough N'Zogbia 6 - Looked lively. Bent N/A - Didn't have any time to make an impact. All in all a very good win, both mentally and in terms of the 3 points. We can really push onto Fulham with full confidence.

Starts Bowery over Bent/N'Zogbia...YOLO

Tbf when Scotland played Lithuania a few years ago, Bannan was out on the wing and was really top class that game.

When we play 4-4-2 our midfield get blitzed, so we resort to long ball.

Arsenal at home he was very good, bossed midfield. Liverpool away he was outstanding(but so was most of the team). I think Bannan can be used as a tool in a better team, but certainly not the focal point. Arsenal at home he bossed the midfield? That game hardly existed no one did anything, Liverpool away? Possibly I'll give you that one but as you say they all were. Not a great selection though is it? And I'm not talking about just this season either. Against Arsenal the game was mostly played in midfield and Bannan worked hard to stop Arsenal playing, and was very economical and efficient with possession.

Arsenal at home he was very good, bossed midfield. Liverpool away he was outstanding(but so was most of the team). I think Bannan can be used as a tool in a better team, but certainly not the focal point.

How many mistakes lead to goalscoring opportunities for the opposition? Just because they weren't clinical doesn't make the mistake any less serious. Delph made less of an impact than Bannan when he came on. Liverpool were gutted to lose some of their creativity. Do Westwood and Sylla play further up the pitch where a 10 yard pass to an attacker in no space is a lot harder than a 10 yard pass to a defender in oozes of space? But Bannan has rarely given the ball away which should've led to goals, from the game i've seen, which has been all of them except Everton away and Stoke at home, Bannan has given the ball away 4 times which have led to clear cut chances, throughout the season. Delph was very poor imo, and actually played worse than Bannan did, he made no impact except conceding needless fouls and giving the ball away. At least Bannan wastidyish, I remember a lovely touch which took him past Henderson before a good through ball into Weimann. Westwood sits slightly deeper than Bannan and Sylla are level. If anything Westwood should have better passing stats than Bannan, but yet he doesn't. Your memory of the season is not strong enough evidence to convince me otherwise funnily enough. Delph could have played the worst game of his career but it wouldn't have been as bad as Bannan's performance today. Are you getting Westwood's passing stats from the same place as Con? i.e. Noddyland? Even if you are there is no context behind the stats and so they are as effective in an argument as Bannan's performance was today. Is your favorite film Eyes Wide Shut? Ha.... Delph was useless, he offered less than nothing. Bannan isn't as bad as you say he is. He wasn't that bad today. He's good for a team that wants to get relegated. Please remember you support Aston Villa. A famous, world class and historic club. We shouldn't be content with Birmingham level players... we are better than that and Bannan was horrendously bad today and justifying it by trying to relative it to Delph's performance isn't exactly a strong argument for you. Bannan was poor today, but not as bad as you say he is. I never said we should settle for players like Bannan, i was just making the point that it is very unfair to heavily criticise one player when everyone else has played just as bad.

How many mistakes lead to goalscoring opportunities for the opposition? Just because they weren't clinical doesn't make the mistake any less serious. Delph made less of an impact than Bannan when he came on. Liverpool were gutted to lose some of their creativity. Do Westwood and Sylla play further up the pitch where a 10 yard pass to an attacker in no space is a lot harder than a 10 yard pass to a defender in oozes of space? But Bannan has rarely given the ball away which should've led to goals, from the game i've seen, which has been all of them except Everton away and Stoke at home, Bannan has given the ball away 4 times which have led to clear cut chances, throughout the season. Delph was very poor imo, and actually played worse than Bannan did, he made no impact except conceding needless fouls and giving the ball away. At least Bannan wastidyish, I remember a lovely touch which took him past Henderson before a good through ball into Weimann. Westwood sits slightly deeper than Bannan and Sylla are level. If anything Westwood should have better passing stats than Bannan, but yet he doesn't. Your memory of the season is not strong enough evidence to convince me otherwise funnily enough. Delph could have played the worst game of his career but it wouldn't have been as bad as Bannan's performance today. Are you getting Westwood's passing stats from the same place as Con? i.e. Noddyland? Even if you are there is no context behind the stats and so they are as effective in an argument as Bannan's performance was today. Is your favorite film Eyes Wide Shut? Ha.... Delph was useless, he offered less than nothing. Bannan isn't as bad as you say he is. He wasn't that bad today.

Guzan - 7, Made a number of good saves, was solid as always, couldn't of done much about the 2 goals. Lowton - 5, Painfully quiet going forward(although should've got an assist), very very mediocre defensively. Baker - 6, At fault for the second goal, needless tackle in the area..pure stupidity. However he did save us by making a last ditch tackle to deny Gerrard in the first half, and to put Suarez off when he was 1 on 1, so I guess that evens out. Vlaar - 6.5 - Best of our defenders today was solid all game. Bennett, 5.5 Look at Lowton except he was very mediocre defensively. Westwood, 5 - Disappointing, gave the ball away cheaply. Dominated in midfield Sylla 6 - Worked hard, put himself about well and decent in possession. Bannan 5 - Wow didn't take long for everyone to start blaming Villa's scapegoat Bannan :L, Barry had a poor game but of course since he's the scapegoat people rate him a '0', made a few errors, but did most of our defensive work in the first half and was tidyish on the ball. Not nearly as bad as people say he is. Weimann 5 - Shouldn't of been taken off, missed a golden opportunity but looked a bit of a threat when he was on. Agbonlahor 5 - Missed a golden chance, but looked a threat. Benteke 7 - Very well taken goal, unlucky to have his header cleared off the line. Decent performance by the big Belgian. Subs N'Zogbia 5 - Worked hard but to no avail Delph 4 - Offered nothing except conceding possession and fouls El Ahmadi 5 - ineffective

How many mistakes lead to goalscoring opportunities for the opposition? Just because they weren't clinical doesn't make the mistake any less serious. Delph made less of an impact than Bannan when he came on. Liverpool were gutted to lose some of their creativity. Do Westwood and Sylla play further up the pitch where a 10 yard pass to an attacker in no space is a lot harder than a 10 yard pass to a defender in oozes of space? But Bannan has rarely given the ball away which should've led to goals, from the game i've seen, which has been all of them except Everton away and Stoke at home, Bannan has given the ball away 4 times which have led to clear cut chances, throughout the season. Delph was very poor imo, and actually played worse than Bannan did, he made no impact except conceding needless fouls and giving the ball away. At least Bannan wastidyish, I remember a lovely touch which took him past Henderson before a good through ball into Weimann. Westwood sits slightly deeper than Bannan and Sylla are level. If anything Westwood should have better passing stats than Bannan, but yet he doesn't.

Didn't take long for everyone to start blaming Bannan. A few questions I'll ask.. 1) Did any of Bannan's mistakes lead to goals? 2) Did Delph make much of an impact when he came on? 3) Did Westwood and Sylla give the ball away? I mean my god, you'd think all of Liverpool's goals were Bannan's fault. He played poory today but still looked tidyish on the pitch. Stop solely blaming losses on Bannan, its completely unjustified and getting boring.

I disagree with the bolded bit. How can you possibly say that? He sprays it all over the shop. My favourite moment in the whole season (that wasnt a goal or win or anything) was against Stoke when Westwood caught the ball on his foot, which stoppe dit going out for a throw, then flicked it over the Stoke player. I doubt he'll have the passing range of Carrick, his passing range isn't particularly impressive. Bannan has a bigger and wider passing range than Westwood. Westwood brings composure and keeps things ticking over for us. His tackling is good enough and on the ball he is decent. He won't be hitting any cross field passes, but he'll be keeping things simple with the occasional good through ball, and that's all we want and need him to do.

Why?

Bannan played well today, what i noticed from him today which was different to other games was the fact he has suddenly got more adventurous. For the first goal, if Benteke hadn't of pulled away Bannan was following in to get on the end of the pull back and was unlucky not to score when he hit the post. Other than that he was his usual neat and tidy self in midfield, kept things ticking over with some concise passing(especially in the build up to the second goal). Gave the ball away twice, but thats to be expected as it was his first game back for a few weeks. On a separate note, I heard the commentators saying Bannan was suffering from a hip injury and thats why he wasn't getting picked.

Floating corners into the keeper? Yeah, that makes sense, the fact at least 3 goals should've been scored from his corners and the fact they were whipped in means Bannan was 'floating corners into their keeper'. Good one.... His floaty corners have been there for all to see, and it drives me nuts! Yeah fair enough most of his corners are floated in. However in the Bradford game they weren't, they were whipped in. By all means criticise his floaty corners, but i find it annoying when he is criticised for something he didn't do

Floating corners into the keeper? Yeah, that makes sense, the fact at least 3 goals should've been scored from his corners and the fact they were whipped in means Bannan was 'floating corners into their keeper'. Good one....

Then the corner would have floated past the box and out for a goal kick on the other side When has that ever happened? I'm not having this, Bannan is the best set piece taker we have. Bannan has a few faults but set pieces are not one.

Westwood or Lowton ? Was Lowton, El Ahmadi replaced Westwood at that point

Clark was unlucky with that, he had a pretty good game apart from that unfortunate mistake. Header cleared off the line, and had a stonewall penalty waved away. Wasn't our day. Also why was Benteke pinned for those fouls, City were pushing and shoving him out the way and the moment he was just standing his ground, its a foul...very poor officiating.