Cambridge-AVFC

Its been a weird one with Bent. Although I could see why, and agreed with Lambo's decision to bench him originally, i find it baffling how little we are using him. Like it or not, he is our main weapon and probably the most effective player in our team. With the right service Benty is class, not many strikers in the world can do what he does. It seems baffling that every time he scores he is dropped the next game. I do agree that Benteke needs a rest, a well deserved one mind you as he's been fantastic. Weimann and Benty to start against WBA.

If that is the case then why has Lowton got a success rate of 17%? Why has Albrighton got a success rate of 23%? Etc... Bannan's delivery is second to none. It just so happens this statistic proves it. I'd hardly describe his crossing as 'nothing balls' he consistently creates good chances with them, he can drill them in or whip them in, it doesn't matter as more often or not they are very accurate crosses. As i said its a shock when he over hits a cross. He has a very good delivery and you really can't take that away from him.

47% crossing accuracy(48/103).

Well that's debatable. Set Benteke's diving header and Gabby's volley up against Bradford, also Weimann's glancing header against Man Utd. In open play he tends to set up attacks because he's a deep-lying play-maker. He is an asset for us.

To be fair Bannan is the best we have at the moment. Is it a coincidence that when he came on we looked more dangerous and better? No, it isn't because its happened before. His crossing is excellent, its a shock when he over hits one and he is certainly streaks ahead of anyone else at Villa. This proves my point, when Villa are not playing well, despite being a good player for us, despite performing well, people are calling for Bannan's head. All because of the same reason boring reasons. When will people realize he's technically our best footballer? Why don't we blame the injuries? Our defense? Benteke's inability to put in the back of the net? Why is Bannan to blame? People seem to criticize him for the sake of it. It seems to me everything Bannan does well is ignored because he made an insignificant mistake in the games he's played. For example, he gave the ball away against Reading which almost led to the goal, so he got branded as shit despite setting up 3 golden opportunities from corners. As for the assists and goals ratio, how many times has Bannan put it on a plate for some of our strikers and they've missed? Also it goes deeper then that, how many of our moves starts off with Bannan? Really need a big midfield presence for Bannan to thrive. At the moment Bannan is the key to our success we improve so much when he is on the pitch, needs to start games!

Didn't know cheating was allowed...but there you go :L. This season has been a real kick in the balls hasn't it?

Lets take into account that Bannan played the 90 mins against Ipswich and the 90 mins against Bradford, so 2 games in 4 days, which can be very demanding. With that considered, Bannan was our most creative player yesterday. He should've had at least 4 assists, but thanks to the inability of Benteke's finishing...he didn't. I cannot believe some views here. Bannan was, by his standards below par, and yet he still was comfortably our most creative player. How people are blaming him for yesterdays result is mind boggling. Some Villa fans here clearly don't understand football. I mean surely the non-existent defense was at more of a fault(particularly Joe Bennett who was truly atrocious) or maybe it was our strikers inability to finish. I mean most people here look for reasons to hate Bannan or seem to want Bannan to fail so much there judgment is clouded from it, for example someone earlier said "The worst corner taker I have ever seen." I mean seriously? He created 3 clear cut opportunities with his corners, his delivery was fantastic throughout(only 1 corner that was caught by the keeper) yesterday, and people still criticize him. This lad as i mentioned before is a scapegoat, when things go wrong, for whatever minor reason, he is to blame and should be sold. When he is doing well, he gets branded as average for example, I remember against Arsenal people rating him 6/10 when he was clearly the best player on the field, but yet Westwood(who was definitely inferior to Bannan that game) got 8/10. Bannan works best in a 4-3-3 system. or a 4-2-3-1 with a dominating defensive midfielder like N'Zonzi or Diame(2 players we definitely should have signed and I called them both for a good year now). Delph cannot impose himself enough to be a midfield enforcer, as Lambo wants him to be. Bannan isn't a midfield enforcer, but he can control the game through impeccable ball control and his range of passing, he's the only one in our midfield who can pick the ball up under pressure and still maintain possession. Defensively, Bannan isn't the best, but is good enough. Puts himself about and reads the game surprisingly well, i remember him getting a lot of interceptions this season. He won't ever dominate a game, but does his part...at times he's ran himself to the ground(for example Man Utd and Arsenal) Bannan is vastly becoming vital for us. Hope he stays on great little player.

He is a deep-lying play maker, and he doesn't really give the ball away that much. In fact his ball retention is very good. The only Villa player who can pick the ball up under pressure and retain possession. In my opinion, he's done enough this season to justify a place in the starting 11. Most of our attacks stem from him. He's a useful player.

I think Bannan is a great player who is premiership quality. We seem to retain the ball a lot more with him on the pitch. Also most of his work goes unnoticed. He's a deep lying play-maker and starts off attacks. For example, against Liverpool, Bannan turned fantastically(which left Lucas on the floor) before playing a one two with Weimann and then passing to Benteke which led to THAT back heel goal. He knits play up very well, and he seem to now be hitting these long passes now. I think he hit 4 out of 5 against Wigan. His technical ability is second to none as is his crossing and set pieces. From this season, to me, Bannan has been one of our best players. I don't think the fans like him, as i said before, theres a stigma attached to Bannan ever since the car crash. Everything Bannan does bad is emphasized for example when he hits a long pass that gets intercepted then he's playing 'too many hollywood balls', every time Bannan doesn't win a tackle he's 'too small to be a footballer'. Even today when Bannan played the ball to feet people were claiming he 'lacked creativity'. I think too many Villa fans look for reasons to dislike him.

Bannan is one of our best players, certainly our best center midfielder. He only gets stick because he's a scapegoat. Some people calling him 'awful' this season, really? He really isn't. Very good range of passing and has immensely improved defensively. Is a must starter for me....letting him go will be a big mistake. Is it a coincidence that whenever he's substituted our attacking creativity decreases dramatically?