__pedro__

West Ham after Klose apparently, madness, i've been saying since 2002 that he'd be awesome in England, strong quick and a natural goalscorer, would be amazing beside Gabby. Doubt any of Man U Chelsea City would be after him so we'd have a chance if he was open to coming to England. Anyone agree?

Milner is excellent at doing the basics. He is an extremely hard-working and intelligent player with no real weaknesses. He has great technique but he lacks an unpredictability and an imagination that can unlock a stubborn defence. Ireland has more natural flair to his game and is an equally gifted footballer. He is a little more attack minded too and would link better with the strikers. Remember that before last season's interrupted campaign, Ireland was running the show in a midfield surrounded by 'stars' and he was the best of them all. What Ireland lacks is Milner's commitment and professionalism, but frankly every player in the Premier League probably lacks in that area compared to Milner. There will always be plusses and minuses to bringing in a player over Milner and we're years from replacing him with a Schweinsteiger, if we ever will. Ireland was in and out of last season's team as they changed managers and Mancini tried to find 'his' team. The season before was more representative of what he can do and he did everthing in that midfield that Milner was doing in ours last season plus more. My concerns over Ireland were never about his ability on the pitch. They were always about his head and what's in it. But I'm prepared to hope that I'm proven wrong if we were to get him. And if we did get him then I'd like to think he had a thing or 2 to prove to the team that let him go. Spot on. People are forgetting that 1 year ago, Ireland would have been considered the best young central midfielfer in the league and we wouldn't have dreamed of signing him for anything less than £20m. If this swap were to happen I can honestly see Ireland's value doubling next season as JM's has this year. There's alot to be said for playing in a settled team, somethink JM has benefitted from here and that he probably won't at City. Ireland's temprament and personality are the only things i worry about in this

It was a pen lads, forget about it. Need to get Ashley on the ball in the 2nd half. Milner needs to be pushing up in behing JC too, with Stan and Sid in behind he can afford to play a bit more adventurously. Malouda would have had Cuellar on his arse several times already. Still think we can get something here, C'MON!!!!

the good: Young - delivery was great all night and was a constant threat Carew - held it up well, right place for the goal and worked hard Delfouneso - pace, couple of nice passes and worked hard too the bad: Cuellar - usual complaint, zero distribution. Dunne - obviously not 100%, didn't command as he usually does, couple of uncharacteristic dodgy moments too Petrov - looker shatterd by the end, moreso than usual. he was just hoofing it away and throwing himself to ground for the last 10 minutes. MON - same mistakes over and over again. cuellar at RB, starting with Carew and Heskey up front, not susbstituting tired players, not making an attacking substitution to try to win the game, no tactical changes to try to win the game. Frustrating thing is we actually played quite well and for me the buck has to stop with the manager, this draw mentality is much more dangerous than a 'win or bust' mentality, I think we have the players to have won quite a few more games than we have done, it just won't happen if we continually play the brand of football that we are currently.

70% possession! Well I never

Looks like Dunne is playing with an injury to me, just doesn't look like he's moving comfortably.

lets just call 451 433 and everyone will be happy petrov delph milner young downing gabby

Guzan - 3 - First goal, pathetic attempt to punch. Fourth goal, Friedel would have saved. Back 4 looked shaky for every cross, no confidence in him. Hopefully just a blip as he has shown lots of potential. Cuellar - 4 - Not a fullback. Passing is just poor, got better in the 2nd half to be fair. But he plays like a centre half, dived in twice in the build up to their third goal and left his man free. Out of position for the second goal aswell. Dunne - 8 - Great stuff throughout Collins - 6 - Did ok Warnock - 6 - Did ok Young - 7 - Great goal, great cross for the 1st. Petrov - 6 - Did well, but for their 2nd goal, they had 5 men attacking, Stan should be covering one of the runners from midfield, he didn't, kalinic stood in space and he didn't cover him, watch the goal again and watch stans movement, not good enough. Milner - 8 MOTM - Looked lost for 20 minutes but then ran the show. Great pen, great goal with the left. Great pass for heskeys goal. Worked like a dog. Downing - 7 - Always available and always moving, liking him a lot. Heskey - 5 - Scored, wahay! Nearly missed it though and was ineffective all game. Not on the same wavelength as the rest of our attackers, had a couple of chances for 1-2's and just didn't have the vision to see them. Gabby - 6 - Worked hard but didn't get many chances. Should have scored from close range at 5-2(?)but great run for the pen. Sidwell - Fell down once.

Brilliant result Friedel - 8 - Only one real save to make which was a class save, commanded area brilliantly. Young - 7 - Defended well, didn't get forward much. Exposed once for Reid's chance but solid. Cuellar - 7 - Defending great, distribution bad. Dunne - 9.5 MOTM - A McGrath like performance, tackling, heading, blocking, he was unstoppable tonight. And always finds a villa shirt with a pass. Warnock - 8 - Defended brilliantly and got forward, quickly becoming the best fullback we've had for a long time. Young - 6.5 - Quiet but flashes of class. Petrov - 8 - His usual disappearing act for the last few minutes but until then I thought he ran the show. Milner - 9 - Together with Stan nullified their midfield, got up and back as we've come to expect. Good pass for Heskey and what a goal, would be MOTM on any other night. Downing - 6 - See Young. Heskey - 7 - Great finish but still doesn't look like he's on the same wavelength as the rest of our attackers, he just doesn't seem to see the right pass sometimes. That being said he worked hard and contributed a lot. Gabby - 7 - Worked like a dog but didn't get many breaks tonight.

Bralliant to win but a more than shakey performance. Friedel - Did what was needed, not much - 6 Dunne - Solid, headed everything in sight and generally kept the rest somewhat orgainsed, quite remeniscent of a mr Laursen actually - 8 MOTM Collins - Solid and comfortable with the ball, looks good! - 7 Warnock - Looks like he can defend and looks to get forward a lot, did get caught out upfield once or twice but otherwise a good debut - 7 Cuellar - Defending good, passing terrible, not a fullback - 6 Petrov - Tidy - 6 NRC - Tidy - 6 Sidwell - Quiet but tidy - 5 Milner - Not at his best, especially in the 2nd half, tried hard as always but end product was lacking - 6 Young - Dangerous and made the goal, was double and triple teamed all day so didn't get much freedom - 6 Agbonlahor - Another good performance and apart from the goal contributed to most of our meaningful attacks - 7.5 In summary, none of the midfield 3 got up to support the attack enough, surely one of them must play an advanced role, we rely too much on the front 3 to create and score all our goals in the current system. Big John obviosly made the difference but again it's another goal from a set piece. Would love to see Milner brought into the middle with Petrov and NRC deep, Gabby and Young wide and Carew through the middle. It's obviously not the ideal place to have Gab but we need another player on the pitch who contributes to scoring goals, 3 is not enough! Anyone else think this?

I think our midfield needs to change next year, Barry and Petrov in the middle just doesn't work so if he is well replaced I won't mind him leaving at all. I still think he'd be foolish to leave, I think Aston Villa and Gareth Barry are at a similar level at the moment and I believe a move to the top 4 won't necessarily be good for GB's career. It's all about the replacement though for us, innit?

aaaaaaah, prespective restored.

Short term it'd be hard to drop Petrov or NRC but long term the best looking midfield is Milner Sidwell Barry Young. For me NRC works hard but his passing is awful and you can not expect to play centre midfield in a top prem club without being able to pick out a pass so for me I wouldn't have him near a future villa XI (although it seems MON sees something i don't). Petrov, although he can pick out a pass just isn't effective enough for me. I'm not sure he has the discipline to be a top defensive midfielder and he doesn't have the class to be our creative centre midfield player. He's had a couple of good games but I can't see him being a long term fixture. We're building a squad that will be able to play together for the next few years so I think Sidwell Barry shows great potential. Barry leaving would obviously change all this but I would assume we would replace him if he were to leave. A midfield for the next 3/4 years including Petrov/NRC would not excite me at all.

Great news about Ireland, I think you would see a lot of interest.

Yeah that was one of the reasons alright, but now, about five years on, the rents have gone through the roof, so it doesn't make very good business sense. The Package deal would be class, entice more people to get over more often... Good on ye General, your doin a SUPER job.... Up the Villa!! yeh, there's not that much demand to warrant shops but the package idea would be a real goer. i think i'd nearly buy a season ticket if it was well organised.

brilliant idea. there is a big villa following over here, probably the 4th biggest following after man u, l'pool and arsenal. i only get over about once a year but would love to make that way more often and i think there's be a good crowd in a similar position. and besides irish people are about 5 times louder than anyone else, UTV!!!