tommo

Guzan 7- Two sharp saves.

Bacuna 7.5- Solid. Effective defensively and looks like he knows what he is doing with the ball.

Vlaar 6- Untroubled.

Baker 6- Didn't look as solid as Clark has in recent games.

Luna 7.5- He's really useful going forwards.

Delph 8.5*- Not everything came off, but this guy looks a step above everyone else. It's a shame he didn't get involved more early on.

El Ahmadi 4- Lacks conviction in so many areas of his game.

Westwood 6- Needs to do a lot more for me. Became involved too late on.

Agbonlahor 6.5- Never really effective.

Weimann 5- I'm surprised how much his level of performance has dropped this season. Wasteful.

Kozak 4- Either players don't have confidence in him to do the things Benteke does, or he does not make himself available enough.

Benteke- Made himself available as a target man, sometimes all you need to do.

Sylla- Deserves a start, if only on the evidence of last season and the ineffectiveness of Westwood and KEA.

Tonev- Bright.

I felt Spurs were always too solid, and disappointingly we set up against them in much the way we did in the League Cup, which produced a very similar performance. I'm really not sure that sitting off so much at home in the first half is the way forward. We were a goal down against Liverpool, Newcastle, Spurs (LC), Man City and Spurs at half time. Admittedly, good opposition, but It simply cannot keep happening. It's wasteful of our attacking potential and it sucks crowd atmosphere.

Given 7-Not involved

Young 6.5- Hoillett had the better of him in the first half

Collins 7.5- Solid

Dunne 7- Solid

Warnock 7- Solid

Petrov 7.5- Was much more positive in his play

Delph 8*- Always looking for space with an eye for a pass

N'Zogbia 7.5- Good with the ball at his feet

Gabby 7.5- Bright and sure of himself for a change

Heskey 7- Shoddy touch but a good goal

Bent 7- Finished the job

Albrighton 6.5- Still suspect defensively but bright

Bannan 7.5- Would love to see him combine with Delph

Clark 7- Sure on the ball but only a stop gap at FB

Reo Coker had an absolute stormer today apparently. Instant cult hero. Good luck to him.

Friedel 8- Really solid performance on the whole

Walker 8- The new system helped him make his forward runs with someone behind to cover, and he was excellent in the first half

Dunne 7- On another day, may have seen red and conceded a penalty, but got some crucial blocks in

Collins 5- Fortunate to be on the winning side after a haphazard display. As poor as Squillaci with the ball in behind him but fortunately, was only punished once

L.Young 7.5- Solid throughout.

Reo Coker 6.5- Keeps his unbeaten record v Arsenal, but didn't keep up his usual performance levels and tenacity after being booked

Petrov 5.5- After a decent first half, he faded very badly and dropped off far too much

Delph 7- Looked to be lacking in confidence, but looked increasingly useful as the game wore on

Downing 6- Very wasteful and often chose the wrong option. Always bright though

A.Young 6.5- A good shift, but was rarely in the game, other than an exquisite pass to Bent

Bent 9*- At his best. It doesn't get much better than two striker's finishes at the Emirates with Fabio watching

Gary Mac 8- Where was Cuellar?? On a positive note though, this was the right system today. Three men in the centre allowed Walker to get forwards. He was right to sub Petrov also.

.................Friedel

Walker.....Collins..Dunne...Young

.................Reo Coker

...........Petrov.......Downing

Albrighton......................Young

...................Bent

bench- marshall, gabby, delph, makoun, heskey, cuellar, clark

I have to ask again. Do any of you realise the priorities we have? Would you have liked it if one of our first 11 got seriously injured today and enhanced our slump into the championship? Ratings and OVERREACTION FFS. I didn't even know why Houllier bother bringing the subs on at the end to be honest. Wasnt even really that bothered about the game...wanted a result of course...but I know where my priorities lay.

What?! A game at the weekend and then a two week break?

The FA Cup or finishing tenth?

I know where my priorities lay as well, and Young and Downing's priorities ought to be a move to Tottenham in the Summer if our priority is to avoid relegation.

I think there were some talented players on display for us and in fairness there were some good individual performances. I thought central midfielder Fabian Delph was excellent at left back, I liked our centre back combination and I thought central midfielder Chris Herd did well at right back although he struggled at centre back in the last ten minutes.

Bannan played well and though neither Delfouneso or Gabby got very involved they both had moments when they looked dangerous, albeit usually brief moments when they could escape their duties in covering the central midfielders at full back.

Heskey had a poor game by his recent standards and I thought that Petrov was well off the pace. I don't want to be too hasty in judging Bradley (even though I already did at half time) but he's going to have to go a long way to convince.

The fans too were excellent - a credit to the club.

The manager should hang his head in shame and in June, when he looks back on his time as Villa manager, I hope he always regrets ending the season here.

This.

I can't make judgements on players playing completely out of position either.

GH has shot himself in the foot.

Surely, SURELY there must be better options than

Delfouneso Herd (WTF?!) Dunne Clark Delph (WTF?) Agbonlahor

.....................Petrov......Bradley.....Bannan

Heskey

Jim Beglin is a complete tosser... I mean for **** sake watch the game.

Young, Downing, you might as well piss off because if our ambition is to make sure we finish tenth as opposed to winning a medal, then I wouldn't blame them.

Houllier, what a disrespectful rocket polisher.

According to the torygraph stats, petrov won more balls than the rest of the team combined.

He needs to get in and around the edge of the box more. In his role there are four better players at the club, and maybe 5 with Bradley. He simply has to have more of an influence.

NRC should be playing instead of petrov

This. I struggled to fit Stan on the bench when I picked my team the other day. Meh

..................Friedel

Walker...Collins...Dunne...Clark (hoping they haven't got a good RW!)

..........Reo Coker..Makoun

Albrighton..................Young

...........Heskey..Bent

Marshall, Cuellar, Bannan, Bradley, Petrov, Downing, Gabby.

Edit: That seems grossly unfair on the Fonz

Friedel 7- Quality first half save and dealt well with things

Cuellar 7- Excellent defensive work, strong in the challenge. Distribution poor in the 2nd half.

Dunne 7.5- Determined display.

Collins 8- Carried on from the weekend, although he showed N'Zogbia the line a little too easily once.

Baker 7.5- Good. More impressive than Clark in this position.

Reo Coker 6.5- Not one of his better games and was caught ball watching once or twice. A good shift however.

Makoun 6- After a bright start he dropped off the pace. Perhaps needs time to get up to speed. Looks quality on the ball.

Young 8*- Always looked a threat tonight. More direct.

Downing 7- Despite being wasteful, he made some useful runs in the second half.

Gabby 6.5- tried hard.

Bent 6.5- alright. Missed a couple of good chances early on.

Positivity running through the side now. A good performance.

...............Friedel

Walker..Collins..Dunne..Clark

.............Petrov

...Reo Coker....Downing

Albrighton...............Young

.............Bent

NRC to provide energy and bursts on the counter attack.

Gives us more shape, as I'm not a fan of Gabby on the left.

In an ideal world I would drop Petrov, but he did play well the other day.

Ash in his more natural position and Albie is the first name on the team sheet for me these days.

Cracking performance from the defence today- Collins MOTM.

Also we look to have more options going forwards, although I'm still not convinced by Gabby at LW. Great shifts from Albrighton, Young, and Petrov- who had been shite of late. He looks good in that role, as he did against West Ham in the first game.

Much more promising lads- keep it up!

Heskey will still be suspended I think.

...............Friedel

Walker..Collins..Dunne...Clark

......Reo Coker..Makoun

Albrighton..Downing..Young

.............Bent/Gabby

And when Heskey returns I would probably opt for a 442 system.

Friedel 7- good saves, but almost lost it for us at the end.

Walker 7.5- Again looks a player, should keep place over Luke Young on this form.

Dunne 8- One of his better performances.

Collins 8.5*- Ditto Dunne, plus a goal. I called for Cuellar, but he was up for it today.

Clark 5- Looked a fish out of water in the first half, but improved.

Reo Coker 7- A decent shift.

Petrov 4- Anonymous. I'd like to see him make way for Makoun. So ponderous when he had possession.

Albrighton 7.5- Good shift with some dangerous balls. Needs to stop giving away free kicks.

Downing 6.5- Fed up of him playing it square and backwards in good situations. Have some guts man!!

Agbonlahor 6- Not convinced by him in that position.

Carew 3- Oaf.

Delfouneso 7.5- Looked bright, should have started.

Bannan 6- Bright. Not the man you want when balls are pumped into your box though.

Blouse are a very negative and average team and could well be in trouble. Very impressed by Walker, and if we can sign a left back, and slowly replace players who lack ability at this level ie.Carew and Petrov then we can move forwards. It's important we get the mix between youth and experience right though. With Makoun, Delph, Coker, Bannan, Downing, Albie and Young, I think we have the makings of a gritty and creative midfield.

And Delfouneso should be getting more chances, simple as.

I don't get the Downing on the right wing, Agbonlahor on the right wing and Ashley Young 'in the hole' formation. Why not play them in there actualy positions and then switch it around to change it up. All 3 were shit today, and Heskey carried them. And I think that being played out of position was the reason why they were shit. Put Ashley Young on the **** wing, he is a liability off the front man.

Poor:

- Collins: caught out to much and letting the ball bounce. Davies and/or Cuellar would be better

- Petrov: absolutely useless tonight. Didn't even play the first half and should have been off after 60 at a minimum. If anyone votes for him as MOTM this week they must be MON, his mum or his hairdresser!

.

Petrov's hairdresser is on VT

Friedel 6- Poor Kicking.

Cuellar 5- The same old CB at RB curse.

Dunne 6- A liitle sluggish but put in a shift.

Collins 5- Jury is still out.

Clark 5- Poor heading and poor in possession. Ditto Cuellar.

Petrov 3- Talks a good game, but when your captain is someone playing the holding role, has no pace, passing ability, stamina or desire to dictate the play, the club is unlikely to go forwards.

Reo Coker 6- Showed fight and good energy.

Downing 4- What a pussy.

Young 5- Roy of the Rovers wanabe.

Gabby 4- What on earth is he doing on the left wing FFS?!

Heskey 7- Loses two points for a woeful miss and probably costing Gerard his job. Otherwise- Team Emile.

Bannan (MOTM) and Albie not on long enough for a rating.

Houllier- Young at DM? Gabby at LW? Downing at RM? Heskey with no support? Favouritsm? Reluctance to use our most dangerous winger and most effective striker? Collins and Dunne up front?

YOU'RE GETTING SACKED IN THE MORNING may seem harsh, but when you are a team on the slide with a manager with no tactical nous, and then replace him with an older manager with no tactical nous OR motivational qualities, this was likely to happen....

I think that if people STILL can't see the difference Petrov makes to the team.. then there is no hope for them.

Certainly over Hogg and Bannan in the same position yes, but he still seemed 2 seconds behind the play and didn't track runners too well. Reo on the other hand had much more energy and was superior today in my opinion.

Great scene with Randy at the end!

Heskey great first half, Friedel great saves, good defending (generally), and NRC MOTM. God knows what happens to us in the last 15 mins of games though, good God. Two stupid errors from Marc and Dunne (who otherwise played well)

.............Friedel

Lichaj Cuellar Collins Warnock

.....Reo Coker Petrov Delph

...........................Young

.......Heskey...Delfouneso

Ain't gonna happen I know, but I'd pick this team tomorrow.

Midfield steel, free up Young, Delph's passing, Heskey's hold up play bringing people into the game, Petrov sitting, NRC breaking up play and bursting and Fonz's goals and intelligent forward play.

Gabby, Downing and Albrighton to freshen things up.

Just thinking of the best ways we can quickly adapt to GH's passing style, I don't think the current set up is right. We played something very similar to this in 07/08 (think it was that season), when we were banging them in and played some good stuff.

Soon we'll be able to play:

-----------------------FRIEDEL----------------------------------

---LICHAJ---------CUELLAR------COLLINS------WARNOCK-----

---ALBRIGHTON---PETROV-----DOWNING-----A.YOUNG-----

--------------------AGBONLAHOR---HESKEY--------------------

With a bench of:

GUZAN, YOUNG, DUNNE, NRC, PETROV, NRC, DELPH, CAREW.

Ain't bad to me. And that's without anyone arriving.

Where did the Petrov twins come from?

Nathan Reo Coker's a good prospect, although I'd have Nigel in the side. Wouldn't have both on the bench. Not sure where the Fonz is here, and have we signed Martin Petrov??

Friedel 7- Kept us in it.

L.Young 5- He really tried, but a shocking error for their first, and his marauding runs continually left us exposed.

Collins 6- Better than his partner.

Dunne 5- looking increasingly sluggish, despite putting himself about a bit near the end.

Warnock 3- really woeful.

Clark 7*- after an awful first half he looked alright on the ball in the 2nd and was the goal hanging hero.

Bannan 4- Didn't seem to understand his position. Lightweight, shocking passing and poor positioning for most of the game. Probably not his fault.

A.Young 5- Wasteful.

Downing 5- Despite some nice touches, he failed to support Warnock enough and epitomised our 'stand off and let them play' approach.

Pires 6- Seemed to be playing too deep and lacking sharpness, although he was the only player who did anything worthwhile in the first 45.

Carew 2- just awful

Delfonueso 7- Carew needed him, and he looked bright as usual. He has to start midweek if others are unavailable.

Ireland 6- alright

Herd - thought he should've been on a lot earlier for Bannan, who I thought was unfortunately outclassed today.

Friedel 7.5- Good double save in the first half

L.Young 7- Had a particularly good first half, caught out once or twice in the second

Cuellar 9*- Where does Dunne fit into the equation now? Good to see him give an expert performance in his rightful position

Collins 8- Very good aerial performance and great celebration

Warnock 6- Poor first half partly made up for by an assist

Petrov 5.5- Worked hard but was anonymous

Reo Coker 7- Battled well and was composed on the ball. Faded second half

Albrighton 6.5- started the game well, good assist

A.Young 8- Worked so hard and was our main threat, unlucky with a superb effort tipped over

Downing 6.5- struggled in the second half but at times showed class

Heskey 7.5- Wasn't doing enough in the second half until his super goal. Worked hard

-

Gabby 5.5- Not sure about him on the wing

Sidwell- Poor challenge, but I like to see a substitute

We need a bit more class in the centre, either that or we should play an extra CM. The lack of possession causes us to make rash challenges and put ourselves under increased pressure from the high ball and set pieces.

But hats off to the back 2, particularly Carlos, we'd be stuck without them!

Liked the line-up and substitutions, a great start for Houllier. Well fought win- Heskey, Ashley and NRC also deserve praise.

Friedel 8.5- good saves and caught well under pressure.

L.Young 8- good goal, and he offers us much going forwards. Crucial blocks.

Collins 9*- put his life on the line against an Everton side with aerial threat.

Dunne 7- did less than his partner but was solid, if looking a little sluggish.

Warnock 7- part of an excellent defensive performance.

Petrov 6- crucial blocks and hard work but failed to stamp his authority.

Reo Coker 7.5- composed and strong on the ball.

A.Young 7.5- worked extremely hard and a good lay off for the goal.

Downing 4.5- invisible.

Albrighton 7- caught out defensively but ran his heart out for the full 90. Shame about the miss though Marc!

Carew 4.5- this could be a problem area. I'd expect Gabby to take his place soon.

Nice to see a solid looking defence on paper, and a performance to match it.

My worry is that until Delph returns, we really lack depth in midfield. NRC should have started in my opinion anyway, although in the next game I would drop Downing on today's evidence, move Young wide and play Ireland in the hole. I'd like to see us with a 433, but I'm not convinced Carew is the man for it, particularly if he is carrying a niggle.

Reo Coker---Petrov

.......Ireland

Albrighton...Young

......Gabby

injuries aside, should be the way forward for the time being.