andym

this is a **** disgrace, easily outpassed by wigan. they are the only ones who look like scoring, have we created anything??

davies is all over the place, he shouldnt be playing with his shoulder injury- it clearly affected him last season and you can see it today. get in another CB MON! shorey is crap, set up rodellega for his first and nearly set him up again later

upfront heskey and gabby are annonymous. yes they have had little service but heskey is not holding up the ball.

we played some nice stuff in pre season, passing the ball and keeping hold of it. so why have we now reverted back to lumping it up for gabby to chase all the time- its not working!!!

delph doesnt look out of place, seems good on the ball, just wish his team mates would step up to the plate.

if things do not improve second half i predict a lot of angry villa fans and the subject of MONs transfers (or lack of) will be the top topic

dont see the problem with carew on the bench. heskey has probably been the best striker this preseason so surely deserves to start? carew looked sluggish against scotland, though improved as the game went on. i think hes still a bit short of full match sharpness. heskey wont last the whole game anyway so john will come on at some point.

big gamble with delph, i hope he has a good game

weve got a poor record against wigan at VP since they got promoted, which is strange because weve beaten them away the last 2 years. hopefully we can sort it tomorrow.

defence is obvious- beye,cuellar, davies and shorey, freidal in goal

midfield will be interesting. if he goes 442 i would like to see NRC partnering Stan, i think we need NRCs energy and drive in that formation. not sure he will start delph but he will be on the bench.

upfront i think on preseason form Heskey deserves to start to be honest. i saw JC against scotland and he still looked short of match sharpness although he improved as the game went on. that was against 10 men though and if he is not sharp JC is poor in the prem league. wont be long before hes starting and banging them in though! havent seen how gabbys playing but hopefully hes rested and raring to go. i reckon he might start with heskey.

a handful of very good performances got us through tonight, because most of the team and so called senior players were poor.

the good:

guzan- very vocal and made the saves when he had to. i like that he makes the save then gets up and bollocks the defence for him having to make it! good on crosses and commanded his area well

cuellar- lots of good tackles and timely interceptions and was happy to have the ball and keep it on the deck. hes got to be careful in the prem though because some of them he plays are very tight!

NRC- really drove the team forwards,was winning the ball and then moving us on. he looked much better on the ball than he did last season and showed some nice control and skill at times. his passing was also very good. still the odd crap one but most of them found their target and some were very nice incisive balls.

Albrighton- excellent. a well taken goal and assist. good pace, and great crossing. if you whip a ball in across the face of goal about 8 yards out you are always gonna cause trouble, and he can do that going at full speed down the line. none of this float it in rubbish. no need for bently we got a backup and potential challenge to jimmy down the right

decent- young, carew and lichaj. ash and john were way below par, but both scored which is what mattered. eric did ok, decent pace and good on the ball. just needs to learn when to commit and when to go with the man, but that will come with experience. i think hes got a chance if he can still show improvement over the next year.

not so good- the so called senior players like davies, shorey, sidwell and heskey who were put to shame by some of the youngsters. davies really needs to get his act together because he does have the ability to be a very very good centre back. sidwell came alive a bit more in the second half but was still mostly a passenger as was heskey. shorey keeps the ball on the deck well but is poor defensively.

a massive improvement is still needed though, because against a prem team we would have been 3 or 4 down by HT. 1st half the passing was awful, we just didnt keep the ball well enough at all. the problem is in the midfield, because if they cant control the ball the defence gets to much pressure on it and the strikers have no service.

id be happy for NRC to start the season there, because his pace and tackling we need, especially in a 442. his control and passing has also been better this pre season. sidwell should only be a squad player, and only then in 451 because he goes missing to often. with petrov likely to be out while it is imperitive we get another quality CM. and if we get the right one it will really help out things at either end of the pitch.

what i like the most about albrighton is that he seems to able to whip a cross in with pace from anywhere. none of these crappy floating to the back post ones.

weimann nearly scored with his first touch

nice play by nige then

brilliant by albrighton!!!

davies gets one full pelt in the face, though it was his shoddy positioning that allowed the bloke to shoot in the first place.

positives- alrbrighton looks bright and great reactions and finish for the goal. cuellar has had a decent game and at least seems to be able to pass it out of defence and look comfortable on the ball. nrc has been good, winning the ball and then passing it forwards accurately (makes a change!).

unfortunatly cuellars and nrcs respective partners have let them down. curtis looks all over the shop and sidwell is just crap, totally annonymous. the rest of the team arent much better. shorey looks poor, as does ash and the front 2 have no service though they are wasting it when they do get it.

very disapointing and very worrying so far. we can hardly keep possesion and this is 2 games in a row we have been totally outpassed and played by poorer sides. if you cant keep the ball there is only so far you can go. MON needs to sort it out now!

nice finish, and someone who finally looks alert in and around the box and takes a chance on the ball falling to him

**** me davies just passed it straight out of play............

davies looks poor, panicky clearances. cuellar is at least putting his foot on the ball and passing it out of defence.

nrc is doing good winning the ball, but going forward nobody is passing it and its bouncing off the forwards

again we are just not keeping possesion and that is worrying

broken wrist or arm for stan? hope not!

why are we pumping it long in this heat? keep the ball for **** sake!

was that cuellar with the quick feet? nearly a great pass as well just offside

no i dont think i would be

he's a decent player but he doesnt fit into the way we play our football - he needs to play in a midfield 3 with 1 defensive and one attacking player

i think we could easily sell him for 15-20 million and replace him with a better foreign player for half that

i agree, hes perfect in a 433 but in a 442 he just cant do it. we need someone with a bit more pace in the centre of the park. add in that he wants to go to liverpool and i think saying goodbye might be the best thing

both man u and barca deserve to be in the final as they are the best two teams in footy at the moment. they are both gonna win their leagues so it will be a proper champions final.

ref got all the big decisions wrong, missed several pens for chelsea, but then sent off abidal when anelka tripped over his own 2 feet

terry and ballack now look like they want to fight him!!

i think chindie has got it spot on

barry is a great player, but i dont think he can play as effectively in a 442- he is not quick enough and dosnt tackle well enough to play DM. but then he is not quick enough to play the AM in 442 either- he just cant get up and down the pitch, so he doesnt get many assists or goals from open play even though he definatly has the ability to do so. and if he does get forward then as we have seen recently we can get ripped open through the middle as he cant get back.

hes the perfect 433 player as his best attributes are to keep it tidy, the natural ability to create space for himself and others, bring others into play etc. with stan defending and sidwell getting forward or covering barry when he does, then barry can roam around and dictate play.

so if we are going to play 442 next season, which i would as you want both your top strikers playing as much as possible, then barry leaving could actually be an ultimatly good thing. of course thats providing MON brings in a more dynamic midfielder who can get up and down the pitch and contribute with goals and assists!

im also with sonic_bouma in that Milner could potentially do that job. i think hes a younger, faster, more energitc barry- his style is similar- not flashy skill but the ability to create space and bring others into play. he also has a good shot with both feet. i think whenever he has come inside this season he has looked good- barrys goal against blackburn, sidwells at wigan and everton, stans against stoke etc all down to milner coming in off the wing and setting up with some nice vision and touches.

it was so funny watching the end of their game, when prestons winner went in then they booed of the team, well the few hundred who hadnt left early

the only way it could have been better is if sky had shown brady and golds reactions to the goal and final whistle

eto'o has an insane goalscoring record this season. 23 goals in 26 games (24 starts) !!!!!!

I see good old Emile has jumped a % tonight !!!

It started at 7% - lets see where it ends up when he signs

Seriously, if he comes he comes. But all this "Englands 1stchoice striker stuff is just ridiculous. Whats the competition - it is 99% certain his partner for the next game will be Carlton Cole !!

If we sign him we sign him - but unless you were one of the 7% who actually wanted him before, please don't come on saying how he is "just what we need" - as you certainly didn't think that 4 weeks ago.

Personally, Kenwyne Jones and Darren Bent may cost 4 times the price, but they are 6 times the player, with 4 times the amount of career left.

But what do I know !

its all very well talking about players like jones and bent, but their clubs dont want to sell (at least spurs wont sell unless they get a replacement- arrys not that stupid). so what do you want MON to do, he cant force teams to sell players.

MON has done what is needed- and move on to the next best choice, which it seems is heskey.

oh and arent you contradicting yourself slightly? your saying the competition for englands striker places is rubbish and thats the only reason heskey gets in- yet arent jones and bent english? why does capello continue to pick heskey over them if they are "6 times the player"

right, now for a few sendings off please!

cahill is awesome on crosses and setpeices