vreitti

Messi, Xavi, Sneijder, Lamps, Fabregas, etc. are brilliant, Petrov is a decent performer, but never brilliant.

so it's more likely he will be leaving, right? My thoughts exactly, then why do some seem certain he is staying? This entire matter is very confusing and irritating. Preferably the club would come out with a genuine statement regarding the situation, so we could finally move on.

been said a billion times before, he performs adequately in a 4-5-1 but not so in a 4-4-2 (which i presume we will be playing most of the time).

Has Milner come out an said he is staying put? Have we heard anything official regarding this matter from the our club, Citeh or his representatives? Bloody good news if it's true. Because we need to improve, instead of selling our best players.

Yeah those stats from before any of us were born are really relevant nowadays.

I don't think this is true. What exactly are you basing that on? Do they have better technical and/or tactical coaches at United? Do they have better training programmes? Do they have superior training facilities? Is SAF better than MON at getting the most out of a young English player? Sure United have a slightly better overall squad than we do and they challenge for honors every year. But to suggest he would improve more there is by no means certain. It is common knowledge that players get better by playing regulary. If it was a case of playing for United versus playing for example for Hull, I'd agree he would probably be better off at United. But since the difference between our and Uniteds squad isn't that great, I reckon Milner will be fine here and improve just as much as he would at any top club. Besides here he doesn't have to think about being a victim of squad rotation and things like that, although there really isn't any way of knowing for certain what that would do to him. Playing with experienced players like Giggs and Scholes can hardly do an already accomplished player any harm but it isn't either by no means a given that he'll greatly benefit from this. And we too are most likely able to offer him European football next season so even though the CL is tougher and better than the Europa League, the difference is negligible.

This is BS. No player is ever too good for ASTON VILLA!

As I see it it's all down to attitude and effort. When we are at our best we have a chance against anyone and teams like Pompey, Hull, Burnley, Bolton, etc. are nothing more then a walk in the park. Yesterday our attitude wasn't the best, still we managed to conjure up a victory. And at this point i don't care whether we play like Barca or some lousy pub team, as long as we win. The Premier League is indeed a tough league (if not the toughest in the world) and I do respect the fact that there are no easy games. Still at this point of the season, when we've fought so hard all season and have given ourselves this great opportunity to finish in the top4-6 (which by the way, in case we do, will be a very fine achievement, all things considered), only a win over Hull will suffice. So I'll reiterate, we really should beat Hull, mainly because we're the better team. Maybe it's just wishful thinking but what else do we fans really have besides hope and belief in our team?

I respect the fact Hull will try to put up a fight but regardless, they are a team we SHOULD beat any given sunday, simple as that. We are simply far more superior in every department and if we fail to win, I just cannot accept the same excuses, that we seem tired, knackered and it's been a long season, etc. In case we do loose or draw, we're simply not good enough and do not deserve 4th spot or even 6th spot. Doesn't mean this season has been a failure though and that MON needs to resign or get sacked.

This was a terrible performance, but we won so can't complain too much. Anyone else think Downing needs a rest? Don't think i've ever seen him play that bad. His attempts at getting past defenders were just pathetic and not one decent cross today. Nice to see The Fonz score though. Hopefully he'll get the chance to impress against Hull aswell.

We can win tonight, but in order for that to happen we will have to put in a massive effort, Everton are certainly no pushovers and they are on a good run now. The center of midfield will surely be the key tonight, if we can withstand the pressure there, we have a real chance. Although i fear Petrov will be overrun as usual. And please MON, for the love of god, no unfit players anymore, if the likes of Dunne and Milner aren't 100% they should not start the game. I think a five-man midfield is the way to go against Everton, perhaps give Delph a chance to show his worth, with Gabby upfront on his own. I am hoping we'll win this, but to be fair i see a draw as the most likely outcome. 0-0. UTV!

If rumors are correct they have indeed somewhat of defensive crisis, but what are the chances MON will be able to use this to our advantage? Given Maloudas recent form, this is a match where we MUST play L.Young as RB, otherwise he'll tear us completely apart and there is a big chance of this happening regardless. Somehow I can still see us winning this. Much depends upon A.Young, Milner and Carew. Can't see the goals coming from elsewhere. The Fonz is certainly not ready to start this one. If the lump isn't fit I hope MON will play a 5-man midfield from start. Sidwell or maybe Delph in.

Ahhh... but he was moving at least! Thats an improvement on Heskey already! The Fonz played his part in the goal if you watch it back, nice direct run forward and then pass to Young and I thought he was bright for the rest of the first half. Second half yeah he faded. Sunderland's CBs got tighter to him and he hasn't got the strength just yet or the intelligence that he'll get from playing more games of when to hold up and release the ball. I don't question his effort. I think he worked as hard as he possibly could. But like i said, don't think he is ready for these games yet. But then again, I don't want to see Heskey up there either. Perhaps a 5-man midfield would be a better option at present. Especially towards the end, when Petrov runs out of steam.

Very disappointing result. Had plenty of chances, should have won it. Some nice stuff from Carew and Young. Yet another woeful performance from a defensive viewpoint. CC was his usual self, as uncomfortable with the ball as always, just blindly floating the balls upstream with zero idea or thought. Not that the rest of the defense was any better. Nevertheless i feel compelled to say it again, he should never ever play a game as a full back. He offers absolutely nothing going forward and never has. Also people can moan all day long about how useless Heskey is (which I'll agree, he really is), but the Fonz offered very little tonight and I don't think he is ready for these games yet. Most of the time he was just running around like a headless chicken, at the wrong place, at the wrong time.

I would love it if MON could bring in the right striker, no matter what the price is. Obviously MON is never going to pay silly money for anyone, let alone for a foreign player. So we can pretty much forget about the top foreign strikers that may or may not be available in the summer. Personally I think MON will take the easy way and (try to) sign a secure option, someone like Keane, Bent, C.Cole or maybe even K. Davies. Sturridge could be a good back-up striker and could very well develop into a great player someday. On the other hand, why sign him when we've already got the Fonz who may also become a great player in time. Still i do think we need to sign at least 2 strikers in the summer. I guess most fans would love it if we'd sign a high profile, proven striker from a top club, as would I. Who that would be, i haven't got the faintest of ideas. Players like Edin Dzeko, Mirko Vucinic, Lisandro Lopez or Kader Keita spring to mind.

THAT IS **** BRILLIANT, JUST BRILLIANT!

Overall i think we played ok. Some mistakes in the first half and we again ran out of steam in the second half. Manure was the better team today. Especially tactically they were far superior. We kept running and running while they easily controlled the game. At times they walked past our midfield. We simply lack bite and determination, nor do we have anyone in the team that can lift us up when things go sour. CC is completely worthless, there exists no words to describe how poor a footballer he really is. Saddens me to see he plays week in, week out and in a position where we have one of the finest players in England. Petrov is good player but he is sadly too immobile given our tactics and the fact we hardly ever control the game. Also i think it showed that we were a bit tired today. And that was to be expected given the amount of games our first 11 has played recently. I just hope this won't ruin the remainder of the season. We still have plenty to play for and plenty to be happy about. UTV!

Vidic was the last man, he should have been given the red card, no questions, Belletti got his yesterday for a similar incident.

can someone please tell me why the **** vidic didnt receive an instant red card? and what the hell was that 4-5 minutes additional-time?

Can we really know which type of player Delph is going to be yet? Personally I've only seen him play against Wigan & ManU at home. And i wouldn't want to judge him too much based on these displays. He seems to have some real quality but is certainly too lightweight to play as a defensive midfielder at the moment. Also his tackling seems a bit reckless and hazardous. This surely causes a major problem as he would pick up too many cards and give away needless free kicks in dangerous areas when playing as a DM. An advanced midfield position would be my pick for the time being. His passing seems good and he has a decent shot too. I also like his energy and he seems to have some genuine ability with the ball. Given MONs reluctance to use him more often, I doubt we will see his full potential this season.

A valuable point gained, but that is not really the issue. We were very poor today, again. Apart from our back four, which was quite solid, we weren't able to produce anything worthwhile. Well, Milners shot in the first half was a good effort, but that was about all we could conjure up today. Sadly, we cannot really impose ourselves on the better sides in the Premier League, mainly because our general play is very predictable and we don't really have the creativity nor do we have the ability to change things around, when they aren't going our way. If our ridiculous counter-attack-hoof-ball play isn't working out, we are more or less clueless, as is our wonderful manager. In my view our biggest concern is our midfield, which is overrun almost every game, especially by our direct rivals and the big 4. Still spurs were only marginally better than us today. They can whine all day long, but the fact remains they too play very poor hoof-ball and are also largely predictable. Yet their determination and effort were far superior to ours today and we can really count ourselves lucky to have gotten anything from this game.

maybe put it in the back of the net!?