samjp26

And you mate, dish out a few slaps for us all on Monday morning.

Yup, bring Bacuna into the frame again in one of his more familiar positions also I reckon, although he has done well at right back it surely makes sense to play him in his regular position.

With a nod to what Vlaar said about Lambert not publicly criticising the team, I think this comment today means he was pissed off: "We never deserved to win the game."

What do we reckon then lads? Should Benteke be dropped to the bench? Should we play 4-3-3? Personally I think we have to play our regular 4-3-3 formation away from home, it's how we gain most of our points and it suits being 'the away team'. As for Benteke, I'm not 100% sure he should be dropped, today was worrying but I'm unsure as to whether he can't arsed or whether he still needs to get over his injury. That said, I wouldn't be against Lambert picking Kozak at all. I reckon we'll go: Guzan Lowton Vlaar Clark Luna KEA Westwood Delph Weimann Benteke Gabby 2-1 win to Southampton.

We actually have the widest pitch in the league as far as I know, which is odd considering how narrow we play at home.

Just to back up what you're saying: http://www.whoscored.com/Matches/720188/MatchReport It shows the average positioning of our players, Weimann, Gabby and Benteke all pretty much spent the entire game centrally. Our width only came from Luna and Bacuna.

You mean like exactly what happens when a team sits deep and you can't get in behind them? I agree, it's what the problem was, we weren't able to get in behind them so there was no opportunity to play any through balls. Sunderland parked the bus, came for a point, managed it. And probably should have won. Liverpool did the same although they actually took the lead and won the game. Whilst in possession we seem to get to a point not far after the halfway line and pass it sideways, nobody makes runs forward from midfield and the attackers don't get themselves into enough space. The only way we seem to be able to attack properly is when there is space for the forwards to run into and at home that is a rarity unless a team comes to go all out against you. Since teams know this, they'll often come to Villa Park and spend most of the game frustrating us, breaking out to attack now and then to try and win.

I'd bring him back in for Wednesday, give Bacuna a rest or try Bacuna out in a more advanced position.

Then surely he should make chances for himself? He was up against John O'Shea today, somebody I am pretty sure he could out pace, out power and out play. He didn't though, he let O'Shea bully him and complained after every aerial challenge. He also did a lot of walking and very light jogging today. I honestly feel that it must be the injury, I don't think anybody could be so stupid to throw away such a bright start to their career because they don't want to be here or can't be arsed. As things stand, players like Remy will be the ones that the big clubs look at in the Summer and Lukaku will be the man that Belgium look to. That doesn't bode well at all for Benteke this season or for his future. Hopefully he'll realise that he can be substituted off after all and try to push on over the next few games.

Not just a creative midfielder in the sense of passing either, we need somebody who can get themselves into forward positions, make space, score goals etc.

But we're not going to sell him in January unless we get a good enough offer, can you see any of the 'big clubs' making a good offer for him? I can't.

What I don't understand is that if he is fit then he is only making things worse for himself. He'll miss out on the World Cup because Lukaku is on fire, he'll miss out on his big move and he'll arguably begin to miss out on first team football here. Because of those reasons, I think this must be down to having a niggle still, if not then there are some worrying signs to be seen from his body language alone.

Definitely a positive but jesus christ we need some creativity.

Awful game, awful performance. There isn't any point playing 4-3-3 at home as front 3 players can only work with space that is given to them via counter attacks and such, they cannot make space for themselves. As long as a team sits back all we can do is pass it around just after the half way line and then back to Guzan, practically playing with 8 players. No attacking threat whatsoever against the worst team in the league, at home. The only positive I can take from the game is a clean sheet.

Kozak on the ball but has no options whatsoever, nobody making a run or coming towards him. Incredible.

About time

We can't break down the worst team in the league...

4-4-2 time

Tonev and Albrighton, interesting

Get Benteke off...

Need some fresh legs

I can see them getting a goal from a set piece and then sitting back again..

They want to counter us now, we're not a threat to any team that falls back and allows pressure, that is really a worry.

Supercalifragilisticexpialidociously

Let's hope he gets a goal pretty fast in the second half, if he does it might get him into gear!