mikeyp102

At times we do try to play football, but when our initial attempt doesn't get us anywhere then yes in my eyes we do revert to long ball tactics. Unless we get a fast break away, in which we are very dangerous.

And yet some people seem to think that it is the most ridiculous statement to say we use long ball tactics

Lambert says he doesn't think injury as bad as first thought and hopefully should be back ready after international break.. It was on official Facebook news so can't link sorry

Unfortunately can't see anything but a heavy defeat in this one. They're starting to get used to the pellegrini way, and our defence is always poor against sides who have good movement and can thread passes through. I think it'll be 0-3/4. Be interesting to see how we line up, just a decent performance at home would be nice (obviously a positive result is better). One thing that may favour us is city will attack, so we could use our counter capabilities.

Aye definitely. Personally, like I've touched upon in another thread today, I'd actually go a little bit outside the box on Saturday and play: ------------Kozak------------ Bennett--------------Lowton -Delph--Sylla--Westwood- Luna--Baker--Vlaar--Bacuna -----------Guzan------------- What?? Bennett and Lowton on the wings? Effectively playing with 6 defenders(if Bacuna rb), wasn't McLeish slaughtered for that type of tactics?

Any news on this supposed bust up?

Most of the time he is not under pressure though, it is when there isn't enough movement from the outfield players. The fact that it it was the most successful passing combination last yr (for us) would indicate that our tactic more often than not is to hoof it up. Given they were both almost ever presents, the ratio will be high. Its probably the same for most if not all teams given the amount of times a keeper kicks over the half way line so I wouldn't put too much faith in that particular statistic. Regarding being under pressure, he always has angles either side of him & when not under pressure, that's where the ball goes. It is only when under pressure that it goes long. We'll have to agree to disagree on this one. If you really think that Guzan goes long when its passed back to him and is not under pressure then not only shall we disagree but we clearly watch 2 different games. Success rate of a ball out to a defender 99%? Success rate of a hoof into the opponents half 20-30% Must be watching different, but then I'm not the only one who has said this. Those stats also prove nothing (not sure where you have got them from). As I said the initial pass can be to a defender but then it is passed back to Guzan when the opposition sit back and we have a lack of movement so guzan then launches th ball towards Benteke. It may be different on Saturday, as Benteke isn't there, but I'd be very surprised if it is (even though saying that city do press high so guzan will probably be under more pressure than usual).

Most of the time he is not under pressure though, it is when there isn't enough movement from the outfield players. The fact that it it was the most successful passing combination last yr (for us) would indicate that our tactic more often than not is to hoof it up. Given they were both almost ever presents, the ratio will be high. Its probably the same for most if not all teams given the amount of times a keeper kicks over the half way line so I wouldn't put too much faith in that particular statistic. Regarding being under pressure, he always has angles either side of him & when not under pressure, that's where the ball goes. It is only when under pressure that it goes long. We'll have to agree to disagree on this one.

Most of the time he is not under pressure though, it is when there isn't enough movement from the outfield players. The fact that it it was the most successful passing combination last yr (for us) would indicate that our tactic more often than not is to hoof it up.

Ireland scored tonight

Who hoofs it to the bigman? I'll give you Clark on 2 or 3 occasions on Saturday but apart from that, we always try to play it out & given the pressure we were under, I was quite happy to see the ball hoofed out of defence & into the opponents half. Name me a goal that we've scored as a result of hoofing it to the bigman The keeper, constantly. We don't play it out from the back, we pass it back to the keeper, who clearings in the woods it up to Benteke. As for naming a goal we've scored as a result of this tactic, we don't, that's part of the problem. Doesn't stop us giving it back to Guzan to hoof it up a dozen times a game though. So when you said "hoofing it", you actually meant the keeper kicking it out of his hands Remind me again of how the goal was scored on Saturday From Everton away back in February, we've been playing some good football. This is down to having a settled side & a bit of confidence. We've been at least mid table standard from then onwards. The midfield seem quite happy to be patient & its usually when rushed that players tend to go long. This isn't going to happen overnight - We've got no money so we've got to build from scratch. We're improving & moving in the right direction. Lets just enjoy the ride. Didn't see last nights game so not basing it on that. But guzan very often hoofs the ball to Benteke (not kicks out of hand). We normally pass the ball around a wee bit between the defenders, then when little or no movement occurs in front of the defenders the ball is passed back to guzan who launches it forward. Last season the most completed combination was guzan to Benteke and this has continued this yr. Yes at times we have played some nice intricate passes and good football, but the majority of time we don't.

What position did he ply last night? (were we the usual 433?)

The league this yr is very tightly knit, honestly think any position between 8th and 19th (last seasons top 7 and I see palace getting cut off) is possible for the rest. Ergo it is possible that we could be involved in a relegation battle. It may be too early for panic to kick in, but it doesn't mean people can't discuss the possibility of it happening. Conversely, it could be equally possible that we are involved for a push for a European place and again people could discuss that.

I don't think it was particularly good either. Gritty, yes but lacked many genuine quality passages of play. Having said that, we do seem to be grinding out results in away games these days, so you can't complain too much. The test for Lambert is too improve the team's showing at home. The result against Norwich was never going to really prove anything as we were all content with our away form anyway. I've read and agreed with a lot of your posts recently, this is another.

Canary killer How long will you be running the survey? Will the results (no personal dets) be made available, would be interesting to see how the votes would go.

Think he will be a lot better than Benteke in a few yrs time

How good is Lukaku going to be? Everytime I see him he gets better and better. Honestly think in a couple of yrs time he will be the best out and out striker in world football. To this day I can't understand what Mourinho is thinking of letting him go this yr.

Didn't he do exactly that to put Kozak through yesterday? Yes, on the odd occasion he does but there were 2/3 others times when around the box and didn't make the pass

Thank for the link, never heard of them before. Really interesting.

I think it's a good idea, I would actually like Walsall, local club, currently a good philosophy on playing football, bring through young players, already have a strong relationship with Villa.

For me his strengths lie in breaking up the play high up the pitch, when the whole team is playing that way he is a good player to have. However , if he goes to press high and isn't supported by team mates, then it is easier to pass around him making him look ineffective (ala Newcastle). Against Norwich the organisation was a lot better and we defended more as a unit. Kea's strengths therefore came to the fore.

I agree that he does keep getting better, still think he lacks that final pass in the last third of the pitch, to really create chances. Still easily our current best midfielder

Took his goal well at the second time of asking (first should've been tucked away), good movement off the ball. Will get sent of this yr though, went to swing an elbow at one stage when covering the back towards corner flag, will need to cut that out.

Guzan is great for us, but I honestly wouldn't put him in the very top bracket yet. For me those better are (in no specific order): De Gea Hart Lloris Cech Then Guzan is probably on a similar par to: Begovic Mignolet Vorm Krul

McLeish watching the game today.. Going to take over from PDC?