CottenM

Unlucky with this game, we mostly matched them the whole game and it basically came down to the £47million man (or whatever he cost) Tevez making the difference. That said if we ironed out the mistakes and played to our best we would have won this. Gonna have to join in the Downing bashing, the 2nd goal was so lazy, he should have been on the line to try and stop it. And in general throughout the game i thought his positioning was poor, often he is too deep or tucked inside too much. Which is a shame cos he clearly has ability. Warnock had a nightmare, not the first mistake he has made this season as well, most have been after he was injured and i reckon he is still playing with a knock and its affected his game. At least he looked absolutely gutted to have given away a pen. If we can spend big / find a player of real quality then for me Petrov would be the first player i'd look to replace. Need someone more dominating there to free up Milner and hopefully push Downing out wider. Anyway my match ratings... Friedel - 7 Cuellar - 9 Motm Dunne - 7 Collins - 6 Warnock - 4 Petrov - 6 Milner - 6 Downing - 4 A. Young 7 Carew - 7 Gabby - 6 Worth noting that Fonz made a good impression coming off the bench again. Heskey didn't. Not long enough to rate.

Being a Sunday/Wednesday schedule i can actually see one or two players being rested, most likely Carew and/or Downing, and maybe Warnock who still doesn't seem to be overlapping with pace like he can do. It wont be anything too exciting though, just Heskey, Sidwell and L. Young coming in. Its about time we had a tidy 2-0 win, thats my prediction.

Villa are gonna win 7-0, Gabby grabbing himself 4 goals. You heard it here first, now get yourself down Laddies (or your preferred gamblers) and stick a pony on it! (i really hope this doesn't happen as i haven't gambled and i imagine the odds are quite tidy)

Hopefully we will play a few randomers and rest key players such as one of Dunne/Collins, Milner/Petrov, Young/Downing. Whoever we play we really should walk this. Would also like to see if we go a couple of goals up get Gabby off to preserve fitness and give Fonz another chance to impress.

The team will be, the same as cup semi, but maybe Heskey coming in for Carew who picked up a knock. Not saying i like it, but thats what it will be. Everton are a good team who i like but i fancy a narrow victory. And people on here will still moan...

Don't understand some reactions on here, we got beat 7-1 last game and we just got a perfect win away from home with a clean sheet, resting Milner as well, and still a lot of negativity.... Anyway. Friedel - 7 - Dealt with everything he had to. Cuellar - 7 - Well, he had a good game at full back didn't he... Collins - 6 - As mentioned by someone else, distribution not so good. Dunne - 6 - Didn't seem as involved as normal, also not going forward for corners now? Warnock - 7 - Solid going both ways. Petrov - 8 - Maybe gets an extra point for being so improved compared to recent outings Delph - 7 - Good touch, simple passing, didn't get booked. Ideal. Downing - 6 - Great delivery but could do more. A.Young - 8 - MOTM Might not always have the final ball, but always looking to do something and bagged a great goal. Agbonlahor - 7- Run the flanks well carrying a knock, passed well and wins a lot of corners, free kicks and throw ins in advanced postions. Carew - 6 - Held the ball up well but didn't look a goal threat. Mention for M'ON. Good subs, Heskey was ideal for the time he came on, and Sidwell for a tiring Delph perfect.

Yeah, but apart from the 7 we conceded Freidel barely had to make a save...

Richard Dunne injured could be a blessing in disguise, L Young coming in. Jimmy Milner out would be less so, but a well rested Sidders against his old club with many a point to prove could be ok. Could really do with Gabby back but Fonz would be so desperate to shine if he had to play. I can totally see us doing an Old Trafford here and blagging a 1-0 win somehow without ever playing well. 1 - 1 John Carew scoring is my prediction though. Where has all my positivity come from? Not like a Villa fan at all...

Another match where a Carew nod in off the corner, or Collins finding the net with his header, and we would probably be hailing a professional and tidy home win. The defense didn't look as solid as it can, but i only remember Friedel making one save, and as mentioned above we did have a few good chances. Here's some ratings from me anyway... Freidel - 6 - Beaten by a good finish, made one good save, but i don't know what he was doing by the corner flag when Bent quite easily kept the ball in play. Dunne - 5 - May have set the bar too high with his earlier performances, got caught napping a couple of times. Could be down to slight injury, or just having an off day like he used to at Man City from time to time. Collins - 6 - More solid than Dunne, should have scored from a Downing cross, could clear his lines better. Cuellar - 6 - Is good at defending, not with the ball at his feet. Why is he still at full back? Better than Saturday though. Warnock - 6 - Overlaps well, and gets in a tackle when needed, but both elements have faded since he got injured a while back. Petrov - 5 - Had a good first half, tidy on the ball makes the odd block. Didn't do anything second half, needs subbing early / a rest. Milner - 7 - Not amazing, but still created a couple of things, and keeps going. Would have made a run in Petrov's position in the last few mins. Downing - 7 - Better than the weekend, went past the fullback a couple of times but mostly leaves Young to do that. Downing keeps the ball well and will whip in a couple of great crosses every game, one of which Collins should have scored from Young - 9 - MOTM Gets a yard of space, whips a quality ball in, what more can you ask? Even remember a couple on the left foot. Carew - 8 - Good strikers goal, should have had another with his head. Holds the ball up well but could do more, higher up the pitch. Heskey - Off injured early, not enough to rate Fonz - 7 - Proved that he is capable at this level, is a better option than two big guys imho. I'm not blaming the referees for the poor result, but they were really poor today. No corner for Gordon's save stands out.

Dunno what to make of that! Can't really tell you who MOTM was for sure. Can tell you who wasn't though...

More than anything, so bloody boring! It really was dire, from both sides. Best chances came from Gabby's strength and endeavor, then we see the weaker side to his game. Still doesn't deserve the slating he gets. L. Young should probably have started, and Fonz or Delph should have been given half an hour to try something different. That said, it only needed a couple of crosses on target, or a corner planted on Dunne's head and we'd be talking about a comfortable home win here, we never really looked troubled. MOM...Hmmm, Warnock?

I saw this also and was a little confused, Ash certainly won't be dropped, i wouldn't be against Reo getting a game though... In the article it says Luke Young missed training with a slight niggle (but should be fine to play). Maybe they have the Youngs mixed up?

Apologies if this has been mentioned, i just read through the thread quick and couldn't find it... Is the re-arranged fixture going to be on sky still? Slightly frustrating this as i'll be on the late shift for the new date, but i guess thats nothing compared to people due to travel to Blackburn. Is a League Cup Semi Final 1st Leg Tie vs Blackburn worth a days holiday?

Villa are serious about winning this so its likely to be as a full strength league line up. Except the unwritten rule that Guzan must play in cup games, which has been working just fine, so... Guzan L. Young Dunne Cuellar Warnock A. Young Milner Petrov Downing Heskey Agbonlahor Milner is a slight injury doubt, i reckon he'll be fine but if not, was Delph's performance on Saturday enough to give him another try? I'd expect the safer choice of NRC if Milner doesn't make it. Lets hope the weather holds up, nice to see Villa in a midweek televised game something i could easily get used to

Allardyce is claiming that Diouf didn't deserve to be sent off. Urm, wtf! I do like his reasoning of, because the tackle was too far away from the ref. Good one. Whatever the maximum suspension / fine is he deserves that. Or a total ban from football for accumulated idiocy. Anyway, well done Villa. Cant comment on the game only saw ITV's highlights of highlights. Nice to see Fonz bag a goal, Delph get a game (and playing well by all accounts) and a couple of players rested. Now how do i decide my man of the match?

Quite a few over reactions on here. What i saw was two quite average performances from two tired teams. For me Villa shaded it, Downing and Carew should have scored but thats the difference with Torres only needing the one chance. It was an improvement over the Arsenal display and we'll get back to winning ways soon enough, but we are battling for UEFA Cup spots again you've got to fancy Spurs for 4th on current form. MOTM, nobody standout but Luke Young. P.S. Would an A. Young corner delivery have made a difference today?

Right, i'm taking the plunge with my first post, wish me luck... There's been some interesting ideas with team selection on here, but we all know hand on heart that it will be Sidwell in for the suspended Young. Carew may come in but personally i say stick with Heskey, he has been playing fine and Carew is a more dangerous sub. Personally id like to see Reo-Coker come in and "do a job" on Gerrard, and assuming our back line deals with the slightly unfit Torres thats their only real threats gone. Milner and Downing need to play on their orthodox sides, get at the fullbacks whip in a few balls and at worse get some set pieces. And i think a couple of corners / free kicks is where we'll win it again. 2-1 to the Villa, back up to 4th.