coda Posted November 25, 2013 Share Posted November 25, 2013 WTF was that popeye chant by the West Brom fans? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
StanBalaban Posted November 25, 2013 Share Posted November 25, 2013 Lambert's just said that the 3 subs were "nowhere near ready to start the game". I'm guessing that may have something to do with why he picked the team he did to start the game. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cizzler Posted November 25, 2013 Share Posted November 25, 2013 Great resilience to come back from that. We could have easily crumbled. I hope it doesn't paper the cracks though, we didn't play well and barely created a chance. I lambasted a lot of our players at half-time in the match thread, especially the midfield, and I feel a bit silly as ultimately two of them scored. But I really still do worry about our lack of quality. I can't argue with the team spirit Lambert has instilled, but a lot of the players are painfully average. Hopefully Lambert learns from the mistakes and we push on. No more Benteke with Kozak. No more Clark at left back. Definitely no more Sylla - atrocious tonight. I think our best formation this season has actually been the 'dreaded' 3-5-2. I'd like to see this team against Sunderland. ------------Guzan---------- ----Vlaar--Clark---Baker- Lowton-------------------Luna -----------Westwood--------- --Bacuna------------Delph---- ----Benteke----Agbonlahor Or perhaps, drop Baker for Weimann and go 4-3-3. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
adw95 Posted November 25, 2013 Share Posted November 25, 2013 Delph with less votes than El Ahmadi? I'm on the wrong site... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
StefanAVFC Posted November 25, 2013 Share Posted November 25, 2013 WTF was that popeye chant by the West Brom fans? It was about Popov. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AVFCRAMTIN Posted November 25, 2013 Share Posted November 25, 2013 Shit 1st half, great substitutes and my favorite was Delph. No not for the MOTM award but for his efforts on keeping Amalfitano quiet as he was their creative spark. Vlaar MOTM for us even though he made som mistakes! UTV Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
daggy_333 Posted November 25, 2013 Share Posted November 25, 2013 (edited) WTF was that popeye chant by the West Brom fans? He's Popov the Albion man, he lives in a caravan, he looks like a killer and he hates the Villa, he's Popov the Albion man...toot toot... Edited November 25, 2013 by daggy_333 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PaulC Posted November 25, 2013 Share Posted November 25, 2013 Delph with less votes than El Ahmadi? I'm on the wrong site... I cant believe Delph got 5 votes. Not saying he didn't do well when he came on but not our best player. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CardiffGreens Posted November 25, 2013 Share Posted November 25, 2013 Watched that abject first half, went to play 5's at the start of the second - got back to the end credits of mnf, turned over to ssn to check the score before realising I only have the 1 sat feed so I can't rewind the live game... Doh! Good point though - did hope for a 2nd half comeback however poor we were in the first. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
coda Posted November 25, 2013 Share Posted November 25, 2013 WTF was that popeye chant by the West Brom fans? He's Popov the Albion man, he lives in a caravan, he looks like a killer and he hates the Villa, he's Popov the Albion man...toot toot... Haha I could hear the toot toot bit. Idiots. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
flamingsombrero Posted November 25, 2013 Share Posted November 25, 2013 After the best part of an hour as bad as what was served up at Millwall it was nice to be on the other end of one of those for a change. Timely impact substitutions, Midfield getting amongst the goals, largely solid from set pieces... it's a strange old game. Mid-table team continues to act mid-table. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
joetipton86 Posted November 25, 2013 Share Posted November 25, 2013 Benteke needs dropping i beginning to wonder if PL guaranteed him 1st team football if he was fit when he had a word with him after handing transfer request in this summer.. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Papillon Posted November 25, 2013 Share Posted November 25, 2013 Well that was pretty much like everyone expected it to be, or wished to be at half-time. We were woeful and some of our players just aren't good enough to play together, it was basically a mess the first 60 minutes. Then went out all the players we wanted to get rid of, and all the players we wanted on the pitch came on. That picture of Gabby, Weimann and Delph gave me hope immediately and boy did they deliver. Tonev was terrible, Sylla had a really bad day at the office and Kozak is not a player at all. Weimann gave us tempo, energy and momentum. I love his body-language, he just wants to win and the other players realizes there is something in it. Gabby won a lot of challenges and kept momentum going, same with Delph who calmed our midfield down. The goals were a bit random, and so were the goal-scorers, but chances will come when we press high with that sort of energy. Some will say brilliant coaching from Lambert. I am not so sure, everyone on here were calling these substitutions and they did come after 60 minutes. We were crap from the first minute until this and our best players changed our game when they came on. Could one or two have started, Gabby and Weimann did not look like they were half-injured or jaded, on the contrary. Should we have started 5 midfielders and let Kozak sit on the bench? A midfield consisting of Tonev, Westwood, Sylla and El Ahmadi always looked a bit weak, especially as it led to Kozak being out of the play. Benteke needs to play when he is fit, simple as that. OK, the guys that came on just got back from injury, but this is a squad game and we failed miserably without them for 60 minutes. We won against Cardiff, but again we were lackluster for a long time before getting lucky with a free-kick from long range. I said a draw is a good result before the game, and because of the first-half I cannot be anything but really happy. The naivety in the first half was astounding, and sorry to say, predictable. The game-changer happened in the 60th minute, again, very predictable. There's a huge gap between our best players and the rest. Sure, that goes for every team but for us it's embarrassing. Guzan 6 - Decent enough, safe hands although I wasn't overly impressed with the second goal. Not his fault at all, but he could have done more to prevent it instead of standing still Clark 5 - Not a full-back Baker 4 - Very poor showing for the first goal and generally a bit naive in his passing Vlaar 7 - Very good game by the Dutchman Bacuna 4 - Huge mistake led to goal, but again this guy is not a full-back and his tactical awareness and positioning is that of a midfielder. Go figure, get Lowton in and this guy up the pitch! Tonev 3 - Really poor display, he shoots whenever he can and it ruins the game for everyone else. When you always shoot, the others will get annoyed and not pass to you the next time Westwood 6 - A poor game, but the automatic extra point for a great goal struck with the utmost belief in the result. Other than that, he fails to command the game in any sort of way El Ahmadi 6 - Pretty much the same, scores a good goal with obvious composure. Many would have blasted that on the keeper or over the goal. Overrun the rest of the game I'm afraid Sylla 2 - I am sorry to say, and I have some hopes for the lad, but that was probably the worst display I have ever seen from a midfielder in a Villa-kit since becoming a fan in 1992. Sorry for him Kozak 4 - Just not in the game, expect for a wishful hope of a shot from distance. A great shot by the way, but it was hit and hope all the way. Does not offer anything when we play like that Benteke 5 - Again fails to do anything in front of the goal, but he gave us a lot of fight and energy. Goals will come eventually of course, but it's clearly affecting his confidence Subs: Weimann 7 - Great level of energy and punch, changed the game for us with his running. Checked and ran in their faces, almost scored with a wicked shot after Benteke's initial try. Assist as well Agbonlahor 7 - Same with him, made a lot of important headers and ran them ragged. When you take away their confidence, teams like WBA will falter like a house of cards Delph 7 - Our midfield pretty much sucked for 60 minutes, he came in and fixed the problems. Job well done, he is our best central midfielder without a doubt All in all very happy with a point, but also very concerned about the state of our team when we are without a few players. Of course, United drew Cardiff when they were without Vidic, Carrick and Van Persie, but they at least manage to score goals and look like themselves. Without Delph and Gabby, and also Weimann when we do not possess the speed of Gabby on the pitch, we look extremely lost. 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
poitier Posted November 25, 2013 Share Posted November 25, 2013 Even with quality players, if the balance of the team is wrong you will struggle. If you have poor players and the balance is all wrong you get a performance like our first half. Bacuna and Sylla had stinkers, Clark not comfortable at left back. I thought Benteke was a lot better than some posters have been saying. First half he was the one trying to create, but had too many players crowding him out, and he won a lot in the air. A great point in the end. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
flamingsombrero Posted November 25, 2013 Share Posted November 25, 2013 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chap of Steel Posted November 25, 2013 Share Posted November 25, 2013 A comeback that wouldn't have happened last season. Pretty pleasing. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PaulC Posted November 25, 2013 Share Posted November 25, 2013 Well that was pretty much like everyone expected it to be, or wished to be at half-time. We were woeful and some of our players just aren't good enough to play together, it was basically a mess the first 60 minutes. Then went out all the players we wanted to get rid of, and all the players we wanted on the pitch came on. That picture of Gabby, Weimann and Delph gave me hope immediately and boy did they deliver. Tonev was terrible, Sylla had a really bad day at the office and Kozak is not a player at all. Weimann gave us tempo, energy and momentum. I love his body-language, he just wants to win and the other players realizes there is something in it. Gabby won a lot of challenges and kept momentum going, same with Delph who calmed our midfield down. The goals were a bit random, and so were the goal-scorers, but chances will come when we press high with that sort of energy. Some will say brilliant coaching from Lambert. I am not so sure, everyone on here were calling these substitutions and they did come after 60 minutes. We were crap from the first minute until this and our best players changed our game when they came on. Could one or two have started, Gabby and Weimann did not look like they were half-injured or jaded, on the contrary. Should we have started 5 midfielders and let Kozak sit on the bench? A midfield consisting of Tonev, Westwood, Sylla and El Ahmadi always looked a bit weak, especially as it led to Kozak being out of the play. Benteke needs to play when he is fit, simple as that. OK, the guys that came on just got back from injury, but this is a squad game and we failed miserably without them for 60 minutes. We won against Cardiff, but again we were lackluster for a long time before getting lucky with a free-kick from long range. I said a draw is a good result before the game, and because of the first-half I cannot be anything but really happy. The naivety in the first half was astounding, and sorry to say, predictable. The game-changer happened in the 60th minute, again, very predictable. There's a huge gap between our best players and the rest. Sure, that goes for every team but for us it's embarrassing. Guzan 6 - Decent enough, safe hands although I wasn't overly impressed with the second goal. Not his fault at all, but he could have done more to prevent it instead of standing still Clark 5 - Not a full-back Baker 4 - Very poor showing for the first goal and generally a bit naive in his passing Vlaar 7 - Very good game by the Dutchman Bacuna 4 - Huge mistake led to goal, but again this guy is not a full-back and his tactical awareness and positioning is that of a midfielder. Go figure, get Lowton in and this guy up the pitch! Tonev 3 - Really poor display, he shoots whenever he can and it ruins the game for everyone else. When you always shoot, the others will get annoyed and not pass to you the next time Westwood 6 - A poor game, but the automatic extra point for a great goal struck with the utmost belief in the result. Other than that, he fails to command the game in any sort of way El Ahmadi 6 - Pretty much the same, scores a good goal with obvious composure. Many would have blasted that on the keeper or over the goal. Overrun the rest of the game I'm afraid Sylla 2 - I am sorry to say, and I have some hopes for the lad, but that was probably the worst display I have ever seen from a midfielder in a Villa-kit since becoming a fan in 1992. Sorry for him Kozak 4 - Just not in the game, expect for a wishful hope of a shot from distance. A great shot by the way, but it was hit and hope all the way. Does not offer anything when we play like that Benteke 5 - Again fails to do anything in front of the goal, but he gave us a lot of fight and energy. Goals will come eventually of course, but it's clearly affecting his confidence Subs: Weimann 7 - Great level of energy and punch, changed the game for us with his running. Checked and ran in their faces, almost scored with a wicked shot after Benteke's initial try. Assist as well Agbonlahor 7 - Same with him, made a lot of important headers and ran them ragged. When you take away their confidence, teams like WBA will falter like a house of cards Delph 7 - Our midfield pretty much sucked for 60 minutes, he came in and fixed the problems. Job well done, he is our best central midfielder without a doubt All in all very happy with a point, but also very concerned about the state of our team when we are without a few players. Of course, United drew Cardiff when they were without Vidic, Carrick and Van Persie, but they at least manage to score goals and look like themselves. Without Delph and Gabby, and also Weimann when we do not possess the speed of Gabby on the pitch, we look extremely lost. Agree with a lot of your post but not about Westwood. I thought he had a really good second half. Controlled the midfield. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JoshVilla Posted November 25, 2013 Share Posted November 25, 2013 What a game..... If there was any disagreement as to what our best starting 11 is, then that should have put it to bed.The first half was poor and we made them look so much better than they actually are, but we still had some decent chances. Those substitutions completely turned the game on it's head and proved, for me, that when we're at full strength (near enough) we're the better side. I was livid at the end of the first half, but now I feel pretty content with the point considering the hole that we had to dig ourselves out of. Let's just hope we thrash them at Villa Park next time. It's a big positive that we have our front 3 all back as a unit, and Delph returning is huge. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CrackpotForeigner Posted November 25, 2013 Share Posted November 25, 2013 People saying Tonev was terrible are only half right imo. He was our best player for the first 20 minutes: Three shots on target, one of which was atomic. Same with Kozak: One very good shot and some clever play at times. Probably best in a 451 or 433, though. Not Beneke's ideal partner so far. 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The_Steve Posted November 25, 2013 Share Posted November 25, 2013 With a half-fit Gabby, Andi and Delph, we had enough quality to overturn a 2-0 deficit against West Brom. That's hugely encouraging. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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