Ratings and Reactions: Villa 1-2 Arsenal

[garyshaw]

A View From the Opposition

 

Arsenal fan in peace, just wanted to give my view on the game.

 

Even though we've had a pretty decent record at VP over the last 15 years, the games we've had against Villa recently have been very difficult and this proved to be the case yet again last night.

 

Lambert changing the formation to a 3-5-2 worked well in terms of stifling our play, apart from the minute of craziness which led to us capitalising on your defensive lapses in concentration.

 

The game started off very slowly and, even before the unfortunate injury to Baker, Arsenal had the lion's share of possession but I never felt we were truly threatening your defence enough. We only had one good chance in the opening 5 minutes, which Giroud should have scored from, from Sagna's cross but for most of the half, I felt Villa coped with us relatively well. You congested the middle and gave us a little more room out wide which actually looked to be working well for you. And as always, when you did get the ball, the pace of Agbonlahor, who gave us a torrid time at The Emirates, proved to be deadly on the counter, as exemplified with Monreal getting booked for a cynical foul on him when his turn of pace proved to be too much for the Spaniard.

 

Ozil's passing was easy on the eye, but I still question his influence in certain games but I felt it was a quiet night from the German overall. Cazorla, who I felt was our worst player by a mile, was gifting away possession and was frequently forced back due to the pressure from your midfield and closing down his options. Wilshere, in my view, was our best midfield player, as he was the only one in our midfield with the drive and energy to get at Villa and play forward passes to try and penetrate your defence.

 

Everything was looking comfortable for Villa despite all of the ball we had, but then Lowton had a lapse in concentration when Ozil played an incisive through ball to Monreal whose precise cross was buried into the net by Wilshere. Not the cleanest strike but was accurate enough to go into the bottom corner. The groans around Villa Park said it all and the players seemed to a little shaken up. Arsenal took advantage of Villa seemingly feeling sorry for themselves straight from the kick off, as Wilshere caught Delph dilly-dallying on the ball and played a lofted ball over the top for Giroud to latch onto. The Frenchman's first touch was impeccable, a lucky second touch with the bounce of the knee and a very composed finish to make it 2-0 and made it his 9th of the season, 12 in all competitions. 

 

Villa's hard work to stop us from playing our quick passing game was undone within the space of a minute. Unfortunately for Villa, teams like Arsenal will punish you if you make rookie mistakes.

 

The second half, Arsenal, as has been an all too familiar story, tried to rest on the 2-0 goal lead and Villa, much to my surprise, tried to give it their all. In certain games this season, Villa have crumbled when they've conceded first, but this didn't look to be the case against the league title contenders. It appeared that Arsenal tried to conserve their energy and see the game out which tends to be our tactic after building a two-goal cushion, but we sat deeper in our own half and we seemed far too casual with our passing which, from our perspective, wasn't professional enough. We didn't play with enough vigour and we weren't pressing your midfield. However, for all of Villa's effort, Szczesny was a spectator for most of the game and it was only where Cazorla's over elegance cost us, as his stray pass was intercepted with ease and Lowton whipped in an inch perfect ball for Benteke to head in from close range. His 6th of the season and a goal which will hopefully do his confidence a world of good, hopefully going into the game against Liverpool at Anfield this week! 

 

From then on, for the final 20 minutes, Villa could smell blood and they searched for an equaliser. Were it not for the composed Koscielny and the height of Mertesacker preventing Benteke on two occasions from scoring taps-ins, Villa surely would have got a point which would have rewarded their hard work.

 

In the end, it proved to be too little, too late but a chorus of boos at Villa Park was not the case. It was a round of applause for the team spirit to get back into the game.

 

Villa can take a lot of encouragement from the second half and I have no doubt in my mind that if they can perform like they did in the second half against us for the rest of the season, they will not be near the relegation zone. However, despite having a young side, my own opinion is you need another experienced head at the back. Vlaar was superb (your best player in my opinion) and another central defender with a bit more experience to partner him would really sort out your defensive woes. Lescott, perhaps?

 

Best of luck for the rest of the season Villa!

This is why I don't mind Arsenal compared to Spurs

[SurreyGooner]

 

A View From the Opposition

 

Arsenal fan in peace, just wanted to give my view on the game.

 

Even though we've had a pretty decent record at VP over the last 15 years, the games we've had against Villa recently have been very difficult and this proved to be the case yet again last night.

 

Lambert changing the formation to a 3-5-2 worked well in terms of stifling our play, apart from the minute of craziness which led to us capitalising on your defensive lapses in concentration.

 

The game started off very slowly and, even before the unfortunate injury to Baker, Arsenal had the lion's share of possession but I never felt we were truly threatening your defence enough. We only had one good chance in the opening 5 minutes, which Giroud should have scored from, from Sagna's cross but for most of the half, I felt Villa coped with us relatively well. You congested the middle and gave us a little more room out wide which actually looked to be working well for you. And as always, when you did get the ball, the pace of Agbonlahor, who gave us a torrid time at The Emirates, proved to be deadly on the counter, as exemplified with Monreal getting booked for a cynical foul on him when his turn of pace proved to be too much for the Spaniard.

 

Ozil's passing was easy on the eye, but I still question his influence in certain games but I felt it was a quiet night from the German overall. Cazorla, who I felt was our worst player by a mile, was gifting away possession and was frequently forced back due to the pressure from your midfield and closing down his options. Wilshere, in my view, was our best midfield player, as he was the only one in our midfield with the drive and energy to get at Villa and play forward passes to try and penetrate your defence.

 

Everything was looking comfortable for Villa despite all of the ball we had, but then Lowton had a lapse in concentration when Ozil played an incisive through ball to Monreal whose precise cross was buried into the net by Wilshere. Not the cleanest strike but was accurate enough to go into the bottom corner. The groans around Villa Park said it all and the players seemed to a little shaken up. Arsenal took advantage of Villa seemingly feeling sorry for themselves straight from the kick off, as Wilshere caught Delph dilly-dallying on the ball and played a lofted ball over the top for Giroud to latch onto. The Frenchman's first touch was impeccable, a lucky second touch with the bounce of the knee and a very composed finish to make it 2-0 and made it his 9th of the season, 12 in all competitions. 

 

Villa's hard work to stop us from playing our quick passing game was undone within the space of a minute. Unfortunately for Villa, teams like Arsenal will punish you if you make rookie mistakes.

 

The second half, Arsenal, as has been an all too familiar story, tried to rest on the 2-0 goal lead and Villa, much to my surprise, tried to give it their all. In certain games this season, Villa have crumbled when they've conceded first, but this didn't look to be the case against the league title contenders. It appeared that Arsenal tried to conserve their energy and see the game out which tends to be our tactic after building a two-goal cushion, but we sat deeper in our own half and we seemed far too casual with our passing which, from our perspective, wasn't professional enough. We didn't play with enough vigour and we weren't pressing your midfield. However, for all of Villa's effort, Szczesny was a spectator for most of the game and it was only where Cazorla's over elegance cost us, as his stray pass was intercepted with ease and Lowton whipped in an inch perfect ball for Benteke to head in from close range. His 6th of the season and a goal which will hopefully do his confidence a world of good, hopefully going into the game against Liverpool at Anfield this week! 

 

From then on, for the final 20 minutes, Villa could smell blood and they searched for an equaliser. Were it not for the composed Koscielny and the height of Mertesacker preventing Benteke on two occasions from scoring taps-ins, Villa surely would have got a point which would have rewarded their hard work.

 

In the end, it proved to be too little, too late but a chorus of boos at Villa Park was not the case. It was a round of applause for the team spirit to get back into the game.

 

Villa can take a lot of encouragement from the second half and I have no doubt in my mind that if they can perform like they did in the second half against us for the rest of the season, they will not be near the relegation zone. However, despite having a young side, my own opinion is you need another experienced head at the back. Vlaar was superb (your best player in my opinion) and another central defender with a bit more experience to partner him would really sort out your defensive woes. Lescott, perhaps?

 

Best of luck for the rest of the season Villa!

This is why I don't mind Arsenal compared to Spurs

 

 

Haha, thank you, I don't mind you guys compared to Spurs either!

 

On a serious note though, judging by the comments on this thread, it seems you haven't played this well at home for quite some time. Your away form is actually very respectable, with only 3 losses from 10 matches. I think, although tightening up the defence is key, you do need another striker and a creative midfielder. Benteke has the talent, but lacked confidence recently. Even so, strikers need to share the burden sometimes. Weimann has not hit the heights of last season it seems and Agbonlahor, whilst he is always a threat with his speed and agility, is not a prolific goalscorer. Then there's Helenius, who Lambert does not seem to rate and Bowery who is just a youngster.

 

Signing Holt as a stop-gap is an understandable decision, but I feel Lambert should have gone for a different type of striker. Someone who provides another dimension to the team. Because most of the strikers you have rely on crosses, high balls and holding the ball up (target men, basically). 

 

A player like Gignac from Marseilles? Aboubakar from Lorient? If Lambert genuinely wanted a target man, then perhaps someone like Finnbogason from Hereenveen would have been worth a punt (19 goals in 17 matches this season). Or if he didn't want to spend any money, I feel John Guidetti was a good loan move from Manchester City to Stoke, perhaps you missed a trick there?

 

I don't know how much (or lack of) money you guys have and I'm not sure whether Lerner is being tight-fisted or just simply cannot generate the funds for the squad. But you guys do have the foundations of a good side here.

 

Maybe a change of manager with a fresh approach is key? Lambert did a fantastic job with Norwich with two back-to-back promotions and their highest league finish in the top tier since the early 90s, but it does not seem to be working out for him so far at Villa - or at least that's the impression I get on here. Sometimes certain managers just don't succeed in moving to other clubs. It happens.

 

Regardless, like I said, I wish Villa all the best for the rest of the season and I hope you can take points off of our rivals.

[Harry]

A View From the Opposition

 

Arsenal fan in peace, just wanted to give my view on the game.

 

Even though we've had a pretty decent record at VP over the last 15 years, the games we've had against Villa recently have been very difficult and this proved to be the case yet again last night.

 

Lambert changing the formation to a 3-5-2 worked well in terms of stifling our play, apart from the minute of craziness which led to us capitalising on your defensive lapses in concentration.

 

The game started off very slowly and, even before the unfortunate injury to Baker, Arsenal had the lion's share of possession but I never felt we were truly threatening your defence enough. We only had one good chance in the opening 5 minutes, which Giroud should have scored from, from Sagna's cross but for most of the half, I felt Villa coped with us relatively well. You congested the middle and gave us a little more room out wide which actually looked to be working well for you. And as always, when you did get the ball, the pace of Agbonlahor, who gave us a torrid time at The Emirates, proved to be deadly on the counter, as exemplified with Monreal getting booked for a cynical foul on him when his turn of pace proved to be too much for the Spaniard.

 

Ozil's passing was easy on the eye, but I still question his influence in certain games but I felt it was a quiet night from the German overall. Cazorla, who I felt was our worst player by a mile, was gifting away possession and was frequently forced back due to the pressure from your midfield and closing down his options. Wilshere, in my view, was our best midfield player, as he was the only one in our midfield with the drive and energy to get at Villa and play forward passes to try and penetrate your defence.

 

Everything was looking comfortable for Villa despite all of the ball we had, but then Lowton had a lapse in concentration when Ozil played an incisive through ball to Monreal whose precise cross was buried into the net by Wilshere. Not the cleanest strike but was accurate enough to go into the bottom corner. The groans around Villa Park said it all and the players seemed to a little shaken up. Arsenal took advantage of Villa seemingly feeling sorry for themselves straight from the kick off, as Wilshere caught Delph dilly-dallying on the ball and played a lofted ball over the top for Giroud to latch onto. The Frenchman's first touch was impeccable, a lucky second touch with the bounce of the knee and a very composed finish to make it 2-0 and made it his 9th of the season, 12 in all competitions. 

 

Villa's hard work to stop us from playing our quick passing game was undone within the space of a minute. Unfortunately for Villa, teams like Arsenal will punish you if you make rookie mistakes.

 

The second half, Arsenal, as has been an all too familiar story, tried to rest on the 2-0 goal lead and Villa, much to my surprise, tried to give it their all. In certain games this season, Villa have crumbled when they've conceded first, but this didn't look to be the case against the league title contenders. It appeared that Arsenal tried to conserve their energy and see the game out which tends to be our tactic after building a two-goal cushion, but we sat deeper in our own half and we seemed far too casual with our passing which, from our perspective, wasn't professional enough. We didn't play with enough vigour and we weren't pressing your midfield. However, for all of Villa's effort, Szczesny was a spectator for most of the game and it was only where Cazorla's over elegance cost us, as his stray pass was intercepted with ease and Lowton whipped in an inch perfect ball for Benteke to head in from close range. His 6th of the season and a goal which will hopefully do his confidence a world of good, hopefully going into the game against Liverpool at Anfield this week! 

 

From then on, for the final 20 minutes, Villa could smell blood and they searched for an equaliser. Were it not for the composed Koscielny and the height of Mertesacker preventing Benteke on two occasions from scoring taps-ins, Villa surely would have got a point which would have rewarded their hard work.

 

In the end, it proved to be too little, too late but a chorus of boos at Villa Park was not the case. It was a round of applause for the team spirit to get back into the game.

 

Villa can take a lot of encouragement from the second half and I have no doubt in my mind that if they can perform like they did in the second half against us for the rest of the season, they will not be near the relegation zone. However, despite having a young side, my own opinion is you need another experienced head at the back. Vlaar was superb (your best player in my opinion) and another central defender with a bit more experience to partner him would really sort out your defensive woes. Lescott, perhaps?

 

Best of luck for the rest of the season Villa!

Good post mate and thank you for taking the time. I for one saw a lot of positives on Monday night, unlike some on here (probably the ones who boo the team at every game). I would add an attacking midfielder to our wish list along with a more experienced centre back.

[Stevo985]

Woah

 

an opposition fan who actually knows stuff about teams other than his.

 

Good posts. Refreshing.