Paul Lambert

[VillanousOne]

 

This whole "excuses" rubbish is really getting tiring. While our horrendous run of fixtures doesn't excuse bad performances it is a mitigating factor to a certain extent as generally a team is going to perform worse and look worse playing against other teams that are much better than them than teams that are at a similar level. While there are a lot of legitimate criticisms about recent performances the fact still remains that when playing against teams outside of last season's top 7 we've done alright - 2 wins and a draw.

I'm going to avoid making any knee-jerk reactions until I see how we do in our next few games where we won't be playing top teams week in week out.

Mantis just because people feel that the club is making excuses for the poor performances it isn't doesn't make it rubbish. 

 

The joke is that last season we probably played better against teams above us than we did the teams around us, it was losing to the likes of Fulham and Palace that almost sent us down.

 

Nobody expected us to get many points out of the teams we have just played, we mistakenly saw an opportunity vs Everton as so far this season they had been rubbish. What grates about recent results is that we barely mustered a shot on target, put more than three passes together, had more than 30% possession, or looked like we had turned up to compete. Yes there were some defensive heroics, but also some dumb errors and own goals.

 

I liked it when we went against the top 4 and just went balls out to get something, i that Lambert was all about dying fighting rather than just laying down on the pitched with our pants down and a big sign saying 'get it here.'

 

You can blame millions of mitigating factors, but that fact is, we went to Everton a team we should at least try and get something from and played like it was a Pub team vs Real Madrid.

Edited October 19, 2014 by VillanousOne

[Villarocker]

I have this vision of us playing well at QPR and going down by a goal that's controversial - offside or a foul in the build-up etc. Just enough for the pro Lambert folk to defend him.

I personally hope he changes the line up. Richardson and N'Zogbia would be none-starters, for me. Maybe throw in Weimann to play wide right of the front 3 and put Sanchez in midfield because their midfield duo of Henry and Sandro will have Westwood and Cleverly on toast.

[AndyM3000]

18 months ago, it feels like 5 years ago!

http://m.bbc.co.uk/sport/football/22244165

 

15 shots on target and a ton of possession.

 

That is how you score goals and win football matches. Until this changes we won't get anywhere.

[dakid007]

Clueless

[TRO]

We can't play 4-3-3 while

A) we are conceding at the rate we are

the confidence has evaporated

C) too many players are not contributing

[VillanousOne]

Does anyone every think that sacrificing a midfielder for an striker is what could be costing us?
 

I mean only Weimann every tracks back and sometimes makes a hash of it. I would rather play Lowton or Bacuna as at least they can cross (sometimes) and track back.
 

From the few touches Joe Cole had he looked fairly decent, if he is fit we may as well play him.

 

I'd also rather play Gabby up front on his own and sub Benteke on but it won't happen. I'd also drop Cissokho as he's been dreadful - but the only other option is Richardson who has been pretty awful of late also so erm, yep not sure on that one. Lambert won't drop Cissokho anyhow.

We can't play 4-3-3 while

A) we are conceding at the rate we are
the confidence has evaporated
C) too many players are not contributing

sorry TRO you made almost the same point at the same time

[Mantis]

 

This whole "excuses" rubbish is really getting tiring. While our horrendous run of fixtures doesn't excuse bad performances it is a mitigating factor to a certain extent as generally a team is going to perform worse and look worse playing against other teams that are much better than them than teams that are at a similar level. While there are a lot of legitimate criticisms about recent performances the fact still remains that when playing against teams outside of last season's top 7 we've done alright - 2 wins and a draw.

I'm going to avoid making any knee-jerk reactions until I see how we do in our next few games where we won't be playing top teams week in week out.

Mantis just because people feel that the club is making excuses for the poor performances it isn't doesn't make it rubbish. 

 

I'm not sure you got the point of my post.

 

I have this vision of us playing well at QPR and going down by a goal that's controversial - offside or a foul in the build-up etc. Just enough for the pro Lambert folk to defend him.

I personally hope he changes the line up. Richardson and N'Zogbia would be none-starters, for me. Maybe throw in Weimann to play wide right of the front 3 and put Sanchez in midfield because their midfield duo of Henry and Sandro will have Westwood and Cleverly on toast.

I see the debate has no degenerated into fans grouping other fans into silly little groups.

Edited October 19, 2014 by Mantis

[VillanousOne]

 

 

This whole "excuses" rubbish is really getting tiring. While our horrendous run of fixtures doesn't excuse bad performances it is a mitigating factor to a certain extent as generally a team is going to perform worse and look worse playing against other teams that are much better than them than teams that are at a similar level. While there are a lot of legitimate criticisms about recent performances the fact still remains that when playing against teams outside of last season's top 7 we've done alright - 2 wins and a draw.

I'm going to avoid making any knee-jerk reactions until I see how we do in our next few games where we won't be playing top teams week in week out.

Mantis just because people feel that the club is making excuses for the poor performances it isn't doesn't make it rubbish. 

 

I'm not sure you got the point of my post.

 

I have this vision of us playing well at QPR and going down by a goal that's controversial - offside or a foul in the build-up etc. Just enough for the pro Lambert folk to defend him.

I personally hope he changes the line up. Richardson and N'Zogbia would be none-starters, for me. Maybe throw in Weimann to play wide right of the front 3 and put Sanchez in midfield because their midfield duo of Henry and Sandro will have Westwood and Cleverly on toast.

I see the debate has no degenerated into fans grouping other fans into silly little groups.

 

well unfortunately you will always get rabid opposites on this board, the bottom line is that everyone wants Lambert, Lerner, the players and the club in general to do well. Even the 'i told you so' types, still would rather not have to say that.

 

There aren't many of us who will willingly listen to both sides and take a balanced view. Even if we weren't so terrible I imagine that would still be the case.

[P3te]

Things need to start changing pretty fast or that whole new contract is going to have a lot of people looking even sillier than they usually do. I'm not going to go jumping on Lambert's back just yet, because I genuinely believe that the same results from the same games in a different order would probably have us all feeling quite optimistic - for example this:

 

Everton (L)

Hull (D)

Man City (L)

Liverpool (W)

Arsenal (L)

Hull (W)

Chelsea (L)

Stoke (W)

 

Looks a lot better than winning 3 and drawing 1 in the first 4 then not scoring a goal for the next 4.

 

Like I say, big changes needed to actually get the players playing with some form of attacking intent now

[GENTLEMAN]

I am still shocked by the manner of the Everton defeat. 

[ozvillafan]

I am still shocked by the manner of the Everton defeat. 

 

I think I should have been - but after 10 minutes I had the sinking feeling I'd been here before. It's becoming a trend.

[KSV]

I don't normally turn off the match until its over even when were losing as i like to see how we respond etc. Against Everton it was heartless and i switched off 87th minute. We just had no heart.

 

What concerns me is the amount of midfielders we have who we all seem to rate and no matter what combination plays we have 30-40% possession and get overrun. Westwood Delph Cleverley etc they are capable passers of the ball so why can we not win the ball and keep it for large parts of the game as most sides do to us? We saw it in the first half against Hull. 

 

Is it the players or the tactics? Is it the shape of our midfield? Either way it comes down to coaching and Paul Lambert. I think the players we have are better than what they are showing performance wise. Against Hull we were pressing from the forwards and Hull couldnt cope with our pressure and we just ran the show in that first half. Why dont we do it every game? Especially against the better sides we just sit back and let them attack us. Why? Our counter attack is not that great... We have scored 4 goals. Its not working. I just wonder how long it will be before Paul Lambert decides.. screw it.. lets just go for games. We have a better defence now that can cope with the team attacking further forward. I would at least expect this against the bottom 14 clubs. You see every other 'relegation' battlers and they score goals and compete with the big sides. Even Villa did last year and got some great results. So i wonder with a better squad why we are so negative this season.

[BG_Villa_Fan]

This whole "excuses" rubbish is really getting tiring. While our horrendous run of fixtures doesn't excuse bad performances it is a mitigating factor to a certain extent as generally a team is going to perform worse and look worse playing against other teams that are much better than them than teams that are at a similar level. While there are a lot of legitimate criticisms about recent performances the fact still remains that when playing against teams outside of last season's top 7 we've done alright - 2 wins and a draw.

 

I'm going to avoid making any knee-jerk reactions until I see how we do in our next few games where we won't be playing top teams week in week out.

 

This is so 2013. 

[Keyblade]

I don't normally turn off the match until its over even when were losing as i like to see how we respond etc. Against Everton it was heartless and i switched off 87th minute. We just had no heart.

 

What concerns me is the amount of midfielders we have who we all seem to rate and no matter what combination plays we have 30-40% possession and get overrun. Westwood Delph Cleverley etc they are capable passers of the ball so why can we not win the ball and keep it for large parts of the game as most sides do to us? We saw it in the first half against Hull. 

 

Is it the players or the tactics? Is it the shape of our midfield? Either way it comes down to coaching and Paul Lambert. I think the players we have are better than what they are showing performance wise. Against Hull we were pressing from the forwards and Hull couldnt cope with our pressure and we just ran the show in that first half. Why dont we do it every game? Especially against the better sides we just sit back and let them attack us. Why? Our counter attack is not that great... We have scored 4 goals. Its not working. I just wonder how long it will be before Paul Lambert decides.. screw it.. lets just go for games. We have a better defence now that can cope with the team attacking further forward. I would at least expect this against the bottom 14 clubs. You see every other 'relegation' battlers and they score goals and compete with the big sides. Even Villa did last year and got some great results. So i wonder with a better squad why we are so negative this season.

 

Pretty much how I see it. It's really frustrating. I know we're capable of more, but we don't seem to be showing it for whatever reason.

[Villarocker]

The possession stat is a worrying one. OK, so we've won games when had less than 30% possession but, more often than not, you'll lose with such a low amount of the ball.

I'd like to see us play a straight 442 and Weimann a run as a strike partner to Benteke. Play Gabby wide left and N'Zogbia wide right, with a centre two of Cleverly and Westwood. The back four should be the normal full backs plus the best two centre backs available at the time.

Let's try and get some crosses into the box for the big man to either attack or knock down for Weimann.

[TrentVilla]

I agree the possession stats are concerning but still will reserve judgment until further into the season, same with the shots.

But we are 3 points better off than in the corresponding fixtures last season.

We are currently just below mid table and over the 8 games have shown mid table form.

We are as close to the top 4 as the bottom three and overall in the region of where I think we will be/should be come the end of the season.

Could the football be better? Yes. But overall I' not unhappy with how we've done over the 8 games.

[Mantis]

Other things take precedence over the possession stats at the moment for me - I find it baffling that some people are still focusing so much on this when we haven't scored for 4 games straight.

Edited October 20, 2014 by Mantis

[KSV]

I agree the possession stats are concerning but still will reserve judgment until further into the season, same with the shots.

But we are 3 points better off than in the corresponding fixtures last season.

We are currently just below mid table and over the 8 games have shown mid table form.

We are as close to the top 4 as the bottom three and overall in the region of where I think we will be/should be come the end of the season.

Could the football be better? Yes. But overall I' not unhappy with how we've done over the 8 games.

Looking at tables this early doesnt tell you much. We should look at this around Christmas.

 

My concern is we have not got above 50% in matches because tactically we are not set up to. You cant give a quality side or any side these days in the Premier League 60% of the ball and except to keep a clean sheet. We did it a few times early and he stuck with it which is fair enough but you cant go all season winning 1-0. Senderos may return for QPR. I am curious to see if we are more 'adventurous' especially with our first choice back 4 available again. 

Edited October 20, 2014 by KSV

[Stevo985]

We need to see how we respond over some so called easier fixtures.

 

If we don't show more than we've shown in the past 4 games then Lambert has some serious questions to answer (if he doesn't already)

 

If we end up getting a good haul of points against the lesser teams then you can accept the "excuse" (seeing as that's the word people seem to use) of ourfixtures being tough.

But if we end up playing the same non expansive, awful football in those fixtures then the excuse doesn't hold up.

 

I'm nervous. As I can see us losing to QPR.

[Villarocker]

Other things take precedence over the possession stats at the moment for me - I find it baffling that some people are still focusing so much on this when we haven't score for 4 games straight.

To create chances you need to have the ball?