DCJonah Posted November 10, 2014 Share Posted November 10, 2014 In Lambert defence the players are playing for him, the last ditch defending, the constant moaning of officials by some players show they do actually care and its hurting them as well. For all our faults you cannot say the players arent trying That should be the minimum expectation to be fair. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Zatman Posted November 10, 2014 Share Posted November 10, 2014 In Lambert defence the players are playing for him, the last ditch defending, the constant moaning of officials by some players show they do actually care and its hurting them as well. For all our faults you cannot say the players arent trying That should be the minimum expectation to be fair. of course it is but doesnt always mean it happens. Look at some of players during Houllier and McLeish reign they didnt have a care 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bunnski Posted November 10, 2014 Share Posted November 10, 2014 We battled hard in the 3 games I'm referring to and could easily of picked up more than 1 point, Crikey, if it was easy to pick up extra points in those games, it makes you wonder why we didn't... What are you on about? The point is we have been well in them games and should have took more than a point. People are talking like we have been atrocious and were dominated by the opposition when in fact we have showed great fight and played well enough to win games and I'm sure we will if we keep playing similar. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Richard Posted November 10, 2014 Share Posted November 10, 2014 In Lambert defence the players are playing for him, the last ditch defending, the constant moaning of officials by some players show they do actually care and its hurting them as well. For all our faults you cannot say the players arent trying That should be the minimum expectation to be fair. Not sure he is saying different. I think what zatman is saying is that the players are playing for the manager ergo he has not lost the dressing room. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dodgyknees Posted November 10, 2014 Share Posted November 10, 2014 So if they are putting the effort in, the issue must be what the manager is telling them to do. Tactics. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
itdoesntmatterwhatthissay Posted November 10, 2014 Share Posted November 10, 2014 So if they are putting the effort in, the issue must be what the manager is telling them to do. Tactics. I think it's safe to say that tactically, players wise because we've experimented a lot with formations, Lambert is still struggling to get the best of/recognise individuals attributes and blend that with a tactic he thinks fits. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dodgyknees Posted November 10, 2014 Share Posted November 10, 2014 So if they are putting the effort in, the issue must be what the manager is telling them to do. Tactics. I think it's safe to say that tactically, players wise because we've experimented a lot with formations, Lambert is still struggling to get the best of/recognise individuals attributes and blend that with a tactic he thinks fits. It might help if he tried different formations. Not 4-1-5 though, that Bradford game was awful. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AshVilla Posted November 10, 2014 Share Posted November 10, 2014 So if they are putting the effort in, the issue must be what the manager is telling them to do. Tactics. I think it's safe to say that tactically, players wise because we've experimented a lot with formations, Lambert is still struggling to get the best of/recognise individuals attributes and blend that with a tactic he thinks fits. Well its his 3rd year and if he hasn't figured it out by now he never will 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
foreveryoung Posted November 10, 2014 Share Posted November 10, 2014 So if they are putting the effort in, the issue must be what the manager is telling them to do. Tactics. I think it's safe to say that tactically, players wise because we've experimented a lot with formations, Lambert is still struggling to get the best of/recognise individuals attributes and blend that with a tactic he thinks fits. Still struggling, with the same players after 2 an a half seasons is a little poor don't you think?? 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Richard Posted November 10, 2014 Share Posted November 10, 2014 So if they are putting the effort in, the issue must be what the manager is telling them to do. Tactics. Or that other teams have better quality players perhaps which given the teams we have been playing recently is not entirely unreasonable Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bobzy Posted November 10, 2014 Share Posted November 10, 2014 FWIW, I think we've played alright the last 3 games (after our tough-on-paper run) but lacked a cutting edge against Q.P.R. and West Ham - partly due to Benteke who looked good against Spurs before Mason-gate. It's given me hope that, Lambert-in or Lambert-sacked, we'll stay up this season. Last seasons top 6: Won 1, Lost 5 Other games: Won 2, Drawn 2, Lost 1 Pretty much an "expected" return from the games in my opinion. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
foreveryoung Posted November 10, 2014 Share Posted November 10, 2014 FWIW, I think we've played alright the last 3 games (after our tough-on-paper run) but lacked a cutting edge against Q.P.R. and West Ham - partly due to Benteke who looked good against Spurs before Mason-gate. It's given me hope that, Lambert-in or Lambert-sacked, we'll stay up this season. Last seasons top 6: Won 1, Lost 5 Other games: Won 2, Drawn 2, Lost 1 Pretty much an "expected" return from the games in my opinion. Then you have a very low expectation!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
itdoesntmatterwhatthissay Posted November 10, 2014 Share Posted November 10, 2014 So if they are putting the effort in, the issue must be what the manager is telling them to do. Tactics. I think it's safe to say that tactically, players wise because we've experimented a lot with formations, Lambert is still struggling to get the best of/recognise individuals attributes and blend that with a tactic he thinks fits. Still struggling, with the same players after 2 an a half seasons is a little poor don't you think?? I do, definitely. I think Lambert has been doing a bit of an apprenticeship at Villa but certain parts of the the learning curve have proved a little steep for him. He's gone through a decade's worth of learning with wage needs, players attitudes, tactical changes, divisive management, sticking by struggling players, working out when to drop them and transfer muddles and I'm happy at the job he's done, I think he's developed really well in those respects but I do think that he's not the man MON was when it comes to identifying what a player is good at and using that as a weapon. Weimann for example, he scores goals because he's got an eye for setting himself up for a shot in a tight space, but he plays on the wing. Nobody could cross, Albrighton was ignored, Gabby can't play wide without support yet he plays fairly isolated, we had no defensive midfield and players were forced to fail in those positions, youth players remain youth players etc etc...the list isn't short.... I'm not sure what I feel about Lambert, I really want him to do well, for Villa and his own career, but players haven't improved and we look the same as we did 2 years ago, underwhelming and sporadically entertaining, that definitely can't go on and so Lambert has to be walking a tightrope at the moment.....well unless of course he recently signed a long term deal. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DCJonah Posted November 10, 2014 Share Posted November 10, 2014 In Lambert defence the players are playing for him, the last ditch defending, the constant moaning of officials by some players show they do actually care and its hurting them as well. For all our faults you cannot say the players arent trying That should be the minimum expectation to be fair. Not sure he is saying different. I think what zatman is saying is that the players are playing for the manager ergo he has not lost the dressing room. I'd agree with that. Don't think many have claimed differently. The fact the players are still with him and yet we perform so poorly continues to show me he's not the right man for the job. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DCJonah Posted November 10, 2014 Share Posted November 10, 2014 Pretty much an "expected" return from the games in my opinion. I expected progress from an awful season last year. We're averaging the same points per game and scoring less. Its not what I expected. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Zatman Posted November 10, 2014 Share Posted November 10, 2014 FWIW, I think we've played alright the last 3 games (after our tough-on-paper run) but lacked a cutting edge against Q.P.R. and West Ham - partly due to Benteke who looked good against Spurs before Mason-gate. It's given me hope that, Lambert-in or Lambert-sacked, we'll stay up this season. Last seasons top 6: Won 1, Lost 5 Other games: Won 2, Drawn 2, Lost 1 Pretty much an "expected" return from the games in my opinion. Then you have a very low expectation!! classic 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rodders0223 Posted November 10, 2014 Share Posted November 10, 2014 FWIW, I think we've played alright the last 3 games (after our tough-on-paper run) but lacked a cutting edge against Q.P.R. and West Ham - partly due to Benteke who looked good against Spurs before Mason-gate. It's given me hope that, Lambert-in or Lambert-sacked, we'll stay up this season. Last seasons top 6: Won 1, Lost 5 Other games: Won 2, Drawn 2, Lost 1 Pretty much an "expected" return from the games in my opinion. Then you have a very low expectation!! Do you ever post anything else? 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Keyblade Posted November 10, 2014 Share Posted November 10, 2014 Pretty much an "expected" return from the games in my opinion. I expected progress from an awful season last year. We're averaging the same points per game and scoring less. Its not what I expected. He means results-wise though.Of the 5 teams outside last years' top 6 we have faced, we have lost only one of them and picked up 8 points. For where we finished, and how we did in similar situations last season, I'd say that's an improvement. 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PieFacE Posted November 10, 2014 VT Supporter Share Posted November 10, 2014 Pretty much an "expected" return from the games in my opinion. I expected progress from an awful season last year. We're averaging the same points per game and scoring less. Its not what I expected. He means results-wise though.Of the 5 teams outside last years' top 6 we have faced, we have lost only one of them and picked up 8 points. For where we finished, and how we did in similar situations last season, I'd say that's an improvement. I think the big problem this year though is that the "top 6" teams that we expected to get beat against has turned into the top 8 or 9? I mean, Southampton and Swansea are now teams added to that list who will beat us. The teams who are struggling in last seasons top 6, Arsenal, Spurs, Everton have all beat us too. When you setup to not lose 16-18 games in a 38 game season, but end up losing them anyway it puts a huge amount of pressure on the other games. I wish we were a bit more adventurous against the better teams, so what we might get beat badly? Who cares? If you don't have a go you dont win games. We should take the view of playing better teams as a free hit, if we lose it's expected, but at least try and win the game. Lambert this season more than any other has set us up similar to McLeish, we play to try and not lose rather than to win. It's not acceptable in my view. 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bobzy Posted November 10, 2014 Share Posted November 10, 2014 (edited) Pretty much an "expected" return from the games in my opinion. I expected progress from an awful season last year. We're averaging the same points per game and scoring less. Its not what I expected. Personally, I'd only compare average points/goals etc. after we've played each team once. At the moment, our fixtures have been completely skewed towards playing the better teams in the league. As things stand, we've taken 3 points from a possible 18 against the top 6 last season and 8 from a possible 15 against the rest of the league. If we were to continue in this manner, we'd hit 48 points this season. Last season, that would've been good enough for 11th place - the season before, good enough for 9th. We've had key injures this season (I know, who hasn't) and it also doesn't account for oddities like Man Utd finishing 7th etc but, purely in terms of results, we haven't actually done badly this season. I'd happily take 48 points and a 9th-11th finish in the table. The problem is the football being played - and definitely in an attacking sense. We look toothless and like we don't really know how to open up defences. Even with that, we've done "well" against the teams in the league that we should look to be beating, rather than relying on unexpected results against the big teams. We've even kept 4 clean sheets out of a possible 11 - which isn't bad. The substance of what we do with the ball needs to improve dramatically, in short. The results in themselves aren't too bad. Edited November 10, 2014 by bobzy 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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