KSV Posted January 19, 2014 Share Posted January 19, 2014 we need to start adding quality players from now on.. problem is are we going to be able to hold on to Benteke again? 2 steps forward 1 step back and all........ Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TRO Posted January 19, 2014 Share Posted January 19, 2014 (edited) No one on here can have a moan at Aston Villa more then me. but that first half particularly, was a perfect illustration of what I have been wanting to see( it could have been 4 or 5 to us)....because they dispelled the kind of criticism i have been aiming at them. it wasn't the 2 goals that encouraged me ( however they play a big part) it was the general approach play and movement off the ball. no excuse now, they can, do it and against class opposition. something to build on. Edited January 19, 2014 by TRO 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
darrenm Posted January 19, 2014 Share Posted January 19, 2014 I don't think we'll miss Benteke as much as when we lose Delph. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TRO Posted January 19, 2014 Share Posted January 19, 2014 we need to start adding quality players from now on.. problem is are we going to be able to hold on to Benteke again? 2 steps forward 1 step back and all........ yes Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Condimentalist Posted January 20, 2014 Share Posted January 20, 2014 (edited) I don't think we'll miss Benteke as much as when we lose Delph. When are we going to lose Delph? I'm not saying it's impossible but he's already said he'd happily finish his career here. I also disagree with you fundamentally. It'll be a lot harder for us to find a player of Benteke's quality again than Delph's. No surprise that our best performances of the season as a team have ALL been when Benteke has been on form. Edited January 20, 2014 by PatrickCousens Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mantis Posted January 20, 2014 Share Posted January 20, 2014 No one on here can have a moan at Aston Villa more then me. but that first half particularly, was a perfect illustration of what I have been wanting to see( it could have been 4 or 5 to us)....because they dispelled the kind of criticism i have been aiming at them. it wasn't the 2 goals that encouraged me ( however they play a big part) it was the general approach play and movement off the ball. no excuse now, they can, do it and against class opposition. something to build on. I would not be surprised if we put in similar performances for most away games for the rest of the season. We've proven under Lambert that we can be a very good team away from home. It's our home form and performances that worries me. I honestly can't see us playing like that at home. 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
darrenm Posted January 20, 2014 Share Posted January 20, 2014 I don't think we'll miss Benteke as much as when we lose Delph.When are we going to lose Delph? I'm not saying it's impossible but he's already said he'd happily finish his career here.I personally think we'll see a big club or two in for him in the summer. His recent play won't have gone unnoticed. And every team he does something amazing against will know about him. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
terrytini Posted January 20, 2014 Share Posted January 20, 2014 No one on here can have a moan at Aston Villa more then me. but that first half particularly, was a perfect illustration of what I have been wanting to see( it could have been 4 or 5 to us)....because they dispelled the kind of criticism i have been aiming at them. it wasn't the 2 goals that encouraged me ( however they play a big part) it was the general approach play and movement off the ball. no excuse now, they can, do it and against class opposition. something to build on. Wouldn't you just love to know whether Pl knows how and why we suddenly did that !! I would. Is it alchemy, the stars, tactics (obviously they play at least part), confidence, opposition undercooked (all Rodgers talk of them trying for the title ) , all of these, or what. I do think we have seen it before but how and why it went and then returned is baffling. The only thing I would say though, is , well, if we did that all the time, (specificall that first 30 minutes or so) and fineshed the chances, we would be Top 6. That wouldn't make sense either !! I am baffled ! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
terrytini Posted January 20, 2014 Share Posted January 20, 2014 No one on here can have a moan at Aston Villa more then me. but that first half particularly, was a perfect illustration of what I have been wanting to see( it could have been 4 or 5 to us)....because they dispelled the kind of criticism i have been aiming at them. it wasn't the 2 goals that encouraged me ( however they play a big part) it was the general approach play and movement off the ball. no excuse now, they can, do it and against class opposition. something to build on. I would not be surprised if we put in similar performances for most away games for the rest of the season. We've proven under Lambert that we can be a very good team away from home. It's our home form and performances that worries me. I honestly can't see us playing like that at home. Yet why ? I know we haven't been, but its not as if we played in our counter attacking way which has been good away from home - we actually were on the front foot for most the first half - then when they had it we didn't sit back but chased and harrangued and tackled and off we went again .....I see no reason why he shouldn't do exactly that at home, unless he/they are petrified of getting it wrong ? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
darrenm Posted January 20, 2014 Share Posted January 20, 2014 It's quite simple I think.Being away from home stops the players being as on edge and more willing to take risks.There's more of a siege mentality which gives more energy to chase from the front.It was a later game.Playing slow Gerrard that deep with slow Skrtel and slow Toure invited us on.We're actually a pretty good team and not as bad as we've been recently, but also not quite as good as we looked in the first half. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
snowychap Posted January 20, 2014 Share Posted January 20, 2014 An unashamedly totally rose coloured post...Indeed. You could probably have told us a year or so ago that you would have made that post, too. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ciggiesnbeer Posted January 20, 2014 Share Posted January 20, 2014 Got his tactics right yesterday that is a good sign. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Condimentalist Posted January 20, 2014 Share Posted January 20, 2014 I don't think we'll miss Benteke as much as when we lose Delph. When are we going to lose Delph? I'm not saying it's impossible but he's already said he'd happily finish his career here. I personally think we'll see a big club or two in for him in the summer. His recent play won't have gone unnoticed. And every team he does something amazing against will know about him. Interesting. I like Delph a lot but I think he needs more quality in the final third before anyone higher up would come in for him. I could only see him leaving if Lerner wants to cash in, in which case I might just give up to be honest. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tarjei Posted January 20, 2014 Share Posted January 20, 2014 No one on here can have a moan at Aston Villa more then me. but that first half particularly, was a perfect illustration of what I have been wanting to see( it could have been 4 or 5 to us)....because they dispelled the kind of criticism i have been aiming at them. it wasn't the 2 goals that encouraged me ( however they play a big part) it was the general approach play and movement off the ball. no excuse now, they can, do it and against class opposition. something to build on. This is an important point an one of the reasons why I have been a bit sceptical to Lambert lately. I like him as a manager and I like the type of players he brings in to the club, but this season he has not done well in setting up the team to play as they can. The end of last season we played pretty much the same way we played against Liverpool, and I think the key differences between first half of this season and 2nd part of last and aginst Liverpool is fairly simple Against Liverpool we were defending higher up the pitch, and thus the midfield had time to engage both in defensive and attacking duties. The out ball, so to speak, was no longer a hoof but a directed pass that more often than not ended up in our possession and the attackers had support from midfield and fullbacks. So instead of hoping for luck or defensive mistakes, the players had an actual chance of making something happen. Standing higher up the pitch also meant the fullbacks were in a position to put a cross in, something that we have not seen much of this season and I suspect is one of the reasons why Benteke has struggled for goals and Lowton has come under such critism. Last season Lowton was great at anticipating passes and intercepting them and he was great linking up with the winger and crossing the ball. He was prone to the odd positional mistake, but this season we have only seen that side of him. Why? IMO it's Lambert fault for going for hoofball tactics. For me there needs to be midfield trio, and the defence should avoid dropping so deep so that the supporting players are able to link up with the attack. I'm not saying we should play tiki taka and look to control games, but avoid isolating the strikers so much. Otherwise we rely far too heavily on luck. I don't understand why Lambert has not done this sooner, last season it was excellent to watch and effective too, and I really hope it continues. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Oaks Posted January 20, 2014 Share Posted January 20, 2014 Other than being too reactionary after the Palace game (which I rescinded a few days later) I've never thought he should be sacked. He's made mistakes, but I think I understand the true problems in the club. You can't expect to build a premier league team with players who average £2 million and less than £20k a week. You're going to sign some ok players and some shockers, we know who these are. When he's spent some money on Benteke and Okore they've looked genuine quality, also Bertrand also looks decent. Give him £20 million to sign 3 quality players in the summer I think he would. You're only really good enough in football when you have the players to work with. For me I fully understand the constraints he's worked under and I will always blame Lerner over Lambert. But while understanding that the performances this year have been awful and apart from a couple of players none of them have seemed to kick on from last year. I also think he's spent his limited budget badly in the summer and left us with issues we're trying to plug with loan signings now. We keep seeing the odd glimpses of what we can do but I'm yet to.be convinced Lambert is the manager others believe him to be. I would agree with that. I would point out he lost his biggest signing in the summer after 3 games...but not to sign a midfielder was and still is ridiculous. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Big_John_10 Posted January 20, 2014 Share Posted January 20, 2014 An unashamedly totally rose coloured post, because life feels so much nicer this way, and this weekend, for just a few hours, everyone can remember how it feels to be happy ! Well quite a few have said the players dont have the ability - we have beaten Man City and Arsenal and run Liverpool close - so presumably that answers that. Linked to that are those who reckon his transfers haven't been so good. See above. Quite a few have said he cant sort tthe defence - our defence is up in the top half, and in the top 3 or 4 away from home - despite Okore being missing and Vlaar injured a lot - so presumably that answers that. Quite a few have said he is tactically inept - yet Suarez is by no means the only top player he has kept quiet.and away from home we are, over 15 months now, with a couple of exceptions before Christmas, only getting beaten by the Top 4 - so that answers that. A few weeks ago a few were suggesting he had lost the plot and the dressing room - do those people think we could have played that way at the weekend if either of those things were the case ? So that answers that. Quite a few have said we cant pass the ball. See Saturdays game. So that answers that. Not even going to bother with people who say it is luck - luck gets nobody anywhere in this League. And we are top half. To add to all the above an even larger number would agree we have rarely actually played as well as we could, and an even larger number have seen that CB has been out of form. Yet we are top half. As such, it follows that by definition if we can improve our overall perfromances and CB can start scoring we will go higher still. And all that is with a young side and a low wage bill. All in all that dont seem that bad to me ! Yes results at home are poor. Yes there have been a fair number of uninspring perfromances in terms of excitement, and yes, even as a staunch PL fan I will admit the change in tactics away from a pressing game to sitting back - especially at home - has seemed odd. Yes we would all hope RL renews an interest and becomes sufficiently confident in PL that we can shop in, if not Harrods, then at least Tesco rather than Aldi. But even the doubters, even those who still are appaled by the Bradford game, by the other stuff, can, if they want, permit themselves the warm glow that comes wit hthinking such a positive spin may after all by borne out by the next few months, and after that too. You never know, we might just be getting it right ? So 3 games proves everything's right and how good the players are? What do the other 20 show then? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
villalad21 Posted January 20, 2014 Share Posted January 20, 2014 Are we playing at home against the baggies? Another defeat then as usual. Whens our next away game? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Raver50032 Posted January 20, 2014 Share Posted January 20, 2014 Apart from Chelsea (a point is gettable), I would say our remaining home fixtures are winnable. After an indifferent month or so, it would be great to think we have now turned a corner. I was encouraged (to a degree) by the 2nd half showing against Arsenal - and very encouraged by our overall showing at Anfield. It was genuinely exciting to see. As somebody else has said, we have something to build on... Who better then to flex our muscles against, than West Brom. Make it so, Paul. Make it so. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lexicon Posted January 20, 2014 Share Posted January 20, 2014 An unashamedly totally rose coloured post, because life feels so much nicer this way, and this weekend, for just a few hours, everyone can remember how it feels to be happy ! Well quite a few have said the players dont have the ability - we have beaten Man City and Arsenal and run Liverpool close - so presumably that answers that. Linked to that are those who reckon his transfers haven't been so good. See above. Quite a few have said he cant sort tthe defence - our defence is up in the top half, and in the top 3 or 4 away from home - despite Okore being missing and Vlaar injured a lot - so presumably that answers that. Quite a few have said he is tactically inept - yet Suarez is by no means the only top player he has kept quiet.and away from home we are, over 15 months now, with a couple of exceptions before Christmas, only getting beaten by the Top 4 - so that answers that. :) A few weeks ago a few were suggesting he had lost the plot and the dressing room - do those people think we could have played that way at the weekend if either of those things were the case ? So that answers that. Quite a few have said we cant pass the ball. See Saturdays game. So that answers that. :) Not even going to bother with people who say it is luck - luck gets nobody anywhere in this League. And we are top half. To add to all the above an even larger number would agree we have rarely actually played as well as we could, and an even larger number have seen that CB has been out of form. Yet we are top half. As such, it follows that by definition if we can improve our overall perfromances and CB can start scoring we will go higher still. And all that is with a young side and a low wage bill. All in all that dont seem that bad to me ! Yes results at home are poor. Yes there have been a fair number of uninspring perfromances in terms of excitement, and yes, even as a staunch PL fan I will admit the change in tactics away from a pressing game to sitting back - especially at home - has seemed odd. Yes we would all hope RL renews an interest and becomes sufficiently confident in PL that we can shop in, if not Harrods, then at least Tesco rather than Aldi. But even the doubters, even those who still are appaled by the Bradford game, by the other stuff, can, if they want, permit themselves the warm glow that comes wit hthinking such a positive spin may after all by borne out by the next few months, and after that too. You never know, we might just be getting it right ? So 3 games proves everything's right and how good the players are? What do the other 20 show then? All 23 result in being 10th in the league. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Crumpet Posted January 20, 2014 Share Posted January 20, 2014 10th in the league and, although there are not that many points between us and relgation zone, I see it very much how Mourhino explained United yesterday. Yes we can still get relegated but for that to happen 7 other teams, most of which with lower morale, will need to overake us. If we can finish 10, after injuries, Bentekes form and Luna I would say a successful season for Lambert. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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