Ratings and Reactions: Villa - Sunderland

[villa4europe]

Nzogbia no confidence? I'd hate to see how many players he tries to take on if he had confidence...

[gilbertoAVFC]

Nzogbia no confidence? I'd hate to see how many players he tries to take on if he had confidence...

 

Well he was poor basically, I was giving him the benefit of the doubt!

[Spray]

N'Zog wasn't the worst player today but if we can get some club to part with between £4-5m for him then he's got to be sold. He won't be missed either!!

[Paul33]

Sanchez was outstanding again but both Bacuna and Grealish injected the sort of spark and dynamic play that seems beyond the likes of Cleverley and Nzogbia ..... the latter proving once again that he is nowhere near good enough to play at this level and surely PL must be getting close to realising this !!!

[LoughboroughLion]

Just got back from the game and contemplating it during the drive home left me a bit frustrated.

 

Sanchez, as everyone has said, was really good - both on the ball and at winning it back.

 

N'Zogbia I thought did okay and showed a bit going forward. Unfortunately he just doesn't do a lot other than pick up the ball and come inside looking for a shot. 

 

Hutton offered more attacking flair than anyone in the first half.

 

It felt like we were just about to push on and attack meaningfully before Delph got stupidly sent off. 

 

Grealish was a breath of fresh air and we should have really scored from one of his passes across the face of the goal. One chance comes to mind where both Benteke and Weimann were on the edge of the box and all it needed was a run to the near post. Frustrating. 

 

All in all, yes we had more possesion - which I like - but we need need need someone with flair to help us connect Sanchez and Benteke. Hopefully in the second half of the season that can be Grealish as I don't think we have the budget to get one in January. 

[AVTuco]

Sanchez.

[Woodytom]

Have stayed away since the united defeat last season and today reminded me why.

I summed it up pretty well in the match thread yesterday IMO.

They (Sunderland) are about as awful as us.

[Silafou's_besi_mate]

Only the second time I have been to Villa Park this season, having given up my season ticket as didn't want to see crap football week in, week out. Dare I say it, but we look worse.

Even before Delph was sent off, he was not really in the game - if he doesn't want to put a shift in we should get rid.

Weiman was awful - how can he start before Grealish amazes me. Same goes for N'Zogbia - unless we are playing him to try and offload him to another team? I do think most people can see he is gash, so don't get that strategy.

Benteke was gash too - whenever Grealish crossed the ball in, he moved from the six yard box to the eighteen yard box?!?!?! Dare I say it, but Bent would have loved that type of service.

I get the possession led strategy, but we are awful in the final third. We rely on Benteke too much - when he has a bad game we simply just don't score. We have the creative midfielder in Grealish, so let's play him. But get some support for Benteke - we rely on him too much.

I also thought Vlaar played well - considering he has been linked to a host of clubs, he did put in a good performance.

[a m ole]

Not quite sure how CNZ is getting defended here. He was utter shite for all bar five mins (around 40 min mark). Appreciate he has no confidence, but his movement was non-existent.

 

A lot of it seems to be down to the run and shot on target he had and a few times he moved the ball forward to the edge of the box and passed it back into the midfield. The problem is defenders know that if you don't dive into a challenge and stay on your toes he has nothing. Keep a yard ahead, wait for the ball to ricochet between his shins and clear it.

[sheepyvillian]

Woodytom ,,are you the Charlie Aitkin of Villa talk ?

[villa4europe]

They (Sunderland) are about as awful as us.

Disagree, they were worse than us, which much like the baggies, QPR and burnley games makes the result even worse

The old "3 worse teams than us" thing, this year there are 7 teams worse than us IMO but that says far more about the league than it does about us

[Woodytom]

Woodytom ,,are you the Charlie Aitkin of Villa talk ?

Not sure what you mean?

[VillanousOne]

Zog has been mostly awful this season, but today he did ok - he didn't run into cul-de-sacs and give the ball away stupidly. He made some decent runs and passes, i know it's easier to hate but credit where credit is due.

[Woodytom]

They (Sunderland) are about as awful as us.

Disagree, they were worse than us, which much like the baggies, QPR and burnley games makes the result even worse

The old "3 worse teams than us" thing, this year there are 7 teams worse than us IMO but that says far more about the league than it does about us

They were less adventurous than us, certainly given that we had ten men, but I think if you have them home advantage and us 11 men, the result would be the same.

The league table shows were very similar at the minute and has done for a few seasons now. They looked as solid at the back, as clueless in creating and as hopeless up front as we did.

[Woodytom]

Zog has been mostly awful this season, but today he did ok - he didn't run into cul-de-sacs and give the ball away stupidly. He made some decent runs and passes, i know it's easier to hate but credit where credit is due.

He at least, forced the keeper into a save.

[sheepyvillian]

Woodytom ,,are you the Charlie Aitkin of Villa talk ?

Not sure what you mean?

Charlie, having the record for most appearances as a Villa player , I was kind of comparing that to the amount of posts you have made , but never mind , I think I'll just get my coat .

[Woodytom]

Woodytom ,,are you the Charlie Aitkin of Villa talk ?

Not sure what you mean?

Charlie, having the record for most appearances as a Villa player , I was kind of comparing that to the amount of posts you have made , but never mind , I think I'll just get my coat .

Lol, I did think it would have summit to do with his appearances, but I'm pretty sure there are plenty of posters more regular than me!

[Neil]

11 goals scored in 19 matches is abysmal. Weimann wasteful, Cleverley invisible.

Sanchez was immense, what a bargain. Benteke definitely needs to improve his positioning and make more near post runs. Grealish and Bacuna made a real difference and they both should start the next match. Never saw the Delph tackle, but if it was a red then he's an idiot.

Sanchez was brilliant, I had to mention it twice!

 

I was thinking I agreed with everything you said here, apart from Cleverly.  But that was because I hadn't really seen cleverly for the whole match and couldn't comment, then realised that was the whole point.  To conclude, I agree with everything you've written here.

[shammynoor]

Funniest half time round up by the commentator

 

"Even I feel like booing after watching that first half" - "I cant think why these 2 teams are the lowest scorer in the league" 

[TRO]

Just got back from the game and contemplating it during the drive home left me a bit frustrated.

 

Sanchez, as everyone has said, was really good - both on the ball and at winning it back.

 

N'Zogbia I thought did okay and showed a bit going forward. Unfortunately he just doesn't do a lot other than pick up the ball and come inside looking for a shot. 

 

Hutton offered more attacking flair than anyone in the first half.

 

It felt like we were just about to push on and attack meaningfully before Delph got stupidly sent off. 

 

Grealish was a breath of fresh air and we should have really scored from one of his passes across the face of the goal. One chance comes to mind where both Benteke and Weimann were on the edge of the box and all it needed was a run to the near post. Frustrating. 

 

All in all, yes we had more possesion - which I like - but we need need need someone with flair to help us connect Sanchez and Benteke. Hopefully in the second half of the season that can be Grealish as I don't think we have the budget to get one in January. 

 

......does anyone have the nous to come to the near post?