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Ratings and Reactions: Villa - Blackpool

limpid

By limpid
in FAC3: Blackpool h

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Match Polls  

53 members have voted

  1. 1. Who was your man of the match?

    • Given
      7
    • Hutton
      2
    • Okore
      2
    • Clark
      3
    • Cissokho
      0
    • Cleverley
      0
    • Cole
      6
    • Westwood
      3
    • Sánchez
      10
    • Benteke
      15
    • Grealish
      3
    • N'Zogbia (for Cleverley 63)
      2
    • Weimann (for Grealish 75)
      0

  2. 2. Manager's Tactics?

    • Very Good
      4
    • Good
      4
    • Average
      14
    • Poor
      17
    • Very Poor
      14

  3. 3. Refereeing Performance

    • Very Good
      4
    • Good
      6
    • Average
      25
    • Poor
      11
    • Very Poor
      7

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OutByEaster? Grand Master

OutByEaster?

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It was an odd one that. First up, the reason to like Lambert - he's not afraid to innovate - I don't think anyone on here would have picked the formation we started with which was a sort of 3-2-4-1 with Westwood at Centre half. I guess the plan is that having your best passer of the ball in the place where you seem to have most of the ball is a good idea. I think it probably is.

 

What's less good an idea and the reason not to like Lambert is that his next thought would have been to make sure that formation was 5-4-1 when the opposition had the ball - the easiest way to do that was to play Cissokho on the left wing and Hutton on the right wing. Both of them did passable jobs, but they sort of negated the attacking intent of the formation. I wonder if things might have been different if we'd opened with the same shape but with real attacking intent:

 

--------------------------Guzan--------------------------------

 

-------------Okore-----Westwood----Clark-------------------

 

----------------Sanchez----------Cleverley-------------------

 

NZogbia---------Bacuna---------Cole--------------Grealish

 

---------------------------Benteke----------------------------

 

Would have been riskier and we'd have been asking wingers to defend rather than defenders to attack, but it might have said something about our intent.

 

No matter, the experiment almost worked and for much of the first half, we looked like the opposite of what we're supposed to be - a decent footballing side without a striker. It wasn't by any means vibrant, the final ball was terrible as you'd expect when you've got defenders trying to get it into the box, but more than anything else, nothing worked because every ball into the box bounced off the big man in the middle. A chance to catch up on a little more sleep.

 

I would assume that I missed the tannoy announcement at half time asking if whoever had found Benteke's touch could return it to reception but it would appear that they did, he took twenty minutes getting used to it again and then looked a bit like Christian Benteke for the last twenty minutes. That's a good thing; in the first half, he looked like you could have thrown him a dead labrador and it would have gotten away from him.

 

In the second half, we stopped playing a midfielder at the back and defenders on the wings and went with the slightly less outlandish tactic of just pushing one midfielder (Joe Cole) up front - that didn't really work very well either in all honesty and it was only once Cleverly went off for N'Zogbia and Cole got a free role that all of the eleven players on the field were playing in areas that they're used to.

 

Oddly enough that worked and when we did score it wasn't a bad goal. Sorry Paul, that noise you heard was relief.

 

 

The goal interrupted a growing clamour in the crowd for a.) a goal and b.) the head of the manager - for the first time really at Villa Park this season, the "We want Lambert out" was heard loud and clear (alongside it's cousin "Sacked in the morning"). It didn't bring them to an end either, and there was a little more at the final whistle. 

 

There are plus points with Lambert, when he notices something, he seems able to address it - he noticed we weren't defending well and we've tightened up, he noticed the style wasn't working and changed it - it's just that he seems to be the slowest man in the world at noticing that things are happening - a sort of Managerial Gabby if you like. His negative points are becoming clearer by the week - most notably his negativity, but for me equally annoyingly his inability to notice it - I'd like to see him worried in a press conference, angry even, he makes himself look an idiot with this stream of positive nonsense. The team needs urgency, pattern, more than one plan and the freedom to try to win games - that's his job - and if he doesn't do it, there's now a very visible encouragement both within Villa Park and noticeably in the press for him to stop trying.

 

Anyways, the important thing as ever is that we're in the velvet bag for the next round. Good. I think.

 

Oh, and finally a word for the referee - that word is pillock.

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darrenm Rising Star

darrenm

Posted
Posted

I can finally move my fingers again so I'll do my view.

 

From the start it was obvious that Westwood was sitting deeper and it seemed like he'd been told to play quarterback. Whether he had a specific instruction or whether it was just that what was where he needed to sit to direct things was I don't know. It made it seem like he was a CB but we still had the standard back 4, but the 2 full-backs were definitely wing-backs so with Clark and Okore stepping up as much as possible, Westwood did seem quite deep. He went a lot further forward in the 2nd half.

 

As far as us being boring due to lots of safe short passes I'd counter that it takes 2 to tango. If the other team are keeping men behind the ball and pressing quickly then the only course of action most of the time is a quick short pass to keep the ball. We're unable to penetrate defences easily because they're pulling back to be very compact and packing the box. There are a few things I think we do wrong though.

 

Given - 7 - Bit worried when I saw Given in for this one but he was great. Didn't have a lot to do apart from one great save which is a classic 'Given' save - one for the cameras.

Hutton - 2 - we've found the real Alan Hutton. While he was always showing for the ball, he kept stopping instead of running on into space. One occasion where Cleverley gave him a 1-2 back into space, Hutton just stopped and Cleverley went mad which he was completely entitled to. Hutton's a big reason why we can't break teams down because as a full back he's always hanging back for a pass rather than looking to go beyond the last man. I was screaming at him to just make a run.

Okore - 10 - One of the best players I've ever seen at Villa Park. Incredibly complete player who doesn't lose a single race, tackle, header, pass, anything. They put Miller on him 2nd half to rough him up and he stood up to it and more. Now gone past Benteke as our only world class player.

Clark - 8 - Really good but got a needless yellow card. Him and Okore are a top 6 PL CB pairing.

Cissokho - 3 - Almost as bad as Hutton but I couldn't see him as easily. Far, far too conservative when pushing on. Doesn't take a man on, crap crossing, doesn't make runs behind.

Westwood - 5 - A better Tom Cleverley. Did nothing wrong but nothing really of note either. Kept it ticking over pretty well, didn't lose the ball.

Cleverley - 5 - Tried hard but a slightly worse version of Westwood so wasn't really required. Would be a lot better in a game against better opposition who actually attempt to beat us because he could actually drive through midfield a bit.

Sanchez - 8 - Quickly becoming my favourite player. Does the right thing every time and can pick out anyone at any angle of either foot. Great pass to Benteke to set up the goal.

Cole - 8 - Top notch player. If only he could stay fit and was 5 years younger. But then he wouldn't be with us. Standing ovation when coming off.

Grealish - 4 - For all of the excitement of when he decides to run at someone, it's all undone when he easily gets tackled, or falls over, or the ball gets stuck under his feet, or he attempts to overdribble. May come good, not sure yet.

Benteke - 0 until the goal, 10 after - Utterly, utterly useless until a moment of brilliance won the game for us. When other clubs have top players who can change a game, this is what it's like. All game he just stood in the middle wanting the ball played to him while he was tightly marked by 2 defenders, so he didn't have the ball. Didn't get frustrated enough to come deep either. Loads of times he needed to run behind their defence but couldn't be bothered. Near the end Weimann put in a great dinked cross that needed someone to attack the near post but Benteke was at the back as usual. I'm not sure how he expects people to reach him there all the time. Just attack the **** near post!

 

Lambert - I know he's not popular on here and I'll get abuse for defending him but I think he got it spot on. Blackpool were always gonna park the bus, frustrate us and hope to nick one from a set piece or something. Lambert saw there was space on the right wing so brought N'Zogbia on to exploit that which instantly helped. He then did the same with Weimann on the left and due to these 2 changes it created more space around the penalty area which ultimately resulted in our goal because Benteke had a bit more space.

 

Wasn't the worst match I've ever watched. Watching us keep the ball for 60 minutes without really doing anything isn't the most exciting thing ever but when we pushed on after about 65 mins it got a bit more exciting.

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R.I.C.O. Newbie

R.I.C.O.

Posted
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Decided to go down today as it was only £9 in a restricted seat and that's all Lambert's team is worth. Even for that it was a painful performance, not made easier by the fact it was bloody cold!

 

Our back four are a tight unit and rarely make mistakes, which is good to see. However we have become such a boring, tame team anywhere in the middle and going forward. Joe Cole looked to be the only one who tried in that abysmal first half, and it didnt really get any better in the second half. Grealish had a mare today, but he's young and will learn. What is unacceptable is players like Cleverly constantly giving the ball away, misplacing simple passes and prolonging the crab football we now play. What is plain to see it that they all seem scared of HAVING A **** SHOT ON GOAL! About 10 times today they could have troubled the keeper but decided to pass it sideways instead. Lambert must be trying his best to tell them to get those possession stats up!

 

Final rant, although Benteke got the winner he was a passenger all game. However an individual bit of skill and the balls to have a shot meant we won the game. See, its not rocket science!

 

The only other piece of entertainment was when the Blackpool fans let their flare off.

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daggy_333 Community Regular

daggy_333

Posted
Posted

I can finally move my fingers again so I'll do my view.

From the start it was obvious that Westwood was sitting deeper and it seemed like he'd been told to play quarterback. Whether he had a specific instruction or whether it was just that what was where he needed to sit to direct things was I don't know. It made it seem like he was a CB but we still had the standard back 4, but the 2 full-backs were definitely wing-backs so with Clark and Okore stepping up as much as possible, Westwood did seem quite deep. He went a lot further forward in the 2nd half.

As far as us being boring due to lots of safe short passes I'd counter that it takes 2 to tango. If the other team are keeping men behind the ball and pressing quickly then the only course of action most of the time is a quick short pass to keep the ball. We're unable to penetrate defences easily because they're pulling back to be very compact and packing the box. There are a few things I think we do wrong though.

Given - 7 - Bit worried when I saw Given in for this one but he was great. Didn't have a lot to do apart from one great save which is a classic 'Given' save - one for the cameras.

Hutton - 2 - we've found the real Alan Hutton. While he was always showing for the ball, he kept stopping instead of running on into space. One occasion where Cleverley gave him a 1-2 back into space, Hutton just stopped and Cleverley went mad which he was completely entitled to. Hutton's a big reason why we can't break teams down because as a full back he's always hanging back for a pass rather than looking to go beyond the last man. I was screaming at him to just make a run.

Okore - 10 - One of the best players I've ever seen at Villa Park. Incredibly complete player who doesn't lose a single race, tackle, header, pass, anything. They put Miller on him 2nd half to rough him up and he stood up to it and more. Now gone past Benteke as our only world class player.

Clark - 8 - Really good but got a needless yellow card. Him and Okore are a top 6 PL CB pairing.

Cissokho - 3 - Almost as bad as Hutton but I couldn't see him as easily. Far, far too conservative when pushing on. Doesn't take a man on, crap crossing, doesn't make runs behind.

Westwood - 5 - A better Tom Cleverley. Did nothing wrong but nothing really of note either. Kept it ticking over pretty well, didn't lose the ball.

Cleverley - 5 - Tried hard but a slightly worse version of Westwood so wasn't really required. Would be a lot better in a game against better opposition who actually attempt to beat us because he could actually drive through midfield a bit.

Sanchez - 8 - Quickly becoming my favourite player. Does the right thing every time and can pick out anyone at any angle of either foot. Great pass to Benteke to set up the goal.

Cole - 8 - Top notch player. If only he could stay fit and was 5 years younger. But then he wouldn't be with us. Standing ovation when coming off.

Grealish - 4 - For all of the excitement of when he decides to run at someone, it's all undone when he easily gets tackled, or falls over, or the ball gets stuck under his feet, or he attempts to overdribble. May come good, not sure yet.

Benteke - 0 until the goal, 10 after - Utterly, utterly useless until a moment of brilliance won the game for us. When other clubs have top players who can change a game, this is what it's like. All game he just stood in the middle wanting the ball played to him while he was tightly marked by 2 defenders, so he didn't have the ball. Didn't get frustrated enough to come deep either. Loads of times he needed to run behind their defence but couldn't be bothered. Near the end Weimann put in a great dinked cross that needed someone to attack the near post but Benteke was at the back as usual. I'm not sure how he expects people to reach him there all the time. Just attack the **** near post!

Lambert - I know he's not popular on here and I'll get abuse for defending him but I think he got it spot on. Blackpool were always gonna park the bus, frustrate us and hope to nick one from a set piece or something. Lambert saw there was space on the right wing so brought N'Zogbia on to exploit that which instantly helped. He then did the same with Weimann on the left and due to these 2 changes it created more space around the penalty area which ultimately resulted in our goal because Benteke had a bit more space.

Wasn't the worst match I've ever watched. Watching us keep the ball for 60 minutes without really doing anything isn't the most exciting thing ever but when we pushed on after about 65 mins it got a bit more exciting.

2 and 3 for Hutton and Cissokho is really really harsh imo.
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OutByEaster? Grand Master

OutByEaster?

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I have to add, I normally dont criticise referees but Foy was shocking. We should have had a free kick/penalty first half which was a blatant foul (just not sure where it took place) and he gave nothing. 

 

The one on Hutton? Definite penalty from where I was - I'm a fair distance from it, but in line and it was inside the box - the thing I couldn't understand is that if he thought the defender had got the ball he'd have given a corner. Should have been a penalty, if he'd got it wrong it should have been a corner, he gave a goal kick.

 

I couldn't believe there wasn't a card for the late, high, lunging one on Clark in front of the dugouts, it looked like one of those challenges that sometimes ends up red in the Prem. I'm not even sure from memory if he gave a foul.

 

He gave a foul throw against Grealish though, oh yes, he doesn't miss them.

 

Very poor today Mr Foy, and I thought he'd be kinder as he really seemed to enjoy warming up with Bella.

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Paul33 Proficient

Paul33

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Cole was my MOM, Westwood did okay too ..... the rest were ordinary.

 

Ridiculous tactics against the worst team in the Championship and it left us hardly any better than they were.

 

We want our Villa back ! #lambertout

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chappy Mentor

chappy

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Excruciatingly dull game, second one in four days!

Benteke was awful aside from the goal, which was at the other end so I'm still waiting for motd to see it properly. Seriously terrible performance though, especially in the first half.

Defence was solid. Good save from Given, didn't have much else to do except sweep up Manuel Neuer style. Cleverley was poor again. Neither Cole or Grealish suggested they should be starting unfortunately. Nzogbia did alright when he came on, made us more direct which we were crying out for.

In the hat for the next round though which is more than be said for QPR. Late winners were also scored by Stoke and Man City, and by all account Man United struggled at Yeovil so I'm just glad to have got through and beyond a potential banana skin.

Special shout out to the woman in front of me who left on 75 minutes in a flurry of profanities against the manager, I'm glad you missed the goal.

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daggy_333 Community Regular

daggy_333

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Excruciatingly dull game, second one in four days!

Benteke was awful aside from the goal, which was at the other end so I'm still waiting for motd to see it properly. Seriously terrible performance though, especially in the first half.

Defence was solid. Good save from Given, didn't have much else to do except sweep up Manuel Neuer style. Cleverley was poor again. Neither Cole or Grealish suggested they should be starting unfortunately. Nzogbia did alright when he came on, made us more direct which we were crying out for.

In the hat for the next round though which is more than be said for QPR. Late winners were also scored by Stoke and Man City, and by all account Man United struggled at Yeovil so I'm just glad to have got through and beyond a potential banana skin.

Special shout out to the woman in front of me who left on 75 minutes in a flurry of profanities against the manager, I'm glad you missed the goal.

 

Disagree about Cole i thought he gave a decent account of himself but i was also disappointed with Grealish.

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8pints Enthusiast

8pints

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Posted (edited)

I thought Sanchez had a good game; ran the channels now and again, passed it around, made runs and set a good goal up with a good pass even if Benteke still had some lovely stuff to do.

Edited by 8pints
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dont_do_it_doug. Veteran

dont_do_it_doug.

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Cole was my MOM, Westwood did okay too ..... the rest were ordinary.

Ridiculous tactics against the worst team in the Championship and it left us hardly any better than they were.

We want our Villa back ! #lambertout

Which Villa do you want "back"?

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