PL: sha a 2009/09/13 Reactions and Ratings

[Ponky]

I thought this from Richard Jolly of soccernet was an excellent summary of the match:

Fortune favours the brave at St Andrew's

By Richard Jolly

(Archive)

September 13, 2009

The significance of derbies to the balance of power in a city can serve to stifle and smother ambitions. Fear of defeat to rivals can outweigh the desire to beat them; a must-win game becomes a must-not-lose match. That, at least, was the approach Birmingham City took. Seventy minutes in, Aston Villa decided to risk defeat and were rewarded with victory.

Enter John Carew to augment Gabriel Agbonlahor in attack. That duo duly combined for the solitary goal in a weekend where the eight previous Premier League games contained an average of four apiece. Even one appeared unrealistic at St Andrew's during a lengthy impasse. Both sides deployed a 4-5-1 formation; Villa's, at least, is designed to aid counter-attacking. Birmingham's is essentially cautious.

Yet it produced a common problem in these parts. Congestion is experienced all too often on the M6, the M5, the M40 and the M42 in the West Midlands. With 10 men in midfield, parts of the St Andrew's pitch were similarly crowded. Then Martin O'Neill navigated his way out of the gridlock, enabling Villa to take the aerial route to Carew.

Indeed, the Norwegian beat Roger Johnson, a fine header himself, in the air to Ashley Young's free kick, sending it back across goal. There Agbonlahor eluded his marked to head in his 85th-minute winner.

"We are able to adjust and adapt," said O'Neill. "It looked as though it was heading for stalemate and I wanted us to force more pressure on Birmingham if it was possible. We got John on and he made a big contribution."

O'Neill was too diplomatic to draw a contrast, but his Birmingham counterpart did. "I felt that Villa's power in midfield could over-run us," said Alex McLeish, explaining his side's shape. "They did the same at Anfield and played the same at home [against Fulham] with one striker, so I don't see why I can't use one striker at home. I thought the tactics were spot on."

Others might not concur. McLeish is a manager who has spoken of the importance of winning home games, a failing of Birmingham's when they were relegated two seasons ago. Yet too little ambition was apparent to prevail in this one. The initial formation remained intact until the closing minutes: when Cristian Benitez, who is rapidly becoming Birmingham's specialist substitute, came on, it was at the expense of the lone striker, Garry O'Connor.

Negativity spread from McLeish's tactics to his post-match interview. "The difference between us and Villa in financial clout and quality is a gulf, but it didn't look like that today," he insisted. However, his side had become more defensive at half-time when a thigh injury forced the removal of James McFadden. Lee Carsley replaced him, becoming one of five essentially destructive central midfielders scattered around the Blues side at the same time.

"It's a harsh result, there's no doubt about that," added the Birmingham manager. In some respects it was - for much of the game neither side merited a win - yet in others, Villa's more progressive attitude made them deserving victors.

At Birmingham, the emphasis is on the defensive. McLeish's safety-first theories served Scotland well, and plenty north of the border could be forgiven for feeling nostalgic about his brief but successful stint in charge of the national team. He earned Birmingham promotion despite scoring fewer goals than relegated Norwich and it is not hard to see why their first five Premier League games have only produced six goals. Birmingham have only managed two of them.

This presented an opportunity to increase that meagre tally. Villa fielded a trio of debutant defenders, in Richard Dunne, James Collins and Stephen Warnock, and recorded a clean sheet. Allegiances to these two clubs don't always last long.

It was a tale of one city, but of two Brummies. Agbonlahor, the resident Villa fan, endured some unpleasant chants about his mother before answering his tormentors among the Birmingham support with the winning goal. The City club captain, Carsley, is a lifelong fan who was attending his first derby in any capacity. Dropped to the bench, he attempted a couple of audacious shots before local hero status was claimed by Agbonlahor and he was sacrificed in the search for an equaliser. The substitute was substituted, always an ignominious exit, a couple of minutes after Agbonlahor celebrated.

His fellow Villa supporters were as ecstatic as Agbonlahor, the other Bluenoses as despondent as Carsley.

MAN OF THE MATCH: Richard Dunne - This was an accomplished debut for the former Manchester City captain and an auspicious start for his new-look central defensive partnership with the equally impressive James Collins. Both were reassuringly solid.

BIRMINGHAM VERDICT: An injury crisis has been the backdrop to their season and McLeish could benefit from seeing more of his defenders and forwards fit again. A decent defensive record shows the stand-ins at the back have fared well, yet a side with such limited intent surely need to commit more players forward if they want to win games.

ASTON VILLA VERDICT: The 4-5-1 formation is serving Villa well, but Carew has a habit of making an impact and for games such as Portsmouth's visit on Saturday, there is certainly a case to revert to 4-4-2 and give the Norwegian a start.

THE LIFE OF WILEY: Alan Wiley, one of the Premier League's better referees, was in the crowd. If the match provided little excitement, he may have had the consolation of watching an excellent display by Howard Webb, the official on the pitch.

[villadale]

Friedel 6 - Spectator

Cuellar 6

Dunne 8

Collins 8

Warnock 7

Milner 4

NRC 5

Sidwell 5

Petrov 6

Young 5

Gabby 5

harsh on milner. he offered alot more (maybe only 1st half) than the midfield centre 3. and thought gabby did us proud. was fed scraps all game but came up with the goods. cuellar was better than a 6 as well...very solid defensively.

Brad 6

Carlos 7

warnock 6

collins 9

dunne 8

NRC 4

Stan 5

sidwell 5

milner 6

young 6

gabby 7

[YLN]

make sure you clear your browsers cache afterwards so no-one knows you've been looking at such wrongness........

I actually got a laugh of that site :oops:

Won the game today with bringing Carew on and going 442. Something we should have done around about the same time.

I'm not sure we would have been allowed to bring Carew on though...

[kurtsimonw]

That is quite funny.

[paul34]

what was it like after the game then?did the inbreds show there true colours?

[jimijames]

Mediocre match, brilliant result!! Nice work you LIONS!

[VillaGoMarching]

I thought this from Richard Jolly of soccernet was an excellent summary of the match:

Fortune favours the brave at St Andrew's

By Richard Jolly

(Archive)

September 13, 2009

The significance of derbies to the balance of power in a city can serve to stifle and smother ambitions. Fear of defeat to rivals can outweigh the desire to beat them; a must-win game becomes a must-not-lose match. That, at least, was the approach Birmingham City took. Seventy minutes in, Aston Villa decided to risk defeat and were rewarded with victory.

Enter John Carew to augment Gabriel Agbonlahor in attack. That duo duly combined for the solitary goal in a weekend where the eight previous Premier League games contained an average of four apiece. Even one appeared unrealistic at St Andrew's during a lengthy impasse. Both sides deployed a 4-5-1 formation; Villa's, at least, is designed to aid counter-attacking. Birmingham's is essentially cautious.

Yet it produced a common problem in these parts. Congestion is experienced all too often on the M6, the M5, the M40 and the M42 in the West Midlands. With 10 men in midfield, parts of the St Andrew's pitch were similarly crowded. Then Martin O'Neill navigated his way out of the gridlock, enabling Villa to take the aerial route to Carew.

Indeed, the Norwegian beat Roger Johnson, a fine header himself, in the air to Ashley Young's free kick, sending it back across goal. There Agbonlahor eluded his marked to head in his 85th-minute winner.

"We are able to adjust and adapt," said O'Neill. "It looked as though it was heading for stalemate and I wanted us to force more pressure on Birmingham if it was possible. We got John on and he made a big contribution."

O'Neill was too diplomatic to draw a contrast, but his Birmingham counterpart did. "I felt that Villa's power in midfield could over-run us," said Alex McLeish, explaining his side's shape. "They did the same at Anfield and played the same at home [against Fulham] with one striker, so I don't see why I can't use one striker at home. I thought the tactics were spot on."

Others might not concur. McLeish is a manager who has spoken of the importance of winning home games, a failing of Birmingham's when they were relegated two seasons ago. Yet too little ambition was apparent to prevail in this one. The initial formation remained intact until the closing minutes: when Cristian Benitez, who is rapidly becoming Birmingham's specialist substitute, came on, it was at the expense of the lone striker, Garry O'Connor.

Negativity spread from McLeish's tactics to his post-match interview. "The difference between us and Villa in financial clout and quality is a gulf, but it didn't look like that today," he insisted. However, his side had become more defensive at half-time when a thigh injury forced the removal of James McFadden. Lee Carsley replaced him, becoming one of five essentially destructive central midfielders scattered around the Blues side at the same time.

"It's a harsh result, there's no doubt about that," added the Birmingham manager. In some respects it was - for much of the game neither side merited a win - yet in others, Villa's more progressive attitude made them deserving victors.

At Birmingham, the emphasis is on the defensive. McLeish's safety-first theories served Scotland well, and plenty north of the border could be forgiven for feeling nostalgic about his brief but successful stint in charge of the national team. He earned Birmingham promotion despite scoring fewer goals than relegated Norwich and it is not hard to see why their first five Premier League games have only produced six goals. Birmingham have only managed two of them.

This presented an opportunity to increase that meagre tally. Villa fielded a trio of debutant defenders, in Richard Dunne, James Collins and Stephen Warnock, and recorded a clean sheet. Allegiances to these two clubs don't always last long.

It was a tale of one city, but of two Brummies. Agbonlahor, the resident Villa fan, endured some unpleasant chants about his mother before answering his tormentors among the Birmingham support with the winning goal. The City club captain, Carsley, is a lifelong fan who was attending his first derby in any capacity. Dropped to the bench, he attempted a couple of audacious shots before local hero status was claimed by Agbonlahor and he was sacrificed in the search for an equaliser. The substitute was substituted, always an ignominious exit, a couple of minutes after Agbonlahor celebrated.

His fellow Villa supporters were as ecstatic as Agbonlahor, the other Bluenoses as despondent as Carsley.

MAN OF THE MATCH: Richard Dunne - This was an accomplished debut for the former Manchester City captain and an auspicious start for his new-look central defensive partnership with the equally impressive James Collins. Both were reassuringly solid.

BIRMINGHAM VERDICT: An injury crisis has been the backdrop to their season and McLeish could benefit from seeing more of his defenders and forwards fit again. A decent defensive record shows the stand-ins at the back have fared well, yet a side with such limited intent surely need to commit more players forward if they want to win games.

ASTON VILLA VERDICT: The 4-5-1 formation is serving Villa well, but Carew has a habit of making an impact and for games such as Portsmouth's visit on Saturday, there is certainly a case to revert to 4-4-2 and give the Norwegian a start.

THE LIFE OF WILEY: Alan Wiley, one of the Premier League's better referees, was in the crowd. If the match provided little excitement, he may have had the consolation of watching an excellent display by Howard Webb, the official on the pitch.

I read that too, it's top class.

[b6bloke]

Empty seats my lord! 5000 to be precise!

[sled]

I thought this from Richard Jolly of soccernet was an excellent summary of the match:

I read that too, it's top class.

What an excellent report.

[peterms]

Thought Warnock did really well, solid and confident. Strange to give him only 3?!

I agree. He wasn't quite up to the standard of Dunne and Collins, but had a good game overall.

Best moment - two blocks in the space of about 5 seconds, either of which could have been a goal.

[peterms]

Milner was one of our better players in 1st half. albeit had an absolute mare 2nd, but his work rate stayed consistent throughout. had to go looking for the ball in the 2nd as midfield 3 could not pass wind

His touch was poor throughout.

Worked hard, got into some good positions, but couldn't seem to get it quite right. Could have had a hat-trick.

Shame - one of my favourite players. Still, as someone said, he's allowed an off game.

[Mr_Dogg]

Just watching MOTD2, Carew could have easily slotted it into the net with that chance he had where he broke with Milner.

Almost an open goal. Oh well, nevermind.

[El_Hierro]

Great result, great day, Collins MOTM, Dunne not far behind.

[Dom_Wren]

Friedel - 7 - Did what he had to do, was vocal, and looked good with his feet, when we released pressure to you

Warnock - 7 - Didnt shirk a tackle and got forward well, accomplished first performance

Dunne - 8 - Rock at the back, bit dodgy on the deck when pulled out wide, but for this derby day a correct choice. Well done.

Collins - 9 (MOM yes i know gabby got a higher mark) - Won everything in the air, looked composed on the ball in bringing it out of the back, and sprinted to celebrate with Gabby like any of us would have done!

Cuellar - 8 - Again, solid as a rock, we needed his ariel prescence with diagonal balls.

Milner - 5 - I always say its fine to have a bad game as long as you dont hide. We all know he was having a mare, but he always wanted the ball, and was working his socks off. Thats the measure of the man.

Young - 7 - Another that worked his socks off in pressuring in his zone, won the free kick and had a great service for the goal.

Petrov - 6 - Bit subdued today was Stan, but i think that was down to our tactics, we just bypassed him, did his job though, but needs to be on the ball, to utilize him best.

NRC - 8 - Thought he was superb again today, his work rate and passing were first class ( i counted one pass under no pressure given away) his energy transfers to the team.

Sidwell - 6 - Did his job again, actually put in a good shift, but this was not a ball playing midfielders game so he was finding it hard to get a rhythm.

Agbonhalor - 10 - Scoring a game winner against the scum in the 85th minute if you have had a mare gets you a 10, but he had worked hard and brought others into the game the best he could.

Subs:

Carew - 7 - I dont think HE changed the game, but the fact that the formation changed gave us better attacking options, big JC will always give you what he gave you today, a physical prescence with class!

Gaffer - 9 - With 2 late given finshes taken it would have made it 3-0 and the classic smash and grab result, as it was, the balls to blood 3 new of the back 4 and play Cuellar at RB gave us the platform to wint the game. Brought Carew on at the right time and made the switch to 4-4-2, well done MON, showed well!

[Gavin@villatalk]

gotta love gabby and his goal celebrations! he knows how much this means to us

[kurtsimonw]

Best moment - two blocks in the space of about 5 seconds, either of which could have been a goal.

That would be a great gif!

[Banger75]

Friedel - 7 - Did what he had to do, was vocal, and looked good with his feet, when we released pressure to you

Warnock - 7 - Didnt shirk a tackle and got forward well, accomplished first performance

Dunne - 8 - Rock at the back, bit dodgy on the deck when pulled out wide, but for this derby day a correct choice. Well done.

Collins - 9 (MOM yes i know gabby got a higher mark) - Won everything in the air, looked composed on the ball in bringing it out of the back, and sprinted to celebrate with Gabby like any of us would have done!

Cuellar - 8 - Again, solid as a rock, we needed his ariel prescence with diagonal balls.

Milner - 5 - I always say its fine to have a bad game as long as you dont hide. We all know he was having a mare, but he always wanted the ball, and was working his socks off. Thats the measure of the man.

Young - 7 - Another that worked his socks off in pressuring in his zone, won the free kick and had a great service for the goal.

Petrov - 6 - Bit subdued today was Stan, but i think that was down to our tactics, we just bypassed him, did his job though, but needs to be on the ball, to utilize him best.

NRC - 8 - Thought he was superb again today, his work rate and passing were first class ( i counted one pass under no pressure given away) his energy transfers to the team.

Sidwell - 6 - Did his job again, actually put in a good shift, but this was not a ball playing midfielders game so he was finding it hard to get a rhythm.

Agbonhalor - 10 - Scoring a game winner against the scum in the 85th minute if you have had a mare gets you a 10, but he had worked hard and brought others into the game the best he could.

Subs:

Carew - 7 - I dont think HE changed the game, but the fact that the formation changed gave us better attacking options, big JC will always give you what he gave you today, a physical prescence with class!

Gaffer - 9 - With 2 late given finshes taken it would have made it 3-0 and the classic smash and grab result, as it was, the balls to blood 3 new of the back 4 and play Cuellar at RB gave us the platform to wint the game. Brought Carew on at the right time and made the switch to 4-4-2, well done MON, showed well!

Great summary Dom, this is how I saw it too, especially the part about Milner.

[nepal_villan]

Brilliant result!

Really should have scored at least on one of the two breakaways at the end.

MON looks like a genius, but i question him shifting Cuellar out of position, especially since he was so solid at CB in the last few games. Also felt it was harsh immediately pulling Shorey from the line-up. Guess that is why I am not a manager.

[drat01]

Happy happy happy - "out of Africa" is a very happy man

[Phumfeinz]

Something else I enjoyed last night - whenever the ball came into our box a sea of claret and blue bodies just poured into the area to get the ball away.