tommo Posted October 5, 2009 Share Posted October 5, 2009 Watched the game in the pub tonight and was mightily impressed with the lads. To begin with, ok people may argue to the contrary but MON's team selection deploying petrov again in a 442 defied belief against a team with the quality of Citeh...and to an extent I had given up before the game having seen the line up, as I did against liverpool (but was proven wrong due to correct selection). Anyway less of MON, i'll come to him later. Onto the lads, from which there were a HELL of a lot of positives tonight. My ratings: Friedel- Big brad never looked in trouble and made an excellent reaction save from adebayor in the first half. 7 Cuellar- Bellamy troubled him (as any good player should against a player played out of position). Nevertheless he made some key interceptions. 7 Collins- Excellent, but overshadowed by the big man next door. 8 Dunne- Scored the goal. Before the game I had doubted his ability to cope with great movement, particularly given the '442 lets give the defence no support' system again. But there were two words which describe this performance. MONUMENTAL and LAURSEN-ESQUE. And with slight reluctance on my behalf to dish out 10s, big Dunny does in fact get a... er...10* Warnock - sloppily gave away possession once or twice, but made determined runs and some key interceptions. 7 Milner - Unbelievable workrate, and I like the fact that Young and him switch occasionally because I like Jimmy on the left. 7 Petrov- Despite an inept performance against blackburn in this system, Stan really did try hard tonight, made key interceptions and kept play moving when we were in possession. Left wanting defensively at times when Citeh were on top 60-75 mins. 7 Sidwell- Tried hard but didn't see him much. Some nice interceptions and quietly effective. 7 Young- Best i've seen him play when running with the ball for some time in the first half. Seemed to be struggling with a knock in the second and his delivery became wasteful. 7 Carew- the Gabby/Carew combo worked in the first half. He still looked a little off the pace in what was a high tempo game but I like the way he dropped deep to support the midfield. 6 Gabby- the Gabster is playing with a smile on his face, and whether he is wasteful or not, his pace and determination are a major asset at the moment. 8 - Heskey- didn't understand the substitution, but he worked his marker well, despite looking like a donkey deep into injury time when villa were well set on the edge of their box. 7 NRC- good to see him but he looked deflated. Didn't do enough to rate. MON 6-You have to give the guy credit for a nice team talk today. Every player came out and gave 100% (although one didnt need the teamtalk in the case of dunne). I liked the way Carew dropped deep to support defensively, not sure whether that was MON's decision though. Despite the poor team selection, we were aided in the first half by an unbelievable CB performance, 100% work ethic, and Man City's insistance on going down the wings rather than playing it through our spacious midfield. As soon as Ireland was thrown on Citeh were a different animal, and MON could have immediately countered this by putting on a central midfielder. He didn't, and inevitably Ireland was given not one, but two chances in total space to create a chance for their equaliser. Tonight's performance was excellent from the lads, but the weaklink again was MON. I can't help but think that if we'd deployed a similar system as against liverpool, particularly in the second half when citeh got on top, this would have been 3 points for the taking. Dunne though, and the team, have to take the plaudits...to leave on a positive note. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mr_Dogg Posted October 5, 2009 Share Posted October 5, 2009 I'm sorry that i ever doubted O'Neill's eye for a centre back. James Collins was immense again tonight as was Richard Dunne, those two look absolutely imperious at the back, they won almost every header, 50/50 challenge and their slide in tackles were always well timed. Gabby had another belter, the lad worked hard all game and some of his runs in the second half were inspiring stuff. Milner also worked tirelessly, at one point late in the second half when we had a throw in in city's half he raced across from the left flank to the right to offer an option. If we had 11 players who put as much effort in as Gabby, Milner and the centre half pairing we'd be champions league material. I really think that when Downing comes into the team and Delph gets a little more premiership experience that we could have one of the best teams in the league. Great performance lads! We already have one of the best teams in the league. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AVFC-Prideofbrum Posted October 5, 2009 Share Posted October 5, 2009 More positives than negatives without doubt. We can't forget this team have won 5, lost 1 before today and that was a really late United goal, this was a massive test for us and overall it was a good performance really. Perhaps just lacked that final quality at times to really hurt oponents. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fran_villa Posted October 5, 2009 Share Posted October 5, 2009 the team was great tonight i must say,i think Carew and Ash where dire though A sh needs to be dropped imo..i cant wait for Downing to come in now.. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Undesirable Posted October 5, 2009 Share Posted October 5, 2009 dab: Absolutley, Collins has found his true calling and its Aston Villa, him and Dunne, Warnock, a slighlty lesser extent Cuellor, immense, the pairing of Dunne and Collins is a stroke of genius IMO, they could prove to be the most effective back 2 in the country this season. Undesirable: I just get the feeling Gabby has stepped up a level, and watching his pure athleticism tonight, at one point i thought the programme had stopped and was being fast forwarded, his sprint to the ball didn't look real. It was when someone played a ball down the left channel, it looked like it was nowhere near Gabby and then out of nowhere he just slammed his foot on the accelerator and made up about 20 yards on the city right back, so much for his bulking up diminishing his pace! I thnk if we played the ball through the middle a little more Gabby good get a lot more clear cut chances on goal. Does anybody know what the song is that was sung by K4 which went along the lines of "we are the famous, the famous ______"? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sellyoakvilla Posted October 5, 2009 Share Posted October 5, 2009 Why is O'Neill's first resort always Heskey? Such a negative substitution. Rather bring Guzan on Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sellyoakvilla Posted October 5, 2009 Share Posted October 5, 2009 Does anybody know what the song is that was sung by K4 which went along the lines of "we are the famous, the famous ______"? We are the famous, the famous Holte End Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AVFC-Prideofbrum Posted October 5, 2009 Share Posted October 5, 2009 One thing I'd critiscise O'Neill for is when it's clear a team is getting on top, he doesn't change it quick enough. Starting with 4-4-2 payed off and I said to my Dad watching the game, were alright up until 60 minutes, then we start to tire. It probably weren't as much that, more the introduction of Ireland but we should of combated that with Delph or Coker on for Carew. By the way, Sidwell has still yet to lose when starting for Villa since that Boro game nearly a year ago. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fran_villa Posted October 5, 2009 Share Posted October 5, 2009 Why is O'Neill's first resort always Heskey? Such a negative substitution. Rather bring Guzan oni thought before they scored,we should have went with five in the midfield,you could see Ireland was making some nice passes through gaps..but hey,im not meaning to take anything away..we played well,and our defence is looking very good.. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fran_villa Posted October 5, 2009 Share Posted October 5, 2009 One thing I'd critiscise O'Neill for is when it's clear a team is getting on top, he doesn't change it quick enough. Starting with 4-4-2 payed off and I said to my Dad watching the game, were alright up until 60 minutes, then we start to tire. It probably weren't as much that, more the introduction of Ireland but we should of combated that with Delph or Coker on for Carew. By the way, Sidwell has still yet to lose when starting for Villa since that Boro game nearly a year ago.great minds mate,my thoughts to. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Undesirable Posted October 5, 2009 Share Posted October 5, 2009 Does anybody know what the song is that was sung by K4 which went along the lines of "we are the famous, the famous ______"? We are the famous, the famous Holte End Cheers, i'm sure i've actually never heard that before, either that or my mind is just addled from the weekend! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sellyoakvilla Posted October 5, 2009 Share Posted October 5, 2009 Why is O'Neill's first resort always Heskey? Such a negative substitution. Rather bring Guzan oni thought before they scored,we should have went with five in the midfield,you could see Ireland was making some nice passes through gaps..but hey,im not meaning to take anything away..we played well,and our defence is looking very good.. Yeah, when I saw him taking Carew off I thought great, Reo Coker - but no, it was Heskey. Groans of disbelief everywhere I couldn't believe it..what's the point..you need to 451 in them kind of situations. Our defence is looking quality now, really impressed with Dunne and Collins. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Philosopher Posted October 5, 2009 Share Posted October 5, 2009 Thought BOTH teams played their hearts out tonight, great game to watch. I thought every player did well tonight. People complaining about MON's substitutions need to use a bit of common sense. Ash picked up a knock, MON took him late (as he is our best attacker), he was always going have to bring him off, this was probably apparent to MON at half time. Before the Man City goal would have been too early for a defensive substitution, and why make a like for like substitution when Ash was still a threat and doing great work defensively with the game hanging in the balance? After city equalised the last thing you want to do is take off your best attacker. Personally I would have liked to see Albrighton come on for Ash but that would have been quite a risk (one worth taking in my opinion but this is my only complaint). Carew had run himself into the ground. He is probably the most unfit of all our players FACT so when he works like he worked tonight we were always going to have to take him off. That leaves only one substitution to play with. Also when our opponents have just equalised its not a good idea to take off striker and bring on a midfielder. So Heskey in actual fact was the logical choice. To take off Petrov would make it harder for us to keep the ball and invite pressure so that wouldn't have been a wise move. Reo for Sidwell is one hardworking player for another so no difference and Delph for either of our CM's would've weakened us defensively. If Downing was fit then we would've had a serious option off the bench. Back to Albrighton, MON really needs to take a chance and give him a proper run out as soon as possible because Ash is struggling with knocks a lot at the moment and we need to be able to lessen Ash's load a little right now. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Philosopher Posted October 5, 2009 Share Posted October 5, 2009 BTW Carew came off AFTER the equaliser! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Salsa Party Animal Posted October 5, 2009 Share Posted October 5, 2009 I think the game is there for taking but we did not take three points. Goalkeeper - Excellent Defenders - Excellent especially central defenders duo. Midfield - run out of steam and ideas after an hour Attack - Carew work hard but didn't play well. Agbonlahor tried hard and nearly won the game, but suffer from poor supply. Heskey - enough said. I noticed Ashley Young got injured at 40th minutes and still playing for another 40 minutes (and still limping) despite not being 100% and he tried hard but 80% of Ashley Young is not effective. MON - Where is Marc Albrighton as he is not on the bench. We doesn't need three midfielders on the bench as we have Delph, Reo Coker and Gardner. Poor use of substitute cost us dear. We need to find a quality striker and get him in by January 2nd. Carew had been poor this season overall compared to last season. Heskey is not Villa class. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sellyoakvilla Posted October 5, 2009 Share Posted October 5, 2009 Seriously though, all moaning aside about Heskey. I was really pleased with tonight's performance. I think it shows we CAN compete with anyone on our day - now I know it's 'only' Man City, but their first team and bench had some quality players there who I'd love in a Villa shirt...now I know we didn't win but we bust a gut and tried our hardest, sometimes it's not good enough but I can't fault the effort of the players whatsoever. Agbonlahor made a run v Toure in the second half out of nothing close to the halfway line, Toure had about a 10 second head start and Gabby still caught up with him, ran off and won a corner. Now THAT'S commitment. We should play like this every week. Very very impressed. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rjw63 Posted October 5, 2009 Share Posted October 5, 2009 **** hell, can anyone tell me why Wet Spam flogged us such a cracking centre back? Collins is a beast, and Dunne just HAD to score tonight :-) Judas Barry was **** tripe, I'm sure he'll say the jeers didn't get to him but he'd be a liar Shame that ugly no-necked sheep shagging cock had to equalise. Not convinced (again) by Sidwell who did his Ninja impersonation again. All in all a decent game Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
emma_villan1 Posted October 5, 2009 Share Posted October 5, 2009 Just got back from the game, really enjoyed it tonight. Friedel- 7- Tipped one good effort over the bar, but had not much else to do. Cuellar- 7- I was very nervous seeing Cuellar having to mark Bellamy but I think he did a good job, just has poor distribution, however I did see him run down the right and he put in a nice cross. Dunne- 8- MOTM just a rock for us. Collins-8- Again brilliant for us, good looking defence. Warnock 8- Had a good game, probably his best so far, he kept Wright-Phillips very quiet. Young- 6- He had an okay game, nothing special just doesn't seem to be how he used to be. Sidwell- 7- Thought he was alright, added something more to midfield and made a few good tackles and picked up a few loose balls. Petrov- 8- Thought he had a very good game today same as Sidwell really, picking up loose balls and some good distribution. Milner-7- Works hard every game, he must run miles round the pitch. Agbonglahor-8- Again worked hard, seems very up for it and willing to play not lazy. Carew-6- Looked Lazy, in first 5 mins thought he looked really up for it then it just went downhill, a few good touches but always seemed to be in the wrong place. Heskey- No idea what to say, looked composed and willing but didn't offer anything. Overall I am happy with a point, before the game I thought we were in for a thrashing! Good game and good Advert for premiership football! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
12in82 Posted October 5, 2009 Share Posted October 5, 2009 What a game, thats the best I have seen us this season. Temprement was spot on Martin. The first half was what I wanted to see. as long as we didnt sit back in the second half.(loved the Dunne goal and holding the lead for the first half) Ash was struggling but he still did all he could in the 2nd half(hope hes OK) was a bit concerned about Cueller outside vs Bellemy and was right me thinks, but when Bellend me is on that form you can only compliment him. I did say I would take the draw before the game started. Well done the Villans if we can put that kind of performance in for every game we will be awsome. you make me proud. You all worked hard and respect where respect is given. I do have a problem with Heskey though, Big John was doing better?. AVFC till I die Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Demitri_C Posted October 5, 2009 Share Posted October 5, 2009 good game was impressed with us up until citeh scored, then we just played negative football at home with no urgency to try score a winner. dunne and collins looked very good and warnock looks fantastic. cant fault the effort tahts for sure carew was woeful today kept losing the ball and he looks so slow. ash youngs crossing was poor but he was terrfic defensively. wa salso happy to see NRC back. dont get me started on heskey either the guy is absolute shite offers nothing to us. get rid of him in january Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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