Qwpzxjor1 Posted October 5, 2009 Share Posted October 5, 2009 Dunne, Collins, Warnock and Cuellar were very impressive once again. Man City are always gonna score goals, the fact we only kept it to one, and that was one of few chances they created, speaks highly of our defense. I thought Carew played well and Gabby was brilliant, but they lacked the support from midfield. Petrov and Sidwell didn't have bad games, they broke up play and played some nice balls forward, but neither really had that spark to really open up the defense. Stephen Ireland was that spark, sadly for them. Had he started we would have lost, best player on the pitch by far. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rocafella Posted October 5, 2009 Share Posted October 5, 2009 It was a good game all in all, not sure the objective viewer would say the same thing but it was competitive and the ball turned from one side to the other all the time. We laid defensively and thus created next to nothing in open play, which laid the ground for them to create little as well. We had a close one after two minutes from Gabby, then the goal on the corner. Other than that we had nothing except a Dunne header on another corner and a Milner shot (which was never going in from that angle). I think we pussied a little bit out in this game, too afraid to lose, too much respect for a team which is NOT in any way Man Utd or Chelsea. They aren't gelled together properly and their defensive unit was not working well with their midfield, however, we didn't force enough on them and they carried out for the point quite easily. They had a poor game, yet they wandered off with a point without too much hassle. Guess that's how it is with a team that has more potential, they need fewer chances. Friedel - 8 I think he was very good and composed today. All in all, his start to the season has been much better compared to the last one! Warnock - 7 Some silly passes but otherwise a very tidy display. Gets up and about the field, some good sliding tackles and smart play in general. Dunne - 8 Scores a good goal, shows Adebayor how to not celebrate like a **** monkey and otherwise kept it shut, well, except the goal where he was slacking a bit with his marking. Collins - 8 Gets behind Dunne in the limelight of course, but today he wasn't any worse than his partner and they are very good in the air both of them. Makes our defence look different! Cuellar - 6 I think his positioning is a little bit off, his passing is bad and his overall contribution on the right back is mediocre at best. Young - 7 I think he was better today, given his somewhat slow start to the season. Dears to go one-on-one, shame he had to be tackled out of the game by de Jong. Petrov - 6 A decent defensive display, and that it what he does. Decent tackling and hold-up play, but other than that is mediocre. Passing going forward is non-existent. Sidwell - 4 Easily the worst player on the pitch and I am terribly happy they did not field a three-man midfield as they would have raped Sidders to hell and back. Just not good enough for this team. Milner - 6 Good work ethics, but offensively he just does not prosper enough for me. He stagnates as his attacking ability, and dear I say potential, isn't anywhere near the real hot shots in the league. Carew - 6 Doesn't really get into the game as he drifts down to midfield trying to cover a 4-5-1 defensive unit and we are much on the breakaway leaving Gabby alone on top etc. A bit wasted in that role. Agbonlahor - 7 A very nice display in terms of running and tackling, getting stuck in showing that he has not only bulked up but also gotten that extra bit of smartness. Doesn't pave way for anyone. Loved it when he ran up Toure and pushed him off the ball, the Ivorian didn't understand what was happening to him before Gabby was fifteeen yards ahead! Needs to work on the final ball and attempt though, as he kind of ends his run just waiting for the next thing to happen but then it's too late. Subs: Heskey - 6 Not bad, which is lightyears ahead of what he has usually displayed for us. Sorry Emile, I am usually not this harsh but you make several million pounds a season so I do not care about the criticism. Reo-Coker - 5 Failed to get into the game even though it was only for a short while. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The_Steve Posted October 5, 2009 Share Posted October 5, 2009 Lescott looked very average tonight, couldn't handle our pace. Dunne > Lescott. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
barry'sboots 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. I completely agree. I thought they played into our hands with the lack of pace/energy/drive in the De Jong/Barry partnership reminiscent of our Stan/Barry partnership of last season and easy for Stan and Sidwell to cover. Ireland changed the game and found loads of space because he moves and Stan doesn't - I would have stuck with 4-4-2 probably but replaced Stan with NRC who would have done a job on Ireland IMO. As for Ash's injury, that was the time to go 4-3-3 IMO and get Gab out wide right. Bringing NRC on to the RW was not very clever IMO and meant we were unbalanced. This would have left us with pace on both sides and allowed Sidwell the freedom to join Heskey. Too much to ask for MON to try and bring on players in to a familiar position or change a formation during a game?? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
heystally! Posted October 5, 2009 Share Posted October 5, 2009 Dunne MOTM by far. Collins was awesome as well. Gabby's pace is absolutely frightening. Carew was pretty poor again, but I'm clueless as to why he was part of a central midfield three. Reo-Coker must be pretty pissed off. Carew played in centre mid tonight, and then NRC brought on the right wing. He will want to go in January. Nice to see some maturity from many of our dickhead fans when Heskey came on. Didn't matter what he did, I heard discontent. He made some nice flick ons, and gets slagged off. He doesn't chase down a player, despite another of our team being closer, and he gets slagged off. Him and Milner don't communicate and lose the ball, and it's Heskey's fault. I guess it's to be expected now from some idiots. Great game though. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PaulMcgrathsknees Posted October 5, 2009 Share Posted October 5, 2009 Keeper and back 4 were all excellent tonight. Adebayor played well but was mainly kept at bay. Bellamy was well marshalled and SWP was mostly quiet. Warnock is a cracking buy along with the two in the middle who are rightly getting the praise tonight. Petrov was midfielder of the evening but tired which gave Citeh the last 15 mins of the 1st half. Milner was Milner and solid. Sidwell added bite,but not much more. Ash was crap and played at being injured. About 3 or 4 nice tricks which the tv viewers will then think he played well. He didn't. Gabby was a real threat and bullied their back 4. Carew worked his arse off for 30mins, then got tired. NRC was lost. Delph for Ash would have been my choice. Heskey is a poor man's Carew. Ref was ok. SWP should have gone for 2nd yellow for breaking up a counter attack with ten mins left. Barry was weak tonight, but at least he didn't celebrate their goal. Man City fans were sooooooooo quiet for most of the match which surprised me. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tommo Posted October 5, 2009 Share Posted October 5, 2009 Dunne MOTM by far. Collins was awesome as well. Gabby's pace is absolutely frightening. Carew was pretty poor again, but I'm clueless as to why he was part of a central midfield three. Reo-Coker must be pretty pissed off. Carew played in centre mid tonight, and then NRC brought on the right wing. He will want to go in January. Nice to see some maturity from many of our dickhead fans when Heskey came on. Didn't matter what he did, I heard discontent. He made some nice flick ons, and gets slagged off. He doesn't chase down a player, despite another of our team being closer, and he gets slagged off. Him and Milner don't communicate and lose the ball, and it's Heskey's fault. I guess it's to be expected now from some idiots. Great game though. Hey Stally, I agree with everything u say there. Check out my report on Pg6 (tommo) see if u agree. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
b6bloke Posted October 5, 2009 Share Posted October 5, 2009 Im in shock that someone gave Sidwell 5 and Heskey 6 as Sidwell has been brilliant. Dunne was excellent but for me Collins was better. Carew looked off the pace and was at fault for the goal Gabby was unlucky not to score and is really using that extra weight Petrov was solid and him and Sidwell linked up well. Our defence is the best i have seen! up until Heskey come on there was no lumping up field and we were composed. Heskey to me must be a Jedi Knight as the Jedi Mind trick is the only way i can see how he gets in both the Villa and England team. Crowd were fantastic! The ref was rubbish and gave them any 50/50 ball and Wright Phillips should have got a second yellow TWICE! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
the_eristic Posted October 5, 2009 Share Posted October 5, 2009 The subs wouldn't have bothered me much had we changed the formation to better utilize them. By the time Heskey (and definitely when NRC) came on, City was on the up and we couldn't keep possession for any real period of time. We needed someone in the middle to try to prevent the ball from getting to Ireland and coming right back at us, and in a traditional 4-4-2, that wasn't happening. When Heskey came on (who, by the way, wasn't too bad, though it seems the rest of our team still doesn't understand his playing style, and until they do, our "threat" with him on the pitch will be nominal), I figured one of our attackers would move into a withdrawn central role to put pressure on Barry, thereby taking some pressure off Petrov and Sidwell, freeing them up to work wherever needed; I thought, then, failing the former, when NRC came on, we'd see Gabby go wide on the left (he drifts out there all the time anyway) and deploy three in the middle, but for some reason NRC was played wide, and was completely useless. Friedel - 7 Cuellar - 6 Collins - 8 Dunne - 9 Warnock - 7 Petrov - 6 Sidwell - 5 Milner - 6 Young - 6 (NRC - 4) Carew - 6 (Heskey - 6) Agbonlahor - 8 Summary - Decent all-around performance, with generally great displays by our defenders. This style of play, though, is nerve-shattering stuff at times, and we are still in desperate need of a midfielder who is willing to pass the ball forward. We're far too hesitant to take the game to our opponents far too often. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
heystally! Posted October 5, 2009 Share Posted October 5, 2009 Dunne MOTM by far. Collins was awesome as well. Gabby's pace is absolutely frightening. Carew was pretty poor again, but I'm clueless as to why he was part of a central midfield three. Reo-Coker must be pretty pissed off. Carew played in centre mid tonight, and then NRC brought on the right wing. He will want to go in January. Nice to see some maturity from many of our dickhead fans when Heskey came on. Didn't matter what he did, I heard discontent. He made some nice flick ons, and gets slagged off. He doesn't chase down a player, despite another of our team being closer, and he gets slagged off. Him and Milner don't communicate and lose the ball, and it's Heskey's fault. I guess it's to be expected now from some idiots. Great game though. Hey Stally, I agree with everything u say there. Check out my report on Pg6 (tommo) see if u agree. I'd say you've made a fair assessment. Work ethic and the Dunne/Collins partnership were key to our performance. I agree I liked having a three midfield, but I just felt if MON was asking Carew to drop deep, why wasn't NRC put in the starting line up in the middle? He looked so annoyed when he came on, almost like he didn't care, because MON was playing him on the right. I thought Petrov was good going forward tonight. Kind of put to bed the theory about him only passing backwards. We should have won though IMO. Yes they had chances, yes they looked dangerous, but Gabby never really got a clear cut chance. I think Carew playing not as well as he can didn't help Gab. But to his credit, Gabby was creating a lot tonight with all of his running. All in all, I'm satisfied with a point, but still felt we could get three. But I guess that's a good thing going into Chelsea. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BigJim Posted October 5, 2009 Share Posted October 5, 2009 Terrific effort from just about everybody, but I think we'll need more than sheer effort to trouble Chelsea. As usual and far too often, we spoiled all the hard work put into winning the ball by immediately giving away possession, in the absurd rush to hit a long ball to Gabby and maybe find him onside and in space. You have to wonder just how effective that tactic really is. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tonyh29 Posted October 6, 2009 Share Posted October 6, 2009 Collins MOM for me .. Dunne also excellent Petrov the best midfielder on display tonight .. though Sidwell performed well .. Nice to see NRC back but i think his days are numbered Gabby is turning into a footballer at last ..just got to get him reacting to flick ons though ... slightly concerned that second half we were starting to get over ran and should have swapped Carew for NRC before they scored easy to be a manager sometimes I guess :-) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dont_do_it_doug. Posted October 6, 2009 Share Posted October 6, 2009 What a marvellous game of football. Really open, entertaining stuff. Either side could have won it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rowdy Posted October 6, 2009 Share Posted October 6, 2009 I wasn't really impressed with Carew tonight. He lost possession too easy and looked slow. I would like to see how Heskey would go given a decent run. Neither he nor Gabby were playing well in the second half of last season and with Gabby's current form I think Heskey may be a better partner than Carew. That being said we are lacking another quality striker. The team as whole did play quite well tonight. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Condimentalist Posted October 6, 2009 Share Posted October 6, 2009 Just got back, really good game. Cuellar - 6 - Defending good, distribution appalling Collins - 8 - Dominant, dealt with Adebayor. Dunne - 9 - Everywhere, great goal, MOTM. Warnock - 8 - Excellent. Milner - 6 - Not his best game. Petrov - 8 - The best midfielder on the park tonight by a distance. Sidwell - 7 - Decent game. Young - 6 - Hasn't really hit the ground running so far this season. Agbonlahor - 8 - Worked hard and produced moments of real quality. This is the Gabby we know and love. Carew - 6 - Poor. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chindie Posted October 6, 2009 VT Supporter Share Posted October 6, 2009 442's not so bad after all. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ozvilla28 Posted October 6, 2009 Share Posted October 6, 2009 We were awsome today dissapointed without the 3 points tho.The defence was awsome and we played some fantastic football today.Sidwell not up to it tho killed us with his passing and lost the ball nearly everytime and he caught us out a number of times rather NRC.Young was good ,but sometimes he needs to slow it down and look around and give the best options and not just hold on to the ball.Heskey passanger again would rather Delfons. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TheSufferingVilla Posted October 6, 2009 Share Posted October 6, 2009 Can't believe some people have given Petrov low marks he was superb in that game, covered more ground than anyone on the pitch and must have had twice as much personal possession than the nearest player. Thought our defence was brilliant once again with Dunne showing flashes of greatness. Gabby is turning into twice the player I thought he'd be, his strength, first touch, positioning and decision making look top drawer. And finally a word for an unsung hero Carlos Cuellar thought he was superb Man City had next to nothing down his flank. We should have won the game but I'll take the draw. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
maqroll Posted October 6, 2009 Share Posted October 6, 2009 I never thought I'd see the day when I could watch Aston Villa on basic cable in the United States. It was great to see the guys in the tunnel, and then the walk out to the pitch. Great stuff. Of the games I've watched this season, the crowd was loudest for this one, although I was still baffled at the smattering of empty seats in the corner. You'd think they'd have sold out for this one... As for the game, I thought we played very well on the whole, although you have to be worried about Ashley's dip in form. Sidwell doesn't do much, and Petrov just lacks that extra bit of spark that would make him lethal, cuz he's a smart player with skill. I would have liked to have seen Delph instead of Sidwell. Impressed with Collins, and the other defenders were sound. Fair result. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Liono Posted October 6, 2009 Share Posted October 6, 2009 Just got back, really good game. Cuellar - 6 - Defending good, distribution appalling Collins - 8 - Dominant, dealt with Adebayor. Dunne - 9 - Everywhere, great goal, MOTM. Warnock - 8 - Excellent. Milner - 6 - Not his best game. Petrov - 8 - The best midfielder on the park tonight by a distance. Sidwell - 7 - Decent game. Young - 6 - Hasn't really hit the ground running so far this season. Agbonlahor - 8 - Worked hard and produced moments of real quality. This is the Gabby we know and love. Carew - 6 - Poor.yep. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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