PL: West Ham a Ratings & Reactions

[dappadan]

Was there last night and very happy with the first half performance (Even with Heskey), however it is still baffling me MON shoehorning Heskey into the side, absolutely ridiculous.

This is the first time my confidence is wavering in MON and his tactics and odd decisions, we were screaming out for a sub in the second half and he did nothing.

I thought with a bit more in front of goal we would of had that wrapped up by half time.

[Jon]

could it be argued that our dip in performance in the 2nd half coincided with Heskey going off injured at HT?

[villa_shere]

There was nothing wrong with Beyes game, CC has the luxury of having Milner infront of him Beye never.

In the first half Beye was making overlapping runs with Young and getting in good positions, but when MON put NRC Beye's game turned around as NRC offered him nothing in support.

MON **** up by putting NRC on the right. Should have left Young there and maybe played Gabby at left wing as we've seen on a couple occassions.

[Hev]

Crap queue inside ground for food and drink, crap view of the game - too low down and near corner, couldn't see the goalposts/net at all without really leaning forward - couldn't see Ash's goal. Crap , same old, same old performance - their pen surely was not but, it seemed, Bennett may have realised the error of his ways and handed us a dubious pen to balance the books - fans went wild but Ash steps up to take it, just knew it would be saved -it was. Ash then gets a great goal apparently (not that I could see it) and then after that, same old same old again - we do nothing, they come more and more into it and you just knew what was going to happen - sure enough it did. Absolutely appalling journey home, held up on North circular road for over 2 hours, finally hitting the M1 at 12.40 am. So you can guess that it was after 3.00 am when I got home, miserable, having to work all day today. I just WISH we could be excited by Villa sometimes - I wish we had a striker who made you excited when he had the ball and that you felt there was at least a 50% chance he would score. We are just so dull sometimes. I also think people outside Villa rate MON more highly than some of the supporters. I heard a Liverpool fan on the radio this morning saying he wanted Rafa out and MON in, but some said why would MON be interested in leaving Villa for Liverpool anyway. I'm not slating MON here, I'm just a bit ambivalent about it all and feeling a bit bored and disenchanted with Villa at the moment - but hey, I'll be there on Sat and at Burnley on 21st hoping for an exciting and winning performance. :?

[tinker]

IMO we played with 10 men from the start and went down to 9 when Beye went off. People need to watch our games very closely, IMO one of our fans hero's has turned into a liability who can't play 90 minutes........Carew what the f**K is going on? Is he injured, not fit or has he got a mental block, I would rather Heskey have played the 90 TBH.

The ref was very bad, on both teams but especially for us. Next! UTV

[It's_your_round]

Our two away wins, 4-5-1 with Gabby up top on his own.

In the last 10 away games we've played 4-4-2 it's something like drawn 6 and lost 4, won 0.

So what does our stubborn idiot of a manager do? He keeps playing 4-4-2 and shoe-horning Heskey into the side. Tactically inept.

O'Neill for Liverpool.

[sting]

Our two away wins, 4-5-1 with Gabby up top on his own.

In the last 10 away games we've played 4-4-2 it's something like drawn 6 and lost 4, won 0.

So what does our stubborn idiot of a manager do? He keeps playing 4-4-2 and shoe-horning Heskey into the side. Tactically inept.

O'Neill for Liverpool.

O'Neill for Man U more like. Then we'll have a chance of beating them!

What is O'Neill doing? We really really do have Woody Allen as our manager!

[kurtsimonw]

could it be argued that our dip in performance in the 2nd half coincided with Heskey going off injured at HT?

Don't be silly, Heskey is the sole reason we haven't already got the title wrapped up.

But yes, I agree with you, Heskey had a good half.

[GasGasGas]

Didn't get to watch the first half due to **** JustinTV. Didn't see the offside penalty (if anyone has it please upload or something).

Not taking digs at players but the fact is there are some liabilities in the team at the moment, don't know how many games it'll take for MON to wake up and see the obvious.

Does anyone realise that, with each and every passing game, Heskey's goal record and percentage for us becomes more and more laughable? I think his record is more like a defender's record than a striker's. Put him up front he's no where near scoring, and now he's become a winger whenever things need to be changed, over Albrighton. Amazing.

Carew is a serious waste of space at the moment. Doesn't even look interested in playing for us. Whenever he gets the ball he just jogs or walks casually along until he loses the ball. For all his size he'll get nowhere if this is what he does all game, practically useless. How many times did he touch the ball or do anything with it last night? Next to none. If the ball isn't played directly to him, he can't even be arsed to make an effort to get the ball.

What does Sidwell offer as well? Can't defend, can't pass, can't create, nothing. Did anyone see what he did for Hine's goal? Got turned inside out by some youth player, and his attempted tackle consisted of repeatedly trying to kick at the ball but getting nowhere near it while Hines shot at goal as if he wasn't there. Fact is, this is the type of pathetic showing that he gives and this is why he is invisible and might as well not be there. Nothing but a Championship calibre midfielder at best.

[Vojskovoda]

I just feel we're going one step foward and one step back each time now under O'Neill.

I'm just getting irritated with O'Neill now and his 'team selections' - does he not realise we hardly ever win playing a 4-4-2 because we don't have a central-mdfield partnership that works well in tandem... but the reason why our central-midfield is a joke is because of Sidwell. Petrov is a very good player, has a great array of passes and has shown how brilliant he can be... he's not playing as well as he is last season because he's having to do all the work for Sidwell which weakens our midfield consdierable which leaves gaps and spaces for the opposition to stroll into.

My second biggest gripe with O'Neill... why on earth is he not picking L.Young?!!!!!!! It's ridiculous how he'd rather player someone who's not as good as L.Young in the RB position. No bloody doubt he'll choose Cuellar again on Saturday.

I'm disappointed with this result and once again... we bottle a game which could of meant we'd gone 4th in successive matches. For me, the full blame is going on O'Neill. He's the manager, he chooses our team and tactics... but he's made a right mess of it recently and big questions will be directed towardss him if we can't beat Bolton at home.

Btw, the ref, for three successive games was a JOKE. I'm going to complain to the FA and ask why we have such poor referees.

[Milfner]

could it be argued that our dip in performance in the 2nd half coincided with Heskey going off injured at HT?

Most definitely.

[srsmithusa]

Just as frustrated as anyone else. However, I don't tend to gush with adoration of MON or someone that isn't playing. Neither to I tend to rage against MON or some that did play. I tend to wonder why an intelligent professional, who sees the players day in and day out in training, is making the decisions he's making? I don't assume that MON is an idiot (his track record and experience indicate he knows more than I do about this sport) I wonder what he's seeing in training that keeps Luke Young (and others) off the pitch.

I think I can guess what he's seeing in Delph. Potential, but rash and therefore a risky liability. Needs to learn more discipline and composure first.

I think I can guess what he's seeing in NRC. Works hard, but not "quick" and not good with possession. NRC's ideal spot is the one that Petrov is doing better. If I'm right about why we're not seeing NRC, he'll probably start on Saturday (Petrov suspended)

I think I can guess what he's seeing in most of those he's not starting.... except Luke Young. Is he not fit? Is he mentally done? Is he a hindrance to the team spirit? Not accusing him or MON of being useless. Just wondering what's going on in that one, hoping someone on here has an idea.

I don't buy the purely emotional rant that somebody is stupid and useless, or would be the instant saviour if only he got playing time. My experience is that life and sport are never that simple.

[flashingqwerty]

the last few games have been pretty humiliating for me as we have played utter dross

we're wuite simply carrying too much dead weight in the first 11

friedel has lost his form and is making too many mistakes - Guzan needs to get a few games

petrov isnt playing well for more than 30 mins a game and looks knackered and needs to be rested

sidwell - bless his soul - tries hard but has little impact on the games he plays in

Hekey - oh dear - not good enough to displace an utterly useless and devoid bulge up front in Carew so he plays left wing despite Albrighton being a better winger than heskey could even dream of being

Carew - him being on the pitch means we're playing with 10 men at the moment - his last goal aside he has done very little lately

A Young - has been a mere shadow of his former self and seriously lacking form

i seem to remember a certain Martin O'Neill making promises to fans at the start of the season that players that lost form and werent performaing would be dropped as we have plenty of squad depth and young players coming though to be able to cope

well from what i can see half the starting 11 are playing without any form at all and they are still first on the team sheet - either MON is watching a different Aston Villa, or he's a liar, or he's lost it. i cant see another other answers. It doesnt matter if these players are fantastic in training every week - if they cant do it on match day then they should not be getting a place simple as that. Seems MON either hasnt the balls or the will to start making changes to a system and a lineup that just doesnt work

[CrackpotForeigner]

^^^

Good post srs. Hey, it could be worse, we could be in England and enjoying experiences like this:

Crap queue inside ground for food and drink, crap view of the game - too low down and near corner, couldn't see the goalposts/net at all without really leaning forward - couldn't see Ash's goal. Crap , same old, same old performance - their pen surely was not but, it seemed, Bennett may have realised the error of his ways and handed us a dubious pen to balance the books - fans went wild but Ash steps up to take it, just knew it would be saved -it was. Ash then gets a great goal apparently (not that I could see it) and then after that, same old same old again - we do nothing, they come more and more into it and you just knew what was going to happen - sure enough it did. Absolutely appalling journey home, held up on North circular road for over 2 hours, finally hitting the M1 at 12.40 am. So you can guess that it was after 3.00 am when I got home, miserable, having to work all day today. I just WISH we could be excited by Villa sometimes - I wish we had a striker who made you excited when he had the ball and that you felt there was at least a 50% chance he would score. We are just so dull sometimes. I also think people outside Villa rate MON more highly than some of the supporters. I heard a Liverpool fan on the radio this morning saying he wanted Rafa out and MON in, but some said why would MON be interested in leaving Villa for Liverpool anyway. I'm not slating MON here, I'm just a bit ambivalent about it all and feeling a bit bored and disenchanted with Villa at the moment - but hey, I'll be there on Sat and at Burnley on 21st hoping for an exciting and winning performance. :?

Anyway, my thoughts:

- As we all seem to agree, Heskey and Carew do not deserve to start.

- So we should play 451 with Gabby, or give the Fonz a go.

- The ref was a disgrace. Completely and utterly worse-than-useless in that game.

- MON's substitutions seem to defy logic.

- Aston Villa is not the best club for talented youngsters, seeing as we seem to stick with once-talented veterans no matter what.

But it's not SO bad because:

- The mighty Downing will be in the side soon.

- Our defense had a bad game, but MON deserves huge credit for getting Dunne and Colins in.

- With a ref like that, the game can go either way, even if you're Barcelona.

- Heskey and Carew are both one game closer to losing their places.

- We are hopefully one game closer to playing 451 in the right circumstances.

- Milner will be back soon.