dalyvilla Posted January 15, 2010 Share Posted January 15, 2010 my main points from the game- Guzan is raw talent but still very much a work in progress, i was worried with every ball they put in on him, needs to be stronger and more dominant at crosses. I think dunne knew he was struggling after the first few dodgy ones so thats why he was nearly a 2nd keeper at one stage. One brilliant header off the line. The fans were fantastic, a credit to the club. Best chants of the nite were "shit on the city" which was probably heard back in birmingham cos it was that loud. Brilliant. "you've only got one ball" and "its your ground my lord" both quality too... We were so much on top in the first half it was ridiculous, but being Villa we had to make it hard for ourselves, not that the ref helped. Still not convinced bout Gabby's peno shout, but the handball was a pen all day long. they had that spell in the 2nd half which was a bit tense but we weathered the storm thankfully but only poor finishin (and good save from gab's header) kept score at 1-0. Carew would have had 2 goals today if he had played i think. (the chance heskey had when he was offside but wasnt called off. And in the second half when heskey got a touch on young's drilled cross). I think Carew wud have stuck both of them. Carlos did well at right back but luke young offers so much more goin forward when he plays. Personally i'd prefer luke at RB all day and have collins/cuellar on the bench. BOth played well though. Gabby's 5th booking i believe so he'll miss hammers game (correct me if im wrong on that). Wud like to see Carew & THe Fonz start that one RATINGS Guzan - 6 Warnock - 7.5 Brilliant foot in on dunn i think when he mite have had a go, solid as per usual Dunne - 8.5 ONe great tackle and header, solid Collins - 7.5 Solid Cuellar - 7 OUt of position, did well A Young - 7 deliveries were good, shooting was poor thou Petrov - 7.5 worked v hard Milner - 9 MOTM - his workrate is unreal, classy finish for his goal. Just love the way he pointed wher he wanted the ball Downing - 8 Excellent. great ball for the goal Heskey - 7 some nice lay offs and did okay but he just hasnt got the strikers instinct Gabby - 7.5 did well, unlucky with late header. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
villan_avfc Posted January 15, 2010 Share Posted January 15, 2010 Gabby's 5th booking i believe so he'll miss hammers game (correct me if im wrong on that). Wud like to see Carew & THe Fonz start that one i think they wipe the slate clean in the new year. might be wrong though. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dalyvilla Posted January 15, 2010 Share Posted January 15, 2010 By the way whoever said Milner was 12/1 first scorer before the game, thanks very much as I had a fiver on it i had villa backed minus 1 at 4's..... how we didnt get a second is beyond me Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DiegoD Posted January 15, 2010 Share Posted January 15, 2010 Our midfield was superb, Downing looked class today (think he enjoyed the break) and Young ran at defenders!! best game i've seen from him in a while. Good lead could have so easily been 2 or 3... lets hope that doesn't hurt us Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Prebbz Posted January 15, 2010 Share Posted January 15, 2010 Absolutely awesome. Just got back after a 5 and a half hour journey back to Southampton. Good result should have been more, big shout to everyone who went it was deafening in the away end, even more credit to the group of mad bastards behind me with no shirts on. Standout chants were the half hour of mon s claret and blue army and who's the gay boy in the red and who's your boyfriend in the black Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AVFC-Prideofbrum Posted January 15, 2010 Share Posted January 15, 2010 Carew would have had 2 goals today if he had played i think. (the chance heskey had when he was offside but wasnt called off. And in the second half when heskey got a touch on young's drilled cross). I think Carew wud have stuck both of them. Would he have been in the same positions? or the team? There's been a few times where Heskey has been given those passes, Sunderland and Portsmouth both times he's scored from it. Carew despite more games has hardly any chances like these, and that's not because of the midfielders not giving him the ball... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ponky Posted January 15, 2010 Share Posted January 15, 2010 Heskey had a cross from Downing in front of an open goal and stabbed at it with his thigh. I'd like to think Carew would have buried it. I thought it was a very entertaining match. I expected our boys to be a bit rusty given the lack of football, but the pleasing thing was that we responded to the pressure in the middle of the second half and finished the match dominant. I thought Sidwell coming on instead of Reo-Coker was the right choice simply because although we needed more strength in the midfield we were still searching for another goal and as woeful as Sidwell has been this season he still has a better chance of finding the net than Reo Coker. Milner and Petrov in the middle were fantastic and Downing and Young worked really well, I suspect partly because Downing spent more time on the left side than he usually does. I agree that Cuellar's distribution was poor tonight but he was still the right choice given the aerial bombardment we suffered last time, while Guzan did look shaky but he was clearly fouled on several occasions. I suspect that was their strategy given the goal Kalinic (?) scored against us in the FA Cup - and if this is one of Guzan's weaknesses it is good to have it exposed now so he can work on it. The penalty denied to Gabby was very clear cut, I thought. However, Gabby muddied the waters a little by lurching forward with the contact. However, just because Gabby exaggerated the contact doesn't mean it wasn't a foul. It will be interesting to see what formation we play in the next leg. I would have though 451 to keep us strong defensively, but that said Rovers will have to attack us and try to score, which will leave them vulnerable on the counter. A fired up Carew might just put the tie beyond doubt before half time. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
butler50 Posted January 15, 2010 Share Posted January 15, 2010 Thought it was a great away performance and job done. At last its great we have goals coming from centre midfield, Milner was superb along with downing and young. Just think we need a bit more from our strikers as niether really ever looked like scoring. Good position to be in for 2nd leg, if we get 1st goal on wed its all over for me, wembley wembley!!!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
granville Posted January 15, 2010 Share Posted January 15, 2010 By the way whoever said Milner was 12/1 first scorer before the game, thanks very much as I had a fiver on it Exactly this. Well done!... whoever you were. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
maqroll Posted January 15, 2010 Share Posted January 15, 2010 Does little brad get the start again? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pilchard Posted January 15, 2010 Share Posted January 15, 2010 By the way whoever said Milner was 12/1 first scorer before the game, thanks very much as I had a fiver on it Exactly this. Well done!... whoever you were. Blimey, good odds there, nice one well done! Should have finished the tie last night with the chances we had - but still delighted with the result and the first half performance. I don't know what was wrong with Ashley Young, but he got himself is brilliant positions time and time again only to fluff the cross or scoring chance. Still, if he keeps getting in those positions he'll eventually get one and they'll start coming back. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Richard Posted January 15, 2010 Share Posted January 15, 2010 Happy with the win. If any game epitomised our dire need for someone to put the chances away last night was it. I hope we do not live to regret it or it comes back to bite us on the arse Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
VillaChris Posted January 15, 2010 Share Posted January 15, 2010 By the way whoever said Milner was 12/1 first scorer before the game, thanks very much as I had a fiver on it i had villa backed minus 1 at 4's..... how we didnt get a second is beyond me Yep, had a quid on it aswell! We just need to be more clinical at VP, will Blackburn create that many chances? We'll be fine. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sgvillan Posted January 15, 2010 Share Posted January 15, 2010 Does little brad get the start again? He's done fine in the whole competition so far, why change him now? Ok he was a bit shaky, but who plays brilliant in every game ? - And he still kept a clean sheet. No brainer for me. Also, quick point - WHAT a travelling support! Fernhurst was rocking and for the whole game we never stopped singing - my throat is killing me. 90 mins from Wembley......... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Malachite Posted January 15, 2010 Share Posted January 15, 2010 2 Rock solid penalties, the hand ball was probably the lesser of the shouts because it wasn't quite clear what happened just before the Blackburn player stuck his hand on the ball, the Gabby tackle, absolutely bang on and you'll see everyone of those given over the weekend, The Blackburn player was so late it was unbelievable, his leading leg went right across Gabby's path, his other leg brushing Gabby, Rock solid penalty and MON's right on that, but what a clumsy tackle and right in the box. IMO had we gone in at half time that far up, that would have sealed it for Blackburn. Good result, we can't be complacent about this and we must really go for them at home, should be a great game. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DANVANDAL Posted January 15, 2010 Share Posted January 15, 2010 Very glad of the win and an away goal. Possibly two penalty decisions missed by the ref, at least one solid one. Average performance in midfield last night, second half we looked over run at times which lead to a lot of last ditch defending and defending in large numbers. Milner played well, Downing looked lively and creative some very good crosses. I thought Reo-Coker would have been a better option that Sidwell for the sub, but at least MON made a sub. Ashley young has no cutting edge I’m sorry controversial I know but it has to be said. He gets tonnes of ball and beats men well but his delivery last night was poor. his decision making as well seems to lack maturity. All of my moans aside very glad for the result, well done to the team. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
alienvillan Posted January 15, 2010 Share Posted January 15, 2010 The best view on my TV wasn't Milner scoring the goal or Downing's "bull's eye" pass. It was the happy away fans. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
barry'sboots Posted January 15, 2010 Share Posted January 15, 2010 Great first half performance. Stand outs for me were Milner, the whole defence and the away support. I think its hard for Guzan to dominate his box/defence when he isn't playing very often. I also think this is the weakest part of Friedel's game? Got pushed back second half and I would have liked to see MON respond more quickly. I think with 30 minutes left I would have bought on NRC and Delph for Stan and Heskey. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Undesirable Posted January 15, 2010 Share Posted January 15, 2010 A very good performance, we could and probably should of made it 2 or 3 but then we also rode our luck at the other end of the pitch in the second half. The support was brilliant, the chant of "Martin O'Neill's claret and blue army" in the second half must've gone on for a good 10 minutes. Anybody see Ashley Young have a little chuckle when we were singing "one ball, you've only got one ball", that was a nice moment. Really good day out, we invaded Ewood and raided the win we needed, roll on Wembley! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
stato Posted January 15, 2010 Share Posted January 15, 2010 Still buzzing. A few too many dickheads in the Villa end for my liking, but that always happens when we take a large away following. Vocal support was brilliant, the only trouble being when there's that many people there's usually 3 different songs going on. However, when everyone is singing the same thing it's LOUD! Glad the 2nd leg is only 6 days away and we don't have to wait a fortnight. Come on boys, see this one through! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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