ryanvilla_1994 Posted January 2, 2012 Share Posted January 2, 2012 Shouldn't have been taken off, was he only player who wanted the ball at times. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Milfner Posted January 2, 2012 Share Posted January 2, 2012 Our best player today. Yet gets subbed. Madness. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dont_do_it_doug. Posted January 2, 2012 Share Posted January 2, 2012 Solid today. Few bits of class, worked hard. A good steady performance after his game winning one the weekend. Hopefully enough that he keeps faith in himself. Impressed with his fitness levels too, he didn't seem to be tiring at all when the ridiculous substitution came. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dudevillaisnice Posted January 2, 2012 Share Posted January 2, 2012 Thought he was good today again which makes it baffling as to why McLeish subbed him off. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sonic_bouma Posted January 2, 2012 Share Posted January 2, 2012 sorry but we can't accomodate him... he's not a CM and he's not a winger, he's a 'in the hole' player and we simply ain't good enough to have that luxury... redknapp has left van der vaart out the team in the past coz he felt the same at one point we stand a better chance of getting results if we play 2 wingers supplying gabby and bent up front... playing ireland behind bent and gabby on the wing is **** useless....gabby needs to be on the shoulder of defenders..he was so deep today its untrue...i bet the swansea players were laughing their tits off when they found out he was playing wide... if ireland has to be on the pitch then it must be in a 442..with him just behind gabby OR bent.... and for me after all his troubles he is not worth having in the team at the expense of gabby or bent Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ulver Posted January 2, 2012 Share Posted January 2, 2012 I'm not a fan, but credit where credits due. Against Chelsea he was very very good. But what player were some of you watching today ? He was lethargic, slow, careless and gave the ball away numerous times I know some folks desperately defend him at all times but I couldn't see any reason not to take him off today. Other than i'd have took Petrov off first I thought we'd finally got the player (who's made a career on the back of 1 fantastic season) we'd all hoped we had after Saturday. After today I feel we've got the one we all expected we had instead Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
VillaAlex Posted January 2, 2012 Share Posted January 2, 2012 Not sure I'd agree Ulver, he was the only player who was trying to make something happen. A lot of his passes didn't come off but at least he was trying to be inventive. His work-rate was excellent again too, constantly pressed the Swansea back line which Bent didn't seem to want to do. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dont_do_it_doug. Posted January 2, 2012 Share Posted January 2, 2012 I'm not a fan, but credit where credits due. Against Chelsea he was very very good. But what player were some of you watching today ? He was lethargic, slow, careless and gave the ball away numerous times I know some folks desperately defend him at all times but I couldn't see any reason not to take him off today. Other than i'd have took Petrov off first I thought we'd finally got the player (who's made a career on the back of 1 fantastic season) we'd all hoped we had after Saturday. After today I feel we've got the one we all expected we had instead They say football is all about opinions. In this case yours is wrong. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ulver Posted January 2, 2012 Share Posted January 2, 2012 In this case yours is wrong. Strangely, it seemed to conicide with both the TV commentators opinion too Except they thought he'd have been taken off at half time! I think some people have been blinded by Saturday's one off Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dont_do_it_doug. Posted January 2, 2012 Share Posted January 2, 2012 In this case yours is wrong. Strangely, it seemed to conicide with both the TV commentators opinion too Oh right, didn't realise. I must be wrong then. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
VillaChris Posted January 2, 2012 Share Posted January 2, 2012 I thought he was steady, at least he wanted the ball. Lost count the amount of times we had a throw in, Ireland would just wander into yards of space and he was still ignored! That said, his passing did get a little sloppy in the second half. He won't play like Chelsea every week but I hope he gets a decent run of games unless he fades badly. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
P3te Posted January 2, 2012 Share Posted January 2, 2012 he was our best player again today. the only one who was continually closing players down and trying to create things if we're starting gabby on the wing, ireland is wasted. we need proper balance there if he's going to play Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Czechlad Posted January 2, 2012 Share Posted January 2, 2012 In this case yours is wrong. Strangely, it seemed to conicide with both the TV commentators opinion too Except they thought he'd have been taken off at half time! I think some people have been blinded by Saturday's one off You must have not been watching the Villa game then. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
heystally! Posted January 2, 2012 Share Posted January 2, 2012 So we've got people saying that Gabby shouldn't play on the wing, despite the fact that he's been at his most dangerous this season when out on the wing? And that we can't afford the luxury of an "in-the-hole" player like Ireland, despite the fact he was key to our win against Chelsea away two days ago whilst playing "in-the-hole"? Madness. Our formation or team selection was not really the problem today. The problem was that McLeish made terrible decisions after our poor first half performance. It wasn't that we didn't need Ireland: we actually needed about three of him! How Clark played 85 mins whilst doing **** all is incredible. We needed Bannan to support Ireland in passing the ball around so that we actually kept the thing and made some chances. Ireland was also the only player who looked like he wanted to get into space and get the ball. No one else wanted it. No one else actually gave a shit. So to take him off was ridiculous. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BrummieVillan Posted January 2, 2012 Share Posted January 2, 2012 He was good today, should have stayed on because he might not have set the pitch a light but he was one of the ones trying at that. Hopefully he can pick up some form now despite his poor start at Villa. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dale Posted January 2, 2012 Share Posted January 2, 2012 How Clark played 85 mins whilst doing **** all is incredible. We needed Bannan to support Ireland in passing the ball around so that we actually kept the thing and made some chances. I thought Clark was composed and won the ball well, Petrov was behind play in second half though... Bannan should have replaced Petrov on 60 mins... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
heystally! Posted January 2, 2012 Share Posted January 2, 2012 How Clark played 85 mins whilst doing **** all is incredible. We needed Bannan to support Ireland in passing the ball around so that we actually kept the thing and made some chances. I thought Clark was composed and won the ball well, Petrov was behind play in second half though... Bannan should have replaced Petrov on 60 mins... I thought he wasn't doing anything of any benefit to us today. It's not really his fault, but it seems like McLeish was telling him to sit deep and hold the midfield, but that was pointless as all of Swansea's possession was in their own defense and defensive midfield. And he's not really a visionary passer like Bannan, which is what we needed today to support the front three alongside Ireland. I agree about Petrov. Really at half time I'd have liked to have seen Clark and Petrov replaced with Bannan and Gardner. A little lightweight, but I didn't see Swansea as a team who would outmuscle us today. We just needed to hold the ball more. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
VillaChris Posted January 2, 2012 Share Posted January 2, 2012 Bringing on Bannan on 85 minutes was bonkers, why leave it so late??? Albrghton and Bannan should've been straight on after the second goal, no guarentee we would've got two goals from that but might have shaken the team up from the malaise they were in. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
parisvilla Posted January 2, 2012 Share Posted January 2, 2012 To be honest I cannot believe both CMs weren't hauled off at HT, both were abject and looked extremely tired. Nothing to lose by throwing on Gardner and Bannan. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
barry'sboots Posted January 3, 2012 Share Posted January 3, 2012 Can you imagine the grief that SI got from McLeish at the end of the match today. Imagine wanting to play football in the opposition half and pass the ball to a colleague. Its no wonder he got taken off and I fully expect the Powerhouse to replace him in the next game! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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