Ratings and Reactions: Villa 2-4 Arsenal

[slowandlow]

A few people have mentioned Downing as being played out of position today - from where I was sat he played left midfield for ninety minutes - what am I missing?

sounds like you missed the first half if you think downing played Left mid all game

terrible first half, they could have been 4/5 up

much improved second, but not enough

we better not go into the game on weds with the same starting XI

[Rob182]

Warnock: 0... No comment !!

A Young: 6 ... Tried to make things happen but no service on the wing.

Downing: 3... Did he play today ?

Harsh marking for Warnock and Downing imo.

Warnock had a wobble at the start of the game but then played much better, he made a lot of last ditch tackles in the box to stop Arsenal from scoring.. did you forget them or just not watch the 2nd half?

Downing was as good as Ash imo.

[YankeeinMadrid]

I was at VP today, I actually got told off at half time by an old guy for being so negative "Collins has had an amazing season" lol.

Freidel- 6 wasn't at fault for any of the goals and made a great save against that piece of shit Chamakh

Dunne-6 Not as bad as in previous games, it seems like he's improving as the season goes on (not hard after being shit for the first 2 months).

Collins-4 Won some headers but too much hoofing/hollywooding whatever u call it. Him and L.Young were dreadfully at fault for that Arshavin (rocket polisher) goal.

L.Young-3 Bench him for Lichaj, thanks. Might as well give the American a run in the side. Young isnt getting younger and isnt really giving us a better chance to win the game when hes at RB. He missed Delf and Young on passes, playing them too late, when they were already offsides...just a terrible match from him. He was crap.

Warnock-4 See above, not a good match...

Bannan- 4 very quiet, got bossed in midfield by Song & co (Song is amazing)

Clark- 7 Much better 2nd half than 1st. Soo comfortable on the ball even though he isn't a natural DM. The goals were good and before he scored his 2nd he should have had another. Bad news for CC...Clark is going to become the first CB/CM on the teamsheet now after that performance.

Downing-5 meh.....a good cross to Young in the first half that Young should have scored, after that he was crap. Terrible job tracking back and helping out in defence.

Pires- 6 Looked like one of our best players, not saying much, in the first half. Did he run out of gas?

Young- 6 Always running, missed a sitter...clever moves with Delf in the 2nd half.

Carew-0 Why can't you just cut players like in the NFL? He's a Fing joke.

Ireland- 6 looked better this match, the only player comfortable to pass and move etc in the midfield.

Delf- 6 Good movement and passes, held ball up better than Carew, good shift.

Herd-n/a He made the only good Villa tackle of the match down the wing in the waning minutes.

Jesus, the first half was dire. Arsenal should have had 3 or 4 easily. Remember this is NOT a good Arsenal side. Shoddy defending, Chamakh is mediocre, no Cesc.......

We showed more desire in the 2nd half which is promising. Clark looks to be the real deal. Really happy for him and his 2 goals. Luke Young off for Lichaj or CC. Collins isn't better than Dunne. Dunne had to cover for him again many times...Collins is good in the air, but whopdee do, so what?

Back 4 should be Lichaj/CC Dunne Clark/CC Warnock (no better

option)

5k empty seats...shit support until we got a goal back in the 2nd, cold as hell.

[QuintonK6]

Warnock: 0... No comment !!

A Young: 6 ... Tried to make things happen but no service on the wing.

Downing: 3... Did he play today ?

Harsh marking for Warnock and Downing imo.

Warnock had a wobble at the start of the game but then played much better, he made a lot of last ditch tackles in the box to stop Arsenal from scoring.. did you forget them or just not watch the 2nd half?

Downing was as good as Ash imo.

Warnock was caught out of position after 25secs and was consistently caught all game - He is utter shit and I can't bring myself to heap any praise on him. I've been every game this season home & away and cup and he has been a liability in all them.

Downing is a pussy full stop !! When were leading and not chasing the game he looks good - Like Man Utd last week. Today he was useless !! If you can tell me 1 thing he did today for me to raise my mark I'll donate £10 to VT ??

Ashley wanted the ball and tried to win it back when he lost it. He drifted inside to get the ball and tried to assist & help the attack - Albeit to no effect !! When he had the ball out wide put balls in hence the higher mark.

I don't want to criticize Downing to much as he's been pretty good this season but when he's no up for it he's awful. When were loosing and looking for that bit extra ie tackle or some committed chasing back etc he hides on the wing.

[PauloBarnesi]

We really miss Albrighton.

[Ponky]

Before the match it looked like Collins was sucking on the pain-killing "whistle" - so he was obviously not quite right to start with.

[rjw63]

Thanks for another shit weekend Villa.

That first half was **** embarrassing, and I blame the manager. We were abject, spineless, negative. If this type of display carries on it won't be new players coming in in January, it'll be Houllier leaving.

[QuintonK6]

The League table looks terrible !!

[paddy]

Good 2nd half,didn't deserve a draw though. What's up with Luke Young. I'm usually z big fan but he wasabysmal today, Clark for MOTM obviously.

[cbr600rr]

got tore apart by a 5-a-side-team, we were lucky not to be 4 down by half time, i have gone past the blame game now against mr x for not playing well etc,the result & performance is no shock to many who see them week in & out, we lack a cutting edge in the final third,these injurys are playing a majour part now its beyond a joke, however i felt for 10mins we might have got a draw at one point.its not good looking at the league but sorry villa are where they are on what i have seen.

[QuintonK6]

. If this type of display carries on it won't be new players coming in in January, it'll be Houllier leaving.

I'll place a large bet with anyone that if sha knock us out the cup we loose at Anfield and get nothing other than a win against the Baggies the Holte End will be firmly on Houlliers back and the pressure will be on Randy to sort it quickly !!

[chappy]

We have had a few results go our way thankfully.

[Rob182]

Warnock: 0... No comment !!

A Young: 6 ... Tried to make things happen but no service on the wing.

Downing: 3... Did he play today ?

Harsh marking for Warnock and Downing imo.

Warnock had a wobble at the start of the game but then played much better, he made a lot of last ditch tackles in the box to stop Arsenal from scoring.. did you forget them or just not watch the 2nd half?

Downing was as good as Ash imo.

Warnock was caught out of position after 25secs and was consistently caught all game - He is utter shit and I can't bring myself to heap any praise on him. I've been every game this season home & away and cup and he has been a liability in all them.

Downing is a pussy full stop !! When were leading and not chasing the game he looks good - Like Man Utd last week. Today he was useless !! If you can tell me 1 thing he did today for me to raise my mark I'll donate £10 to VT ??

Ashley wanted the ball and tried to win it back when he lost it. He drifted inside to get the ball and tried to assist & help the attack - Albeit to no effect !! When he had the ball out wide put balls in hence the higher mark.

I don't want to criticize Downing to much as he's been pretty good this season but when he's no up for it he's awful. When were loosing and looking for that bit extra ie tackle or some committed chasing back etc he hides on the wing.

Warnock was caught at the start of the game but after that he was pretty good. He went flying into Arsenal's attackers in the 2nd half and stopped them from shooting on numerous occasions.

Downing's positioning is excellent and cut out quite a few Arsenal passes.

Downing also made a decent run when we broke on the counter. He was in space, running into the box, but your beloved Ashley Young **** up the easy part and passed the ball as fast as he signs contracts.

[QuintonK6]

Warnock: 0... No comment !!

A Young: 6 ... Tried to make things happen but no service on the wing.

Downing: 3... Did he play today ?

Harsh marking for Warnock and Downing imo.

Warnock had a wobble at the start of the game but then played much better, he made a lot of last ditch tackles in the box to stop Arsenal from scoring.. did you forget them or just not watch the 2nd half?

Downing was as good as Ash imo.

Warnock was caught out of position after 25secs and was consistently caught all game - He is utter shit and I can't bring myself to heap any praise on him. I've been every game this season home & away and cup and he has been a liability in all them.

Downing is a pussy full stop !! When were leading and not chasing the game he looks good - Like Man Utd last week. Today he was useless !! If you can tell me 1 thing he did today for me to raise my mark I'll donate £10 to VT ??

Ashley wanted the ball and tried to win it back when he lost it. He drifted inside to get the ball and tried to assist & help the attack - Albeit to no effect !! When he had the ball out wide put balls in hence the higher mark.

I don't want to criticize Downing to much as he's been pretty good this season but when he's no up for it he's awful. When were loosing and looking for that bit extra ie tackle or some committed chasing back etc he hides on the wing.

Warnock was caught at the start of the game but after that he was pretty good. He went flying into Arsenal's attackers in the 2nd half and stopped them from shooting on numerous occasions.

Downing's positioning is excellent and cut out quite a few Arsenal passes.

Downing also made a decent run when we broke on the counter. He was in space, running into the box, but your beloved Ashley Young **** up the easy part and passed the ball as fast as he signs contracts.

Lets just agree to disagree - footballs about opinions and ours differ on certain players performances. As for Ashley he was as poor as the rest of them but IMO gave a little more. Also as I'm at the back of the Holte was Ash wearing one of them stupid neck warmer things ?? If so you can take a mark of him as that's a disgrace for an English man to be wearing one of them !!

[Rob182]

QuintonK6, Probably!

I'm at the front of the Upper Holte, so I could only see a bit more than you.. but I wouldn't put it past him! (He's probably trying to fit in with the Frenchies so that he can get a move to them in the summer)

[Brumstopdogs]

Very poor performance and our manager has to take a big slice of the blame.

2 wins since he has arrived (one vs Blackpool reserves and the other vs Wolves) simply not good enough.

The way to beat Arsenal today was to attack them from the off. He waited until we were 2-0 down before he put 2 up front. Poor.

As for our players:

Friedel - average

Luke Young - poor positioning and can't pass 5 yards

Collins - poor and would prefer Cuellar back when fit.

Dunne - committed but clumsy

Warnock - A liability - the sooner he goes the better

A Young - His strength is running at players - when did he do that?

Bannan - some neat passes - mediocre

Clark - 2 good goals. Not convinced he's a CM though!

Downing - poor game but he's done ok this season

Carew - lack of effort

It's all good saying the second half was better but the game is 90 minutes. There's no point just having a go when we're behind.

Really worried about Houllier!

[wedge]

Woeful 1st half, slighly better 2nd. I would have felt guilty if we had snatched a point though. Ireland and Delfouneso definately made a difference and have to start on Wednesday ahead of Carew and Pires.

One note on the crowd, the atmosphere was non-existent, you could tell as soon as the players came on to the field that it was going to be quiet as hell, it only takes one bad pass in the opening few minutes of a game at VP from a Villa player and the fans are on the players backs. I'm sick to death of all the moaning, even though they are over-payed most of the players are still young and are still human beings, if you worked in an office and made a mistake early on in the day and kept being reminded of it by all your colleges how would you react? It's a similar effect that we as home fans have on OUR players. Granted we were poor today but a bit more positive support wouldn't go a miss, when I hear the majority of fans moaning about Ireland it reminds me of the fans who whinged about Laursen, Bouma, A. Young, and Downing when they first came, if it dosen't happen instantly for a new Villa player then he is labelled as rubbish. Ireland did make a difference when he came on today, he looked composed and assured and hardly gave the ball away, he's a quality footballer IMO and it's only a matter of time before he settles in and starts producing for us, he hardly got a reception as he came onto the field and it's almost like the fans are waiting for him to fail, absolute ludacris.

We have 12 players out, we outplayed Manchester United two weeks ago and in January when we will have players returning and hopefully a few new signings hopefully we will start to climb the table again. UTV

[rjenkins]

Friedel - 6

L. Young - 3

Dunne - 5

Collins - 4

Warnock - 4

Downing - 2

Clark - 5

Bannan - 5

Pires - 4

A. Young - 3

Carew - 2

Subs:

Delfouneso - 7

Ireland - 6

Herd - N/A

For me, we were poor all game. From the first minute we looked lethargic and disjointed. I think this is predominantly down the number of first-team midfielders we are missing but Houllier also got his tactics wrong in the first half. Pires supporting Carew wouldn't have been an inspired move even if Carew could trap or pass a football. We needed a leader today to organise the team and we didn't have one, and I think a few players (Downing in particular) just didn't look bothered today. 4-2 makes the game sound better than it was for us.

Ireland

[rjw63]

absolute ludacris.

[avfc89]

We are in deep, deep trouble.