Ratings and Reactions: Villa 2-4 Arsenal

[AValon]

A draw would have been totally unflattering. If we had won old Arsene would have topped himself!

The defence was a collective shambles and it was hard to single out anyone from that piss-poor showing. Clark impressed for sheer effort second half and Ireland actually got stuck in, but there was'nt a fat lot else worth mentioning.

Not looking forward to sha much.

[thetrees]

My cup is half full.

Outplayed by the best passing side in the league in the first-half, like last week our soft white underbelly was exposed again.

In the second half we had a go at exposing theirs, but unfortunately another slight hesitation from our keeper put them back on their front foot.

The worry is how poorly our defence are performing in general. On the positive side we have a lot of very good young players getting good experience, and a long injury list, which will hopefully soon shorten.

Not a good performance, but I can only see a bright future.

But then my cup is half full...........

[claret75]

Pretty poor performance. Bad passing, poor movement, pretty clueless all in all.

CM was totally outplayed, part from his goals Clark was poor and Bannan was way too deep to have much of an effect on the game. We defended for too deeply, if we'd have pressured higher up the pitch we'd have done much better, but we let them come on to us...asking for trouble against Arsenal.

Defending was abysmal. Not sure what they were thinking for 3 of the goals. Our FB's are getting more and more of a concern.

Upfront Carew was awful, want to see him gone asap. The only player I thought looked on it today was A Young, he didn't have great game, but at least he looked hungry and up for it.

[tommo]

Friedel 7- Kept us in it.

L.Young 5- He really tried, but a shocking error for their first, and his marauding runs continually left us exposed.

Collins 6- Better than his partner.

Dunne 5- looking increasingly sluggish, despite putting himself about a bit near the end.

Warnock 3- really woeful.

Clark 7*- after an awful first half he looked alright on the ball in the 2nd and was the goal hanging hero.

Bannan 4- Didn't seem to understand his position. Lightweight, shocking passing and poor positioning for most of the game. Probably not his fault.

A.Young 5- Wasteful.

Downing 5- Despite some nice touches, he failed to support Warnock enough and epitomised our 'stand off and let them play' approach.

Pires 6- Seemed to be playing too deep and lacking sharpness, although he was the only player who did anything worthwhile in the first 45.

Carew 2- just awful

Delfonueso 7- Carew needed him, and he looked bright as usual. He has to start midweek if others are unavailable.

Ireland 6- alright

Herd - thought he should've been on a lot earlier for Bannan, who I thought was unfortunately outclassed today.

[Brumerican]

This season is going to be long and hard !

[paulanddonya]

I seriously cannot beieve people on here think that was anything near acceptable today.

I've just read four pages of "we werent that bad", "Warnock was solid" "Got to give them time" and so on....

Can you wake the f... up !!!! - we have played 15 games - and won 2 - putting us 6th from borrom - 3 points out the relegation zone !!

WE ARE ABSOLUTE SHITE !!!!!

And I am sick of the excuses as well.

Lets look

Friedal , L Young, Dunne, Collins, Warnock, A Young, Downing, Carew

THAT IS 8 OF LAST YEARS STARTING 11 !!!!

And I tell you what, player for player Pires is better than Petrov so that one can't even be used !

You are all banging on - "We need NRC" "We need Albrighton" - WELL WE SODDING DIDN'T LAST SEASON !.

We were an embarassment to football in the first half, it must have been getting towards 90% possession for Arsenal. The only miracle was it took them 4- minutes.

And the guess what - A LAST MINUTE GOAL - I wonder where we have seen that before !

2nd Half - yea it looked better, but only coz Arsenal were trying to outdo Brazil 1970 in the goal charts - so many times they were through and tried to pass 30 times without putting it in the net.

We got a goal out of nothin, then guess what, Arsenal took it seriously and scored within 3 minutes !. Then they took the pee again, and we got another goal out of nothing, and then guess what - A LAST MINUTE GOAL AGAIN !.

Absolutely shocking.

We are in for a relegation dogfight. Wigan will be below us, but I tell you this, I ain't confident the others will be !

MOTM - Delfonousu - who at least actually tried to look like he knew what the job of a forward was !

Oh - by the way, quizz question - our 80 million pound player - when was the last time he scored in the Premier from open play - coz from what I reckon it was the Everton last minute goal - and that was 3 years ago !

[o'lbs]

1st half was absolutely disgusting. a phat phucking disgrace.

the team was set up 4-5-1 to try and out pass arsenal thru the centre.

absolute shambles. we were under the cost from the off.

2nd half we went 442 getting the ball wide and we almost pulled ourselfs back in it. just left too many gaps at the end when Dunne went up front.

Carew Ashley Young and Downing were a joke.

Bannan was the worst i've seen him.

phucking disgrace.

we're going down.

[AVFC-Prideofbrum]

I seriously cannot beieve people on here think that was anything near acceptable today.

we have played 15 games - and won 2 -

!

won 4....not that it's great either.

[Chindie]

Best to start by saying that to my mind the first half was diabolical and the second half, while a tad better (not especially difficult) still wasn't good enough. I didn't expect anything results wise from the match, obviously, but what I did expect is for us to look at least capable. In the first half we didn't even muster that.

Friedel -7. It's hard to say a keeper had a decent game when he let in 4 but I don't think theres much he could have done for the goals and otherwise he pulled off some good saves, especially when it was still goalless, that kept us in.

L. Young - 4. Crap. Forgotten how to defend, all over the place and dropped us in it along with the rest of the backline. First goal is horrible.

Dunne - 5. Somehow managed to be fairly anonymous whilst being the last line of defence. Not great.

Collins - 4. With 20mins to go he was hobbling badly, before that his gungho style compounded other **** ups to really drop us in it.

Warnock - 4. Started badly, didn't get much better.

Downing - 5. Had his moments but not many of them. Got more involved second half and put in some nice crosses. I think most of our promising play had him involved pretty intimately.

Clark - 6. Extra point for the goals but I really felt otherwise he was pretty dire in line with his team mates. First half completely passed him by, not good for a DM, second half he clawed back the goals that flattered us (first a beauty mind) but even then he was still not great imo. Good mentality mind.

Bannan - 4. Didn't do a lot, tried pinging some Hollywood balls that failed, got out battled and out muscled a couple of times, couldn't put a stamp on the game at all.

Pires - 3. May as well not have been there. He still obviously had skill, his few touches showed that, but his legs have had it. One moment about 30mins in summed it up for me - we'd cleared the ball to midway in our own half, to Pires on the left wing. He strode forward, noticed an Arse defender he knew he wasn't going to beat, and another gaining on him, so didn't bother to try and just gave up. Not good. Maybe in time as a classy sub he'll have his uses, but for now he looks like a 37yo who's best years have passed him and has spent 4 years playing in a much less physical league based more on skill. Funny that.

A. Young - 4. Tried but was useless. Toss cross after toss cross, couldn't go past a toddler let alone an Arsenal man. Infuriating that a winger of his talent couldn't get a cross past the first man.

Carew - 3. He ran a bit. I think. Couldn't pass 5 yards, couldn't hold up anything we did manage to get to him, was never in the box, didn't look arsed, barely bothered, it's pretty clear that it's so long and thanks for the good times, what there were.

Subs:

Delfouneso - 7. His arrival gave us a boost, he looked keen to impact the game and make a mark. We actually looked abit more capable of crafting a decent attack with him on the pitch.

Ireland - 5. Improved. Still not good enough but in the context of the game I'll take it. Composed possession, good crisp passes, a bit of endeavour, and even some bottle, made a couple of tackles with some venom in them. Hopefully the start of an upward rise because bloody hell we need it. Lets see more please you crazy fecker.

Herd - Immaculately groomed I think is the best you can say, didn't have much time to do anything else.

Bollocks performance. First half was indefensible, uninspiring rubbish. That half had the distinct nasty lingering look of a promoted side who'd seen the teamsheet and gone through the motions, not good at all. Arsenal aren;t a bad side obviously, though this isn't a great Arsenal side by any stretch, but I expect better than that. We let them play, which is dangerous when we're a side that Blackpool have managed to unlock with ease.

The defence is a complete shambles. The midfield was pretty shocking and I can't see how it's going to get better. Upfront is a joke. I felt somehwat sorry for Friedel in goal, at times he may as well have had shop window dummies in front of him. He nearly did - the last goal is comical if weren't so heartbreaking that they''re wearing Villa shirts. What the hell happened?

We could have been absolutely trounced if Arsenal could finish and stop fannying around. They had chance after chance. We'd have deserved a tonking too on that performance. As it is, 4-2 papers over some cracks pretty unconvincingly.

[briggaman]

And I tell you what, player for player Pires is better than Petrov so that one can't even be used !

Huh?! Seriously? Perhaps ten years ago, but not now. People tend to underestimate Petrov far too much. Pires was absolute shite today. I have no doubt that he will be good to teach the younger players and perhaps as an impact sub. He should never have started today though.

You are all banging on - "We need NRC" "We need Albrighton" - WELL WE SODDING DIDN'T LAST SEASON !.

Last season we didn't have a clearing in the woods of a manager leave us a few days before the start of the season. Last season we didn't have all of these players out injured. I think you will find that we sodding did need our injured players last season! Perhaps not NRC and Albrighton because MON didn't have the sense to play them at the time.

We were an embarassment to football in the first half, it must have been getting towards 90% possession for Arsenal. The only miracle was it took them 4- minutes.

One thing I agree with you on. We made Arsenal look good.

2nd Half - yea it looked better, but only coz Arsenal were trying to outdo Brazil 1970 in the goal charts - so many times they were through and tried to pass 30 times without putting it in the net.

Were you watching a different match? In the second half it was a lot more even. In the first half they could have scored a ton, yet in the second they were a lot less convinving and were passing sideways for large portions of it.

We got a goal out of nothin, then guess what, Arsenal took it seriously and scored within 3 minutes !. Then they took the pee again, and we got another goal out of nothing, and then guess what - A LAST MINUTE GOAL AGAIN !.

While I was annoyed with the last minute goal, at least we were pushing to get something out of the game. We went for it and it didn't pay off. The game was lost in the first half when our performance was dire, not in those last minutes.

We are in for a relegation dogfight. Wigan will be below us, but I tell you this, I ain't confident the others will be !

Get a grip! There are at LEAST three worse teams than us in the PL.

Oh - by the way, quizz question - our 80 million pound player - when was the last time he scored in the Premier from open play - coz from what I reckon it was the Everton last minute goal - and that was 3 years ago !

Who did we pay that much for?

I'm guessing the defeat has gotten to you because a lot of what you said is absolute drivel.

[claret75]

Best to start by saying that to my mind the first half was diabolical and the second half, while a tad better (not especially difficult) still wasn't good enough. I didn't expect anything results wise from the match, obviously, but what I did expect is for us to look at least capable. In the first half we didn't even muster that.

Friedel -7. It's hard to say a keeper had a decent game when he let in 4 but I don't think theres much he could have done for the goals and otherwise he pulled off some good saves, especially when it was still goalless, that kept us in.

L. Young - 4. Crap. Forgotten how to defend, all over the place and dropped us in it along with the rest of the backline. First goal is horrible.

Dunne - 5. Somehow managed to be fairly anonymous whilst being the last line of defence. Not great.

Collins - 4. With 20mins to go he was hobbling badly, before that his gungho style compounded other **** ups to really drop us in it.

Warnock - 4. Started badly, didn't get much better.

Downing - 5. Had his moments but not many of them. Got more involved second half and put in some nice crosses. I think most of our promising play had him involved pretty intimately.

Clark - 6. Extra point for the goals but I really felt otherwise he was pretty dire in line with his team mates. First half completely passed him by, not good for a DM, second half he clawed back the goals that flattered us (first a beauty mind) but even then he was still not great imo. Good mentality mind.

Bannan - 4. Didn't do a lot, tried pinging some Hollywood balls that failed, got out battled and out muscled a couple of times, couldn't put a stamp on the game at all.

Pires - 3. May as well not have been there. He still obviously had skill, his few touches showed that, but his legs have had it. One moment about 30mins in summed it up for me - we'd cleared the ball to midway in our own half, to Pires on the left wing. He strode forward, noticed an Arse defender he knew he wasn't going to beat, and another gaining on him, so didn't bother to try and just gave up. Not good. Maybe in time as a classy sub he'll have his uses, but for now he looks like a 37yo who's best years have passed him and has spent 4 years playing in a much less physical league based more on skill. Funny that.

A. Young - 4. Tried but was useless. Toss cross after toss cross, couldn't go past a toddler let alone an Arsenal man. Infuriating that a winger of his talent couldn't get a cross past the first man.

Carew - 3. He ran a bit. I think. Couldn't pass 5 yards, couldn't hold up anything we did manage to get to him, was never in the box, didn't look arsed, barely bothered, it's pretty clear that it's so long and thanks for the good times, what there were.

Subs:

Delfouneso - 7. His arrival gave us a boost, he looked keen to impact the game and make a mark. We actually looked abit more capable of crafting a decent attack with him on the pitch.

Ireland - 5. Improved. Still not good enough but in the context of the game I'll take it. Composed possession, good crisp passes, a bit of endeavour, and even some bottle, made a couple of tackles with some venom in them. Hopefully the start of an upward rise because bloody hell we need it. Lets see more please you crazy fecker.

Herd - Immaculately groomed I think is the best you can say, didn't have much time to do anything else.

Bollocks performance. First half was indefensible, uninspiring rubbish. That half had the distinct nasty lingering look of a promoted side who'd seen the teamsheet and gone through the motions, not good at all. Arsenal aren;t a bad side obviously, though this isn't a great Arsenal side by any stretch, but I expect better than that. We let them play, which is dangerous when we're a side that Blackpool have managed to unlock with ease.

The defence is a complete shambles. The midfield was pretty shocking and I can't see how it's going to get better. Upfront is a joke. I felt somehwat sorry for Friedel in goal, at times he may as well have had shop window dummies in front of him. He nearly did - the last goal is comical if weren't so heartbreaking that they''re wearing Villa shirts. What the hell happened?

We could have been absolutely trounced if Arsenal could finish and stop fannying around. They had chance after chance. We'd have deserved a tonking too on that performance. As it is, 4-2 papers over some cracks pretty unconvincingly.

Pretty much agree with all of this apart from giving Pires a 3. I thought he looked decent on the ball, but didn't get enough of it in the right places.

We definitely let Arsenal have their way, we didn't pressurise them nearly enough. This is where we miss Gabby, with him and Young closing defenders down quicker, they wouldn't have had acres to play in.

[Denis_B]

Clark and Bannan are still young kids who will have up and down games so why the **** hell are people having such a go at them? They are there because there is no choice, what worries me is that having to play every week and being under pressure to perform may badly effect their development.

Us old bastards can still remember Villas youngest ever captain come through as the next best thing but for these reasons he disappeared into mediocrity (Jimmy Brown if you don't know)

if anyone though this was going to be anything other than a transitional season then they must have had too much Columbian marching powder!

[Mantis]

Some MAJOR overreactions in here. Not a good performance today by any stretch but to say we're in a relegation fight? Come off it.

Very poor positionally. On the whole we've been very inconsistent, which should be expect I guess when you have so many injuries and are trying to adapt a whole new style of play.

[markavfc40]

Some MAJOR overreactions in here. Not a good performance today by any stretch but to say we're in a relegation fight? Come off it.

I've seen you say this a few times pal. Wake up and smell the **** coffee or take a look at the league table and look at our fixtures over the next 6 weeks. We are playing like tripe for large periods of games and many of the senior players appear not to give a ****. Our previously solid defence suddenly looks **** clueless.

I'll have a wager with you, whatever you like, that come the 2nd of Jan we'll be in the bottom three more than 3 points away from safety in a huge relegation battle. I'll also have a wager we'll still be in the bottom 3 come the end of Jan.

[Mantis]

Some MAJOR overreactions in here. Not a good performance today by any stretch but to say we're in a relegation fight? Come off it.

I've seen you say this a few times pal. Wake up and smell the **** coffee or take a look at the league table and look at our fixtures over the next 6 weeks. We are playing like tripe for large periods of games and many of the senior players appear not to give a ****. Our previously solid defence suddenly looks **** clueless.

I'll have a wager with you, whatever you like, that come the 2nd of Jan we'll be in the bottom three more than 3 points away from safety in a huge relegation battle. I'll also have a wager we'll still be in the bottom 3 come the end of Jan.

It's overreacting to say we're in a relegation fight. We're certainly not in a push for Europe right now that's for sure but we wont get anywhere near relegation. Here's why:

- Injuries

- New manager, new backroom staff, attempting a new style of play

- Genuinely unlucky in some games

- Hard fixtures

The first two are the main reasons why we haven't been getting very many good results recently. The league is so tight at the moment and we're about 2 wins away from pushing for Europe. It's very unfair to say we're in a relegation fight, and downright silly to say we'll actually be relegated.

[AVFC-Prideofbrum]

I don't think we are, some tough fixtures until January but after that, a real great run of fixtures and players back.

I've got us down finishing on 48 points.

Wins home: Fulham, Stoke, Blackburn, Wigan, Wolves, West Brom

Wins away: Blackpool, Wigan, West Brom

Home draws: Newcastle, Sunderland.

Away draws: West Ham, Blues.

Home losses: Man City, Liverpool, Tottenham

Away Losses: Liverpool, Man United, Chelsea, Arsenal, Man City, Everton, Bolton.

That's not even being optomistic IMO and we are still 10-12 points away from being definitely around 18th place. (30, 34, 36, 38)....it's been last 4 years (30 being last year)

You'd have to take another 3/4 wins from us before we'd be relegated...and that's with losing games we could easily get points in or drawing winnable games.

Don't be worried. If anything, it's more realistic to say, draws vs Bolton, Everton, draw at home to Pool/Spurs, beat Newcastle at home, beat West Ham away....and then you look at the table and your suddenly on 56 points which is usually around 7th-8th! Positive.

[ChrisNichollsToe]

Just got in, so im tired and slightly wrecked!

Im keeping this short, but my observations were this.

First half we gave them to much respect. We were playing to hold them and either sneak a lucky win or draw. The midfield were static, content with holding their position, and we went in 2-0 down.

Second half, we had to come out, so the midfield got in support a lot quicker, and we had a go. We were winning the second half 2-1 until the last minute, when it became 2-2.

Question.

Why so negative in the first half?

Houlier should be a little more positive with his tactics, because basicly, that first half lost us the game.

[Corleone]

i think we need another 5 year plan tbf

[Maradona10]

Just to answer Paul's question about Ashley Young, he scored past Bolton at the Reebok last year! We are in a bit of a battle at the moment but for me the important games are WBA and Wigan, we need 6 points, I'm going to Liverpool next week but don't expect anything!

[tonyh29]

a footballing lesson given to us today by Arsenal ..reminded me to a degree of the lesson Celta Vigo gave us that time where if we had scored 10 they would have scored 12

But

at 0-0 Ash missed a sitter and had it stuck it away then maybe things could have just gone our way .. but such is football

In the recent games V Sunderland , Fulham, Spurs & Blackburn we have been by far the better team and come away with 1 point so I think it's a bit early to start panicking about relegation but if we persist with Dunne then it is a possibility

today we got outplayed but Arsenal probably would have beaten anyone today on that performance .. game should have been over inside the first 5 minutes the chances they had