Ratings and reactions: Blackpool 1-1 Villa

[drat01]

Normal ridiculous comments. It seems that some most be hoping and praying that we never win 5-0 so they can come out on here and shout GH out within seconds of the match finishing.

[Villan69]

Normal ridiculous comments. It seems that some most be hoping and praying that we never win 5-0 so they can come out on here and shout GH out within seconds of the match finishing.

5.0?!!! I'd be happy with 1.0 at the moment.....

[Sani]

Ridiculous? People are having a go and rightly so, players played out of position and young/downing not delivering which is a huge problem since we rely on them a lot.

[dbsboots]

Normal ridiculous comments. It seems that some most be hoping and praying that we never win 5-0 so they can come out on here and shout GH out within seconds of the match finishing.

No all the fans want is a performance. They spend good money watching their team up and down the country and they get served that crap?

If you get a burger and it tastes shit you send it back.

[pacbuddies]

Normal ridiculous comments. It seems that some most be hoping and praying that we never win 5-0 so they can come out on here and shout GH out within seconds of the match finishing.

I guess you are happy with the way things are then!

[S-Platt]

Watched it in the pub first half was very open we had numerous chances thought we could score everytime we went forward but then everytime we gave them a sniff of goal we looked like conceding and criminal defending from a corner for their goal! Second half i have no idea what happened we were absolute pants and i guess you gotta give Holloway credit because we just stopped playing going forward. Our defence improved a little but what pisses me off more than anything else is our corners i dont see the point of hitting it to the back post every time its so **** obvious have abit of variety jesus christ!!!!! We used to be deadly from set pieces now we might aswell not bother we are so bad its untrue! A point was a fair result and NRC MOM for me.

[brummybloke]

if you look at our team and are the away fans you must be shitting yourself....until you see the formation, then the only shitting you do is involentary while laughing so **** hard.

on paper we have a great line up, it is worth nothing when the players we have are rendered ineffective due to how they are being played.

im sure man city fans think the same, they have great line up but play the wrong way for the players. it pisses fans off.

no one is too bothered if a team gives its all, when players clearly CANT do things when in certain parts of the pitch and then being made to play their, how can anyone be happy at that? how can a player be happy with it?

playing every week and putting ineffective appearances.

i dont think anyone doubts the talents we have, it is how they are being misused which is the problem.

unfortunately now that young has played for england in this **** hole GH will stick to it.

when young plays on the left he is a natural outlet as is downing on that side, they come into the box at the far post and look like scoring, do score or set things up. that hasnt happened since they were changed around.

getting in 5 or 6 good crosses per game is what wide men are meant to do, having a £18 million striker and giving him **** all service is **** embarassing.

not 1 cross per game which is all downing can produce on the wrong side.

[Alec]

Like last week against Fulham, Villa made a terrific start in a game that was just begging for the team to take control of it and put poor opposition to the sword. That we didn't can be put down to a complete lack of composure, decisiveness and quality in the final third. In the first half we absolutely murdered them down the right flank and time and time again we failed to put in a single good delivery. Apart from an excellent lay-off that set up Agbonlahor for the goal, Bent was a peripheral figure throughout and, whilst he needs to do more himself and can't be entirely absolved of any criticism, the service to him is appallingly bad at present.

Even a team as wildly erratic as Blackpool weren't going to continue to give us such free licence to keep tearing them apart and they were much more solid in a second half where, again like last week against Fulham, we were disjointed and clueless. In many ways, today felt like Martin O'Neill Redux; dominating possession with no cutting edge, not making the most of territorial advantage when we had it and being made to pay later on, playing out the game with our backs to the wall. The lack of tactical changes when we're struggling is also becoming worryingly familiar under Houllier.

Many will point to the players lining up out of position again but the fact is all had the opportunity to hurt Blackpool today and they simply squandered the chance. Agbonlahor is clearly not comfortable on the left and though he took his goal very well couldn't get consistently into the game to affect the play. Downing is actually fine on the right and the fact he can cut in or go outside makes him our most likely creator at the moment; what I can't figure out though is why these two don't ever interchange throughout a game. Even under someone as intractable as O'Neill, Downing and Young regularly switched wings every 10-20 minutes or so last season to vary things up. This would ensure we can utilise Downing to best effect from both sides at different stages. Unfortunately, even he barely put over one good delivery today meaning Bent had little more than scraps to chase.

Of most concern still is the use of Ashley Young. This was yet another occasion where he has simply not impacted the game at all; the fact of the matter is that he is too easily brushed off the ball to play as the second striker and the amount of times he loses possession is unforgivable at this level. He took every opportunity he could to fall over way too easily every time a defender got near him and the referee wasn't having any of it. Maybe he was fouled at the death and a penalty could've been awarded but these decisions are not going to go your way when you cry wolf as often as Young did today. On top of that, his set-piece delivery was chronic - as it has been for as long as memory goes back at this point - and one must now seriously wonder whether the prospect of him signing a new contract in the summer may well be detrimental to our progress. Too much revolves around him - evidenced by him being given the captaincy this afternoon - and the blunt truth is that not only are there significantly better options out there who can play off Bent but there are also wingers who can do an equally good, if not better, job out wide. One of them was sitting idly on our bench today.

Friedel: 6 Didn't have anything to do except pick the ball out of his net.

Walker: 7 Good going forward again - his runs deep into the opposition half are not only threatening in and of themselves but take pressure off our backline. Even if his delivery isn't there yet, his ability to win free-kicks, throw-ins and corners up the field could be invaluable if others could make the most of it.

Clark: 6 Solid at the back, can't give much more than he is going forward. Have a feeling that Nathan Baker will get further chances before the end of the season.

Dunne: 6 Distribution poor and was at fault for Blackpool's goal when he was yards off the pace of his man. Recovered to play well in the latter stages but needs to be replaced in the summer if we are to move forward.

Cuellar: 6 Not really on long enough to stake a claim for his place. Looks like a hamstring strain.

Reo-Coker: 7 Easily our best player; kept the midfield together, protected the backline and showed energy throughout. Also the closest thing we had to a leader out there.

Makoun: 6 Thought he'd struggle on that awful pitch but he was doing fine until that ill-advised lunge. No complaints about the red; it was two-footed and right under Howard Webb's nose.

Agbonlahor: 6 Great run and finish for the goal; faded in and out after that. Can't play this position.

Downing: 6 Got into some great positions but his delivery failed him every time. Great shot mid-way through the first half that clipped a post and always looks our most dangerous player but needs to make more of the space he finds.

Young: 4 Arrogant, petulant and frustrating; most geniuses are all of those things but currently Young is a luxury we can't afford.

Bent: 5 Not in the game unfortunately but the service he's getting at the moment is diabolical. Great touch to set up the goal so it's at least encouraging that he still has had a positive impact on a game he struggled to impose himself on - which is more than can be said for some of his teammates.

Still a lot of work to do before we can feel fully confident of our Premier League status. We may have a good run-in but we're not winning 'winnable' games and that needs to change sooner rather than later.

[bred]

Losing CC was massive. Forced a sub and were decent till then.

But lets look at the positive 4/6 points taken from Blackpool.

[dbsboots]

Yes, the same players struggling for existence in the Championship not too long ago. What an achievement.

[PompeyVillan]

It was frustrating to watch, but when the dust has settled 1-1 against Blackpool away isn't a negative result.

They've beaten a few teams there and they played with alot of spirit today. They might be in poor form, but they didn't show it today. I think it's wrong to assume that we should be thrashing teams like Blackpool.

[villanesque]

Looked as if the emotions of scoring for their country on international duty did Ashley and Darren in. They both lacked energy and effort. I know that they are pro athletes but I accept that they are human. They both played as if they were hung over recovering from some drunken night out. Emotional energy can exhaust quicker and for longer than physical exertion. Darren got a goal and did 90 mins so he was really spent. Ashley was trying to win free kicks the cheap and easy way. I'd call it lazy play if he had not had the game he had against Denmark. But since he did have a big week for him I'll spare him too much abuse for today's effort.

Thought Dunne and Reo-Coker showed the most will out there. I went for Dunne as MoTM because he really put in a real shift in a way Houllier has probably been challenging him to do and he came through. He's looking more and more comfortable playing the style being asked of him so all credit to him for not continuing to pout but instead get after it.

Bradley looked winded and a little lost, tbh, when he came on. But then he seemed to dig in and make crucial plays to deny Blackpool more chances.

A draw is better than a loss but still a disappointing result for me.

UTV!

[Rich_D]

Marking poor at the corner.

Walker, as ever, very positive/good going forward.

Clark was comfortable. Like him on the left as he has to play football more and this will only benefit his game for when he becomes our CB next season.

NRC solid as he has been in recent games. Looks like the player he once was before MON.

Makoun played well again, more to come from him.

Downing made and took up some good positions, unlucky to not get on the score sheet, could and maybe should have had an end result at times when in those good positions. Good overall game.

Young was frustrated and frustrating.

[pacbuddies]

Losing CC was massive. Forced a sub and were decent till then.

But lets look at the positive 4/6 points taken from Blackpool.

You can do what you like with statistics to make it look positive from your point of view.

Try this one and see how you feel.

2/6 points taken off Fulham at home and Blackpool away.

[1villa4life]

i'm sure there is people who will just say Downing is crap because others are, he is a LEFT winger of course his final balls aren't going to be as great on the right as on the left

[bred]

Losing CC was massive. Forced a sub and were decent till then.

But lets look at the positive 4/6 points taken from Blackpool.

You can do what you like with statistics to make it look positive from your point of view.

Try this one and see how you feel.

2/6 points taken off Fulham at home and Blackpool away.

oh well, points dropped are points dropped

2 weeks till our next match, no use being negative for 2 weeks.

[Harry]

Losing CC was massive. Forced a sub and were decent till then.

But lets look at the positive 4/6 points taken from Blackpool.

I think my sarcasm detector has just exploded! I would be expecting six points off Blackpool. We are supposedly now on any easy run of games and we have taken 2 out of a possible 6 points.

We have the players but played out of position they don't deliver, its that simple. i would much rather see us revert to a more conventional 4-4-2 with a strong centre midfield of two of Bradley, Makoun and NRC. Match that with wingers being two of Albrighton, Young and Downing with Gabby and Bent up front. You then have a spare winger, striker and centre midfielder on the bench at least.

Posters talk of being three points off 8th. My concern is that we are three points off the relegation zone. Come the end of the season I don't want to be in the situation that we have to get points from our last two games, Arsenal away and Liverpool at home.

Overall another piss poor performance in a game we could and should have won.

[villa_shere]

Good first half VERY poor second half, didnt create anything until 90th min.

Absorbed their attacks well but thought that they saw a weakness down the left and attacked downing and Walker all second half.

Walker had a poor game, got beat several times.

Bent got no service again. We really need to be more clinical in the final third. We had the ball in their box a awful lot in the first half but could break down their sturdy defence.

Blackpool played like an away team always looking to break, reminded me of how Villa used to play away under MON.

Houiller got it wrong today, picked a good starting line up but should have changed it early into the second half when the tide changed.

Bent for Heskey was a poor call, it would have been better to go 442 and take Gab off.

Makoun red card was deserved, you;ve seen them not given before but it was a red. Will miss him for the next 3 games.

Didnt really notice Bradley, bit of a difficult game to stamp him mark on it.

Downing and Ash let the team down today, they were the players that could have won it for us but didnt put the shift in.

Blackpool look solid at the back, always putting 7-8 men behind the ball, it was very cramped for villa in the last 3rd but thought we had the quality to break them down.

30points isnt that bad but we should be doing better now the "harder" games are in the past.

[barry'sboots]

Coker by far the best Villa player on display.

Downing good but could be so much better on the left.

Walker looks better and better coming forward. Still not sure about his defending.

Makoun did well before a silly tackle. 3 games to reflect on it and hopefully a CM of Coker and Delph?

All the rest were average.

£20m for Ash. Yes please. NZogbia and Milner in?

[HolteEndRob]

Very disappointed today. AGAIN! The marking for Blackpools goal was shocking. Once again decision making by individual players was poor and it played a big part in us not coming away with the win. NRC was good today. I thought Makoun was quite shit defensively and NRC was often left over run in the middle on his own. Houllier should have realised this and made a change a long time before Makoun was sent off. Dunne and Collins looked fairly solid. Walker was great getting up and down the right all game. There's no way Redknapp will let us sign him. Once again Ash playing off Bent did NOT work but Houllier keeps using this system. Get him back on the wing for **** sake! Ash pissed me off today anyway. I'm fed up of him dropping like a fly all the time and then sulking about it when the ref don't give him a free kick. Howard Webb was poor but there was no way he was going to give Young anything after all his theatrics. Gabby out wide is beyond a joke now. I feel sorry for Bent as we have created virtually nothing for him since he's signed for us. Houllier needs to sort the tactics out big time. The shocking goal difference is a worry too.