Ratings and reactions: Villa 0-2 Swansea

[ROTTERDAM1982]

What kind of tactical genius are you then.

The game plan was to play Ireland off Bent, with Gabby and N'Zog playing wide with 2 holding midfielders.The EXACT tactics if you like that Swansea deployed.

What killed us today was giving such an early goal away.The spark went out the players, the crowd, then impatience set in, then instead of the better players wanting the ball, and trying things, they become too conservative, hence no supply for Bent.

Listen i've yet to be convinced by McL, but i won't judge him until he gets his own players in.

[becks1876]

So much for new years resolutions! mine was never to go to a home game again under ECK, it took me 39hrs to break (I did better when i tryed to quit smoking 2 weeks). Cuellar was good and so was Ireland apart from that i could not see anyone else worth mentioning. Mcleish was poor, he needed to change things at HT and yet like MON he is stuborn, i would have taken Clark off for Bannan or Petrov and gave Gardner a second run out. Lets all see what happens against Bristol Rovers, we go out with a young side and play like GODS or play with a senior side and loose 1-0.

[pacbuddies]

What kind of tactical genius are you then.

You know nothing of my football management experience and I know nothing of yours.

If today's excuse was conceding an early goal what excuses are there for the dross served up in numerous other games this season?

[parisvilla]

Frightening how little blame is being put on the players who are clearly not doing their jobs properly.

It's frightening how badly mismanaged they are.

Bent is played as anything but the 'poacher' that he is. Instead he's employed with his back to goal or chasing balls in the channels despite the fact he can't jump, can't control a ball or run.

Gabby today on the right wing. Has been great on the left and to a lesser extent through the middle, and yet today ends up in a position I can't remember him playing since his breakthrough season. Was guaranteed he'd have a stinker in that position.

McLeish still doesn't know what N'Zogbia's best position but seems to wander around all over the place meaning we lack any shape or real width.

You need to coach the style of play, when and where to make runs, when and where to pass the ball, when and where to overlap etc something McLeish has completely failed to do subsequently it's no surprise we show no imagination, no movement and score a pitiful amount of goals.

Hang on a minute, at what point do footballers start taking the initiative? Why have we got them if were going to pin the whole blame on one guy whos not even on the pitch.

No matter how bad of a manager you think Mcliesh is, the players are far from covering themselves in glory.

When are these people going to be challenged to take responsibility?

We shout 'you dont know what your doing' at a manager because he makes a sub in attempt to change a game that is going to ratshit. But yet we dont shout it at the players who cannot complete the most basic of football skills succesfully.

The players are not totally exempt from blame but I think the vast majority of fans underestimate the complexities of the coaching that the players receive. I've seen a Roy Hodgson training session 'live', as it were, and he has the midfielders and forwards practising set moves for passages for open play. They work on off the ball movement, timing of runs, first time lay offs etc which they will then replicate during games whereas our lot continue to stand still and throw their arms up in the air when balls aren't played to their feet.

Also to suggest we don't shout at players making mistakes isn't really true is it. As usual the groans and boos were ringing out for much of the game.

[ROTTERDAM1982]

I not sure either of us can call ANY Prem manager tactically naive.Some i like, some i don't, but Villa today played the same tactics/formation as they did on sat, and the same formation as Swansea, so how is McL inferior to Rodgers?........hes not, but Swansea never give us a sniff, we gave them both goals.You can blame McL if you like, but i'm not sure it was his fault today.

[pacbuddies]

I not sure either of us can call ANY Prem manager tactically naive.Some i like, some i don't, but Villa today played the same tactics/formation as they did on sat, and the same formation as Swansea, so how is McL inferior to Rodgers?........hes not, but Swansea never give us a sniff, we gave them both goals.You can blame McL if you like, but i'm not sure it was his fault today.

The goals conceded today were not his fault but it isn't just about today is it it's about the dross served up since the season began.

[dont_do_it_doug.]

Villa today played the same tactics/formation as they did on sat

Therein lies the problem.

Tactically inept in every way possible.

[becks1876]

I not sure either of us can call ANY Prem manager tactically naive.Some i like, some i don't, but Villa today played the same tactics/formation as they did on sat, and the same formation as Swansea, so how is McL inferior to Rodgers?........hes not, but Swansea never give us a sniff, we gave them both goals.You can blame McL if you like, but i'm not sure it was his fault today.

Your having a laugh! "You cant blame Mcl? What the hell! he made 1 change from a team who only played 48hrs before (Bent) and he stood still for most of the time, Swansea made 6 or 7 changes to the team who drew with spurs. Mcl should had made changes at HT, i was there hearing all the people slaging him off!! Where were you??

[ROTTERDAM1982]

If we are being honest though pacb, he was never going to be a success was he?

It seems to me too many of our supporters are not willing to give him a chance because of where he came from, and consequently want us to lose another £5m to get rid off him.

You can't ignore the fact that the negativity around the club has not helped the team on match days, that the lack of reluctance to get on the teams back is not conducive to free flowing football.

McL will get the sack, probably this time next year, and we will have to pay out another £3/4m in compensation.Personally i would rather go out and use the clubs money to buy better players.....starting with a LB.

[maqroll]

Back to reality, then. That was a short-lived revival.

[pacbuddies]

If we are being honest though pacb, he was never going to be a success was he?

It seems to me too many of our supporters are not willing to give him a chance because of where he came from, and consequently want us to lose another £5m to get rid off him.

You can't ignore the fact that the negativity around the club has not helped the team on match days, that the lack of reluctance to get on the teams back is not conducive to free flowing football.

McL will get the sack, probably this time next year, and we will have to pay out another £3/4m in compensation.Personally i would rather go out and use the clubs money to buy better players.....starting with a LB.

If we are being honest he never should have been appointed in the first place. It has nothing to do with where he came from because if he had been a success the fans would not give a toss that he used to be the manager of SHA.

It has all to do with his CV as a football manager which is pretty poor and he is noted for his negative, boring football methods. Two relegations from the PL in four seasons and getting Rangers to finish third in a two horse race doesn't exactly fill anyone with confidence.

If it costs us £millions to get rid of him whose fault is that? It is the sole fault of the person that appointed him. Is having to pay out compensation a good enough reason to keep someone who is no good for the club? No it isn't.

Anyway, this is now in serious danger of becoming a post about McLeish and it should be related to the reactions to today's game so we had better end it there.

[VillaCas]

God all bloody mighty. Everything that was good about us on Saturday, just disappeared today. I can't even blame McLeish.

The same players that were sharp, bit into tackles, passed superbly, made movement look easy, played clinical through balls, and kept possession - just hoofed , gave the ball away, stood there like statues and went into tackles like John Inman taking on Hulk Hogan.

We were pathetic, and to be honest, I dont think it was McLeish's fault. I've heard, we were tired, he should have changed it, then, he shouldn't have changed a winning team - he couldnt win.

The only thing I think he got wrong was the substitution of Ireland, but, having said that, he was anonymous second half.

Just one bloody bad day at the office. Motm - none of them in truth, but I'll give it to Dunne because I have to vote for someone.

Gabby looks jaded big style - if truth be told he has been poor for the last four or five games, including Chelsea - he needs a rest.

If anyone slags Warnock off, its just scapegoating. Yes it was poor, but the guy was on he half way line with three defenders and the goalie to beat = and he did it with ease.

After all the good work - we are back in relegation trouble !

I seem to remember you fancied us for 6th place in the summer - still feeling optomisic

[Mantis]

Just got back. Oh my word how shit was that? I just don't know where to start. We were completely played off the park by a newly promoted team who up until today had not managed ONE win away from home. Warnock was absolutely terrible. He's our biggest liability and always has been when he's playing. It's amazing how in the second half we were camped in their half but at the same time didn't look like scoring once. Taking off Ireland as well was just pathetic. I've never booed at a Villa game before but I did today at the final whistle. I'm just sick of this. We were inconsistent last season but this season we seem to be consistently lifeless and shit all the time (Chelsea game excluded obviously). We're going backwards.

One step forward two steps back sums it up. McLeish out.

[CI]

How slow and predictable was our build up play

Not once today did we look like scoring

Very worrying, we are now my dark horses for relegation based on appalling home form and a lack of goals, a lethal combination

[Brumstopdogs]

Albrighton should not have been dropped today - another Mcleish blunder.

[YankeeinMadrid]

I think AMC should have made a handful of changes to the side that beat Chelsea, but also understand why he didn't. If anything, Villa cannot afford to rest players in these "winnable" matches. These are the matches that we need to pick up points in.

Darren Bent, when 100% fit, will start every single PL match. Agree, disagree...it is what it is and won't change while he's at Villa- FACT.

I think Warnock, who I do not rate, had a TERRIBLE 1st half. He has been below average for most of the season, especially the last few matches. It doesn't take a rocket scientist to figure out that if you're defending a speedy winger NOT to mark him so tightly if you have no support. You give the winger a bit of space so that you don't get done for pace or a ball over the top. Also, Warnock hasn't got a clue when it comes to keeping in line with the other defenders or an offside trap. He was a good 10 yards ahead of the other defenders and an easy chip over the top set his winger clear on goal. Dunne/Collins/Cuellar have been bailing Warnock out REPEATEDLY this season. I haven't even mentioned the fact that Warnock likes passing the ball to the wrong team in dangerous positions, because all the other poor play really shows how terrible he is. Houllier fell out with him, fair enough. If Warnock was a good enough player, you better believe that GH would have eventually put him back into the side. Managers want to keep their job. GH obviously saw that Clark or Baker or even Delph were adequate replacements for Warnock. That being said, fair play to Warnock for not committing suicide at halftime and coming out and having a scrappy, much better 2nd half. I respect the fact that he didn't throw in the towel and give up. I'd give him a -2 for the 1st half and a 6 for the 2nd.

Coaching: What the heck was going on today?? For the first half it seemed like the players were stunned and surprised by the way that Swansea brought the ball out from Vorm and the back. For the love of God, these are professional athletes...do they watch any film on opponents???? They should have known how they play it short like Barca and have had a plan in place to try to combat that. The fact that it took us 45 mins to figure out the obvious is piss poor and embarassing.

When Guzan was injured and it looked bad, why the hell wasn't Andy Marshall warming up?? The logical thing to do would be to have the backup at least stretch right? The 3rd sub still hadn't been made. This is asinine really.

Thought Dunne and Ireland were both MOTM for me today.

I said before the match that a win at Chelsea is nice, but doesn't mean a thing if we lay an egg at home against Swansea. I was right.

[deeps]

Merson said it all season that we are the dark horses. He ain't wrong.

[pacbuddies]

When Guzan was injured and it looked bad, why the hell wasn't Andy Marshall warming up?? The logical thing to do would be to have the backup at least stretch right? The 3rd sub still hadn't been made. This is asinine really.

I may be wrong but hadn't we already brought on Hutton, Albrighton and Bannan by the time Guzan was injured? If so I make it that we had already made 3 substitutions which is, I understand, the maximum allowed.

[YankeeinMadrid]

When Guzan was injured and it looked bad, why the hell wasn't Andy Marshall warming up?? The logical thing to do would be to have the backup at least stretch right? The 3rd sub still hadn't been made. This is asinine really.

I may be wrong but hadn't we already brought on Hutton, Albrighton and Bannan by the time Guzan was injured? If so I make it that we had already made 3 substitutions which is, I understand, the maximum allowed.

I thought it was before Bannan came on. If not, scratch that paragraph out of my post match rant!

[rjenkins]

I've just got back from the game. We were very poor today, and like a lot of other posts it seems like there is no precise reason why. I think that the players were tired and I think there were tactical errors too. Agbonlahor, N'Zogbia, Clark and Petrov in particular struggled to affect the game. Warnock was soundly destroyed by Dyer although N'Zogbia didn't offer much help and seemed a second behind everyone else mentally all afternoon.

There is no point playing Bent if you don't play to his strengths. It's been clear all season and after 20 games McLeish seems no closer to any kind of progress on this issue. Still, looking at this fixtures beforehand I expected 3 points from the two New Year games and that is exactly what we've got. We won't get relegated and then if McLeish can't improve it next season with more of his own players then we can sack him and it'll be cheaper than doing it now.

On a side note, I'm part of the Gwent Villans Lions Club, some of whom were guests in the Directors box today and gave Marc his award. David Moyes, Ian Taylor and Gordan Cowans were up there and one of the lads from the club got talking to Tayls and it seems like Bent could well be moving away from the club. I think the exact phrase was "there's some very strong interest". If it's the reported £24million then I would probably take it. He scored some important goals last season and as a statement of intent it's poor, but initial impact isnt the same as long-term suitability and I don't think the club matches the vision he bought into.