Ratings and reactions: West Ham 1-0 Villa

[Woodytom]

No shock for me given the poor players in the squad. Awful last season and hardly bought in world beaters over the summer.

Did we try and win the game? (serious question) as if we did we are hitting the sole aim of the season ahead for me - thus improving.

Otherwise, a big fat Meh.

[theboyangel]

First half hour was refreshing to watch - ball passed around and trying to get Bent involved. However, as soon as Cole tipped Mike Dean and got every challenge as a foul, things changed.

The goal was sloppy, not helped by the flag waving assistant but you've got to play to the whistle.

Fat Sam set his team out to defend and 'attack' on the counter, which worked well as we currently don't have the players to unlock a packed defence.

My ratings:

Given: 6. Actually came for crosses today, didn't have much to do.

Lowton: 6. Impressed with his effort, needs to practice crossing

Vlaar: 7. Unlucky ref gave everything to Cole and grew into the game

Clark:6. Had a shaky period and gave away the FK which they scored from. Like Vlaar, grew into the game.

Baker: 5. Felt for Baker today, he's not a LB and that showed. Great goal line clearance at the end.

Delph: 7. Lots of energy and willing play. Think he'll improve by playing next to KEA

KEA: 6. Excellent 1st half, everything going through him. Looked a little lost in the 2nd half

Holmann: 6. Again, good work rate but snatched at his chances today

Ireland: 6. As per KEA, looked great when we were in control but couldn't quite link up midfield and attack

N'Zogbia: 4. Not at the races today. Shame as he's looked good pre-season

Bent: 5. Unfair mark as he hardly touched the ball

Subs:

Weimman: 5. good effort but lacked service

Gardner: 4. Poor from Gardner today, passing, moving and positioning just didn't happen.

Bannan: not enough time to do much.

I heard Randy was at the match - at least he'll have seen first hand exactly what is needed (IMO, a LB, CM, winger and striker)

[villianusa]

Anyone who thinks James Collins was actually the 'motm' today is deranged, he hoofed and headed his way out of everything (where have we seen that before?) It was given to him as WHAM beat us and we'd given them loads of stick over signing him. We would do it with an opposition if given the chance.

It was given to him because he did what he was supposed to; stop us scoring goals anyway necessary. SA didn't want him to play the passing game it's not his way; he wants plays to defend and get the ball safe.

That's why he is no longer at Villa because our manager wants us to pass from the back which he doesn't do very well.

[onje_villa]

Pretty much agree with Andym.

Loved the way we kept the ball. If we ever want to be near the top of the league we're going to have to keep the ball. You can get quicker results by playing direct, the way Allardyce plays with West Ham, to be honest to a degree it's far more effective and quicker to get started. The thing is we're trying to build here and I think Lambert is right to play that way.

The problem obviously was penetration, that will come with time (I hope he gets it) but it can't be denied that we're short on numbers and quality. That bench is not strong enough. Ireland seems to be pleasing some fans as he's raised his level to decent but we all need so much more from him, if we're going to play through the middle, we need someone in the hole behind Bent.

I thought the whole back 4 did decently today all things considered. Baker is a young guy playing in not his favoured position I thought he did as well as could be expected. Lowton was pretty solid to be fair for his first game at this level, Vlaar was far from perfect but showed a lot to like, even going forwards, surely he will take over the captaincy role sometime soon. Clark, another young guy I think has a bright future, even if it is early days and Dunne may well come back in.

KEA looked incredibly assured on his debut, hopefully a fixture in this side for years to come. Have to disagree somewhat about Holman. I think he's come in for some unfair stick here, he looked sharp early on, got involved and got into some good areas. Technically he's not outstanding but he's a threat in my book.

Ireland decent but we need much more that that, Delph made me eat my words today, had a pretty decent performance but not sure if he's the long term answer. N'Zogbia, slightly better than last season but not too sure where he's supposed to be playing.

Bent - a poacher that needs chances, didn't get any today

[Woodytom]

My lord - On paper that defence looks atrocious.

[villianusa]

Aston Villa manager Paul Lambert, following his side's 1-0 loss at West Ham: "We started the game really well but never really created as much as we wanted to. I couldn't fault the effort. We will pick ourselves up and go again. There is a long way to go and we'll see what happens."

Sounds like a couple of managers we have had recently.

What did you expect him to say?

"Our tactics were poor today and we really need to work out the weaknesses of our opponents before the game and use them against them."

Own up to not doing the job he is paid for. Not saying he won't be a success in the future for us but he got it wrong today.

[Paul33]

I thought i was going over the top, but this is taking the piss. Selling Bent is going to do NOTHING.

Bent isn't a bad player - he's just the WRONG player for us.

The only thing that Bent scores above mediocre marks on is conversion of chances in and around the six yard box. He has to be the worst target man in the top two divisions, he has no physical presence, he is weak on the deck and lacks pace too.

In a team that works the flanks and delivers a lot of quality into the box, he's a 30 goals a season man but that is not Villa. We would do better with more versatile forwards who have pace and who are physically strong enough to hold the ball up and draw the midfielders into the game.

Sell Bent and use the money for the likes of Defoe and maybe one other with the loose change !

[steve1986]

Anyone who thinks James Collins was actually the 'motm' today is deranged, he hoofed and headed his way out of everything (where have we seen that before?) It was given to him as WHAM beat us and we'd given them loads of stick over signing him. We would do it with an opposition if given the chance.

I thought we kept the ball well, but didnt do much going forward (as mentioned alot) we must sign a striker to help Bent. He cannot keep us up on his own. Thought the new midfield did well, but Bent doesn't move enough to allow them to slip him in, its a team game and we lacked cohesion in the final third today.

Defensively, it was a baptism of fire for Vlaar and Clark. They dealt well with the barrage of hoofs Sam's team threw at us, but we got found out on one occasion. Let's stop the comparisons to last season and look to the future. We are a work in progress and need time to gel and find our feet. Remember this set up is a whole new world to the McLeish style of play.

UTV, roll on Everton next week!

Fabulous post thanks for that

No worries, think people need to get some perspective on here.

[sonic_bouma]

Ireland was poor but still looked like the only player who could create anything.

.

and so it begins...

the myth that Ireland "has it in his locker" and on his day can "thread a pass"....

Ireland will continue to play poorly, tip tap it around, thinking he is some kind of David Silva and miraculously be considered as our most creative force...

He cant play on the wing, he cant play at CM, he can only play in the hole and the fact of the matter is he is nowhere near effective enough for us to afford him in that position

[Mantis]

I thought i was going over the top, but this is taking the piss. Selling Bent is going to do NOTHING.

Bent isn't a bad player - he's just the WRONG player for us.

The only thing that Bent scores above mediocre marks on is conversion of chances in and around the six yard box. He has to be the worst target man in the top two divisions, he has no physical presence, he is weak on the deck and lacks pace too.

In a team that works the flanks and delivers a lot of quality into the box, he's a 30 goals a season man but that is not Villa. We would do better with more versatile forwards who have pace and who are physically strong enough to hold the ball up and draw the midfielders into the game.

Sell Bent and use the money for the likes of Defoe and maybe one other with the loose change !

He really isn't wrong for us. The problem is that we lack creativity in the midfield.

[steve1986]

Anyone who thinks James Collins was actually the 'motm' today is deranged, he hoofed and headed his way out of everything (where have we seen that before?) It was given to him as WHAM beat us and we'd given them loads of stick over signing him. We would do it with an opposition if given the chance.

It was given to him because he did what he was supposed to; stop us scoring goals anyway necessary. SA didn't want him to play the passing game it's not his way; he wants plays to defend and get the ball safe.

That's why he is no longer at Villa because our manager wants us to pass from the back which he doesn't do very well.

So why wasn't it given to any of the other defenders then? or Diame? It's what teams do, we have done it in the past and will do in the future.

[legov]

Aston Villa manager Paul Lambert, following his side's 1-0 loss at West Ham: "We started the game really well but never really created as much as we wanted to. I couldn't fault the effort. We will pick ourselves up and go again. There is a long way to go and we'll see what happens."

Sounds like a couple of managers we have had recently.

What did you expect him to say?

"Our tactics were poor today and we really need to work out the weaknesses of our opponents before the game and use them against them."

Own up to not doing the job he is paid for. Not saying he won't be a success in the future for us but he got it wrong today.

Somehow I doubt crosses would have worked though, Albrighton who is by far the best crosser we have was out injured, and lumping it into the box like we did in the last 10 minutes would never have worked given West Ham's strength in the air. It's easy to say with the benefit of hindsight that our tactics were wrong but alternatives don't always work.

[Mantis]

EDIT: Wrong thread

[NurembergVillan]

There were things to be encouraged about - KEA looks like a clever player, Delph showed flashes of why we signed him, Vlaar could be the new Ronald Koeman, and in Lowton we have a full back with pace.

Now we need a left back, a second good striker and an incisive winger/attacking midfielder. We don't look too far off being a reasonable side. Only budget will determine just how far it really is.

[LondonLax]

Let's hope we get a few new players in the next couple of weeks eh?

[Richard]

There were things to be encouraged about - KEA looks like a clever player, Delph showed flashes of why we signed him, Vlaar could be the new Ronald Koeman, and in Lowton we have a full back with pace.

Now we need a left back, a second good striker and an incisive winger/attacking midfielder. We don't look too far off being a reasonable side. Only budget will determine just how far it really is.

Another top post. On the players ou have said we need I absolutely agree and I hope that we can see some movement in those areas soon,

[Ponky]

I think in hindsight there were probably two too many debutants out there. maybe Lichaj was the better option for rb today and Holman might have been better kept on ice for later in the game when the opposition tired a bit.

Holman looked a bit taken aback by the pace of the game and probably needs some time to come to terms with it.

I think one of our major problems going forward is lack of width. We desperately need a wide attacker and a striker to help keep the ball up in the final third.

[Pilchard]

I wonder how the club will try to avert eyes from what's really going on this week? Who will be the fall guy? They can't even regurgitate the stuff about makes chances, going forward because we've shown today how blunt we are. And it's still 4-5-1 which is shit. And it's too much tippy-tappy bollocks.

I was pleased that Lambert was manager as I'd liked his direct, wide approach to the game. He's completely gone the opposite way and gone even narrower than McLeish, and even more tippy tappy bollocks than Houllier.

I'm sick and fed up of seeing Ireland, N'Zogbia and Delph in the team. Delph is now on what, his fourth chance? He's shite. He can't tackle or pass. He's not good enough. Ireland and N'Zogbia haven't done a thing for AVFC in their time here, and need shipping out.

It sure seems a long time ago when Lerner was going on about only being the person who is 'looking after Villa'. The only thing he is doing is giving it a long, painful death. Either sell up, or give some money so we can have some half decent players.

[StanBalaban]

There were things to be encouraged about - KEA looks like a clever player, Delph showed flashes of why we signed him, Vlaar could be the new Ronald Koeman, and in Lowton we have a full back with pace.

Now we need a left back, a second good striker and an incisive winger/attacking midfielder. We don't look too far off being a reasonable side. Only budget will determine just how far it really is.

I think we'll see quite a different starting XI come September, and even more so after January.

I said before that I wouldn't have been surprised with any result today. There were positives and there were negatives, but perhaps the most encouraging thing is that we have a manager that will analyse that performance and address the issues.

Let's not forget that this was Paul Lambert's first competitive game in charge against real opposition. I'm sure the transfer window stays open beyond the start of the season as it allows the managers to cement their thoughts in pre season when buying players, after seeing the squad in play in the league.

If Lambert wanted a few million quid to spend and hope for mid table year on year, he would've stayed at Naaaarwich. I'm sure we weren't his only suitor either, so he must have had a reason to come to Villa as I'm sure other clubs could've matched his new salary.

It's clear what we need in the squad and I'm sure Lambert will be backed in order to get them.

Roll on the next game and UTV!

[Pilchard]

Can't believe people are still clinging onto the idea of bringing signings in.