Keyblade Posted August 25, 2016 Share Posted August 25, 2016 Oh so now it's just last season and not the last 4 anymore. Switching up them goalposts. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
avfc1982 Posted August 25, 2016 Share Posted August 25, 2016 8 hours ago, bobzy said: That's your opinion - certainly not daft to suggest otherwise. I think our midfield was better than that of Norwich, Sunderland and West Brom off the top of my head. The main problem was being unable to score and having silly mistakes cost us time and time again - Guzan vs Dyer, Lescott vs anyone, Bacuna lobbing a backpass to Shane Long, Amavi getting caught on the ball etc etc We were competitive (in terms of "in the game") for a hell of a lot more games than the final table suggests. We were just absolutely toothless and, also, incredibly leaky at the back. Of course the midfield played a part in this (again, I'm not saying it was great!), but just nowhere near the same extent. Our midfielders are being sought after - our other players really aren't. Those 3 teams and far better midfields than us. How can you honestly claim ours was better? Seriously, what makes you think we had a better midfield than theirs? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
avfc1982 Posted August 25, 2016 Share Posted August 25, 2016 Just now, Keyblade said: Oh so now it's just last season and not the last 4 anymore. Switching up them goalposts. Our midfield got progressively worse with every season, until it ended up being an abomination last season (Westwood being the main culprit). Honestly if you can't see that it's hardly worth conversing with you. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
avfc1982 Posted August 25, 2016 Share Posted August 25, 2016 10 hours ago, TRO said: Are you implying the midfield had no say in that? Sounds like it doesn't it. The fact that Westwood and co offered no protection for the defence, barely any assists, defence splitting passes, goals or anything else worthwhile. The fact that opposition teams would bypass our midfield week in week out, and still after all that some fans think it was effective is just bonkers. Even this season our midfield is still the weak point, but hopefully with Jedinak arriving and possibly another we are finally going to see the back of Westwood, who in my opinion is the worst footballer ever to play more than 100 league games for the Villa. History will look back on him as a stain on the club. The lynchpin of the worst midfield ever to represent the club, and a damning indictment of the Lerner era. 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bobzy Posted August 25, 2016 Share Posted August 25, 2016 1 hour ago, avfc1982 said: Good god, if you thought our midfield was the best part of our team last season then you must have been watching a different team to me. That midfield was the worst Villa midfield I've seen in my life and no amount of stat manipulation you come up with will ever persuade me different. Westwood has been a stain on Aston Villa and the sooner he's gone the better. Just look at how bad we've become since he arrived. The entire team was woeful in all areas of the pitch but, as I said earlier, the midfield was the part that performed "the best". Not well. Not great. Not an amazing midfield. Simply the best functioning area of a terrible team. Which was the best part of our team last season, in your opinion? The goalkeepers? The defence? The attack? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bobzy Posted August 25, 2016 Share Posted August 25, 2016 (edited) 1 hour ago, avfc1982 said: Those 3 teams and far better midfields than us. How can you honestly claim ours was better? Seriously, what makes you think we had a better midfield than theirs? I saw their midfields. In fairness, Norwich probably have a decent case for having a better performing midfield as Howson and Hoolahan were decent in parts. But Sunderland and West Brom - are you kidding me? Did you watch them at all last season? One team got out of trouble via Defoe and the other had a solid defence plus Berahino/Rondon. Their midfields were (are, presumably) absolutely atrocious. There's nothing of note there at all. Ours was weak, but still had Gueye breaking up play effectively. What did those sides offer? Edited August 25, 2016 by bobzy Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Woodytom Posted August 25, 2016 Share Posted August 25, 2016 This is madness. 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lexicon Posted August 25, 2016 Share Posted August 25, 2016 7 minutes ago, bobzy said: The entire team was woeful in all areas of the pitch but, as I said earlier, the midfield was the part that performed "the best". Not well. Not great. Not an amazing midfield. Simply the best functioning area of a terrible team. Which was the best part of our team last season, in your opinion? The goalkeepers? The defence? The attack? In a team that won 3 games and got a total of 17 points, it's splitting hairs at best. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bobzy Posted August 25, 2016 Share Posted August 25, 2016 Just now, lexicon said: In a team that won 3 games and got a total of 17 points, it's splitting hairs at best. I figured "they were all shit" would be the response. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lexicon Posted August 25, 2016 Share Posted August 25, 2016 1 minute ago, bobzy said: I figured "they were all shit" would be the response. I was trying to be slightly more diplomatic Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RimmyJimmer Posted August 25, 2016 Share Posted August 25, 2016 If you were to list the four departments of our team from last season, (goalkeeper, defence, midfield and attack) in order of worst performers (no.1) to least worst performers (no.4) I would go..... 1. Defence 2. Goalkeeper 3. Midfield 4. Attack I understand what some are saying in that our midfield was really poor but I think our biggest downfall was the defence. If we could have got a solid rearguard we may have been able to scrape a few 1-0 wins, albion style. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dante_Lockhart Posted August 25, 2016 Share Posted August 25, 2016 14 minutes ago, RimmyJimmer said: If you were to list the four departments of our team from last season, (goalkeeper, defence, midfield and attack) in order of worst performers (no.1) to least worst performers (no.4) I would go..... 1. Defence 2. Goalkeeper 3. Midfield 4. Attack I understand what some are saying in that our midfield was really poor but I think our biggest downfall was the defence. If we could have got a solid rearguard we may have been able to scrape a few 1-0 wins, albion style. That would require us to score goals. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RimmyJimmer Posted August 25, 2016 Share Posted August 25, 2016 (edited) We did score a few....didn't we?? :-) I just think if we'd have had a solid back line it would have given us half a chance...even with a shite midfield and attack Edited August 25, 2016 by RimmyJimmer Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DCJonah Posted August 25, 2016 Share Posted August 25, 2016 1 hour ago, Keyblade said: Oh so now it's just last season and not the last 4 anymore. Switching up them goalposts. Last season was when we were one of the worst, if not the worst team in premier league history. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DCJonah Posted August 25, 2016 Share Posted August 25, 2016 10 hours ago, bobzy said: That's your opinion - certainly not daft to suggest otherwise. I think our midfield was better than that of Norwich, Sunderland and West Brom off the top of my head. The main problem was being unable to score and having silly mistakes cost us time and time again - Guzan vs Dyer, Lescott vs anyone, Bacuna lobbing a backpass to Shane Long, Amavi getting caught on the ball etc etc We were competitive (in terms of "in the game") for a hell of a lot more games than the final table suggests. We were just absolutely toothless and, also, incredibly leaky at the back. Of course the midfield played a part in this (again, I'm not saying it was great!), but just nowhere near the same extent. Our midfielders are being sought after - our other players really aren't. Our goalkeeper is playing premier league football at the moment, but surely you wouldn't suggest he was a strength last year. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sne Posted August 25, 2016 Share Posted August 25, 2016 I've always thought that midfield is the most important part of any team, at least if you wan't consistent team performances. For me our midfield was by far the worst part of the team last season as it offered nothing going forward or in the build up, while at the same time it didn't (apart fron Gana at times) protect the defense. Considering the defense was comically bad and the attack was non existent that is quite an achievement by our midfield. As for Westwood, meh. He runs a lot but seldom has any impact on the game either way. ATM he's a better squad option than Gardner, but I really hope he's not the one we will depend on as our main playmaker this season, because he'll do what he always does, regardless of opposition. And that just isn't enough. IMO 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Keyblade Posted August 25, 2016 Share Posted August 25, 2016 38 minutes ago, DCJonah said: Last season was when we were one of the worst, if not the worst team in premier league history. I mean yeah, but his original comment was that he was part of a horrible midfield in the last few years. The fact that one of them happened to be more horrible than the others doesn't factor in there. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Zatman Posted August 25, 2016 Share Posted August 25, 2016 8 hours ago, Keyblade said: I mean yeah, but his original comment was that he was part of a horrible midfield in the last few years. The fact that one of them happened to be more horrible than the others doesn't factor in there. but he was part of a horrible midfield, Delph, Cleverly maybe Gana were the most decent of a really really really bad bunch. Veretout, Westwood, Bacuna, Holman, KEA, Sylla and im sure a couple more flops make me dream of glorydays of Sidwell and Reo- Coker in midfield Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
commander Posted August 25, 2016 Share Posted August 25, 2016 11 hours ago, bobzy said: I saw their midfields. In fairness, Norwich probably have a decent case for having a better performing midfield as Howson and Hoolahan were decent in parts. But Sunderland and West Brom - are you kidding me? Did you watch them at all last season? One team got out of trouble via Defoe and the other had a solid defence plus Berahino/Rondon. Their midfields were (are, presumably) absolutely atrocious. There's nothing of note there at all. Ours was weak, but still had Gueye breaking up play effectively. What did those sides offer? Complete Nonsense. Both of their midfields absolutely shit on ours from a huge height. Claudio Yacob and even Cattermole are 5 times the player Westwood will ever be and please don't think i'm praising them, Cattermole is horrid - yet is still significantly superior to Westwood. Westwood has been the same westwood this season as he has been since he's been here; average when no pressure, horrific when pressure. Oh but he played well against **** Rotherham so he's great in this league 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
useless Posted August 25, 2016 Share Posted August 25, 2016 Bestgood is way better than Cattermole. And that's an understatement. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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