Ratings and reactions: Villa 1-1 Baggies

[smetrov]

Don't get the negativity. It was a decent performance at the beginning and towards the end and were it not for poor finishing we would've won that. Also showed plenty of fight and spirit to come back from a goal behind.

Finally.

Just back can't believe the comments on here. IMO a very encouraging performance - thought Joe Bennett was outstanding - The only below par performances were from Bentenke and Albrighton. ...But overall a massive improvement on last season - and definite reasons to be hopeful for the future.........

Guzan 7 - steady enough

Lowton - 7

Vlaar - 7 mostly sound - but over elaborate at times

Clark - 6 - still not convinced - but ok

Bennett - 9 - MOTM

kea\Delph 7 - both made errors - but made up for them with tireless tackling

Holman - 8 esp first half

Gabby 8 - much better

Benteke 5 - one to forget

Albrighton 4 - needs to improve considerably IMO

[AVFCforever1991]

How angry and fed up did Darren sound in the post match interview? He should never have been captain in the first place, but that seems to have really upset him.

Should motivate him more, good man management by paul Lambert. Bent will have a fire in his Belly from now on. Hungrier for future.games.. Bent will come back a better player.

Sorry but that's just laughable. I like Paul Lambert but he made a major error in not starting Bent today. If he had started I think there's every chance that we would have won the game.

Well I guess its all based on opinions, I believe dropping bent was a good thing, and quite clearly he reacted very positively by coming on and scoring the equaliser. And next game he Will start.. Now bent knows that he is not immune from being dropped, just because he is the big star, he will work even harder in future matches. NO player should get an automatic start because of their name.

[Rodders]

If Bent was whiney he should shut the **** up.

When was this ?

just going off the first page comments tbh

[villa4europe]

im another who doesnt get the negativity, watched it surrounded by baggies fans who constantly told me about how they could go 2nd with a win and could get europe next season, thought we outplayed them, had some good chances, passed it well, conceeded due to a mistake and should have scored more

when was the last time you saw a possession stat that said - last 10 minutes villa 79%

holman was very good again, bennett was surprisingly good, everyone else was ok, lowton got caught out again and benteke was poor but that one chance was brilliant defending

also thought it was great to finally see a midlands derby on tv that was competitive and exciting with both teams playing well, usually at least one if not both teams are shit and its a rubbish game

[cheltenham_villa]

Don't get the negativity. It was a decent performance at the beginning and towards the end and were it not for poor finishing we would've won that. Also showed plenty of fight and spirit to come back from a goal behind.

Finally.

Just back can't believe the comments on here. IMO a very encouraging performance - thought Joe Bennett was outstanding - The only below par performances were from Bentenke and Albrighton. ...But overall a massive improvement on last season - and definite reasons to be hopeful for the future.........

Guzan 7 - steady enough

Lowton - 7

Vlaar - 7 mostly sound - but over elaborate at times

Clark - 6 - still not convinced - but ok

Bennett - 9 - MOTM

kea\Delph 7 - both made errors - but made up for them with tireless tackling

Holman - 8 esp first half

Gabby 8 - much better

Benteke 5 - one to forget

Albrighton 4 - needs to improve considerably IMO

I really don't see what Bennett did so well. Thought he looked ok. One man on his own up front caused an awful lot of problems for our defence.

[lexicon]

Bennett was alright - he made one very good tackle on Lukaku, which I think is clouding people's judgment of him somewhat.

Other than that, he's showing signs of promise but has a way to come yet.

[AVFCforever1991]

How you gave KEA a 7 is madness, he did not have a good game.. Gave it a lot, looked of the pace.

[smetrov]

KEA isn't spectacular - but he gest through a lot work - makes some great tackles - and feel he is great asset to the team. I think we would be far poorer team without him.

If Janas Olson isn't happy at WBA - wouldn't mind seeing him in claret and blue.....looked good today.

[Tomaszk]

KEA is very important to us and the way we're trying to play, always wants the ball. He never hid despite not having a great game, he was OK.

Bennett wasn't outstanding, he again was OK. Needs to get down the outside of people a bit more, and confused himself a few times in tight spots fannying around with the ball. Decent home debut though, good toe on the ball with Lukaku.

Delph was decent, nice to see him with some confidence running forwards on the ball. Lost it in dangerous areas, but I think that'll come with more matches. Great to have some midfielders who want the ball, far too often it's only been Ireland.

If Bent had started not a chance we'd have been that dominant in the first half. He doesn't make any runs down the line or for the other forward, he doesn't win any headers, he doesn't close anyone down. He doesn't do enough. Well done to him for scoring the first bobbling ball around the area from a corner of the match, but he bloody better do because he does **** all else. Get the feeling if we lost 2-1, he'd be happy as he scored. No problem with starting him on the bench.

Gabbo and Holman good.

Albrighton had the best 45 mins he's had for 18 months in the first half. Brilliant. Then very poor along with everyone else in the second.

Bit annoying from corners today actually, what's all this floaty bollocks? Get some whip on it. We connected with a lot of our corners but because of the style of delivery it was difficult to get any pace on it and direct it towards goal, they all just lofted over.

Long was immense for them, if he'd have stayed on they'd have won, which would have been the smashiest of smash and grabs.

[roonst83]

Bennett was alright - he made one very good tackle on Lukaku, which I think is clouding people's judgment of him somewhat.

Other than that, he's showing signs of promise but has a way to come yet.

Of course he has, he's barely just got to our club, has got no experience of premier League football and he's starting for us against some top players.

At last we have full backs who play football and dont hoof it, get up and down the field - Bennett is young, so too Lowton, but they are a breath of fresh air for us and will become excellent players in the future.

[Qwpzxjor1]

Exactly what I expected the game to be.

We worked really hard without really threatening their goal. And then a defensive mistake gives away a goal.

What I am impressed with was how we battled back. I thought our starting line up wasn't the best choice (Albrighton and Delph did very little to affect the game) but the right changes were made and I think had there been more time we were the more likely to have taken the lead.

Benteke is even more raw than I first thought. He seems to have ability, certainly.. but his decision making and general finishing is atrocious.. for now it should certainly be Bent and Gabby leading the line, with Benteke being impact sub until the coaches can work on him.

I thought Bent looked really good when he came on, looked much more keen to get involved in the game. Vlaar should certainly stay as captain (despite his error, he'll get over that I'm sure) and keep Bent on his toes and eager to influence the game. Against Everton Bent made 5 passes. Five. That's our captain. Five passes.. He did much more than that today and he was only on for 20 minutes. Took his goal very well, I'm so glad it fell to him because the way everyone else (Holman excluded) were shooting then it could have gone anywhere.

All in all, happy with the draw. Felt we really needed the 3 points, especially with Spurs next, but the way we fought back was promising.

I think we've got a strong enough team to avoid relegation as long as we can cut out the individual errors. Then hopefully, over time this team can get the experience and the connection with each other to push us on for future seasons.

[CI]

Well that was a big improvement on last week at least but it does feel like another 2 points dropped even if we did come from behind. Cant fault the players they gave their all again, the only poor performance for me was Benteke who had a stinker.

We do lose the midfield territory far too easily though, you can't give quality players like Morrisson that much time and space.

Having said that Foster made 2 world class saves to earn them a point.

Two very difficult trips to London now, we'll do well to pick up anything in either game.

[Morpheus]

Don't get the negativity. It was a decent performance at the beginning and towards the end and were it not for poor finishing we would've won that. Also showed plenty of fight and spirit to come back from a goal behind.

Agreed. I gave out a lot of sixes but it was one of those "greater than the sum" team efforts. The only really lacking area was obviously the front third, but that sort of performance is going to pick up points more often than not.

Though we were very poor. We struggled to create anything of note and really never looked like scoring until Bent came on for Benteke. Benteke is very quickly looking like a very poor buy along with Lambert's other purchases.

Yet another manager and another 17m spent and we still don't have a midfielder in our team who can create anything.

On the plus side plenty of effort to get a point but effort alone won't keep us up this season!

[Mantis]

Don't get the negativity. It was a decent performance at the beginning and towards the end and were it not for poor finishing we would've won that. Also showed plenty of fight and spirit to come back from a goal behind.

Agreed. I gave out a lot of sixes but it was one of those "greater than the sum" team efforts. The only really lacking area was obviously the front third, but that sort of performance is going to pick up points more often than not.

Though we were very poor. We struggled to create anything of note and really never looked like scoring until Bent came on for Benteke. Benteke is very quickly looking like a very poor buy along with Lambert's other purchases.

Yet another manager and another 17m spent and we still don't have a midfielder in our team who can create anything.

On the plus side plenty of effort to get a point but effort alone won't keep us up this season!

I hope you're joking. How on Earth can you already dismiss Benteke (or anybody else brought in this summer actually) as a "very poor buy"? Out of curiosity, which other Lambert buys are you dismissing as "very poor"?

[CI]

I thought KEA, Bennett & Lowton all had good games. Vlaar was ok but lost too much in the air to Long. Benteke had a bad day at the office.

[Hanky]

Thought our midfield, with the exception of Holman, was very poor until Bannan came on.

[Liam_Baggies]

Thought it was a fairly solid game in honesty from both sides. Disappointed we couldn't hold on. What didn't help us in the second was that the likes of Morrison and Gera were struggling with their fitness but had to be left on due to our injuries which hampered us. Lambert was allowed the fresh legs in the middle whilst we had to plod a long. Disappointed to have seen Long removed as well as I thought he was a massive problem for you with his work rate, desire and willingness to chase down your centre halves and give us a release ball in the channels.

Didn't think you tested Foster that much to be honest, reverted to long range attempts and a deflected effort which he did very well to save. We didn't cause Guzan many problems either but we were content with a point at that stage and unfortunately your goal come by the virtue of Bent being in the right place at the right time.

Got to love your fans in the North Bank and their "we hate Albion" chant, despite you apparently not 'hating' us but never mind. No qualms about the result, just disappointed we never held on.

[Djemba_Villan]

Don't get the negativity. It was a decent performance at the beginning and towards the end and were it not for poor finishing we would've won that. Also showed plenty of fight and spirit to come back from a goal behind.

Agreed. I gave out a lot of sixes but it was one of those "greater than the sum" team efforts. The only really lacking area was obviously the front third, but that sort of performance is going to pick up points more often than not.

Though we were very poor. We struggled to create anything of note and really never looked like scoring until Bent came on for Benteke. Benteke is very quickly looking like a very poor buy along with Lambert's other purchases.

Yet another manager and another 17m spent and we still don't have a midfielder in our team who can create anything.

On the plus side plenty of effort to get a point but effort alone won't keep us up this season!

I hope (for my own sanity) that this is sarcasm/a joke.

Lowton - Looked solid so far

KEA - 2 bad games does make him a disaster

Bennett - Showing some promising signs

Benteke - Showing glimpses of being a good player, still a bit rough around the edges, but so are most 21 year old strikers!!

Westwood/Bowery - Not seen enough yet to judge..but are young and ones for the future.

Guzan - Decision to re-sign after we allowed his contract to expire has been vindicated.

Vlaar - Solid, one bad game, besides that looks very promising.

We have a load of players who are playing far better than they were 12 months ago. The overall style of play of the team is significantly better, our players are showing massive amounts of heart and desire.

If some fans are at all miffed at the moment..well sod them, I wish they supported someone else.

[smetrov]

Thought it was a fairly solid game in honesty from both sides. Disappointed we couldn't hold on. What didn't help us in the second was that the likes of Morrison and Gera were struggling with their fitness but had to be left on due to our injuries which hampered us. Lambert was allowed the fresh legs in the middle whilst we had to plod a long. Disappointed to have seen Long removed as well as I thought he was a massive problem for you with his work rate, desire and willingness to chase down your centre halves and give us a release ball in the channels.

Didn't think you tested Foster that much to be honest, reverted to long range attempts and a deflected effort which he did very well to save. We didn't cause Guzan many problems either but we were content with a point at that stage and unfortunately your goal come by the virtue of Bent being in the right place at the right time.

Got to love your fans in the North Bank and their "we hate Albion" chant, despite you apparently not 'hating' us but never mind. No qualms about the result, just disappointed we never held on.

It was a game which swung on subs. I didn't think Brunt looked up to much - but the guy him replaced him seemed better.

Lambert brought on Bent - which worked - and Clarke took off Long who was a threat all afternoon.

[mikeyp102]

No one player stood out above the others. Holman works tirelessly and is starting to link with strikers, so he would probably get motm from me.

Big gaps were appearing between vlaar and lowton making it easy for one of the baggies players to run into space in a dangerous position.

Surprised at the comments re Bennett, I thought at times he looked very nervous in possession and another couple of times made a decision that the ball was going out and stopped chasing only for long to run past him and keep it in.

Baggies started brightest, but after 15 minutes we took control of possession and really should've scored, and if it wasn't for a couple of brilliant saves from foster we would've. Benteke should've scored...if we had taken the lead didn't see Albion coming back into it.

Second half baggies took control again and put us under the cosh. Once they took the lead we nearly capitulated and Albion put a lot of pressure on us. Substitutions swung the game in our favour.. Bannan offered good energy and forward momentum, bent was bent, picked up good positions and took his goal well. Nzog seems to have realised he can play and started putting the defence on the back foot.