Manager Paul Lambert

[VillaGoMarching]

i'm loving these sweeping conclusions about our team after 3 games.  have people not learnt lessons from last season.

We're a work in progress, we will have highs and lows, we've just had as hard of run of games as we're likely to face all season, and we've fell short. still early days yet.

[Mantis]

i'm loving these sweeping conclusions about our team after 3 games.  have people not learnt lessons from last season.

We're a work in progress, we will have highs and lows, we've just had as hard of run of games as we're likely to face all season, and we've fell short. still early days yet.

To be honest I'd be delighted if we could on average get a point out of every fixture against a top 6 team.

[StefanAVFC]

These counter-arguments are being well backed up 

 

Mourhinhio said it, and we seen it for ourselves on Saturday. We can't play. Simples.

 

So the opposition manager, whose team were extremely lucky to win said that we don't play football, so that makes it a fact?

 

Against Chelsea, they played more long balls than us. We saw it for a half on Saturday after 2 tough away games where we should have had 6 points. We played some delightful stuff against Arsenal and Chelsea and we lacked shape and energy in the first half against Liverpool. When we went back to what we're good at (closing down and passing it around simply), we were comfortably the better team.

 

You haven't really made any argument for the statement that our team can't play football, are cloggers or are just workers. Sometimes just being told you're chatting absolute nonsense is enough. For example, I could say 'Alex Ferguson was a shit manager' and people would just laugh and say I'm talking nonsense. Then I could claim that nobody has given me a counter argument.

 

I'm sorry, but you're just 100% wrong.

Edited August 25, 2013 by StefanAVFC

[foreveryoung]

I think Liverplop let us play in the second half, as they were just sitting back and happy with the 1-0!

[Kwan]

As someone said in the match thread they let us try and play because they know we can't.

Apart from Benteke it's a team full cloggers and duracell bunnies...which will get us results through endeavour as per Arsenal but won't take us to the next level. Gabby and Wieman just aren't skillful or creative enough.....and by creative i don't mean running to the byline for a cross/cut back.

We need a Marco Reus.

Silly at best. The team is plenty capable of creating chances. We've created more chances against Chelsea and against Liverpool.

[VillaChris]

 

Apart from Benteke it's a team full cloggers and duracell bunnies

No, it really isn't. Sure, we don't have a top creative player but to say that it's just a team of workhorses who don't have any technical ability is flat out wrong.

 

 

Agreed we are much better to watch than under MON imo and surprised people don't think this.

 

A lot of our goals scored in that time were scored from set pieces which is certainly something you can't accuse this team of!

[supernova26]

So you think Gabby and Wieman  are good enough to take us to the next level? They are workhorses who run a lot. We need better, more creative players up top. 

[Con]

We created more chances against Liverpool than Liverpool created against us.

 

Two most obvious were Benteke's from Helenius's headed flick-on and his chance (from a corner?) in the first half. Benteke then had a headed half-chance direct from Westwood's corner in the second.

 

Gabby had a chance in the second which he skewed wide. Weimann had a shot in the first half that was probably going in but was defected off a defender.

 

I'm not saying we don't need a midfielder who can organise our attacks, but even without one we are creating enough chances to be competitive from long balls to Benteke, counter attacks and set pieces in attacking positions.

[Mantis]

So you think Gabby and Wieman  are good enough to take us to the next level? They are workhorses who run a lot. We need better, more creative players up top. 

Since when did Gabby and Weimann = the whole team?

 

Depends what you mean by "the next level". They're certainly good enough for where we are right now.

[Kwan]

Show me a non top 6 team that has a better attacking three than Weimann, Agbonlahor, and Benteke

[Amo69]

I actually thing against Liverpool we looked our most dangerous when we got it in the box and picked up knock downs. I know we don't like to see Villa play like that but I think now and then against teams that are hard to break down there's no harm in it.

[Ginko]

Con's right, we had more chances than Liverpool did. We should have done better with the amount of possession we had in the second half, though I did think Liverpool let us play. We didn't look very sharp but that's to be expected after playing three tough games at the start of the new season. We'll get better, but I wouldn't mind a creative player coming in to help us at home, or we might find ourselves with the same problem against a lot of teams.

 

I agree with whoever said Sylla should have come on. I can only assume he wasn't quite match-fit because he seemed like the obvious choice to me. He would have given us a lot of energy in the middle of the park.

Edited August 25, 2013 by Ginko

[KennyPowers]

As someone said in the match thread they let us try and play because they know we can't.

 

Apart from Benteke it's a team full cloggers and duracell bunnies...which will get us results through endeavour as per Arsenal but won't take us to the next level. Gabby and Wieman just aren't skillful or creative enough.....and by creative i don't mean running to the byline for a cross/cut back.

 

We need a Marco Reus.

 

Lol. We could definitely do with Marco Reus, I'd agree with that. 

[Villarocker]

Con's right, we had more chances than Liverpool did. We should have done better with the amount of possession we had in the second half, though I did think Liverpool let us play. We didn't look very sharp but that's to be expected after playing three tough games at the start of the new season. We'll get better, but I wouldn't mind a creative player coming in to help us at home, or we might find ourselves with the same problem against a lot of teams.

 

I agree with whoever said Sylla should have come on. I can only assume he wasn't quite match-fit because he seemed like the obvious choice to me. He would have given us a lot of energy in the middle of the park.

MON said that we were lacking an attacking midfielder who could open teams up but that type of player costs a lot of money. I think Lambert probably sees that player being Bacuna and/or Tonev. He's not suddenly going to spend 8 or 10 million on a player to fill that role. If he was, I don't think we would have signed Bacuna and Tonev.

We just have to face facts that Liverpool were very good first half and we couldn't get the ball off them as much as we'd have liked. When we did get it we just didn't play with enough quality and reverted back to our old self of giving the ball away cheaply. Second half was better but I think a lot of that was down to Liverpool playing deeper to avoid being hit on the counter. I think we all, Lambert inckuded, underestimated our opponents on Saturday. Having said that, like you said, we created plenty of chances second half. Had one gone in who knows how it would have finished.

[romavillan]

true, he must bacuna as potentially that player or he woudn't have started on saturday. 

 

yes, liverpool gave us more space when they sat back, but it's how you use it. we used it pretty well really, created a lot of chances which weren't counter attacks. what we need to start doing at home is controlling the game and scoring first, if we get into that position where if the opposition want a point they have to commit forward then our counter attacking strengths will be very dangerous indeed. at times we knocked it about nicely on saturday, we need to start with that sort of confidence combined with the pressing we saw at arsenal and chelsea which was missing the first half hour against liverpool.

i think we have the players to do it it's still early days in the lambert project and i'm sure we'll improve.

[VillaCas]

I thought our passing was very bad in this game and the Arsenal one.I like the look of Tonev, I am sure he will improve over time,I also like how Westwood had a crack at goal,we need that kind of thinking,have a go, we could get a goal or a corner mainly because the GK is not expecting a shot from that far out. 

We MUST win against Newcastle next week.

 

Of course we want to win but why the drama!

[VillaCas]

So you think Gabby and Wieman  are good enough to take us to the next level? They are workhorses who run a lot. We need better, more creative players up top. 

 

The next level for us at the moment is being comfortable in mid-table - the current squad is plenty good enough to take us there

 

After that to move to the level above - top 8 or the level above that - top 4, will take much more work, more time and better players

 

Three points against three top 6 sides is a great return - with a bit more luck it could easily have been 5 or 6 points

 

Great progress - patience needed

[BOF]

Gabby has already been a part of a side that was at the next level so there's no discussion to be had there. He's also currently playing way above the level he was at when Villa were there or thereabouts too. As for Weimann merely being a workhorse who runs around a lot. I think people forget how good a finisher he is.

[SikhInTrinity]

The problem with Gabby and Weimann, it is very much they need space and thats why we are very good on the counter. I just think at home games, they need to offer a lot more movement off the ball, sometimes they just stick to the flanks and play with their backs to goal. Thats why we need a player with a bit of invention, Tonev offered us a little as he was constantly moving into the pockets of space between the lines.

[BOF]

Hopefully Lambert puts Weimann up top against Rotherham just to give him some momentum and maybe remind people that he is first and foremost a striker and a rather good one.