Manager Paul Lambert

[Rovers13]

 

Still chuffed with the win yesterday. I can't beleive we have played 6 and won 3 !!!!!.

 

I can totally forgive yesterdays first half performance - Gabby is always a big loss, Benteke goes without saying. It was new system for a lot of the players as well - you could sense they were concentrating on the bread and butter stuff.

 

We grew into the game as it went on - The Holte was particularly load after we equalized - and from then on it was like a cauldron.

 

Ultimately I think better football will only come with better players - but for now these will have to do - at least were scoring a few goals. I hope that if\when Benteke moves for big money, Lambert can bring in some higher quality players and really start to push on. 

 

Do you really think he can though, given our wage structure?

 

Spurs spent well this summer with the Bale money but I bet none of those players signed for £20K a week.

 

That's the thing, yes they had what I think was a negative net spend but their wage bill ballooned. In their case it was smart, because they've been profitable and they should get into the UCL with all the players they've signed, but in Villa's case it wouldn't be.

[Rob182]

If you can't see there was a radical change in the way we approached the second half compared with the first half, actually trying to pressure their defence rather than a futile attempt to contain them, I don't think you could have been watching the game.

There was a change at half time, but I don't think what you've said is accurate.

The first time we had the ball in the first half, we attacked and got the ball forward quite effectively. It was only after this first attack that Pellegrini ordered his players to push further up the pitch. We then saw Man City's forwards and midfielders pushing right up to our defence.

This stopped us from playing, and meant that we had to try and play around lots of Man City players, before we could look to build anything. Delph looked decent, playing little one-two's, but we lost to the class of Man City's players in close quarters.

To say that our plan in the first half was to "attempt to contain them", makes me wonder whether you actually watched the game?

We tried to attack, we just weren't good enough until Lambert made some changes/ kicked them up the arse.

[The Fun Factory]

 

 

Don't think Lambert left Norwich for us because of budgets or money, I would expect it was to further develop his career at a much bigger club, which we arguably are.

ARGUABLY? The day those mustard  guzzlers from Norfolk are a bigger club than Villa will be when pigs fly! Lambert looked at the potential at Villa, the stadium, the training facilities, and the sheer class of the club and thought that will do for me.  Just like when Taylor left a good Watford side to come to us. The potential at Villa is frightening. If only someone could ever achieve it. For a promising British manager, getting the Villa job is still one of the best managerial jobs around.

 

 

 

I absolutely agree with that. Our potentially is at the very top end. Not only do we have the infrastructure and the potential fan base but the city itself is evolving, it won't be long before a richer man comes along looking for a new toy. I hope Lambert is firmly embedded in the club by that point.

 

Good point. I like the stat that Birmingham is the youngest city in Europe, in a time of the ageing society. Villa must tap into this, and not casually let thousands of potential supporters become plastic liverplop or manure fans.

[Morpheus]

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Interesting formation yesterday-I didn't see that coming. Reminded me of the way we played under Brian Little & how well it worked for us then. Its hard to pick out players, I thought they were all superb but the back 3 did exceptionally well considering the pressure we were put under. KEA has been a revelation this season & clearly it's his place to loose at present. The same will hopefully apply with Bacuna who has been excellent in the last 2 games. Kozac is another who has come in & done a job for us.

 

I'm a big fan of the 3 up front that we usually play with but the system yesterday has got me thinking. I know we'll probably use both in the future but I wouldn't like to pick one out of Weiman, Gabby & Kozac to partner CB though.

 

Watching the other teams on MOTD this morning, I didn't see many players outside of the top 8 or so who I would like bought in to replace anyone in our team. I think we're probably a bit stronger than some give us credit for.

Or the Premiership is very poor this season?

 

I'm not in any shape or form trying to detract from our win yesterday because it was a fantastic victory but so far there have been some very strange results and this could be the season that the usual stranglehold at the top may be broken?

 

 

I'd say it's the opposite.

 

The premiership is a lot stronger in the bottom teams than it used to be. This is because of the increase in TV money, newly promoted sides can go out and raid fairly big clubs in Europe for top players and spend £30m on new players with out breaking a sweat. No other league has that kind of money available. Then you get results like Swansea thrashing Valencia and Cardiff beating Man City, West Brom beating Man U etc. 

 

It is a credit that we are so competitive without spending as much as the likes of Norwich or Southampton etc

 

Yep have to agree that due to the extra finance available the second and third tier teams have closed the gap in terms of quality on the top six but have the top three been as good so far this season? You would have to agree no and that has also been a major contributing factor to the gap closing in terms of quality.

 

Overall though I still feel that the quality of football presented on the pitch has been poor hence my previous comment that this could very well be the season where the stranglehold at the top by the usual protagonists may be broken and it's a pity we do not at this moment in time have enough to take advantage.

 

 

If we had a chairman good enough, he would see the lift door ajar and stick a foot in. Instead he'll climb the stairs, only to find the others have now got security on the door at the top as they got in first and we - like in 1992, 1996, 1998 and 2010 - missed our chance.

 

By good enough you mean rich enough, which is imo pathetic. 

 

No actually i meant good enough so whose opinion is pathetic.

[Bazmonkey]

As much as the 3 points and finally a win at home is great and hopefully this will urge the team on lets look at the game with our heads rather than our hearts.

I have only seen the highlights so don’t shoot me down but the result, as much as it is a big one it it definitely papers over the cracks.

The defending and ball retention throughout was atrocious and needs to be addressed big time. The amount of times players who ball watched and 3-4 who chased down one man was unbelievable, to call it school boy would be disrespectful to school boys.

The amount of times Villa have 6 -7 – 8 players in or on the edge of the box and still fail to miss a cross, loose a player, not intercept a pass is constant throughout not only in this game. Our defending is more ‘backs to the wall’ than controlled and organised. If you think I am wrong please look at the highlights and when we are defending pause the play and count, you will be surprised. In addition look at the goal, another corner. 5 city players to our 8.

As for 5 at the back, this only adds to the problem stated above as there is now another body in the box. you can see it all of their play they don’t know whether to stick or twist. The amount of times Saturday Nasri out on the left had 40 yards of space to run into against a so called back 5 was unbelievable.

We need to have more players in midfield rather than at the back, let’s break teams in the middle rather than let them go past our 3 in the middle with ease and bombard our back line.

Having said that this team is not far from being what could be a useful team, it just needs Lambert to play players in a better more suited formation. Having more players defend means the front line has no support this is shown in many games as most of the time we have to hoof it and often the ball comes back anyway.

Lets have a 5 midfield with 2 holding…the two holding can support the back 4 but more importantly the other 3 can support a lone forward. Our current 4-3-3 is more a 7-3 has the midfielders play too deep and there is huge gap between them and the forwards, again no options, often hoof ball from the back, no ball retention up top.

Effectively a 4-2-3-1 would close that gap and hopefully shave a better balance all over the pitch. Lets allow Westwood to make better unchalleged passes, lets allow Delph to pick up a ball and drive at the oposition, lets give the forwards more to run off, better service and support.

Overall...am I glad for three points at home YES…..beating a top 4 side….most definitely…room for improvement…ABSOLUTELY.

UTV

[Rob182]

As for 5 at the back, this only adds to the problem stated above as there is now another body in the box. you can see it all of their play they don’t know whether to stick or twist. The amount of times Saturday Nasri out on the left had 40 yards of space to run into against a so called back 5 was unbelievable.

We need to have more players in midfield rather than at the back, let’s break teams in the middle rather than let them go past our 3 in the middle with ease and bombard our back line.

Our 5-3-2 could also be called a 3-5-2. We actually had 5 in midfield at points on Saturday.

[Tomaszk]

As much as the 3 points and finally a win at home is great and hopefully this will urge the team on lets look at the game with our heads rather than our hearts.

I have only seen the highlights so don’t shoot me down but the result, as much as it is a big one it it definitely papers over the cracks.

The defending and ball retention throughout was atrocious and needs to be addressed big time. The amount of times players who ball watched and 3-4 who chased down one man was unbelievable, to call it school boy would be disrespectful to school boys.

The amount of times Villa have 6 -7 – 8 players in or on the edge of the box and still fail to miss a cross, loose a player, not intercept a pass is constant throughout not only in this game. Our defending is more ‘backs to the wall’ than controlled and organised. If you think I am wrong please look at the highlights and when we are defending pause the play and count, you will be surprised. In addition look at the goal, another corner. 5 city players to our 8.

As for 5 at the back, this only adds to the problem stated above as there is now another body in the box. you can see it all of their play they don’t know whether to stick or twist. The amount of times Saturday Nasri out on the left had 40 yards of space to run into against a so called back 5 was unbelievable.

We need to have more players in midfield rather than at the back, let’s break teams in the middle rather than let them go past our 3 in the middle with ease and bombard our back line.

Having said that this team is not far from being what could be a useful team, it just needs Lambert to play players in a better more suited formation. Having more players defend means the front line has no support this is shown in many games as most of the time we have to hoof it and often the ball comes back anyway.

Lets have a 5 midfield with 2 holding…the two holding can support the back 4 but more importantly the other 3 can support a lone forward. Our current 4-3-3 is more a 7-3 has the midfielders play too deep and there is huge gap between them and the forwards, again no options, often hoof ball from the back, no ball retention up top.

Effectively a 4-2-3-1 would close that gap and hopefully shave a better balance all over the pitch. Lets allow Westwood to make better unchalleged passes, lets allow Delph to pick up a ball and drive at the oposition, lets give the forwards more to run off, better service and support.

Overall...am I glad for three points at home YES…..beating a top 4 side….most definitely…room for improvement…ABSOLUTELY.

UTV

Agreed.

 

The problem is confidence, hopefully this result, which was laced with good fortune as well as a determined side will help bring that.

 

A 4231 would start moulding towards our 433 due to the nervousness of out players. I think having Delph and in the middle of the forward going 3, would at least help us to hold shape and he would go forward if instructed.

[chappy]

 

 

 

Don't think Lambert left Norwich for us because of budgets or money, I would expect it was to further develop his career at a much bigger club, which we arguably are.

ARGUABLY? The day those mustard  guzzlers from Norfolk are a bigger club than Villa will be when pigs fly! Lambert looked at the potential at Villa, the stadium, the training facilities, and the sheer class of the club and thought that will do for me.  Just like when Taylor left a good Watford side to come to us. The potential at Villa is frightening. If only someone could ever achieve it. For a promising British manager, getting the Villa job is still one of the best managerial jobs around.

 

 

 

I absolutely agree with that. Our potentially is at the very top end. Not only do we have the infrastructure and the potential fan base but the city itself is evolving, it won't be long before a richer man comes along looking for a new toy. I hope Lambert is firmly embedded in the club by that point.

 

Good point. I like the stat that Birmingham is the youngest city in Europe, in a time of the ageing society. Villa must tap into this, and not casually let thousands of potential supporters become plastic liverplop or manure fans.

 

 

 

All down to this man

 

[BOF]

One improvement that may have gone unnoticed this season, which has historically been a problem for us, is that we are yet to concede a goal in the last 16 minutes of a game. Of the 8 we've conceded, the latest came in the 73rd minute (Ivanovic & Gouffran).

On the flip side, despite being the 3rd highest scorers in the league this season, the earliest we've managed to score has been the 22nd minute (Benteke v Arsenal).

Slow starters but very strong finishers

[neil3241]

Well there is lots of improvement to cheer about the best being the team spirit. The biggest concern is when we play bad, we take no prisoners and really, really play bad.

[daggy_333]

Maybe i'm in the minority but i think we defended pretty well on saturday. City pressed very hard in that first half and we soaked up the pressure very well until they scored.

[Zatman]

from the highlights it didnt seem they created much from open play. cant remember Guzan making many "great" saves

[BOF]

Yeah the saves he made were fairly routine. The pick of the bunch was probably the unexpected 20 yard volley from Negredo after a Baker(?) clearance that could have taken him by surprise. Toure's goal could have happened to anyone and was a lucky bounce for them.

[bannedfromHandV]

I think we defended very well other than a couple of set pieces and them getting to the byline 2 or 3 times.

 

The problem was not defending on Saturday it was what we did after defending which was typically to gift the ball back and then start defending again.

 

Maybe we just fooking love defending.

[Dodgyknees]

Unlucky to have lost to Chelsea, a little lucky to beat Man City.

[ozvillafan]

I think we defended very well other than a couple of set pieces and them getting to the byline 2 or 3 times.

 

The problem was not defending on Saturday it was what we did after defending which was typically to gift the ball back and then start defending again.

 

Maybe we just fooking love defending.

 

It had more to do with our set up than anything else.

 

Bacuna and Luna were our only "wide" men, with the central 3 defenders mostly staying in and around the box. With our wide men defending, and our midfield 3 clustered and deep - we had little out ball other than lump it forward.

 

Sacrificing 1 of the central back 3 would have allowed us to go 4-4-2 or even 4-5-1 which would have given us more width, more immediate cover and more options when coming out of defense. Something we should be doing at home considering Villa Park is one of the bigger fields in the PL.

[Kwan]

Sometimes you have to adopt an approach that's not ideal. It's Lambert showing a little more cynicism instead of putting out a lineup that will obviously be beaten. I don't think we will see that line up again until maybe one of the bigger teams

[El-Reacho]

Anyone know what our stats are like regarding defending set pieces? If you concede as many as we did on Saturday the law of averages suggests we will concede a goal. Have we really not progressed from Dec/Jan/Feb when we were utterly atrocious? 

[SikhInTrinity]

 

I think we defended very well other than a couple of set pieces and them getting to the byline 2 or 3 times.

 

The problem was not defending on Saturday it was what we did after defending which was typically to gift the ball back and then start defending again.

 

Maybe we just fooking love defending.

 

It had more to do with our set up than anything else.

 

Bacuna and Luna were our only "wide" men, with the central 3 defenders mostly staying in and around the box. With our wide men defending, and our midfield 3 clustered and deep - we had little out ball other than lump it forward.

 

Sacrificing 1 of the central back 3 would have allowed us to go 4-4-2 or even 4-5-1 which would have given us more width, more immediate cover and more options when coming out of defense. Something we should be doing at home considering Villa Park is one of the bigger fields in the PL.

 

 

Yes we sure lumped it forward for our first goal. We do not have natural wingers to play 4-4-2, so it would have been the same with Bacuna and left sided midfielder dropping off to stop the overlapping runs. Also lets not forget what happened when United played 4-4-2 against Man City. The 3 CB's was a great idea, teams often use it against Barcelona as it stops the fullbacks from overlapping and getting balls in to the strikers as you have to cross to beat one more man, this was highlighted by Kolorov getting forward only for his cross to be cut out by Vlaar.

[Kwan]

I don't think we've allowed from set pieces until Saturday. Unless you count the league cup