Jump to content

Ratings and Reactions: Villa 0-1 Liverpool


limpid

Man of the match  

92 members have voted

  1. 1. Who was your man of the match?

    • Guzan
      5
    • Vlaar
      1
    • Okore
      23
    • Luna
      9
    • Lowton
      1
    • Bacuna
      3
    • Westwood
      1
    • Delph
      42
    • Weimann
      0
    • Agbonlahor
      5
    • Benteke
      1
    • El Ahmadi (for Lowton 65)
      0
    • Tonev (for Weimann 73)
      0
    • Helenius (for Westwood 83)
      1


Recommended Posts

Gabby Agbonlahor's slip in the first minute prophesied  the end result.  To be fair to Aston Villa's youngsters we ought to remember that we started the week at The Arse and Chelsea and played two hard fought games at both.

Liverpool on the other hand beat an ordinary Stoke had had a week to stay fresh and  were ready  for this game coming in  with fresh  feet and a controlled rehearsed strategy to press   quickly for the first and as it turned out only goal. Liverpool's football  was very  crisp and made  us  run for the ball  and  tiring us   out in the process particularly in light of the games we played earlier this week. 

 

Ex Villa   youth's Sturridge's goal was a piece of artistry and allowed   Liverpool to sit back  and  defend which they did by keeping possession under the  generalship of Gerrard. Gerrard  playing deeper than he usually   does was able  to move the ball around and he did  so with precision which made it very hard  for us to gain possession .

 

In the first half Villa's control  of the ball was lacking  touch  and too often when we gained the ball we  gave it  away  predictably to a sharper Liverpool midfield.

 

Second half we played much better. Delph was sharper  and  also Tony Moon on the left showed touches and  a great deal of promise. It can be argued that El Ahmadi might have started the game  but I  don't think that he alone would have made much difference to the way that Liverpool started. However  with El Ahmadi  and Delph  in the midfield we seemd to find  more space  but the ball  just wouldn't  fall to us  where we could really make the penetration that  would allow  us  to have players in strong goal scoring positions.

 

Weiman   looked  tired and off his usual game which is no doubt why He got  subbed. I don't think Bacuna deserves the  stick that some have given him. He actually looked  quite good  at  right back  when Lowton left the game. Lambert did the  right thing by keeping him in the game. You don't  want to discourage a  young player on his  debut and  to say it is the  worst debut  that you have seen at Villa Park  means that you haven't been   down the Park too many times. I have been  an Aston Villa fan for a good many years  and I can tell  you  that there have been many worse and Bacuna's wasn't one of them so give the bloke a break. He has  some  touches  and with  experience will prove  the early  biters incorrect.

 

Tony Moon and Okore were pretty solid for me. I    like what I see in Okore . He has pace, he has  strength, he reads the game and he  has  guts. I would   expect Okore  to become a permanent  fixture. When Baker and Clark are fit Vlaar will  be hard pressed  to keep his    place. I  think  a case   that Vlaar didn't  follow Sturridge  through the middle    could be argued   which allowed  Sturridge to  score. Mind  you Sturridges    touch   for that goal would have been hard to deal with by any defender so again I    won't rest  the blame on any one player in particular.

 

Looking at  Liverpool's CB's  they played  Agger and Toure and they were able to keep Benteke in check but when  Benteke  did get an opportunity  in the  85th minute Mignolet brought off  another   game winning  save.

 

The result was disappointing but  AVFC  can bring a lot of  good  things  forward from this and  should have no shame in the way  we played  today.   We  Go  Again!

  • Like 4
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Undone by a tired first half and early goal conceded again. That said, much better second half. Bacuna wasn't as bad as many are making out. Passing judgment on a player far too early. Progress is what we are after and from end of last season to now we have steady and encouraging improvement.

Can't believe how we have been stitched up with having to play the Chelsea game within a few days of Arsenal then Liverpool today. Moyes moaning about Utd's first few fixtures last week was an insult. Didn't hear Lambert saying the fixtures were a fix.

I guess you weren't listening too hard

 

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/sport/football/teams/aston-villa/10245863/Paul-Lambert-accuses-Premier-League-of-favouring-Jose-Mourinho-and-Chelsea-over-

fixtures.html

 

 

 

Paul Lambert accuses Premier League of favouring Jose Mourinho and Chelsea over fixtures     Paul Lambert has angrily accused the Premier League of giving Jose Mourinho and Chelsea preferential treatment over fixtures.
paul-lambert_2645445b.jpg
Cheesed off: Paul Lambert's Aston Villa side faces a tough start to the season with games against Arsenal and Chelsea Photo: GETTY IMAGES
 

10:30PM BST 15 Aug 2013

comments.gif13 Comments

 

Lambert has been handed a daunting start to the season that will see Aston Villa face Arsenal, Chelsea and Liverpool in the first week, after the Premier League ordered his team to travel to Stamford Bridge on Wednesday.

Villa were scheduled to meet Chelsea on August 30th but the date clashes with Mourinho's obligation to play Bayern Munich in the Uefa Super Cup, and Lambert was confident of delaying the game until later in the season.

But Lambert and Villa were left stunned when the Premier League ordered the fixture to be fulfilled in the first midweek of the season, potentially handing Chelsea the prospect of travelling to Manchester United on Aug 26 with six points from two home games in what could prove an early psychological blow in the title race.

Villa are even more frustrated as the change mean they will face an unwanted three-week break after their home game with Liverpool next Saturday, as they do not return to action until Sept 14 when they play Newcastle.

And Lambert was clearly furious as he reflected on Villa's difficult introduction to the campaign and hinted that his club may be a victim of "big club syndrome".

He said: "I disagree with this, I don’t think it’s fair. There was no compromise there whatsover. I gave them [the Premier League] five dates to choose from originally. Then I picked one and I thought everything was fine.

"Then all of a sudden, they tell us we’re getting jammed in between Arsenal and Liverpool when we had given dates before.

"We had about 45 different explanations - but I don’t know if one of them is true. I don’t get it. Would have it been different if it had been the other way round? Possibly, yes, are you talking about big club syndrome?

"I wasn’t convinced by the answer I got, put it that way. I still came away none the wiser. I’d love to know in years gone by if Villa have had a harder start than we’ve got.

"It’s a hard game against Arsenal, but to put the Chelsea one in between was strange I thought."

The Premier League have argued that the game had to be played at the first available date, due to the fear of fixture congestion later in the season should both clubs be involved in cup competitions.

Last season Chelsea's game against Reading was rearranged for the first midweek due to a clash with last year's Super Cup meeting with Atletico Madrid.

But it leaves Lambert facing two difficult trips to London in the space of five days, with Villa understood to have complained bitterly to the League after the decision was made.

Villa will head to Arsenal on Saturday with a drastically revamped squad, after a summer spending spree that has seen six new additions.

Darren Bent's frustration is over as he prepares to complete a loan move to Fulham, with Martin Jol agreeing to pay a substantial loan fee and all of the England international's £65,000 a week wages.

Bent's departure ends a nightmare 12 months in which the £24 million record signing was first stripped of the captaincy and then spent the majority of the season on the sidelines, largely due to the emergence of Christian Benteke.

Lambert insisted there had been no rift and claimed he had been vindicated in his decision to exile the forward.

"There has been not one crossed word between us," he said. "I brought in Benteke. If anyone can tell me it was the wrong decision (to pick him ahead of Bent) then they'd take you away in a white van!

"It's just the way I play and the way I look for people to play under me. That's football. All over the world that's the game. It's nothing to do with faces, I just had to make decisions about who I played."

Link to comment
Share on other sites

To be fair what a signing Toure looked for them. When they replace Aspas with Suarez that will be a hell of a good team. 

 

Toure looked superb to me. I don't agree liverpool  are top side though - thought fatty gerrard had the look of an old man - and they looked slow all over the pitch.

 

Interesting where all there academy prospects have gone .......and where the cash has come from - take note Randy

Link to comment
Share on other sites

 

To be fair what a signing Toure looked for them. When they replace Aspas with Suarez that will be a hell of a good team. 

 

Toure looked superb to me. I don't agree liverpool  are top side though - thought fatty gerrard had the look of an old man - and they looked slow all over the pitch.

 

Interesting where all there academy prospects have gone .......and where the cash has come from - take note Randy

 

 

I think when they get Suarez, Coutinho and Sturridge together that will be devastating. There's a few questions about the midfield and the tempo they're so keen to play at but with no European commitment this year giving them an advantage over Spurs/Arsenal I can see Liverpool finishing fourth.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

 

 

Toure looked superb to me. I don't agree liverpool  are top side though - thought fatty gerrard had the look of an old man - and they looked slow all over the pitch.

 

 

For an old fat man Gerrard had a  good game  today. He marshalled his team well enough to win the game. You cannot overlook the  blocked passes , the boot  aways  from Benteke   that are critical attributes of Gerrard's play today. With Gerrard, Toure and Agger all being  solid  today only something special was  going to get us a win and it just wasn't there today, not  because we have  a lack of talent,  but because old fat men  can still play good football and do just enough to stifle  our young lions.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

We lacked a spark.

Yes, too bad  those rumours  of Kiyotake and/or Wijnaldum don't  seem to have any legs at this  stage.

It's early days yet and we have yet to see  how some of the new  signings  like Helenius and Tonev will add  to  our creativity.

WE also    don't yet know  what will happen  with  Nzog if and when he  returns. Who knows, once the  window closes perhaps even Bannan  might make it back  to  contention.

 

Delph is still  growing  and so too is el Ahmadi and even though Westwood's game  wasn't  sparkling today it is just one game and a lot of players  might   gel into  quite a creative force once they get a few games under their belts together.

  • Like 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Thought we were the better team in the second half.

That Bacuna played awful though - let's hope he's better than he showed today!

A few fans on this very board were calling Benteke another Emile Heskey after a few games last season...just saying.

  • Like 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Why didn't Lambert put on Bent at all? Oh, yeah...he is scoring goals for another team...

 

A team that still lost 3-1 to a team we beat 3-1 the other day, with 2 goals scored by the striker we replaced Bent with.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Just got back.

Thoughts on the game

 

Lambert got the formation horribly wrong, why we played 4-4-1-1 is beyond me, especially when we've had so much success with 4-3-3. When Lambert changed it after 35 minutes, we looked much better and matched Liverpool for the rest of the game.

 

Bacuna is not a winger. He played alright centrally but is worse than Sylla and El Ahmadi. Bacuna did a good job at right back and I see that as his best position truth be told.

 

Thought we were unlucky not to get a result out of it, we definitely deserved a point from it. Despite looking sub standard and tired throughout. 

 

Ratings

Guzan 6 - Had nothing to do, could do nothing about the goal. He was lucky not to give away a penalty

 

Lowton 5 - Didn't have the best of games, looked a bit shaky at the back and was ineffective up front. However he did look tired

Okore 7 - Was one of our best players. He looked a beast and looked solid all game. he left Guzan short with a back pass which should of led to a penalty, but apart from that, he didn't put a foot wrong the whole game. 

Vlaar 6 - Maybe his positioning wasn't the best for the goal, however that goal was more down to Sturridge's brilliance as oppose to poor defending. He looked solid enough.

Luna 7 - Looked solid enough defensively and was a threat going forward.

 

Bacuna 5 - Like I said before, the guy isn't a winger and he was below par in midfield. However he did a good job at right back. 

Westwood 5.5 - I think Westwood had a poor game today. He got over run in the first half and was wasteful in possession. He improved in the second half(when we played with 3 in midfield) but he wasn't as reliable as we've come to expect from him.

Delph 7 - He's come on heaps and bounds. He looked our best midfielder. He won the ball made a few good bursting runs and gave us some much needed energy and bite. More of the same please.

 

Weimann 6 - He looked tired but I think he played the best out of the front 3. Thought we should've taken Gabby off instead of him.

Benteke 5.5 - Unlucky with his 2 shots that were saved from Mignolet. But his touch was poor today and his interplay just wasn't up to scratch. 

Gabby 5 - Poor game from Gabby today. He just didn't really get into it. got dispossessed far too many times for my liking and nothing was really coming off from him. He should've done better with the volley he scuffed wide as well.

 

Subs

El Ahmadi 6 - Meh. Gave us more stability when he came on. He did a better job than Bacuna did in midfield

Tonev 5.5 - Looked a bit raw. Woeful free kick near the end as well.

Helenius - N/A

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Think there are some massive overreactions in here. We weren't great by any stretch of imagination but the attacking intent was there for the majority of the game. Is a bit annoying constantly conceding early goals though. Wonder why that is?

 

I'm disappointed that we lost but to get 3 points out of Arsenal, Chelsea and Liverpool in the space of a week is pretty decent to be fair.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

 

Why didn't Lambert put on Bent at all? Oh, yeah...he is scoring goals for another team...

Scoring goals in a losing game against a team we beat.

 

 

 

Why didn't Lambert put on Bent at all? Oh, yeah...he is scoring goals for another team...

Oh dear, that didn't take long.

 

 

 

Why didn't Lambert put on Bent at all? Oh, yeah...he is scoring goals for another team...

 

A team that still lost 3-1 to a team we beat 3-1 the other day, with 2 goals scored by the striker we replaced Bent with.

 

 

But we needed just one goal. A Bent goal! :D

 

Hehehe Don't worry dudes. Lighten up!

Link to comment
Share on other sites

To be fair, I think our players were simply tired and pretty much drained mentally and physically. Two high tempo, energetic and charged games against top 4 teams takes their toll and without much time to recharge batteries I can't blame our lads. I can't understand the mentality when we lose one game against pretty damn good side people are already unpacking their razorblades ready to slit their wrists.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I didn't watch the game. Was Bacuna THAT bad? What was it about his performance that was so hideous?

No. Out wide he was woeful, centrally he was slightly better but was below par. Her did a good job for us at right back though. Poor selection by Lambert, but he wasn't that bad. I'd give him a 5/10.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

But seriously. The second half was good. Villa had a lot of possession, and a few clear cut chances. One could have gone in, and then the game would have opened up. That would free space behind Liverpool's defense for our attacking players to exploit. But the goal didn't come, and we practically lost because of bad play the first 30 minutes. Felt sorry for Bacuna first, but he picked himself up for the second half and played well. Good night!

Link to comment
Share on other sites

×
×
  • Create New...
Â