Re: ASTON VILLA Vs BURNLEY : Sunday 24th 3:00pm.

by andrew24561 Sun May 24, 2015 1:30 pm

Feel a draw is the beat we can hope for today as I expect a shadow squad to play today

by FoxyAV Sun May 24, 2015 2:14 pm

What's this formation today? 3-5-2? Bacuna, Vlaar and Baker only because we need one backup defender (Hutton) and we're out of options? I'd still rather see Sinclair on than N'Zog, will it be the one game of the year where the Frenchman does something or will it yet again be almost but not quite?

by Aesorian Sun May 24, 2015 2:28 pm

Villa XI: Steer, Baker, Vlaar, Bacuna, Cleverley, Agbonlahor, Westwood, Delph, Benteke, N'Zogbia, Grealish Subs: Guzan, Sinclair, Weimann, Hutton, Sanchez, Robinson, Green.

I don't even... What?

Edit: N'Zogbia at left back? He played there once or twice for Newcastle (I think)

Steer
Bacuna - Vlaar - Baker - N'Zogbia
Cleverly - Westwood - Delph
Grealish
Gabby - Benteke

What does that mean for Gil, Lowton et al?

by villabromsgrove Sun May 24, 2015 3:11 pm

Guzan needed to play today to get in the groove for the cup final. Steer is not the answer .... 0-1 Ings scores after 6 minutes!

by Aesorian Sun May 24, 2015 3:32 pm

N'zogbia off at half time please, been a massive liability and leaving us massivly short at the back.

by villabromsgrove Sun May 24, 2015 3:38 pm

Cissokho's been fit for the last couple of weeks according to PhysioRoom.

by Villa_Dan Sun May 24, 2015 3:48 pm

Well that was awful

by villabromsgrove Sun May 24, 2015 3:52 pm

Our goal keeping situation is a strange one, as is our left back first choice. We should have clearly established first choices after 37 games of the season. It's far from ideal with Wembley next up.

by Aesorian Sun May 24, 2015 3:57 pm

villabromsgrove wrote:Our goal keeping situation is a strange one, as is our left back first choice. We should have clearly established first choices after 37 games of the season. It's far from ideal with Wembley next up.

Definitely far from ideal, but with Injuries and the fact Sherwood has only been in charge for 15(ish) games it's kind of understandble.

However, the fact some of our injuries have been sorted and he's not even looked at a couple of players/playing people out of position is odd

by villabromsgrove Sun May 24, 2015 3:59 pm

Playing wing backs against Arsenal will probably get us a roasting. Hopefully Sherwood is trying to lull Wenger into a false sense of security! Very Happy

by villabromsgrove Sun May 24, 2015 4:56 pm

Well that's it for another season. We've finished bottom of the teams that survive in the Premier League. It should be a major kick up the arse for our beloved owner .... but he hasn't shown any signs of learning a lesson in the last couple of seasons so I'm not going to hold my breath.

I'm now hoping for an FA cup miracle to end the season on a high.

by Villa_Dan Sun May 24, 2015 4:58 pm

God that was disappointing.

But next Saturday is a cup final. Anything came happen and it is who is best on the day.

But Lerner needs to fuck off.

by villabromsgrove Sun May 24, 2015 5:02 pm

Villa_Dan wrote:God that was disappointing.

But next Saturday is a cup final. Anything came happen and it is who is best on the day.

But Lerner needs to fuck off.

I think we're thinking the same thing .... you just said it better! Very Happy

by Aesorian Sun May 24, 2015 5:09 pm

Pros:
- Steer
I still think that Steer needs to go on loan for first team football next season, but he impressed me today. He wasn't perfect but he was let down by his defence more than he made mistakes. He seemed comfertable with his positioning and more than happy to recieve the ball and distrube it competantly.

- Grealish/Benteke Desire & Work Rate
Despite neither being at their best today they showed proper desire to get on the ball, with grealish at one point dropping back at enough to pick the ball up off the center backs.

- Tackling/Winning the ball back
We were great at this for most of the match, how many times did we win the ball back on the halfway line and keep plugging it back in? I'm impressed with our pressing 9 times out of 10.

Cons:
- Full Backs
Dear Sherwood. Stop playing Wingers as fullbacks. Bacuna and N'zogbia were the cause of so many problems today. N'Zogbia was constantly out of position and Bacuna was turned inside out far oo often.

- Decsision Making/Lack of Plan B
This is what let us down today. So many simple passes screwed up, so many times we got to the edge of the box and just passed it sideways or backwards. So many times we just punted a cross in and hoped to hit Benteke. A better bench could of got us something today, so it's over to you Sherwood.

Stat(s) of the Game:
Team: 32 Crosses, 6 Successful (3 Chances Created, 3 Completed)
Charles N'Zogbia: 64.63% of touches in the Opposition half, took more throw ins than defensive actions (5 Throws, 0 Tackles, 2 Interceptions, 2 Clearances)

by The Utterer Sun May 24, 2015 5:11 pm

Today shows the difference between the top 4 clubs and one finishing in the bottom 4

Of the two cup finalists one team realised the importance of ending on a high and ended the season with a big home win

The others season petered out in pathetic fashion with a limp disjointed home loss against the worst team in the division.

Don't get me wrong i am elated we stayed up and doubly elated we reached the final of a major cup competition (although on that form i will fear for us on the day sadly).

My point is it highlights the gulf in difference of mentality between players.. The mind set of winners and scrapers by!

It appears TS was absolutely correct when he stated that this team play better when it's on the line. We played well when survival was at stake but just as soon as the players felt safe out come the poor performances again

Highlights a weak mentality in my opinion. They can play well but only do when it suits them or its a high pressure situation

This reminds me of a typical work scenario where peoples productivity increases when they are in fear of losing their job or they've just had a roasting by the gaffer, leaders on the other hand do over and above what is expected as their norm on a daily basis which is ultimately why they go on to become successful.

by villabromsgrove Sun May 24, 2015 5:18 pm

I agree about our mental weakness. It's been an issue with this team for some time. Sherwood did well to keep us up but even he will struggle to get a response from this bunch of players over a full season. Changes have to be made.

by villabromsgrove Sun May 24, 2015 5:43 pm

I'm feeling strangely flat after our lacklustre finish, but relieved that we're safe even though it's in 17th position.

by FoxyAV Sun May 24, 2015 5:46 pm

We defended well earlier in the season with Hutton and Cissokho either side of Clark and Okore/Vlaar. Clark's been injured and Okore was today too (unless it's just not worth risking him before next week) but Vlaar seems to be back to making mistakes and not playing with confidence, like last season when he had Bacuna and Lowton to cover. While Hutton and Cissokho weren't perfect, they allowed Vlaar/Okore and Clark to play their own game, with confidence. I wonder if that also helped Clark do so well this season? We appear to have regressed though to Vlaar and whoever's next to him messing up more because they have to cover for Bacuna and whoever is at LB (five different LBs in the last five matches?).

I assume Gil and Cissokho have pissed in Sherwood's chips, the complete lack of either playing when arguably worse players are taking their place feels too much like Lambert's style. N'Zogbia over Gil (or for that matter Sinclair)? N'Zogbia/Lowton/Hutton/Richardson/Bacuna over Cissokho?

MOTM today? Cleverley, Westwood, Delph or Grealish. I couldn't say which though, no one particularly stood out.

by avfc85 Sun May 24, 2015 6:11 pm

Well Tim that was thoroughly disappointing - "I want to send the fans home happy" so he plays N'Zogbia at LB lol okay...

by avfc85 Sun May 24, 2015 6:12 pm

avfc85 wrote:Well Tim that was thoroughly disappointing - "I want to send the fans home happy" so he plays N'Zogbia at LB lol okay...

I can only say Lowton Gill and the like something has definitely gone on behind the scenes

by smetro Sun May 24, 2015 6:19 pm

Well he kept us up so job done is that respect.Got to say he already looks to have massive task on his hands for next season.
He has created a goalkeeping crisis out of nothing IMO - Sure Guzan wasn't the greatest - but good enough for any premier league club mid table ish - In came Given who in all honestly has looked worse - and now he has thrown a young Jed Steer into the mix, apparently given was Injured today - so who starts v arsenal ? - any ones guess.

In Cissoko and Hutton we have two reasonable full backs - Yet Cissoko doesn't even make the bench nowadays !

He seemed to set up the team which gave us the worst of both worlds today- for me the choice was either put a strong team, tell to put wembley out of there minds and give a professional performance to boost morale for next week - or play a lot of fringe players, Sanchez, Lowton, Cole, Robinson, gil etc and tell them a cup final place is up for grabs.

TS seems to have put a lot players on the scrapheap - fine if he bring in better within budget, but some of those players IMO could still do a job in prem (not set it on fire - just do a job)

Our points yeild under TS is only around 1 per game - should we loose Benteke I would really fear for us next season

Only positives today - another good game from Delph, and after a shaky start thought baker did well

by villabromsgrove Sun May 24, 2015 6:29 pm

smetro wrote:Well he kept us up so job done is that respect.Got to say he already looks to have massive task on his hands for next season.
He has created a goalkeeping crisis out of nothing IMO - Sure Guzan wasn't the greatest - but good enough for any premier league club mid table ish - In came Given who in all honestly has looked worse - and now he has thrown a young Jed Steer into the mix, apparently given was Injured today - so who starts v arsenal ? - any ones guess.

In Cissoko and Hutton we have two reasonable full backs - Yet Cissoko doesn't even make the bench nowadays !

He seemed to set up the team which gave us the worst of both worlds today- for me the choice was either put a strong team, tell to put wembley out of there minds and give a professional performance to boost morale for next week - or play a lot of fringe players, Sanchez, Lowton, Cole, Robinson, gil etc and tell them a cup final place is up for grabs.

TS seems to have put a lot players on the scrapheap - fine if he bring in better within budget, but some of those players IMO could still do a job in prem (not set it on fire - just do a job)

Our points yeild under TS is only around 1 per game - should we loose Benteke I would really fear for us next season

Only positives today - another good game from Delph, and after a shaky start thought baker did well

I totally agree with you about our goalkeeping "crisis." It was unnecessary and damaging, Guzan's kicking has always been a weakness but with a settled defence I thought he did pretty well. One horrendous miss kick seems to have caused a knee jerk reaction that has totally unsettled our defence at a really key time.

Credit to Sherwood for getting the job done because it was obviously very stressful for him, but I hope he reflects on things that may have been handled better recently.

by avfc85 Sun May 24, 2015 6:31 pm

smetro wrote:Well he kept us up so job done is that respect.Got to say he already looks to have massive task on his hands for next season.
He has created a goalkeeping crisis out of nothing IMO - Sure Guzan wasn't the greatest - but good enough for any premier league club mid table ish - In came Given who in all honestly has looked worse - and now he has thrown a young Jed Steer into the mix, apparently given was Injured today - so who starts v arsenal ? - any ones guess.

In Cissoko and Hutton we have two reasonable full backs - Yet Cissoko doesn't even make the bench nowadays !

He seemed to set up the team which gave us the worst of both worlds today- for me the choice was either put a strong team, tell to put wembley out of there minds and give a professional performance to boost morale for next week - or play a lot of fringe players, Sanchez, Lowton, Cole, Robinson, gil etc and tell them a cup final place is up for grabs.

TS seems to have put a lot players on the scrapheap - fine if he bring in better within budget, but some of those players IMO could still do a job in prem (not set it on fire - just do a job)

Our points yeild under TS is only around 1 per game - should we loose Benteke I would really fear for us next season

Only positives today - another good game from Delph, and after a shaky start thought baker did well

Sorry don't want to be rude mate but I must of been watching another game, Delph was poor by usual standards, gave the ball away carelessly, look like he was protecting himself for the final.

by smetro Sun May 24, 2015 6:33 pm

avfc85 wrote:
smetro wrote:Well he kept us up so job done is that respect.Got to say he already looks to have massive task on his hands for next season.
He has created a goalkeeping crisis out of nothing IMO - Sure Guzan wasn't the greatest - but good enough for any premier league club mid table ish - In came Given who in all honestly has looked worse - and now he has thrown a young Jed Steer into the mix, apparently given was Injured today - so who starts v arsenal ? - any ones guess.

In Cissoko and Hutton we have two reasonable full backs - Yet Cissoko doesn't even make the bench nowadays !

He seemed to set up the team which gave us the worst of both worlds today- for me the choice was either put a strong team, tell to put wembley out of there minds and give a professional performance to boost morale for next week - or play a lot of fringe players, Sanchez, Lowton, Cole, Robinson, gil etc and tell them a cup final place is up for grabs.

TS seems to have put a lot players on the scrapheap - fine if he bring in better within budget, but some of those players IMO could still do a job in prem (not set it on fire - just do a job)

Our points yeild under TS is only around 1 per game - should we loose Benteke I would really fear for us next season

Only positives today - another good game from Delph, and after a shaky start thought baker did well

Sorry don't want to be rude mate but I must of been watching another game, Delph was poor by usual standards, gave the ball away carelessly, look like he was protecting himself for the final.

Be as rude as you like !

Maybe I was blinded by a few surging runs at the end which momentarily got me thinking 'we might just be on to something here' !!!!!

by kimbo Sun May 24, 2015 6:34 pm

I thought Delph was pretty crap. To sum up how bad we were, I also genuinely thought Delph was one of our best players.

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