Re: Aston Villa v Arsenal all in one thread

by PathAtTheBackOfTheHolte Sun Sep 21, 2014 1:19 pm

switters wrote:We looked fine first half hour, we were pressing them high up the pitch & that led to a couple of decent efforts, plus we carried a threat from set pieces. That pressing completely stopped after the goals - mixture of heads dropping and tiredness (whether due to some being ill, or just not being able to keep the intensity up, who knows). and yes the two enforced changes (Clark & Sanchez) were our two weakest links, though others like Cissokho also seemed to let heads drop once we conceded.

If Arsenal had been bothered to step it up a gear in the 2nd half they could've scored a few more, but it turned out to be a complete non-event as they could see we weren't going to cause them any trouble. I would've definitely have brought on Bacuna and N'Zogbia sooner for the fresh legs; Delph and the sub Grealish were the only midfielders running in the 2nd half

If they were *all* suffering from this mystery virus (which has struck on other occasions, as I recall) then why did they manage to do so well in the first 25 mins ? I get that some couldn't start because of it (Baker, Westwood, no Bent on the bench, Cole wasn't on the bench either for the first team sheet). But if Okore is on the sheet (both times) he has to be fit to play 90 mins, and last season, if we'd had the chance to click our fingers and replace Clark with Okore in any given game....I haven't seen one journalist (Bham Mail this means you) ask Lambert why he is not picking Okore to start. And if you're A Manager, getting paid stupid o'cash, you should be a good enough judge to tell that Sanchez was not mentally ready to suddenly take Westwood's place with ten minutes notice, when he'd probably gone all week expecting to warm the bench and maybe get 20 mins if we were winning. Should have put Bacuna in. Even then you had 30mins to revisit that decision - all the time while Arsenal were clearly targeting Sanchez having smelt blood after about five minutes.

by gdav Sun Sep 21, 2014 1:34 pm

Missed the game yesterday, how did Carlos Sanchez get on??

by Guest Sun Sep 21, 2014 1:41 pm

gdav wrote:Missed the game yesterday, how did Carlos Sanchez get on??

Worst player on the pitch by a mile - looked way off the pace - will need time to adapt to this league .

by Villa_Dan Sun Sep 21, 2014 1:41 pm

gdav wrote:Missed the game yesterday, how did Carlos Sanchez get on??

Not great is putting it politely

by gdav Sun Sep 21, 2014 1:43 pm

Eastie wrote:
gdav wrote:Missed the game yesterday, how did Carlos Sanchez get on??

Worst player on the pitch by a mile - looked way off the pace - will need time to adapt to this league .

Never?? Was hoping for big things from him! Hope he can adapt.

by lukevilla Mon Sep 22, 2014 3:57 am

VillaBill wrote:I hope Sanchez had the "virus" because he was truly shocking , only Hutton for me looked anything like what we should expect !
The goals killed the game stone dead , our style of play (if you can call it that) demands we score first, the second half was a complete non event , at least we an easier fixture next week

Wishing one of our players to have the virus charming! Maybe he was shocking as he only was announced in the team around 10 mins before kick off and maybe he was feeling ill but decided to play while not feeling 100%?!

by **Trotters** Mon Sep 22, 2014 7:30 am

He's not wishing the virus on him because he played shit. He's saying hoping it was the virus that caused the poor performance rather than a lack of footballing ability.

by Guest Mon Sep 22, 2014 10:46 am

Eastie wrote:
gdav wrote:Missed the game yesterday, how did Carlos Sanchez get on??

Worst player on the pitch by a mile - looked way off the pace - will need time to adapt to this league .

I think that's a little harsh to be fair. Clearly he is a little off the pace still, which is to be expected...but to be fair, he wasn't due to start the game and I guess was thrown in just before kick off. He wasn't as bad as some people are making out...not by a long stretch.

I was far more disappointed with Cleverley's performance...his passing was very poor a lot of the time and for me never got involved at all. 3 or 4 occasions first half Hutton made some excellent forwards runs...and Cleverley either underhit, or overhit his pass.

But we will always, always, ALWAYS.....ship goals when Ciaran Clark is playing....he simply cannot defend. No pressure on the Wellbeck in build up to first goal...totally lost Wellbeck for second goal. The bloke is a liability....very worrying that Okore is not deemed ready to play ahead of that imbecile!

1 goal conceded in 4 games without him....3 conceded in 35 minutes with him!!

by Guest Mon Sep 22, 2014 11:05 am

Interesting view Mardy , I was quite impressed by cleverley - he hit some good corners and his free kicks were accurate too - also produced a couple of superb long passes - im not on sanchez back as I know he will take time to adapt - he was poor but will improve and arsenal are a hard side to start your first game against at this level.

Cleverley I think will be a real star for us.

by **Trotters** Mon Sep 22, 2014 11:47 am

I think the expectation is that if Sanchez can keep Brazil semi quiet then he should be ok in the premiership. But he does look like he's operating in slo-mo at this level.

I'm certain he'll come good but it'll take a while.

Cleverley I can't say I noticed was too bad. Or too good. So he must have been average....which wasn't great.

As for Clark...fuck my old boots, he really is shit.

by Guest Mon Sep 22, 2014 12:34 pm

Eastie wrote:Interesting view Mardy , I was quite impressed by cleverley - he hit some good corners and his free kicks were accurate too - also produced a couple of superb long passes - im not on sanchez back as I know he will take time to adapt - he was poor but will improve and arsenal are a hard side to start your first game against at this level.

Cleverley I think will be a real star for us.

Perhaps I haven't explained the Cleverley thing very well. I was disappointed because I was expecting so much. I too think he will prove to be a great signing for us...and I like him as a player.

I think there were several instances first half when I just expected him to find that perfect pass...and he never. The disappointment I feel I think in a mad way is a reflection of the fact I rate him as a player...does that make sense?

by **Trotters** Mon Sep 22, 2014 12:58 pm

Yep. Money paid and media hype should equal performance. It's why I'm forever disappointed with Darren Bent.

by VillaBill Mon Sep 22, 2014 8:04 pm

Trotters wrote:He's not wishing the virus on him because he played shit. He's saying hoping it was the virus that caused the poor performance rather than a lack of footballing ability.

Thanks Trotters .eloquently put , I was happy when I saw Sanchez was playing instead of Westwood but unfortunately Sanchez had a game to forget !

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