Re: Reading Away Match Thread.

[De Kuip]

I see that wanker Japp's eye has been whingeing again.

I couldn't stand him at Man Ure but he's continuing to display the kind of whingeing bad-loser mentality that his purple nosed Scottish twat of a manager at the Redscum always did.

He was moaning at the start of the season that Villa shouldn't be allowed to spend the kind of money they did.

Now he's all bitter about the loss last night (from the Mirror):

While Bruce has already converted the doubters in claret and blue heartlands, Jaap Stam – another rugged former centre half and Old Trafford refugee – was unimpressed.

The Reading manager scowled: “There was only one team trying to play football, and that was us.
“We know they have quality because they have spent a lot of money, but they just sat in front of their box, waiting for their moment to get out and catch us on the break.”

That was a slightly harsh critique of Villa, who had been rocked before kick-off when England Under-21 international Jack Grealish was hit with a three-match ban for stamping on Conor Coady during Saturday's 1-1 draw with Wolves.

Tosser.

[Villa_Dan]

The Reading manager scowled: “There was only one team trying to play football, and that was us.
“We know they have quality because they have spent a lot of money, but they just sat in front of their box, waiting for their moment to get out and catch us on the break.”

Didn't Leicester win the league last season playing counter attacking football? Basically Stam couldn't adapt midgame to counteract Bruce's tactics.

How nice to have our manager do over the other with tactics rather than the other way around

[De Kuip]

100% agree - I was thinking the same thing on the way into work today - we actually had a manager last night who positively affected the outcome with good substitutions. I literally can't remember the last time that happened - our subs have either been ineffective, a complete puzzle, or actually had a negative effect.
Even just for this, I take my hat off to Bruce, and I'm starting to be glad I was wrong in being lukewarm about his appointment (although that was more to do with thinking his teams are a bit "meh", than that he wasn't what we needed right now).
Nope, Gary Gardner, Alan Hutton, Leandro Bacuna, Steve Bruce. Please feel free to continue to make me eat my words, I'll happily be the most incorrect person in Britain if I'm so wrong we actually get promoted!

[smetro]

The Villa manager decides how we play - not the manager of an opposition club.

Besides Ive heard other commentators say how boring the reading style of play is - even prior to us playing them.

[Fpuppys]

Hit the pause button as the penalty is taken and you can see the ref telling the Reading players they're all in the box. Including the gaolscorer. Yet he let the goal stand?????

Very clear off side as you can see from this picture.

[achilles]

At this moment in time I don't give a shit how we play as long as we get some wins and confidence back.

Long may it continue opposition managers having a moan at us, as that means we must be doing something right!

As mentioned above it is just nice to actually have a manager that can change a game positively for once.

[NARLA24]

Who gives a fuck? We won

[4BetLite]

yup, points are much important at the moment.

We will be in the playoff places by January and ive messeged the Dr to get us 6 more midfielders, 6 more defenders, 3 more goalkeepers and Jordan Rhodes just incase we need and extra one up front.

[FoxyAV]

Just thinking again about last night, I thought Gollini had a very good game. He's really growing on me, although his long ball distribution is almost as bad as Guzan's. The 4-1-4-1 formation suited Jedi really well and Gardner played well. Bacuna was ok but not terribly effective, and while the home crowd was getting fed up with the ball constantly being passed back to Al-Habsi, the Villa fans were getting fed up with Bacuna and Gestede/Kodjia not pressuring him enough. He did actually make a mistake when Bacuna did but a defender came back fast enough to sort it out. Had it been Kodjia there I suspect it would have been a goal to us.

What we seem to lack completely (apart from Hutton and Adomah) is any kind of pace. We used to have Gabby and Weimann ready to run their arses off at the opposition on the break, I just don't think we have the legs for it.

Talking of Hutton, he and Cissokho didn't seem to be getting forward properly. If we learned anything from the start of Garde's campaign it's that Gestede does not work isolated a long way up front in a 4-1-4-1, especially if he's not receiving crosses. I seem to recall Ayew used to play that position and if the crosses aren't coming in then why not get him playing there and hanging around closer to the action. He's no good in the air (few people are if they have no one to nod down a long ball to) but he can run at people and is strong too. There's no coincidence he earned that penalty last night, he did what we've been missing for years and ran into the box.

I'd go as far as to say we really missed Grealish, despite Kodjia scoring while playing as a midfielder. There was no creativity on the left and Kodjia really isn't a winger. He and Ayew are in form though, and if we're going to play a 4-1-4-1 (which does appear to start to sort out our midfield issue) with the full backs holding back rather than putting in crosses into the box I'd much rather see Ayew on the left and Kodjia up front for the next two matches. I think I'd still play Bacuna, he looked much more effective than Westwood and his two shots on goal were very close.

McCormack looked good when he came on and I'd prefer Amavi to Cissokho. He's a lot smaller but has the feet and energy that Cissokho doesn't.

We were, however, woeful for a lot of the match, giving away possession and conceding a lot of corners. Reading were their own downfall, they pretty much gave up in the second half, most of their possession coming from kicking the ball around in their own defensive area and trying long balls over our very high defensive line.

I forgot about Baker. He looked very good. I'd go so far as to say I think he's a better option on the left to Chester.

MOTM for me has to be Gardner.

[DelboyVilla]

Great post @FoxyAV!

Just goes to show that may be it is Westwood making the rest of the midfield play poorly?

[Dions_Bald_Head]

Quality posts today folks - insightful, positive & thought-provoking.

[FoxyAV]

Great post @FoxyAV!

Just goes to show that may be it is Westwood making the rest of the midfield play poorly?

I'm not so sure. I don't think he's as bad as most people think, I just don't think he's particularly good, but then a lot of our players in the last few years have failed to make the cut. He makes the effort though, and keeps getting selected, so he must be doing something right. I prefer to think the managers that select him have been getting it wrong. I wasn't huge fan of the 4-1-4-1 Garde tried out because we only had one player (Sanchez) it suited. It does look like it sorts out our weak midfield, although last night's performance wasn't anywhere near the quality I'd expect from the type of players we have.

Going back to Westwood, it doesn't take much to knock a team off balance and maybe he was the problem. Jedi isn't necessarily the answer, but if we do stick with the 4-1-4-1 the full backs are going to have to start getting forward more to provide the width for the lone striker (which will show up gaps in the midfield if they have to cover in defence if we lose the ball), and if Bruce plans to stick with this system after January we need at least one midfielder capable of creating and scoring goals. Gardner made a start on that last night, involved in both goals, and Bacuna had a couple of good goes at goal and made his presence felt when we didn't have the ball but we're still buggered with what we have if we try to play any other formation and we're not getting to the playoffs and having any chance of progressing next season if we don't enhance the midfield (we're surely better off getting a good team together when we're in the Championship as the basis for adding a few key players if we go up).

[avfc forever]

I'm just so pleased to get a win at last lets hope we can get a few more now.

[achilles]

@FoxyAV cheers for the insight into last night's game.

I think that Bruce will continue with the full backs playing very defensively as I noticed on Saturday against Wolves Bruce was telling Richards not to go forward and support Adomah.
Therefore I think that he will play Hutton and Cissokho as first choice full backs and perhaps change it as necessary during the game as he did last night.
In light of this policy it is pointless playing Gestede with no crosses coming into the box, therefore I agree that Ayew should take Kodjia's place with Kodjia going back up front.

Interesting to see Gardner getting your MOM, will it continue?

[smetro]

Just thinking again about last night, I thought Gollini had a very good game. He's really growing on me, although his long ball distribution is almost as bad as Guzan's. The 4-1-4-1 formation suited Jedi really well and Gardner played well. Bacuna was ok but not terribly effective, and while the home crowd was getting fed up with the ball constantly being passed back to Al-Habsi, the Villa fans were getting fed up with Bacuna and Gestede/Kodjia not pressuring him enough. He did actually make a mistake when Bacuna did but a defender came back fast enough to sort it out. Had it been Kodjia there I suspect it would have been a goal to us.

What we seem to lack completely (apart from Hutton and Adomah) is any kind of pace. We used to have Gabby and Weimann ready to run their arses off at the opposition on the break, I just don't think we have the legs for it.

Talking of Hutton, he and Cissokho didn't seem to be getting forward properly. If we learned anything from the start of Garde's campaign it's that Gestede does not work isolated a long way up front in a 4-1-4-1, especially if he's not receiving crosses. I seem to recall Ayew used to play that position and if the crosses aren't coming in then why not get him playing there and hanging around closer to the action. He's no good in the air (few people are if they have no one to nod down a long ball to) but he can run at people and is strong too. There's no coincidence he earned that penalty last night, he did what we've been missing for years and ran into the box.

I'd go as far as to say we really missed Grealish, despite Kodjia scoring while playing as a midfielder. There was no creativity on the left and Kodjia really isn't a winger. He and Ayew are in form though, and if we're going to play a 4-1-4-1 (which does appear to start to sort out our midfield issue) with the full backs holding back rather than putting in crosses into the box I'd much rather see Ayew on the left and Kodjia up front for the next two matches. I think I'd still play Bacuna, he looked much more effective than Westwood and his two shots on goal were very close.

McCormack looked good when he came on and I'd prefer Amavi to Cissokho. He's a lot smaller but has the feet and energy that Cissokho doesn't.

We were, however, woeful for a lot of the match, giving away possession and conceding a lot of corners. Reading were their own downfall, they pretty much gave up in the second half, most of their possession coming from kicking the ball around in their own defensive area and trying long balls over our very high defensive line.

I forgot about Baker. He looked very good. I'd go so far as to say I think he's a better option on the left to Chester.

MOTM for me has to be Gardner.

I think at this point in time its trying to put out a settled system. Gardner isn't the greatest player in the world, but if he can function as part of a system then so be it

[FoxyAV]

Interesting to see Gardner getting your MOM, will it continue?

At times last night I thought the two teams were only trying to play worse football than the other. We were sitting deep but with Gestede isolated up front so as soon as we cleared (read: hoofed) the ball it inevitably went straight back into Reading's possession for them to try again. Just like the good old days with Lambert, except at least then we had pace in Gabby and Weimann, even if it usually didn't work out. The defence did what it needed to do, Gestede and later Kodjia were isolated due to the manager's tactics but gave it a good go, Bacuna, Adomah and Jedi played well enough but the two who really made a difference were Gollini and Gardner. I thought Gardner went forward well, made at least one really good block in the penalty area and was instrumental in both goals. An honorary mention to Ayew and McCormack who played well as subs.

[Dions_Bald_Head]

@FoxyAV cheers for the insight into last night's game.

I think that Bruce will continue with the full backs playing very defensively as I noticed on Saturday against Wolves Bruce was telling Richards not to go forward and support Adomah.
Therefore I think that he will play Hutton and Cissokho as first choice full backs and perhaps change it as necessary during the game as he did last night.
In light of this policy it is pointless playing Gestede with no crosses coming into the box, therefore I agree that Ayew should take Kodjia's place with Kodjia going back up front.

Interesting to see Gardner getting your MOM, will it continue?

Interesting spot. After the Wolves game Bruce said that Richards was looking surprisingly tired (although he mentioned lack of game time) so maybe he was concerned that Richards needed to conserve his energy for defensive duties.

[DelboyVilla]

Great post @FoxyAV!

Just goes to show that may be it is Westwood making the rest of the midfield play poorly?

I'm not so sure. I don't think he's as bad as most people think, I just don't think he's particularly good, but then a lot of our players in the last few years have failed to make the cut. He makes the effort though, and keeps getting selected, so he must be doing something right. I prefer to think the managers that select him have been getting it wrong. I wasn't huge fan of the 4-1-4-1 Garde tried out because we only had one player (Sanchez) it suited. It does look like it sorts out our weak midfield, although last night's performance wasn't anywhere near the quality I'd expect from the type of players we have.

Going back to Westwood, it doesn't take much to knock a team off balance and maybe he was the problem. Jedi isn't necessarily the answer, but if we do stick with the 4-1-4-1 the full backs are going to have to start getting forward more to provide the width for the lone striker (which will show up gaps in the midfield if they have to cover in defence if we lose the ball), and if Bruce plans to stick with this system after January we need at least one midfielder capable of creating and scoring goals. Gardner made a start on that last night, involved in both goals, and Bacuna had a couple of good goes at goal and made his presence felt when we didn't have the ball but we're still buggered with what we have if we try to play any other formation and we're not getting to the playoffs and having any chance of progressing next season if we don't enhance the midfield (we're surely better off getting a good team together when we're in the Championship as the basis for adding a few key players if we go up).

@FoxyAV the Westwood thing was a bit tongue in cheek but I do think that he causes unnecessary problems for the players around him? his sideways and backwards passing means more often than not someone gets either pressurized or bored into playing a long ball and we inevitably lose possession?

On the performance? I am sure the team needs time to get used to the system and as confidence grows the play will improve. Remember SB has still had hardly any time on the training pitch with these guys and he also had to make a lot of changes last night to the starting 11. If we have a gradual improvement game by game, week by week I will be happy!

Saturday we have to do something we haven't done for a long time and win two games in a row! Get the momentum going and we will be difficult to stop!

[4BetLite]

@FoxyAV.......... How can someone be so insighful be so incredibly imcompetant at predicticting Villa results?

[FoxyAV]

@FoxyAV..........  How can someone be so insighful be so incredibly imcompetant at predicticting Villa results?

I was incompetent last season, so started saying the opposite, and that then turned out to be correct. Had I just taken the easy route and predicted draws I think I would have been ok.

[Guest]

The Villa manager decides how we play - not the manager of an opposition club.

Besides Ive heard other commentators say how boring the reading style of play is - even prior to us playing them.

Who cares what he says? Its Stam and Reading. Irrespective of our current shitness I could never care about what the manager of Reading thinks.

[Guest]

I saw this on a Reading forum and thought it was well said.

"Villa poor team. Good players."

Spot on. We need the rest of this season to get the squad together as a team. Sign one CM in January and that's it. We'll be promoted next season I reckon.

[Saunders82]

Just watched Cissoko giving away the penalty, he has absolutely no idea how to tackle, especially in those situations, from the moment he started moving towards the player you knew it was going to be a pen, total knobhead.

where you seen that buddy

Just the highlights on Sky

[Saunders82]

Hit the pause button as the penalty is taken and you can see the ref telling the Reading players they're all in the box. Including the gaolscorer. Yet he let the goal stand?????

Very clear off side as you can see from this picture.

Yep I have to agree BUT the 2 Villa players could have reacted quicker.

[Trotters]

The referee there is like a rookie substitute teacher:
"Don't do that...don't do that...please don't.....I'll just pretend it didn't happen"

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