Many years ago – during the Martin O’Neill period – John Terry stated that Aston Villa were an unfit team, and that come 80 minutes or so, they would fall over and start leaking goals.

In recent games, that’s exactly what has happened. Despite leading Tottenham Hotspur, Villa lost the game in the latter stages. Against Southampton, we drew because of last minute issues. Burnley? OK, you get the idea.

So, when Villa are facing another game so quickly after the last one – this time against Crystal Palace – I have to wonder what is going to happen. Villa, for all their supposed development, appear to be no more than a good counter attacking team.

In reality, this is nothing new. After all, O’Neill had them playing the same way and, in recent years at least, there’s been a distinct paucity of players who can actually control the game.

Some of this, arguably, is the manager’s ethos. You can have any type of player on your books and, in theory at least, they are only going to play as well as their formation allows them.

Earlier in Paul Lambert’s time at the club, he let the team play with more fluidity – not particularly in terms of flair or style, but rather he was letting each player dictate what phases of play they were (or were not) part of.

Unfortunately for Villa, there honestly wasn’t the intelligence for this to work. We saw full backs providing the width to attack – a standard practice – but no cover in defence. As a result, what we ended up seeing was people dinking balls right over the heads of Joe Bennett or Antonio Luna or Matthew Lowton – whoever – and exploiting the space behind them.

This, like many things, point to a combination of lack of fitness, lack of intelligence and a distinct lack of communication. You needn’t have played football at any real level to know that if you are busting a gut to get the ball and are gassed, your cover on that side tends to help out – after all, you can’t run 70 yards on a mazy run and then defend straight off the bat.

For Villa, this basic – along with many other fitness related issues – do not seem to be solved. Of course, like many things, players are limited on their ability to develop beyond a certain level – some players can not get any fitter than x point, or any faster than y point.

However, if that is the case – and the manager wants to play high tempo – then why are we seeing the same mistakes again? Tiredness is one thing – and it concerns me given we have Crystal Palace tonight so soon after the weekend – but there seem to be deeper fitness issues that plague our team.

It isn’t just on the pitch fitness either – how many players have we lost to injury in recent times? How many long term issues have we seen? Ron Vlaar, as we know is an injury plagued player. Jores Okore has been out for a long time due to injury. We lost Christian Benteke and Libor Kozak to injury. In short, what the hell is going on?

Something is up, and has been for a long while. The question is, as Terry implied, whether Villa will remain an 80 minute team. If they are, they will face the same issues time and time again, likely only claiming a point a game as they have in this season on average.

Unfortunately, all this implies that just as 80 minutes is not enough to be competitive, so the team still struggle.

Can Villa get themselves fitter, stronger and better? Or do we have to face yet another heartbreak this evening as the likes of Yannick Bolasie uses his pace to tire weakened legs – if I were Neil Warnock, that’s exactly what I’d be doing.

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Matt Turvey
Matt is the owner of, and chief writer for, Aston Villa Life. He is also a columnist for the Wolverhampton Express & Star, appearing in the Kick Off pullout on Saturdays and the Final Whistle pullout the Monday after Aston Villa play, as well as every Thursday as a blogger on their website. He has previously been featured as a writer on Football365 and Life's A Pitch, and was a regular pundit for Sports Tonight TV on Sky.

Comments 145

  1. daveyb

    team look fit to me,,, no one can predict okores lunge, or gabbys switch off , deflected free kicks or just good play from the oposition,,

    lambert is changing from 433 to 442,, and we look better with the latter, having benteke back will allow us an aerial and goal threat and we will start to pick up second balls,, gabby is crap at holding the ball up
    and this second phase should allow us more possession and bring the full backs in more
    i still think we need more pace down the wings but weinman is a busy player and i would drop one of the 3 mid-fielders to allow him to play assuming cole gets the nod
    so my mid would be richardson westwood cleverly weinman,, with bacuna and grealish as subs and weinman ould move up to replace cole or be replaced by gabby/zog or robinson
    if we get a couple up then we could revert to 433 and blood the youngsters
    now is the time for lambert to pick up points,, fail and its bye bye

  2. DarrenO

    i don’t think fitness is the issue, or maybe i hope it isn’t, given that every professional club and unprofessional club has fitness routines and playing football week in, week out should bring it’s own fitness levels. But agree there is a plateau for every player.

    I think the issues are two-fold, a lack of a coherent strategy (tactics) that allows players to flourish in their given positions with a given role, for example we’ve played Cleverly, Sanchez, Westwood in midfield and I don’t get a sense that they know their roles, this leads to what are on paper good players looking distinctly average. We don’t have the players to impose our game ably assisted by not having a strategy to impose ensures that we look jaded by 80 minutes having spent the game chasing shadows.

    The last three games are absolute evidence that even going a goal up that we don’t build on it and 1 nil is never enough, if you are defending by attacking then we’d be ok, but we don’t. Our possession stats clearly show that we do too much without the ball and therefore are at more risk then if we went one nil up and just played in triangles for the rest of the game.

    The second issue is the players themselves, i don’t think there is a football intelligence in terms of reading the game that ensures players know when to attack, when to conserve energy, how to assess how the opposition’s play is building up to determine how best to nullify it. Too much of the time is spent chasing, last ditch tackles, backing up to the eighteen yard box to close up space and mainly due to lack of confidence to retain the ball further up the pitch. Too many clearances are just that, long punts to provide a breather for the defence as opposed to the long ball game while tedious to watch if it was effective then at least we would only be bemoaning the style of play and not just the results.

    Play/score prediction ,copious amounts of long punts to Benteke who can only do so much but Cole to score as Benteke provides a distraction in the box and Palace to go up the other end and get two goals that we have no answer to. Grealish and Robinson to continue not to get their chance because of the new found belief in the senior members of the squad and the risk too great to actually allow talent and fearlessness an opportunity.

    UTV

  3. DarrenO

    Sorry quick point (I promise) – can someone please tell Lamberk to stop referring to ‘big expectations’ as if it is the noose around his neck. The expectation is that the team are provided with a strategy to impose on the opposition and to carry it out with 100% commitment with the goal of winning the game. This isn’t a big expectation this is the standard by which all supporters expect their team to achieve.

  4. Steve W

    I’ve read some fevered speculation that if Lambert doesn’t get some wins in the run of games against the fellow strugglers, Lerner will sack him in time to get a new man in for January. I’ve given up trying to second guess that clown, but I doubt it. We could fail to get another point this year and I still think Lerner wouldn’t act and I certainly don’t think Lambert will walk.

    There seems to be an inevitability about our conceding late goals. As Darren says, 1-0 is never enough, but we aren’t even looking to hit teams on the break, we’re camped on our 18 yard line with no outlet, nobody who has the bottle to take a second touch and no hope. Or at least, nobody who Lambert selects.

    Somehow, we have to start winning games. If Lambert can’t coach these players to become any better then he needs to find a system which hides their inadequacy. He’s failed at both.

  5. John Doyle

    my heart wants to win tonight but my brain tells me no a defeat tonight and not beating leicester must surly see the end of the nest featherer and his fat mate gabby then i can go back to villa park without fear of doing time for every time i here or see lambert something in my head says strangle the bas terd

  6. Perry87

    Villa take the lead in the first half, only to then gift a sloppy equaliser sometime in the last 10 minutes. How do I know this? it’s happened in 3 of our last 4 games!

    Cant help remembering J Terry saying something along the lines of ‘We knew Villa would tire towards the end’ after the 8 – 0 smashing. Here we are today and what has changed? other than a few assistant managers thrown under the bus, absolutely nothing.

  7. southwestvillan

    Well 5 points from a possible 48 from our most recent visits to Laandaan means it is not a very happy hunting ground for the Villa, mind you you could say that for the rest of the country.

    Again tipping the Villa to win seems bordering on mental as we do not look as if we will ever win a game, hoping for a defeat in the belief that it gets Lambert closer to the door is somewhat misplaced as I think we could lose the next ten games and Lerner will still keep him in charge, we are run by the most incompetent people in our long history.

    I think a draw 2-2 to continue our winless run to ten games.

    AVFC RIP

  9. runtings

    i reckon a draw tonight but only if we play 10 times better than we did there last summer when we were absolutly schooled by cystal palace

    as JD pointed out already though due to the anti football tactics we will sink deeper and deeper if we go ahead and run the risk of losing it anyway — PL doesnt seem to be able to instruct the side how to attack or counter apart from humping it to tekker or asking gabby to chase things

  10. John Lerwill

    On that fitness issue (can even be fitness of the mind- lack of ability to concentrate?) the stat that we have not yet scored after the 50th minutes is revealing i.m.o. In fact we’ve only scored 1 goal in the second half.

    Wait – we’ve only scored 7 anyway!

  11. steamers75

    Jen/Runtins
    Friday night BBC4 @ 9pm . “one nation under a groove ” story of funk , Larry Graham , Bootsy Collins ,George Clinton and King of all -James Brown , then theres another program following about Funk , ( Till 12 , ) something to look forward to ,

    The gang ar’nt even interested in going to The George tonight ,
    Runtins , if we lose (why did l say that) take the day off tomorrow mate as the stick will be awful for you .

    well better go get the shampoo , conditioner , hair lustre and the hairdrier ready for later , busy ,busy , ,busy ……………………….

    Evening Jenny xxxxxx

  13. B62 Villa

    I expect nothing but more misery and frustration tonight, all hopes are being pinned on Benteke, it’s a fucking shambles, I’m with JD, I always want Villa to win, but I also want the cancer cut from Villa, starting with Lambert.

  14. Frem

    Evening

    Have a feeling Lamberk will get his lucky win that keeps him I’m the job for a while yet. We could lose every other game this year, but if we win tonight, he’d still stay

    Can’t wait the away fans reactions though if we lose again.

  15. steamer

    Someone on TBAR reckons Benteke’s off to Arsenal next month,thank you Mr Fox for our Crimbo gifts –
    1) Lambert’s contract
    2) Scabby’s contract
    3) Benteke sold cheaply to your former club

    So that’s it Santa, you can f**k off till next year, although the way it’s going you may not be needed.

    Possibly former head of Southamptons youth system Jason Dodd or Craig Hignett have been mentioned for the AM job, i reckon Marshall will get it to save on wages.

    If this is Lerners renewed enthusiasm then i’m glad he never totally lost interest.

  17. steamer

    Frem,
    Apparently Villa only took up 2,500 tickets, could be to punish them for Saturdays anti Lamebert demo, but then again, i wouldn’t call that a punishment.

  18. Mark King

    nice piece matt

    steamer- i’ve heard the new AM is ken dodd to save on the cleaning
    our inability to keep the ball causes enough exhaustion for me, that and continual 70 yard sprints other teams don’t play like that. matts spot on about the intelligence side though, senderos is a talker and organiser how much is he missed? and cole showed the rest of the midfield how its done on saturday until he tired, they then reverted to type.
    I think we are playing a 4231 at the moment (like southampton) which collapses into a 415 by 60 mins. sanchez and westwood are sitting, westwood I feel is uncomfortable with this and sanchez ends up covering to much ground, the 2 sitting players are supposed to cover the full backs as they venture forward but if 2 go forward and westwoods upfield it doesn’t work.
    tonight if we approach things like the first half saturday and finish a few happy days, if not I expect a draw.

  19. RichardS

    Benteke is back tonight – and he makes all of the difference to this Villa team – personally i think he is top class and I believe he will be too much for Crystal Palace. He just needs to keep his cool this eve, we looked good against Spurs until he got sent off.

  20. Frem

    Steamer – 2,500 tonight ? Still a pretty great following baring in mind how shite we are

    Benteke back. Bet Cole is dropped and Grealish left at home. The two donkeys out wide

  24. steamer

    RichardS,
    Agree mate, great player, think he’ll net tonight but a 2-1 defeat looming.
    Can’t get that buzz about games now, to be honest i don’t think Villa’s worth it any more, too many false dawns, Herbs & this knob have killed the club for so many thousands of loyal Villans.

  27. Frem

    Donkeys out wide yet again. No ability what so ever and they are out wide

    I suppose they will be used as pretty much full backs tonight as palace have wingers.

    Benteke and cole wont have anyone within a mile of them tonight

    Hopefully tonight will finish the Berk off

  28. steamers75

    Steamer , you’ll like this one
    as you know l told the villa office to stop e-mailing and ringing me as l wont be spending a penny more while the clowns are still there, well they have only gone and sent an email to the mrs !! she replied . as a norwich city fan l dont think l will take up your offer but thank you very much for taking that ejit off us and l think finally this season l can give my husband the stick he gave me when we were relegated , yours happily Tx . she even left a kiss for them , better than the ending l get on a message , (fuckwit)

  30. runtings

    Matt fitness could be an issue it doesnt matter how fit you are if you p;ay kick and rush and don’t look to keep the ball you will run out of steam eventually — it was Steve W who hit the nail on the head for me in an earler post re tactics/fitness

    Even though PL sets the lads up with no real attacking balance we do again imo have much better players but we are not setup to wn games or at least bust a gut trying so the best i can see is a draw unless tekes in on fire or gabby or wieman bang n one of there qouter of 10 goals between them

  31. runtings

    st75 cheers i wll deffo check that out — i saw the reggae britanna and punk britanna on the channel and they were really informative and interesting

    glad your liking some of the tracks jen

  33. steamer

    I like Palaces blend of pace,power and mobility, possibly their goals will come from late runs from MF unless Twatty gives them another goal, he’s cost us three already in the last five games by daydreaming.
    We really are a sack of shite.

  41. Mark King

    He makes a few cock ups but how can he drop Sanchez to accommodate weiman or gabby against a team that plays high pressure football. Poor old Cole getting injured probably saved our bacon

  42. Frem

    Lol

    You Seen Andi wiemann ?? I haven’t seen yet but hes supposed to be starting. Gabby has gave the ball away pretty much every time he got it

    didn’t even get Grealish on for Cole

  43. John Doyle

    tekers is different class will be gone jan as when fit he is in the top 6 in prem at arsenal he would score 40 goals a season on a complete different planet to welbeck

  44. Mark King

    JD. he is mate everything gabby and weimann aren’t, I think he’ll be here until summer but wouldn’t be surprised at a pre nup agreement. Still got 2 years on contract hasn’t he?

  47. steamer

    Nail on head, a creative player goes off and a m/f dog comes on, why not Grealish ? And the Bolton reserve Herd has come into the reckoning now so he’s dropped even further, anti football at its worst.

  53. Tony H

    Sorry to say boys – but the most annoying awful shite I’ve seen in the past three games have very little to do with Lambert and a LOT to do with players who:

    – won’t look up when they’re making any clearance
    – hoofing it blindly
    – can’t pass 10 yards
    – can’t pass in front of a player when we’re rushing forward.
    – won’t make any movement up front when we have time on the ball in our own third
    – jumping far too early to have any chance of taking possession of bouncing balls

    Carlos Sanchez is serially giving the ball away and I’m about to lose my mind.

    I defy anyone to blame Lambert for anything I’ve listed there.

  54. B6toBrasil

    Steamer

    The fact that Herd is at the club speaks volumes,28 year old Div 1 player who can get on our bench,fekkin `ell,tells you what you need to know about our squad depth.Flabbt and Wiemann so predictable and limited.At any other non top 3 club Grealish would have started 9 or 10 games this season,Lambert just doesn`t trust quality.
    Someone once said-surround yourself with people who are better than you,it makes you raise your game.
    Ha ha Grant Holt will replace Keane.

  63. Trinity

    Well, they managed to hang on for the win. Fortunately, Palace couldn’t finish their moves. Hutton and co put in a shift and a half.
    Glad to see them get the win, an all too rare win. Have to go to work in an hour.

    Sleep well over there.

  64. Frem

    We are one god awful side but we won. 10th time lucky

    Strange how I hate Lamberk even more now after a win. Hope he goes soon somehow but this win will keep him in the job another 4 years probably.

    Wiemann and gabby will start for many more years to come. Lamberk thinks Grealiah sitting on the bench is good development

    Anyway, thank feck for 3 points. Results went well. Now win on sundAy

  65. RichardS

    Was that a master class in defending???

    I wonder if there is an opta stat for the team who plays the deepest in the premier league – it must be us – we constantly sit on our 18 yard line.

    Benteke makes a huge difference to this team. He is top, top class.

  66. Tony H

    Happy to have won. Really happy. Woeful mistakes and I don’t think we deserved it but there’s that rollercoaster.

    I simply can’t understand the pathological desire to give the ball away. It was like watching a game of defenders and forward where we just hoof it back.

    Guzan’s distribution was the worst I’ve seen in ages. We had most of the possession but only because we knocked it around the back four for three minutes at a time.

    This is the player’s fault but as B6 rightly points out – Lambert picks them. He’s supposed to be coaching them too. This is League One level passing, movement and panicking. It’s awful.

    Palace were USELESS with the final ball – if one of them had any composure , we were finished. They chased us down very well which will have accounted for our sh!tty clearances but why wasn’t anyone moving off the ball to give our defenders easier options? This is covered in the Level One coaching badges.

    Anyway – rant over. I still don’t rate Lambert but he’s not to blame for 100% of the guff we’ve been watching.

  67. John Lerwill

    Let’s face it, Lambert’s target has been simply to get points in the last 4 matches.

    You can blame the players, but I suspect that they’re not trained to cope with the kind of pressure a team like CP puts on you. Sanchez finds it difficult but he was trying hard.

    Thank goodness their wingmen couldn’t cross and their corners were awful.

  69. B6toBrasil

    I want Lambert gone,but I am pleased we won.A tough place to go to and get anything.A big gamble trying to hold a 1 nil,as we have seem from recent draws.
    Sadly we will treat LC on Sunday like Dortmund or Chelsea and will play cautiously at home.I`d like to see our MF play 15 or 20 yards further up the pitch,but this ain`t gonna happen.A win is a win.Goodnight.

  70. Mark King

    guzan tops are possession stats and we had a pass completion stat of 5% utter shite, benteke the only man who looked unhurried, i’ll take the win and twelfth but Lambert needs to buy them all racoon fur hats if we are going to play out the alamo each week. please senderos get fit no offence to the defenders but we need organising

  72. Tony H

    Also very happy Weimann is suspended for the next game so the option of him wasting his life anonymously on the right side of the front three isn’t an option.

  73. @RonnieBiggs

    Big performances again from Hutton and Clark, who’d have guessed that at the start of the season, I’m forced to tip my hat to both of them.

    What a surprise Cole injured early but not surprised by Benteke providing that little bit of quality we’ve been missing. If he gets his levels up then he’ll be exactly the type of player that Liverpool, Tottenham and Arsenal so desperately need to contend for Champions League places.

    Massive 3 points. Interesting that Bacuna not even on the bench after being relied upon last season. Worrying that Lambert doesn’t trust his subs at all, we don’t exactly have depth in quality numbers…
    UTV

  79. Heroes-and-Villans

    Jesus I’m watching the highlights and even knowing the result I’m not sure we will win!!

    Why are we so scared to play and defend so deep.
    Bloody massive 3 points. The league table is mental, win Sunday and we could be in top 8! And we won 1 in 10!! Best league in world my arse

  80. @RonnieBiggs

    Brasil, agreed. If ever there was a time to play Grealish it is on Sunday. AW out, the defensive looking pretty solid, playing a glorified Championship team at home. Give him free roam and tell him to go out and enjoy it and play as if it were a cup game and he’d surely light up Villa Park with his skill and flair… UTV

  81. Jenny Truman

    Well I couldn’t get a stream to work , so I listened to Tom Ross and Pat Herd comentating on Free Radio 80s. Sounds like we held on for our lives and Guzan was MOTM with CB. Tayls said that we can’t get carried away (no chance of that ) because it was one if those where we played badly and still managed the win. As they said CB made the goal out of nothing it sounds like same old same old . Feel really sorry for Joe Cole .

    ST 75 – thanks for the heads up on the “Funk Story” will definately record that one .

    It looks like the man with nine lives is here to stay which makes tonight’s win good in the short term but bad for our long term progress .

    Goodnight ST 75 xx

  82. Heroes-and-Villans

    Weimann, Westwood cleverly gabby are like lost dogs running around the park. Sprinting around with tongues out with no idea where there going. We need to get some ballers in. Delph Sanchez Cole grealish is needed

  84. John Doyle

    we cannot play westwood and cleverly they are the chuckle brothers both crap why does westwood take every corner and free kick he could not hit a barn door as for the gestapo leader gabby pure s hi te weiman no class just a runner with no control and headless chicken playing with the gestapo leader has worn off on him
    the rest all put a shift in hutton was outstanding cannot believe he is the same player of 2 seasons ago when he was the worst player i had ever seen fair play to him .
    as for tekkers we will not hold on to him was reading he is a stone lighter than when he got crocked he will just keep improving would love to see jack play with him
    as for lambert he is a cancer who must be cut out now then we will improve still need to stay away on sunday to get the cancer cut out

  85. Paul Pears

    Well we managed to hold on for once. Agree with everyone that Clarke and Hutton were outstanding in defence, but Okore was poor again, but perhaps will improve with game time. Sanchez was ok, but still not up to the game yet, and Weimann once again missed when it was easier to score. Glad to see the beast do his stuff. A great individual goal. Will today’s result give us hope for Sunday now. I get the feeling that Lambert is sticking with the same players week in week out, until the team is in a safer position, and also that he has cut out using subs unless it is necessary…so maybe he is listening a little to someone somewhere. He has lost so many games through poor substitutions late on, let’s hope he starts getting it right, and maybe we will start to improve a little now. I can’t see him leaving now, unless we hit another serious bad patch, but he needs to improve the tactics.

  86. Trinity

    Aye. Lucky Benteke scored that individual effort and the defense worked way overtime-a pat on the back for them. Delph is sorely missed. It was a fortunate win. More a loss for CP.
    Lambert should give Grealish a go against Leister.

  87. Mark King

    well I felt like I’d watched the alien last night talk about tension and sheer panic for 90 mins, saved by some cool thinking from Ripley (tekkers).

    Andrew- the table is unbelievable to be 6 points off six with our recent run just shows how anyone can beat virtually anyone on the day, you don’t get this in any other top league.

    I’m hoping matts fitness/tiredness observation was at play last night as I have never in my entirety seen such poor ball retention, they were so tired they couldn’t raise their heads to see each other. I can’t remember any sides putting us under so much prolonged but thankfully ineffective pressure hats of to CP. ( que JL with the 4 hour marathon match from 1935 😉 )

    Paul p- don’t forget Okore is barely match fit, he should improve as his fitness does.

    jen- me and you will have to stop debating as any sane explanation of villa gets blown away when a game starts

  88. runtings

    Brilliant Benteke

    we were the worse side night but we are fortunate to have one of the best stikers in th lge

    As i said before i dont see us getting relegated as teams like palace burnely and qpr are shocking — saying that they all pay better football than us barr non — the dfifference is we have higher quality players

    I thought lambert was the wosrt manager in the prem but warnock could give him a run for his money on that one — he has dropped punchion due to a fallout at a previous club –even though jason is one of the highest scoring centre mids in the lge before warnock arrived

  89. Mark King

    runtingz- we won last night with the worst performance for weeks, I totally agree are players have better quality than most of the struggling teams in the prem but why do they all forget how to play? the only thing I can come up with is fear, they just don’t believe in themselves or each other barring guzan and tekkers. if it isn’t that then it has to be theyre not as good as we think but you look at the team sheet and know thats probably not true, can one man truly coach the life out of a team? or is it that collectively they have come to accept this level of rubbish?

  90. John Lerwill

    Guza … joint MoM?!!!!!!!

    Last night he inexplicably let the ball out of his arms twice (the first he got away with as offside was given and second no-one was around to lap it up) and then tried to keep the ball in play instead of a corner and succeeded only in giving the ball to a CP man. Luckily the ball had gone out for a corner.

    The saves he made (about 2 of ’em) were directed at him … so what did he do last night to get joint MotM?

    Yes, CP put enormous pressure on us but almost from the start I thought they wouldn’t get through as their centres were so awful. No Mark even I can’t remember that match in 1935, and I don’t think I’ve ever quite seen such lengthy pressure … but they didn’t have any quality to do anything with it and our defence held well.

    Villa were lucky, but CB might have had more than one first half and Weiman should have scored in the second, giving the keeper chance to make a reasonable save.

    Well, Villa can say they’ve gone 4 games unbeaten with 3 of ’em away from home, so there’s no excuses for lack of confidence vs Leicester with CB there to score.

  91. Paul Pears

    We really were lucky last night, and mainly down to Clarke and Hutton not panicking and keeping their cool, and I agree about JL’s comments on Guzan, but he did play like his life depended on it, as did one or two others. Benteke did well after another gap playing, and should make a huge difference, hopefully Weimann being out will give a chance to one of the young ones getting a chance, either Grealish or Robinson, but feel that PL will still go with Guzan Hutton Clarke Okore Cissokho Sanchez Westwood Richardson Cleverley Benteke and Gabby with Zoggy, Grealish and Robinson on the bench with Lowton , Herd and Given

    Three points on Sunday would put us in really dizzy heights. Can we really continue this run until the Utd game????

  92. Paul Pears

    The weird thing is that now there is even a possibility that this could turn out to be our best season since MON left, in spite of Lambert and his tactics….will things change in his philosophy, if Villa continue to climb the table and start to use more of our talented young players?

    Crunch will come on Sunday, if we win, there are so many possibilities, draw and it is back to struggling, and lose it will be unthinkable.

    Let’s hope that we do not rely totally on the beast, but give him the chance to do his magic and create and score..!!

  93. Mark King

    JL- guzan had plenty of keystone kops moments didn’t he, the ball was continually in our box though. its amazing to think we probably had the three best chances or at least efforts, weimans highlighting the difference between a cool finish and just walloping the ball.

    I think our problems all stem from midfield, we have weiman and gabby in there trying to be what they are not. westwood looks lost with sanchez playing and unsure of his role. cleverly is better on the right or central.
    we need more orthodox left and right midfielders so that the fullbacks don’t have to continually supply crosses. gabby and weiman are covering as much ground as the fullbacks its ridiculous and they are not capable. i would like to see us try a 4141 sanchez sitting with cleverly and westwood in front of him , grealish on the left and nzogbia/richardson out right. would like to fit robinson in but again he’s not a midfielder

  94. steamer

    Just think, with Weimann out it gives another opportunity for one of our academy lads….noooo not Grealish……..noooooo not Robinson…………..yes Chris Herd, the idiot has an opportunity to play yet another m/f dog. Of all the midfielders Lamebert has played this season Westwood has been by far the least productive, and with our mf that says something.
    Lamebert does make you chuckle though, describing Villa as a passing team, nearly as funny as McKnob saying we were playing like the Dutch, where is he by the way ?
    Villa aren’t exactly a good advert for TV footy are they ? i don’t think we’ve played an entertaining TV game since MoN left.

  95. Mark King

    steamer- can’t see herd in midfield mate he’s on the bench as 3 centre backs are out.
    when you consider huttons been our most consistent player it makes you wonder. fullbacks have been a problem for us now both our full backs are strong and fairly quick but thats it, no slick interplay or thought to it, just brute force defending or running like a train up the wing. this is Lamberts doing and its time he smelt the roses

  96. John Lerwill

    Oh, back to that point about fitness (in very meaning of the word) … we again only scored in the first-half last night. The only time we’ve scored in the second half (and that was the 50th minute) was in the first game of the season.

  97. southwestvillan

    Unfortunately we must resign ourselves to the fact that Lerner/Fox will not sack Lambert, after a truly horrendous run of 1 win in 10 games he his still in a job, so it will take something extraordinary to see him get the bullet.

    So it looks as if we are stuck with him and his brand of football, the half season tickets will be flying out for xmas.

    AVFC RIP

  98. RichardS

    Benteke will keep us in the division this season – despite our dismal performances. He is the difference between us and the other teams in the bottom half of the league. We have a top 4 striker playing in an average Premier league team.

    January is going to be a problem for us. If a team comes in for Benteke with a huge bid. Spurs, Arsenal, Liverpool even Chelsea or Man City could come in for him, he is that good.

    The other problem is Vlaar and Delph. How can our idiotic board let these two players get into the last 12 months of their contracts is beyond me. If Man UTD or Arsenal will pay up to a reported 8 M for Vlaar then we will have to let him go. Perhaps Man Utd will want to swap Vlaar for Cleverley. And maybe we should do a similar swap deal with Spurs for Delph. Holtby and either Dembele/Lennon or Townsend in exchange for Delph.

    We shall see.

  99. runtings

    Mark – i dont believe it has anything at all to do with the players but purely how the are set up and instructed to play

    there is no outlet in the set up apart from hit and hope

    tekkers is a beast of course he is also an excellent player that needs the ball played to him on the ground – this rarely happens

    we are more concerened with defence than attack — so there is no outlet — any player capable of travelling with the ball at feet wasnt on the pitch — we nick a goal and then defend for our lives — sometimes this will work but mostly not as most sides with that much possesion will punish us

  102. Heroes-and-Villans

    There is no way Learner will sack Lambert however how much we want it.

    New takeover is required for Lambert to go.

    Hoping to hell we can get another 3 points sunday, give us some breathing space.

    Sooooo nice to win a game of footy though. And great to see tekkers score.

  103. RichardS

    Runtings – that was the money that was mentioned prior to our loan deal being agreed.

    I still think the dury is out on Cleverley – i believe he could be a good player for us if we get the blend right in the middle of the park. And he is a young English (International) and that inflates his price.

    The really scary thought is losing Delph and Vlaar for nothing.

  104. steamer

    Just a thought, Lamebert could be Manager of the Month, could understand if it was April.
    This torture could go on for years yet, who’d want to buy this car crash off Lerner ?

  105. Paul Pears

    Steamer you could be right, but i think there are a few more mangers in front of him…I don’t think the torture will go on beyond the end of the season. He is only here for our survival this season.

    The jury is still deliberating, and will make a final verdict in the new year, but he is now entrenched until then…..let’s hope that there is some football played during this period.

  106. Mark King

    Richard s, we haven’t made a penny on a player for 2 seasons why start now 🙂 if Clark keeps it up I’m not bothered about vlaar, would rather have a committed player and make some money off him now. Would even give donecian a go. Swapping Delph for holtby would be robbing Spurs.

    Runtingz- lamberts trouble is he has bought players to suit a system and shoe horned others in to fit. Southampton use their fullbacks like we do but they have clyne and Bertrand we have sissoko and Hutton, one pairs flexible the other one dimensional. I think lambert knows it isn’t working but doesn’t have the personal to play other systems effectively so sticks with what he knows. Don’t know the answer but it isn’t more of the same

  107. southwestvillan

    Steamer,

    And there you have it in a nutshell, who would spend tens of millions buying our club, we are in our fourth relegation battle in a row, we have been knocked out of all the cups by lower league teams, the money you would have to spend to get anywhere near the top six would pay off the Greek national debt, but who wants 5th or 6th it gives you a place in the Thursday cup.

    To get anything like some return on your money and you would need to qualify for the Champions League, I managed to type that without pissing myself laughing, we might land a man on Mars before we see that at VP. Other teams like Everton have been up for sale longer than we have and lets be fair they have had more to cheer about than us Villans recently.

    So the simple answer is, do we really believe there is someone mental enough to plough millions into a club that has under achieved for so long, I just cannot see it myself.

    AVFC RIP

  108. southwestvillan

    Paul,

    I totally disagree re: Lambert, I think if he avoids the drop this season which is all he is being asked to do by Lerner and co then I can see Lerner giving him another new contract.

    AVFC RIP

  109. Paul Pears

    Glad to see the video of Villa Away having a great time in a pub celebrating the win….!!!

    You are right Steamer, in that no-one is going to appear anytime soon to buy the club, so we are stuck for at least another year, until the Chinese arrive and buy Birmingham. Then Villa will be thrown in the package as a sweetener…

  110. Steve W

    Pleased with the win, even if it takes some pressure off Lambert/Lerner. Ideally I want that pressure magnified on both.

    I didn’t see the game, only very brief highlights and there’s some disagreement over Okore. Some say he was very shaky, others that he is proving Lambert wrong. Anyone able to elaborate?

    I want to see Grealish start on Sunday, but fear we’ll see Richardson instead.

  112. John Lerwill

    Steve, Re: Okore

    My feeling about him is that his last 2 performances have not been as impressive as his first, but the first match he came back he was defending very well and even launched a couple of fine crossfield passes.

    I don’t know what’s happened since: he’s played OK but liable to make an unexpected slip. Maybe it’s when playing bottom-of-the-league sides, when there’s a lot more helter-skelter football, he lacks confidence.

  113. runtings

    Steve

    Onkore i would discribe as a hot prospect that will get better with experience and has potental to be a damn fine defender

    he make a couple of mistakes and got away with it — but overall he is a real asset to our club

  114. runtings

    Rich s — this is a big problem at villa

    Cleaverly does not impress me in the slightest — i have been impressed with what i have seen of Johnson who is nowv 22yrs old –why cant he play instead of us getting mugged by man u for a player that clearly isnt good enough for them

    PL is killing our hot prospects and isnt brave enough to play them even though they are all technically very good and also ruked europe a few years ago

  118. John Lerwill

    Runtings,

    When Cole was on the pitch at Burnley Cleverley was playing some nice passes through (first half at least).

    I think that Cleverley is playing as he is under instruction; I’m sure he’s better than what he appears to be. Like all of ’em.

  119. runtings

    Agreed John — on your last post compleatly –But with young players already in our ranks showing great potential and on top of that crown kings of europe what is the point in our acadamy if we would rather spend 8 million quid on a decent player at best than give our kids a chance

    Steamer – not even sure how much a no.10 can influence things under the lambo tactics due to the fact they will be needing to spend most of the match tracking back and chasing the ball

  120. Mark King

    steve w- i echo the thoughts on okore above except i don’t think you can rule out fatigue. he’s been out a long time and isn’t match fit as yet. his performances are of someone a bit leggy, maybe needs to drop a few pounds too. was worried the same would happen to cole as your first game back is usually completed on adrenaline.

    the biggest change we need is lamberts mindset or a new manager on the football front, i don’t think minor tweaks will do it

  121. Paul Pears

    Steamer,

    I agree our jury here has already decided, I was referring to the official jury at B6….

    SWV,
    I am sure Lerner will not be offering him a new contract, there already too many years to run on the present one. The interesting thing may be that if Lambert suddenly turns things round, someone else may offer PL a better job with cash available to spend, and he may go, cos if he copes with the shackles he has had here, he will do better elsewhere. Time will tell.

  123. southwestvillan

    I do not believe change in any form is going to happen any time soon, Lerner and Fox will still be at the helm this time next year as will Lambert, he will still continue with the same tactics because that’s all he knows, we have spent the best part of four years in the doldrums and nothing much will happen to improve things.

    Callum Robinson must be peed off being dragged back from playing games and scoring goals at Preston to not even making the bench last night, these kids agents must be working overtime trying to get them away from VP.

    AVFC RIP

  124. John Lerwill

    Runtings,

    The problem with bringing in youth is that the team is clearly not playing football and is not the best situation for youth to learn/work from. They can be dragged down by the tactics currently used.

  125. Ian

    You’re right John. Until there is progression on the field and a few points that can be squandered, young talent is going to be kept off. I remember the young players getting beaten into the ground a couple of years ago when circumstance dictated they had to play due to injury. With Mc Leish I think. It’s a catch 22 for them. Grealish got kicked to death in his first game this year-who needs that for good prospects?

  126. runtings

    Agree SWV — Anyone who believes Lambert is capable of bringing our club is kidding thenselves imo

    it’s not about how much he has to spend but stone age defensive tactics – poor man management and not existant youth development

  127. runtings

    true JL and for me the is a big problem and unexceptable -PL is all about being solid and that is not what the kids are — but when one of your best young stikers becomes one of your best defensive coggs (wieman) i think what he is as a manager is clear

  128. steamer

    Very true Runtingz.

    Ian, although if you combine their talents (!!!) you wouldn’t have a lot, i’d take Ginger over this clown, Lamebert a liar with absolutely no talent who got lucky finding a knob like Lerner who knows less than bugger all about the game.

  129. James Gill

    formations should be as they say horses for courses last night every one new cpal where going to play with two wingers so we should have played with 2 wide men to help out not wiemen or flabby helping out we had 3 strikers and cole going away from home against a side that enjoys playing us, lambert will get his one win in 4,we have kept 5 clean sheets yet conceded18 in 9 other games the 3 10 wins very lucky stoke pool pal 00 drawnewcastle west ham

  131. Mark King

    Ian- thought the same myself, even thought id have a look on some other teams blogs for perspective but thought better of it knowing how sunny the sentiments on here are. as an alternative perspective try imagining you’re on the moon looking at the earth, what problems 😉

  133. Mark King

    james g- we don’t have any wide men unfortunatley but plenty of carthorses. i think lambert thought he’d cracked it first half against burnley, but how he could think two midfielders would work I don’t know, if cole hadn’t of come off and sanchez on it could of been a massacre imo

  135. Mark King

    ian totally mate, i’m sure it will begin to stretch out by jan but by god its tight 2 wins and the right results and we are top 5 never seen it so close, mainly I think as the likes of manure, liverpool, spurs, everton even man city have had mixed results.

  141. Trinity

    Can understand player’s frustration at being on the bench or whatever. That said, these are professionals who get paid thousands each week to be prepared whether they’re playing or not. Bad management doesn’t help, but at the end of the day it’s up to the player having the right attitude and being ready to do a job without having to be pampered. Attitude is the key. That’s more to do with internal motivation. If they can’t motivate themselves, find a 9-5 job.

    Hopefully, Jack Grealish gets his chance to shine, and when he does he needs to take it by the horns and make it so that he can’t be dropped. It’s up to Jack really. If things get too frustrating, he could ask to be loaned out. At least that shows a desire to play. However, he must do that for the right reasons. He still has a lot to prove. But if all the hype is true, he has more talent than Gabby and Weimann combined. If he’s good enough,let’s see it soon.

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