AVFC Blog

The Villa Observer - Ghosts of Villains past!

Thu, 19 Nov 2009 17:41:54 -0500

Did they really play for Villa?

As a bit of fun I thought I'd do a regular listing of some of the players who played for our beautiful club - that are long forgotton, strange, odd, or just plain awful.

Forgotten?
No 1: Mathieu Berson

Took an eternity to actually sign from Nantes for the princely sum of 1.7mil made around 9 appearances for Villa, was sent out on loan for a season to Auxerre and then duly sold the next year to Levante.

Memories: A bit slow, but seemed to have good passing ability and as I recall many of the fans called for him to be given a run in the side. Sadly we never really got to see if he was any good.

Odd
No 2: Øyvind Leonhardsen
Signed for free from Spurs - the Liverpool old boy spent almost 2 years with Villa before heading home to Norway.

Memories: Seemed to spend most of the time injured or way past his best, yet somehow had a knack of scoring some pretty important goals for Villa so not a total waste of time at all.

More Ghosts of Villa past to come - but what are your memories of the above and other classic misfits who wore the shirt. I mean even O'Neill managed to bring in the totally past it Didier Agathe and Moustapha Salifou.... a player certainly not without talent yet strangely I'm more likely to get a game than the man once branded the Togolese Zidane!

Other news:

The good
Collins is fit again and Downing is well on the way

The bad
Heskey is fit again (only joking). Bouma has a toe injury that has set back his return (although I thought he had been fit before this?).

Shotgun News Summary
Capello loves Milner, Dunne and the rest of Ireland hate Henry, NRC would love to start on Saturday and if not will leave (according to the Mirror). Pearce loves Delph but wants him to play more club football, Delfouneso thinks he'll start some games this season, Albrighton wants to follow the example of Milner and Young. Stan gets Hogg. Downing may play in the centre for Villa, Milner may play in the centre for Villa - Harewood bemoans lack of Villa opportunity and wants to join Newcastle permanently. QPR might try and sign 3rd choice keeper Andy Marshall and that's all so far folks!

I'm off to Bratislava - good luck to the boys for Saturday - lets hope we succeed where Everton and Man Utd failed!

Villa end up with Hines Ketchup all over their face as Hammers triumph

Wed, 4 Nov 2009 17:22:49 -0500

The irony is Villa have played a lot worse and won, tonight there were glimpses of creativity there but we just didn't keep going till the end - whereas West Ham showed fire and determination.

Even with Cole and Illunga departing early with injury - West Ham still played the more incisive and direct football throughout with England U21 forward Hines causing the Villa defence untold problems. But it was Steve Bennett who was West Ham's 12th man, firstly awarding them a penalty when Beye legitimately tackled an offside Hines in the box. Then only brandishing Beye a yellow card - when a red card should have been shown had he backed his own decision. Bennett wasn't done with Beye though - and rubbed salt in the wound when he showed the former Newcastle player a second yellow minutes before West Ham's winning extra time goal - and yes even that decision was wrong.

Prior to this Bennett had tried to even the score minutes after the break by awarding another bizaare penalty - this time to Villa after Manuel De Costa's lofty leap and header was considered dangerous play. Step forward Ashley Young to miss the penalty with a poor shot; only to make amends just minutes later with a sublime cross come shot that beat Green from distance.

Anyway enough of that - you've all read a match report right now or seen first hand what happened, I want to talk about the bigger picture and that is that Villa have't pushed on from their poor form last season. Yes we have a better defense, but O'Neill still has no Plan B, he still doesn't know what formation to play and how to accomodate Carew and Heskey, or what players to bring on!

For this game he had Heskey, Young and Gabby all swapping wings to no great effect, which meant Carew actually did get some time in front of goal. Habib Beye was recalled to right back, when 99% of fans would have wanted and expected Luke Young to return. Not that Beye did much wrong, but obviously he must have spilt Bennett's pint or slept with his wife to get that sort of treatment.

With West Ham having made all their substitutions - O'Neill had the chance to freshen things up and take the game by the throat by bring Albrighton or Delph on, instead he let the team run itself into the ground until Beye was sent off and his hand was forced. I am finally begginning to think that we have stalled under O'Neill and no amount of time will make anything change. The big name signings will never happen and the squad we do have will never be utilised to its full potential. I hate to say it but I think the Ulsterman has taken us as far as he ever will but I really hope i am wrong!

So of the last handful of performaces, against Chelsea we sparkled against Wolves we disappointed, vs Sunderland we offered little other than Guzan's heroics against Everton we bored ourselves whitless and Against West Ham we lost the plot altogether!

Player ratings vs West Ham
Friedel: 7 - Could do little about Mark Nobles emphatic penalty finish or Hines winning goal and did everything else right.

Beye: 6 - Poor bloke played well and shouldn't have been sent off, the only thing he lacked was his forward play. Will probably be hoping O'Neill leaves him on the bench in future.

Dunne: 6 - Solid at times but had no answer to the trickery of Hines.

Collins: 6 - Subdued and not his lion-heart self returning to his old club

Warnock: 7 - Best of the defenders although he did have some rare lapses of concentration

Heskey: 5 - Doesn't really seem to offer a great deal as a winger or striker, worked hard but unsuprisingly withdrawn after 45mins

Sidwell: 5 - Willow the wisp - great when involved - which wasn't often enough

Petrov: 7 - Incredible shot that deserved a goal and played an all action creative midfield role, ran out of gas after the hour mark though

Gabby: 6 - A few good shots but tired quickly and offered little in the second half

Young: 6 - Total Jeckyl and Hyde performance, flashes of his old self and an impressive goal one minute, poor crosses, lame penalties and needlessly falling over the next.

Carew: 6 - Good to see the big guy more involved in front of goal - faded in the second half though.

Subs: Reo Coker - 6 for Heskey (45 mins) - unsuprisingly boo'd every touch and unable to make much of an impact

Luke Young for Habib Beye (sent off) only got a cameo

West Ham vs Villa - Clash of the Claret & Blues

Mon, 2 Nov 2009 15:10:45 -0500

With Randy fretting about the Browns and O'Neill sweating over injuries to Milner and Petrov you couldn't really predict what will happen against the Hammers mid-week.

This is a major opportunity to claw ourselves back up the table and replace pretenders like Spurs in the top 5, only who knows what team will show up? The one that beat Liverpool and Chelsea in some style or the one that lost to teams like Wigan and Blackburn and was desperately average against Wolves and Everton?

The truth is we've done quite well but never really got out of 1st gear all season and while we've been praising the defence (and rightly so) we've not found many heroes in midfield and attack. Gabby has more than held his own, whilst Ash and Milner have blown hot and cold and Carew and Heskey have put in brief cameos amongst the mediocrity. Sidwell has toiled and disappeared, NRC and Delph have barely figured.

The last half of last season we would have swapped being spineless and predictable with being boring but difficult to beat in a heartbeat. In truth we are never satisfied, we want to play fast attacking football but don't like the goals we often ship by doing so. Bizarely our best football this season has come in a 451, and yet O'Neill seems determined to accomodate Heskey and Carew in the 442 formation that just isn't paying off. Without a natural goal-scorer i think most of us are hoping Downing can come in an boost our creativity.

So what of West Ham's season? Well strangely they are struggling with only one win so far. Now I like West Ham and I like Zola, despite the financial black cloud over them - he has them playing good football and has somehow turned Carlton Cole into a quality striker. Add Collinson, Upson, Green and Parker and you've got some decent players there. The Hammers were unlucky not to beat Sunderland at the Stadium of Light on Saturday, and after a respectable two goal a piece draw with Arsenal you can see signs of improvement. There position is as a false one, I just hope their season revival doesn't start against us! Apart from Dyer being injured again and Robert Kovac missing out through suspension the Hammers have no other major injury doubts.

But back to Villa and for what it's worth if Petrov and Milner are injured I would like to see Albrighton on the right wing ......you know the player who:

a) Is an actual winger

b) Had a superb pre-season where he looked like a quality player

And it would be great to see Delph or Gardener in to fill Stan's boots. Oh and NRC to replace Sidwell (yeah right like MON will make that call).

If Milner is out then expect to see a central midfielder such as Gardener or NRC shoved wide right and Delph played in the centre, although lets hope both players recover. Part of me hopes O'Neill does freshen things up a bit as we looked quite leggy against Everton and there is no point having a pretty good squad if we don't use it. I would like to see Delfouneso on the pitch also as I think he is the type of impact player we need from the bench, as Heskey works hard but spends more time running away from goal than he does at it.

I haven't heard an appeal mentioned against Cuellar's ridiculous sending off, so expect Luke Young's long overdue comeback to finally happen.

Prediction: I can't see anything massively changing from Saturday, unless Martin takes a gamble and rotates the squad. I can't see us losing but I can't see us winning either. So i'll go with 1:1.

Aston Villa Mauled But Not Eaten by Wolves

Wed, 28 Oct 2009 05:15:47 -0400

After the win over Chelsea you could have predicted the next game
would be a massive anti-climax, derbies are often difficult games
where form doesn't apply - but I think we were due this result having
done pretty well in recent local stand offs. Wolves deserved a point
and although a moment of needless stupidity from Sidwell effectively
handed them the draw, there first half performance and the penalty
they were denied earlier in the game more than justified the result.

But onto Steve Sidwell, he has been doing pretty well of late so I
don't want to totally blame him for the result yesterday - but I do
still get the nagging feeling that NRC or Delph would do a better job
in midfield. I think Sidwell is capable of much more, but right now
O'Neill needs to stop keep patting himself on the back about the depth
of his squad and actually start using that squad! I think NRC is more
mobile and gets more involved in games whereas Sidwell often still
seems to go missing - I mean this is a man who has a wicked shot on
him yet I don't think we've seen him have a shot on target this
season? I also think the fans are hankering to see Delph get some
pitch time also and lets hope the Cup game against Sunderland O'Neill
freshens things up a bit.

Carew's form is also a mystery of late, maybe because he is being to
asked to play deeper than normal, whatever the case we are scoring two
few goals from midfield and attack and you can't really see that
changing either. Young and Milner both need to start weighing in with
some goals also, Young by his own high standards is suffering at the
moment - mainly because teams now know how to defend against him -
which is why Martin should be changing the way we attack. I don't
think Villa are playing badly but I just get the feeling we've not got
out of second gear this season - which considering we've done pretty
well this season is not a bad statement to make.

Honourable mentions go out to Heskey - who has been heavily criticised
but whose cameo on Saturday was the single reason we walked away with
a point - maybe even to the point that if we have to have a 442 then
Heskey can't really do any worse up front than Carew is presently. I
am I alone in feeling that the eleven Martin is putting out still
isn't the best available and the tactics employed are still a bit to
one dimensional? Football is football though, the team won't perform
every week but this is also why we have a squad of players champing at
the bit to step up and prove themselves. Apart from acting like a
egotistical prat NRC was on good form before he was axed and we were
playing well with just Gabby up front before Carew was recalled.
Enough with the armchair management - you do feel though that the top
four are no way near as strong as last season and that if us Spurs and
Man City can stay within touching distance you'll at least see a more
interesting season pan out.

In other news former Villain Peter Whittingham - is getting the
plaudits for his goal scoring exploits of late and some seem to think
we made a mistake in selling him to Cardiff. Now I will go on record
to say I like Whittingham and I do think he has improved, but he was
given countless chances at Villa and failed to covert his potential on
the pitch. Mainly because he was so lightweight back then, but I have
a feeling he will get another chance at the Premiership.

Aston Villa to be Thrown to The Wolves?

Fri, 23 Oct 2009 10:23:57 -0400

One of the oldest derbies in the league resumes Saturday early
afternoon, the form book gets thrown out of the window and a cup final
is played out for bragging rights! Villa approach the game with no new
injury worries and on the back of a incredible win over Chelsea, but
if ever there could be a game that could bring us back to earth then
it's a scrap with Mick McCarthy's boys at Molineux. Wolves will have
had their own confidence boost after their draw with Everton at
Goodison and even though their season hasn't quite yet got going, they
have some good talent in their squad and play good football.

Key Players Wolves:

Kevin Doyle - scored in their last game against Everton and was
heavily linked to us for over two seasons - the Republic of Ireland
international has all the attributes of an old fashioned centre
forward and is likely to cause Villa plenty of problems

Sylvan Ebanks Blake: The young tricky England U21striker has flattered
to deceive so far this season but still has all the attributes to
become a potent striker at Premiership level

Jody Craddock: Only Wolves player to have been part of the side that
last played Villa, this experienced defender has already been stoking
the pre-match fires with defiant quotes - and he is key to motivating
his team and keeping his defence together.

Key Players Villa:

Richard Dunne: He and James Collins will need to use their experience
to snuff out the Wolves attack and keep their concentration for 90mins
which is the key in derbies

Ashley Young: He may not be scoring goals but he is still key to
Villa's attacks, as proven by his assists against Chelsea

Steve Sidwell: Will need to keep a cool head and provide the tackles
and defensive cover in midfield that will allow Petrov to be at his
most effective.

At the end of the day - despite what can happen in derbies as long as
both sides keep their concentration and discipline then the team
playing the best football on the day will (probably) win, Wolves will
hope that home advantage and a hostile atmosphere will play into their
hands. Villa have got pretty good at coping with the pressure of
derbies and thankfully gone are the dark days when Dublin was sent off
and Enkleman let a ball drift under his foot from a throw in. But all
eyes will be on the ref - as he will have to keep a level head and
make the right decisions. Whatever the case as a Villa fan you would
hope we have enough to get something out of this game, but this is
going to be even trickier than playing Birmingham! I predict a win by
urge caution as our form in derbies over the last few years has been
good and you would hope we could avoid any overdue blips.

In other news Darlington boss and Villa legend Steve Staunton has
signed striker James Collins from Aston Villa on a three-month loan
deal for Darlington,
whilst young defenders Nathan Baker and Eric Lichaj; both join on a
Lincoln City FC on a month's loan. Whilst Villa themselves have found
an angel in the form of Barnsley's Reuben Noble-Lazarus, with reports
claiming we are keeping tabs on the 16yr old.

Aston Villa - Chelsea Player Ratings and Analysis: Carlo Undone by Our Offensive Defence!

Mon, 19 Oct 2009 06:29:37 -0400

Villa Observer

When Drogba's rather tame 30yrd shot bounced and span beyond Friedel
into the net - I thought this wasn't going to be our day. We we all
over Chelsea from the start, the Blues only answer to our free flowing
attacks was for Bosingwa to haul down Gabby in the penalty area!
Amazingly closely placed ref Kevin Friend waved play on! In fact the
whole game the ref gave every 50/50 to Chelsea - he's no Friend of the
Villa fans believe me! If you were paranoid you'd say he's exactly the
type of ref who plays into the hands of the big teams and makes the
Sky 4 monopoly even stronger (if you were paranoid and sad like me
that is).

But even poor refereeing couldn't hold back a spirited Villa display.
Thankfully Dunne was the hero again for the second game in a row, a
precision corner by Ash found the head of the former City man almost
unmarked. Dunne's leveller just past the half hour mark was almost as
enjoyable as watching John Terry jump up and down like a five year
old. Villa picked up were they left off in the second half and another
superb Young corner was headed home, this time by the head of man of
the match James Collins who stole in unmarked at the far post.

With Villa in front Chelsea still looked dangerous going forward with
Drogba, Deco and Anelka causing the defence plenty of problems. A
superb block from Collins and several key saves from Friedel
(including tipping over Deco's deft chip) kept Villa in front. Whilst
Chelsea threatened frequently in attack, Villa still looked just as
likely to score from the breakaways as Chelsea threw more and more men
forward. Dunne almost added to Villa's lead, heading Young's cross
just wide, Ash also expertly picked out Milner whose lofted cross was
inches away from being converted by Carew. Instead the big man could
only see the ball ricochet high and wide off his over stretched boot.

Chelsea continued to breath fire and brough Joe Cole on, but the Villa
defense held firm to extinguish the title contenders attacking threat.

So after a fairly indifferent England display from Gabby and Milner
and unwanted headlines attributed to Heskey - Villa finished the week
on a massive high. We've now beaten Liverpool, drawn with man City and
beaten the team widely tipped as one of the favourites for the title.
Pretty good going eh!

Ratings:

Friedel - 8
Atoned for the poor goal conceded by a series of fine saves and his
distribution was faultless throughout

Cuellar - 7
His distribution is getting better and he is actually starting to look
like a right back

Dunne - 8
Scored and was immense in both boxes, only surpassed by his own
defensive partner

Collins - 9 MOM
Why didn't we sign him years ago? Why did West Ham sell him? His block
in the penalty area was world class as was the timing for his headed
goal (I apologise for ever doubting his credentials)

Warnock - 7
Looks comfortable getting forward and he and Young are starting to gel well.

Milner - 6
Covers the ground well, but really needs to convert his attacking
possession into goals/assists. To be fair though he nearly set up
Carew late on.

Petrov - 8
Action man performance from Stan, attacked, defended, tackled and kept
the midfield ticking.

Sidwell - 6
I'm starting to see what he brings to the side, he breaks up play well
and frees Petrov to do what Petrov does best. I think once Sidwell
gets a bit more confidence he will start pinging in the 25yd shots we
know he is capable of.

Young - 8
Are you watching Capello? Ash was a constant threat and his two
assists should give the England maestro more food for thought.

Carew - 6
The deep role doesn't really suit the big man, but he does cope well
and gets plenty of the ball - just doesn't spend enough time in the
opponents area where he belongs

Agbonlahor - 6
If he had scored or won the penalty (as was deserved) he would have
been buzzing, as it is he ran the defense ragged at times and let his
head drop and tailed off on others. Needs to keep himself sharp for
90mins and be more confident.

Subs:
Heskey (for Carew) - Looked positive but had little time to make an impact.

MON: - 7 Clattered by Anelka in comedy style - but kept his side fighting

Summary: We are starting to see a very different Villa from last
season, we still attack the same way and rely heavily on set-pieces -
except this time we actually score from those set-pieces! Our
defensive back-bone is so strong we seem to handle attacking pressure
much better. Most importantly of all we are beating teams we rarely
beat and not actually missing Barry! Chelsea looked anything like the
invincible team the pundits were branding them, I mean if they can't
defend set-pieces then they won't win the league!

The Untouchables, Emile Has Regrets, Collins Named Captain

Tue, 13 Oct 2009 10:06:07 -0400

The Villa Observer - Heskey regrets whilst Collins is made Captain

After a drab England game where a Ferdinand gaff and a refereeing
blunder probably cost Gabby a much needed England run out, all the
Villa flavoured headlines revolve around Heskey regretting moving to
Villa. But first lets hope that Gabby gets his moment to shine with
Rooney injured for the next game vs Belarus. I really hope Ash gets
another chance, he is one Villa player that I think needs to go to the
World Cup - and hopefully he'll show why in the next few months. Barry
has also praised Milner, Heskey and Gabby's involvement/importance to
England - and sympathy for for Heskey's situation at Villa.

The England forward has probably (rightly) identified the fact that he
needs to leave Villa to cement his World Cup chances, few could really
argue with that and many Villa fans would state he has been an abject
failure but I think this is an issue that is worth further debate,
bare in mind I am not a massive Heskey fan but i do feel sorry for
him.

Heskey's signing helped trigger Villa's second half season collapse?
Wrong: Martin O'Neill's wafer thin squad and lack of tactical
depth/options is surely a bigger culprit. Plus the fact we needed
defensive back up and an out and out goal scorer and he signed Heskey,
not really Heskey's fault that he wasn't the player the team needed.

Heskey can't play with Gabby?
Not sure: Heskey should have been seen as a like for like replacement
for the often injury prone Carew, rather than an attacking partner in
a 442. Carew's return from injury first prompted a tactical change
which destabilised the team, plus Laursen's injury/retirement did more
damage than any misfiring striker ever could as that prompted the
defensive merry go round and a slew of midfielders, left backs and
central defenders playing at right back (that and Martin binning
Shorey). Seriously though - Heskey would probably have been ok as lone
striker, he works hard and covers ground (didn't he do that role when
he scored vs Portsmouth?). I don't even think he played that many
times with Gabby to really be judged like that.

Heskey plays we lose
Erm - cough - well ok he has become our bogey player, but mainly
because he is the key component of Martin's usually bizarre tactical
substitutions that rarely seem to pay off. Plus Heskey has not had the
run in the side to really prove one way or another how bad or good he
is, the fact is when Gabby was at his most ineffective Martin stood by
him (see untouchables list below) but Heskey has been one of many
scape goats. I genuinely think Heskey as well as being a signing we
didn't need has also been a player chronically underplayed or misused.
Martin is a great man but he doesn't seem to grasp that if you
continually sideline players for long periods and only give them
cameo's their confidence and form dips even more as a result.
Obviously i accept that some players are just squad players, nothing
more and it's impossible to keep all players happy but even with a
small squad it was statistically proven that Martin did use the
players he has at his disposal. You'd wonder if we might see Heskey's
true value if we had a few striker injuries?

There are too many untouchables in the team who no matter how bad they
play they will always play (within reason).
The untouchables: Friedel, Gabby, Young, Milner, Petrov
The marmite men: Cuellar, Shorey, Harewood, Carew, Heskey, NRC,
Gardener, Delf (i mean surely he should be a regular sub?).

In other news England U20 coach Brian Eastwick has praised our very
own young keeper Elliot Parish for his form with England at the U20
World Championships - see below quotes.

"I think one player in particular to come out with some credit is
Elliot Parish, who hasn't been involved in the international set-up
before," said England coach

"He's come in and acquitted himself really well in the three games
he's played. So I think there's a find there for us, we've got another
goalkeeper who we can consider for the international squads in the
future."

Another player we don't really need is Micah Richards, speculation
suggests he might leave City in January and the lazy journalists out
there have remembered we were linked to him in the summer. I'm not
saying he's not a good player at all - just we have plenty of
defensive cover currently (good grief I never thought i'd ever get to
say that).

Finally as well as getting the thumbs up from the fans and Martin,
James Collins is about to be made the captain for Wales against
Lichenstein showing that Giovanni Trapattoni is also loving the ginger
defensive enforcer!

The Villa Observer: Have Aston Villa Found the Next Vieira, Cahill Says MON Made a Mistake

Fri, 9 Oct 2009 09:53:35 -0400

The Villa Observer

Two defenders recover, as a former defender speaks.

Luke Young and Wilf Bouma both made it through the reserves game vs
Wolves, but where does this leave the current defence? Surely Luke is
a better right back than Cuellar? Surely Cuellar is a better centre
back than Collins? I think Bouma is still a little way off a first
team return but even if he does get fit where does he fit in the
defensive pecking order?

The whole Isiah Osbourne arrest thing is just plain weird, i mean the
guy earns four grand a week - why would he want to be part of some car
related robbery scam - unless he has some really ropey friends or
brothers? Anyway he turned out for the reserves last night and played
pretty well by all accounts for 90mins!?

NRC vs MON = Verdict MON wins

Curtis Davies + Agent vs MON = Verdict.......well we know really don't
we - I mean just ask Patrick Berger what happens if you mess with the
Irish Management Machine! I would have though Curtis would want to
recover from his injury and get back in the team before he starts
moaning about contracts, i mean 'hello' has he noticed how many
defenders we now have - and guess what he isn't necessarily the best
of them either!

Cahill says Martin Made a mistake
Well who could argue with the laddy - he's also quoted as saying
'leaving Villa has paid off' well it certainly hasn't harmed his
England ambitions although maybe if he had held on he would be in the
team now? His transfer greatly annoyed me and many other Villa fans
and now we have lost a England defender. Martin got that one wrong
although what could he do? Cahill was still developing (all be it
fast) when he tapped MON on the shoulder and said he wanted to go!
Cahill has spoken with great regard for the club and Martin so i wish
the lad the best for the future.

Carew the new Vieira?
So against Man City the big man was told to hang back and hold up play
- and he loved it.....apparently. The tactic did kind of work - but
you'd think NRC or Delph could have done that role better? I think we
should be able to play a 442 with Carew involved, I mean surely the
main problem with that last season is that defensively we were a bit
uncertain - something we aren't now? It feels like we have a massive
defensive midfield core, plus a solid defence, an occasional winger in
Milner a heavily marked winger in Young and a very lonely striker in
Gabby .....anyone else think this won't win us many games?

Gardening leave
As well as the need to bring Albrighton on as an impact player I do
crave to see more of Delph in the midfield and it is about time MON
put his shirt on Craig Gardner. It's time for the lad to step up to
the central midfield plate - show he is better than Sidwell and NRC
and push on, and if that isn't the case (which it really could be)
then time to move on.

Other news....we might be signing highly-rated Farnborough youth team
striker Jordan Carter, speaking of youth players - didn't we sign
Samir Curruthers from Arsenal - i wonder how that kid is doing?

Nothing much more to see here - no more rumours about Randy and his
overseas investors plan, no idea what idiot will be up next to
challenge MON.

Aston Villa - Manchester City: Player Ratings and Analysis

Tue, 6 Oct 2009 04:58:50 -0400

Villa survive Second Half Man City Onslaught to Draw

Man City came as favourites but left probably satisfied with a draw at Villa Park - in fact you felt the moment Bellamy's equaliser was slammed home on 67mins that both sides would have taken the draw there and then. Villa started the brighter and we deserved the first half lead provided by the head of former City hero Richard Dunne - from a set piece.... his marker - Gareth Barry of course!

So what of the former Villa hero? Well he was booed throughout by some fans - but not all - and only a few seemed to wave money at him, regardless he played pretty well - he certainly managed to overshadow his replacement Sidwell who was largely anonymous. But it was Steven Ireland - on as a second half sub that galvanised City's attack - and his probing passing proved the difference between the two sides. Sure Petrov covered plenty of ground and Gabby was a handful but Villa conceded a lot of possession to City in the second half and an equaliser had seemed sadly inevitable, although Villa did successfully snub out the threat of Bellamy, Tevez and Adebayor for most of the match.

Annoyingly a cynical lunge by De Jong on Young basically meant the young winger played a largely peripheral part in the game as he never shook off the resultant injury. His eventual replacement was one Nigel Reo Coker - and lets hope that's the end of the handbags and glad rags affair. If only we had the bench City had to bring on when our best players limp off!

Overall Villa were solid in midfield and defensively, but Gabby was left to ask most of the questions whilst Carew was largely ineffective and Sidwell and Milner spurned the half chances that fell to them. The lack of creativity in the middle is still an issue for us, something that we hope Downing will resolved when he recovers from injury.

No-one can question the team's work rate, tackling and attacking intent - just there is a lack of quality there that means our threat is often limited to breakaways and set pieces. I for one would rather see DDA - come of the bench - that's Delf, Delph or Albrighton - probably the only three impact players we have when the usual Heskey gambit has failed.

For all their millions spent Man City did not look like a team capable of breaking into the top four, although they are certainly heading in the right direction!

Villa player ratings

Friedel: 8 - Superb finger tip save from Adebeyor - his handling and distribution was solid throughout
Cuellar: 7 - Worked hard and even managed to get forward well - still looks better in the centre though
Collins: 7 - Measured and solid display - (Are he and Sidwell the same person?)
*Dunne: 9 - Rose superbly for his headed goal and almost scored a second header - won most battles with Adebeyor and was my man of the match easily.
Warnock: 6 - Has a good left foot - and defended and got forward well

Ash Young: 6 - Worked hard and contributed to most attacks although his crossing was wayward - but to be fair he did spend most of the match injured after De Jong's whack on his ankle.
Sidwell: 5 - Effective when he was in the thick of things but was invisible for most of the second half.
Petrov: 6 - Solid as ever and even got forward - something that I would like to see him do more
Gabby: 6 - Still our main threat and almost scored from a flick early on - but didn't have much service.
Carew: 5 - Started brightly then faded, struggled to get into the game and was subbed

Heskey (for Carew): Didn't really see much of the ball and fell over
NRC (for Young): Again not enough time to get involved but good to see him back on the pitch.

Barry Returns as Aston Villa take on the Big Spenders Manchester City

Mon, 5 Oct 2009 09:09:57 -0400

So far the new season hasn't really gone to plan at all, results haven't been bad but apart from Liverpool the opposition we have so far beaten has been pretty poor. Here is hoping then that tonight's game is a classic open attacking goal fest and that we win, if not just to wipe the incredibly smug look off of Sparky's tight permed head.

Our star player this season has been Gabby who again has excelled on his own up front - this has been underlined by his England call up. What is more frustrating is that he and Milner have edged Ash completely out of the squad something I don't really agree with but what can you do?

Hero or Villain?

With Gareth Barry returning the most quoted debate amongst Villa fans and players is do we boo him or not? My take on this is he is a player who has given his all in a Villa shirt since he was 17 - and he certainly has never let anyone down on the pitch. He was a good captain and a shining example for the younger players at Villa. Then he became an England regular and something changed, he began to believe his own hype and that he deserved to play for a bigger side - now don't get me wrong I think I would have been ok (ish) had he left for Liverpool - if that is Porn Uncle had coughed up the fee that we asked. They/he didn't and Barry threw his toys out of the pram and in one tantrum destroyed his reputation amongst the fans, he did salvage it a little with last seasons pretty consistent displays. But as soon as Man City came calling he was gone, no Champion's League football in the offing just lots of lovely cash and er......'future promise.'

I won't be booing him though, but I don't think I will be applauding him tonight either - although he will win some respect back from me if he doesn't celebrate IF Man City or he himself scores (lets hope neither happens). He is a respected professional and I do wish him well.

Tactics vs City
In the last game Blackburn simply out fought us - and our defence however good on paper is made up of players who have barely played together. Most would go for a 451 and pack the midfield, but I think City will play the kind of attacking football that will allow us the space to play a 442 and counter at speed. Regardless I think O'Neill will play it safe and start with just Gabby up front and bring Sidwell back to the five man midfield and you would hope he would put all the NRC nonsense behind the team and start Nige. It wouldn't be the end of the world if he played Delph though instead of Nige - as the youngster was a diamond in the rough against Blackburn.

But Martin please leave Emile on he bench, if we are losing bring Delf on or Gardener in the middle. No-one wants to see more weird tactical substitutions against City, no strikers for full backs - let's leave that all in the past.

I expect the team will be:

Friedel
Cuellar - Collins - Dunne - Warnock
Milner - Delph - Sidwell - Petrov - Ash
Gabby

If we play this I think we may get a draw, if we play a 442 with Carew starting I think they will score one more goal than us. Dunne will be fired up but this will be a difficult game to call.

I personally would rather see Cuellar in the centre of the defence where he has been at his best this season, maybe play Beye at right back - as he was just starting to find his feet in a Villa shirt before Dunne and Collins were signed. We have badly missed the steadying influence of Luke Young who is thankfully not far from a return.

I want to finish on the fact I feel Man City and their billions represent all that is wrong in football - but before I go mouthing off it is worth noting that our very own Villa saviour Randy Lerner is rumoured to be looking for billionaire investors to ensure Villa can compete with teams like City and Chelski. Could the Premiership end up being the Billionaire's playground for oil barons and faceless overseas consortiums?

Would the Villa faithful be happy with new billionaire investors if it meant we could compete with the top 4?