FA Cup PMP: Through to the fourth round but not the most convincing of performances from Aston Villa
Monday, 05 January 09, 04:13 AM · Comments (58)
It wasn't the most convincing of performances and while you have to factor in that it was the FA Cup and it was their game of the season, I put it down to a simple error; change of formation.
The reason why we needed to keep our formation and consistency was for the exact two reasons why the game turned out to be a tough match yesterday; it is the FA Cup and it was their game of the season.
We quite literally started the game a man down in midfield, despite playing with five in midfield for a while now and doing, if I'm allowed to say, extremely well. The change wasn't needed and all it served to do was hinder our game. But, we are through and I fully expect us to revert to 4-51 or 4-3-3 for the match against West Brom, or I suspect we could be in trouble. Anyway, to the papers.
Pat Sheehan, The Sun: "Instead of pushing on after going ahead, Villa could not make much headway against a well-organised backline in which right-back Stuart Lewis was outstanding."
James Milner’s first two goals since joining Villa permanently in August, the second a highly contentious penalty, sent Villa through to a fourth-round tie away to Cheltenham Town or Doncaster Rovers, and if that does not sound too challenging, then neither did their task against Coca-Cola League Two opponents — until the match got under way."
Glenn Moore, The Independent: "Young played partly because O'Neill had intended to pick a strong side and partly because with Gabriel Agbonlahor unwell he had few alternatives. Villa's bench, and the performances of some of the understudies who played, notably the woefully out-of-touch Nicky Shorey and Zat Knight, underlined the need for reinforcements if Villa are to maintain their Champions League push."
Richard Williams, The Guardian: "Two goals from James Milner settled the issue. The first, after 13 minutes, threatened an avalanche that never came, and Jackson's strike merely enabled the scoreline to reflect the balance of play. A draw looked the fairest outcome when Milner was allowed to restore the lead after Ashley Young fell as he went past Adam Miller, the home side's stand-in captain."
Player Ratings
Once again, I'm not doing this myself, instead I'm using the ratings submitted by The Sun reporter who was giving Gillingham players a few eights and even a nine. I truly don't understand why players get good marks for effort. If effort won matches we'd win every week - it doesn't, but then neither do his scores below.
Brad Friedel: 7
Nigel Reo-Coker: 6
Curtis Davies: 6
Zat Knight: 7
Nick Shorey: 5
James Milner: 7
Steve Sidwell: 6
Stiliyan Petrov: 5
Craig Gardner: 5
Ashley Young: 5
Nathan Delfouneso: 5
Final Analysis
It wasn't our best performance but it was the result we all wanted so we can't complain although I think we are in need of a very good performance with a few goals and who better to beat than West Brom.
Bottom line, we've got a tie that we all think we should win and it's one step closer and even though we're at 12/1 for the cup, it might be worth a cheeky fiver, just for fun.
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Btw, just done a post on all of todays transfer rumours, all in one place now!
LINK
Im going to have to agree with that, saying that, it would be nice if Milner could recreate that performance in the premiership, week in week out!
cant wait to see who we bring in in the transfer window!!! quite excited about it! also, looking forward to the WBA Game! anyone else get any snow today??
Hi Damian have got any news on who MON wants to bring in this month!! i know we will all have to wait until the last week of the window as he never rushes these things but would just like to hear if you have heard anything.
Just heard that Downing has handed in a transfer request would quite like him at VP does anyone else fancy him? if we got him this would allow us to play Ash on the right or even just off the strikers, would also give us more depth in this area and enable us to rest players when the amount of games we have played starts to catch up with us.
Who els here thinks a cheeky bid for Thoe Walcott and Lukas Podolski??
I saw on sky sports news that Bayern said he could leave for no less than £9m. Also Walcott seems a bit Pi**ed off with Arsene W**nker
sorry, miss spelled Theo
After getting very excited over the summer about the arrival of Sidwell, who I remember saying something along the lines of 'is a class act who single handedly kept Reading up and caught the eye of Mourinho', I am now thinking I was talking a load of sh*te! I've tried being patient with him and listening to the 'he didnt have much pre-season, he's unfit, its a new style of play etc' excuses but the nail in the coffin for me was yesterday's performance.
I now feel he's a player who excelled for a season or two and then loses everything (see Lee Hendrie, Scott Parker, Lee Bowyer). Shame
yep i heard that 2, all 3 of those players would be quality at Villa! btw there are a couple other rumours:
LINK
ProDan, on what basis are you after Podolski. On the back of the euro's? It's just, I'm not so sure. Am I wrong in saying he is usually used as a substitute in Germany? I have not watched him on the domestic stage hardly at all, but if he is not good enough to start there, why whould he be at Villa.
We see enough players that do well at international level, or in europe that just wouldn't cut it in the prem. He strikes me as one of those. I might be wrong though.
Just looked it up. 58 appearances in 3 seasons, 12 goals.
Reply to StickyAV:
Don't be fooled by substitute appearances- he's kept on the bench by Miroslav Klose and Luca Toni, arguably the 2 of the best strikers in europe.
You could look at Tevez too and say he's always on the bench, but like Podolski, he's definitely good enough for us.
Reply to Christian:
Agreed to a certain extent...
Tevez valued at between 25 and 35 mil - sub for Man U.
Podolski 10 mil rated sub for Bayern.
In pounds they are hardly comparable. Bayern are interested in getting rid of podolski and have shown interest in tevez...
Yh true i see what your sayin. But the premier League changes people from other league and under MON he will get better and he's only 23 aswell. For about £10ml its worth a shot?
HE GAVE PETROV A 5 go and have it out with the reporter damian he doesnt know what he is on about, he also gave milner and knight a 7 so to be fair i think he was watching the same game as me and not you!!!!!!!!
Reply to ProanAvFc:
Yeh, he is cheap and he is young. And if someone who watched the domestic german league regularly, wanted him here I would step back with my opnion as it is not based on a huge knowledge of the player.
What I dislike though is people wanting players based on good performances at an international tournament. Like Baros or Pavlichenko (cant be arsed to look up spelling) - to name a few - show, it doesn't mean much over here.
Reply to StickyAV:
the reason podolski is only rated at 10 million is because he is in his last 6 months of his contract otherwise you wouldnt get much change from 20-25 million
Knight getting 7...? WTF. He should have a default 1 or 2 for every game. He is shite. Slow, falls asleep, can't read a game, soft as shit, just all round terrible. You must have been watching another game Damian..? Jackson absolutely skinned Knight for that goal and he just gave up going after him. He just can't be arsed. He's got no skill and you would think being a Villa fan he would at least make up a little for the lack of skill with some hard graft.
Glenn Moore above seems to have the right idea..'notably the woefully out-of-touch Nicky Shorey and Zat Knight, underlined the need for reinforcements if Villa.....'
I'll get my coat and leave the room......Just re-read the post and realised you were using the Suns ratings...
I'll consider myself bollocked...!
Damian it's great they you are putting the ratings up but what I orginally meant is for this sites users to be able to vote and it calculates an average rating from all the votes(like the BBC player rater) , I'm sure the Ole Ole people hook it up for you.
I have been following this site for some time, and there are some valid good points on here, be good to see what the overall fans think of a certain persons performance
Are the highlights avaiable anywhere online?
Any links please.
I was on holiday and missed the first goal.
And then it didn't record properly on TV.
Thanks.
Totslly off topic I know, but has anyone else seen the comments from Phil Brown (Hull City Manager) this morning saying that our game against them should be replayed?
LINK
Totslly = Totally !!
Damien you mention the change of formation as a reason why we played so poorly (yet again). But does it not say something to you about how poor our midfield really is when only missing Barry from our first choice mid cannot control a game againest a bottom half league 2 outfit who were by the way missing 4 first team players of their own. Our midfield is going to cost us 4th this year unless MON gets at least 2 players in to replace Mliner and the extremly average Sidwell. Im not a fan of Milner but i will give him his praise when he is due it like yesterday. The reason he played better was because he was in the centre and not on the right wing but i don't really know how he could be accomdated in the centre going forward). Also how bad are our defenders for not being able to string 2 passes together. Knight and Davies just hoofed it up the field blindly to poor Delfnouseo who had no chance of getting into the game. I know we were missing players yesterday but that game again showed we need prob 4 or 5 players to come into the team this Jan if are going to continue our push for 4th. The luck we are getting at the moment cannot continue for ever.
Reply to Timmy_Ra:
Just read the link is this bloke on drugs? fans dont care how the correct call was made, they just care that is was the correct call.
I went to the Hull game and it was a real horrible game where basically they just tried to kick us off the pitch, there shit and still could go down!!! hope they do now stupid fuckers.
Reply to bow77:
Exactly! If it was a handball then you might be able to see his arguement but the fact that it wasn't clearly shows that he's a desperate man! It's a pity cos until these comments started flying around I hoped that Hull could throw up a couple more upsets to help our cause. Now I just hope they loose every game!!!
i have to add that i also thought this game was very poor.... Gillingham could have easily have won..... our midfield could not get the ball.....we lost every ball in the air up front and in midfield...... if it was not for knight and davies we would have lost this one...... they got every ball in the air, but were poor on the ground...... that stiker for them was clearly the best player on the day....... i think his name is jackson.....we must improve in this if we want to progress...... still shows that some of the fringe players are still not good enough...... also i feal as if we should have brought on harewood sooner as he was a big muscle threat as soon as he came on.
Reply to __AA__:
Spot ON !!Just not premiership players.I thought Milner had his best game yet in a Villa shirt.We need to sign some quality players now if we are to keep in the top 4. Upson,Podolski plus a midfielder who can thread a pass!
Reply to Timmy_Ra:
I think the dispute was not over the decision being correct, as bow77 said, but how they came to the conclusion. They think that he was told over his earpiece and video evidence was used, which is illegal. It's bollox though.
Even if they did use video evidence, the call was still correct and the game shouldn't be replayed! Otherwise we could replay the world cup final as well because they obviously used video and the ear piece in the sending off of zidane, who would have been their key penalty taker!!!
Walcott would be a perfect signing- To get to the next level we need to spend $$$. We also need Bouma back.
To win when we play that poorly says a lot about how far MON has taken us.
UTV
Reply to MFVillan:
Whilst we do need Bouma back MON cannot take the chance and not bring in a left back this window. Bouma might not get his fitness back until late Feb or later and we need to get some balance in the team by putting a left legged full back at LB and moving Young back to his natural right back position.
Have justv read that tottenham are going to give us our money back for Shorey, god i really hope so, i say that all players need time to settle (look at Petrov) but i really think this guy is SHIT, fuck him off to that mug Redknapp.
Reply to bow77:
Maybe we should try and get Bale as part of the deal. I think he is going to be a top quality player in the future.
ak_27
quite possibly. i've commented on how much better barry is since we've played 5 in the middle
but my point about playing the same formation is that if one player is injured or out, at least everyone else is used to the formation. moving to 4-4-2 yesterday put all our players out of sync
now, i know the other side is, they're all professionals and they should be able to cope - but lets not forget that most professional footballers are not the brightest of players and it does take time for new players to gel and formations to work - i'm just baffled that after we play 4-5-1 so well we decide to change it around
i think if we had stuck with 4-5-1 for yesterday and instead of playing milner up front, we put him on the right and gardner inside right - we would have a better result - its also a case of playing a set formation and everyone getting used to it rather than chopping and changing so players eventually start to get used to something then its changed ..
it really doesn't make sense to me and when o'neill saw that it was 5 against 4 in the middle, he should have revered to 5 in the middle, but his in game actions or lack of, i'm getting used to
damian for villa manager
Ghosthunter
I'd like to see Gardner get a run too, but not at the expense of Sidwell - but I think my views on Sidwell are similar to your views on Milner. petrov is also playing well at teh moment and that is ultimately where i'd see him fitting in
gardner is in an unfortunate position in so much that we've got, i think, a very good central midfield three now with petrov, sidwell and barry. sidwell offers the pace and getting forward that barry cant while barry offers stuff that sidwell cant and petrov is more of an engine room player
gardner though is still young though (22 years) and if he sticks with villa his chance will come - i can see him as a replacement for petrov in time - worst thing he could do would be to move in my opinion ... he's got 10 + years left and he doesn't need to go chase regular football just yet
Which game did you guys see? No way did we play 4-4-2 apart from lining up at the start. Most of the time we played a Christmas tree with Petrov, Gardner and Sidwell holding and Milner and Young license to roam. A lot of times when Petrov and Sidwell made runs Milner was holding for them. Where was Milner when he played that back pass (wide right half way line), where was he when he was crossing (wide right fairly deep). Damian you say a 4-5-1 is the same as a 4-3-3 if that logic is correct then yesterday we played a 4-5-1.
Reply to AVFCBlog:
Barry looks better because there is more help in defence because of the extra midfielder....he is always vulnerable in defence, and dare i say it, Milner and Young (not as much) are constantly covering for him not to mention Reo and Luke Young...The worse part is he is not getting any quicker!
By the way Damian, what is the latest on that De La Red rumour?
Reply to Leroy:
De la red ! I thought he had a heart attack in training and may never play again !
Hendrie was not a winner and could not tackle, Bowyer was great but preferred battering asians, Parker got injured and now just wants the money - why move to City? They will fuck him off once they get a better player.
Sidwell can play, who else can strike the ball at Villa like he did at Wigan and Everton. Maybe Petrov, but his shots are constantly blocked.
For me our midfield should be built around Sidwell, the kid can pass but because we're a hoofing side our midfield don't have any time to get comfortable on the ball.
Look at Sidwell's performance at the Emirates. He's a good late runner into the box.
At VP when we won 2-1 Sidwell was quality because Reading played it on the deck not in the air.
You have to ask why is the defence belting it 50 yards? Are these MON orders?
above in reply to Christian!!
Reply to Altan:
I know....piss taking...last summer there was the huge DLR ordeal and now im starting to get the transfer twitch and tingles...just love the speculation, more interesting than formation for me!
I like Sidwell - particularly when he said in those interviews a few weeks back that he was disappointed with his form, and that we're yet to see the best of him. This indicates to me a player who has high standards and won't get complacent. I'm also convinced that, given MoN signed him, he'll have a great attitude. See Reo-Coker, Davies, the Youngs, Knight, Harewood - all who have demonstrated excellent professionalism.
However, from what I've seen, he must be massively below par at the moment if he's going to be sticking around for the long term. From what I've seen, he's merely a serviceable passer, and not a great tackler (though he presses well). He is, as has been said, a good late runner and can strike the ball fantastically, but is this enough? Certainly the suggestion that we should build our midfield around him is risible. MoN has built his midfield around Barry, and rightly so because he's the best midfield player in the Premiership. It remains to be seen what kind of midfield player would prosper best alongside Petrov and Barry - assuming we continue with 4-5-1. I'd love to see a final third playmaker to augment Barry's playmaking, but whether such a player would fit into MoN's style of play I don't know.
Regardless of this, the priorities remain a striker and a wide midfielder to compete with Young and Milner. And a right back would be fantastic. Luke Young has proved that he can do a very good job in either full back position, so when Bouma comes back, should we buy a quality right back, we'll have three quality full backs competing for one position. It seems that MoN wants to have as small, and therefore versatile, first team as possible. With the right players, it may not prove necessary to have two players for every position
Just a couple of things lads,
I must say I am so fucked off at people who keep having a go knight and milner!
I must say that knight has performed very well since he has been in and is a quality defender, he would get in many teams outside the top 4 easily! So get off his fucking back! He is a local villa boy! And as for milner! Ok this guy is quality, have people forgot the magic skill against backburn where he made a goal out of nothing for barry! He is quality! And will only get better! Teams are now fearing us! When was that last heard?
And also all the muppet fans who keep saying that villa aren't playing well and they didn't deserve this or that?
Against hull - hull didn't have 1 shot on target - why? Due to quality defending!
Against gillingham - again they only had 1shot on target!
Calm the fuck down lads, we are becoming hard to play against! Teams fear that if they don't score against us when they are on top, that villa will beat them on the break! Now this is a sign of a top 4 team!
We are not man united or chelsea but I will tell u wat guys we are fucking catching them fast!
Serious point here.
Are the ratings standardised for ability of the performance. In other words is an 8 for Ashley Young meaning the same as an 8 for a player in a non-league team?
I'm guessing the answer is no. So each player gets a mark out of 10 based on how well he matches up to his own potential. Hence a team gets beaten but all players in the beaten team seem to have played better than the winning team.
I think what I'm trying to say is that the numbers are pants. Suggest new simplified system....
Won the game/I always said he was our best player (old 9/10)
Good/We won I am happy (Old 7/
Lazy tossers/We drew with a crap team (Old 5/6)
He shouldn't play for us I've said it on the blog for weeks(Old 3/4)
I hate modern footballers and am feeling a bit Taglor(Old 1/2)
Not sure how that silly yellow thing got there. Sorry.
Disagree with Glenn Moore from the Independent ... I thought Zat, apart from the goal had a good game and saved us with numerous headers and the last ditch tackle from Milner's pass back.
(Wishful thinking!)
Can't help but feel Nicky Shorey isn't up to it, as much as I really want him to come good.
Anyone listen to talkSPORT? Ian Wright has put £50 on Villa to win the League and F.A. Cup after Paddy Power quoted him 450/1 ... single odds we're 9/1 for the F.A. Cup and 40/1 for the league. Makes you feel kind of excited knowing how low they've quoted us compared to the last few seasons!
Wrighty said the Villa deserve some silverware for this season and hope they do it!! (Could he possibly persuade SWP to move to us to fill in the right wing position?)
I see Milan Jonovich has said it's a straight choice between villa and stuggart. Does anybody know if he's any good?
I have got to agree with Bobby B there, these players are VILLA players - we should be right behind them. How would any of us feel if we read on the internet that we are pants at our jobs?
Personally I think that Gillingham were robbed, that was a soft penalty. They played very well and on that form would be comfortable in the Championship.
We are playing quite poorly at the moment, but still winning games, compare this to last season when our run of poor form resulted in a run of losses. Fourth place is there for us if we want it enough. The FA Cup is a real possibility. And UEFA glory is beckoning.
UTV
what is it with you lot and james milner the lad doesn't play the best but neither did petrov an my mate who i go with to the villa was sayin we should get rid of petrov but hes turned out good.
james milner is still yooung and we don't need another winger. i just wish ud lot stop sayin hes shit cuz he ay give him tym!!!!!!!!!!!!
o yh the mate who i go with now thinks petrov is class an is player of the season so far lmao
Reply to Darragh:
Do you have a link where we can see for ourselves ?
Milan Jovanovic: They call him the serbian snake lol
the guy looks good he's got pace an skill. could keep up with gabby maybe..
LINK
Reply to Altan:
Sorry I'm on my iPhone and can't copy the link. But you can it in the villa section of fansfc.com. The headline says something 12M rated striker SOS. There's quote so maybe there's some truth to it
Reply to Darragh:
Thanks for that , also heard that we might be after a lad from Cov called Danny fox . Anyone know anything ?
Shorey is the worst player I've seen in a Villa shirt get him out and gone. He did nothing at the gills game, i was there and he was appalling, beaten every time by his opposite and couldn't cross pass or tackle absolutely crap!
On another note - I thought you were getting paid to do this blog now Damon??? These PMP's and player ratings (done by other people) are all very well but it just means there's less analysis and comment from your good self. Getting lazy perhaps? And what's happened to Doc? I used to look forward to his post match reports!!
I feel bad for Gardner, hes just not a winger. I feel bad for Shorey, he just isnt a good player.
see what I did there?
NRC deserves some credit, he can do a good job at fullback (See manu game)
I have been reading peoples comments on here for quite some time and recently say since the beginning of the season there are so many posts about selling players. Now correct me if I am wrong but we have the smallest squad in the league yes even Stoke have more players on their books. Now I am not disagreeing with the fact Shorey just hasn't got used to living in Brum or his new team mates or even MONs' way of training but as someone who lived in Reading for 5 years this lad is good. Then we move onto players like Osbourne, Harewood and Knight every club needs these, these are the players who get no credit for not playing football and spitting there dummy out demanding first team football or a move these are true modern day professionals. When we have replaced these players then sell them but why half of you seem so hell bent on selling are squad players is beyond me what do you want to happen they all go and when we do get an injury we have to call someone up from the under 12s as cover. THINK ABOUT IT
UTV
Reply to villadam:
At last someone with common sense!!