The Doc's Diagnosis: Spurs vs Villa
Monday, 01 October 07, 04:37 PM · Comments (30)
Make no mistake about it: this was a dire Villa performance.
The papers will, unanimously, talk about Villa throwing away a commanding lead. But 4-1 up with twenty-odd to go, it had been far, far from commanding.
Villa's healthy lead came as a result of some luck, some welcome opportunism, and a very well taken free-kick. But that really is where it ends. The side was unable to hold the ball up at the front, couldn't keep the ball in midfield, lacked control and leadership throughout and its defending was always last-ditch. Very worrying.
I may not have been the biggest fan of Carew until now, but Big John's ability to hold the ball up and link midfield with attack was sorely missed this evening. Luke Moore and Gabby Agbonlahor may be quick, but they need to learn to play with their backs to goal as well. Too often balls played forward were pinged straight back at Villa's defence.
I have been a big fan of Gareth Barry until now, but I saw little leadership tonight in Barry's wandering, roaming display. Feted by the press after his remarkable England performances recently, he needs to start to stamp real authority on his Villa performances away from home as well as at Villa Park. A cool head and some discipline was needed in the last twenty minutes, but Barry allowed Villa to look like rabbits caught in the headlights.
Nigel Reo-Coker, clumsily booked early on, looked off the pace throughout, repeatedly ran into dead ends and distributed the ball with all the precision of a Sunday morning pub anchor man with a hangover. A third poor performance in a row.
What is perhaps most worrying of all was Villa's tactical naivety. Even the least intuitive armchair fan would have spotted early on that Gareth Bale was causing severe problems down Villa's right. Gardner and Mellberg - who was too often drawn inside - failed to cope with him and in that failure were the straws in the wind of Villa's ultimate surrender.
O'Neill spotted the problem, if late. But having sent Petrov into the middle and Gabby out wide to stop Bale getting forward, the problems only increased. Gabby didn't get wide, and Bale found himself in more and more space. You have to blame the captain for this - he carries the responsibility for implementing the manager's wishes on the field. He didn't.
I have been rhapsodic in this column about Gareth Barry's performances this season, but I make no apology now for letting the skipper feel some heat. There was no need for the panic of the last ten minutes and, without it, Villa would now be fifth in the Premier League and we would all be smiling on the way to work tomorrow.
I spare my last paragraph for some praise of one individual and one only. Martin Laursen was, once again, magnificent. He lost Berbatov for the first goal, but bagged a couple of his own to make up for it, and then outshone all his colleagues for the rest of the game.
We will all feel angry about the way Villa threw away a lucky lead. It's not about whether Defoe was offside or not, there were questionable decisions at both ends. It's about why a reserve centre forward is making crazy challenges in the Villa box with ten minutes to go. It's about a side with the composure, maturity and discipline to close a game out.
Sorry Villa. Failed on all three counts.
Man of the Match: Gareth Bale, Spurs
Villan of the Match: Martin Laursen
Villa: Carson 6; Mellberg 6; Knight 7: LAURSEN 8; Bouma 6; Gardner 6; Reo-Coker 5; Barry 5; Young 7; Agbonlahor 7; Moore 6. Subs: Harewood 5; Petrov 7.
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30 Comments · Add yours
Bale was tremendous. Looks more and more worth the money each game. Definetly been Spurs sole consistent performer so far.
As was Barry for Villa, until today.
i agree-good write up-simply no need-the game was over and that moron has handed them what proved to be their lifeline.
That was quick Doc!!
I haven't caught my breath yet. Doc Bowles - the fastest pen in the west (midlands)!!
Doc i cant agree with your comments on Barry being responsibe for relaying the managers decisions,but i do feel MON was at fault.He got carried away with us being 4 -1 up and thought it was the ideal oportunity to give Harewood a confidence boost.Where he went wrong was -spliting Reo and Barry up ,he did it against leicester and we lost he did it tonight and we failed to hold a lead.What he sould have done is realised what we had and brought either Davies or Osbourne on to make sure we went away with all three points.MON
Ciontinued,,,MON cost us 3 points and needs to hold his hands up,this could be the turning point in both Vill's and Sours seasons ,well done MON
People have jumped on Petrov's back rather quickly yet he was actually a good sub. Yeah we lost and everything but he did what he was brought on to do. Hold the midfield. We got beaten down the wings and in our penalty area, not through the centre. Agbonlahor didn't do what he was asked to do when brought to the right-wing. He was supposed to control Bale but never did and Mellberg drifted into the centre. Shame really. I guess we'll have a ton of comments now saying "If we bought a specialist right-back we'd have won that game.." Utterly anonymous comments whoever says something along those lines.
My view is that this analysis is a tad harsh. However, I absolutely agree with the implication that that we simply wwern't cynical enough (or professional enough if you have a sensitive disposition) to close this game dowm in the last 10 minutes. Where were the players going down with 'cramp', arguing 'contentious' decisions, taking those extra few seconds at free kicks and throw ins, questioning minor misdemeanours with the referee. Forget the players on the pitch and how they did or didn't "Hare on a G-String" if we had simply wasted an extra minute we would have won the game. I'm sorry to all the purists out there but professional football involves an element of this and Villa have been lacking in this department for years. When Petrov came on, an excellent player at winning free kicks, I set him a target of six, he got one. Come on - nice teams don't win the Premier League. Let's get savvy as well as good.
Also - we would all have been happy with a draw before hand and any right minded individual would place our limited team, performing, in the top half of the Premier Leauge, but only just. So dog sick as I am we are actually performing as expected.
spurs man---apart from super Bale and keene i thought you A.V. played really well and apart from having a bit of a go at the end we deserved nothing.. You were the better team and should not have made changes. Would love your manager though, hes so motivated. He must have screamed at your players for dropping 2 points.---- Best of luck for the season.
I have been a Spurs fan for more than 45 years and have never seen such abject defending as in this latter day ignominious period, under Martin Joll's leadership. He is a great attacking coach!!!,(The football is in the Arsen Weger style (can't spell the swines names) but for GOD'S sake get George Graham in to drill the defence. I don't like George's approach to our great game, but he is the best defensive coach in the business. Eat some humble pie.
Look, whatever way you look at it. I don't want to think about Man U..
I mean I bet MON felt worse than jol even at 3-1 down... It was shocking.
The only positive I can see personally, is that Laursen kept his cool, and young was ok, other than that, all the basics out the window, whatever happened to charging down balls, chasing players carrying the ball (cutting out space)?? watching for wide players breaking though.. where was our right back!!? But really, lets not fret.. ITS ONLY FOOTBALL AFTER ALL!! Or is that just an excuse for what I consider the worst game I've seen villa in, this year. Nice one doc ;)
If you're going to mention Defoe being offside for spurs equaliser, then what about villa's 2nd ? Agbonlahor was CLEARLY offside when the initial cross came in and even got a touch
Hmmmmm, no mention though?
4-1 up, 20 mins to go and you end up with a point !?!?!?!
Harewood is the worst player I have ever seen in the Premiership..!! Did MON think he could produce a new Heskey..?? After that challenge for the penalty he should never wear the claret and blue of villa again.! It may sound harsh but I would not expect someone to challenge like that in sunday league football.!! He is horrendous.!!! MON needs to explain that purchase..!!! The only way Harewood will gain confidence is playing in a park on a sunday morning..!!!
Agree with you pat , but you were at home on special day we played badly and still managed 4 goals against you . Its only a matter of time until your board sack your manager. At the beggining of the season all that money you have spent , you should not be letting in sloppy goals like you did.
i said this about 5 hours ago "id love harewood to do well, but he is simply not good enough and i cant see it happening"... and look what happened, this joker cost us 4million pounds! Forget the overinflated prices of the modern game, the increased wages, the flash cars and big houses that these players simply have to have, 4million pounds is still £3,800,000 more than I make in ten years. I for one do not want to see this uneducated bafoon pull on the claret and blue shirt of aston villa again, he is simply not good enough, has no brain, was an early panic buy and hoping he might hit the form he was playing 2 years ago is an awful reason for buying him, there is a reason he was shit for 2 years... he is shit!
Sorry Marlon but you are not very good!
I can see why O'Neill brought Harewood on - to try and hold on to the ball up front. If Carew had been fit, we would have won this game. But what the f*** is Harewood doing back in the box playing Judo with Spurs forwards with ten to go? He's had a warm welcome from the Holte End at Villa Park - he's now outstayed it.
I actually though Petrov was a good substitution as he can keep the ball - maybe he came on too late. The real problem is that Gabby never did what he was told ie stopping Bale getting forward.
Yeah a bit harsh, especially on barry and especially with regards to him relaying messages. Gabby was caught out not marking bale, its not barry's fault its gabbys. i wanted to see harewood brought on for moore because he was crap, although ultimatley it was a bad decision because that was probably the wort performance i have ever seen in a villa shirt by Harewood. Petrov also struggled and lost possesion and is clearly low in confidence, but it was a hard part of the game to come into and Gardner was also struggleing with bale. we need a right and left back though because Melberg and Bouma are the worst passers that i have ever seen and lose posession too much.
Goal scoring backs are one thing but isn't that what you have midfielders and strikers for? Bale will get a few goals this season but he will be an easy opening for many attacker as well and any manager would have to be blind not to see an opening on the counter.
Just got home from the game. As a spurs supporter I have to say how refreshing it is to see a balanced well thought out opposition view to a match for a change.
In truth you boys have certainly narrowed the slight gap between the two sides that had deveeloped over the last 2/3 years. None of the of top four would a) be 4-1 down at home or b) chuck a 4-1 lead away in the last 20 odd. It's fair to say for both of us that that's a long way off.
Good to see the away fans not wasting the away allocation too because as you can see we've outgrown our old home and it annoys me no end when I see clubs bringing only a couple of hundred for midweek games.
All the best and I look forward to an equally dramatic game on my trip to Villa park!
Although the warning signs were evident before the sustitutions, ultimately, the decision to sub Gardner with Petrov proved the Catalyst.
Gardner looked well mystified and not very happy....and who can blame him?
It just opened us up more down our right, hence allowing Bale even more room to get beyond a lumbering Mellberg.
Why was the summer wasted?. Why do we not have a right-back or right midfield player? Answers please Martin.
MoN can blame the ref, the players or luck, but this is of his own making. Following on from the Leicester debacle, im getting doubts....and i shouldent be.
Martin Laursen has been at AC Milan, he is quality but it's increasingly clear he stands out because he's surrounded by players unable to step up a level and produce with consistency. The top players produce week in/week out and we don't have enough of those - that is why Martin Laursen played (mostly as a reserve) for AC Milan and the rest of our squad is either from the Scottish League, from the youth team or from mid table Premiership clubs. As for the rest of the squad, it is looking ominously like the summer vultures crying for more quality had a hell of a point. As intelligently noted in this article, Aston Villa are not capable of controlling a game, of holding the ball, of using the spaces constructively - qualities almost classed as basic for a team with ambition. Tonight they had Spurs by the proverbials - not so much thanks to the ability of the Villa team but more due to the suicidal first half Spurs endured - and despite having a 3 goal lead over a side clearly in turmoil and with confidence issues Villa managed to self destruct and miss out on a win we should have secured at all costs. This team, this squad as a whole, are not sufficient to improve significantly on last season. There are elementary flaws anyone can spot all over the pitch, there are players not performing and there is a lack of real quality, the quality displayed by Spurs tonight which allowed them to turn a poor display into a point. The Chelsea win is proving more the result of outside events (Mourinho & Abramovich at each other's throats, Drogba playing despite an injury) up to a point than a confirmation of Villa's step forward towards a more exclusive club of high fliers in the Premiership. Barry - as much as he is quality - is proving to be far too shy to be the inspirational captain this club deserves. Mellberg is a centre back, Knight is ok but far from the quality expected this summer, Harewood has managed to turn himself into a figure of fun in the space of a few weeks at Villa Park, Petrov clearly needs to move on, Berger has sadly passed his sell-by-date and is forever injured, Maloney can be quality but is not getting many chances and will probably go back to Scotland at this rate, Reo-Coker is not proving too clever a buy despite the monstrous performance against Chelsea, there's little or no filter from the midfield for the defence, the strikers are - as pointed out in this article - unable to hold the ball up front when Carew is missing and we lack one or two ball playing midfielders to complement Gareth Barry and construct a style of play. The problem begins in defence, where players like Knight, Mellberg and to a degree Laursen & Bouma cannot produce much in terms of beginning a move forward. The midfield is laughable if compared to the Arsenals of this league - a one dimensional combination of Barry's tidy passing and Reo-Coker limited distribution range - and we lack full backs who can come forward to occasionally support the likes of Young and Agbonlahor on the wings. Grim outlook? Perhaps. But - with due respect to MON and considering what we were supposed to build this summer - this team is beginning to show cracks all over the pitch. People often cried that we cannot go for players like Snejider and Drenthe and up to a point I do agree. As we are, Villa can't aim that high and this season is unlikely to make us that much more attractive to class players. I am also very concerned about our inability to spot a talent across the world, a vital requirement in the modern football transfer market. How did Arsenal spot Eboue playing for obscure belgian club Beveren? How did they steal Fabregas from the Barcelona youth team or pay £250,000 for Kolo Toure'? What about Man City and the much derised Eriksson - not so funny now is it? With an effective scouting system in place we may have spotted players like Martin Petrov and Elano, or perhaps Corluka - or even hired Trabelsi for a few months as we did with Agathe last season. I repeat, these are not mistakes we ought to take lightly, we may get Bosingwa in January and perhaps even Defoe but by then the season could be seriously compromised. I understand it takes time to build a winning team, but it also takes ambition and I don't see enough of it at Villa Park right now.
i agree with the doc,this was a shambles. only laursen knew how to defend we was 4-1 up and just chucked it away they scored there second goal just as i was telling my 32yr old son about when villa was 5-1 down at half time, only you oldies will remember but villa came back and drew 5-5 that was about 42yrs ago, the following season we were relegated to the rhen second division.but on a brighter side if someone offered us a 4-4 draw before this match how many villa fans would of took it.up the villa
MON should to put more defender when 4-1 to guarantee a victory, but he didn't >:(
well done MON, put 2 shit players on when 4-1 up. Listen to the villa fans for once, petrov and harewood out the squad and stay out. Sell them in january for who ever is stupid enough to take them. my dad supports aldershot town and said please dont loan them out there, their f**king shite.
Well done laursen, gardner, carson good games and all heart, aggy and moore were ok.
Come on boys, make up for it for the fans at West Ham.
Petrov needs to go his had more than enough chances the guy is useless i'd rather play sorenson in his position.
that was typical villa, we go 4-1 up n then we end up drawing. at the start of the nite if someone offered me a draw wiv spurs i would of took it but to go 4-1 up then concede 3 to end up drawing the game is just shit, we had the game won well so you would of thought, its so frustratin
Good report doc. Just exactly what happend to our midfield? I knew we were doomed when with 30mins remaining we had 10 players camped on our own 18 yard box. Need a RB too. Get Mellberg back in the middle, he looked great with Laursen early in the season.
Still we have an emerging young squad and i'm trying to remember the 5 year plan! but thats hard when you throw a game away.
Robinson gifted Villa three goals! You think Harewood is the worst player!? Did you not see spurs and englands number 1 flapping and rolling about like a fat whale! Fair play to the villa fans tho. Laughed wen you started singing happy birthday!
hasnt ani 1 realised, Marlon Harewood and Stilian Petrov are not good enough!!!!, i don't know why MON even bought Harewood!!, just a waste of money, and asfar as petrov is concerned he isnt good enough for reserves, we should of stayed with Moor and Agbonlahoor up front we looked comfortable with!
MON def got it wrong . We do not have the players to defend a lead or hold onto the ball . Spurs 2nd and 4th goals both scored by defenders who would have been marking our forwards if we hadn`t dropped so deep . Spurs proved that for the first 70 minutes they were incapable of defending , so why play into their hands ?
I saw the goals coming in on bbc football. I expected this to be a draw initially and even at 3 - 1 up i wasn't convinced. I guess it just wasnt our day. It just wasn't our day. O neal will be lifting trophys again. But not this year. I am okay with that though. Villa's form does fluctuate and that can be irritating but it isn't tedious, that's for sure. When Maloney gets to start a fucking game, then we will see a difference.
Villa to finnish 7th