Re: Aston Villa V THEM... Tues Sep 22nd 7:45 Kick Off

by South London Villan Tue Sep 22, 2015 10:14 pm

Veretout lost posession too often for me, he got better in the last 10 minutes pushing forward and exploiting space but I felt he was trying to play the same role as Westwood for large parts of the game, went sideways and backwards too much and poor defensively.
I don't think he has got to grips with pace and intensity, especially in the defensive side of things

by South London Villan Tue Sep 22, 2015 10:20 pm

http://www.whoscored.com/Matches/1016575/Live/England-League-Cup-2015-2016-Aston-Villa-Birmingham
.

We will have to agree to disagree

by Jim Villan Tue Sep 22, 2015 11:06 pm

great win tonight and really important to give some of the new guys, namely Gestede, ayew and veretout a bit of confidence. Grealish looked special second half and its encouraging to see that we are seeing consistant glimpses of his class. One thing for him to work on is putting 90 minutes together as i think he struggles endurance wise to play more that 55 mins in game. Using either him or Gill to come on in second half of games will effective. If we can take the second half performance into the liverpool match and get a result this could kickstart our season.

by **Sandie** Tue Sep 22, 2015 11:41 pm

South London Villan wrote:http://www.whoscored.com/Matches/1016575/Live/England-League-Cup-2015-2016-Aston-Villa-Birmingham

Cheers for the stats SLV.

Most interesting ones I can see (based on a really quick scout around there) are the number of touches. Gabby got 13 touches in his half, Sinclair 35 in the whole game compared to 40 each for Grealish and Ayew in the second half.

by **Sandie** Tue Sep 22, 2015 11:51 pm

Tim's view

On the subs…

It wasn't just personnel at half-time. It was also the way we played. It made the difference.

It was always the plan to go very direct in the first period.

If you then came out and looked at their back two in the second period, they were 10 or 15 yards deeper than what they were in the first half. That gave us the space to get in between lines - the likes of Jack Grealish.

They were worn down in the second period. We found loads of space.

We should have won by more.

On Jack Grealish's performance…

I thought it was easy for him in the second period because the space was there.

I am not taking anything away from his quality. I am his biggest fan. But it was because there was so much space.

It caught them by surprise. We stopped hitting it long and got Jordan Veretout and Ashley Westwood on the ball - and started popping it around.

I was happy in the second period - but I was happy in the first to be honest.

On the claret and blue expectation…

I think we deserved to win by a lot more. We were on a hiding to nothing.

All we can do is come here and get through. We showed a lot of bottle. The boys stuck to it.

In the second half they were brave enough to get on the ball, look forward, pass it forward - it was great.

On selecting Ciaran Clark in midfield…

Carlos Sanchez has played a lot of games. I wanted Ciaran Clark to play 90 minutes.

Joleon Lescott was always coming off at half-time.

The only substitution that wasn't played was Gabby Agbonlahor, who got injured. It was his calf.

On his advice to Jack Grealish…

I had a word with him in the week about trying to put some work-rate in out of possession.

I am not asking him to be a tiger in the midfield area but I want him to get back into a shape and that might help him when we win the ball back.

It might be easier for people to find him.

He's willing to learn - and he has the potential to be a top player.

On the momentum following victory…

It's a good confidence boost.

I believe that points tally-wise we haven't got what we have deserved this season.

The performances have been encouraging with a new group of players.

You can take the West Brom game out of that. But even then it's fine margins.

Brad Guzan is picking up the ball and Saido Berahino gets a flick on it.

But it's about wins. I know the fans are interested in wins.

They are not dissecting the game like I do every week.

It's a victory - and one in a derby.

I am just delighted for the boys. Hopefully that can be a platform for us to move on.

On Rudy Gestede's display…

I don't think he's bothered about how he played now. He's worried that he put the ball in the net - and it's the one that counted.

I thought it was a mixed bag to be honest, if you're asking me.

But I think Rudy would be happy with his contribution.

I think the fans would be alright with it, too!

On staying calm…

It's a new group of players. A lot of them weren't even here in pre-season.

It's a work in progress. I am quite happy with the way things are going to be perfectly honest.

I would like to have more points but I am not panicking by any means.

Interesting how he suggests that parts of this were pre-planned, such as taking off Lescott at half time, rather than being a response to our poor performance in the first half.

by **Sandie** Wed Sep 23, 2015 12:30 am

This is odd...

Rowett: I knew their team yesterday

Aston Villa's team was leaked to Birmingham City the day before their League Cup third-round encounter, Blues boss Gary Rowett has claimed.

"I actually knew their team yesterday funnily enough," said Rowett, who saw his side knocked out by Rudy Gestede's second goal of the season.

"That often happens - you often get a little tip-off. Sometimes they're right, sometimes they're not."

Villa manager Tim Sherwood said he was unfazed by Rowett's "strange" claim.

"Of course it's not," Sherwood replied when asked if the leak was worrying.

"Did he tell you who it was? It's interesting why he even mentioned it. It's strange."

Gestede's goal with just over an hour gone clinched victory for the Premier League side, after second-tier Birmingham had dominated the first 45 minutes - leading to boos from sections of the home crowd at the break.

"I felt, in the first half, tactically we got the game spot on, got some runners into some great positions," said Rowett.

"I have heard Tim said he purposely let us do that in the first half so they could change tactics in the second half, but I'm not sure a tactic of getting booed at half-time would particularly be a good one."

Saturday's 1-0 derby defeat to West Brom had increased the pressure on this match but Sherwood insisted his side knew what they were doing in what appeared a lacklustre opening half.

"I think we deserved to win by a lot more," he said. "We showed a lot of bottle, even after a first half like that - even though it's how I wanted them to play.

"They took a lot of criticism out there but in the second half they were brave enough to get the ball."

There were stories of leaked teams last season under Lambert too.

by Liberty Wed Sep 23, 2015 12:28 pm

Never in doubt! Very Happy

Hated the first half weird set-up, we were getting completely overrun in the midfield and going back to the hoof-ball days I thought was long behind us.
however, the 2nd half was really refreshing, Grealish came into his own, we all started to take notice of Ayew and possibly seeing glimpses of his £10M price tag, Veretout also impressed with great movement off the ball, good short passes(apart from one near the end!) and my MOTM Richards was immense, the none shall pass attitude wasn't wasted on me! apart from his goal which I am extremely grateful Gestede had all the touches of a elephant! and Westwood looked lost running around like a headless chicken and compounding it with stupid booking for kicking the ball away.
As someone said before me, 2nd half team plus Adama will do for me please!

by **Sandie** Wed Sep 23, 2015 2:01 pm

We just need to string two decent halves together. Though, it seems last night's first half was 'deliberate'.

Any preferences on who we get in the next round?

As per usual, I want someone crap at Villa Park.

by **villabromsgrove** Wed Sep 23, 2015 5:38 pm

We're due an away game now aren't we? It will need to be someone fairly ordinary, because our confidence is fragile. One question .... how can a team that played a totally clueless first half, then play a classy second half?

by GadgetMan Thu Sep 24, 2015 1:58 pm

villabromsgrove wrote:We're due an away game now aren't we? It will need to be someone fairly ordinary, because our confidence is fragile. One question .... how can a team that played a totally clueless first half, then play a classy second half?

To me it shows the value in being set up correctly and having the right balance in the team and players to then carry out the instructions. We set out to stifle the game first half and then attack the space the second half.

For me it shows we need to pick a more mobile and progressive midfield. I'd go with Gana and Veretout and Jack. I don't think we can play him and Gil together. Likewise I see no benefit in playing Gabby and Sinclair in the same team. Moving forward if we insist on this 4-3-3 then if like to see the following.

Guzan

Ilori (give him a chance) Richards Lescott/Clark Amavi

Veretout Westwood/Sanchez Gana

Traore/Ayew Gestede Grealish/Gil

I've highlighted the 'either or' selections for me.

What do we think?

by South London Villan Thu Sep 24, 2015 2:49 pm

Not sure if Ilori is eligible to play against home club?

by **Sandie** Thu Sep 24, 2015 3:08 pm

He won't be, though I think GM's team is just a general 'best XI'?

That's not a million miles from what I'd go for as a first choice team. I might put Sinclair as one of the either ors but other than that it would work.

I know that Gestede hasn't exactly excelled and been a bit of a mixed bag so far but he's a centre forward in a way that most of our other options (other than Kozak who seems to be well out of the picture) aren't.

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