Official Aston Villa v City Match Thread

[alera]

He worked hard and kept possesion.

WIth RSC we were playing with 10 men - worse he gave the ball away everytime he was involved. Did you actually watch the game ? Also RSC was a completely pointless sub. We have 2 or 3 set pieces after he came on. If Petrov had been on there would have been more crosses and opportunities. So in that respect it was a double fuck up.

Seriously RSC was pub league quality tonight but he is comming back from another bad injury. Still not a good sub, any other player that would have contributed would have been better.

 

[EddieR]

He worked hard and kept possesion.

WIth RSC we were playing with 10 men - worse he gave the ball away everytime he was involved. Did you actually watch the game ? Also RSC was a completely pointless sub. We have 2 or 3 set pieces after he came on. If Petrov had been on there would have been more crosses and opportunities. So in that respect it was a double fuck up.

Seriously RSC was pub league quality tonight but heepere is comming back from another bad injury. Still not a good sub, any other player that would have contributed would have been better.

Agree in parts. RSC obviously not sharp. Tevez worked hard but, playing in that role a little deeper is not his best position as he's not a good enough passer of the ball. Ireland looked good, must start next game. We alays looked vulnerable to Villa's aerial threat. That'll be ominous against lower opposition in this league.

 

[supermicahrichards]

If we had kept Tevez on and subed SWP for Petrov at Half time we would have won that game. Thats the reality of the situation.

Tevez did fuck all, I'd have subbed him at 45 minutes.

He set up SWP with a great chance, and one of his long shots he was a bit unlucky Ade didn't get a better deflection on it. He wasn't a top player today, but he wasn't useless.

 

[Polari]

I said in another thread I would be disappointed with a draw. And I am. We were unlucky and there's no question in my mind that we're the better team. Full credit to Villa's defence though, they shut us down when they needed to. Would've put Petrov on for SWP instead of Santa Cruz for Tevez personally, but such is life eh?

 

[tonea2003]

that was a game we would have lost last season, no question
i'm satisfied with a point,
we are and will get better which is encouraging
and we are still 4th, got to be happy with that

 

[Chippy_boy]

Obviously we didn't play great but for me there were some positives.

1. We came back from 1-0 down to get a point away from home. We would never have done that last year.

2. Ireland looked better than he has done all season. Hints of last season's form.

3. Sweep played better than he has been doing imho.

4. Lescott looked more like the £20m+ player we paid for. Both him and Toure were excellent.

5. Bellamy MOM for me again. (I can't believe I am saying this cause I used to hate the bloke, but he is just superb.)

If we can play that *badly* and still get a draw away at Villa, we have nothing to worry about.

 

[acquiesce]

I could only make it through half of this thread, damn negative Nancy's everywhere. I can only imagine what you were saying under Pearce. It's surprising you didn't top yourselves then. I guess some people are only happy if they're complaining.

Villa will challenge for a Top 6 place, the game was away from home. With their height and pace up front (two areas that have been our weakness this year) a draw is a damn good result. After Dunne scored they created very few clear cut chances. We had possession and intent and probably should have won on the run of play. We were 1-0 down away from home and came away with a draw to a Top 6 quality side.

Outside of SWP and Zabaleta the team we put out there have been with us less than 10 months. It will be something to see when Hughes can finally get a settled team under this wholesale transformation. When it comes down to it we have played 7 won 5 drawn 1 lost 1; 16 points with a home game in hand on everyone above us. Pretty much every team has the game against us highlighted. Either its because we're "Top 4 gatecrashing pretenders" or we're "money grabbing mercenaries". Teams above us and below us will give us their best shot. Get behind the team and the manager; I'm pretty sure they have a clue from training day in and day out compared to someone sitting behind a computer. It's exciting times, the future is bright, the future is blue.

 

[lionheart]

When it comes down to it we have played 7 won 5 drawn 1 lost 1; 16 points with a home game in hand on everyone above us.

Technically our game in hand is Away to Everton (one point would be fine) so we are neck and neck with United. Not sure why we have played so few Home games though. Our next game is Away too, making it only 3 out of the first 8 played at COMs.

 

[blueinmyheart]

Thought a draw was an ok result in the end, Villa shut us down well they gave us very little time on the ball and pressured us into some bad passing at times. Our lads worked hard too, defended and battled well though sometimes made the wrong choices when in the final third of the pitch which turned some great work by others into wasted opportunities.

one thing that has been so good to see this season is the effort that almost all the players are putting in to retrieve the ball when it's lost especially people like Bellamy running the whole length of the pitch to win the ball. This determination has paid great dividends turning a bad situation into a good one many times.

One thing that has not been as good is the general level of passing and holding on to the ball, too many times i have watched the ball being given away cheaply with a bad pass, it's very frustrating to watch. it is understandable that at the fast pace of the game and with pressure from opposition players mistakes are made but it seems that it happens more than is acceptable at this level. i feel if we could eliminate some of the silly mistakes we would be unstoppable.

From what i've read on the MCFC website it appears RSC got a finger in the eye from Bellamy and could only see with one eye. which may explain some of his bad passing. though if he was that bad maybe he should have come off!

would have liked to see Petrov come on for a least the last 15, fresh legs and a player with great crossing ability would have been an asset, especially as the service from other players crosses was not as good as it could have been. i've always liked watching Petrov and would love to see him used a bit more i think he deserves more of a chance.

there are a lot of positives to be had from this performance, and I'm just enjoying the hope and dream of watching City conquer England and Europe one day soon.

 

[Sky Blue]

I also expect dunnie to have one of those games where absolutely nothing gets passed him!

my opinion is villa will win 1-0 or 2-0

Unlucky again Simon.