Villa Vs City Post Match Thread

[OB1]

There appears to be a view in the papers today, and expressed in the papers this morning, the the result was harsh on Villa, who deserved a point. This is nonsense. Only City deserved to get anything ie the full three points out of this game; the game was played almost exclusively in the Villa half, and more precisely in and around their box. It would have been a travesty had City not won. Yet this was not a good City performance, though it got better after half-time and more so as the second half wore on. Unfortunately, as the game wore on, my lads and I were using words such as "sloppy" and "careless" to describe the way City were accomplishing routine tasks (hopefully, I think we must be wrong because I heard Shearer use the same words when I watched MotD this morning). Our defence rarely came under too much pressure, but at times it did, as the media say, "to the counter". I'm not sure this is true. It seems to me that we are actually vulnerable to what the pundits call "a very open game". This appears to be a series of thrusts - attack/counter/counter. The pattern seems to be they attack, we halt their attack and launch a counter, which takes our midfield upfield but then we lose the ball and they play it forward, Vinni or his partner halt this attack but we tend to be all over the shop, stretched out and ripe for the counter. Villa never managed this because our players are better than theirs and they didn't have the pace, but Roma did, and this seems to be our difficulty in Europe. Ya Ya is not lazy, he isn't lacking motivation and he is a world class player - but he doesn't get back into position in defensive shape anything like quick enough. This is what Fernando was bought for, this is what he did yesterday and Villa never got in our half after he came on. This is what we must do in the CL.

We really weren't that sloppy or careless in performing routine tasks because our pass completion as a team was better than any team's average for the season so far ( Arsenal are just ahead of us in those stakes). Plenty of the passes that did not find their man were the more difficult ones, the long balls and attempts to thread a final ball through the massed ranks of the Vile.

There were some mistakes that had me shouting at the TV and some of them featured in the Shearer special but my biggest complaint was our finishing.

 

[deano ou812]

Can anyone who was there yesterday remember if there were any songs about Kean wanking his dog off? If not, shame on you all.

there were some songs about Keane but i really couldn't give a fuck about listening to anything about the rag c**t

The camera panned round yesterday near the end of the game,to the villa bench and you would have thought Keane had been plucked off the streets of Birmingham, with that fcuking beard he looked like a tramp all that was missing was a bottle in a brown paper bag...

 

[BillyShears]

There appears to be a view in the papers today, and expressed in the papers this morning, the the result was harsh on Villa, who deserved a point. This is nonsense. Only City deserved to get anything ie the full three points out of this game; the game was played almost exclusively in the Villa half, and more precisely in and around their box. It would have been a travesty had City not won. Yet this was not a good City performance, though it got better after half-time and more so as the second half wore on. Unfortunately, as the game wore on, my lads and I were using words such as "sloppy" and "careless" to describe the way City were accomplishing routine tasks (hopefully, I think we must be wrong because I heard Shearer use the same words when I watched MotD this morning). Our defence rarely came under too much pressure, but at times it did, as the media say, "to the counter". I'm not sure this is true. It seems to me that we are actually vulnerable to what the pundits call "a very open game". This appears to be a series of thrusts - attack/counter/counter. The pattern seems to be they attack, we halt their attack and launch a counter, which takes our midfield upfield but then we lose the ball and they play it forward, Vinni or his partner halt this attack but we tend to be all over the shop, stretched out and ripe for the counter. Villa never managed this because our players are better than theirs and they didn't have the pace, but Roma did, and this seems to be our difficulty in Europe. Ya Ya is not lazy, he isn't lacking motivation and he is a world class player - but he doesn't get back into position in defensive shape anything like quick enough. This is what Fernando was bought for, this is what he did yesterday and Villa never got in our half after he came on. This is what we must do in the CL.

We really weren't that sloppy or careless in performing routine tasks because our pass completion as a team was better than any team's average for the season so far ( Arsenal are just ahead of us in those stakes). Plenty of the passes that did not find their man were the more difficult ones, the long balls and attempts to thread a final ball through the massed ranks of the Vile.

There were some mistakes that had me shouting at the TV and some of them featured in the Shearer special but my biggest complaint was our finishing.

Kun needed that goal.

I really hope Vinny, Eli, and Fernando get a run of games together after the international break. With that base we played some of our best football of the season in the last 20 minutes of the match.

 

[squirtyflower]

Can anyone who was there yesterday remember if there were any songs about Kean wanking his dog off? If not, shame on you all.

there were some songs about Keane but i really couldn't give a fuck about listening to anything about the rag c**t

The camera panned round yesterday near the end of the game,to the villa bench and you would have thought Keane had been plucked off the streets of Birmingham, with that fcuking beard he looked like a tramp all that was missing was a bottle in a brown paper bag...

that's one tramp

 

[OB1]

Correct SHB, he had a poor game.Not his fault played in the wrong position away from home as Carragher pointed out.

I dont mind any player having a bad game but the lack of effort is what gets me..

TBF SHB, Yaya is 32 next birthday, 6ft 4", 14+ stone and plays near enough every game for us and all the internationals for the Ivorians which must have amounted to 50+ matches last season where he was rarely a substitute or substituted. Hauling his huge carcass up and down a pitch during a frantic Premier League match is not what such a frame is built for so most of us can be forgiven for seeing this as him being lazy. He is a rare, but ageing resource and should be treated as such because a James Milner he is not, has never been and never will be. I'm not saying he's never had frustratingly lazy days, but I think when taken into the context of what he's being asked to do, consideration of who and what he is needs to be afforded to him IMHO.

After last weeks matches against Hull and Roma including the Villa match, all the TV pundits agree with many on BM and fans in general that Yaya isn't best suited to a 2 man midfield. Last night both Shearer and Carragher said that playing Yaya as one of a two puts extra defensive strain on his midfield partner and Shearer showed how time and again we were left exposed when the opposition counter-attacked and Yaya was seen to be jogging back into his defensive position. They both went on to mention that whilst we mainly get away with it in the Prem, we always seem to get found out in Europe against skilful tactically astute opponents.

It was quite telling that when Yaya was interviewed he was asked if he preferred playing further forward and he replied yes he did, but went on to say that ultimately he'll just carry out the boss's wishes whatever they may be. I still think we should have got rid during the summer after 'Cake Gate' and gone for Fabregas or Pogba, but he's still here and remains one of us. At this stage of his career he needs our protection and I don't think we're doing him or ourselves any favours by flogging him to death in a two man midfield at his age when as part of a 3 he's shown how devastating he can be and yesterday's match perfectly illustrated this.

Yaya had 150 touches on the ball yesterday, that is a huge amount. He has the highest pass per game average in the league at 101 but yesterday made 142, which was about 40 more than Merlin. Yaya is at the centre of what we do when we have the ball; his primary task is not getting the ball back when we don't have it. However, when we needed him to make a last ditch tackle because Vinnie fucked up, he did it.

In Europe, I would start the Twins and play Yaya in a more adavanced role with just one striker.

 

[hgblue]

There appears to be a view in the papers today, and expressed in the papers this morning, the the result was harsh on Villa, who deserved a point. This is nonsense. Only City deserved to get anything ie the full three points out of this game; the game was played almost exclusively in the Villa half, and more precisely in and around their box. It would have been a travesty had City not won. Yet this was not a good City performance, though it got better after half-time and more so as the second half wore on. Unfortunately, as the game wore on, my lads and I were using words such as "sloppy" and "careless" to describe the way City were accomplishing routine tasks (hopefully, I think we must be wrong because I heard Shearer use the same words when I watched MotD this morning). Our defence rarely came under too much pressure, but at times it did, as the media say, "to the counter". I'm not sure this is true. It seems to me that we are actually vulnerable to what the pundits call "a very open game". This appears to be a series of thrusts - attack/counter/counter. The pattern seems to be they attack, we halt their attack and launch a counter, which takes our midfield upfield but then we lose the ball and they play it forward, Vinni or his partner halt this attack but we tend to be all over the shop, stretched out and ripe for the counter. Villa never managed this because our players are better than theirs and they didn't have the pace, but Roma did, and this seems to be our difficulty in Europe. Ya Ya is not lazy, he isn't lacking motivation and he is a world class player - but he doesn't get back into position in defensive shape anything like quick enough. This is what Fernando was bought for, this is what he did yesterday and Villa never got in our half after he came on. This is what we must do in the CL.

We really weren't that sloppy or careless in performing routine tasks because our pass completion as a team was better than any team's average for the season so far ( Arsenal are just ahead of us in those stakes). Plenty of the passes that did not find their man were the more difficult ones, the long balls and attempts to thread a final ball through the massed ranks of the Vile.

There were some mistakes that had me shouting at the TV and some of them featured in the Shearer special but my biggest complaint was our finishing.

Kun needed that goal.

I really hope Vinny, Eli, and Fernando get a run of games together after the international break. With that base we played some of our best football of the season in the last 20 minutes of the match.

When we had the extra man in midfield you mean? ;)

 

[cleavers]

There appears to be a view in the papers today, and expressed in the papers this morning, the the result was harsh on Villa, who deserved a point.

I said to a mate on the way out that it was harsh on Villa's defending, as they had given their all, despite the number of chances we created, but they certainly didn't deserve a point, as they created almost nothing of note themselves.

Our finishing wasn't at its best, but we made some great chances, played some very good football, and on another day we'll run up a cricket score with much the same performance, and this was largely against the "parked bus" that we normally struggle with.

 

[deano ou812]

There appears to be a view in the papers today, and expressed in the papers this morning, the the result was harsh on Villa, who deserved a point.

I said to a mate on the way out that it was harsh on Villa's defending, as they had given their all, despite the number of chances we created, but they certainly didn't deserve a point, as they created almost nothing of note themselves.

Our finishing wasn't at its best, but we made some great chances, played some very good football, and on another day we'll run up a cricket score with much the same performance, and this was largely against the "parked bus" that we normally struggle with.

According to the sky stats they had 1 shot on target...only for our poor finishing and their keeper it could have been double figures....

 

[cleavers]

Yaya had 150 touches on the ball yesterday, that is a huge amount. He has the highest pass per game average in the league at 101 but yesterday made 142, which was about 40 more than Merlin. Yaya is at the centre of what we do when we have the ball; his primary task is not getting the ball back when we don't have it. However, when we needed him to make a last ditch tackle because Vinnie fucked up, he did it.

In Europe, I would start the Twins and play Yaya in a more adavanced role with just one striker.

It also looked like he was under instructions to sit alongside Fernandhino yesterday, and he was very disciplined in that, it conserved his energy, and when released late in the game, made the telling effort of the match.

I thought he had a good game, but too many are now on his back at every opportunity, he does make mistakes, but its not surprising when he makes 150 touches in 90 minutes, over 1 and a half a minute, every minute.

 

[Dribble]

I dont mind any player having a bad game but the lack of effort is what gets me..

TBF SHB, Yaya is 32 next birthday, 6ft 4", 14+ stone and plays near enough every game for us and all the internationals for the Ivorians which must have amounted to 50+ matches last season where he was rarely a substitute or substituted. Hauling his huge carcass up and down a pitch during a frantic Premier League match is not what such a frame is built for so most of us can be forgiven for seeing this as him being lazy. He is a rare, but ageing resource and should be treated as such because a James Milner he is not, has never been and never will be. I'm not saying he's never had frustratingly lazy days, but I think when taken into the context of what he's being asked to do, consideration of who and what he is needs to be afforded to him IMHO.

After last weeks matches against Hull and Roma including the Villa match, all the TV pundits agree with many on BM and fans in general that Yaya isn't best suited to a 2 man midfield. Last night both Shearer and Carragher said that playing Yaya as one of a two puts extra defensive strain on his midfield partner and Shearer showed how time and again we were left exposed when the opposition counter-attacked and Yaya was seen to be jogging back into his defensive position. They both went on to mention that whilst we mainly get away with it in the Prem, we always seem to get found out in Europe against skilful tactically astute opponents.

It was quite telling that when Yaya was interviewed he was asked if he preferred playing further forward and he replied yes he did, but went on to say that ultimately he'll just carry out the boss's wishes whatever they may be. I still think we should have got rid during the summer after 'Cake Gate' and gone for Fabregas or Pogba, but he's still here and remains one of us. At this stage of his career he needs our protection and I don't think we're doing him or ourselves any favours by flogging him to death in a two man midfield at his age when as part of a 3 he's shown how devastating he can be and yesterday's match perfectly illustrated this.

Yaya had 150 touches on the ball yesterday, that is a huge amount. He has the highest pass per game average in the league at 101 but yesterday made 142, which was about 40 more than Merlin. Yaya is at the centre of what we do when we have the ball; his primary task is not getting the ball back when we don't have it. However, when we needed him to make a last ditch tackle because Vinnie fucked up, he did it.

In Europe, I would start the Twins and play Yaya in a more adavanced role with just one striker.

It's not how many touches or passes Yaya made that many are questioning, its his effectiveness in a 2 man midfield. Yaya could stand 2 feet away from his midfield partner and pass the ball to him 200 times and get better stats but be less effective.

As previous posters have said, I wish we could swap our Plan A and Plan B around as I think we'd be a hell of a lot more effective as a team with a 3 man midfield. Most of the pundits over the last week have said this and Yaya himself alluded to this in his post match interview yesterday.

Yes Yaya has bouts of laziness, but I just don't think we generally play to his strengths until we're under pressure in the final stages of some matches. If playing Yaya in a more advanced roll whilst having 'The Twins' or one of them alongside Milner behind him can save or win us matches, I don't get why we just don't start like that and save ourselves the bother of a reshuffle?