I know I will probably get hammered by all the Fox lovers but he came on and had at least half a dozen chances to cross the ball and every time he failed to get past the first man or put it too long. Even from the set pieces it was very poor. To be fair it wasnt just him but is was systematic of our play in general today.
I thought we were going to get a shot away in the last seconds then, gutted to see it blocked. Another 90+mins penalty appeal for handball too, if only... At least (bar Swansea) everything has gone our way, just need a couple of draws and a Tottenham win tomorrow to keep us nice and clear of any danger.
I think it also shows we should have sticked to the same side and formation! Moro and holt just dont work, yes holt crossed for moro but over the whole game it just wasnt right. Also hoolahan, barnett and bennett had stinkers today and we needed fox on from the start! Hopefully lambert will put the 2 weeks to good use and come back stronger ready for some tough and important games ahead.
There were lots of positives I thought, but lack of composure is a major issue, but that should improve the more games we play. Pilks gets better each game, Naughton got tighter in 2nd half and did better, they are all still learning and I think improving but we do need a quality centre back to marshall the defence and read the game.
We got two decent goals away from home but naive defending let us down, no complaints with the desire though.................Never mind, hopefully Man City will give QPR a drubbing.....
We can't win every game, and even if we collapse and have a stinker of a season and get relegated, I will love our boys forever!
Although, I'm looking forward to going to see us play Man City, I am very fearful if our defence doesn't isn't better that day.
Massively, he should start every game in my opinion. Ah well, that was always going to be a tough one and we shouldn't be too down about it, Agbonlahor and Bent were the difference and both are quality, proven 20+ goal a season strikers at this level. Just goes to show once again (not that we needed any further proof) that you can't make mistakes against teams like this and get away with it every week.
You saw more positives from that game than I lonsight! I thought it was one of our poorest games so far but if we only manage to have one or two poor games out of eleven then we will give ourselves every opportunity to survive or do better. Whilst I do not disagree with the fact we need another centre back I think the lack of protection in front of them exposed some of their frailties today.
There's no way we'll have a stinker, they are playing patches of really good football, and they are improving. Not saying we won't go down, but it's good football to watch and I love that fact.
I agree it wasn't the best game this season, and I keep repeating myself but there were patches of really good play and if we can extend that and get some composure, all of which can be worked out on the training ground then I feel quite positive.
Also, we lost 3-2 to a team that has got some top quality players, so even though we lost, i think it's an indication of how far we've come.
Villa Park has always been a hard place for us to get anything from. I have been there many times in all cup competitions over the years and have seen us win just once 3-1! The return game at CR should be different, they don't normally do very well when they visit
I think Lambo got it slightly wrong today, going into an away game against Villa with only one proper what you'd call 'central midfielder' was always going to make it difficult. Having Holt and Morison up front it was essential that we pinged enough quality crosses into the box but we didn't really do that as Bennett probably had his poorest game this season so the diamond would possibly have been a better formation today. Ah well, onto the next game....
The problem with having Holt up front is that we become too direct sometimes. It took us until about the 68th minute, if I recall correctly, for us to put together a decent string of passes. I dont know if the diamond is as viable as people think as it exposes our defence even more. At least with the system we have been using we are always in contention throughout every game. As it turns out we have taken a decent tally of points using the previous system. Trouble is though at this level other teams will work you out better and we do need to an alternative option. Perhaps PL already knows our limitations - hence the insistance of adding to the squad come January!
I'd love to know how PL is thinking about how to contain van persie and what he'll be doing with the squad to try and neutralise Arsenal.
