Think you're being a bit harsh on Jackson Carra. He did give the ball away, but no more than anyone else on the team and his movement looked worse than it was due to the poor choice and execution of passing into him. He isn't Holt or Morison so the ball should have been on the floor, not in the air. I agree. When we played Chelsea, they started with Oscar - Mata - Moses. After 30 minutes it was obvious Oscar was getting nothing out or Martin and Garrido was comfortable dealing with Moses, so they changed it to Moses - Oscar - Mata and in the ten minutes it took Martin and Garrido to get to grips with marking different players Chelsea scored.
He gave it away all the time even with the pitiful amount of times he had the ball. He forced the midfielders to hit long because he wasn't there to go short, and as I said spent the whole time he was on the field running away. If there was no one to pass on the floor to, then what are they supposed to do. All our attacks he was nowhere to be seen.
I've said before that Jackson doesn't fit into any system we currently have the players for, and I stand by that. He's arguably at his best in a 4-4-2, which we don't really have the best wide players for. I'm quite distinctly not a fan, as anyone following my twitter will know. Was frustrating to see him named yesterday, but I guess that's why we need a new striker. As for Fox, I tend to think that his passing has become mythologized, and he's suddenly Xavi. While he isn't quite as good as everyone seems to think, we did need him yesterday. And we didn't get him. My two gripes with Hughton are his inflexibility and his lack of substitutions - or choice of subs when he decides to make some. EDIT: I forgot the point of this post, which was to agree with Carrabuh. Jackson is terrible, and usually offside which is ridiculous for someone with so much pace.
I was quite confident before the game we'd have at least a point not disappointed but I thought we would be a lot more hungry. Sounds like we lost possession a lot which is quite concerning. I hope Hughton makes the necessary changes the team. As well as some firepower up front our squad is screaming out for deep lying playmaker who put a tackle in.
Two players we've been linked to Bridcutt who is defensive but can spot a pass and Lucas Biglia who is apparently brilliant.
We've always struggled with possession, even under Lambert (which may have been even worse in terms of percentages). Its how we play as well as the players we have, I've said before we are not a creative side, its simplistic in style. Throwing crosses into the box is not a creative process, you don't have to think about it, do any real work with the ball or have great movement. It is the easiest way to play and why so many British sides play it.
I like Hughton, hes a lovely bloke and he has really good defensive ideas. I get really annoyed, not just him, all managers. When either you make the bulk of your subs at 80+ minutes, or, you don't use all 3 subs! Now, if we are 1-0 up and doing ok with 10 mins to go, I understand, don't change for the risk. But, the game against Newcastle....jesus, don't think I have ever seen a worse game of football. It reminded me of when we went down for the Championship, so so so so poor, in all areas. I really wanted Chrissy to come out and just say "that was awful, in no way good enough, we will work hard to improve" Not side step it! Also, after the 1st half where I wish I could have left, he should have bought on Holt and Bennett. For.......prob, Johnson and Snoddy. Then is still 0-0 and that ****e, fox for Tetty after about 60 minutes. I have no idea why he hates Fox. His passing and creativity I feel is very important! That#s the worst Hoolahan has been in years, and hes the only midfielder that makes things happen atm, him and Fox, I think would add so much creativity.
The issue with the passing was further up field which Fox generally doesn't have as much to do with, he keeps things going and ticking over.He's not this creative hero though, I love him because he's simple and patient and would rather keep the ball than give it away cheaply. Hughton is a long ball man, he's not interested in working the ball, crosses from early positions are his priority. Its why the wingers are set up to cut in early, its easier, they don't have to work it into better positions. Its predominantly cut in and shoot or cut in and cross. Not work to the byline near the goal and pull back, hardly ever happens, generally when Hoolahan has got the bit between his teeth and forces it.
Having relfected on the game I felt that neither side played with much fluency or confidence. Personally I thought that defensively we looked pretty sound after the first 10 minutes or so - I thought that Garrido and Turner played very well, Bassong did OK but I thought that R Martin was caught out a few times. Midfield I thought Johnson and Tetty broke up play really well but just could not find a pass - some of the through balls Tetty played would have got a pub team player a rollicking from his manager. Wes dallied far too long on the ball and did not distribute anywhere near as well as he can do. I was very surprised to see Sondgrass rather than Pilks taken off first as I thought that he was the only one creating anything and represented by far our best chance of cutting through. Jackson worked hard but was given no help at all by the dross being passed to him. I think that CH could have changed things sooner - I would have liked to see Fox on for the final 20 minutes. On the positive side a number of our first team had poor games and we got a point and we could be Villa fans!
players do not stay on form all season, we all know that. maybe it's time to give fringe players like fox, e bennett and howson more starts, as we clearly have some of our midfield who are not on form at the moment. shame CH isn't thinking like that, but then he is the boss not us.
He does annoy me slightly by continually saying " if there's a chance to strengthen the squad in this window we'll look at it carefully". Well, surely if Hoolers, Pilks and Tettey are all having their (probably) worst game of the season for us, why not use the squad depth we already have and bring players in who - let's face it, could hardly have done any worse! We've gone from one extreme to the other, Lambert the 'tinkerman' changing 4 or 5 players virtually every match to Mr Intransigent, who won't change things even when they need it - because it worked for us in October and November, ffs Sorry this sounds like a rant, but I'm sure 27,000 people on Saturday could see things weren't working like they could/did earlier this season, so time to freshen it up a little??
Whilst I agree with Cromer to a certain degree we have to temper our expectations of our team. I can't imagine that many of us would have been disappointed at taking 26 points and sitting in 12th at this stage of the season had we been asked before the start of the season. Whilst Saturday's game was poor and we had several players all playing below par we still got a point and realistically if the likes of Tetty/Pilks played at the top of their game week in week out they would in all liklihood be playing for bigger clubs than ours - there is a reason Man U paid £20m + for RvP and Chelasea are giving Ba a huge pay rise. I know that a big fee does not guarantee a result but it surely helps if you want to have the top talent playing for your club.
Qute right. While we don't want to tumble down the league because of bad results, you an never know when bad form is going to strike or good form return. So I don't believe mass changes are needed at the moment. Wes was the worst player on the pitch Saturday but in terms of his passing, he was slightly out every time, either misdirected or under hit. Next game he gets his range right and he is hitting spot on passes as we know he can. And how often do you get so many players all having mares in the same game. Wes, Pilks, Martin and Tettey had their worst games in a long time and Snodgers play was OK but his crossing was not up to his usual standard. The only real criticism I have is what has been mentioned for the whole of the season and that is when subs should come on. The real one I didn't understand was Snodgers being replaced by Bennet when Hoolahoops and Pilks weren't performing at all. Snodgers is left footed and Bennet can play in Hoolahoops role, he has for us and Brighton.
Quote from yesterday's 'Observer' which once again rues the lack of a 'creative' player - someone to get their foot on the ball and introduce some composure. Cue David Fox for a poor (by his standards) Alex Tettey?
It was about half-time of the Newcastle game we needed Fox for Tettey - Liverpool will be a different matter entirely and we may well need Tettey for that!
I agree Newcastle's midfield was totally devoid of any creativity, even more so than ours, so there was no need for the two enforcers to play 90 minutes. Made no sense to me, and if Foxy couldn't get a game at home against them, when we were screaming out for someone to get their foot on the ball, then I'm not sure who he's going to play against.
Bump!! A bit of a tenuous link here, but on a thread entitled 'Fox has to play' can I just say birthday wishes to our very own Ruel, born this day in 1968. In 1p5wich
