Aston Villa (Away)

[Wall Writer]

Can't fucking believe this. We can't we put the ball in the back of the net. I had a feeling that we'd struggle once they got the goal and started putting 11 men behind the ball. We haven't got an answer when teams play like that. What the hell Rodwell was doing at right mid I have no idea, ffs, either Coleman or Gueye would have done a better job. Then bringing on Johnny for Hibbo when we need to be bringing on attacking players who are going to get in and around the box. This is apparently our worst start for 10 years, the only thing is there's no excuse this time around. We've got a (almost) fully fit squad and a squad which is probably the best we've had for about 20 years. Yet.... Someone needs to remind Moyes/the players that to win a game of football you have to put the ball in the opposition's goal more times than they put it in yours.

[marcopaulo]

One of those days. We were great, they were crap. Friedel won them the game. Bit disheartened that we didn't win but this was down to luck. We didn't have it today and we lost.

 

I'm usually one of Moyes' biggest selection and tactical critic but don't think he could do much there. When you're dominating possession and creating some chances then you have to trust the players. It didn't come off for us today.

 

Coleman has to play next game. If not at right-back then at right-wing.

 

Saha offers far far more than Beckford and allows Cahill to get in the box. He needs to play.

 

rodwell at right wing is possibly his worst ever selection..if you're a big critic you surely have to criticise that?? heitinga coming on when we need a goal and we have a winger on the bench..surely that has to be criticised too? moyes got it wrong..again! he needs to sort his tactics and subs out otherwise we are in deep deep trouble..he is a great manager but it can't continue like this

[tonyh]

Big problem was I don't think we actually had a shot on target until Saha's two shots in the last ten minutes. Why is the only way to attack trying to work the ball out wide to get crosses in? It's too predictable.

[Ian C]

rodwell at right wing is possibly his worst ever selection..if you're a big critic you surely have to criticise that?? heitinga coming on when we need a goal and we have a winger on the bench..surely that has to be criticised too? moyes got it wrong..again! he needs to sort his tactics and subs out otherwise we are in deep deep trouble..he is a great manager but it can't continue like this

 

 

Heitinga came on to give us the ability to launch it from deep. Who else would you have taken off other than Hibbo? Coleman clearly needed to be high up as much as possible not stuck back defending.

 

Though Rodwell did fine. Gueye can't play on the right so if he played Moyes would've broken up Baines/Pienaar. Bilyaletdinov is clearly considered to be out of contention at the moment. That's something we can't comment on as we don't know what he's showing in training - he certainly hasn't shown anything in matches.

 

Coleman could have played right-wing from the start perhaps, but besides that selection was fine. Hibbo performed well again so Coleman at RB is a non-starter.

[marcopaulo]

Heitinga came on to give us the ability to launch it from deep. Who else would you have taken off other than Hibbo? Coleman clearly needed to be high up as much as possible not stuck back defending.

 

Though Rodwell did fine. Gueye can't play on the right so if he played Moyes would've broken up Baines/Pienaar. Bilyaletdinov is clearly considered to be out of contention at the moment. That's something we can't comment on as we don't know what he's showing in training - he certainly hasn't shown anything in matches.

 

Coleman could have played right-wing from the start perhaps, but besides that selection was fine. Hibbo performed well again so Coleman at RB is a non-starter.

 

 

coleman went to right back when heitinga came on so wasn't as high up as possible...bring gueye on if he is goin to shove coleman to right back anyways...or bily..anyone who attacks just not a defender/defensive midfielder..i love johnny but he isn't going to save a game for you

[Bailey]

FFS... How the fuck we havent got at least a point from that game I dunno. We may have been crap, but we still had chances that should have gone in. On the other hand, Villa could have scored a couple more as well.

 

Pathetic selection by Moyes... His player choice has been shocking these 1st 3 games and I dont know what the fuck he has been thinking! Its ridiculous, it really is and I really dont understand... He seems happy to piss points down the drain.

 

Howard did well, a good double save was the highlight.

 

baines was good again, some great balls into the box and he should be given more set pieces as Im fed up of Arteta hitting the wall or not getting the ball past the front post from corners. We may have had a shit load but a lot of them were wasted. Back to Baines, he linked up well with Pienaar but I just wish he would let fly more often in the box.

 

Distin was shit, consistenly being beaten by carew for stregth and pace. Also seemed happy to let A Young to get on his stronger foot when 1v1.

 

Jags did well but not brilliant. A couple of decent blocks and not as much hoof ball. A shocking pass back to Distin at one point though.

 

hibbert was average defensively but his passing was shocking with the exception of one cross.

 

Felli had a slow start but got better. Dont see the point of him rotating with Arteta and it was them points where he looked a bit lost. Did well at the otherend winning headers in the last 10!

 

Arteta was forgettable. Didnt really try and break forward, didnt look to play defence splitting passes & his set pieces were shit. As Romey said last week, if he thinks he deserves 75k for a performance like that then he can fuck off.

 

Pienaar did well enough. he worked hard, played some decent stuff with baines and hit the bar. Didnt really have a massive impact though.

 

I feel sorry for Rodwell being stuck out on the right. Stupid team selection. He didnt do too badly but he clearly wasnt comfortable and should have been moved or replaced. He only came off because of his injury, hopefully its not too bad.

 

Cahill was shite again. He doesnt seem to play as well away from home. His work rate wasnt good enough and had no impact whatsoever.

 

Beckford didnt cut it for me. He wasnt helped by poor service but when he got the ball he wasted it and he keeps trying some stupid tricks that arent necessary at all. Not sure he is a 1 up top striker alongside cahill. Still time to prove me wrong though.

 

Coleman was very good when he came on at RM. It was nice to see someone take a defender on. Lost his influence a little when moved back to RB.

 

Saha came on and did okay, but with his skill level that wasnt enough. He got into good position but his touch was poor. Could have scored a couple and another day he would have.

 

Not sure why Heitinga got on the pitch. Stupid sub when we needed to score, bring on Gueye or Billy or even Osman but not johnny on this occasion.

[Ian C]

coleman went to right back when heitinga came on so wasn't as high up as possible...bring gueye on if he is goin to shove coleman to right back anyways...or bily..anyone who attacks just not a defender/defensive midfielder..i love johnny but he isn't going to save a game for you

 

He didn't go to right-back out of intention. That came about as he was one of the smallest players on the pitch and went back to defend during corners.

 

Heitinga was more height and more strength up in the box during corners. If it came off everyone would be singing Moyes' praises. Sometimes you have to bet on the hard-six and it doesn't come off. That's sport really.

 

Regardless of what the table may say, we are in far better shape than last season. As the Sky commentators said we cannot play like that again and not win, it's impossible.

[marcopaulo]

i'd have brought bily on..he may be shit sometimes but he's a big lad or just stick heitinga at cb and get distin up front if he really wanted heitinga on that pitch..i don't agree that a player is brought on to just launch balls into the box if that's the case then i'm speechless that only one player can thump a ball into the area

[Romey 1878]

Heartbroken. That's all I can muster right now.

[Bill]

Big problem was I don't think we actually had a shot on target until Saha's two shots in the last ten minutes. Why is the only way to attack trying to work the ball out wide to get crosses in? It's too predictable.

 

:blink: I dont know what to make of that statement.

[Bailey]

He didn't go to right-back out of intention. That came about as he was one of the smallest players on the pitch and went back to defend during corners.

 

Heitinga was more height and more strength up in the box during corners. If it came off everyone would be singing Moyes' praises. Sometimes you have to bet on the hard-six and it doesn't come off. That's sport really.

 

Regardless of what the table may say, we are in far better shape than last season. As the Sky commentators said we cannot play like that again and not win, it's impossible.

 

Iv got to disagree with this... Coleman visibly went to right back and heitinga went into a defensive midfield role probably because Felli had moved forward. This would be understandable if we were drawing and wanted to protect against a counter, whilst allowing Felli to go forward but we were losing and bringing out on a holding midfielder when we need a goal isnt going to help, even if he can ping balls 50/60 yards.

 

Im not exactly worried about our and performances as such, we can play we have showed that but Moyes is handicapping us with his selections.

[marcopaulo]

i just feel drained and so let down right now..i really hate football i give it so much love and it just doesn't return it

[Bill]

He didn't go to right-back out of intention. That came about as he was one of the smallest players on the pitch and went back to defend during corners.

 

Heitinga was more height and more strength up in the box during corners. If it came off everyone would be singing Moyes' praises. Sometimes you have to bet on the hard-six and it doesn't come off. That's sport really.

 

Regardless of what the table may say, we are in far better shape than last season. As the Sky commentators said we cannot play like that again and not win, it's impossible.

 

I think they were only referring to the 1st two games Ian, last year we had lost to Arsenal and Burnley, but the 3rd game was a 2-1 win against Wigan.

As it stands now we are 2 points worse off and are 3rd from bottom.

[tonyh]

I dont know what to make of that statement.

 

Why?

[Matt]

Why?

ive been dying to use this:

[Bailey]

I think they were only referring to the 1st two games Ian, last year we had lost to Arsenal and Burnley, but the 3rd game was a 2-1 win against Wigan.

As it stands now we are 2 points worse off and are 3rd from bottom.

 

Worst start for 11 years apparently... Shocking considering the teams we played!

[holystove]

Worst start for 11 years apparently... Shocking considering the teams we played!

 

and the supposed quality of the players we have.

[Romey 1878]

Another defeat and another game where Moyes' decisions need to be questioned. His choice of playing Rodwell on the right wing was just stupid, God knows what Capello was thinking watching him out there. I don't know what his facination is with trying to squeeze players into a line-up. Play him in his proper position or not fucking at all! Then his decision to bring a defensive midfielder on when we needed to be pushing forward was just plain lunacy. Not only that but he took Hibbert off so Coleman had to drop back to RB when he'd looked dangerous as a RW FFS!

 

All that possession and Villa STILL looked more dangerous than we did when they were attacking. We looked absolutely toothless up top, we could have played until tomorrow and we still wouldn't fucking score. We are the team equivalent of Tony Hibbert atm - great up until the final third and then we fuck it up.

 

Our CB pairing look shaky as fuck together, change it and fast. Distin has improved lately but he was a clown today, drop him and put Heitinga back there. If we can't start scoring then we've at least got to stop conceding stupid goals.

 

Supporting Everton should come with a health warning.

 

 

 

Howard - Did what he had to do, which wasn't much.

 

 

Hibbert - I thought he was pretty decent tbh and actually managed to shock me by putting in one good cross.

 

 

Jagielka - He was OK but by no means the Jagielka we've all grown accustomed to. Whether it's because he's got a clown next to him I don't know, but he needs to sort himself out.

 

 

Distin - He's back to being Dustbin <_<. His backing off today was a fucking liability. I lost count of the times he could have put a foot in against Ashley Young but instead jogged backwards and let him run full speed at him. Even Carew burned him for pace. Carew also beat him for every ball. Donkey Kong, fuck off.

 

 

Baines - Our shining light. He was bloody brilliant from start to finish. Decent defensively and a menace going forward. My MOTM.

 

 

Rodwell - I felt sorry for him being out on the right, he looked awkward and out of place, but he still put in a good shift for the team.

 

 

Arteta - Another shithouse performance. I must be getting confused in my old age because I could have sworn he was supposed to be our playmaker and not another bastard defensive midfielder! For a lot of the game he was sat deeper than Fellaini . Oh and another thing; STEP AWAY FROM THE SET-PIECES, yours are shite! Let someone else have a go, pretty please. I don't even get hopeful that we'll score from corners and free-kicks any more when I see that it's Arteta going to take them.

 

 

Fellaini - Started off very rusty but grew into the game the longer it went on.

 

 

Pienaar - He fucked things up a few times but I was grateful that he was trying to create things seeing as our other very highly paid creative player was more worried about looking pretty than actually doing something worthwhile.

 

 

Cahill - I've seen a couple of people saying that Cahill was crap today but I thought he played well tbh. He wona lot of the aerial balls and he actually went on a few driving runs to take us forward.

 

 

Beckford - Didn't look good today at all, everything bounced off him or he ran down blind alleys and lost the ball.

[tonyh]

ive been dying to use this:

 

Well that clears that one up then ...

 

It's my opinion. They have plenty of possession, but most of the play aims at getting the ball down the wings to get crosses in. Do we have the forwards for that? Beckford seems like the kind of player that would thrive on balls over the top or through balls, Saha we have seen score headers from crosses but he's got great feet and can do more with the ball at his feet. That's why I think it's too predictable at the moment. Arteta was too deep today and he's one of the players we need playing it through the middle.

[marcopaulo]

Another defeat and another game where Moyes' decisions need to be questioned. His choice of playing Rodwell on the right wing was just stupid, God knows what Capello was thinking watching him out there. I don't know what his facination is with trying to squeeze players into a line-up. Play him in his proper position or not fucking at all! Then his decision to bring a defensive midfielder on when we needed to be pushing forward was just plain lunacy. Not only that but he took Hibbert off so Coleman had to drop back to RB when he'd looked dangerous as a RW FFS!

 

All that possession and Villa STILL looked more dangerous than we did when they were attacking. We looked absolutely toothless up top, we could have played until tomorrow and we still wouldn't fucking score. We are the team equivalent of Tony Hibbert atm - great up until the final third and then we fuck it up.

 

Our CB pairing look shaky as fuck together, change it and fast. Distin has improved lately but he was a clown today, drop him and put Heitinga back there. If we can't start scoring then we've at least got to stop conceding stupid goals.

 

Supporting Everton should come with a health warning.

 

 

 

Howard - Did what he had to do, which wasn't much.

 

 

Hibbert - I thought he was pretty decent tbh and actually managed to shock me by putting in one good cross.

 

 

Jagielka - He was OK but by no means the Jagielka we've all grown accustomed to. Whether it's because he's got a clown next to him I don't know, but he needs to sort himself out.

 

 

Distin - He's back to being Dustbin <_<. His backing off today was a fucking liability. I lost count of the times he could have put a foot in against Ashley Young but instead jogged backwards and let him run full speed at him. Even Carew burned him for pace. Carew also beat him for every ball. Donkey Kong, fuck off.

 

 

Baines - Our shining light. He was bloody brilliant from start to finish. Decent defensively and a menace going forward. My MOTM.

 

 

Rodwell - I felt sorry for him being out on the right, he looked awkward and out of place, but he still put in a good shift for the team.

 

 

Arteta - Another shithouse performance. I must be getting confused in my old age because I could have sworn he was supposed to be our playmaker and not another bastard defensive midfielder! For a lot of the game he was sat deeper than Fellaini . Oh and another thing; STEP AWAY FROM THE SET-PIECES, yours are shite! Let someone else have a go, pretty please. I don't even get hopeful that we'll score from corners and free-kicks any more when I see that it's Arteta going to take them.

 

 

Fellaini - Started off very rusty but grew into the game the longer it went on.

 

 

Pienaar - He fucked things up a few times but I was grateful that he was trying to create things seeing as our other very highly paid creative player was more worried about looking pretty than actually doing something worthwhile.

 

 

Cahill - I've seen a couple of people saying that Cahill was crap today but I thought he played well tbh. He wona lot of the aerial balls and he actually went on a few driving runs to take us forward.

 

 

Beckford - Didn't look good today at all, everything bounced off him or he ran down blind alleys and lost the ball.

 

i've turned to the drink today..i look about 20 years older than i am right now

[Guest blueboy122]

Romey your reviews are excellent yours are only one's i read! After todays performance i think coleman needs to start games fact. And maybe drop cahill and play billy behind striker and let billy take all corners and free kicks?

[Guest blueboy122]

Also another point that has been mentioned is that we are toothless going forward, i look at other teams when their strikers get hold of the ball they just look so much better than ours and i feel they have 10x the threat than ours do even though they arent better player hard to explain really, but look at the likes of Darren Bent runs at people, Agbonglahor? even some of the poor teams in the league Wolves Doyle Blake etc, i am not one minute saying that these are better player than our strikers but i just feel they actually are a threat to oppositions goals and i look at ours and just think we havent got any ouput what so ever going forward, even bobby fuckin zamora is more of a goal threat, i dont no if its just me that feels like this or its the formation we play etc. I would just love a striker that looks dangerous, Bent,Torres,Defoe,Pavlachenko?,even steven fletcher and fuller from stoke kevin davies is more a threat than all of our strikers up front together!!! i could name so many more names that just look so much more dangerous than ours. When i think about our forwards the only one that for me is dangerous is james vaughn but saha yakubu beckford are of far better quality i just dont get it and its just so frustrating to see teams around us sign players with a threat or a potential threat for example skunks have signed that french winger on a loan deal. Am i over reacting or do we have a problem here?

Edited August 29, 2010 by blueboy122

[c1982]

Today showed that we are a better football playing team than villa but they have something in young, agbangawhore and even albrighton - pace. Because they have players like this they can sit back and break - defenders like distin don't like pace, they'll just back off and this gives the attacking team a chance. The only time we did this today was when Seamus Ramos broke into the box and almost created a goal. We need someone fast and we need them fast!!!

 

I haven't got too many negatives about today as I thought it was an excellent away performance but...

 

- Distin backed off too much like Romey said putting us under unecessary pressure

- Arteta's supply was poor at best

- Beckford looked out of his depth up top 'alone' (Cahill's up there but he's not an out and out strike partner)

- Their goal showed 'ball-watching' frailties at the back

 

On a big postitive note I was glad to see the baines/pienaar partnership back together - why didn't they play together against wolves?

 

If we don't sign a rm (with pace) I'd like to see heit rb and coleman rm given a go as moyes obviously likes distin/jags at cb.

[Blue 250]

Romey your reviews are excellent yours are only one's i read!

 

OH that's just great, not only do we lose!...........Now, people refuse to read our tortured views on the games, people have laboured through their tears with nail chewed fingers bashing away at the keyboard......and what was it all for!

 

NO ONE IS BLOODY READING THEM!

 

I wish I was Romey........people listen to him

[MikeO]

I wish I was Romey........people listen to him

Only blueboy122 listens to him.....nobody else does .

[Romey 1878]

Only blueboy122 listens to him.....nobody else does .

 

 

That'd be about right!

[Guest blueboy122]

BLUE 250 YOUR FUCKIN HILARIOUS, FUCKING GIMP YOU. I BET YOU WEAR SUEDE BROWN SHOES WITH A BUCKLE YOU IGUANA

[Guest blueboy122]

ROMEY IS A FULL ON HERO. REVIEWS ARE IMMENSE

[marcopaulo]

hallo...calm down gents

[Blue 250]

BLUE 250 YOUR FUCKIN HILARIOUS, FUCKING GIMP YOU. I BET YOU WEAR SUEDE BROWN SHOES WITH A BUCKLE YOU IGUANA

 

I'd like to give you a piece of my mind!!..............but you'd never know, I'll have to get Romey to write it for me

 

I'll just have to meet you in person and give you a kick up the arse with my Brown suede shoes....and the buckle will leave a nasty welk!

 

 

Seriously though.........Romey, will you tell him it was only a joke and ask him who told him about my shoes