Benteke is top, Villa mixing it up and Lambert’s Words of Wisdom
No clean sheet for 26 games straight. Only nine home wins in the last 40 games at Villa Park with the next visitors being Manchester City and Spurs. These are facts that are hard to ignore. What could possibly ease the pain for Aston Villa fans? Below, five reasons to be cheerful as a Villa fan…
1. Benteke is the Premier League top scorer. He scored again against Newcastle, despite being kept quiet by double/treble marking by Newcastle. Villa need for the other players to step-up, if their main man is being kept quiet. Against Newcastle, Gabby and Weimann clearly left their shooting boots at home.
2. Despite a record of Won 1 Lost 3, the total statistics from the four games suggest all of the matches were close. Villa even have won more corners than their opposition over the four games. When you consider they’ve only lost games by a single goal against decent opposition, at least Villa are always in games. At home, perhaps the crowd needs to stick with it more to help out.
3. 37,554 not bad and after 40,000-plus against Liverpool, at least the Villa Park average attendance is on the up. It’s just a shame that amount of home Villa fans can’t make the same noise as just 2,000 Villa away fans.
4. Villa have beaten the team at the top of the Premier League. So we should in theory at least, be able to beat any team. In theory…
5. In the Newcastle post-match interview, Paul Lambert said the magic words: “You pick yourself up and you go again”. That always provides a chuckle. UTV
Please do join in, if you have any other reasons, please add them in the comments section below. UTV
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MyOldManSaid Walker JN Thank you moderator! I remember Lambert, being asked on TV after the Chelsea game at the end of last season if he wouldn’t like a Lampard along side his kids. He answered ‘No’ without actually using the word. He has brought in about a dozen players now, none of whom seems to have the strength of character to be a leader on or off the field. I can picture them all sitting in the dressing room, hanging on PL’s every word and nodding agreement whilst Dunne and Co are sentenced to stand in the corner like naughty little schoolboys. Apart from the mild mannered Gabby he has shunted every bit of experience out. He seems frightened of anyone who might stand up to him and express opposing views.
Walker JN Sometimes this column has to be ironic after a performance like that. You’re opening lines are spot on. As is the rest of what you say. I agree with it all. No real helping hand for the youngsters to grow in the first XI. The team were lost against Newcastle in the final stages.
Bigdaz Early days and all, but there were glaring problems from last season and they weren’t addressed. Agree with your points on Lambert’s tactics. Kozak came on straight for that corner, that Benteke scored off, but suddenly the midfield was even more out numbered, and we didn’t really see the ball again. Newcastle looked more likely to make it 3-1, then Villa getting an equaliser. If Benteke left in the summer…Lambert would have a few fans looking at him with stern eyes. It’s easier to bed in young players when there’s at least some experience around them.
Quite right Bigdaz! Every word spot on. When we have to look at the attendance, Lambert’s post match comments, count corners and look at the result of one match to find the positives, there are no positives! “You win nothing with kids! Hansen was right, except that Man U team had the strong presence of Roy Keene smack in the middle of things, dictating play, supporting and encouraging all around him. We have ‘who the El is he?’ A strong man in the centre of the park was the presence most missing last season. Yes, there was a weakness at LB where Bennet’s confidence, like Bannon’s, was shattered by crowd reaction and there was a perceived weakness in the centre of the defence which was caused in part by there being little cover in front of them, but it was midfield where a leader was needed. Why was that gap not filled? Why was Petrov not replaced? We have ‘strengthened’ the mid-field with Bacuna and Tonev who, having bought them, Lambert doesn’t seem to believe are good enough for the starting eleven. If you pay 2-3 million in today’s market, you are paying peanuts and as the saying goes ‘if you pay peanuts you get……
Oh dear oh dear five reasons to be concerned as a villa fan .
Benteke is the only forward scoring goal even if he is heavily mark through out the game
Our defence is again unable to keep a clean sheet , more goals scored against us than scored for can only bring another season of struggle
Paul lambert was again out thought tactically Newcastle played with five across the middle of the park nullifying our midfielders who were always up against it ,more worryingly is that lambert didn’t know how to Change it taking of one of our midfeilders for a forward who ( through no fault of his own ) made no impact at all weakening the middle of the team which really needed strenghthening during the game.
Lamberts could undo all of his good work if he continues to egnor our defensive frailties
When it starts to go wrong on the feild we result to the long ball over the top why? This puts us under more pressure with the ball constantly coming back at us
It’s only my opinion and I know we all see football with different eyes but all of these concerns were the same as last seasons and for all the steghtening we’ve done done during he summer our weaknesses are still there for all to expose we can’t flirt with relagation for a third season because sooner or later the trap door will open and we will fall through it . It’s early days but once the pattern is set for the season it’s very hard to break