Midfield miracles, magic bench and a stirring fight back
Shocking defending, dubious starting team selection, potential hammering, it all looked like the clouds of doom were forming over the Hawthorns for the traveling Aston Villa supporters. Then the three amigos were sent on to join in the fray and we now have five reasons to be cheerful as a Villa fan…
1. Wow. Two Aston Villa midfielders scoring in the same game? If that can happen, then there’s a chance that maybe Santa Claus really does exist? In fact, from now on, forget everything you know. Today is the first day of the rest of life, a life where Villa midfielders score for fun.
2. Fight back. Although we came up short in not turning the game round to win, that’s another point added to the wins against Arsenal and Manchester City, where Villa have come back from losing positions. Villa at the moment are the fight back kings of the Premier League possessing the most points gained from losing positions (seven). Last season, the young Villa boys would have folded when 2-0 down (although, judging by when we played the Baggies last season, they also used to fold when they were 2-0 up!), so there’s certainly been a shift in their confidence and belief.
3. It’s very debatable if all three of Villa’s subs should have started from the bench (I’d have at least started with Gabby, since it was a derby), but if you’re recognised as three of the club’s better players, you need to make an impact and that’s just what the guys did. Hats off. Hats off too, to Lambert, for sending all three on at the same time and not farting around.
4. Shane Long didn’t score a hat-trick. To be fair to him, he took both of his goals really well and deserved a third for those finishes, but since there was no hat-trick, it meant also there was no three points for Albion.
5. Tonev got a shot or two on target. Yes, one was a miscued pea roller, but it’s progress…at least for his stats. Hopefully, the Bulgarian will be made to watch Ashley Westwood’s stunning strike on repeat for the rest of the week in order to teach him how to shoot properly. If that fails, maybe Lambert should use the Ludovico technique, as in Clockwork Orange, and force Tonev to watch a compilation of his own shooting from this season. UTV
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Agbonlahor was coming back from a knee injury i think, Delph was poorly before today and weimann was dropped due to a recent display off poor form which is why they didnt start …. 3 facts certainfew Villa fans seemed to forget.!
as stated before, last season if the opponents scored in the first 5 mins i would wait till half time then go and find something else to do , but this season. we are showing signs of at least being able to make a come back
All in all a draw from the jaws of defeat is a priceless point for this season
The 3 players that came on as a sub weren’t fit enough to start that’s why starting Gabby would have been pointless, he looked dead on his feet after being on the pitch for 25 minutes.
Regarding #2, I think we were also up 2-0 at Swansea and ended up 2-2, so yeah, we were just terrible last season in the 2nd half. This season, we tend to be worse in the first half, but that seems to produce better results. The only game I can think of this season where we did worse in the 2nd half was at Chelsea, and at least some of that has to be chalked up to the ref.
Thought the result was a very good result, especially when considering that the team was 2.0 down at the Hawthorns which is always a fortress, when the half time whistle went. The defence needs to be more stable and I think in the forthcoming games, if Lowton is brought back into the team with Bacuna being put more in the midfield role then more good results will be evident. Shows the true character and spirit that the villa team possess. Proud to be a Villa fan !!!! 🙂
It was a good comeback and a decent second half performance, but it doesn’t hide the fact that Villa still have a handful of sub-standard players (Tonev and Baker). Thankfully, we also have a handful of bloody good players (Vlaar, Westwood and Guzan).
You have to ask yourself why Lambert started with 3 at the back and with three of our best players on the bench.
Aston Villa shouldn’t accept second best in any department. I think that the manager, players and fans all seemed a little too happy to grind out a draw to an inferior team. It implies that they haven’t set their standards all that high.
I hope the gradual improvement can continue.
UTV