By Adam Keeble
The trip to Arsenal was a record-breaking, heart-breaking disaster – but what can be learn as Aston Villa fans from the embarrassing performance and other moves this week?
DIS-ARSE-TER
The players looked nervous right from kick-off at the Emirates, and they were right to feel uncomfortable. The Gunners were toying with the defense and had decided to attack Alan Hutton, our most consistent reliable player, rather than an out of position Richardson at left back. And it was working. Also, if Richardson was put in for his pace ahead of the plodding Cissokho, it wasn’t working.
Benteke had another quiet game without seeing much of the ball. Weimann vented his frustration more than once. Guzan had his work cut out for him, but he would be the first to admit he could have done better.
The defense we have pointed to as one of the league’s strongest fell to pieces. We had one half-chance in the second 45 minutes.
Sanchez… where to start? He won the ball, certainly. But he might as well have left it because he gave it away over and over again with a stray pass. Cleverley and Delph huffed and puffed. Gil was trying to get something going with his passing and communication – and he doesn’t even speak good English.
Former Arsenal fullback Lee Dixon made two good points during his TV commentary. He said back in the day, if Ian Wright scored for Arsenal, the team knew they had a good chance of winning because they kept so many clean sheets. The chant and philosophy of “one-nil to the Ars-en-al” was born of this. The same was said of Alan Shearer and Colin Hendry’s Blackburn Rovers. If Shearer scored, chances are the defense would win Rovers the game. Dixon pointed out that Villa have the opposite problem: if they concede, it’s going to be hard to Villa to win because they don’t score goals.
That’s where we are and have been for six league games in a row for the first time EVER. That way of thinking needs to change along with the desperation of the goal-scoring drought.
SUBS
Dixon’s second point (and while as a player he was constantly feigning injury to give Arsenal a break if under pressure, etc, but as a commentator he gives good insight into the game and has a good sense of humour) was about the substitutes Villa made at 3-0 down – to be fair, Lambert had them ready to go on a 2-0 down.
We brought on Gabby and Sinclair, but Dixon said “it would need to be Superman and Spider Man to get anything out of this game”. His point is very valid, which reminds fans of yet another unwanted statistic – not one of the Villa substitutes has come on and scored a goal this season. Sinclair has barely trained with the squad yet and Gabby, while rightly on the bench at last, is and has always been a confidence player. Having finally been benched for tactics or form or whatever reason, he can hardly be feeling very good about it. The solution is simple: a stronger squad. If Lambert doesn’t fancy Grealish yet, doesn’t think Gardner can make it, has waved goodbye to Luna… the list goes on… then he has to bring in players who are BETTER.
As of writing this, Gil and Sinclair have been the only two signings in this window and that’s a good start. Kozak is almost back too, which is nice. And while domestic loans are no longer viable, is it really possible that nowhere else in the planet is there a player in the reserves who wouldn’t mind playing for a few months in the Premier League at a club with a rich history and in desperate need of a Superman or a Spider Man for the fans to worship? If Lambert is serious that he’s looking to improve the squad in every position, as he said post-match on Sunday, then he’s either looking in the wrong places or not looking hard enough.
CR*PTICS
It doesn’t take a ex-pro like Dixon (last mention of him – promise) to see how woeful the tactical decisions Villa made on Sunday were – and how there was no plan B. There are valid excuses: you have to use the players available to you. But to play that high a line against a counter-attacking, fast moving incisive Arsenal got Villa what they deserved: a good kicking.
Lambert said to sit back and try and soak up the Arsenal attack wouldn’t have worked – newsflash: it might have worked better than the tactic you DID use. Even 4-0 would have been better than 5-0. And how about after you identified your tactic wasn’t working, maybe changing something? Stubbornly waiting until Villa were as good as beaten to change a couple of players around but keep doing the same thing rather than, say, switch to a longer ball in or bring on Baker to play as a third centre-back and push the full backs up higher to try and give Benteke a cross while stemming the risk of losing another goal at the back? There’s no plan B and that isn’t smart.
BUT…
Everything’s okay because according to Lambert we were great for more than an hour and had chances. So, we’ll get them next time! Who is he trying to convince? The fans? The players? His boss? Match Of The Day?
Lambert’s logic that if we keep making chances (and we aren’t making enough) we will score goals (we aren’t and we haven’t for the longest time in the club’s history because we aren’t making enough chances) we’ll be fine. Fine?
This is how we will be fine: three clubs in the league do worse than we do. An FA Cup run would be a nice distraction, but it’s almost smoke and mirrors to hide the fact that as a club, we cannot seriously compete in this division against the teams we have to play.
You can point the finger at whoever you want, and many people are to blame (including the fans who are distracting the players with their “Lambert Out” chants, if you believe Lambert himself) but that’s the bottom line. Aston Villa is not able to perform at this level at this moment in time. And that has to change or it won’t be relevant because we won’t be playing in the top flight anymore because we’ll be relegated.
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An astute analysis, Mr. Keeble. Sitting back & soaking up the Arsenal attack was how we beat them 3-1 last season.
Ps. Please use the correct spelling of defence (not defense)! You are commenting on the English Premier League not the Super Bowl!
Pps. Ricky Lambert is staying at Liverpool. Dodged a bullet methinks.
14 minutes ago the window closed. Rickie Lambert decided to stay at Liverpool, who can blame him?
Don’t please attack Tom Fox. The only way that any progress will be made is if Lerner changes his mind over the running of the club. Fox is the man who can do it. We cannot. Fox is not stupid, and came from Arsenal.
The sight of his new team being humiliated by his old one, players frightened and unsure and not getting any clear steer from the manager has to have concentrated his mind. We deteriorated badly in the second half, so no doubt at all Lambert did not steer the dressing room to fight back.
Fox is not stupid. He saw what he saw. You cannot clear out everyone and have no one running the club. He is the man who can change things. Only if he decides to tell Lerner the game is up will any change in direction take place at the top
trevor fisher.
Fox is not stupid, you’re right on that, but he thinks we are after his cutting comments last week.
I’m still not sure what his job is at Villa, after being commercial manager at Arsenal, perhaps he’ll buy in cheap Gatorade for the players, and Nike trackies, he did work for both as well. He’ll probably regard that as a false narrative.
We’ve gone four games without a goal at the beginning of the month, and we wait until now to bid £5m (thats £1m more than the Redscouse paid for the guy out of Suarezdollars five minutes ago…) for a 33-y-old who has limited opportunities there and he still doesnt want to come, for reasons which were made obvious down at the Witton/North stand intersection recently. Grant Holt’s probably still available Paul – in fact for that money you can get his handler thrown in and a months feed as well, plus have enough left over for a family pack of Fishermans Friends and the latest Almanac.
I was one of the last to back lambert, after yesterday, not anymore!
I can’t believe what I saw on Sunday afternoon ,from minute one we were unsure of what we should be doing as a team the body language of the players was all wrong uncertainty in the pass uncomfortable on the ball and devoid of any ideas , we are now in such a poor situation that once again we are trying to buy our way out of trouble . I’ve questioned In the past lamberts ability to inspire the best in these players and questioned his ability to turn an average player into a very good one infact he has done the opposite ,he’s turned average players into very poor ones ,we have tallent at this club and in all honesty I think he’s brought some decent players he just doesn’t know how to gel them together as a unit as a team , I’m all for accepting defeat and learning from it but we seem to not learn a thing ,yes we were playing arsenal yes they were outstanding in the way they cut through us but that doesn’t mean that as a team you just stop ,stop playing stop trying stop fighting , looking lost and searching for someone to pull you through a tough spell . There are problems at our club that go deeper than learners inability to make his mind up as to the sale of avfc , there’s frustration in the players faces I’d go so far as to say anger , I think that lambert has lost the players even gabby looked totally uninterested waiting on the side lines ready to come on . A clear message of intent is needed right now from the board and I don’t mean releasing a couple of million quid for a player , the board should be looking at alternative management whist we are waiting for lamberts hope and go again attitude to finally come to the party and the club needs to make a clear statement on what type of football we as a club expect ….our club motto is prepared Its time we lived up to that motto
i agree with 352,,,as a plan b but at the end of the day he got his tactics wrong again,,, liverpool, leicester, blackpool swansea,,, now arsenal we are beaten before we go onto the pitch
its just not rocket science,,,,,,,,
if we get lambert from liverpool that would be a good move as he links the play brilliantly
but more of the same is not an option
i still think he can turn it round , but it may take a few more games
sinclair and gil give us options, and arsenal were very good and will beat many teams now
they will finish very strongly this season
lamberts tactics are like entering the tour de france on a raleigh chopper and he best change it
or else we are doomed
It is ten past nine on transfer day, and rumojur is we are in for RIckie Lambert at £5m. I would welcome him with open arms, but Liverpool are playing hard ball. Why would they not? They know we are desperate. Its going to be a tough final couple of hours.
Westwood was good when he came on. It was not a half chance his shot. It was going in till that amazing Arsenal goalie tipped it round the post. He had had nothing to do, so it was amazing the way he moved
Arsenal very good. Villa well Sanchez and the ball were not close companions, and overall I would like to know how many times villa passed or kicked to an arsenal player.
When Okore looks flustered you know we are having a nightmare.
Trevor fisher.