Guest Posted December 5, 2013 Share Posted December 5, 2013 I think I have got it all wrong... We don't look great on the ball at the moment and haven't done (apart from odd glimpses) this season. I put this down to us being an average ball playing team. Over the past few weeks I have changed the way I watch us. I spend more time seeing where players are running / moving / sitting during a game and my opinion on us being a poor team has started to change, which culminated in a good one hour think on the way home last night. We're doing something very different, we are playing narrower and tighter at the moment - making it hard for teams to run and walk through us, we are surrounding the penalty box and quite literally suffocating teams around us. Last season from August to around February, we went all out attack on teams and left ourselves wide open - and with a lack of experience this hurt us - meaning we were under pressure to pick up points and put ourselves behind teams in mid-table, with no real hope of catching them. I think PL is playing it steady in the first half of the season, grinding out results, ready to play with more freedom in the second half of the season, when the team can be more relaxed and we can hopefully take advantage of teams coming at us a little more because they are desperate for points! Am I mad or am I mad but right? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ghost_of_Pongo_Waring Posted December 5, 2013 Share Posted December 5, 2013 I very good post Dodgy and I think you could well be right. An interesting point I saw somebody make, although I can't remember who or on which forum, was that this more defensive, less attractive play has come in since Okore got injured. The three games before that we were playing a much different, more attractive, style, possibly because Lambert had faith in Okores ability to not make the defensive mistakes which plagued us last season. After three seasons of relegation battles it will do the squad the world of good to remain out of that battle this season and as you say as the season progresses more teams will be less inclined to park the bus because they will need victories. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
briny_ear Posted December 5, 2013 Share Posted December 5, 2013 I think you're right about the way we are playing. Crowding out teams in midfield at home and defending in depth away. Our forward play is more set up for counterattack than building on possession-based midfield dominance. That is probably why we do better away than at home - teams away play more in our half so we are better able to counterattack. We haven't found a way yet at home to convert "midfield stifling" into effective attack. I also see no real basis, apart from hope, to think we will change our style of play in the second half of the season, unless we buy some new players capable of making a significant improvement in quality and effectiveness of the squad. But, what do I know? I'm just a dumb fan who probably doesn't grasp the sublime nature of this "project". Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tomaszk Posted December 5, 2013 Share Posted December 5, 2013 For the first time in years, we can have a real good run over Xmas/NY. If we have an end to the season like last year, we'll be right up in 7th/8th. I'd take 12th though if you offered it me now. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CrackpotForeigner Posted December 5, 2013 Share Posted December 5, 2013 Am I mad or am I mad but right? Yes. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
WhatAboutTheFinish Posted December 5, 2013 Share Posted December 5, 2013 When I heard the commentator say last night "Villa's unbeaten run stretches to 5 games" my initial reaction was 'That can't be right!'. I still needed to convince myself after looking back at the results!! 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
villa-revolution Posted December 5, 2013 Share Posted December 5, 2013 (edited) Am I mad or am I mad but right? Yes. seconded! Edited December 5, 2013 by villa-revolution Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Fun Factory Posted December 5, 2013 Share Posted December 5, 2013 I think it may show Lambert learning from last season. It was great for the neutral and at times great for us, but our defence was pish poor last year. I don't see anything wrong with a steady, steady approach this year as a club we need a bit of stability. Perhaps we may get more fluid later in the year. I have heard a lot of journos saying that getting Scott Marshall as a coach this summer has really sorted the defence out. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
smetrov Posted December 5, 2013 Share Posted December 5, 2013 I think you're right about the way we are playing. Crowding out teams in midfield at home and defending in depth away. Our forward play is more set up for counterattack than building on possession-based midfield dominance. That is probably why we do better away than at home - teams away play more in our half so we are better able to counterattack. We haven't found a way yet at home to convert "midfield stifling" into effective attack. I also see no real basis, apart from hope, to think we will change our style of play in the second half of the season, unless we buy some new players capable of making a significant improvement in quality and effectiveness of the squad. But, what do I know? I'm just a dumb fan who probably doesn't grasp the sublime nature of this "project". But at least we have the bare bones to add those creative players too.....I think we have to give lambo a while longer to start adding some flair....to be fair he has answered most question of himself. I doubted he could organize a defence - but he has - even with one of key signings only playing 3 games before injury......the question now is can he add panache ? - he is an ambitous bloke - so don't see him settling for villa being the next stoke...... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ghost_of_Pongo_Waring Posted December 5, 2013 Share Posted December 5, 2013 When I heard the commentator say last night "Villa's unbeaten run stretches to 5 games" my initial reaction was 'That can't be right!'. I still needed to convince myself after looking back at the results!! I was the same when someone mentioned we've only lost two out of our last ten games and also when it was noticed we're the only team in the Prem to have not conceded more than two goals in a league game. Considering how bad we were defensively last season that shows how much we've improved that area of our game. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
StanBalaban Posted December 5, 2013 Share Posted December 5, 2013 "Grinding" is such a dirty word. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ciggiesnbeer Posted December 5, 2013 Share Posted December 5, 2013 Thoughtful post OP. I think you are right. Still no excuse for some of our passing mind but tactically Lambert seems to be doing what you suggest. He does change though, usually four times a season at least (he did with Norwich he did with us last season) so he could change yet again on Sunday for all we know. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TJVillan Posted December 5, 2013 Share Posted December 5, 2013 Good post. For now it's all about points on the board, in whatever way is most effective. We need to make absolutely certain we will not be in another relegation fight. Once we have established a stable position, maybe bought a couple of players that can help our possession game and break teams down, then we can look to be more adventurous. It's not like these players are incapable of keeping the ball when the manager wants us to. We had 56% possession in our game at home to Southampton last season, for example. We might not have any brilliant attacking midfielders that can carve open a defence, but from a technical point of view this squad is more than capable. I have been saying for a few weeks - Lambert and the coaching staff are teaching this squad how to play football, 1 part of the game at a time. Right now they are learning how to be tough to beat, how to defend well as a unit. The rest of it will come later. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
briny_ear Posted December 6, 2013 Share Posted December 6, 2013 I think you're right about the way we are playing. Crowding out teams in midfield at home and defending in depth away. Our forward play is more set up for counterattack than building on possession-based midfield dominance. That is probably why we do better away than at home - teams away play more in our half so we are better able to counterattack. We haven't found a way yet at home to convert "midfield stifling" into effective attack. I also see no real basis, apart from hope, to think we will change our style of play in the second half of the season, unless we buy some new players capable of making a significant improvement in quality and effectiveness of the squad. But, what do I know? I'm just a dumb fan who probably doesn't grasp the sublime nature of this "project". But at least we have the bare bones to add those creative players too.....I think we have to give lambo a while longer to start adding some flair....to be fair he has answered most question of himself. I doubted he could organize a defence - but he has - even with one of key signings only playing 3 games before injury......the question now is can he add panache ? - he is an ambitous bloke - so don't see him settling for villa being the next stoke......Agree with this mostly, but I do think he needs to do a bit more work on how we play at home, to get the midfield and forwards working better together. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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