Avfc96 Posted December 5, 2013 Share Posted December 5, 2013 HH, how important do you think that win was for our season ? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
VillaChris Posted December 5, 2013 Share Posted December 5, 2013 Away from home you get more battle and scraps than free flowing football. At Villa Park we should be attempting much better football seeing as we struggle to win anyway. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Spoony Posted December 5, 2013 Share Posted December 5, 2013 Yet another manager 'ruing their luck' after facing Lambert's team. This can't just be luck repeatedly getting us these backs-against-the-wall victories. I think we have become counter-attacking geniuses. It may not be pretty but we're not good enough to win any other way and hell, it seems to work. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Shaw_nuff Posted December 5, 2013 Share Posted December 5, 2013 anyway, 20% possession is not simply a statistic, it is indicative of a total inability to pass the football. I don't understand how anyone could not be concerned about this. Much as it is great to be clinical on the counter, imagine how good we could be if we had even an average level of ball retention skills. You can have 70% possession and still be great on the counter. Possession and counter attacking are not mutually exclusive skills. The fact we are the worst team in possession in the league can only result from bad coaching/tactics, unless you believe we have the worst ball players in the league. I'm going to go further and say that 20% possession isn't just concerning, it's scary and we will implode. Not just because our luck will run out but because our squad will become knackered. It takes much more energy to defend and play high-tempo, non-possession football. It's why MONs teams always faitered towards the end, and why England always fail at tournaments. I'm going to stick around and take the abuse but I think we are in a relegation battle come the end of the season. We play pub football. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rovers13 Posted December 5, 2013 Share Posted December 5, 2013 Its only three points at the end of the day but it proved as we should have known we remain a very dangerous side in those type of games and maybe we just need a bit more flair for the home matches especially. But we just need to try and get as far away from the bottom clubs as possible between now and the end of the year. I think things are going well results wise. Tonight was a big win in the sense we weren't expected to get the win. We didn't go there to try and match them in possession. We went to catch them on the break and we did that. I've always been a huge fan of you as a manager Paul, keep up the good work. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jonoridge91 Posted December 5, 2013 Share Posted December 5, 2013 anyway, 20% possession is not simply a statistic, it is indicative of a total inability to pass the football. I don't understand how anyone could not be concerned about this. Much as it is great to be clinical on the counter, imagine how good we could be if we had even an average level of ball retention skills. You can have 70% possession and still be great on the counter. Possession and counter attacking are not mutually exclusive skills. The fact we are the worst team in possession in the league can only result from bad coaching/tactics, unless you believe we have the worst ball players in the league. I'm going to go further and say that 20% possession isn't just concerning, it's scary and we will implode. Not just because our luck will run out but because our squad will become knackered. It takes much more energy to defend and play high-tempo, non-possession football. It's why MONs teams always faitered towards the end, and why England always fail at tournaments. I'm going to stick around and take the abuse but I think we are in a relegation battle come the end of the season. We play pub football. Except Lambert is utilising the squad unlike how MON literally played the same 11 all season unless someone was injured. The burn out wasn't due to counter attacking football under MON it was the lack of squad rotation. We won't be in a relegation crap this season. There are far worse teams in the league than us. I honestly think we're battling for the 'best of the rest' title I'm expecting between 8th-12th. We certainly won't flirt with relegation like last season. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
villan_007 Posted December 5, 2013 Share Posted December 5, 2013 anyway, 20% possession is not simply a statistic, it is indicative of a total inability to pass the football. I don't understand how anyone could not be concerned about this. Much as it is great to be clinical on the counter, imagine how good we could be if we had even an average level of ball retention skills. You can have 70% possession and still be great on the counter. Possession and counter attacking are not mutually exclusive skills. The fact we are the worst team in possession in the league can only result from bad coaching/tactics, unless you believe we have the worst ball players in the league. I'm going to go further and say that 20% possession isn't just concerning, it's scary and we will implode. Not just because our luck will run out but because our squad will become knackered. It takes much more energy to defend and play high-tempo, non-possession football. It's why MONs teams always faitered towards the end, and why England always fail at tournaments. I'm going to stick around and take the abuse but I think we are in a relegation battle come the end of the season. We play pub football. There comes a time in every mans life when you have to step forward and say you know what I was talking complete rubbish there. Step forward son. 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Shaw_nuff Posted December 5, 2013 Share Posted December 5, 2013 anyway, 20% possession is not simply a statistic, it is indicative of a total inability to pass the football. I don't understand how anyone could not be concerned about this. Much as it is great to be clinical on the counter, imagine how good we could be if we had even an average level of ball retention skills. You can have 70% possession and still be great on the counter. Possession and counter attacking are not mutually exclusive skills. The fact we are the worst team in possession in the league can only result from bad coaching/tactics, unless you believe we have the worst ball players in the league. I'm going to go further and say that 20% possession isn't just concerning, it's scary and we will implode. Not just because our luck will run out but because our squad will become knackered. It takes much more energy to defend and play high-tempo, non-possession football. It's why MONs teams always faitered towards the end, and why England always fail at tournaments. I'm going to stick around and take the abuse but I think we are in a relegation battle come the end of the season. We play pub football. There comes a time in every mans life when you have to step forward and say you know what I was talking complete rubbish there. Step forward son. I will. But you know what? Neither you, nor I can predict the future. Sorry for not following the meme. I will eat my words in May (if and when). The football we play is S..... H..... I.... T...... ! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TRO Posted December 5, 2013 Share Posted December 5, 2013 (edited) The win was a great one, no doubt about that, but the 77% v 23% possession stats not in our favour is unconvincing at best. We are playing a " live for today " strategy and while its working, its fine....problem is with football what you do is always leading to somewhere its dynamic, not static...This is very similar to what happened with O'Neill. I thought the MOTD pundits recovered a derisory snigger which would have been embarrassing for us and probably got them in to trouble, hence their recovery. Lets, enjoy the great win for now, but not take our eye off what could prove to be a false dawn, because those stats ain't good. Edited December 5, 2013 by TRO 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Morpheus Posted December 5, 2013 Share Posted December 5, 2013 (edited) In fairness to Lambert I do think he wants us to pass the ball but we dont seem to have the personnel in middle of park and the movement from other players to do it Who purchased the majority of the first team? He should have bought Berbatov and Adam do you think? Since the debate is about being able to pass, using Berbatov and Adam as a dig probably isn't one of your better choices VillaCas. Berbatov booed on and off by the Fulham fans Bent dropped from team and bench by new manager Adam useless (again) according to my mate who was at the Stoke game These were your three key recomendations for last season wernt they? Along with relegation specialist 'Arry - Lambert tactical genius - 9 points ahead on like for like fixtures against last year - Last 38 games good enough for 9th place aganst last seasons table - Unbeaten in 5 - Key players returning from injury All is good - expect, like me, you are delighted Villaass we were talking about passing ability weren't we but since you've changed the goalposts again in another petty attempt to point score I'll actually just agree with you this time and say that I am absolutely delighted we won and in a further shock horror episode I hope it continues. Sorry to disappoint. Edited December 5, 2013 by Morpheus Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Fun Factory Posted December 5, 2013 Share Posted December 5, 2013 the only tiny, tiny gripe I have on Lambert at the moment is saying that any good goal is 'world class'. I know its to give the players confidence but come on Paul. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TRO Posted December 5, 2013 Share Posted December 5, 2013 (edited) Look, tonight ain't the time to be going in to great depths of short, medium or long terms goals. There are many examples of why certain styles work....Wimbledon and the " crazy gang" were one example and Barcelona are another... both were successful in their own right. We currently are fighting for points and the football ain't exactly eye candy, it is sometimes like tonight very effective but at the same time not very believable... we experience highs and very low, lows particularly in terms of tidy football as opposed to results. It isn't by chance that all teams that go on to great things play an expansive style of football that usually entails keeping control of the ball for long periods of the game. I think the area of concern with some folk is that teams like Ajax, Barcelona and our own Arsenal did not achieve this culture overnight it has grown through a philosophy, like Rinus Michels preached at Ajax and mentored Johann Cryuff to take it to Barcelona. you have to start somewhere and at some time other wise we are just going to go from season to season sacking managers every 3 years when they run out of luck or steam or when the wins turn in to draws. Tony Pulis, did a kinda job at Stoke, where he will naturally tell you how well he did ( results based, rather than football substance based) and to all intents and purposes he has a point..... trouble is it gets tedious and then stale and eventually everyone gets sick and tired of it...and that's basically what happened there. I want us to build a style of football that has MOTD pundits who clearly couldn't care less whether we exist or not are forced to wax lyrical over what we do.....of course you cannot afford to ignore the very existence of what is required....wins and points, but that should only be a means to an end, as my way the former becomes sustainable. Edited December 5, 2013 by TRO 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Shaw_nuff Posted December 5, 2013 Share Posted December 5, 2013 We won't be in a relegation crap this season. There are far worse teams in the league than us. I honestly think we're battling for the 'best of the rest' title I'm expecting between 8th-12th. We certainly won't flirt with relegation like last season. I admire the 'certainty' but if we battle the rest in the same way and do well, it won't be because of progressive football. The question we have to ask is can we step up from this level in the way we play? You can see it in the likes of Everton and Southhampton and even West Brom, but there's no platform here. We're playing Allardyce percentage football. It's perplexing, because we played football last season and waited for it to come good, which it did. Maybe most on here go to work and think it's all ok. Down here, all my mates think we're the new Stoke. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Morpheus Posted December 5, 2013 Share Posted December 5, 2013 Lambert got it spot on tonight not only in tactics but in his decision to drop Benteke. As BOF alluded to elsewhere Benteke will now know he is less important to the team as he once was and hopefully he will now drop the petulance on the pitch. 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TRO Posted December 5, 2013 Share Posted December 5, 2013 (edited) Hopefully Benteke will eat his bit of humble pie, work on his humility and come back as the great striker that he is capable of and then we can all get behind him and give him that bit of love he looks like he needs. Edited December 5, 2013 by TRO Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rovers13 Posted December 5, 2013 Share Posted December 5, 2013 the only tiny, tiny gripe I have on Lambert at the moment is saying that any good goal is 'world class'. I know its to give the players confidence but come on Paul. He only said it about the delph goal where Fabian ran Half the field with the ball and scored a belter. How isn't that accurate? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Isa Posted December 5, 2013 Share Posted December 5, 2013 the only tiny, tiny gripe I have on Lambert at the moment is saying that any good goal is 'world class'. I know its to give the players confidence but come on Paul. He only said it about the delph goal where Fabian ran Half the field with the ball and scored a belter. How isn't that accurate? No he has said it about quite a few of our goals this season. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rovers13 Posted December 5, 2013 Share Posted December 5, 2013 Also worth pointing out Lambert has a better record in his career than Pochettino, and is much more flexible as a coach. But clearly pochettino is an infallible genius and Southampton are the best run club ever. 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ciggiesnbeer Posted December 5, 2013 Share Posted December 5, 2013 Really not having this we were crap and Southampton were great. They just hoofed high balls into our box the whole game. Sure it was effective but hardly tika taka. Lambert planned a counter attacking game. It worked. We can play possession football when we need to, today against a hard to beat pressing team at home was not one of them. 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
briny_ear Posted December 5, 2013 Share Posted December 5, 2013 ^^^Agree. Haven't seen the whole game yet but it looks like we played an excellent counter-attacking game tonight. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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