PL: Aston Villa vs Arsenal | Wed 27th January | 19:45

[Stevo the Villan]

Didn't see the long ball stat then qs? Or let me guess, your long passes were pinpoint calculated long through balls to set up a chance every time whereas ours were pointless hoofs to no-one?

 

[qs]

That stat is meaninless. Why is a 35 yard pass a long ball but not a 33 yard pass? No doubt selected to skew the results.

But no you are right Stevo, we're a long ball team. Good call.

 

[ricky1985]

Just had a chance to watch the game and I thought we did okay. First half we weren't very good, but neither were Villa. It seems we lack abit of confidence away from home, we drop too deep, instead, we need to step up the pitch and impose our game on teams we're clearly better than. When we did that at the start of the second half we showed Villa for what they are - a decent team with little to no craft. Although when we did drop deep I thought our defence was absolutely magnificent. Campbell and Gallas were exceptional, and Sagna didn't let a cross in all night, Clichy was a litle shaky, but he needs games to get back up to speed.

I'm a little perplexed as to why Denilson was getting slaughtered after the game, from what I saw it was a decent performance by him. Pretty much par for the course. A few good interceptions, a few decent passes, and a few shocking moments. As far as a Denilson performance goes I don't think it gets too much better than that.

Fabregas looked a little jaded, but had some moments of great quality going forward. Ramsey was close to playing very well but nothing was quite coming off for him. Rosicky looks to be back upto speed, unfortunately his old habit of beating a man and then fluffing an eye-of-a-needle pass seems to be frequent also.

The real pluses for me were Campbell, Arshavin and Bendtner. Campbell is one of Wenger's most ingenious signings yet. You can see has a the trust of the rest of the team, he also has a great understanding with the other defenders, and what a player he has shown he is! To not play a proper game for 8 months, and then come back and play at the level he is, at 35 years old, amazing really.
Onto the little Russian, I thought he looked electric, constantly beating Villa players, sometimes 2 and 3 at a time, and some of his passing was magnificent. He looks a yard quicker too, don't think he was beaten in a race all night long. Hopefully he's over his niggling injuries that have stopped him playing at his best level.
As for Bendtner, I'm not sure whether it's because Eduardo has struggled so badly against rugged defenders of late, or whether he genuinely looked so good, but he won everything, and some of his touches and link-play were outstanding. He made us more threatening the second he walked onto the pitch.

It all amounted to a well earned point. We could have won, and perhaps should have won, but we really went for it in the last 15 minutes, it just wasn't our day. Hopefully with Song back in the team for United, we'll be able to control the game more, step up the pitch and squeeze the game. Song's presence and the platform he provides for the rest of the team was clearly missing on Wednesday night.

 

[Stevo the Villan]

That stat is meaninless. Why is a 35 yard pass a long ball but not a 33 yard pass? No doubt selected to skew the results.

But no you are right Stevo, we're a long ball team. Good call.

Yeh because that's what I meant, prat.

 

[True Gooner]

Aston Villa are a direct, long ball team who benefit with strong winners and a cautious approach. It's not even an insult unless O'Neill's been deluding himself into believing that he's playing open, expansive football. That would explain Villa's recent goal glut...oh, wait.

 

[patrick42uk]

Just had a chance to watch the game and I thought we did okay. First half we weren't very good, but neither were Villa. It seems we lack abit of confidence away from home, we drop too deep, instead, we need to step up the pitch and impose our game on teams we're clearly better than.

Its confidence you'd maybe expect us to have by now. Maybe that first trophy will bring it. If you look at Barca for example, its the same wherever they play. They trust their offensive ability everytime.

 

[flobaba]

May I ask exactly what is wrong with being a long ball team? Whatever that means anyway.

 

[Floating]

Someone please lock this thread. This is so pointless!

 

[ricky1985]

Just had a chance to watch the game and I thought we did okay. First half we weren't very good, but neither were Villa. It seems we lack abit of confidence away from home, we drop too deep, instead, we need to step up the pitch and impose our game on teams we're clearly better than.

Its confidence you'd maybe expect us to have by now. Maybe that first trophy will bring it. If you look at Barca for example, its the same wherever they play. They trust their offensive ability everytime.

Yeah, I completely agree. I was actually specifically thinking of Barcelona when I was watching our first half display. We have the technical ability to move up the pitch, squeeze the game, and still monopolise the ball. Too often we drop deep meaning our opponents deeper positioned players can easily pass it around our pressing forwards, mainly because our midfield and defence are so far back.

I suppose the question to ask is where does that confidence come from? Is it purely about winning trophies like you suggest? Or could we just do with more tactially savvy, experienced players? And who is repsonsible for pushing the team up during a game? Is it Cesc, in his role as captain/midfield general, or should the centrebacks have more control by stepping up, forcing the whole team forward as a result?

If we could begin to do it away from home, our away record would be by far the best in the League.

 

[Arsenal in Aus]

The real pluses for me were Campbell, Arshavin and Bendtner. Campbell is one of Wenger's most ingenious signings yet. You can see has a the trust of the rest of the team, he also has a great understanding with the other defenders, and what a player he has shown he is! To not play a proper game for 8 months, and then come back and play at the level he is, at 35 years old, amazing really.
Onto the little Russian, I thought he looked electric, constantly beating Villa players, sometimes 2 and 3 at a time, and some of his passing was magnificent. He looks a yard quicker too, don't think he was beaten in a race all night long. Hopefully he's over his niggling injuries that have stopped him playing at his best level.
As for Bendtner, I'm not sure whether it's because Eduardo has struggled so badly against rugged defenders of late, or whether he genuinely looked so good, but he won everything, and some of his touches and link-play were outstanding. He made us more threatening the second he walked onto the pitch.

I haven't watched the game, but just got the dvd today. I was debating whether to make a priority of watching it, but the above convinced me to. I really wanted to see Campbell do well, see Arshavin zipping around, and see Bendtner have an influence. Thanks for the motivation ricky!