Disappointing result after a first half which I thought was pretty decent but very little mention on the thread of anything remotely positive. If I hadn't been at the game and didn't know the result and just read most of the after match comments I'd presume the entire performance was horrendous and we'd lost heavily. 'Bruce is useless' brigade out in force already I see. All his fault as usual.
Aston Villa v Hull City, Sat 5th August 2017, 5.30pm
- Thread starter JuanPabloAngel
- Start date
JW85
Vital Squad Member
I may as well have stayed at home and watched a recording of any of last season's games. Thought we looked ok for most of the 1st half but once again fell away horribly 2nd. I've no problem with the effort put in by anyone but once more we showed pretty much nothing that resembled creativity.
Defence and keeper are fine. I thought Whelan looked like a red card waiting to happen, not impressed at all. Bacuna runs about a lot but has zero technical ability, should not be starting. Lansbury is painfully slow, again he put the effort in but didn't do what he was there for. Elmohamady looked decent then faded, he's looks pretty limited in what he can do but at least he did those things well enough. Gabby looked dangerous when he actually played where he was supposed to for the opening 15 minutes but once he scored he obviously decided to play centre forward and never made a run down the line after that. After his goal he never looked like a threat once. Hogan made plenty of runs but hardly anyone had either the talent or balls to try and play him in, second half he faded like everyone else. I get the impression that in a proper team he'd score a boatload.
Defence and keeper are fine. I thought Whelan looked like a red card waiting to happen, not impressed at all. Bacuna runs about a lot but has zero technical ability, should not be starting. Lansbury is painfully slow, again he put the effort in but didn't do what he was there for. Elmohamady looked decent then faded, he's looks pretty limited in what he can do but at least he did those things well enough. Gabby looked dangerous when he actually played where he was supposed to for the opening 15 minutes but once he scored he obviously decided to play centre forward and never made a run down the line after that. After his goal he never looked like a threat once. Hogan made plenty of runs but hardly anyone had either the talent or balls to try and play him in, second half he faded like everyone else. I get the impression that in a proper team he'd score a boatload.
Ricardomeister2
Vital Squad Member
First half - finishing apart, we looked like a promotion team.
Second half - abysmal with a shocking lack of movement and fitness, plus poor management.
A lot of improvement needed and a capacity to play 2 decent halves, otherwise we won't be any better off than last season.
Second half - abysmal with a shocking lack of movement and fitness, plus poor management.
A lot of improvement needed and a capacity to play 2 decent halves, otherwise we won't be any better off than last season.
Silhillvilla
Vital Football Legend
Hull will be up there in the mix for sure . Whilst disappointing, we don't have our best team available yet . If we can get 4 points out of Cardiff and Reading that's a decent start
JW85
Vital Squad Member
We finished stronger because they sat back and settled for a point. My worry is that they never turned up 1st half and we looked pretty comfortable but the second they upped the tempo we were out of the game until after they decided a point was enough. We will play quite a few teams better than hull this season and if we want promotion we have to be better than this.
JuanPabloAngel
Alert Team
Completely agree with this. The amount of time he was on the shoulder of the last man, pointing to where he wanted it, and the player in possession either stopped and turned back, or turned in the other direction, was ridiculous. No one with the eye for a killer ball.
The lad fed on scraps (such as they were), so anyone having a pop at Hogan is an idiot.
We played well until Gabby lost his discipline and played inside (he was quite dangerous wide left) and Hutton went wandering all too often. How he got Sky MOTM is beyond me. Out of position time and again.
Although I must admit to being completely gobsmacked when Hutton's cross found Gabby at the back post for our goal - something I never thought I'd see in a million years!
We played well for 45, then did our usual dropping deep and trying to defend a 1-0, while as Sir Dennis mentioned, Hull had 20 minutes of decent football and controlled the game. HAd Andre Green scored, we'd have won I reckon, but it seemed to me that he didn't expect the ball to clear the keeper. Whatever, was a bit of a stinker.
I didn't think Bacuna was as poor as some are claiming, but he certainly is no central midfielder. Would rather have seen Lansbury there (although I would MUCH rather not see him at all) and Hourihane further forward in the role Lansbury had.
Also, not too impressed in Samba coming on as a forward for the last 5 - very outdated thinking for me.
But - 45 games to go, plenty of football to be played and our two best players yet to return from injury. Take a chill pill people. We have played ONE match.
Silhillvilla
Vital Football Legend
Gabby was pushed to left mid 2nd half which was odd ? If his legs are gone take him off
Ricardomeister2
Vital Squad Member
I must have been at a different game, as what I saw was the midfield and strikers out on their feet after an hour and almost nothing created in the second half (just Green's fluffed header). I certainly don't think we finished the stronger as we did not even trouble their keeper.
tarzansbrother
Vital Football Hero
Villa limped to the end with Samba sent on up front. Embarrassing
david-avfc
Vital Football Hero
First half was decent, we scored a good goal and had a few other chances, Hull were shocking though. Second half things declined, no one played well in the second 45, midfield looked tired and slow in particular.
We are definitely lacking in the creativity department, throwing Samba on and playing long ball for the final 5 minutes sums it all up
We are definitely lacking in the creativity department, throwing Samba on and playing long ball for the final 5 minutes sums it all up
Thomas Holte
Vital Football Legend
EDIT
david-avfc
Vital Football Hero
I have to admit I don't know where all this praise for Hogan comes from. All these great runs he makes I must have been looking the other way because apparently I missed all of them.
He works hard, yes, and does a lot of running but his movement to me doesn't seem anything particularly impressive. It's not exactly if he's been in a position to score but someone hasn't passed it. He just seems pretty anonymous. I want him to stand up and be counted and make a difference, rather than waiting for the right pass.
