Norwich City v Aston Villa, Sat 7th April @ 12.30pm | Page 17 | Vital Football

Norwich City v Aston Villa, Sat 7th April @ 12.30pm

Jesus! Anyway it isn't Hogans fault, any manager who plays him and adopts that way of playing has lost whatever marbles he once had, period.
 
JuanPabloAngel said:
Yes as long as with persist with this direct hoofball nonsense, he is the only player who can win the ball.
Click to expand...

But it doesn't have to be hoof Ball. We can still play it along the floor to davis whose first touch I think is pretty good. He can hold it up and bring others into play. Hogan may work hard etc but to be honest his first touch is on a par with bent and gabby.
 
The last few games bar Reading there seems to have been no ambition or urgency to attack the opposition as was the case in the early part of the season over the course of the season we have not been good enough and far to inconsistent. For me the team on the whole are like the manager boring. Other teams have slipped up and we have failed to take advantage yesterday was a poor effort.
 
sirdennis said:
But it doesn't have to be hoof Ball. We can still play it along the floor to davis whose first touch I think is pretty good. He can hold it up and bring others into play. Hogan may work hard etc but to be honest his first touch is on a par with bent and gabby.
Click to expand...

I hate the hoofball, don't get me wrong. I agree that even if we play on the floor, his hold up play is better than the others. Hogan can't take the ball with back to goal - not his style. He needs the ball down the channels or coming across the face of goal to have an impact. I'm surprised Bruce and the others haven't twigged that yet.

:arrghh:
 
We have a fundamental problem; the team is unbalanced. We have a surplus of right sided players and are weak on the left. We managed to overcome the problem because it turns out the Scottish Cafu is even better on the left than on the right. Adomah seems happy on the left, but he needs a good player behind him to create.

With Hutton out, we play Taylor, who simply isn't good enough. We lose penetration on the left and are defensively weak. Against a crap Reading this didn't matter. Against a Norwich up for it it did, massively.

Stick Hutton in for Taylor then I think we'd have seen a different game. Maybe not great; on the other side Elmo seems to be fading, but maybe enough to win the game.

Underlying our fundamental problem is that Bruce is poor at team building; he chooses individuals he trusts, rather than builds a team. Hence our unbalanced squad. Hence when one of our top players drops out there isn't anyone capable of slotting in.

Round & Co are supposed to be developing a Villa style, and I think they are, up to and including the U21s. Given a style, when one player drops out another should be able to slot in, knowing and able to do what's required. Under Bruce this doesn't happen; our squad is big but not good enough.

When we fail to get promotion, as we probably will, the club needs to get a manager in who fits our style. Bruce doesn't. It may not guarantee promotion next year, but it will pay dividends in the longer term. I thought we should do it a year ago. Quick fixes don't work in today's game.
 
We actually started counting the touches Hogan had against Reading for a laugh , he's right up there with Darren Bent and Mr AVFC .
Had to laugh at the commentary yesterday saying he would get in behind Norwich , he hasn't had a one on one with the keeper since he signed has he ?
I think it's time for Koj to start and firstly get us in the playoffs . Bruce is reluctant to start our kids or even the on loan ones now , so Koj has to step up
 
Thomas Holte said:
I really do admire the time, money and support you and the thousands of others give to Aston Villa on away games - What a shame you are all let down by a bunch of prima donnas's who don't bother to reward you and the club with a bottling no-show.

When I used to do the same on away games I could take a defeat provided the lads gave 100% however far too many of the current first 11 need a lighted rocket up their jacksie's.
Click to expand...
This championship is starting to take it's toll on me now though mate there's too many games this week I'm gonna clock up some miles.Having drove down here Friday then off to Norwich and back then I'm off to Ludlow races tomorrow to watch me horse run (don't mind that me mates driving).Stay down here for Cardiff go back home Wednesday then drive back down here Friday and go back home Saturday there;s over a thousand miles in one week.
 
ASPINALL said:
He was always gonna play Hogan, he was the forward integral in the 7 game run and scored goals - brought him back into the team and he played well and scored on Tuesday.

I think our teams problems lie far deeper then just replacing Hogan, the way we played yesterday Batistuta would have struggled.
Click to expand...

That's just it mate he didn't play well against Reading but he scored same with the hapless Hourihane he scored but him and Hogan were the worst of our players . As I said after the game Reading were just pathetic .
You just know Bruce will stick with the same side desipe saying we have 5 games in 13 games bla bla bla need to keep players fresh.

Yes it is deeper than Hogan but without a hold up player we are sunk as the midfield first job is protecting the 4 snails we call a defence
 
Well let`s hope he throws Kodjia in as he is the best forward we have, Davis doesn`t convince me he can score goals if i am honest.
 
ASPINALL said:
Well let`s hope he throws Kodjia in as he is the best forward we have, Davis doesn`t convince me he can score goals if i am honest.
Click to expand...

The one thing the majority of posters agreed on this season is that Davis gave us an option of holding the ball and bringing others into play. Something our other strikers didn't do. Since the arrival of Grabban and the return of Kodja, he hasn't even made the bench. The boy is an 18 year old prospect who will only improve his weaknesses by playing. When chasing a game, surely using his different style and ability would be more use than just throwing on strikers in place of their supply.
If he doesn't play, he won't improve and he certainly suits the tactic of pumping the ball forward better than Hogan. We've had Onomah and Lansbury sitting on the bench last two games, both of whom have offered less than Davis this season.
 
northamptonvillan said:
The one thing the majority of posters agreed on this season is that Davis gave us an option of holding the ball and bringing others into play. Something our other strikers didn't do. Since the arrival of Grabban and the return of Kodja, he hasn't even made the bench. The boy is an 18 year old prospect who will only improve his weaknesses by playing. When chasing a game, surely using his different style and ability would be more use than just throwing on strikers in place of their supply.
If he doesn't play, he won't improve and he certainly suits the tactic of pumping the ball forward better than Hogan. We've had Onomah and Lansbury sitting on the bench last two games, both of whom have offered less than Davis this season.
Click to expand...

:agree:
 
Has Davis played since Preston ? He played very well against them i thought - shame he missed the sitter at the end.
 
It's very frustrating. Norwich are no great shakes but they were the better side yesterday. We lost as a team. You can blame Bruce or the players or Hogan or Hourihane but even with one player not cutting the mustard, we should be able to beat a Norwich team with nothing to play for.

We got to squeaky bum time and shit the bed.
 
ASPINALL said:
Has Davis played since Preston ? He played very well against them i thought - shame he missed the sitter at the end.
Click to expand...

Had a few minutes v Bolton I think. It's clear that his finishing is the main area for improvement. That will only improve with game time. At the moment, given the way we are playing, I would have him on the bench with the aim of giving him 20 or 30 mins as part of plan B when we needed more of the ball.
 
ASPINALL said:
Has Davis played since Preston ? He played very well against them i thought - shame he missed the sitter at the end.
Click to expand...

He came on as a sub against Sheff Wed, QPR and Bolton. We were so bad against QPR and Bolton he never stood a chance of making an impact. I really don't see why he couldn't have started a few more games.

http://www.soccerbase.com/players/player.sd?player_id=90080

As has been said a lot over the last few day, Bruce only seems to trust 'his' players doesn't he?
 
The ironic thing is that we seem to do better in the big games. We smashed the Blues and Wolves but then lost the 'easier' games after them. Norwich was expected to be a walk in the park and we blew it.

I don't know if the squad is complacent or tired but we should have been able to match Norwich for intensity yesterday and didn't.

I have some faith that we will be able to get through the play offs because we seem to shine in the big games but perhaps I'm clutching at straws in a season that should have been sewn up by now.
 
gator said:
This championship is starting to take it's toll on me now though mate there's too many games this week I'm gonna clock up some miles.Having drove down here Friday then off to Norwich and back then I'm off to Ludlow races tomorrow to watch me horse run (don't mind that me mates driving).Stay down here for Cardiff go back home Wednesday then drive back down here Friday and go back home Saturday there;s over a thousand miles in one week.
Click to expand...

Yeah. Feeling a bit relentless now. Tuesday then Friday this week. Can make Tuesday but Friday is a problem that I could probably sort out but the thought of battling through Friday traffic is not appealing so will probably make do with watching our usual sky sterile performance
 
You must log in or register to reply here.