Aston Villa News 24/7It’s not so much a cliché as a truism: goals change games. Sometimes not scoring does too. Had Downing’s early woodwork striking effort gone in and/or had we been awarded a penalty for the challenge on Reo-Coker shortly after, it might have been a different game.
The goal we conceded, when we conceded it and in the manner it was given away clearly took some of the wind out of our sails in a much more traditional sense. Of course it did, we handed Sunderland a head start.
The real reason I focused on the goals, or the lack thereof, as being a key factor in this one is because I was looking back at the Statshack and early match report for this fixture last season where we won with a much smaller share of the game than the stats suggest we had in this one. It goes like that sometimes, but, if you’ll indulge me, I’m going to quote myself from the 2nd paragraph of the Statshack post:-
As far as the numbers go, well you can see for yourself. Had we not scored more goals than Sunderland and, therefore, won the game, might this be evidence of our shortcomings for any of the overly vocal detractors floating around the interwebz? No matter, we won and we looked scarily good during moments of this game. Scarily good. Do you think Stoke will fancy coming to Villa Park on Saturday?
I added a little emphasis to the part about looking “scarily good” since, if you listen to some people, you’d think we’ve just woken up and started playing good football after years of playing badly. I won’t dwell on the obvious point of results over entertainment, but I will point out that this is our worst points haul from our opening nine games since 2005/06, DOL’s final season.
But just sticking with the game at the Stadium of Light last season for a moment, it was around that time that Milner was moved into the middle to accommodate Stewart Downing into the team and it was Milner who was the main reason for that win.
It was Milner’s brilliant through ball to Emile Heskey that the big striker just needed to help on its way to goal in the 24th minute and it was Milner who robbed Sunderland of the ball from their own throw in during the 2nd half and scampered off before dispatching the ball into the top corner to make it 2-0 and game over.
On that basis, there’s very little point analyzing today’s game from a tactical point of view, there was nothing wrong with the way Houllier set his team out and you can argue about individual selection as much as you like, but without someone like Milner in the middle, grabbing the game by the scruff of the neck and making things happen, it’s anyone’s game.
Today, Sunderland won, but as you’ll see from the numbers below, we deserved a point, a win wouldn’t have been out of order either, but you don’t win games without scoring goals.
To that end, of course a real predatory striker would be useful, Gabby’s speed may have injected a different dynamic into this game, but even the best strikers in the world really need some creative force in the middle of the park. They also tend to score the simple tap-ins when they’re presented.
Average Position Map
Sidwell replaced Petrov in the 40th minute so is shown in the average position map instead. If you’re interested, Stan’s average position was nearly identical to Reo-Coker.
We played a 4-2-3-1 up until Marc Albrighton came on for Stephen Ireland in the second half and Ash was moved into the centre; more of a 4-4-1-1.
Sunderland also played an interesting 4-2-3-1 system with Cattermole and Henderson as the central anchors, Danny Wellbeck and the impressive Al Muhammadi (Elmohamady) the wide men sandwiching Steed Malbranque behind Darren Bent.
Jordan Henderson’s penchant for getting forward and Malbranque’s near free role made Sunderland’s system often times look like something better described as 4-5-1, Cattermole the lone holding player.
| 1 | Sunderland | October 23rd 2010 | Aston Villa | 0 |
| 48% | Possession % | 52% | ||
| 14 | Shots | 13 | ||
| 1 | On Target | 3 | ||
| 4 | Corners | 11 | ||
| 5 | Offsides | 2 | ||
| Dunne (OG) 25′ | Scorers | |||
| Bardsley | Booked | Heskey, Warnock | ||
| Sent Off | ||||
| 189 | Good Passes | 211 | ||
| 47% | CPS % | 53% | ||
| 68 | Bad Passes | 70 | ||
| 74% | Completion % | 75% | ||
| 10 | Interceptions | 20 | ||
| 39 | Tackles Won | 42 | ||
| 38 | Tackles Lost | 36 | ||
| 51% | Success % | 54% | ||
| 5 | Blocks | 4 | ||
| 14 | Free Kicks | 17 | ||
Sunderland
Subs
Aston Villa
Subs
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| Average Position Maps | ||||
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You can find Statshacks from other games here.
[Original data and graphics courtesy of ESPN and The Guardian]
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9 Comments to “Statshack – Sunderland 1 Aston Villa 0”
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Dan, you seen my post on missing gabby those positions prove it, look at how deep Heskey is and Young further forward, that is wrong and the missing Gabby
that’s completely normal, ian. ash, and sometimes downing too, are almost always more advanced on *average* than either carew or heskey.
they’re just more mobile and don’t have the same defensive responsibilities at set plays. gabby does tend to be slightly further forward than ash on average, but for the same reasons.
because Gabby as you says has the mobility and that is key in today’s football as a forward static forwards will never work now
Gabby and Ash is the way for me and has always been
that’s true, but you end up in a swings and roundabout situation.
is gabby at his best as a long striker in a 4-5-1 based system and therefore the focal point, frequently with back to goal? probably not.
if you give gabby the foil he often needs, be it carew or heskey (and he works better with carew than heskey) then you have to sacrifice a central midfielder and we don’t have the talent to run with only two in the middle.
lose the midfield and you usually lose the game.
that’s why i love football, there’s no one answer.
course not, but houllier may play him slightly differently with runs off people, the problem we have is I guess we do not have the players to suit how he really wants to play
we can only compare to Liverpool and he liked neat skillful footballers but apart from Owen little pace.
Maybe GH would sell some ‘stars’ because they would not fit that and maybe displease a lot of fans, I am thinking of young.
“I will point out that this is our worst points haul from our opening nine games since 2005/06, DOL’s final season.”
Worse than that, this should have been the easiest start to a season (on paper) that we’ve had for years imo.
the nose game will be the 10th so i’ll be doing the apples-to-apples thing after that one. we’ll see, but i don’t think it’s going to look good however i slice or dice it.
Watch the second half again Dan, I can’t believe you didn’t feel Young impressed when he moved into the hole.
As for needing Milner, you said yourself goals change the view.
Heskey did what Milner did, in that he brushed aside their RB, raced into the box and crossed for Ireland to score – he didn’t. He played a superb one-two for Coker to score – he didn’t. He turned the CB on the half way line with a superb piece of skill, charged forward and fed a through ball to Ireland to score – he didn’t.
You’re right it’s all about goals and I recall all the City fans saying that Dunne will be a rock for Villa, but every now and then he’ll fall asleep and lose you a game.
somehow i’ve managed not to mention heskey’s impressive run – a near carbon copy of what he did at the lane to set up albrighton – that almost provided ireland’s first goal.
you’re right, there were chances there that would have made those involved looked like the players we’re missing if they’d gone in. that’s a fair point.
ash attempted five passes in open play during the first 55 mins, two unsuccessfully. he attempted 11 passes in open play after moving to middle, 9 of them were successful.
beside that , his movement off the ball was taking place in a more dangerous part of the pitch.
but, he just wasn’t getting into the game for whatever reason during his spell out wide and once he moved into the middle he clearly was able to get involved more, albeit during a period that we enjoyed greater possession of the ball.
no complaints, i just didn’t notice anything spectacular from him. good? yes. outstanding? no.
i think ash is already the highest paid at VP, but we want to put him into a contract that cements his place as *the* key man. well, that’s the sort of thing i want to see, demonstrate why he’s head and shoulders above the rest of the team.