Aston Villa News 24/7Eight changes, first starts for Chris Herd and Michael Bradley. It didn’t work, not at all. A routine beating at the hands of a frankly bemused City. A lacklustre and, at times, completely inept performance during the first half deserved the 2-0 half time scoreline. The third goal wasn’t entirely merited, there was a little fight about Villa after the break, but overall it’s probably a fair reflection on City’s superiority.
There was much head scratching before the game when the teamsheets were announced, the reaction will be far more vocal now the game is over.
I guess no one told Houllier about Moscow. MON never really got over that, Houllier has never enjoyed anything close to the support MON once had. I don’t know if the result would have been any different, but appearing not to care about the competition is what will upset most people.
After the string of PR gaffes, you’d think he’d know better. Maybe he does know better and will take the heat that will inevitably come his way.
As far as I’m concerned, they’re all professional footballers employed by Aston Villa Football Club, none of this “reserve team” nonsense. That was a young side, an inexperienced side yes, but a side full of quality players, some of whom the fans have also being complaining about not getting to play lately.
Bannan? Check. Delfouneso? Check. Can’t have it both ways.
The only player who might not be considered a regular member of the first team squad would be young Herd who was one of the few players to play with any real fire in his belly. Barry Bannan would be another.
Still, eight changes sent the message that Houllier’s one remaining priority is the league. Which is just as well, because that’s all we have now.
It might have been different without the early goal, again terrible defending at a set piece, but this was always going to be a struggle. It might have been different with the likes of Ash and Downing on the pitch instead of the bench too. Sure. It might not.
It’s done now. Personally, I didn’t have high expectations for this tie, time to move on. One goal left for this season; get as far up the league table as possible.
And finally, the away fans who did make the trip to Manchester were once again fantastic and deserved to see better. But look, that’s not just about the team selection, you can aim your ire at the manager if you like, but some the players could take a good look at themselves.
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9 Comments to “Manchester City 3 Aston Villa 0: Manchester is the new Moscow”
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I agree that we raised a bit of a white flag and said “anything is a bonus”. Priority was established and that was >42 points for safety in the league. Moscow also came to my mind, but Moscow was seen as the catalyst of throwing away the league position. If we win in the league then all is forgotten. But if we accept defeat is an option and go on a bad run then we will hark back to the poor messages sent out in this selection.
moscow might have been forgiven if the gamble had paid off in the league. it didn’t though.
football fans will be like a dog with a bone, this will be brought up time and again.
that’s all i mean by it really.
There are 2 possibilities here
1. We threw the game to rest players so that we stay in the Premier League
If this is the case, then it shows the level of expectation that GH holds for our club.
2. We threw the game to rest players so that we can climb the table and finish a bit higher.
If this is the case, it is a disgrace. I was one of the most committed to prioritising when we were actually fighting for real goals (champs league), but 11th, 14th or 8th. Who cares?
Aside from the line up, I refuse to ever watch Petrov play in a Villa shirt again after sitting through that.
Disgrace. Angry.
And I didn’t pay to travel and watch it. I sat on my arse on the couch.
Okay – I’m well p*ssed off and it’s time for a rant. Let’s look at the facts. Villa have lost one of their last nine games before tonights match (and that was Man U. away), and City have not been in great form, and according to Mancini are looking tired. At stake a home quarter final against Reading, and the chance of another trip to Wembley, and even the possibility of an FA Cup final to make up for our mediocre season. If we had put out a stronger team, maybe:- Friedal, Walker, Dunne, Clarke, Delph, Bannan, NRC, Downing, Allbrighton, Young and Gabby we could have given this City team a real game. Don’t get me wrong, I am not over critical of the players who were picked, maybe 6 out of 10 as a team performance, but the lying french tw*t who calls himself our manager gets 2 out of 10. How can he say that the FA cup is high on our list of priorities, and that we are going out to win a difficult game with a team who were much more confident and improved from the team that lost at COMS in December? Why didn’t he just come out and say that he is running scared and that Saturdays match at Bolton is much more important? He is a disgrace. I was at the COMS for that league game in December and in over 35 years supporting Villa that was one of the all-time worst performances, how he survived the sack after that I don’t know. Today was a chance to make good and he threw it away. How I feel for our fans who made that journey again. Does he really think that the squad of players he has assembled are seriously threatened with relegation, especially taking into account our remaining fixtures? We should have gone for it tonight. If nothing else a run to the Cup Final might have helped persuade Ash to stay in the Summer. He wants to win things. What does he think now? The height of Houliers ambition is to avoid relegation? I’m sick of this inept manager. Gabby must be more p*ssed off than me – he can’t even get a game as a striker in the reserves!! And Houlier has the nerve to say that we had a forward line of internationals – one ex- England centre forward, and two centre forwards looking lost on the wings – he just hasn’t got a clue. Not to mention the fact that we were crying out for substitutions ten minutes before he made them, and when he eventually does it’s too late.
OK time for bed. Not only have I got to face the ‘Bluenose’ at work tomorrow, but a Citeh fan aswell.
We had better get a result at Bolton!!!
BLWOW
Yep.
I have to say I didn’t expect to win, but the way the game was executed by both players and manager just makes me angry. A loss, I can deal with (eventually), giving up is unexcuseable, and telling the press all about how the last time was such a “low point” and THEN giving up is just, well…baffling.
I like that we have some young kids getting experience but the team was not only young but clearly hadn’t played well together. Petrov was invisible and Bannan/Bradley seemed to not be on the same page — Bannan had fire but Bradley (I hate to say) looked a bit overwhelmed by it all. He did not look like the CM from the USA team, but unfortunately we American’s tend to get overwhelmed by the EPL. It’s an inferiority complex or something but Bradley looked timid to me. I hope he gets more of a chance to make a show of himself than Lichaj did.
Overall I understand the need to get a few non-regulars into the game but it serves no purpose to completely revamp the team. How can Bannan or Herd or Delph show their worth if there is no support from more experienced players? How can Bradley (with MLS and Germany experience) get up to speed against Man City with only Petrov for support? Why hamstring two fullback’s playing out of position by pairing them with center forwards converted to wingers? One or two changes can constitute a strategy — 6+ is just folly.
As to the front line, the attack was just sad. Heskey couldn’t hold the ball if it had handles, Delfouneso only looked interested when he actually had the ball, otherwise he stood around waiting for it, and Gabby for all his effort just doesn’t seem to fit the role of winger (played with heart though).
Finally, even at 2-0 down I had hope that a quick fix at half-time would get us back in the game. Ultimately Man City brought in their first sub before we even thought about a replacement. Again, baffling… (rant over)
as ever, i’m torn, i see many sides.
confused by houllier’s statement of intent during build up compared with the team sheet. i can’t reconcile the words with actions.
bemused by defeatist attitude after the game. can’t blame him thinking it, i thought the same, but vocalizing it is a different matter.
but i also believe, as i did with moscow, that the manager has the right & authority to use his squad how he sees fit over the course of a season to get the best overall performance.
i’ll be glad when this season is over tbh.
this season still has the potential to leave me with no nails.
there was an interesting (possibly obvious) story in the red-tops today;
“GERARD HOULLIER is set to axe ELEVEN players this summer as he bids to cut Aston Villa’s wage bill.
Brad Friedel, John Carew, Nigel Reo-Coker, Robert Pires, Stephen Ireland, Stephen Warnock, Isaiah Osbourne, Habib Baye, Brad Guzan, Moustapha Salifou and Shane Lowry. And there are doubts over the future of skipper Stiliyan Petrov.
Obviously, we need a new GK…big Brad is playing the odd blinder, but has been showing his age and cannot go on forever…..the rest…..well not too fussed. I guess those reserves that played last night need all the extra experience because they will need to be more prominent.
What do you think the above 11 cost per week ? 20-30M per year? Add in Luke Young (est 2.5M/year)…..and we can invest (sensibly) in a few quality replacements to support the talent coming through. Kyle on a permanent would be a good start.
yeah, something of a no brainer with those players, that started as a mat kendrick opinion piece i think:
http://www.birminghammail.net/birmingham-sport/aston-villa-fc/aston-villa-news/2011/03/02/aston-villa-clear-out-on-the-cards-as-houllier-looks-to-axe-eleven-players-97319-28262271/
where we finish might well have a bearing on who stays and who goes… the difference in premier league “merit payment” between, say, 17th and 12th? £4m
or the annual salary of 2 players earning £40k/wk if you want to think of it that way.