I feel bad, there’s lots of things I could have filled the international break with and Actim is ideal, but it completely slipped my mind. I thought I better throw this update out there before Jermaine Defoe’s 5 goal haul against Wigan wins him every spot in the top 20!!
Of course, I also want to make sure this update is seen as there are no less than 9 Aston Villa players in the Top 100, bested only by Chelsea:-
8th
From a statistical perspective, probably one of the most even games you’ll see. It’s fair to say that Burnley edged the first half and Villa the second, 1-1 has to be regarded as a fair result.
As I mentioned in the first review, Burnley had a home record coming into this game of played 6, won 6 5, so we managed to resist that trend at least. [Edit: My mistake, Burnley have lost at home… to Wigan, if you can
Aston Villa have donated all 14 shirts used during Saturday’s 5-1 romp over Bolton to charity for auction. You probably noticed that the shirts featured an embroidered poppy on the chest to commemorate Remembrance Day.
The auction closes in a week and you can bid here, it will be interesting to see which shirts raises the most money. Right now it’s Carlos Cuellar who scored his fist goal for Villa.
[via AVFC]
Stephen Warnock has been at Villa since the end of August, making his debut in the 1-0 victory over City on September 13th, and in that time he’s made the left back position his own, winning himself a call up to Fabio Capello’s England squad to face Brazil.
An impressive performance for the player who holds the record for the least number of minutes played for Enlgand – 6 minutes against Trinidad & Tobago in May 2008. Warnock himself credits
5
Aston Villa
Nov 7th 2009
Bolton
1
57
Possession %
43
23
Shots
13
12
On Target
6
8
Corners
1
2
Offsides
1
5′ A Young, 43′ Agbonlahor, 53′ Carew, 72′ Milner, 75′ Cuellar
Scorers
44′ Elmander
Gardner
Booked
Cohen, Cahill, Davies, Robinson
Sent Off
277
Good Passes
159
59
Bad Passes
68
18
Interceptions
18
48
Tackles Won
48
35
Tackles Lost
37
2
Blocks
3
18
Free Kicks
18
Starting XI:
1. Friedel
2. Young
25. Warnock
24. Cuellar
5. Dunne
20. Reo-Coker
4. Sidwell
7. Young
8. Milner
10. Carew
11. Agbonlahor
Subs:
22. Guzan
14. Delfouneso
26. Gardner
21. Shorey
47. Clark
12. Albrighton
16. Delph
Average Position Map
The average position map reflects the fact that 53% of Villa’s attack went down the left channel. Considering Ashley Young pretty much spent the first 45 minutes on the right wing, that’s some achievement.
Again, since MON made a change at half time, Reo-Coker on for Heskey, I’ve included 12 players on the map. You can see how lop sided and unbalanced the shape is. Can’t help feeling sorry for Habib Beye.
2
West Ham
Oct 31st 2009
Aston Villa
1
57
Possession %
44
20
Shots
19
7
On Target
8
6
Corners
14
3
Offsides
3
45′
It doesn’t matter how you approach research, it’s almost impossible not to have a pre-conceived notion in your mind about what you’re going to find. Sometimes you’ll even be looking specifically for data to back up a position or opinion you already hold.
Personally, what I really enjoy about research is when I find that the raw data doesn’t match what I expected to find and challenges the ideas I had formed. In simple terms; I find that I’m
A predictably tight affair was statistically edged by Villa. Perhaps Everton will be the more satisfied with the draw, they’ll certainly have less complaints about being reduced to 10 men. Ironically, Everton could actually appeal Bilyaletdinov’s early bath as he received a straight red card while Carlos Cuellar was harshly shown a second yellow card late on, but dismissals resulting from two bookings cannot be appealed. Yeah, that’s fair, isn’t it?
* The sharp eyed among may well notice
Unsurprisingly, it was a tight affair between our new centre back pairing, but Richard Dunne just edged it. Although not eligible, a special mention should probably be reserved for penalty king Brad Guzan.
Player of the Month – October
1st – Richard Dunne – 7.21
2nd – James Collins – 7.14
3rd – Gabby Agbonlahor – 6.69
Previous Winners
1st
2nd
3rd
September
Gabby Agbonlahor (7.34)
Brad Friedel (7.28)
James Milner (7.23)
August
James Milner (7.03)
Brad Friedel (6.91)
Stiliyan Petrov (6.57)