Prior to Sherwood becoming our new manager, a few Spurs fans did point out Sherwood’s weaknesses. The main weakness was Sherwood’s formations and tendency to play players out of position. I think this was the first time we have seen this under Sherwood, especially after his substitutions. I’m still a fan of Tim Sherwood and what he is trying to do, but at times I was scratching my head in confusion when Villa played against Swansea.
The starting 11 itself was solid. With no fit left-back or Matthew Lowton, Alan Hutton had to play at left-back. This made more sense than playing Bacuna in another position in which he isn’t familiar with. Ideally, I’d play Hutton at right-back and move Clark to left-back, however Villa are struggling with defensive injuries. Playing Kinsella could’ve been even more of a risk.
The midfield was solid, containing width and pace. And our strike force was the inform Benteke and Agbonlahor.
Tim Sherwood brought on Sanchez for Cleverly (injury), N’Zogbia for Westwood and Weimann for Benteke. When Westwood replaced N’Zogbia, Villa only had one wide player left, Sinclair. Having three central midfielders would make sense if Villa were seeking to see the game out. But no, Delph was moved to left-midfield and Sinclair out to right. Why move two players out of position to make room for Westwood, when Carles Gil, a natural right midfielder was available for the bench? Even if Sherwood wanted Westwood to play, why not sub him on in place of Cleverly and not Sanchez?
Immediately, Villa lacked width and Sinclair’s decision making wasn’t great all game. He seemed more interesting in scoring against his former side than get his current side a Villa victory. N’Zogbia was playing well on the right, he was making runs, challenging defenders and was one of Villa’s greatest threat that night. Delph wasn’t a terrible make-shift left midfielder, in fact he remained me of O’Neil’s tactic of playing Reo-Coker at right-midfield.
When Sherwood was at Spurs, fans witnessed the likes of Kyle Walker playing at right-midfield, that experiment also didn’t give Spurs a result.
I still have faith in Sherwood, but when the likes of Gil isn’t even coming on as a substitute in favour of another right-midfielder. You need to question the tactics a little bit. We are in a relegation battle, why not play it safe when there are points available?
i think he was playing it safe
Swansea played 5 in midfield and overan us/battered us 1st half
so bringing on a centre mid for a wide player made sense
plus Weiman tends to play deeper than Benteke and works harder
bottom line is Villa were the better sdie in the 2nd half (we weren’t in the 1st ?)
easy to criticise when we lose !!
UTVeh
A good analysis. Gil has clearly done something that rattles the new manager when he cannot get on in the Swansea game’s circumstances.. We found out after the game but TS should have seen it earlier – Benteke was at half speed with an injured hip and pain killers. Unfortunately Benteke at anything below 100% is a waste of a shirt.
Hutton was a liability at LB, but that only became apparent once he played there, so TS was not to know. Next time he might think of trying Gabby there so long as he has other attack options.
Sinclair did not score with his late effort and therefore did not star. Bu he wasn’t given the ball in circumstances where he could use his pace, two factors contributed to that. Cleverley going off and Delph resorting to fetching and carrying. At those Delph is very good when carrying and very bad when fetching, because he fetches by running towards his own goal and thus takes any pace there is out of an attack which might find holes in the oppos defence. By the time Delph has turned to distribute the defence is back in position.
Hi all. Whilst I understand Adam’s reason for reviewing the game I think we need to accept that TS doesn’t know everything about the squad. Whilst the Spurs fans views might be valid in relation to his wider knowledge of their squad I’m reluctant to pass too critical a judgement on TS at this stage.
Three points:
Cleverley’s injury had a very disruptive effect on our midfield and I think was influential on the final result. As Adam pointed out it reduced Delph’s effectiveness. I wouldn’t have said that pre TS’s arrival.
We are badly affected by defensive injuries which is limiting TS’s options. Hopefully the international break will help.
Why is Benteke with the Belgium squad if he is carrying a hip injury which, by all accounts has been aggravated yet it’s reported he will be fit to play this weekend. Contrast this with all the players withdrawing from the England squad so as to protect them for their club!
Has I’ve said Hitch, swinging the lead comes to mind.yes your right it takes time to know your players, but they can play the managers how they feel. The jury is still out on Sherwood for me to see how clever he is with footballers. Don’t get me wrong he’s 100% better than Lambert.
Fair comment Bill. Love the new monica!
It doesn’t matter who the new manager might have been, it’s impossible to judge on just a handful of games. Overall though I prefer TS’s positive and brash style to that of the mumbling Glaswegian!
Honestly think with a bit of luck we might have at least drawn. We could never have said that when Lambert was in charge, We actually had more goals on target than Swansea did.
Definitely nowhere near where we need to be but Tim is getting us closer. I still hope, which is something I couldn’t have said five or six weeks ago.
I want to believe that TS can not only keep us up but go to the next level next season.
UTV
We deserved draws against Stoke, Newcastle and Swansea…it was a very fine line…A bit harsh on TS but as Hitch says, he doesn’t really know the squad yet. A portion of his time must be spent working out who needs to go during the summer. Considering a number of players are unrecognisable from their previous selves, it’s gotta be tough working out who has potential, and who needs a taxi.
I see Kinsella has joined Luton on loan. Seems a bit risky given our defensive problems. Maybe a couple of the players are returning to fitness.
Tough games coming up. Hopefully we can get a surprise result, otherwise we are right in the thick of it again.
Tactics wrong against Swansea? Maybe. They are a decent team, don’t concede many, and keep possession well. Always looked a tricky game, and we have hardly become world beaters overnight so I guess it was no big shock.
Delph to start for England.
Bloody hell, Kane can’t do any wrong can he?
Unbelievable.
Now comes all the after game fawning.
Quite frankly, Lithuania were awful and probably equivalent to league 2, imo.
Thought Delph played well, I don’t know how they can say Welbeck scored? it came off their man, I still think Sterling, and Welbeck are selfish and go for glory I’d like to find out how many times balls lost by them.never mind well done Delph.
We always win qualifiers easily Badger but when we get to tournaments and play half decent teams it’s a different story. Players like Rooney can score all day long v Lithuania but when he’s in the tournament he can’t score fuvk all
“Allotment Bill”, fair play 🙂
Yes, Delph looked ok, but the mids won’t get that same time on the ball. Italy will be a much better test.
Lithuania are gash mate, imo.
Talks of a UK-based group agreeing a 150m fee for Villa, which would be lowered if we’re relegated. Claims there’s been talks over the last 6 months. Not surprised Lerner’s talked to people/groups, but wonder what kind of UK-Based group it is.
Also claims Sherwood has scouted Martin Hansen, or at least sent scouts, which begs the questions. Is Guzan going to be first choice next season, would Hansen be our future keeper, but being 24 already should be playing first team, or is Given leaving and Hansen being back up and keeping Guzan more on his toes than Given has?
UK based group dosnt sound good does it Andrew. Have to wait and wait and see
Don’t see the problem with it. Never was gonna be some incredibly rich people.
Sad but true
I like the sound of that Andrew if correct, Cuzan needs to be kept on his toes sometimes he’s responsible for silly mistakes, also the thought of a British based ownership means more to me as foreign owners tend to have different attitudes in our game. Thought Delph played well looking forward to see if he’s in the squad for Tuesdays game and show the same enthusiasm.
As long as it’s not Ransom
UK consortium sounds possible. Not very exciting though a group of businessmen will only be on it to make money. Probably keep us midtable whilst raping the club of sky money. But we shall see.
Don’t be fooled Bill. British businessmen can be just as greedy and inept as their overseas counterparts. The Mirror story is nothing new and actually says bugger all. Just a space filler…
I know what you mean Bum Bum its that I’m patriotic, English for the English.
Definitely interesting how many and who we’re linked with under Sherwood. Of course there’s the usual Championship youngsters we’re supposedly after which isn’t surprising after what Sherwood did at Spurs for their young English youth. Then there’s Austin we’re linked too, so Slovakian 20 year old, now a goal keeper who used to be at Pool as a youngster. And of course the “link” to Adebayor who rejected loans to Stoke and some other club as they weren’t big enough for him.
A UK consortium have the potential, emphasis on potential not actual, ability to offset losses “sold” to them by Lerner. If they made or will make profits on another part of their business which renders them liable to UK corporation tax , or even UK banking tax if they are classified as one, then any liability to pay tax can be offset against the accumulated losses, including unpaid interest. This would enable Lerner to get something back from the losses he would confirm if he sold just the club but did not include its debt to him.
Spot on OLL.
No way on earth will Lerner lose the £215 mill or whatever it is that is being suggested.
Granted, he’s probably lost some, but he momentarily challenged for a place at the very highest table in football.
If I was him, I wouldn’t be too unhappy.
Particularly when he’s apparently on his uppers and only has about half a billion to live on.
Agreed OLL / Badger. Lerner also positioned himself to ‘benefit’ tax wise by converting a significant portion of his debt to equity thus effectively increasing the price he paid for the club (from c £60m to £150m) and virtually extinguishing any liability for capital gains.
If Sherwood has a “weakness” of playing footballers out of position, then MON should have been knighted for it….TS has us trying to play whilst stuck in a relegation scrap, for that I applaud him, as for Delph, on Friday he was superb, irrespective of the opposition, he was superb, and you deal what’s in front of you, and he did it with aplomb. AVFC.
Fair comment, Sasa.
Fwiw, I wasn’t slating Delph.
I want him to do it against Italy (I’ve always rated him, even when he has been poor for us).
It was more that playing against Lithuania proves very little, imo.
Why Shoukd we risk our players for a glorified friendly. He should do what sky four players do and feign injury
Because he unlike a few sky four players likes playing for Country? Much like Rooney? Sterling? Hell a lot of the players? It’s more fans that dislike it.
That’s not the point we are fighting relegation we shouldn’t be risking one of our own players for a pointkess game
He doesn’t find it pointless though, so the club’s opinion shouldn’t matter.
That’s frankly bullshit Ooah and you’re just pandering to the $ky game that you profess to hate.
There is no better recognition than playing for your country.
The supposed Champions League and $ky will prove temporary, imo.
Playing for your country will not.
Disagree Badger club football is far more important these days. International football is crap compared to prem. Delph is an important player for us why should we risk him for a money spinning non-event which means nothing when we are in the middle of a relegation scrap. Yes if we were comfortably mid table with nothing to play for then fair enough. You also overlook the fact that when we play in the tournament itself then the sky four players that feign injury get picked where players like Delph get overlooked because he plays for us. One of many reasons England dies on its arse in tournaments
So now it’s again reported an American Consortium are after Villa. Henry Silverman and Todd Boehly, who owns the LA Dodgers and is President of the Guggenheim Partners. Silverman lost a third of his assets in a divorce, so is worth about $300m. Boehly’s assets are part of Guggenheim Partners which in total is worth $220 Billion, but I don’t know if he plans on going it alone with Silverman.
220 billion that will do me Andrew
Unfortunately it’s not the group, but it seems it’s solely Boehly from the group. Although there are differing reports between Silverman and Guggenheim’s CEO Mark Walter who would partner Boehly. Boehly’s worth around 1.3 Billion, Silverman’s worth 300m and Walter’s worth$1.75 billion. However they’re all incredible businessman, along with Fox, we could be “in business”
Problem is unless we get an abromovich type we will never compete again I’m afraid
Plausible, but you gotta get off this opinion we’re getting an owner willing to spend a hell of a lot of money and take a giant fee, possible squad issues if we made it to Europe, etc. No one’s going to come in and do so.
Andrew it wouldn’t suprise me, the yank has’nt moved out of the states ,just sat on his ass trying to off load his mistakes,I like everyone want a owner that interested in our football club, its obvious hes not.lets just get him away ffs,
I don’t dislike Lerner like a lot of fans do, but like Lambert who looks far more at ease since he’s left, Lerner would probably do the same, and that’s by far whats best for him. I have no doubt he’s in overdrive trying to get rid.
Also, Okore’s in doubt for the United game, so we now have Clark as the only fit CB. 5 days to get one of Baker, Vlaar, Senderos or Okore to be fit enough to play against United. Don’t really fear United but if Clark is seriously the only CB fit, we could be in a lot of trouble.
What is it with us and CB’s? We know Vlaar and Sendoros are walking injuries; do we now have to add Okore and Baker. What really pi**es me off is that all but Baker got injured on international duty and who really cares much for international games these days. I don’t even bother to watch the three ‘pussy cats’. We beat Lithuania (who?) and all of Europe are now scared of us – give me a break!
The players like playing International football though, so it doesn’t matter if Villa fans care about it. It’s the players careers after all.
We won’t beat utd anyway so who cares.
I knew that optimistic Oohah we saw on here a few weeks ago was an imposter. Welcome back!
Lol I still think we will stay up though
That very same thought had crossed my mind DSvilla, Oohah just likes to moan at other peoples failings, but its nice to get him back from the deep well of oblivion.
The real oohah is back as negative and depressed as ever. All that positivity has short circuited my brain
Few more things on the rumours of the sale. According to the Telegraph, Lerner’s officially put up his Birmingham home up for sale for 3m. It’s claimed it could even be part of the package the new consortium would receive, which it having 16 acres it could very well be big enough for them.
They claim that the Consortium is in due diligence and have been given access to the data room. It’s made up of 1 major investor and a few backup investors from all over the world. They’ve also signed a non-disclosure act. It won’t be Boehly and Silverman.
Oh and maybe “miracles” do exist, Vlaar considers himself fit for the United game.
His home is in Whitacre Heath, not far from the Gate pub, that’s the pub he popped into.I wonder where his girlfriend went.?
Wherever it is, it’s up for sale now.
Probaby Nigel Kennedy and ray ransom or that judge bloke knowing our luck
He bought it for three so no loss to him,
Benteke and Delph start tonight.