Comments on: With Gareth Barry, that point would’ve been 3

By: Dronfieldvillain

Dronfieldvillain — Tue, 19 Jan 2010 15:40:40 +0000

Villa won’t progress until Petrov is replaced. He isn’t good enough defensively– he isn’t mobile enough basically and has no engine. Nor is Petrov good enough at picking FORWARD passes. Villa need a Makelele. With Downing, Milner and Young there is enough creative midfield talent. Ask Dennis Mortimer what he thinks of Petrov in a defensive midfield role!!!! MON is obsessed with Petrov and HAS to play him. The only way out is to carry him and to play 4-5-1 Let real midfielders do his work for him– but why should they? MON has made a sacred cow out of Petrov by making him captain. In truth- he has made a stick to beat himself with because it will cost him and us dearly. Easiest way to move forward is to get Petrov out!!

By: Rapscallion

Rapscallion — Tue, 01 Dec 2009 12:12:00 +0000

I agree 100% about villa needing a creative midfielder. I think when downing is fit to play things will change. MON will have more options and Ashley young and every other player who have become too comfortable will pull their finger out. Hence. Competition for players and a world cup place.

MON tactics at this stage are too 1 dimensional. However I’m not overly concerened about how we’re playing at present. I feel that last year we peaked too early and were tired come the end of the season. I have a gut feeling MON/staff will prepare them better after Xmas. As long as we stay in touch with the top four and don’t get any serious injuries I think we have a real shot at making the top 4.

Up the villa!!!

By: villarobin

villarobin — Tue, 01 Dec 2009 11:26:59 +0000

Totally disagree, we lost plenty of games like that with Barry in the side as he often went missing.

Do agree we need a class attacking Mid though.

Someone who shoots and passes !!

By: Stuart

Stuart — Mon, 30 Nov 2009 22:03:10 +0000

Good post Martin, it’s good to see another Villa blog, the bigger the variety of opinion the better!

I think I agree with you on Barry. Sidwell nor Reo-Coker seem to be able to step up and fill the void left by Barry. He was extremely calm on the ball, held onto it really well and his passing was exceptional. One could even argue that Ashley Young’s form has dipped partly due to the absence of Barry on the left side of centre midfield.

I’m not too disheartened though. The option of playing any one of Downing, Milner or Young in the hole behind Gabby in place of Carew sounds to me like it could work. I’m not proposing dropping Carew immediately but the option of being able to do this means we have a proper alternative to shake a stale performance up rather than just subbing Heskey for Carew or Coker for Sidwell.

And of course, Delph is still to come. I have a wager on Paddy Power that he’ll make the England WC squad. Looks unlikely now but I placed it straight after the friendly game against Fiorentina where he was the best player on the pitch by a country mile. Hasn’t showed us that sort of football since but I have a feeling we’ll see it in time.

Anyway, good luck with the website and UTV!!!

By: Martin Banks

Martin Banks — Mon, 30 Nov 2009 21:40:07 +0000

Nice one Moocher. I’d like to see Milner and/or Delph given a shot there. Milner has a phenomenal work rate and can thread balls through if he can get out the crossing habit (which he surely would playing in the middle) and Delph has got the ability, he just needs some time to adjust to Premier League life and he will hopefully find his magic touch again at this new level.

To quote myself: “But I’m not just talking about Barry. We need SOMEONE”, I even believe Reo-Coker could do a good job there if he wasn’t at loggerheads with the manager (yeah yeah, I know they’ve put it aside but with stubborn folk, which they BOTH are, those 2 will never gel).

Try Milner, try Delph, whatever, but come on MON, give us some backbone.

By: moocher

moocher — Mon, 30 Nov 2009 18:53:47 +0000

Good points raised here and while I agree with what is being said in general I have to disagree about Barry. We are not missing Barry but what we are missing is what he brought to the team. I know that sounds a contradiction but it isn’t when I explain. What we want is a creative midfield player who is comfortable going forward with the ball and who can also pass the ball forward…..it doesn’t have to be Barry. There are numerous players out there who can do this job as well as Barry did in his last twelve months at the club. He doesn’t have to be an expensive player just some one who is attack minded and can win the ball and he will improve the team by giving us another option. I have my players that I would like to see in that role as I would like to think MON has. Who would you like to see in that role?

By: villa@hert

villa@hert — Mon, 30 Nov 2009 12:54:10 +0000

Excellent post. Well balanced with positive suggestions unlike some other blogs.

Everyone other than MON knows we need some creativity in midfield I would also argue that we also need some creativity and natural goal scorer up front. These can either be brought in, in Jan or we could take a risk with some of the kids. The Fonz and Delph will never develop on the bench and I could not agree more with you about Albrighton. Ash and Gabby have become too complacent as has big John.

Tuesday is the opportunity to make the changes. If MON plays “safe” I for one will be disappointed and more important we will be heading for mid-table finish. We have a stronger defence than last year, as shown by Saturday – what would have been the score last year if we had lost 2 1st choice backs – we have more options and hard work in midfield. All we need is some creativity and we will be there or there about.

Oh, almost forgot I think we may well have got 3 pts if we had had Barry but only if he was on his game and not day-dreaming about his dream move.