*Official* English Football Season 2014-15

[Uppercut]

Mata is a player that people have turned against ridiculously quickly. BBC ran a survey of what United's first XI would look like this season and every one of them had him dropped because he "hasn't really found his feet at United" etc. But he's scored a lot of goals in his last 9 or 10 games and for all his limitations has definitely been better than Rooney or RVP. The running we get from our new signings should improve his output a lot too, similar to Ozil at Arsenal.

 

[Uppercut]

We weren't incisive but we were at least trying to play the game.

Jesus Christ. Where was all this when Benitez teamed up with Mourinho to turn English football into a never-ending 4-5-1 borefest? They've been an entertaining team for about 10 months and already their fans are getting uppity when Aston Villa have the cheek to sit deep against Raheem Sterling at Anfield.

 

[Ikki]

Jesus Christ. Where was all this when Benitez teamed up with Mourinho to turn English football into a never-ending 4-5-1 borefest? They've been an entertaining team for about 10 months and already their fans are getting uppity when Aston Villa have the cheek to sit deep against Raheem Sterling at Anfield.

Come on man, we're talking about a team that barely ventured out of their own penalty box - 25% possession FFS. They basically scored a jammy goal in the 8th minute and stopped even trying to play the game bar 2-3 set pieces. Couple that with the dirty shenanigans off the ball and they looked closer to a rugby team.

I don't mind a defensive team, a well-drilled and organised team...but I dislike this ultra-negative play. I'll always defend a team's right to play however they want but I don't have to like it. There's also a double-standard to it. A strong team just shading a match against a weaker side draws a lot of criticism; but when a relatively weaker team has no intention to play but gets the result it is lauded to the high heavens. I see no need for such an inferiority complex; I personally love it when the smaller clubs at least try to play and I think in the long term it's the only way. Look at Swansea or Southampton and how they've settled into the division. I hope Leicester can do the same too. Villa's football can **** off.

 

[Nate]

Adam Johnson's dribble and Speroni's penalty save just btw

 

[Pothas]

Everyone else really looking forward to every Liverpool loss now?

I did not see the game so can't comment on Villa but from what I saw on MotD they could have easily been 3-0 up by half time, would have thought that should be a bigger concern than having a moan at the opposition.

 

[Tom Halsey]

Haha yeah Villa definitely had better chances than Liverpool and could easily have been 3-0 up at half time.

 

[Uppercut]

Liverpool won a Champions League playing exactly that way. They had Momo Sissoko in midfield for years, basically a specialist reducer. Then when he left they got Lucas to churn out 8 or 9 tactical fouls a game. Where was Ikki's righteous indignation back then? I don't recall him throwing his "Road to Istanbul" DVD in the bin because it wasn't won fairly.

 

[Ikki]

Everyone else really looking forward to every Liverpool loss now?

I did not see the game so can't comment on Villa but from what I saw on MotD they could have easily been 3-0 up by half time, would have thought that should be a bigger concern than having a moan at the opposition.

You should actually watch the game then. They scored from a jammy goal and had another dangerous set-piece with Senderos but that was it. They had 5 shots in the whole game and only 1 on target.

This is not some bitter point just because we lost. We lost, we suck, whatever. Villa are playing some craptastic football these days though; Liverpool doesn't need to beat them for me to make that observation.

Villa are averaging 37% possession per game, the 3rd worst in the top 5 European leagues. In and of itself that doesn't tell you much as Leicester are slightly worse but they actually try to play even though they've had to face Everton, Arsenal and Chelsea in their first 4 games. Villa also have the 8th worst shots per game, 5th worst shots on target (only 1.5 per match) per game, record in the top 5 European leagues.

They beat Stoke with 1 shot on target; drew to Newcastle with 0 shots on target; beat Hull with 4 shots on target; and just beat us, as aforesaid, with 1 shot on target. They've scored 4 goals so far with only 6 shots on target, total. They've gotten the results so far but unless something changes you can see it's going to be a car crash.

Liverpool won a Champions League playing exactly that way. They had Momo Sissoko in midfield for years, basically a specialist reducer. Then when he left they got Lucas to churn out 8 or 9 tactical fouls a game. Where was Ikki's righteous indignation back then? I don't recall him throwing his "Road to Istanbul" DVD in the bin because it wasn't won fairly.

Liverpool never played that way, cut the crap mate. And I didn't say Villa didn't win fairly; I just said the football they played was ****ty. Pointing out the obvious shouldn't need this much discussion.

 

[Eds]

Villa actually trying to win the game, what bastards.

We knew exactly what they'd try and do before the game even started and yet we still failed to deal with it. It's pretty clear that sitting deep to Liverpool is the way to go and I'm surprised any time we deal with any sort of high-line these days. Even Pochettino teams who usually execute it really well should be looking to sit deep and limit the pressing because it's clearly more effective.

 

[sledger]

And here come the stats....

 

[Pothas]

Well I must go watch the whole game immediately but something tells me that it will just show me that Liverpool can't really defend very well.

 

[sledger]

Also, it's all very well saying Villa had hardly any shots, but didn't Liverpool only manage one shot on target?

 

[OverratedSanity]

You should actually watch the game then. They scored from a jammy goal and had another dangerous set-piece with Senderos but that was it. They had 5 shots in the whole game and only 1 on target.

This is not some bitter point just because we lost. We lost, we suck, whatever. Villa are playing some craptastic football these days though; Liverpool doesn't need to beat them for me to make that observation.

Villa are averaging 37% possession per game, the 3rd worst in the top 5 European leagues. In and of itself that doesn't tell you much as Leicester are slightly worse but they actually try to play even though they've had to face Everton, Arsenal and Chelsea in their first 4 games. Villa also have the 8th worst shots per game, 5th worst shots on target (only 1.5 per match) per game, record in the top 5 European leagues.

They beat Stoke with 1 shot on target; drew to Newcastle with 0 shots on target; beat Hull with 4 shots on target; and just beat us, as aforesaid, with 1 shot on target. They've scored 4 goals so far with only 6 shots on target, total. They've gotten the results so far but unless something changes you can see it's going to be a car crash.



Liverpool never played that way, cut the crap mate. And I didn't say Villa didn't win fairly; I just said the football they played was ****ty. Pointing out the obvious shouldn't need this much discussion.

Well, maybe Villa only played that way because of that early goal, jammy or not. I don't know how you can really blame a side for sitting on a lead away from home. Pointing out their low number of shots only further highlights the fact that they've only conceded one goal in four games. But yeah, it's just craptastic football. Whatever.

 

[Ikki]

Also, it's all very well saying Villa had hardly any shots, but didn't Liverpool only manage one shot on target?

Yes, but we took 18. Blocked shots going on target, for example, don't count, and obviously shots that aren't on target (we hit the post). It's hard to get a shot on target when the opposition is behind the ball with most of the team in the penalty box.

Anyway, people seem to just react because I'm being critical about how another team played and it was my team that lost. Villa can go about their game however they want. If they think that's going to work for them, good luck to them. But IMO it's just a ****ty way to play; not only is it not effective in the long term it's boring as **** to watch.

 

[sledger]

Sounds like Villa had a much higher chance/conversion percentage then.

 

[Tom Halsey]

I have always thought these sort of complaints are a really strange argument anyway. Villa's objective is to win the game. Well, they did, and in truth with some ease. Which is basically the point of the game and therefore vindicates how they played.

If Liverpool actually have pretensions of becoming and staying a title-challenging club then they'd better get used to it and figure out a way of dealing with it. Teams have done it at Old Trafford for 20 years, but for all his faults, to my knowledge SAF never complained about it. It legitimately gave them the best chance of winning the game. On the other hand, Rodgers has had a couple of whinges about it already.

 

[Ikki]

Well, maybe Villa only played that way because of that early goal, jammy or not. I don't know how you can really blame a side for sitting on a lead away from home. Pointing out their low number of shots only further highlights the fact that they've only conceded one goal in four games. But yeah, it's just craptastic football. Whatever.

I'm not blaming them for anything. I just think it's a crap way to play the game. So far Villa have defended similarly against everybody. The short term results aside, playing the way they are generally is a losing game in the long run.

If a debut batsman comes in and scores a couple hundreds chancing his arm, chasing everything; it doesn't mean it's always going to come off. So far the sample is small, but it's unlikely Lambert has stumbled onto a new paradigm in football tactics. I really doubt they'll continue this way, anyway - they are capable of playing much better stuff.

Well I must go watch the whole game immediately but something tells me that it will just show me that Liverpool can't really defend very well.

Yes, we're still struggling defensively. 3/4 of the backline is completely new and the keeper is basically an amazing shot-stopper but little else - not really good coming out for crosses nor passing with his feet. Villa troubled us on set pieces but being 3-0 up? Come on. This is the double standard I was talking about earlier: if a weaker team has 2-3 half-decent chances the stronger team was lucky. By that standard, Lallana and Markovic should have had a brace each.

 

[GIMH]

Tbf to Ikki have heard you all moan about Stoke etc over the years

 

[Ikki]

Even Pulis' Stoke played better stuff compared to how Villa have set up this year. Lambert wasn't ever this negative; even when his team was decimated with injuries and he was using all the youth prospects. I wonder if Keane has had any impact on the tactics.

 

[sledger]

It's actually quite interesting when you consider what is said here:

Aston Villa's new manager Paul Lambert vows to throw out the negative tactics used by Alex McLeish - Telegraph