[Archived] Villa Semi Final Match Preview

[Alan75]

I remember when Nelsen used to be cool and composed on the ball. Now he has a panic attack every time he's in possesion.

I suspect thats due to having to cover for Samba.

And I'm not blaming Samba, as the big man is working under Sams instructions to get up front for every set piece.

And why is Samba up for every set piece, because Sam's only playing one striker.

If you look at last night goal - where was Samba - look no further than Villa's penalty box.

[Ossydave]

I suspect thats due to having to cover for Samba.

And I'm not blaming Samba, as the big man is working under Sams instructions to get up front for every set piece.

And why is Samba up for every set piece, because Sam's only playing one striker.

If you look at last night goal - where was Samba - look no further than Villa's penalty box.

Shouldn't be a problem though.

You're supposed to leave your fullbacks and A N other back on set pieces and in theory that's enough cover.

[Alan75]

Shouldn't be a problem though.

You're supposed to leave your fullbacks and A N other back on set pieces and in theory that's enough cover.

Only if they have sufficient pace

[Ossydave]

Only if they have sufficient pace

The ability to put a foot in would be a start.

Flitcroft or Batty would have crunched Milner long before he scored back when we had some decent midfielders

[tcj_jones]

The ability to put a foot in would be a start.

Flitcroft or Batty would have crunched Milner long before he scored back when we had some decent midfielders

And more recently, Savage. Mokoeana might not have tackled him, but they sure as hell wouldn't have got that far!

[rebelmswar]

And more recently, Savage. Mokoeana might not have tackled him, but they sure as hell wouldn't have got that far!

I also think that Grella would have gotten a yellow card and Milner a sore ankle.

[Alan75]

I also think that Grella would have gotten a yellow card and Milner a sore ankle.

And Keeley would have booted him into Row ZZ

[RIML]

Funny how most people blame Nelsen for their goal, yet look where Samba was, oh yeah heading the ball into a Villa player's path. Was it a case of blame Nelsen because Samba was out of sight? Salgado ran the full length of the pitch to try and cover, while Samba was still up front. Watch Salgado's run who said he's too slow?

Nelsen made a couple of dodgy mistakes in the second half but made some vital interceptions and defended well on a whole, the odd ball went wayward and out for a Villa throw. Chimbonda give the ball away more often than not, he won loads of headers but they went straight to a Villa player. Olsson also lost possession in a dangerous area but we just held our breath, Nelsen did the same and the crowd shout his name in anger.

Our fans voted Ryan Nelsen the best defender on Sky Sports Player Ratings.

Samba 5.1

Nelsen 5.4

Jacobsen 4.6

Chimbonda 5.1

Yet people on here seem to think he should be dropped or sold

[rebelmswar]

Funny how most people blame Nelsen for their goal, yet look where Samba was, oh yeah heading the ball into a Villa player's path. Was it a case of blame Nelsen because Samba was out of sight? Salgado ran the full length of the pitch to try and cover, while Samba was still up front.

I thought that would have been because of the tactics calling for Samba to be in that area. If Nelsen was left behind to make sure to cover breaks then it was his fault.

Yet people on here seem to think he should be dropped or sold

I dont think that he should be sold, maybe given a rest for a game or so. He has been not his usual self for awhile. Maybe a quick breather would be good for him

[Ossydave]

Funny how most people blame Nelsen for their goal, yet look where Samba was, oh yeah heading the ball into a Villa player's path. Was it a case of blame Nelsen because Samba was out of sight? Salgado ran the full length of the pitch to try and cover, while Samba was still up front. Watch Salgado's run who said he's too slow?

Nelsen made a couple of dodgy mistakes in the second half but made some vital interceptions and defended well on a whole, the odd ball went wayward and out for a Villa throw. Chimbonda give the ball away more often than not, he won loads of headers but they went straight to a Villa player. Olsson also lost possession in a dangerous area but we just held our breath, Nelsen did the same and the crowd shout his name in anger.

Our fans voted Ryan Nelsen the best defender on Sky Sports Player Ratings.

Samba 5.1

Nelsen 5.4

Jacobsen 4.6

Chimbonda 5.1

Yet people on here seem to think he should be dropped or sold

Nelsen was, and has been for a while, awful. He can't head to a man, he can't pass, he can't tackle, he can't head a ball!

Chimbonda was badly at fault for that goal, any defender worth their salt aims to force a player out wide in a situation like that, he just turned his back (again).

[broadsword]

Put him down, like the mange-ridden rabid dog he is!

Take him outside and shoot him in the morning. an unmarked pauper's grave on Whalley Range.

[RIML]

I thought that would have been because of the tactics calling for Samba to be in that area. If Nelsen was left behind to make sure to cover breaks then it was his fault.

If that was the tactic then why not throw Nzonzi in there instead, he's only an inch smaller than Samba.

Nelsen was, and has been for a while, awful. He can't head to a man, he can't pass, he can't tackle, he can't head a ball!

Chimbonda was badly at fault for that goal, any defender worth their salt aims to force a player out wide in a situation like that, he just turned his back (again).

Oh please it was only a few weeks ago someone on here said Nelsen had 100% pass completion.

[rebelmswar]

If that was the tactic then why not throw Nzonzi in there instead, he's only an inch smaller than Samba.

And he wasn't?

Samba is (and will be) our heading target man.

You can not blame Samba for being out of position when he was obviously sent there.

Nelsen had the chance to stop what was happening and did not.

[Ossydave]

If that was the tactic then why not throw Nzonzi in there instead, he's only an inch smaller than Samba.

Oh please it was only a few weeks ago someone on here said Nelsen had 100% pass completion.

Who the hell said that?

His distribution is awful, words cannot express how bad it really is.

[RIML]

And he wasn't?

Samba is (and will be) our heading target man.

You can not blame Samba for being out of position when he was obviously sent there.

Nelsen had the chance to stop what was happening and did not.

What makes you think that? The way people go on about Sam's 'negative tactics', if that was the case, Samba wouldn't be allowed past the halfway line

You could say Chimbonda, Salgado and Nelsen had a chance to stop what was happening but none of them did. Salgado was touch tight at one point then the next it was in the back of the net, can't fault his effort though his run was amazing, shame he switched off for that split second.

Also Samba target man? I haven't seen him win a header since late on at the Wigan game and when he does it usually results in a free-kick out. If anything Nelsen came closest with his effort which deflected wide.

Samba to score a header against Fulham now

[rebelmswar]

What makes you think that? The way people go on about Sam's 'negative tactics', if that was the case, Samba wouldn't be allowed past the halfway line

Is that not what we do for almost every set piece?

You could say Chimbonda, Salgado and Nelsen had a chance to stop what was happening but none of them did. Salgado was touch tight at one point then the next it was in the back of the net, can't fault his effort though his run was amazing, shame he switched off for that split second.

I agree he should have kept up with him.

Also Samba target man? I haven't seen him win a header since late on at the Wigan game and when he does it usually results in a free-kick out. If anything Nelsen came closest with his effort which deflected wide.

Again I agree but that does not mean that he is not the main target for all balls into the box.

Samba to score a header against Fulham now

Lets hope he gets a hat-trick.

[RIML]

Who the hell said that?

I'm not sure who said it, I seem to remember it being after the Hull game but I can't seem to find it. Do the match threads get deleted?

[Ossydave]

No idea, whoever said it needs sectioning though, or they were being sarcastic.

[RIML]

No idea, whoever said it needs sectioning though, or they were being sarcastic.

Whoever wrote it was definitely not being sarcastic. Not sure where they got the stat from but I have reason to believe it's true. You just seem to think his distribution is awful, yet he's our highest points scoring defender on Premier League fantasy football but I suppose that must be a fantasy

[47er]

I also think that Grella would have gotten a yellow card and Milner a sore ankle.

Grella would have got both!

[Blue blood]

Went to the game, although due to drive back, work and an evening out, first chance to post my reflections. A good chance to calm down from last night too. A lot of what I think has been said before, but the key points to me are as follows:

The Bad

The defence. People are saying Nelsen was bad, but to me Samba was much, much worse. In fact to me it was his worst game in Blackburn colours. His distribution was woeful, and the number of times he gave it away to the opposition with slack passing was alarming. It very nearly cost us on several occasions.

Jacobsen who's normally solid seemed to have forgotten everything he learnt going forwards, Chimbonda had a torrid time with Young - not a good night for the defence.

Midfield. Salgado is a decent footballer but much, much too slow to play wide midfield, or possibly anything other than a deep static defensive mid. This was seen not just for the goal, but also with a couple of good balls played down the right which he was far too slow to get.

Pedersen wusses out of every tackle which annoys people, but to me Dunn was far worse. Highly ineffective for the most part, and utterly shattered the last 10/15 mins. By the end Dunn was a passenger. Interestly for all his lack of defensive work Peds was involved in most of our good moves, and imo should've stayed on rather than a dead-on-his-feet Dunn. N'Zonzi also had a poor game.

Also the ability of yet another player to run the length of the pitch unchallenged. It's not rocket science to get in the way, and if you can't take the ball, at least take the man, take the yellow card and regroup. You'd have thought we'd have learnt that by now.

Substitutions. Olsson for Jacobsen was a smart move but the other two were wrong. Emerton was doing well offensively through the middle, and Holliet's looked lively whenever he's come on. Can't see why he didn't come on for Sagado or another striker to cause them more problems offensively. Reid looked a physical presence, but understandably very off the pace.

Also I didn't think Robbo was all that great. Granted there were a couple of top class saves, but there were a few times he should have come and collected balls in his six yard area, didn't and was lucky not to be punished. Hot and cold imo.

Positives:

There are a few. Kalinic is a good player and had a good game. With decent service and regular starts he could be the goal scorer that Sam says we need.

Emerton in the centre of the park gave us more verve in the middle, and offensively added a lot to our game. His movement was good, and he often got up to support Kalinic. He should stay in cm as this is where he is most effective and most needed.

Olsson after a dodge start did quite well. He's improved a lot from this showing. Hopefully it wasn't a one off.

It's only 1-0 despite a dire first half, and again we showed we CAN cause Villa problems when we play football. An early goal at Villa Park and it could be an edgy and tense second leg.

Most disappointing for me is the realisation we only play football when we're loosing. Maybe everyone else already knew this, me I thought we were blowing hot and (a more frequent) cold. But thinking on it Sam ONLY ever gets them playing it on the deck when we are loosing. West Ham and Hull were there for the taking but we didn't play football. As of late we're only playing it along the deck when we go behind. Sam is meant to be a manager - and a manager plays the tactics/players that has the biggest positive effect for the team. If he cannot see we play best when playing passing football he is blind. If he can see this and doesn't realise it's our best chance of success he's stupid. Neither is a comforting thought.

[Tom]

I like RIML she's a one woman Nelsen defense force.

To be fair he was no worse than Samba yesterday but both of them seem to have developed a habit of slicing clearances.

I think I may start my own Salgado defense force as I thought he did well yesterday uses the ball really well and although people blame him for the goal most other right wingers wouldnt have tracked that far in the first place. His two first half blocks were sensational.

[RIML]

I like RIML she's a one woman Nelsen defense force.

My new signature, with the slight amendment of the spelling mistake

I have to defend the guy when someone says he can't pass or head a ball.

[Tom]

The spelling mistake was intnetional I was testing if you were drunk

Edit - reading that back it sounds quite bad .

[RIML]

The spelling mistake was intnetional I was testing if you were drunk

Edit - reading that back it sounds quite bad .

There's no chance of me being drunk