Gallowgate Toon

Perch looked poor to me, has an annoying habit of being caught out of position and not tracking players back.

Let's go 4-3-3 and do them, they're no great shakes. Krul Santon Taylor MYM Haidara Tiote Cabaye Sissoko Marveaux Cisse Gouffran

He'll be fine. Probably just settling in to the side and whatnot.

Cisse must love playing with him mind, actually provides a good supply line most games.

I don't really see why he was taken off, needs to start on Sunday. He's got so much in his locker but just does not use it enough, i.e his dribbling ability.

Crying out for him in games like today.

While I in no way blame tonight's result on him, I do wish he'd shake things up a bit at the minute. Cabaye came back in terrific form but has gotten progressively worse since he was moved deeper, we need him higher and on the ball more. Sissoko looked better when dropping a little deeper today too, having him as the second striker encourages isolation too much.

Let down by 2 players tonight. We weren't going to keep up sustained pressure against Benfica, that rarely happens in football matches anyway. At least there's some hope left in the tie.

Needs to take a bit of a break I think, that howler were signs of mental fatigue. He's very comfortable and calm on the ball pretty much all the time, very poor from him.

Run out of steam a little of late, I think he needs to be reshuffled with key options missing. Tiote Sissoko Cabaye Above would suit him more I think and would suit us too, we seem confused in midfield at times.

I don't think it's a case of tactics with Moussa, we've just seen his style in different matches from those first, stretched few and have consequently seen some weaknesses in his game come to the fore. He's a pretty decent passer of the ball, but not a great decision-maker, which is an important attribute to have when you're the focal point of a team. I still think he suits AM for certain games but I think playing him deeper might be a better option for now, he can change in-game, perhaps we could do a Toure and start him deeper and move him up if it's not working.

A Fellaini type. We don't have an outball and our midfielders are so deep that the counter-attacking threat has been nullified of late.

In our current set up, with our deep midfield, we need a link man that can hold the ball. If Sissoko could refine his game a little and make better choices, then he'd be perfect.

Very good. Johnson will be absolutely shitting himself, probably the biggest prima donna over there and this chump's coming in (who's known to fight and slate players he doesn't feel are putting the work in). The lad might actually have to put a shift in.

Incredible If he was that much of a mentalist when he had the best players in the league at his disposal, what the hell's he going to be like with that load of crap? This could be massively disastrous.

Di Canio man I suppose they're trying something different, but I seriously doubt it's the right kind. They'll be in massive trouble if they go down, their finances aren't in great shape, are they?

Sissoko Cabaye Ben Arfa Marveaux Gouffran Cisse I think this works well *on paper*. There's a good balance to that team (offensively and defensively) and they all work hard, but in different ways. For example Marveaux presses high up the pitch very well but isn't good at the more physical aspects. Sissoko's a raw player still, I sympathise with him a lot because he really does lack support but his decision-making can be sketchy. I think he's a pretty decent passer of the ball, he's shown some glimpses of it in open games but he lacks vision when there's less space. I think he'd benefit from having more options around him (ahead especially), he's good at passing and moving.

HBA is far too deep unnecessarily, that is certainly true. I know transition play's been mentioned a bit on here and it's a huge flaw in our game plan, we don't take the right measures to make the chances of us getting the ball as favorable as possible. Often our wingers are positioned too deep when opposition full backs haven't even pushed on, so when we do get the ball back, there's no outlet in the wide areas, which is important for a counter attacking team like us. We're always trying to contain the opposition threat, inviting them on by trying to shut down as much space around the box as possible, we rarely force the issue.

His position will always demand defensive responsibility, that's part of being a right winger in the modern game as full backs bomb on. We should be looking to move forward and back as a unit, currently we only move back, that's where our problem lies.

Agree with Cajun. Teams like Everton work hard at both getting forward and back, we work at the latter, but fail miserably at the former. Villa always had at least 3 in the box today when crosses were coming in, it's usually just Cisse for us, so it's no surprise we're poor on that front.

His position demands some defensive responsibility, I think he's been too deep this year but the work rate's fair enough. It's a fine balance, trying to be enough of a threat to keep the full back from pushing on but not staying so high that they capitalise on the space. We miss him creatively though, really badly, I really rate Marveaux as a creator but his mentality is what separates him from HBA. One will grab the game by the balls, the other waits for it to come to him.

He's a very good footballer but he's yet to prove himself a very good player. So much potential mind, his first touch and control are majestic.

What a goal.

Coutinho did not fancy going for that at all

Villa are wasteful, they play good stuff going forward but don't finish. They created against us but squandered great opportunities. Crap watching 2 progressive teams that pass forward and cross early etc.