Andreas Weimann is quickly becoming Aston Villa’s most disappointing player of the season. He is a shadow of the player he was last season. Weimann scored 12 goals in total last season from 38 appearances, he often played out wide on the right side and also provide a number of assists. He offered a lot of energy up front and had excellent communication with Benteke. At one moment Liverpool were even considering making a bid for the young Austrian forward. Fast-forward today, he currently is contributing very little to Aston Villa with only 2 goals this season and 2 assists.
You’d think that Weimann would get dropped to the bench and perhaps see himself in a similar position as Lowton. But no, he has currently played more minutes of football than any other striker at Aston Villa (1115). We’ve got players that could fill his position easily, Albrighton would do a terrific job on the right hand side of midfield and I felt as though Bowery even added more of a threat upfront then Weimann. I’d also believe that Weimann is taking his starting 11 position as granted. As the back of his mind, he knows that he doesn’t have to play his best to start next game. And is the problem! Give his position to Albrighton or Bowery for example, and I bet they’d try harder, they’d try to get more involved in the game in an effort to impress the manager.
So what has gone wrong? Perhaps it’s not only Weimann because Benteke and Agbonlahor haven’t scored too many goals either. Is it self-confidence, or is it the system that they are being forced to play in? The last option could easily be Benteke’s and Agbonlahor’s problem but Weimann’s? Impossible, I can’t recall a single game (in the Premier League) where I felt he was ‘unplayable’. He doesn’t make decent runs out wide, he doesn’t create space nor get into any decent positions and worst of all, his finishing hasn’t improved at all. It’s gotten worse in fact!
I really didn’t want to tear apart our players but I hope that Lambert has taken note of his performances because they are just not up to standard. I want to see Weimann do well, but it’s just not clicking together for the young Austrian.
No the whole bloody systems wrong, its not down to just one man, as you just stated the team is out of sorts with the stile of play, let’s get wingers into the game, find a descent midfield player, and go from their. 🙂
Does Lambert know anything about football? – thats just frustration coming through bill. he would have to know thing or 2
also form is termporary. I know its frustrating .. honestly that was the least enjoyable villa game i have seen in ages .. total rubbish against Fulham.
I would imagine like anything it takes a little time to overhaul an approach to a game.
i think teams figured out our counter attack ages ago. Lambert changed it to be more direct .. which seemed to work against city arsenal and the likes .. the counter attack worked against southampton. but now i feel that teams can easily deal with the direct ball now and are wary of the counter against us so play to avoid for at least the first half in games.
Its up to Lambert to change things again.
but seeing as he has done nothing but change team line ups tactics and formations since the day he arrived i have every confidence in him doing it again.
I don’t understand why people don’t see that he is a manager who constantly changes things up. Criticise him for that maybe
this Lambert doesn’t see whats happening and doesn’t change things is total shite
Love your posts mate but you have to appreciate people are frustrated, we go from the sublime (Arsenal) to the the ridiculous (Fulham),
Our home form is a appalling and we have no plan b at home, no counter attack no idea, craft or guile,
So if not Lambert who do the the faithful vent their spleen at?
There is a groundswell on a lot of Villa site with John Lerwill throwing his hat into the ring and don’t get me wrong I’m firmly in Lambert’s corner but he needs to be careful as patience is wearing thin and the crowd just might turn which is the last thing we want (again) down VP after McClown and GH.
What has Lamberk done to make you ‘firmly in his camp’? His team reflects him, Dour, boring and without any character. He now has a team that are full of his signings and they are shit.
Benteke aside, Vlaar is the best of them and God knows I slagged him last season. They aren’t kids either so let’s put that one to bed straight away. He’s bought shabbily and we’re looking every bit the struggling team the same as Hull, Norwich and the rest of the dross down there. Yes we’ve had good results against the big boys but so have Sunderland.
Lamberk’s tactically inept, and seems to think that players can play out of position when half of the wank he’s bought can’t play in their own position. I nearly cried laughing this morning at Petrov’s comment that Westwood is having a good season. I’ve had more cups of tea today than he’s had forward passes all season the feckin’ crab.
Looking good for Sunday! UTV
Sir Earl I’m trying my best to stay positive mate and believe me I’m finding it increasingly difficult on the back of the dross our lot have served up so far this season (particularly at home).
If I really was going to throw a bit of shit about I’d aim it in Lerner’s direction.
As I see it the f**kers lowered our expectations, drip feeding the club keeping it on life support and putting just enough in to keep it alive to keep that SKY/BT money rolling in.
It’s like a slow death by a thousand cuts.
Its a combination of a number of factors: the new contract making him lazy, lack of competition for starting place (albrighton is a championship player and bowery is plain embarrassing, WTF is he even doing at Villa) and the fact he wasn’t even that good to start with. Defenders have sussed out his limited ability and now he has nothing to fall back on.
Another player that needs replacing, but I wouldn’t trust lamberk after all the garbage he has bought
It seems like it is both a loss of confidence and the system, when you think of his best games last year it was with good passing and linking with benteke, this season we haven’t even tried to pass and it gas effected all our forwards, the reason we presumably play this hit and hope football is because of bentekes dominance in the air but even he looks sick to death of playing this way and its not surprising, every team we play against is prepared for us to hoof it and deal with benteke accordingly, it would be far more effective if we actually tried to pass sometimes and every now and again play a high ball into the big man, or if there was 10 mins left and we are losing or drawing resort to this tactic but it should not be our 1 and only way of playing, i honestly never thought weimann would be better than an average players at a low level prem team but he can defo play better than he has this season and i put that down to tactics more than anything.
The whole system is not working. Weimann, given chances would score goals. We have nobody with any creativity at the club. Benteke has struggled this season, which has had a knock on effect on Gabby and Weimann.
We have to switch to more of a 4-4-2, with Benteke and either Gabby/Weimann up top. Bacuna RM and I guess Tonev LM.
I can agree with the 4-4-2 formation. It always seems like a more natural set up for the players and personally I think we actually look more solid when playing it this season. Maybe that is just me though?
I do not understand why Lambert as changed to system from the football we was playing in the second half of last season, maybe to stop leaking goals in every game,but I know what was better and more gripping to watch.
All comments up to now saying the same, the system is wrong we see it why don’t the club, that’s why I’m beginning to ask myself does Lambert know much about the game? There’s been a decline in football this year by most clubs for one reason or another, but Villa more than most.
We have been in decline since mon walked out not because of this but in spite of this. Lerner dallied too long had no idea what to do or who to get and panicked with houllier. There is no long term strategy at the club other than avoid relegation.
i actually agree with you there oohahh, we are in decline since the Mon departure.
and i am not saying i want MON back or anything its just the point in time i believe we started slipping backwards.
I wouldn’t say albrighton or bowery are the solution maybe they would be used to cover up a problem.something certainly ain’t right either tactically or psychologically.it’s lamberts job to find the solution,we all know on his day weimann is a good player.im slowly losing faith in lambert he’s lacking ideas & playing the same tactics week in week out we’re becoming fucking vunerable & far too transparent to other teams.me personally i’d fuck him off.utv
He’s not blessed with electric pace, has zero skill, his basic distribution is ridiculously poor and his finishing is average……..The positive is he works hard.
He would look a very good player in the Championship.
Has he gained a little weight or bulked up this season too?
I don’t agree with that assessment at all, he’s lost a bit of form yes but a lot of players do.
Last season we were great going forward with no defence, now we are the opposite, awful going forward but an improved defence…. Lambert does not have a clue to alter things in between games let alone during them…. Think the sleeping Utd might get awoken at the weekend and I can see us getting hammered….. !!
i think its a bit harsh to say wiemann has totally lost it, he’s nowhere near his form last season but neither are the other front men and from what ive seen of bowery he has contributed 0% to our game when he has played, albrighton, maybe, I think he should get more of a run.
as has been said we’ve flipped from attacking and scoring lots but conceding lots to conceding very little at the expense of our attacking threat, its all about finding the right balance but its a balance we cant achieve with our current squad.
Im sure villa and lambert see our problems same as we do and im sure we will aquire more quality although I doubt jan will see this unless the right player is available.
it make me laugh when people slate lamberts signings, the old ‘another lamberk signing’ comes out again and again but when you look at it he’s done some really good business too considering we are spending well under 10mil on players, people should remember for every ‘lamberk signing’ there’s a benteke, guzan, baccuna, vlarr, okore and when you got pennies to spend(baccuna was 2mil)I think hes done pretty good, its a gamble but what is he supposed to do?
like I say I think we will find the balance and add the quality because its plain for all to see we need it just as it was plain to see after last season we desperately needed to sort the defence out, which we have.
On the plus side – The transfer windows opens in 20 days………….
On the down side we signed Dawkins last year Ffs. So don’t hold ur breath
Don’t forget Sylla.
You mean the defensive midfielder who plays everywhere but there?? Wonder how Guzan would get on up top!!!
Oh, Guzan up top would be a treat! He’d be a dirty devil that one – for some reason the Zidane headbutt comes to mind.
Was a sarky comment
“He doesn’t make decent runs out wide, he doesn’t create space nor get into any decent positions” Last season he did make space, and set off on runs, and get into decent positions but rarely would a defender or advanced defender (I’ve given up on calling them midfield) put the ball his way, preferring the sideways or backwards ball which would lead to the hoof to Benteke. So now when someone is trying to come forward with the ball all three of our strikers are stood there waiting, nicely marked and as we’ve seen so often, rarely able to keep hold of the ball when it is hoofed up to them. I thought Luna, Delph and Gabby worked reasonably well on the left side (possibly because Benteke seems to prefer it there too) but there seemed to be a gap between Lowton and Andi, which is where everyone clamouring for Bacuna to be tried there comes in. Lowton and Bacuna can both put in crosses and perhaps Bacuna instead of KEA is what we need to get Andi moving around a bit more. I strongly suspect one other factor with Andi is that Benteke isn’t interested at all this season. His motivation is gone, or he wants out regardless of how much money the club gets or doesn’t get. I’ve mentioned this before, from what I’ve seen of Steer he is far more accurate with his long balls than Guzan. If your main tactic for attack is to bypass the two lines of defence and go straight over the top to the attack line, and every team in the country knows this is going to happen plus they’re looking at the ball coming towards them, if that ball was nice and precise it gives the attacking line a better chance. I’m not suggesting dropping Guzan, I’m wondering if we can make it easier on our attack somehow. Maybe Guzan can kick it out to the advanced defenders like Delph, Westwood and Bacuna/Sylla/KEA and see if they can move it on to the attack.
I forgot to say, I still like Albrighton and want to see him play more. At the moment I’d rather see him than Andi, and I really want to see Andi do well. As someone pointed out above, playing Albrighton could give Andi the kick up the ass he needs. He has had some good tries on goal, plus some absolute howlers, so I’m sticking Andi in the same category as Gabby at the moment.
Tonev and Albrighton on the wings, Gabby and Andi in the middle, 4-4-2?
We are already terrible at creating from the middle of the park, why make it worse?!!?
Form is definitely playing its part and as someone else said this goes for all our front men, not just andy. In fact this goes for most of the team bar clarke vlaar and bacuna who have been our stand out players with only glimpses from gabby. We were plain awful against fulham, worst ive seen us this season.
The main issue though as all of us are pointing to is the system. We’re predictable, and you cant afford to be predictable in the pl. I really cant see the sense in the sudden change. One theory is that because our defence was so dyer last season lambert has told the lads at the back to get rid at any sign of danger and this is resulting in all the hoofing we’re seeing, I dont know but its borederline ridiculous now!!!
The very heart of the problem for me though is the lack of a link man in midfield. An ozil, a silva, a kiyotake (big miss. Consequently our forwards are having to drop to deep to join play when we try along the ground and there is too much to do.
Oh and Im proud to announce the arrival of a new Villan,my little newborn lad!!! Years of mediocracy ahead for him lol UTV.
MD8…..? Many congratulations mate. Hope he enjoys a long, happy and healthy life!
Congratulations mate, thought any names yet?
May I be as so bold as to suggest a few? Mortimer? Morley? Ron? Olof? Or simply Holte?
Cheers langford!
BWS, Im gonna discuss Holte with the missus mate ha!
Lol I can guess her answer md, off and f**k come to mind.
Why not Doug or Ellis? 🙂
Congratulations
Lol bws probably mate but then Olof wont sound so bad haha
Cheers MV mate
Congratulations!
Congratulations MD8,you can forget a good nights sleep now mate.lol
There has been a sea change in the way that we approach matches this season to last.
Almost halfway through the fixtures we have conceded about the same number of goals as we let in throughout the Christmas period last season.
That is a huge positive, however, the lack of opportunities at the other end has meant that the goals aren’t going in.
Any good and certainly every great team is built on a very solid defence. We seem to be getting there, though there is further improvement to be made, and Vlaar and Okore could be great for us.
We are defending from the front which has meant that we don’t look like leaking a goal every time the opposition have the ball.
It’s clear though that we do have to commit a little more to going forward if we’re going to notch in most games.
Individual players, particularly strikers in this set up are obviously going to look like they have gone downhill, the side is playing with the gay abandon that we saw late last season.
You can’t ague with the facts and the goals against tally speak for themselves but you’d have to admit it ain’t much of a pleasure to watch us at the moment particularly at home.
We seem to be totally void of attacking ideas and who do you blame for that?
Imo it rests squarely with PL for either (a) lack tactical nous or (b) the signing of players not up to the task. Whichever, our football at the moment is hardly a joy to behold.
Agreed.
All very predictable and not a lot of flair, but at least we don’t need to worry about relegation this season.
Unsatisfactory, but true.
Alex cropley
last season he linked up well with Lowton, I also think he has missed some real sitters, Newcastle springs to mind and if he had of scored that we would probably have got at least a point from that game. Wiemann is a good player who has dipped this season, he needs to shake his head a little and probably needs to be benched for a few games.
Last season our right hand side worked very well when lowton, CNZ and Lowton were playing.
Dont understand why lowton has been dropped as i think he is a very good player who adds something to the team, Bacuna is a good player but he only comes two thirds of the way before crossing which Benteke then struggles to win or do anything with. the football this season has been dull, predictable and we have lacked width.
The excitment has gone out of our games and the holte is slowly becoming disgruntled last season i liked our play and could see where we were going this season the tactics and the players we have signed just dont cut the mustard and we give the ball away way too often
Seemingly the same thing that’s happened to Lowton, Westwood and even Benteke. They all played at the absolute best when Villa were playing actual football, now that it’s all about hoofing and not about passing it around, getting behind defenders, their actual talents aren’t being used. But then again as I’ve said, most of the new players are better under a manager that will have the balls to continue to play football, which Lambert clearly doesn’t have and won’t.
I think Weimann is at his best down the middle. Same is true for Benteke, Gabby and probably Kozak. For me the front three rarely work together as neither Gabby nor Weimann have any real skill or tricks or ability on the ball to pick a pass. Gabby occasionally puts in a really good cross. With Benteke out of form (or disinterested) we are mostly impotent up front. Add to that the system doesn’t naturally lend itself to a midfield getting forward it’s a big problem. It looks to me that Lambert is trying to keep the hard working players (favourites?) in the team even when they are proving ineffective. We just don’t have effective wide players and I guess that’s why Lambert seems to be giving Albrighton consideration. And yes we need that number 10 player as well!
DS I reckon your bang on with this favourite thing, Lowton’s obviously done something that’s rattled Lambert’s cage hence his omission from the side just like Bent, Ireland, Hutton (this list is not exhaustive) before.
He seems to get a bee in his bonnet and that’s it you’re out in the wilderness regardless of whether or not it’s to the detriment of the team.
Not Good!
Think your right but on the other hand MON was the same, so too Fergie. Some managers like a fight with one or more players to show the others who is boss. helps keep them in line. It must be a difficult job managing all those egos (not saying Lowton’s got a problem there) but when it hurts the team it is counter productive. As for the others you mention, I think he was right on Bent/Ireland. Hutton is a different matter. I suspect Hutton was a fall guy as he was under fire from the fans as McLeish’s signing (leaving aside any comments on his ability). I think lambert was well aware of the strength of fans’ feelings when he came here and casting Hutton out just played up to that. Lowton last season was a big step up, but this season we are no better off at RB.
I know what you’re saying DS and I fecking hated Ireland but he looks like he’s playing out his skin for stoke and recovering his Man City form so that begs the question just what is Hughes doing that Lambert couldn’t? An inform Steven Ireland would have done us quite nicely thankyou, a midfield with him, Barry and Delph had potential but alas it wasn’t to be.
Ireland is really talented but has really failed to deliver for a long time. If Hughes can get him to perform then good luck to him. I hate to see real talent wasted. That could have been a tasty midfield though.
Can’t blame lambert, mclown couldn’t do, McDonald couldbt houllier couldn’t and MON knew he couldn’t and bottled it
I think its a case of playing to our strengths at the moment, we don’t have that player who we are all crying out for in the middle of the park and if we try using the current midfielders to do that job they(with the best will in the world)will come un stuck, im sure lambert is aware of this which is why we aren’t playing in that way.
I believe we will add players and we will find our midfield holy grail and our system will change but for this to happen we need to spend a bit more, im sure none of us are expecting a 42mil Ozil but we do need to invest in some quality in midfiled, our current mid players are too similar.
as for lowton I can totally see why he’s not playing much, he’s looking good going forward as he did last season but his defensive game(which was never great)has got even worse imo, everytime ive seen him play this season he’s been shredded by attacking players down our right, constantly found out of position, poor at reading the game defensively and putting huge pressure on our CB’s, baccuna seems to be doing this much, much better.
Our strengths that are what? Hoofball to front men bypassing our non existent midfield?
I hope your confidence in Lambert’s ability to sign a player with the class / ability to fill the void will be justified but given his track record I’d say the odds are stacked against it.
More likely we’ll get Stanley Grimshore for 500k from Doncaster (young and hungry my arse more like cheap and cheerful).
And as for that gaping hole in midfield don’t you think it was very Gareth Barry shaped? But PL for reasons best know to himself signed a £7m forward to go along side Benteke, Gabby, Weimann, Helinius, Bent and Bowery, just what is it with Lambert and forwards?
Lowton for all his faults is far better than Bacuna at the back, did you watch the analysis on MOTD2 last Sunday? His performance was woeful.
*Known*