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Aston Villa 1-1 Spurs: Shooting Boots, & The Walking Calamity That is Danny Rose

Opportunity lost, as I’m sure all my fellow geniuses have also noticed. Should make for a frightfully exciting final-day finale though, what? As it happens our lot gave a dashed competent showing at Villa, so no particular complaints there. Plenty of intent, flair, movement and opportunity amongst our heroes, with the Lennon-right-and-Bale-left gambit loosely (though not rigidly) employed, creating a pleasing balance, while VDV and Modders crafted their usual array of intelligent triangles, and Sandro had another of his magnificent Chuck Norris days. In recent weeks some of our performances have hardly deserved a point, but this one merited three.

From this particularly hungover armchair spectator, the principal criticism de jour was that sometimes those chaps in lilywhite seem dreadfully reluctant to shoot. For a man who just a few days ago scored a goal sprinkled with celestial dreaminess, Modders seemed bizarrely opposed to the notion of repeating the feat, despite receiving the ball in a few highly agreeable patches of greenery just a few inches outside the edge of the Villa area. “By jove, have a crack my good man,” was the sentiment no doubt doing the rounds across the lilywhite spectrum, but mildly infuriatingly the little man seemed absolutely determined to jab the orb sideways to a chum. rather than blast a small hole in the top corner. VDV showed a greater proclivity for a vicious swing of the boot, but those two in particular could take a leaf out of the Bible According to Young Kyle Walker and thwack the ruddy thing as soon as the opportunity sidles into view. The goal scored by Villa in the first half perhaps gave an indication of quite how fruitful such an approach can prove, if repeated with some gusto.

And while I’m grumbling, when the devil will our lot score from a corner? Modders’ goal at Bolton was very much the exception, I think our first from a corner in well over 100 attempts, and there were almost 20 more in vain on Sunday. Part of the problem appears to be that with Adebayor typically peeling off to the back post we rarely have anyone patrolling the six-yard box with shooting boots primed when VDV swings them in. Within all of this I feel almost obliged to mention the name Defoe, and let others do with it what they will. But I’m sure ‘Arry is well aware of this, which is a relief.

The Latest Instalment in the Danny Rose Catalogue of Outstandingness

Playing with Danny Rose in our number is not exactly a million miles away from playing with ten men anyway, and having narrowly escaped a red card as soon as he appeared on the pitch, for that most unsightly, wonky red Mohawk, I’m not sure his repeated protestations (“He pushed me”) really exonerated him from a merited red card. Sans Rose our lot did just as good a job at sniffing out a goal, our ten men swarming all over Villa non-stop for the final half hour. Frankly few at AANP Towers would don sackcloth, ashes, black armbands and the like should those flailing Rose limbs never again be seen in lilywhite, for the boy is just not good enough.

A darned shame, these dropped points, given the opportunity so comically thrown our way by l’Arse a day earlier, but one final opportunity remains. Play this way against Fulham next week and our lot ought to prevail; the rest is in the lap of the gods.

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16 replies on “Aston Villa 1-1 Spurs: Shooting Boots, & The Walking Calamity That is Danny Rose”

You got what you deserved which was a point you had a lot of pot shots but you didn’t create all that much

Davfc check the stats, even if half our shots were potshots (which is bull anyway), we still would’ve had more than double the amount of shots Villa had, and that was with ten men for 30 plus minutes and in ur back yard. We really shud have finished u lot off.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/0/football/17885326

we scored a couple of recent corners at WHL in consecutive weeks. Nelsen vs Bolton FA Cup (a Spurs centre half scores from a corner-shocking). Ade vs Swansea. Granted they were about the first corner goals of the season. Don’t know if you noticed but we actually scored from a free kick a couple of weeks ago too. Another seasons first.

@Davfc

Aren’t you the slightest bit embarassed at your performance?

You come on here and critique 10 men away from home?

Davfc:you were absolute crap and you know it. Your goals waa a total bloody fluke and your shots on goal? (?both of them?) and only god kept the ball out of your net. it was an excellent defensive display IMHO but if you deny that luck was on your side then you are a fool as well as a ****wit.
The shot analysis makes you goal look like a pincushion

Davfc dont worry about them they’re just Upset that they can’t beat ANYONE when the pressures on annual chokers!

Gooners will be playing Europa league football next year three points from the last twelve, now thats what i call choking

Stevie G-Unner come back home to me im waiting in bed darling mwah x

ANP This hurts a lot for a couple of reasons fristly i knew we would struggle at Villa, Bolton had to win and so did Blackburn this was the different they could draw. I warned my fellow fans on Twitter ow Villa would play and Harry let our team get mugged by a team who where full up with Work rate before and after half time to make sure they got a draw. When we played Bolton they went for the win after they equalized and we hit them on the break so why did Harry wait till the 72 min before making a sub and then bring on a defensive midfielder. This told Aston Villa Harry was making sure we got a point we had the knock outs on the bench and tis makes me more mad than the extra work rate. This showed why Harry never got the job for England and i think he will be going to Chelsea and then try and get Bale and Modric too follow watch this space. Harry has left us at the hands of Cheatskis high Tempo gaunt looking players.

Frankly, your bashing of Rose is bloody disgraceful, you’d think he’d been shit for years and was an experienced left back, give him a bloody chance! Apart from that, as always your blog is top class and I enjoy it immensely.

What say you for next Sunday AANP. Bale at fullback and Nico on the wing? Or a Defoe sighting? Or Kaboul at fullback with the Led-Sled back in Lilywhite? Lots of tasty options for ‘Arry. ‘Ow will ‘e manage to muck it up this time?!

I didnt understand the subs on Sunday either. Ok Rose got sent off, but why not move Gallas to LB (filled in there for Cheatsea)bring on a CB. Leave Bale at LM/LW. Still left an opportunity to bring Defoe on. No need for Parker, we were crawling all over AV. As you say, it was always going to be difficult once AV got their fluke goal as they new they could afford to defend, concede one and they’re still safe.

As for Rose. I agree with one of the posters. Great goal v Arsenal, but he has got himself tied in so many knots at left back (on Sunday v Villa and before that), Harry must be able to see he can’t play that position.

We are up against it on Sunday. Jol will have Fulham pumped up, if not for them, for himself. We need a top, high energy performance. If we are not ahead after 20 minutes, bye bye 4th.

Apologies to those whose comments I just inadvertently wiped from the annals – mea culpa, je suis an internet idiot.

Re Rose, would happily eat humble pie a year down the line (as I did with Hudd a few years back), and am all for younglings being given opportunities if they’re good enough (Masters Walker and Livermore spring to mind), but watching Rose and his barely believeable first touch makes my eyes bleed. I watch the blighter keenly now, and estimate that 5 out of 6 attempted passes/crosses fails to find a teammate. He has plenty of energy and enthusiasm, but a terrible touch, and is nowhere near the same quality as the others on the pitch. I would personally recommend he gives up football and tries American Football or kabaddi, but as this is unlikely I recommend instead he be sent out on loan and masters some of the game’s basics elsewhere. Use the “who would buy him?” gauge – of our regular/semi-regular starters, he is one of the few who would fail to attract the attention of top Prem teams if put up for sale.

Left-back for next week? Would be a shame to disrupt an effective, balanced midfield by moving Bale back into defence (although this creates potential for VDV left and Defoe/Saha upfront). So I guess Gallas/Kaboul left-back and Ledley in the centre? That said, when he first began to shine in lilywhite, Bale did so as a left-back bombing forward into the space vacated by a left midfielder drifting infield ahead of him…

Remember Kaboul (in a china shop) a few years back? We couldn’t wait to get rid of him but he came back a well rounded rock. I think Rose deserves a loan-out if just for THE goal alone.

Missed your breezy nonchalent approach to matters of life and death AANP. You give a good immpression of a swan: elegant above water,all hell let loose down below
Minimum disruption for Fulham, Bale to left back, best available in the centre.
At least we know where to find Gareth, more or less.
You can usually tell in the first 15 minutes what sort of Spurs have turned up.

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