Reserverna förlorade
0-3 mot Chelsea.
Det positiva med denna match var att både Luke Moore och Martin Laursen spelade 90 minuter. Mycket välkommet.
Målgörare i Chelsea var Sergio Tejera Rodriguez och Ben Saher (2).
VILLA: Olejnik, Lowry, Samuel, Laursen, O'Halloran, Herd, Albrighton, Osbourne, Moore, Stieber, Berger. Avb: Y.Bellon (för Berger ht), Bevan, Hogg (för Samuel 24), Mikaelsson (för Osbourne ht).
Chelsea: Ma-Kalambay, Cummings, Worley, Hutchinson, Elmer, Woods, Fernandes, Younghusband, Saher, Rodriguez, Stoch. Avb: Bridcutt , Hamann, Ofori-Twumasi, Sawyer.
Spelarbetyg från Villatalk:
Olejnik (5) – I’m a big fan, but this wasn’t his best day, he didn’t command his defence. A more experienced keeper would have had them clearing their lines rather than messing about with it.
Samuel (6) – Did okay and no better. Departing before he’d ever got warmed up. Having to start the game at right back wouldn’t have helped much I imagine. The injury didn’t look too serious, so hopefully he’ll be back in contention soon.
Lowry (6) – Big, strong, full of heart and aggressive. Defended pretty well, but struggles with that bit of extra ability on the ball he’ll need if he has hopes of making the step up.
Laursen (7) – Looked solid enough, but seemed a little bit away from full sharpness. In flashes you could see how good he is, but he seemed to struggle to adapt to the players around him. Still seemed to have the ability to step it up whenever he felt like it though. 90 minutes under the belt, and he doesn’t look too far from ready.
Stephen O’Halloran (4) – Nothing wrong with his attitude, he’s determined, a good tackler, diligent and a good talker. Unfortunately, this boy couldn’t find a pass on Mastermind. Awful on the ball, his night climaxed when he played a simple four-yard ball straight to Chelsea’s number nine to poke home from the edge of the six-yard box. I haven’t written him off yet, but he needs to learn when to play it and when to get rid of it. He seemed to get every single decision wrong tonight.
Christopher Herd – (7) – Moved from midfield (where he was ineffectual) to right back where I thought he was our best player on the night. Won more than his fair share of balls, defended solidly and showed a fair degree of promise going forwards.
Marc Albrighton (6) – The best of our midfielders I thought, looked reasonably bright down the right hand side, but struggled to get away from the pace of Elmer.
Isaiah Osbourne (6) – Taken off at half time. Ozzy does some good things, and always kept Chelsea occupied, we missed him in the second half.
Zoltan Steiber (4) – Just doesn’t look ready for football at this level yet. I guess it’s an endorsement of his talent that he’s being picked. Looked like a boy against men at times and never really got into it.
Jonathon Hogg (5) – Another like O’Halloran and Lowry who didn’t lack commitment but couldn’t quite produce the quality on the ball that goes with it.
Yago Bellon (5) – At half time he warmed up with a ball, and looked like he could have got it to go and fetch the paper for him. Mesmeric control, a fantastic touch and wonderful technique were displayed. He didn’t seem to be able to bring them into the second half that followed.
Patrick Berger (7) – I’m thoroughly enjoying watching Patrick play reserve team football, he’s so much better than a lot of what else is on display and at times you could be fooled into thinking you were watching Zidane. (At least until you realise that those two players he’s just baffled are two 17 year olds without a first team appearance between them.) No end product tonight though, and that’s what counts.
Luke Moore (5) – Thrives on through balls, and didn’t really get any, seemed to lose the heart for this one towards the end. Still it was good to see him back, and he’ll feel a bit more comfortable with his shoulder after it survived a mighty whack from young Harry Worley. Looks a long way from match fitness.
Tobias Mikaelsson (5) – I said I couldn’t quite figure him out after our last game. Tonight I offer you this clue to his make up: Two parts Tore Andre Flo; two parts Jarvis Cocker. Somewhere in there there’s a player, I’m just not sure what sort of player it is.
