Allardyce on... Aston Villa

  • by Staff Writer
  • Saturday, 2nd November 2013

Big Sam was once again left disappointed at his team's failure to find the net - but happy with the performance otherwise. Read his full post-match press conference here...

Sam: Villa defended very well today?

Well I think you get most teams defending well in the Premier League these days. That's why there's so many teams playing at home who have found it difficult to get a result this season. Our opponents today have had a problem winning at home over the last eight or ten games. Swansea, when we played them last week had only won one game in ten at home.

We did one thing really right today and that was to attack the opposition when we got the opportunity whenever we possibly could. To try and create as many chances and hopefully break their defensive unit down. But at the end of the day, as we've done on many occasions this time this season, we failed to convert any opportunities into goals.

Another thing we got right today was to make sure that we didn't concede and stop the run of defeats that we've suffered, unusually, at home so early on in the season. So the clean sheet was very important and the opportunities to win the game were there but not taken.

We have to keep working at it, we have to keep believing and sooner or later the ball will end up going in the back of the net for a three point victory instead of a draw. That will be a big relief to us as we all know how big Premier League wins are when they come along. So, we have to get one as quickly as we can.

I know you get asked about this all the time, but can you give us any indication when Andy Carroll will be back?

No. Not really, no. When Andy Carroll gets back to full training then he's the best part of another four weeks away before he gets on the field in the first team. He has to start a four-week pre-season, which is the minimum time for a pre-season we can possibly fit in. We'll try and speed that up if we possibly can.

We're in a similar position with Carlton Cole at the moment. We have to use him sparingly because he's still in the middle of a pre-season, trying to catch up with the rest of the lads. Our other strikers are Modibo Maiga - who's had several opportunities this season to stake a claim but hasn't scored - and Mladen Petric.

Unfortunately when Mladen was ready to come and play - and he was ahead of Carlton - he ends up with a tight calf from a warm-up with the Under 21s. We've only just got him back fit again. So that's the the problem [we face].

Our goals were shared out last year; all of the first 16 or 17 players in our team scored, bar perhaps Guy Demel. Kevin [Nolan] got 10, Andy [Carroll] got eight and everyone else got two or three - or whatever it was - which is why we finished tenth.

At the moment, none of those players in the team are scoring when they get the opportunity, like they did last year. So it's not just up front, it's all the players not contributing in goalscoring terms as much as they did last season. If we get that right, which I think we eventually will, we'll start getting three points instead of one.

Is it as a result of the way opposition teams line up you can...

Well not really. Against Everton we were 2-1 up and looking like we'd go on to win the game. Then Mark Noble got himself sent off - and you've not seen Leighton Baines put another free kick in since then. He put two in [that day]!

Jermaine Pennant has hardly played for Stoke since [he scored here] but he came on as a sub and put another one in. So in that particular area, in conceding goals, we've been slightly unlucky that opposition players hit the true ball against us more often than they have done - well, they haven't done it against any other team since then and we're ten games in already. So that's a bit of fate that goes against you.

Today we tried our very, very best to get that all important victory - but one of the most impoprtnt things was making sure we didn't suffer another defeat. The defensive unit today was magnificent again, apart from one situation where Benteke got in with the header that hit the bar.

So we've limited Aston Villa to one chance in the entire game, we've limited them to eight crosses only into our penalty area whereas we've put 38 balls into their box. It's all about somebody putting the ball in the back of the net when you get so many opportunities; unfortunately it's our Achilles heel at the moment.

What's your view of the Morrison and Weimann incident?

Yeah, great wasn't it!? A little tussle between two players. Two players, one striving to stop a one-on-one for the opposition and one who's striving to be the hero who scores the goal. Ravel came out on top beautifully! [laughs]

Thank you.

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