skell

Level heads needed.  No problem with emery set up, limited their attacks in the first half.  We lost due to misfortune and a bad konsa pass

Spurs are probably better than us anyway so i wasnt surprised, we just need to keep going and find a solution for next 3 games with super john

3 hours ago, TRO said:

We are drifting in to a zone, where opponents are stopping us playing......far better than we are stopping them.

Yes. It really looks.like that. Previously we were playing through the middle, midfield turn and play watkins in. Teams are.now.on the midfield immediately.  Hope there is a plan b

5 hours ago, JAMAICAN-VILLAN said:

Irony, is it initially started when a Man U supporting mate tried to goad me with it ( Good Ebening ) when we hired him.

As you can imagine, my first meme was created for him, after we beat them. lol ( That backfired for him )

Aside from that, my sense of humour just isn't as filtered as some people.

As you note, my sentiment is the furthest thing from malicious. ( Obviously )

 

Nothing wrong with the good ebening stuff, keep it up.  I find it endearing when emery speaks, he is such a genuine guy and certainly wouldn't worry about it.  I live in Spain. The Spanish won't care about it!

14 hours ago, VillaChris said:

I think Dendoncker is a must start personally. Can have him and Luiz infront of the back 4 and still play likes of McGinn and Ramsey advanced. And he'll be useful on defensive set pieces.

Rather than start a thread on it...any theories why our record is so dismal v West Ham.

Since we've come back up it's been played 7 and we've drawn two and lost five which have been our last five v them.

Now yes they've done well last few seasons but so have Leicester and we've won games v them. Yes they're very physical but so were Everton and we beat them with ease last week and also have an o.k record v Palace in last three years so are probably the biggest team in the league as @OutByEaster? brilliantly summarised in the post match thread.

So why are we so rubbish v West Ham? Our record v them reminds me of us going years losing home and away to Leicester in the 90s who had a similar profile until O'Neill left and suddenly we started beating them.

Last season I remember they played a very tough away match at Sevilla on the Thursday with a full strength team and we went there for an early kick off on the Sunday on the back of three straight wins without conceding a goal....and still lost pretty comfortably. Infact we must've been the only team in last three months they actually won against after playing a europa game midweek.

Hopefully Emery is the manager who can stop the rot v them and we can claim a point, we are 11 points clear of them after all.

We have been unlucky some games. Deflection last year, grealish game when we battered them. They also are alot more physical and we struggled with that

On 26/02/2023 at 11:09, TRO said:

Brave Post.....In light of some references to negativity in the match thread.

I would call that ...perspective, and an honest and apt assessment.

There is a lot to do, and a long way to go, to improve the overall play.

but a Great result, away, against a team fighting for its life.

 

Great Post. Just watched the game back and we were poor in most departments.  Luiz was poor and gave the game away, no inter play between the ayers to open up everton and as you say, passing out of defence has not.born fruit yet. 

3 hours ago, useless said:

It was a good win and a good performance.

Good performances are more than just dominating teams, sometimes a different kind of good performance is required, which is what we did on Saturday.

If a team like Arsenal put in a performance like that against Everton they get praised for finding a way to win.

Anyone who doesn't think it was a good performance is just under estimating the task that was at hand, Dyche has given them a big lift, especially at home where they've won the the last two, they were always going to give us a difficult game with the crowd and momentum behind them.

It's easy to say we should be doing this and that, or that we should be playing like which ever team happens to be doing well at the moment, I remember people begging for us to play like West Ham a year or so back, they weren't dominating teams, they were putting in battling performances, defending well, and scoring when they had a chance, which is what we did in this particular game.

I watched replay with Brian Little on co-commentary and he's in agreement with me.

Hard Place to go to but def not a good.performance. we  couldn't put a string of.passes together and everton were camped in out half. For me a lack of width is killing us and we need a player who can do what Bailey is supposed to do. Poor performance

4 hours ago, TRO said:

I think under the circumstances, that was a tremendous win.....good performance, not for me sadly.......If you include scrapping for the win, yes, but it was not one for the purists.... we got caught on the ball far too often for me to say, good performance.

I think the goals tinkered with the view of the game......as for threats, Konsa' s inadvertent ricochet, back across goal was enough for me, to thinlk of as a threat....and all for Emi's fab save from Onana, was too close for comfort too.

However, I am a win first, play well second, kind of fan.....so I am well pleased.

I still don't think we are playing convincing football, with any consistency, so I have that to look forward to......we have really good moments or passages of play to score our goals, we don't dominate any teams, with any regularity.

Thats still to come for me.

I thought we were poor. Didn't once cut them open, gave the ball away too much. Luiz, Bailey  cash poor. 

2 hours ago, Davkaus said:

It feels like we got lucky, as we were really quite poor in front of goal and the decisions swung the game, but on balance the game winning decisions were right and we should have had one penalty, IMO.

Martinez MotM, some ridiculous saves in there.

I'm very, very worried about how ineffective we are in front of goal. Buendia, Coutinho and Bailey are not good long term options here.

All 3 are and should be good options from the bench after a summer spending spree.  I would hope!

2 hours ago, jacketspuds said:

Still 15th but this team needs a top class player in defence, midfield and attack.

I also hate how smug Callum Wilson is.

Carlos,  Kamara and an attacker....

3 minutes ago, OutByEaster? said:

He did, sorry, I sort of meant playing both Ing and Watkins rather than two up front. 

I thought there was a bit more in the slightly simpler - Waktins-Ings-Bailey combo than the potentially tricker, but tactically complicated Coutinho-Watkins-Buendia front line.

 

Agreed. Plus we need to put teams on the back foot with a winger and only watkins and Bailey can do that. For me I'd start watkins as a winger, he's not the best there but gives balance to the team

3 minutes ago, OutByEaster? said:

I dunno.

We played well, we created lots of chances, we got a number of them on target, their keeper was man of the match and yet I always felt we'd come out second best.

I worry, the style seems the same even when the tactics are tweaked - two strikers gave us something today, it was a good thing I think - I actually think the manager got most things right today - but the style, the way we play, the collective mentality of the side, it's "spirit" if you like has a thing. It's a thing where we're capable of playing really well against good sides, we can challenge them, match them, give them really good games - but we can't beat them - and then when we play the poorer sides, our thing means we don't seem able to break them down, we look awkward, disorganised and confused - and we don't beat them.

We've been unlucky today not to get something out of the game, we've been unlucky in a few games this season, we'll need to mind that we're not unlucky to be in the bottom three in a week's time, and that we're not unlucky to have gone down at the end of the season. 

That I'm thinking of 'not going down' as a base ambition for this season is in itself very disappointing, but it is where we are. I'm not sure we're going to play much better than this against top six sides, and we have another nine games against those sides - so for me, our focus should be on how we beat the teams around us - the 'other' games, the ones like Forest and Leeds where we couldn't break teams down.

I thought the two up two had promise, but we didn't score, again. That's 7 goals in 10 games this season and 5 games in which we haven't scored - goals are our problem - and yes, today we were unlucky, today Kepa had a worldie, today we hit the woodwork, today we created, but how many times can we be unlucky before it's not luck anymore?

Individually, I thought it was difficult really to find players that didn't do reasonably well, Mings had the mistake for the first goal and Luiz was quite quiet, but in general most players contributed to the performance. It's horrible. It's hard to really find a big fault in the way we played and we've lost 2-0.

I thought the referee was poor and Mason Mount was a knob, but there wasn't too much else to report from Chelsea, and though the Holte End half heartedly joined in when they sang 'sacked in the morning' at our manager, and there were boos at full time, I don't think it was a particularly hostile atmosphere either. 

It's a day when I think we were too good for us to now make an immediate change, but one that showed we're too bad to carry on without something changing.

Someone whose opinion matters on these things quoted Napoleon earlier this week in saying "Give me lucky Generals" and, if nothing else, I have a sad feeling that today might prove that amongst other things, Steven Gerrard isn't that.

We now have to win the next one, and for more than just the manager's sake.

 

Accurate to a  tee. Although Watkins played as a winger didn't he?

1 minute ago, nepal_villan said:

There are too many flaws in his management to sort. In game management,  substitutions, squad rotation, set pieces...   

All of which are workable. I totally get the call to oust him. I didn't want Smith to go. Maybe it's in my genes, that eternal hope of turning it around 

Surely there is someone else out there!   The age old question. If not gerrard , who?

14 minutes ago, TRO said:

Do you think formations are the only thing, to constitute change.

He changed the approach, the mentality....less gungho, injected industry, quicker to the ball, more inclined to mix it....showed a points savvy mindset.

They pressed us, we showed more resistance to the press, than in the earlier games.

Watkins was holding the ball up better against 2 brutes, and winning more headers....worked damn hard with his running.....how he got one vote, is beyond me.

Mings was once again error free, maybe the captaincy was a shrewd move,after all,  allowing him to concentrate on his own game.

......thats what he changed.

He told them to try more, run more.and work harder. What a genius! 

But really, he gets no credit for any of the above. Any self respecting manager should be able to motivate a team.

Where are the forward patterns of play, creation of chances, incisive moves. Sadly nowhere to be seen

2 minutes ago, TRO said:

Under the circumstances, it was workman like, business like, industrious and prudent.....well fought 3 points

Southampton tried to out muscle us towards the end, but we held firm.

The candy can come later....food on the table ( points) comes first.

Well done to SG for changing his approach.

 

What did he change, looked the same old to me. 4 3 3 with digne pushing forward.  No credit for Gerrard here as we played awful

8 hours ago, Only2McInallys said:

I wonder sometimes how when something is repeated a few times on here it influences other posters and becomes fact.

Mcginn in my opinion did quite well today much better than previous games.
Villa talk loves a scapegoat.One player who is responsible for a poor performance or general poor form.

Previous recipients of this award have been Elgazi,Trezeguet, Targett,Mings,Watkins etc.It’s strange that some of these players have left and we haven’t improved drastically.Mings for me is a classic example,when he doesn’t play we look considerably weaker but it was often discussed on here that he is the weak link in our defence.

We need to find one player who is responsible for all our woes who the manager still picks and when the manager realises his mistake and stops picking him we will be brilliant.

Unfortunately it’s a false dawn.When we drop this player and play the player everyone thinks should be playing we will still  lose.

Well, often they are a scapegoat because they are poor players. Trez and Elghazi. 

Mings (I am a big fan)made lots of errors and has since improved. 

Mcginn doesn't have the technical ability. 

The squad and players are slowly getting better, the issue is the manager , his system, and picking Mcginn. 

3 hours ago, fruitvilla said:

Worst game? People must have watched a different game to me.

Was not great, I would agree.

Villa prevented Southampton from getting a real shot on goal, clean sheet. Does that count for nothing?

Villa's press forced Southampton to play a lot of hoof ball. (I can't help thinking Villa would almost be better off  playing on the counter attack).

Villa's problem is breaking down defences once they are set.

The worst Villa game I have seen? September 1968, watching from Tilton Road: Blues 4 : 0 Villa. People have no idea these days.

Yes but let's face it , times have changed and if we can't create  chances there us something drastically wrong. It's not just this game is it?  It's been all season and much of last.

6 hours ago, Only2McInallys said:

I didn’t count but I did think he did better than previous games.

He seems similar to Mings in some respects he takes responsibility.How often does Konsa give the ball away a few times but often he just passes to Mings and he is the one who has to take the blame if he misses a pass.

How often does Luiz make a forward pass.How often does he take responsibility?Rarely.

Mcginn and Mings have many similarities,both were in the Championship with us and both take risks with the ball.Often they make a forward pass and it doesn’t come off but who else is going to make forward risky passes.

I like players who don’t hide,who don’t give the ball to others so they can avoid making mistakes.

Mcginn for me has been poor this season but today he was OK.

But you must recognise he doesn't have the quality. His work ethic is great but it's time for him to step aside

Just now, Eligius said:

Once Bailey realised he is allowed to use his right foot he looked more of a threat.

Spot on. It was painful watching him lose it on his right. Coach or player?

9 hours ago, VillaParkAvenue said:

Taking a different perspective: if their tactic is bullying it hasn’t really worked lately. Since Christmas their PPG is as bad as ours. So it’s definitely not impossible to deal with them just because they’re big. Other teams, more tactically drilled, have won against them easily.

Yes. But they didn't have the squad then and they were knackered from Xmas onwards 

12 hours ago, Zatman said:

Antonio Conte went to Chelsea and made David Luiz a competent defender and Victor Moses a wing back even though never played there before

Its a cop out

If you can't see the progress you are blind. We are making great steps. 

12 minutes ago, MakemineVanilla said:

Villa had 22 shots and only 9 were on target, which suggests that Villa's lousy shooting had more to do with it.

Cash's habit of trying to beat the goalkeeper at his near-post is wasteful and annoying.

Finishing 14th can't really be considered much of an achievement by any stretch of the imagination.

No but the progress can be seen clearly on the pitch. We are very close to 9th.  A few tweaks and we can be top 8 easily

16 hours ago, VillaParkAvenue said:

I expect a minimum of two new players in the first XI (CB+DM). Probably one more, at most two more (CM+another CB).

7 or 8 of the first team are good enough! We only need 3

9 hours ago, The Fun Factory said:

That right. We are also bog standard. That is why we are both mid table.

If we want to finish higher next season we have to be better and beat sides like Palace at home.

That isn't arrogance that is stating the bleedin obvious.

Very true but to suggest its a home banker would be unfair to Palace now and probably naive to do so next year.