chips'ngravy

Disgraceful decision

That theory is fine if you think we're going to win the rest of our games, otherwise we need those around us to drop points.

They'll be a lot of positivity at the clubs around us going into today's games with most of them coming into them off the back of good performances and, more crucially, results. Wouldn't be surprised to see Watford beat Palace or West Ham get something at Arsenal. You'd fancy Wolves to beat Brighton but they tend to struggle against sides that sit back and defend in numbers, which Brighton are capable of. If Bournemouth pull off a win at Anfield it really will feel like the game's up. We need teams down the bottom to do what teams down the bottom do best, be inconsistent.

Shame The Villa View has gone, started listening to it last year. Dan and Tom had a good chemistry between them and came across as thoroughly decent human beings. I'd say MOMS was still better though and remains the only Villa related podcast worth listening to. Not a fan of the unnecessary swearing which often sounds quite forced, likewise some of the banter can be a little tedious. On the whole though David, Chris and Dan are all good analysts of the game and able to articulate their views in a coherent and interesting way. Dan Rodgers had been away for a few weeks and his sharp wit and dry comments were a miss for me. David Michael does a good job as the host although has a slightly annoying habit during moments of 'banter' of repeating exactly what one of the others has just said. Overall though, hands down the best out there and an enjoyable listen. In the wake of the end of The Villa View I tried Gather Round The Lamp which only served to highlight how difficult it is to put together a good podcast. The English guy seems very unsure of himself and the American dude speaks with a total lack of punctuation, the resultant effect being akin to a machine gun attack on the ears. At the moment, one Villa based podcast is more than enough for me anyway. I get the rest of my fix from The Guardian Football Weekly and all The Totally Football Show stuff.

I think that'll be the case for Fulham and West Brom but I have a feeling once Leeds finally go up they'll have a Sheff Utd type impact under Bielsa. Not that I'd begrudge them that either after 20 years out of the Premier League.

From what we've seen so far this season, Nyland seems to have cut out the howlers. The trouble is that he's also clearly been encouraged to play out from the back and does so in a lot less decisive manner than Reina. Definitely the better shot stopper though.

I must admit I missed big chunks of the first half due to a dodgy internet connection. So what's the consensus then? Nyland back in?

I don't really see that he had a terrible game but I do think his inclusion has been counter-productive in some respects. I know he made a couple of poor passes yesterday but on the whole his passing skills are pretty amazing for a keeper. Herein lies the problem. He's playing it out so much to a bunch of defenders that just aren't comfortable on the ball and we're consequently playing ourselves into trouble more often than not. Add to that the fact the defence are more involved in starting attacks than they were previously they are mentally and physically more tired. This may be taking its toll in key defensive moments. Whilst I'm all in favour of the manner in which Reina and Smith want us to play, the reality of our ability to execute this should have hit home by now. Reina could still be using his feet effectively but perhaps sending it longer more. Would definitely look to move to a 4-2-3-1 and start the attacks higher up the pitch. Being more compact in the middle would hopefully also stop the regularity of our attacks resulting in shots at our goal for the opposition.

I'm with you other than Guilbert. He's dreadful. Elmo is not only better defensively but can actually cross a ball too.

I think that was the moment Grealish thought 'what's the point?'

In spite of Engels' howler last week he's still our second best centre-back. I'd have him back in there with Elmo at rb. Guilbert Hause Konsa Trez Nakamba Nowhere near premier league level. When that's so obviously the case the real blame for this lies with Pitarch and Purslow.

Same old problem...conceding shots at a rate of knots. Should beat our average at this rate. Hause just really not up to it, I'm sad to say. Konsa not far behind him. Nakamba and Luiz has to be the weakest central mid pairing in the league. El Ghazi is a disgrace. Just didn't fancy it. We've seen it before from him. He actually looked quite reasonable when he had the ball too.

Can't argue with that starting 11. First sub Hourihane though.

Our big issue is the amount of shots we concede. We concede more than any other team in the league which suggests a midfield problem (not news to anyone, I know) conceding almost 18 per game. The next worst is Newcastle, but even they concede 2 less. Not addressing this in the transfer window was a huge error. I don't know how viable getting N'Zonzi was, but him on loan or someone of that ilk should've been a priority. Drinkwater is not a dm and rather than help seems to have actually made things worse with the amount of times he loses the ball in front of the defence.

In spite of the understandable gloom we're feeling post Spurs, a win against Saints woupd probably see us move 4pts clear of the relegation spots and be within touching distance of Palace, Newcastle and Saints. Our closest rivals all have games you'd expect them to lose. It was a gut-wrenching defeat but we've no time to dwell on it. A big opportunity awaits us.

To be fair he set up the Engels goal and put 2 on a plate for Luiz and Trezeguet which they duly f#*ked up. He should probably have about 20 assists this season if he wasn't surrounded by so much shite

Basically, everything you have said in that paragraph, the opposite is true other than he's too good for the team. He clearly is.

I'm sorry but that's just absurd.

Green is a bit like Hourihane in the sense that he has an eye for a goal but can be quite anonymous at times too. Hopefully has a good run for Charlton till the end of the season.

Grealish apart we were poor all over the pitch. Passing was painfully slow and off target more often than not. Plenty of sub-standard performances as I said but the two that stand out for me are Hause and Guilbert. Neither have a hope of being good enough for this level. Completely brainless actions throughout the game. In the case of Guilbert he has consistently failed to get the ball past the first man when in a good position to cross and then gives away silly fouls all over the pitch. Hause, quite good at winning the ball but then gives it straight back and likewise commits stupid fouls.

Guilbert first man...EVERY F##KING TIME!!!!

So many you could sub but I think I'd start with Guilbert. Awful

Agree

I'm a big fan of Davis and am not unduly concerned that he doesn't appear to be a natural finisher. He brings so much more to the team in his hold up play which is particularly important given Smith's vision of how he wants us to play through the lines. With our possession stats as low as they are, not having someone in his mould has been a considerable hindrance throughout the season. When he receives the ball with his back to goal I rarely worry that he's going to lose it. Having someone you can rely on to do that allows the rest of the team to move forward with confidence and play higher up the pitch.McGoldrick still hasn't scored a league goal for Sheff Utd but is invaluable to the team. We haven't struggled for goals even without a top striker, so whether he scores or not is not so relevant as to whether we win matches. I think his presence would only contribute to more goals and assists from Jack.

Joseph Merrick, David Icke, Wayne Lineker, Willie Thorne, Richard III....your boys took one hell of a beating!!!!