Paul33

Saw Warnock in Perry Barr last night ..... just saying !

I think that outcome is likely no matter whether we keep or replace Smith. It won't be an easy task to recook the cake with the ingredients we have ..... we need better ingredients in some key areas !

The issue is surely ...... dropping Watkins ?

I accept that but I believe stats show Villa to be pretty much bottom of the league in terms of how far they run and how hard they press and, as Shearer pointed out on MOTD last night, the best teams in the league are near the top in both of those categories. Given the amount of coaches we seem to have and the amazing facilities we have, shouldn't we expect Villa to be one of the fittest sides in the league ?

Improved performance from Buendia - especially after playing out wide but still 5/10 as opposed to 2/10 and he gave away his main failing on 70 minutes by getting cramp ...... he is nowhere near physically fit enough to play at this level. Hopefully he and the club and their huge fitness/training/monitoring team will realise that Emi and quite a few others are nowhere near fit enough to play the two-way, high tempo, high-press game Smith is demanding of them !

Errrrr ...... yes !

Not much by way of tangible evidence just on pitch demeanour ...... looks down and moody. I could be wrong but he doesn't look fired up, confident, determined, aggressive, etc.

Not sure what the relevance of that stat is but he loses the ball 90% of the times he is given possession and that makes him a dangerous player to pass to from defence. Ollie was the same when he first got here but quickly learnt to toughen up and fight when he needs to protect the ball ...... Emi needs to do likewise and, so far, is not showing any signs of doing so.

Definitely has talent but he is physically weak and mentally weak too and those things may stop him ever making the grade. He has to toughen up and his starting point has to be to give 100% no matter what his form is. He looks a bit too moody for my liking and on the money he is being paid, there can be no tolerance of that. At the moment, I wouldn't dare pass the ball to him as there is at least a 90% chance he'll get brushed off the ball leaving our defenders exposed !

Thought Buendia looked world class today !

We simply need to go back to four at the back with Cash and Targett where they should be. The centre has to be Mings/Konsa as you need a decent partnership that play well together and they did until it was disrupted by an extra CH. Neither Cash nor Targett are happy playing as true wingbacks and their form has deteriorated as a result. Simple change - go back to the 4 we used to have ! The other key change is to play Ollie out wide with Ings the out and out centre striker. Those two changes alone will transform the team and our fortunes.

Rest Ings and Watkins and go with Wesley and Davis ..... they could be what we are looking for !

No tactics and no formation will "work" if your key playmakers repeatedly give the ball away. Luiz, McGinn and Buendia repeatedly and consistently gave the ball away throughout the first half in what was collectively and individually the worst 45 minutes of their seasons. When you go 5-3-2/3-5-2 then you are pushing your full backs to race forward as wing-backs and create an overload and you could hear our coaches imploring them to do that but if your key ballers then give the ball away cheap then you expose those full backs horribly. 5-3-2/3-5-2 can work well but it is completely reliant on your midfielders and, to a lesser extent your forwards, holding the ball up at the very least. The biggest and most critical failing yesterday was the abysmal performances from Luiz, McGinn and Buendia and, of those, Buendia is a particular concern as his level of performance since arriving is no better than League One and he is meant to be our key playmaker !

Buendia was really good !

In my dream last night, we were 0-3 up after 87 minutes and lost 5-3. God knows how that got in my head !!!

Alternatively, he took Cash off because he was injured and limping badly and he took Luiz and Buendia off because (a) they were flagging and (b) Wolves were over-running our midfield. The two subs were the right ones for me but the only "error" was really from Tuanzebe for failing to clear the second goal. Ramsey had to make the (attempted) tackle on Traore because he was about to unleash from right in front ...... he would have been slated had he not done so. Until we dropped a goal, we were doing well at 2-0 and I think most on here would be singing a different song had it stayed that way. We won 70 minutes and lost 20 minutes today ...... that would win most games !

I see the banner ad that says all academy games are part of the VillaTV+ subscription (which I have) but nothing else suggesting the game is going to be on !

Exactly this as I said when he left and its also the reason why he'll never be anywhere near as effective for England as he was with Villa. He needs to be your quarterback, your heartbeat, your main axis or you are wasting his talent. Watching him offer no more than simple square passes when he has the talent he has is such a sad waste. City have got and are getting this horribly wrong !

Spot on ..... those three were gash. Worried about Emi ..... looking like another Barkley !!!

No Keinan ? WTF ? Where are the goals going to come from ?

Wouldn't expect any of Smith's favoured starting XI for Saturday to play tonight ..... its just not what he does !

That's five years of Keinan Davis and we always shoot him down all the same !

Have a couple of Ipswich ST mates and they don't rate Barry ..... say he's way too lightweight and looks like a 12 year old playing senior football. They also say he plays with his head down, doesn't read the game, doesn't see team mates and basically offers next to nothing. Sounds like he has moved up too soon !

Villa fan in exile here but make the 200 mile round trip to Villa Park with my Villa mad daughter as often as I can ..... so we both have years of booking history. This year, I'm a Claret Club member too as I figured it would make buying tickets a little more relaxed ! I logged on about 90 seconds after tickets went on sale (for Claret members) yesterday afternoon and there were virtually none left as in no pairs of seats together ..... especially on the Holte. Elsewhere there were restricted views but that was about it. When I found a pair near the player tunnel - rubbish seats but was desperate - I couldn't get a seat for my daughter as she is not a Claret member so I had to give up. Am I missing a trick here or is it basically impossible to get a pair of seats now unless you are a season ticket holder ...... even if you are both Claret members ?

1977 League Cup Semi Final at Highbury - massive Villa day out and a hat-trick from Brian Little. One of those nights !!!