Ratings and Reactions: Villa v Wolves

[Gary Thomas]

Just got back. Bit gutted, but will get over it.  Don't blame Bruce at all,  but the way our players fold and concede ground is a concern.  Made Wolves look like a great team at times - they aint.  Wie drop too deep ever time, give them way too much time and space and we don't seem to really go after a game or really believe we can win. Reckoned we needed about 19 wins and 7 draws when Bruce took over- now19 wins and 6 draws.  Least we didn't lose. 

[Newry_Villan]

Overall team performance was shocking.

Two players stand out for me as having woeful games.  The main culprit being Aly Cissokho followed closely behind by Albert Adomah. 

Bar Gollini, every player that played should of got a bollocking from Steve Bruce at full time.

[Daholteend]

Steve Bruce should be pleased with this result gaining a point after such a dire performance. For that he has to thank Alan Hutton whose block of Carvaleiro's attempt saved Villa from our usual ploy of giving away a significant goal in the final ten minutes.

Now it is back to Bodymoorr Heath  to sort out a team for Reading. Good luck on that   Steve, you are going to need it. 

Luckily it's only October. There is still time to salvage something and sorting out the midfield must be a priority.

[calcifer]

1 hour ago, Villanun said:

Remember when supporting Villa used to be fun?

The 1890-1900s was lol!

[Villaphan04]

At least we didn't concede in the last 10 minutes of the game. 

[Michael118]

4 minutes ago, Daholteend said:

Steve Bruce should be pleased with this result gaining a point after such a dire performance. For that he has to thank Alan Hutton whose block of Carvaleiro's attempt saved Villa from our usual ploy of giving away a significant goal in the final ten minutes.

Now it is back to Bodymoorr Heath  to sort out a team for Reading. Good luck on that   Steve, you are going to need it. 

Luckily it's only October. There is still time to salvage something and sorting out the midfield must be a priority.

If Steve Bruce sorts anything out I'll be gobsmacked.

 

[Villaphan04]

28 minutes ago, Michael118 said:

If Steve Bruce sorts anything out I'll be gobsmacked.

 

 Why? I'm genuinely curious. he has the experience of guiding teams successfully in the championship. 

Edited October 15, 2016 by Villaphan04

[tinker]

Formation was better , players still shirking responsibility when the going gets tough. 

We have some very good individuals but were poor as a team, can't pick one player who is stand out to blame.

Wolves played well as a team but  I don't think I would swap any of their players for ours......ok maybe Hutton, who was very very lucky to not concede after  a right howler .

We look better already though , two days in. Away to reading should be an easier game pressure wise .UTV 

[jimbojustice]

Terrible second half performance. The players really need to take a look at themselves. Steve has a big job on and if he can turn us around he deserves a lot of credit. 

We desperately need to get organised and strengthen at full back and in midfield. January can't come soon enough.

[knoppy1987]

Absolute gash.

Draw was a good result considering the performance.

McCormack annoyed me the most. Shit. 

[thunderball]

1 hour ago, Richard said:

Hope he can keep us in touching distance of safety until January 

It's a big job

Edited October 15, 2016 by thunderball

[thunderball]

27 minutes ago, calcifer said:

The 1890-1900s was lol!

Wow, Shaun Teale was playing in the 1890's (or is it Gary Penrice, explains a lot as he must have been 95yrs old)? 

You learn something new every day

Edited October 15, 2016 by thunderball

[matteyp]

The second half performance was truly shocking.  For me, Jedinak looks a shell of a player and I was happy when Westwood came on, what does that say?  Likewise Elphick.  I thought Richards did okay but he can't be match fit and replacing him with Hutton was equally okay.  Dead balls were awful, we have a lot of big dudes and we didn't cause a threat.  Second half was as shocking as I've seen.  Grealish was my MOM, he could be a player.  Bruce has a lot of work to do, at the moment I consider that a point closer to safety, Wolves at home and I'm relieved to get a point.  Just wow.

[Mat Kendrick's Dentist]

So disappointing in so many different areas of the pitch.We were poor defensively earlier in the season but were at least creating plenty of chances. The 2nd half was eerily similar to the Lambert days, with shakiness at the back allied with a dearth of organisation up front.

Gollini 7: Played well today. Still not a massive fan of his, but a definite step up from Bunn.

Richards 5: Poor positioning as always. Left Adomah isolated going forward and should have been penalized with a penalty.

Elphick 4: Dreadful awareness and reading of the game. Constantly trying to win headers/tackles 30 yards from goal and leaving space in behind, which is/was exposed time and again. Poor all season and time for Baker imo.

Chester 4: Also very poor positionally (recurring theme, I know). Very lucky not to be sent off, and his only positive contributions always seem to be last-ditch attempts to redeem a previous clanger. One instance of "defending" up against Bodvarsson down our left side was embarrassing.

Cissokho 5: Not a good display, and I think that a fit Amavi must always play in front of Aly. Having said that I feel that our centre-halves going walkabout and generally dropping bollocks often forced him inside, thus vacating his default position - as was the case with the penalty incident.

Jedinak 4: Poor on the ball, which is maybe to be expected. More disappointing is his lack of ability when it comes to protecting our defense. We really needed a better CM signing in the summer.

Tshibola 5: Didn't offer much protection to our back four, with Wolves strolling into dangerous areas at will. Also feel he's very slow to move the ball forward after winning it back, meaning that the opposition can funnel back before we can counter.

Adomah 5: Set pieces and creativity from open play were poor. Offers pace and worked hard defensively, but Ayew offers those qualities and much more imo.

Grealish 6: Best of our outfielders today. Linked well with McCormack and Kodjia at times, and did well to win our spot kick. Needs to be given quicker supply.

McCormack 6: Linked well in the first half. Was involved in the penalty build-up and could have scored himself if Kodjia had fed him. Poor second half, with him choosing the wrong option on several occasions. Seems to be a good organizer when it comes to set pieces and pressing.

Kodjia 6: Took his pen very well and was a handful. Awful piece of play when he chose to shoot, rather than pass to Ross. Another who needs quicker service to thrive.

Westwood 5: Offers no protection to the back 4.

Hutton 4: Awful.

Baker 6: Slotted in without making any mistakes, as he has always done when called upon this season. Must start.

[flashingqwerty]

different manager, but nothing else has changed.

Players still look half arsed and dont appear to know what they are supposed to be doing.

Tactics completely one dimensional and there never appears to be a plan b

How, with this squad, we are 22nd is beyond me...

Cant continue to follow this team as i'm sure i could manage the team better

[Rugeley Villa]

Pretty dreadful tbf. Should of easily lost so I'm grateful for a point. What's worrying is that there was no new manager bounce that teams normally have. I honestly thought we would have a good go today, but it was the same old shit. We are not going up this year, and after today's game I know that for a fact. There is just way too much work to do on the field and mentally. Without sounding too negative, I honestly think we could be down here longer than we thought. If anyone can sort us out though, I'm sure Bruce can. Fans need to be patient I'm afraid, because there is no quick fix.

[OutByEaster?]

The first half was a pretty even affair, but the writing was on the wall even then in terms of what was going to happen as the game went on.

We can't pass the ball.

We're dreadful, the worst passing side I recall, possibly the worst in the division, which means that to score goals we rely on individual moments, someone taking three of four defenders out of the game, a trick that draws a foul, an effort from outside the box; that sort of thing. There are no bread and butter chances because we can't pass the ball.

On top of that, our midfield lacks energy - which means that there's always a gap between our reasonable group of defenders and our talented group of forwards - those defenders get to look worse because the central midfield can't get back quickly enough to cover them and the forwards (who won't get bread and butter chances because we can't pass the ball) are drawn into positions where it's even more difficult to produce an individual moment of brilliance that might get us something.

Those forwards are good by the way - Kodjia is a talented and dangerous striker, Grealish has a huge amount of ability, Adomah really applied himself and even McCormack, forced into a system for which he is singularly unsuited has at least tried to find a way to do something in games.

Here's the problem - there's no one on the bench who can pass the ball either. It's a huge problem for us and a big problem for Mr Bruce. Any decent manager will be able to go some way toward fixing the problem in January, by buying a central midfielder (or two if the money is there) but the big test is getting from here to January with that big hole.

Westwood can pass a bit, but he can't run - he'd be a decent foil for a more dynamic midfielder. Tshibola is solid enough, but he's not a great passer and he runs out of steam with about twenty minutes left, on his showings so far, Jedinak can't run or pass, but was very good at Palace at some point. Each of them could probably work alongside a better midfielder. In combination, they're terrifyingly bad.

Bruce needs to find an answer - and in the short term I think there are a couple - both of which will involve McCormack dropping out. 

McCormack is a goalscorer and a clever forward, who in a reasonable football team will be able to use all of that brightness and movement and clever play to score and make goals. We don't have that football team - one of our aims should be to become a football team that's good enough to have McCormack succeed in it.

So:

Either - drop McCormack and play all three midfielders - Westwood, Jedinak and Tshibola and hope that the extra numbers helps in some way to compensate for the individual weaknesses. 

Or - accept that we can't pass the ball and play all of the players that can run with it and have the ability to make something on their own - our best at that is Ayew - and he'd need to come in for McCormack.

I don't think either of those solutions are actually very effective - bread and butter football is effective, it accounts for a lot of the goals that good teams score - we'd be trying to get by on a diet of cake. Passing allows you to control games, it gives you more of the ball, it allows you to set a tempo, it tires the opposition, it lets players feel like they're bossing a game. We haven't got the passing ability to control things and more especially the movement in midfield to do that, so we're conceding. The longer games go on, the more it seems the players get frustrated in not being able to do the 'normal' things they'd do; at not having a midfield, at not being able to make simple passes because there's no one in the middle of the park, it affects them, they get worse, more poor passes, more long passes to nowhere, more dawdling on the ball - more late equalisers.

For tonight at least, the problem couldn't be writ any larger for our new boss - it's as plain as the nose all over his face - he needs to find a way to get the ball under our command.

Fair play to Wolves - they don't have the talent we have, but they applied themselves well and they were balanced, they probably deserved more than they went home with.

I though Gollini was very good and Grealish pretty good, Richards wasn't as bad as I thought he would be (and I really dislike him as a player) and I thought Adomah kept at it admirably - but identifying individuals is the simple bit - we need to find a way to become more of a team and less of front line and back line with a gap, at least until January when there's a chance to fill the big hole in the middle.

Oh, and it looked from my vantage point a god ninety yards away like the Wolves player threw a punch into Grealish's body during the little wrestle they had - should he have been sent off?

 

[alreadyexists]

A pile of garbage.

[USA_Villa]

We are the slowest team in the league. Players have no pace, opposition waltz past us every time. Takes too long for the ball to get from the back to the front. We go side-to-side at a snails pass, and by this time the opposition have eleven behind the ball.

Can our players at least make a bit of effort to find space and do it quickly, we are totally reliant on individuals trying to make things happen on their own. Wait, wait, wait OK, now i'll move. No, get your arse moving earlier and want the ball.

It's so frustrating.

UTV

[terrytini]

Agree with all that OBE but therefore baffled why with his wealth of experience Bruce didn't drop all that, cut out the pratting about in midfield, play Gestede (our top scorer) and/or Ayew (our biggest 'assist' provider) and/or two wingers and play hoofball/crossball.

The amount of times Wolves went back to front in two passes while we played 12 to go from our half way line and back again was awful to watch.

Someone needs to get us playing Championship style football, and very quickly, or we are going down.