Dean Smith

[TRO]

If I was describing Villa at the Moment I would say this ;

• Top half team with the ball
• Lower half team without the ball.

[Dave-R]

2 hours ago, villalad21 said:

Perhaps.

But Leeds isn't the type of team that will give up once they are a goal down. Remember they were a goal down 3 times against Liverpool and managed to come back square all 3 times. They went on to concede a 4th goal, but that game was a reflection of their never say die attitude. Also don't forget they were 2-0 down against us at Villa Park in the 18/19 season and went on to win that game 3-2. It's the mentality i'd like to see in our players.

Smith said in his post match interview that our players lost a gear after Leeds scored and that is worrying to me. 

I think that being a goal down and coming back from it over and over has been drilled into Leeds over and over since Bielsa's arrival. Its not something that happens quick, its slowly added to a side by sticking with things which will somewhere hopefully be same for us. It would be lovely for us to be able to come back from games three or four times over to finally win, but at the moment I'd settle for just once which we dont seem to be at. Do we have the ability to come from a goal down to go win it?? I'm not so sure we do at the moment. We have the ability to get in front and stay in front which is alright if the goals land in the first place but they did not at Leeds did they which was an utter shame.

We do look like a confidence team, where the more that goes right for us for longer the better we become. However if we start having hiccups, confidence starts dropping the more it goes on and all around we collectively take a battering.

[Dave-R]

4 hours ago, TRO said:

A post that sits comfortable with my view of the game.

I saw that too.

I do get the notion goals change games and we missed ours  and that too gives the oppostion a lift.....on another day we would score them, their goalie played a blinder too.

I am not sure we couldn't be arsed.....we was not organsied as a group in a fashion to stop anybody and then we hadn't got the energy to do it anyway.

I am not saying our team is unfit, but I don't think we are fit enough to play for periods without the ball....we are very much an "on the ball " team and if the opposition allows that for whatever reason we are ok....if they don't we struggle...After Liverpool this was going to happen like night follows day.....we did well against Vardy free Leicester, but Leeds knew how to play us and with their high energy, and snappy challenges it derailed us.....If you beat someone and score 7 goals , they know what the capability is and set out to stop it.

It is no good us picking out individuals to blame.....this was a collective failure on the day, we will see what we have learnt against Southampton.

In relation to Smith....I think he was a class act talking about Leeds and he was spot on congratulating the Leeds Players after the game....a cute bit of Psychology there......I remember when i was a kid and refused to run an errand, my mom would get another kid out of the street to run the errand, give them a shilling and praised them to the hilt.....i was totally pissed off by that......Well done Dean.

I really wanted that game above most, but I have to praise Leeds for their approach, very impressive...sticking to their gameplan right to the last whistle

I meant to get back to this but Watkins girlfriend took my mind away and for a brief time I actually forgot what I wanted to say lol (no joke)

I think we will have a good decent first half a season with some knock backs of course as we already have. Smith will have a fair bit to learn and take in for the second half a season. Then as teams fade abit in second half of the season, we will pick back up and become stronger. I mean i dont think Leeds can play like that for every game against opponents for every game of the season, they will wear themselves out like they did in the championship abit i think. Leeds will have a good start along with us but i think other teams will soon take over us. What is important i think is gaining as many points now ready for when we have that bad run as near enough each team has one in them. But i do think come second half of the season we will be one of the stronger teams as we were last season and think we will carry on in that way.

January reinforcements we will most certainly need, I think there will be alot of teams refraining from spending to much or anything at all. I do not think we will halt on spending though, the Owners will put a bit in for two to three players I think. It's clear what we need and where we need these players I think. Another striker is priority, a midfielder is most certainly on the cards, maybe two and a CB for sure. After the Barkley Loan and if were still a decent high position we may find ourself more appealing in January window. I think we will pick up a really well known name and we may even make use of the loan market again.

As I said TRO, that second half a season I think we will be strong and again we may start to take some teams by surprise with the new options we buy or loan. For me so long as we do better than last season, i think that is what counts. Its lovely were in second but alot of people think we can maintain it, yes it's a possibility but a slim one indeed. Our route has been very different from what others have been. Unlike most clubs weve had to buy u known players in our first season which didnt work out to well but it did because we survived. We have had to restructure the entire club to compete at the very top once again. Weve had to hire even sack and re-find new management to take place and quickly and efficiently bed in without hiccups or as little as can be. In fact you could say that Villa is the only place at this top level of football where I've ever seen this level of restructuring, hiring and placing the right people in the right place has ever done this smoothly. I was not expecting the Owners to succeed in such a manner as they have done, there plans have been amazing and when we lose to the likes of Leeds who were very good, I still see that there is plenty of work to be done. To come from where we were to where we are now has been an accomplishment in itself but we must not get carried away with it or the media gets carried away with it.

Were still no doubt in mid stages of all the rebuilding. When you dont have a bench capable of changing games like everyone else in the league does,  you have to sit back and cut the team abit of slack, so to the coach. We have only just got a first team sorted and to be a full strength were probably looking at next seasons window I think.

The important thing is it's all experience to our coach and players d they have proved before they are good enough to learn from defeats such as Leeds. We just have to be humble about it and take the lesson from them, they are more organised and have more options than us. I remembered the pundit shouting off the Leeds bench names and I was like wait for it when he shouts of Villa's and as soon as he did I felt instantly let down, not for me but for our first team players. Leeds first team like most in the premier relise they have players who can affect games. Who do we have to be fair?? Traore and hes going to take a while to be a player to change a game though I seen him do it against Leicester in final ten minutes he was the difference. I do think as we progress, our first team will get stronger, though they will need back up in January and we should take every opportunity to capitalise where other teams are reluctant to spend.

[TRO]

40 minutes ago, Dave-R said:

I meant to get back to this but Watkins girlfriend took my mind away and for a brief time I actually forgot what I wanted to say lol (no joke)

I think we will have a good decent first half a season with some knock backs of course as we already have. Smith will have a fair bit to learn and take in for the second half a season. Then as teams fade abit in second half of the season, we will pick back up and become stronger. I mean i dont think Leeds can play like that for every game against opponents for every game of the season, they will wear themselves out like they did in the championship abit i think. Leeds will have a good start along with us but i think other teams will soon take over us. What is important i think is gaining as many points now ready for when we have that bad run as near enough each team has one in them. But i do think come second half of the season we will be one of the stronger teams as we were last season and think we will carry on in that way.

January reinforcements we will most certainly need, I think there will be alot of teams refraining from spending to much or anything at all. I do not think we will halt on spending though, the Owners will put a bit in for two to three players I think. It's clear what we need and where we need these players I think. Another striker is priority, a midfielder is most certainly on the cards, maybe two and a CB for sure. After the Barkley Loan and if were still a decent high position we may find ourself more appealing in January window. I think we will pick up a really well known name and we may even make use of the loan market again.

As I said TRO, that second half a season I think we will be strong and again we may start to take some teams by surprise with the new options we buy or loan. For me so long as we do better than last season, i think that is what counts. Its lovely were in second but alot of people think we can maintain it, yes it's a possibility but a slim one indeed. Our route has been very different from what others have been. Unlike most clubs weve had to buy u known players in our first season which didnt work out to well but it did because we survived. We have had to restructure the entire club to compete at the very top once again. Weve had to hire even sack and re-find new management to take place and quickly and efficiently bed in without hiccups or as little as can be. In fact you could say that Villa is the only place at this top level of football where I've ever seen this level of restructuring, hiring and placing the right people in the right place has ever done this smoothly. I was not expecting the Owners to succeed in such a manner as they have done, there plans have been amazing and when we lose to the likes of Leeds who were very good, I still see that there is plenty of work to be done. To come from where we were to where we are now has been an accomplishment in itself but we must not get carried away with it or the media gets carried away with it.

Were still no doubt in mid stages of all the rebuilding. When you dont have a bench capable of changing games like everyone else in the league does,  you have to sit back and cut the team abit of slack, so to the coach. We have only just got a first team sorted and to be a full strength were probably looking at next seasons window I think.

The important thing is it's all experience to our coach and players d they have proved before they are good enough to learn from defeats such as Leeds. We just have to be humble about it and take the lesson from them, they are more organised and have more options than us. I remembered the pundit shouting off the Leeds bench names and I was like wait for it when he shouts of Villa's and as soon as he did I felt instantly let down, not for me but for our first team players. Leeds first team like most in the premier relise they have players who can affect games. Who do we have to be fair?? Traore and hes going to take a while to be a player to change a game though I seen him do it against Leicester in final ten minutes he was the difference. I do think as we progress, our first team will get stronger, though they will need back up in January and we should take every opportunity to capitalise where other teams are reluctant to spend.

good post Dave...covered a bit there mate.

sure we have done marvelleous so far and as Dean said we got a bloody nose, its what we learn from this that is key.

just an observation.....I look at Phillips and Shackleton as just 2 examples from their academy .....I would like to see us develop some durable players like them in our academy.

I am hoping Jacob Ramsey can offer some of that in our midfield, eventually.

[barry'sboots]

1 hour ago, Dave-R said:

January reinforcements we will most certainly need, I think there will be alot of teams refraining from spending to much or anything at all. I do not think we will halt on spending though, the Owners will put a bit in for two to three players I think. It's clear what we need and where we need these players I think. Another striker is priority, a midfielder is most certainly on the cards, maybe two and a CB for sure. After the Barkley Loan and if were still a decent high position we may find ourself more appealing in January window. I think we will pick up a really well known name and we may even make use of the loan market again.

I do agree with us hopefully being in the market in January.  But my priorities would be different to yours!

Wes should be back so, assuming Watkins is looking okay, I'm not sure I would be weighing in with another striker.  For me the key need is more game changers.  I would love Rashica, who I am hoping could be convinced to come if we are top half or thereabouts at Christmas, and then we would have five for three positions (7, 10 & 11) and we could rotate/make changes.  Whether we went for another CM'er at this stage would depend, for me, on how Ramsey progresses.  Equally, I am not sure I would be buying another CB in January as I think Hause and Engels are decent cover at this stage.  I am more concerned about Targett getting injured and us having to move forward with Taylor. 

[Tomaszk]

7 hours ago, striker said:

So you were against Villa’s performance against Leicester for instance??

What? Irrelevant.

I don't think I can help you. If you think a 1-0 shit win from a deflection is an ideal gameplan to copy you see the game like Steve Bruce. Unlucky pal.

[danceoftheshamen]

3 hours ago, TRO said:

good post Dave...covered a bit there mate.

sure we have done marvelleous so far and as Dean said we got a bloody nose, its what we learn from this that is key.

just an observation.....I look at Phillips and Shackleton as just 2 examples from their academy .....I would like to see us develop some durable players like them in our academy.

I am hoping Jacob Ramsey can offer some of that in our midfield, eventually.

This would be good to see but why is it we always end up saying "Eventually" here? Other clubs seem to benefit from youngsters so much earlier then we do. With ours they nearly always seem to have loads of hype surrounding them & then........ Nothing, or very little.

Lets hope the latest noise about some of our youngsters actually comes to fruition!

Edited October 26, 2020 by danceoftheshamen

[striker]

37 minutes ago, Tomaszk said:

What? Irrelevant.

I don't think I can help you. If you think a 1-0 shit win from a deflection is an ideal gameplan to copy you see the game like Steve Bruce. Unlucky pal.

 

You are either intentionally or unintentionally missing the point. Wolves didn’t go toe to toe with Leeds. They sat back, invited Leeds on to them and hit them with a sucker punch. Villa on the other hand tried to go toe to toe with Leeds and left far too much room on the flanks and through the middle which Leeds continually exposed.

Thats what I meant by Wolves blueprint. It was right in front of Smith how to play against Leeds and win yet he totally ignored it.

Furthermore unless you are totally stupid you cannot expect to set up or play in the same way in every game. You must adapt your game plan to the team you’re playing.

Wolves did that against Leeds and won. Villa didn’t and got stuffed.

I hope my explanation is helpful.

 

[villalad21]

1 minute ago, striker said:

You are either intentionally or unintentionally missing the point. Wolves didn’t go toe to toe with Leeds. They sat back, invited Leeds on to them and hit them with a sucker punch. Villa on the other hand tried to go toe to toe with Leeds and left far too much room on the flanks and through the middle which Leeds continually exposed.

You are right.

We played straight into their hands. Sadly.

[Vive_La_Villa]

14 minutes ago, striker said:

Thats what I meant by Wolves blueprint. It was right in front of Smith how to play against Leeds and win yet he totally ignored it.

The thing is Wolves have been playing this way for the past 2 years so they train week in week out to be a defensive counter attacking team.  

Whilst the style is effective I don’t think think it’s a philosophy that Smith wants to adopt. So do you change the way you want your team to play for one game or continue to play your own game?
 

He went with the latter and he backfired. But I get why he did it.

Edited October 26, 2020 by Vive_La_Villa

[Tomaszk]

10 minutes ago, striker said:

 

You are either intentionally or unintentionally missing the point. Wolves didn’t go toe to toe with Leeds. They sat back, invited Leeds on to them and hit them with a sucker punch. Villa on the other hand tried to go toe to toe with Leeds and left far too much room on the flanks and through the middle which Leeds continually exposed.

Thats what I meant by Wolves blueprint. It was right in front of Smith how to play against Leeds and win yet he totally ignored it.

Furthermore unless you are totally stupid you cannot expect to set up or play in the same way in every game. You must adapt your game plan to the team you’re playing.

Wolves did that against Leeds and won. Villa didn’t and got stuffed.

I hope my explanation is helpful.

 

I can't help you clearly. You don't get it.

Is there only one way to beat a side? Ever? You have to copy the team that last beat them?

Tottenham had a good blueprint for playing away at Southampton. 5-2 win, comprehensive. Not a 1-0 grub with a deflection.

Ancelotti really shit the bed, he must be "totally stupid" to not adapt and copy that actual good plan.

[GingerCollins29]

19 minutes ago, Vive_La_Villa said:

So do you change the way you want your team to play for one game or continue to play your own game?

Unless you have a squad that is 100% better than everyone else's (plop last year, city the year before that) you have to adapt your tactics depending on who you play.

I love smiths philosophy of attacking football and when it works its brilliant. You've got to be able to switch it up pre and mid game.

[hippo]

On 25/10/2020 at 20:25, Vive_La_Villa said:

Didn’t realised game’s were judged on goal line clearances. They should have just given us the 3 points

I'm just pointing out Leeds didn't have a shot hacked off the line by a desparate clearance.

[hippo]

Just now, GingerCollins29 said:

Unless you have a squad that is 100% better than everyone else's (plop last year, city the year before that) you have to adapt your tactics depending on who you play.

I love smiths philosophy of attacking football and when it works its brilliant. You've got to be able to switch it up pre and mid game.

And if DS can't do that on a regular basis where does that leave us ?  - Obviously our bright start has lifted expectations. Personally any lower than top half will be a disappointment.

[Vive_La_Villa]

4 minutes ago, GingerCollins29 said:

Unless you have a squad that is 100% better than everyone else's (plop last year, city the year before that) you have to adapt your tactics depending on who you play.

I love smiths philosophy of attacking football and when it works its brilliant. You've got to be able to switch it up pre and mid game.

Well exactly this. He didn’t think we should change the way he would like us to play against a newly promoted team. Like a lot of clubs this season will think and probably pay the price for it.  

In hindsight it was a mistake. We didn’t give them the respect they deserved. We’ll learn from it.  But we have changed the way we play to adopt to the opposition many times so we could have done it again. 

A lot of people seem to hate the Bielsa love fest (which just comes across as bitter in my opinion) but they are one club that will never change the way they play no matter who they face. That’s why i found it so disappointing we didn’t react to that. It’s not like we didn’t know what to expect.

[Vive_La_Villa]

13 minutes ago, hippo said:

And if DS can't do that on a regular basis where does that leave us ?  - Obviously our bright start has lifted expectations. Personally any lower than top half will be a disappointment.

Dean Smith set us up to defend and break against Fulham Liverpool and Leicester. Just look at the possession stats of all three game’s. (Maybe not so much Leicester as they set us up same way which helped). It worked for all 3 games. Why we played so open against Leeds I have no idea.  I think the hype got to the players heads.

[Vive_La_Villa]

20 minutes ago, GingerCollins29 said:

Unless you have a squad that is 100% better than everyone else's (plop last year, city the year before that) you have to adapt your tactics depending on who you play.

I love smiths philosophy of attacking football and when it works its brilliant. You've got to be able to switch it up pre and mid game.

I’ve kind of contradicted myself. We were too attacking and open against Leeds. We should have played like we did the previous games rather than trying to out play them.

[gwi1890]

8 hours ago, TRO said:

If I was describing Villa at the Moment I would say this ;

• Top half team with the ball
• Lower half team without the ball.

And still we have the best defensive record in the league 

[GingerCollins29]

Just win every game ffs

[TRO]

1 hour ago, Vive_La_Villa said:

Well exactly this. He didn’t think we should change the way he would like us to play against a newly promoted team. Like a lot of clubs this season will think and probably pay the price for it.  

In hindsight it was a mistake. We didn’t give them the respect they deserved. We’ll learn from it.  But we have changed the way we play to adopt to the opposition many times so we could have done it again. 

A lot of people seem to hate the Bielsa love fest (which just comes across as bitter in my opinion) but they are one club that will never change the way they play no matter who they face. That’s why i found it so disappointing we didn’t react to that. It’s not like we didn’t know what to expect.

No its not.....we have witnessed it before.