Dean Smith

[TRO]

2 hours ago, foreveryoung said:

Not to be a stick in the mud, but would Smith still be doing it if Grealish was not here this season???

The really good managers create a platform that they all buy in too, that takes some time....so many factors contribute to that, but it takes time, patience and good decision making......the big question of course, is how long? And who knows the answer to that?.....but we are now seeing it.

they need each other, like Lennon & McCartney.......Dean has recognised Jacks worth and nurtured it and made him captain, other managers, may not have done that, or give him the latitude, he craves.

Success comes from harmony, amongst many things like drive and ambition too.

everyone at villa seems to be singing off the same hymn sheet, which is highly encouraging.

I applaud Dean for sticking to his principles of attacking football, when there were times many of us thought it naive.....fair play, he had a vision and its coming to realisation, but 8 clean sheets in 13 games, is phenomenal and tells me, he always had an intention, to sort out the defence, you can't eat an elephant in one bite.....maybe Dean has taught me that.

Edited December 27, 2020 by TRO

[Vive_La_Villa]

I think Smith has always wanted us to defend well as a team. It’s what all the best teams are able to do. The problem was the players were still learning this way of playing and we didn’t have the quality all over the pitch. They have now all bought in to the style of play and also seem to have the energy to play the way he wants. 

 The aggression, organisation and most importantly quality is now clear to see.

Smith deserves a hell of a lot of credit. 

[Sulberto21]

6 minutes ago, Vive_La_Villa said:

I think Smith has always wanted us to defend well as a team. It’s what all the best teams are able to do. The problem was the players were still learning this way of playing and we didn’t have the quality all over the pitch. They have now all bought in to the style of play and also seem to have the energy to play the way he wants. 

 The aggression, organisation and most importantly quality is now clear to see.

Smith deserves a hell of a lot of credit. 

Tactical nous of the players has improved as has positioning. Another of my complaints last season was physicality I felt we got out muscled virtually most games except Jack who improved greatly from The spurs game to after the Liverpool game. This seems to be a collective improvement so has to be on the coaching staff especially Dean Smith.

I'm too proud to admit I was wrong about Dean Smith.... Oh wait I think I just have.

[YouUnastanFren]

It's a shame we've been so unlucky this season, the underlying stats for our performances show us to be among the very best sides in the league

• xG/game: 2.09 - 1st
• xGA/game: 0.99  - 2nd behind Citeh
• xPTS/game: 2.05 - =1st

I would be fascinated to see any of the Sky/BT/BBC pundits discuss how much we have been dominating everyone this season. The most acknowledgement I've seen us get is that we're doing "quite well"

[DaveAV1]

1 hour ago, YouUnastanFren said:

It's a shame we've been so unlucky this season, the underlying stats for our performances show us to be among the very best sides in the league

• xG/game: 2.09 - 1st
• xGA/game: 0.99  - 2nd behind Citeh
• xPTS/game: 2.05 - =1st

I would be fascinated to see any of the Sky/BT/BBC pundits discuss how much we have been dominating everyone this season. The most acknowledgement I've seen us get is that we're doing "quite well"

They’re all too busy glopping away to the Bielsa w4nkfest. You must remember the BBC think that Robbie Savage, Micah Richards, Jermaine Jenas and Danny Murphy, to name but a few ,are worth turning the volume up for. Roasters!!

[M_Afro]

We need to pray that England somehow fluke another decent run in the Euros this summer. A catastrophic failing could spell the end of Pinocchio. I bet the FA would be all over Dean if they were recruiting.

[gwi1890]

2 hours ago, Vive_La_Villa said:

I think Smith has always wanted us to defend well as a team. It’s what all the best teams are able to do. The problem was the players were still learning this way of playing and we didn’t have the quality all over the pitch. They have now all bought in to the style of play and also seem to have the energy to play the way he wants. 

 The aggression, organisation and most importantly quality is now clear to see.

Smith deserves a hell of a lot of credit. 

Goes to show it takes a while to implement this type of stuff as well as getting everyone fit enough to play the style , the team looks fit and assured of what they are doing in defence , transition and attack , love they way we press and hunt in packs .

[sidcow]

3 hours ago, DaveAV1 said:

I think you’re wrong on this. It’s very hard to quantify the amount a coach contributes but there have been a lot of very talented players in many sports that for various reasons haven’t achieved their full potential. A change in coaching has brought big improvements in players no matter how talented they already were. 
 

I often think, why do world class tennis players or golfers change their coaches? Even why do they need a coach? What can you teach a Nadal or a Tiger Woods? However they all have them and often change them, so they must make a difference or why bother? 

Just look at this cheeky bugger trying to tell Usain Bolt how to run faster. 

Edited December 27, 2020 by sidcow

[DaveAV1]

16 minutes ago, sidcow said:

Just look at this cheeky bugger trying to tell Usain Bolt how to run faster. 

Which one is Usain?

[sheepyvillian]

1 hour ago, M_Afro said:

We need to pray that England somehow fluke another decent run in the Euros this summer. A catastrophic failing could spell the end of Pinocchio. I bet the FA would be all over Dean if they were recruiting.

On the plus side, I'd love to watch a Dean Smith, England side. 

[Vive_La_Villa]

You need to spend a very long time with your players day in day out for them to play your way. International managers just don’t get that luxury. 

[LondonLax]

8 hours ago, Vive_La_Villa said:

I don’t want the next game. I’m enjoying the moment too much! 

Chelsea and Man U in 5 days after a 2 days rest with more or less the same 11. It’s not going to be easy and we could easily end up with 0 points. If that does happen I really hope fans take circumstances in to consideration and continue with the positivity. 

You must be new to VillaTalk. 

[TRO]

I see similarities with the '77 side, in terms of beating teams emphatically.

just hope it continues.....fatigue will be the enemy.

[BleedClaretAndBlue]

5 hours ago, Rightdm00 said:

The perfect state side example would be Phil Jackson and Michael Jordan. If you got some time to kill the Netflix documentary "The Last Dance" shows how Jordan made the leap with Phil's direction. 

Another great example is Happy Gilmore. Without the direction of Chubbs Peterson he’d just be another hot head with a ridiculous drive.

[Lord Willard]

Our fitness has been the best I've seen in years. It's funny that come 70-80 mins gone, we are so dominant. 

[Vive_La_Villa]

3 hours ago, YouUnastanFren said:

It's a shame we've been so unlucky this season, the underlying stats for our performances show us to be among the very best sides in the league

• xG/game: 2.09 - 1st
• xGA/game: 0.99  - 2nd behind Citeh
• xPTS/game: 2.05 - =1st

I would be fascinated to see any of the Sky/BT/BBC pundits discuss how much we have been dominating everyone this season. The most acknowledgement I've seen us get is that we're doing "quite well"

Happy for us to stay under the radar to be honest. 
 

less pressure on the players. 

Edited December 27, 2020 by Vive_La_Villa

[Follyfoot]

4 hours ago, TRO said:

I see similarities with the '77 side, in terms of beating teams emphatically.

just hope it continues.....fatigue will be the enemy.

Like the 77 side, Smith may have to reign it in a little bit for ultimate success. Even to be typing such a thought excites me to the core

Edited December 28, 2020 by Follyfoot

[turnbull]

Well as someone who thought that mid table obscurity would be a bonus, I'm made up at the moment. Credit to Deano for bringing Shakes in, he's made a big difference.

For anyone saying Deano for England, I'd say I bloody well hope not. Always wondered how good Villa would have been under Sir Graham til he chose to manage the national side.

[kidlewis]

He’s 100 games in, will be 125+ by the end of the season and hopefully sitting on 170 games after the season after that (excluding any European games). 
 

there’s a very strong chance he could hit the most games managed for villa since Ron. Would be some achievement if he could do that. 
 

plenty of time to go but I’d say that achievement is more likely than not at the moment 

[Vive_La_Villa]

5 hours ago, TRO said:

I see similarities with the '77 side, in terms of beating teams emphatically.

just hope it continues.....fatigue will be the enemy.

Agree this is what may catch up with us but at the moment our players seem extremely fit.

I’ve noticed without the ball we’re becoming quite an intelligent team. We let the opposition  have the ball where they are not so dangerous. Whilst we try to press as a team it’s not done in a way that will tire a team during the season like a Biesla style would.   We’re also excellent on the break. 

I also noticed that as a team we have made the least tackles in the league. Yet we have the second best defence.  Not really sure what to make of that but found it interesting. 

We’re also second in the league for big chances missed with only City ahead of us. 29 in total although it’s probably subjective as to what counts as a big miss. But still it’s not as if we’ve been clinical.