est1874 Posted February 21, 2021 Share Posted February 21, 2021 2 minutes ago, nick76 said: Because you fix it when small stuff leaks out so the big stuff doesn’t leak out when that does happen...pretty standard way of doing things in most circumstances. I didn't recall hearing about any investigations being launched when it leaked to the press that Danny Drinkwater had headbutted Jota in training. Seems very selective and strange to me, tbh. Wtf difference does any of it make. It's surely not within his remit as Head Coach either; it would be down to the CEO to initiate any 'investigations' re: behind closed doors matters. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mark_1989 Posted February 21, 2021 Share Posted February 21, 2021 1 hour ago, DCJonah said: Does it? His in game management has taken us from bottom half of the championship to top half of the prem. When you moan about his in game management, you're moaning that he doesn't do what you want him to. I guess I’ve never really felt he’s tactical alterations ever really bring about much change in fortune. Not sure what trez offers when chasing a game. And why wait so long for Samson nor Ramsey who again not entirely sure why he was chosen before Samson? We have only gained one point from a losing position this year so clearly he hasn’t been able to arrest a slide when we concede nor chase a game. Leeds the minute a goal went in it was quickly 3-0, soton conceded we quickly go 4 down and so on and so forth. So apologies id like us to have a plan for when we fall behind because as seen today once we concede another quickly follows: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tomaszk Posted February 21, 2021 Share Posted February 21, 2021 6 minutes ago, est1874 said: Why on earth is he talking about launching an investigation into why there were rumours of Jack's injury coming out of Bodymoor. So what? It's not like some terrible personal circumstances re the private life of a Villa employee have been divulged. It's an injury we literally found out about before a ball was even kicked today due to the team lineup, and it didn't affect the outcome in the least given that Rodgers still fielded two fullbacks. What a waste of time. How about an inquest into why our midfield is non-existent, why we keep persisting with underperforming players, why professional manchild Ross Barkley hasn't been benched yet for his petulance if not his poor performances and total lack of effort on the pitch? Talk about deflection. What a strange thing to get upset about. It's exactly the sort of thing that shouldn't be getting out. Did he say he wasn't going to look into bad midfield performances? He said we didn't start well which we didn't. I think he'll spend more time personally dealing with the midfield ahead of questioning people's fantasy team selections. I like professional manchild description for Ross. Might reuse that. 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HKP90 Posted February 21, 2021 VT Supporter Share Posted February 21, 2021 15 minutes ago, maqroll said: If he doesn't drop Barkley, I'll be concerned. We aren't winning the league or getting relegated. Europe is unlikely. Now is the time to give more minutes to Sanson, Ramsey and Nakamba. Give Heaton a start. Experiment with formations and tactics and player combinations. Ramsey looks like a very useful player. Sanson looks lively. We need players out there who have the motivation to excel. The longer it goes on, the more it seems like there might be a clause in Barkley’s contract. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
paul514 Posted February 21, 2021 Share Posted February 21, 2021 2 hours ago, eholm said: Problem today, apart from Barkley doing zero, was that Smith went with 2 8s....again!! Every time we play with this system we get overrun in midfield and lose. Luiz not enough of a destroyer to be the only 6. I do not understand why Smith continues to use this set up when it makes so open in centre mid. IF Luiz plays 8 and Nakamba plays 6 that might be interesting. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DCJonah Posted February 21, 2021 Share Posted February 21, 2021 21 minutes ago, Mark_1989 said: I guess I’ve never really felt he’s tactical alterations ever really bring about much change in fortune. Not sure what trez offers when chasing a game. And why wait so long for Samson nor Ramsey who again not entirely sure why he was chosen before Samson? We have only gained one point from a losing position this year so clearly he hasn’t been able to arrest a slide when we concede nor chase a game. Leeds the minute a goal went in it was quickly 3-0, soton conceded we quickly go 4 down and so on and so forth. So apologies id like us to have a plan for when we fall behind because as seen today once we concede another quickly follows: And likewise we've only lost once when taking the lead. Unless you genuinely think management is just picking a team sheet and then standing to the side, how could his in game management not have been a part of our ridiculous progress over the last two years? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DCJonah Posted February 21, 2021 Share Posted February 21, 2021 26 minutes ago, Dave_jW said: Why are interviewers afraid to ask awkward questions? Are the questions scrutinized before being aired? What awkward questions do you want asked? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
VillaCas Posted February 21, 2021 Share Posted February 21, 2021 We've made amazing strides but are still a work in progress. We have little real depth on the squad and it will be a couple more summer windows before we should truly be judged. I hoped for about 12th and would have very happy with that - at the moment we are doing substantially better than that. I’m happy to be patient and take the rough with the smooth On the Barkley question, it’s a delicate situation - he has issues which is the reason we were able to get him in the first place. We are unlikely to get much higher and will not be relegated - I imagine Smith will persevere because if he can get him fit and firing we may have a quality player on our hands - additionally Smith may well be obliged to start him - certainly if he drops him now he may as well send him back to Chelsea. I think he can still come good, especially when Jack is back in the side 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Villa 59 Posted February 21, 2021 Share Posted February 21, 2021 14 minutes ago, DCJonah said: What awkward questions do you want asked? Why do you keep picking Barkley would be a good start don't you think? 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DCJonah Posted February 21, 2021 Share Posted February 21, 2021 Just now, Villa 59 said: Why do you keep picking Barkley would be a good start don't you think? Haha why? We're 8th and you want the journalists to start hounding him over his team selection? We don't deserve nice things. 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Villa 59 Posted February 21, 2021 Share Posted February 21, 2021 3 minutes ago, DCJonah said: Haha why? We're 8th and you want the journalists to start hounding him over his team selection? We don't deserve nice things. Lol...we meet again. I'll leave it at that. Great respect from me for sticking to your guns Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DCJonah Posted February 21, 2021 Share Posted February 21, 2021 1 minute ago, Villa 59 said: Lol...we meet again. I'll leave it at that. Great respect from me for sticking to your guns 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nick76 Posted February 21, 2021 Share Posted February 21, 2021 39 minutes ago, est1874 said: I didn't recall hearing about any investigations being launched when it leaked to the press that Danny Drinkwater had headbutted Jota in training. Seems very selective and strange to me, tbh. Wtf difference does any of it make. It's surely not within his remit as Head Coach either; it would be down to the CEO to initiate any 'investigations' re: behind closed doors matters. Can’t argue re DD incident. I think when it comes to football matters I think the Head Coach has remit, look at how Ancelotti fooled Klopp yesterday re Calvert-Lewin and Allen. If Klopp had known then he may have slightly change things but Everton took charge. As for us,teams have started to play two right backs against us to stop Grealish and even though it didn’t effect the result Rodgers did it as well. It means they are less attacking instead of Albrighton playing. We didn’t take advantage but that’s our fault. If teams know all about us before the game it’s easier to set up against us so we need to stop leaks because Leeds may set up differently depending on whether Grealish is playing or not. I want them to only find that out an hour before the game not before. Small advantages are massive in the premier league. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
VillaChris Posted February 21, 2021 Share Posted February 21, 2021 Wasn't part of the leak some of the players taking Grealish out of their FF team for this week? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Delphouneso Posted February 21, 2021 Share Posted February 21, 2021 It's all part of the plan, next game Targett puts Jack back in his FPL team so Bielsa plays two RBs instead of Raphina. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
eholm Posted February 21, 2021 Share Posted February 21, 2021 1 hour ago, paul514 said: IF Luiz plays 8 and Nakamba plays 6 that might be interesting. Possibly....but I still think we need 2 6s as the vast majority of our players, even defenders, are all of an attacking persuasion. It’s Smith’s preference for us to be very attacking so his insurance should principally be 2 6s. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sulberto21 Posted February 21, 2021 Share Posted February 21, 2021 I hope the rozzers increase patrols around bodymoor heath this week. Especially for a portly man wearing glasses, carrying a bucket, binoculars and possibly a ladder and a camera. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
briny_ear Posted February 21, 2021 Share Posted February 21, 2021 3 hours ago, DCJonah said: And yet here we are in 8th position. Remarkable 2 hours ago, nick76 said: Not doing too bad though is he? 8th in the Premier league OK, so being 8th in the premier league means it’s not allowable to discuss areas where we might improve? Good job the Internet wasn’t around in Ron Saunders’ time or we would have settled for 8th in 1981 rather than pushing to do better. 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JAMAICAN-VILLAN Posted February 21, 2021 Share Posted February 21, 2021 2 hours ago, DCJonah said: What awkward questions do you want asked? " Is it true that Gingers have no soul ? " Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Indigo Posted February 21, 2021 Share Posted February 21, 2021 Extremely concerned by how sloppy we are in possession at the moment, generally I think we're still defending quite well and it's reflected in the numbers, but we're giving ourselves more work than needed by not being able to build or sustain attacks. Still a big fan of McGinn but even at his best he's not the best in this regard; he's a good carrier of the ball and plays excellent sweeping diagonals along with the well-timed runs into the box etc, but we're losing that through a combination of him being out of form and being played in a more reserved role these days. On top of that you have Barkley ignoring all the other grief he's getting isn't even meeting the more basic expectations of his game in terms of creativity and ball retention and suddenly the most key area of the pitch for that side of the game isn't properly functioning. It just invites pressure onto us. For (I think) the second goal today it came directly from Leicester being gifted the ball in midfield and moving it quickly after being gifted it through McGinn and El Ghazi attempting a high risk/no reward one-two just past the halfway line. Just bizarre decision making with limited quality to it that's holding us back most during this run. Not sure if it's more or less worrying that that is a side of a game you'd associate Smith teams with being comfortable, but I think he's shown more than enough so far to make me have faith that he can turn it around. Some interesting selection dilemmas ahead given Jack's injury, the underperformers and the odd mildly encouraging cameo off the bench from Ramsey and Sanson. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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