Dean Smith

[TRO]

3 minutes ago, nick76 said:

I agree! For half a season they did them so well but now they can’t seem to put one foot in front of the other.  They can do it because they showed but they can’t at the moment which points to form.  The issue we have is that we don’t have alternatives/options.

If too many are off form at the same time, you can get this.....but if players are off form for too long, their ability comes in to question......great players are off form much less than good players, consistency is key and that is down to quality of individual.

 

[nick76]

17 minutes ago, turvontour said:

We weren't bad at the start of the year, we won a few. It's the form of the last month and a half that has been really poor, about one win in 7. Must be close to worst form in the league.

Stats can fit a lot of narratives, whatever you want to portray.  We’ve only lost 1 of our last 3 games, which is not brilliant but ok.  

We are in poor form but on a decent sample size like the table it shows it’s not the end of the world but still poor.  Shorter periods show what you want them to show.

[Vive_La_Villa]

8 minutes ago, barry'sboots said:

Some fans do blow up and expect us to be top 4 after we walloped Liverpool and Arsenal, but I think the majority do not.  Most of us understand that we are in a build phase and we are only two seasons in.  We are all grateful that we have owners in NWSE that want to go for it and have the resources to do so.

However, what frustrates many of us is that we are in a dreadful rut and playing poorly against other teams that are also playing poorly.  Whilst we recognise that our squad has inadequacies that need addressing, we just want to see Smith try things that might give us a spark.  That could be a change in formation - I personally, as you know, would love to see us try two strikers, either in a diamond or a 3-4-1-2, as Leicester have been working with so successfully - or maybe giving JPB or Chuckwuemeka a chance (we are not going down and will not be qualifying for Europe so might as well have a look at the future).  Both of these might not work but they cannot be any worse than the last 5 or 6 games.

El Ghazi and Trez are not the future and I hope that we do not have to endure watching them too many times for the remainder of this season. 

Both terrible.  You swap just one of our attacking players with Moura and we win yesterday.  
 

I felt a bit of a reality check yesterday of just how far behind we are from a squad like Spurs considering how many changes they made to their first 11 .  I mean we only came up 2 seasons ago and they have been a top 6 side for years now so it should come as no surprise. 
 

It still kind of hurts though.

Edited March 22, 2021 by Vive_La_Villa

[TRO]

We can talk about formations, until we are blue in the face, but it still boils down to players doing what is asked of them.

If a winger can't beat his man, or put in meaningful crosses.....what is the purpose of his existence?

[VillanousOne]

Just now, TRO said:

We can talk about formations, until we are blue in the face, but it still boils down to players doing what is asked of them.

If a winger can't beat his man, or put in meaningful crosses.....what is the purpose of his existence?

even when there are meaningful crosses there is rarely anyone in the box to get on the end of them, pretty worrying that Konsa is our biggest/only threat from set pieces (the 1in 10 set pieces that actually threaten opposition).

[nick76]

4 minutes ago, barry'sboots said:

Some fans do blow up and expect us to be top 4 after we walloped Liverpool and Arsenal, but I think the majority do not.  Most of us understand that we are in a build phase and we are only two seasons in.  We are all grateful that we have owners in NWSE that want to go for it and have the resources to do so.

However, what frustrates many of us is that we are in a dreadful rut and playing poorly against other teams that are also playing poorly.  Whilst we recognise that our squad has inadequacies that need addressing, we just want to see Smith try things that might give us a spark.  That could be a change in formation - I personally, as you know, would love to see us try two strikers, either in a diamond or a 3-4-1-2, as Leicester have been working with so successfully - or maybe giving JPB or Chuckwuemeka a chance (we are not going down and will not be qualifying for Europe so might as well have a look at the future).  Both of these might not work but they cannot be any worse than the last 5 or 6 games.

El Ghazi and Trez are not the future and I hope that we do not have to endure watching them too many times for the remainder of this season. 

What is with some fans wanting to throw kids into a struggling team? I don’t get it, you just don’t do that for so many reasons and many coaches would tell you that. Just plain bizarre!

So we have gone from Bielsa being the alternative hero by some fans to now Rodgers.  Manager of the moment replication.  Rodgers is doing exceptional well but he also has many more options than Smith, his starting base was a team that had won the league not long before hand unlike Smith, so he has many more options at his disposal because of investment beforehand.

Smith has been trying things just not the things you want.  He’s rotated all the midfielders and wingers to no avail.  The only difference you have is play two strikers which he might have tried but he only has one decent striker in Ollie.  Even against Newcastle he play Ollie up top with El Ghazi at the end as a front two basically because KD isn’t good enough.

[nick76]

27 minutes ago, mykeyb said:

I also have been thinking they are burnt out, lots of posters saying Dean needed to use the squad more than he had and it could well be right.

Problem is, as we are finding/already knew, the other players aren’t good enough so that’s why Dean didn’t use them.

Trez and ElGhazi aren’t this level

Ramsey isn’t ready

Elmo and Taylor aren’t this level

KD is not at this level.

We already knew this though hence why Smith tried to keep going until we ran out of gas.

[Vive_La_Villa]

2 minutes ago, nick76 said:

What is with some fans wanting to throw kids into a struggling team? I don’t get it, you just don’t do that for so many reasons and many coaches would tell you that. Just plain bizarre!

So we have gone from Bielsa being the alternative hero by some fans to now Rodgers.  Manager of the moment replication.  Rodgers is doing exceptional well but he also has many more options than Smith, his starting base was a team that had won the league not long before hand unlike Smith, so he has many more options at his disposal because of investment beforehand.

Smith has been trying things just not the things you want.  He’s rotated all the midfielders and wingers to no avail.  The only difference you have is play two strikers which he might have tried but he only has one decent striker in Ollie.  Even against Newcastle he play Ollie up top with El Ghazi at the end as a front two basically because KD isn’t good enough.

I don’t think some fans realise those lacklustre  draws or 2-0 defeat in yesterday’s case would be even worse if he just threw kids in to the team that are far from ready. 

[nick76]

16 minutes ago, TRO said:

If too many are off form at the same time, you can get this.....but if players are off form for too long, their ability comes in to question......great players are off form much less than good players, consistency is key and that is down to quality of individual.

 

Our back five are fine, Jack is fine, Ollie in his first season has done excellent but all the work he’s done he’s knackered now and will be back next season....that’s seven of the eleven....not a bad core is it.

[TRO]

5 minutes ago, VillanousOne said:

even when there are meaningful crosses there is rarely anyone in the box to get on the end of them, pretty worrying that Konsa is our biggest/only threat from set pieces (the 1in 10 set pieces that actually threaten opposition).

How many players in the 25 man squad can truly head the ball, with any direction?

The play that can open up from a well directed header is creative in itself.....sure its not a popular topic right now, but if other teams do it well, we are missing out.

if you go back in time, some of our most creative moments have come from well directed headers....its a lost art....but I guess Giroud,Kane and  DCL still have a claim to it.

[nick76]

14 minutes ago, TRO said:

We can talk about formations, until we are blue in the face, but it still boils down to players doing what is asked of them.

If a winger can't beat his man, or put in meaningful crosses.....what is the purpose of his existence?

His mom loves him

[Zatman]

28 minutes ago, JAMAICAN-VILLAN said:

If they trained earlier, they could also play Xbox earlier, watch Netflix, wank or whatever tickles their fancy. Add social media to that and yes, going to bed is more difficult.

Having said that, could you imagine the local office workers, voting to start later as they play Xbox until late, and the boss approving?

Can't agree with this, they are professional athletes and get paid a shit load for playing the game they love.

Shouldn't be too much to expect them to play less, before training nights, and to their hearts content in their time off.

Farcical to imagine some of them aren't getting enough sleep, and would probably explain some lethargy.

I get the sentiment, but don't agree with it.

Smith said this has come in since Covid, so this is not something that has just come in a few weeks back. Was no issue when we won 3-0 at Emirates or beat Liverpool 7-2

[nick76]

18 minutes ago, Vive_La_Villa said:

Both terrible.  You swap just one of our attacking players with Moura and we win yesterday.  
 

I felt a bit of a reality check yesterday of just how far behind we are from a squad like Spurs considering how many changes they made to their first 11 .  I mean we only came up 2 seasons ago and they have been a top 6 side for years now so it should come as no surprise. 
 

It still kind of hurts though.

Spot on.  Plus if Moura didn’t do it they had Bale and Bergwijn on the bench and Son wasn’t in the squad.  We had Keinan Davis.  Sums it up really.

[Zatman]

8 minutes ago, Vive_La_Villa said:

I don’t think some fans realise those lacklustre  draws or 2-0 defeat in yesterday’s case would be even worse if he just threw kids in to the team that are far from ready. 

yep the damage we did to Clark, Baker, Weimann etc from getting hammered weekly did nothing for them

[TRO]

8 minutes ago, nick76 said:

What is with some fans wanting to throw kids into a struggling team? I don’t get it, you just don’t do that for so many reasons and many coaches would tell you that. Just plain bizarre!

So we have gone from Bielsa being the alternative hero by some fans to now Rodgers.  Manager of the moment replication.  Rodgers is doing exceptional well but he also has many more options than Smith, his starting base was a team that had won the league not long before hand unlike Smith, so he has many more options at his disposal because of investment beforehand.

Smith has been trying things just not the things you want.  He’s rotated all the midfielders and wingers to no avail.  The only difference you have is play two strikers which he might have tried but he only has one decent striker in Ollie.  Even against Newcastle he play Ollie up top with El Ghazi at the end as a front two basically because KD isn’t good enough.

Jude Bellingham -17

Saka- 19

Smith Rowe 20

Phil Foden- just 20

Gary Shaw was 17.....Andy Gray was 19 when he joined us.....Gareth Barry -18 .....Trevor Francis 16 over the way.

I think the question is more about are they good enough.....If they are good enough, they are old enough.

Its a contentious subject Nick, some mature quicker than others, some are physically ready before others, some are mentally ready before others.......its all about having an affect on a game, age is neither here or there, for me.

I would say this though, if a young player is not good enough, but is thrown in for whatever reason, that could be detrimental.....its all about being able to cope and be happy in your environment....age is subjective IMO.

[TRO]

10 minutes ago, nick76 said:

Our back five are fine, Jack is fine, Ollie in his first season has done excellent but all the work he’s done he’s knackered now and will be back next season....that’s seven of the eleven....not a bad core is it.

its hard to play with 10 men, never mind 7

Its a team game and balance is crucial......a few poor players is all it needs to bring a team down or nullify its edge.

[TRO]

11 minutes ago, nick76 said:

His mom loves him

Did she have triplets?

[Indigo]

9 minutes ago, TRO said:

How many players in the 25 man squad can truly head the ball, with any direction?

The play that can open up from a well directed header is creative in itself.....sure its not a popular topic right now, but if other teams do it well, we are missing out.

if you go back in time, some of our most creative moments have come from well directed headers....its a lost art....but I guess Giroud,Kane and  DCL still have a claim to it.

Bit of a random shout but on that note that's something that really struck me about Leeds in our first game against them this season. It happened with such frequency that I couldn't help but notice how adept they were at perfectly placing quick headed passes to one another in the middle of the pitch in situations you'd ordinarily see the play break down with other teams. It's even the little, seemingly innocuous stuff like that which also aids general ball retention, which even when playing well this season is something we've surprisingly struggled with.

[TRO]

9 minutes ago, Indigo said:

Bit of a random shout but on that note that's something that really struck me about Leeds in our first game against them this season. It happened with such frequency that I couldn't help but notice how adept they were at perfectly placing quick headed passes to one another in the middle of the pitch in situations you'd ordinarily see the play break down with other teams. It's even the little, seemingly innocuous stuff like that which also aids general ball retention, which even when playing well this season is something we've surprisingly struggled with.

bang on the money.

It has been in my mind for some time....but heading the ball is not a popular trait in some quarters these days.

It just miffs me how poor we are at aerial direction in general.....I think Hause is probably the best in the squad.

but you are right, its just another attribute (in a host) that we struggle with.....I find corners are not much better than throw ins for us.

 

 

 

Edited March 22, 2021 by TRO

[LxYoungAVFC]

9 hours ago, VillaFaninLondon said:

 

lol is this real or fake news? If real then WHAT THE ACTUAL F*CK???

 

Edited March 23, 2021 by LxYoungAVFC