Dean Smith

[blandy]

1 hour ago, barry'sboots said:

But possession for the sake of possession is irrelevant.  The best two games of the season, imho, were Liverpool and Arsenal (a) where we had 30% and 41%. 

I know possession isn't the same as "giving the ball away", but they're related. It isn't completely irrelevant to the point around style of play. A team that plays a progressive game is taking risks all the time, of losing possession and better players help with that.

Also, obviously, if you don't have possession, you can't give it away. But being under pressure means that clearances, attempts to find a lone striker up front are harder, everyone is in your half and so you will lose the ball more as soon as you get it. It's kind of a vicious circle - you don't have the ball, you're under pressure, you clear to no-one, or an outnumbered striker and lose the ball, and repeat. 

I agree on the Arsenal and Liverpool games, and there we were very good because we let them play in front of us, and then hit them on the break, repeatedly, and sure when we did have the ball, we made few unforced errors to lose possession.It's what West Ham are very good at, but generally teams with low possession stats give the ball away more, for the reason I've explained (I hope). There is also a flip side, which is that the more you have of the ball, the more likelihood there is that your players will eventually make a mistake and give it away. And that's where Man City are outstanding, for example. Their excellent players and coaching mean they make fewer mistakes.

1 hour ago, barry'sboots said:

I will be critical of Smith and say I don't think he is able to flex tactically to get out of these situations like, say, Rodgers can.

I don't think it's down to Deano, I really don't. Players making unforced errors "giving the ball away sloppily" is entirely down to the players state of mind, ability, concentration and so on. The other thing that's obvious, in my eyes, is that teams that play a possession based style look terrible when they are out of form, when it doesn't click. And that's us recently. If/when confidence returns, we'll also return to looking really pleasing and entertaining.

[OutByEaster?]

10 hours ago, TheAuthority said:

Can someone define what a "Smithista" is please?

Two shots of Espresso, foamed oatmilk and a raspberry.

 

[DCJonah]

3 hours ago, barry'sboots said:

Pot ... kettle ... black.

Most of what I've read is not a moan, but rather a discussion on what is wrong with our team at the minute and suggestions as to how we might look to improve it.  Really odd, I know, that people would look to do this on a discussion forum!

The moans are, I'm afraid, coming in the other direction because: "it's ridiculous to discuss anything that may be perceived as negative".

You keep saying this. Discussions on what's gone wrong are not getting anyone defensive of the manager. 

The moans, the constant criticism from the same posters, and the over the top posts based on delusional expectations, have been the posts that get people to react.

Not sure how I can make that clearer. 

[DCJonah]

7 hours ago, JAMAICAN-VILLAN said:

Here's an entry for Sub - Gate.

Although, probably an indication of how shite our bench is as well.

I think it's a massive indication of how shit our bench is. No real surprise to this when we have Trez and Davis as our main attacking options to bring on. 

[TRO]

21 hours ago, briny_ear said:

Wow,  @TRO, is that THE Carl Chinn? Professor of Community History at Birmingham Uni? I’m a big fan of his, and also very grateful that he started the campaign to create a memorial in St Martins churchyard to the victims of the Luftwaffe bombings of August 1940, in which 5 of my ancestors died.

If you ever get back to your seat, can you tell him he has a big fan on Villatalk?

Sorry if this is a bit off topic but I hope more interesting than the dreary rantings of some of the posters very active on here today.

Yes.

sorry to hear that Brin.

yes I will.

If I am being totally honest i sit next but one to him.....but we often exchange comments during a game.....He is a smashing bloke and he knows his football.

He is Villa Barmy and never looks at penalties, always looks away....thats his achilles.

I got him to sign my "peaky blinders"book he wrote, last season.....but he told the whole stand, it was the cheap paperback version.....it was so funny, my missus hid her face....I didn't know there was a more expensive version.

I am hoping i get my same seat after lockdown, but we will see.

[TRO]

21 hours ago, briny_ear said:

Wow,  @TRO, is that THE Carl Chinn? Professor of Community History at Birmingham Uni? I’m a big fan of his, and also very grateful that he started the campaign to create a memorial in St Martins churchyard to the victims of the Luftwaffe bombings of August 1940, in which 5 of my ancestors died.

If you ever get back to your seat, can you tell him he has a big fan on Villatalk?

Sorry if this is a bit off topic but I hope more interesting than the dreary rantings of some of the posters very active on here today.

Yes.

sorry to hear that Brin.

yes I will.

If I am being totally honest i sit next but one to him.....but we often exchange comments during a game.....He is a smashing bloke and he knows his football.

He is Villa Barmy and never looks at penalties, always looks away....thats his achilles.

I got him to sign my "peaky blinders"book he wrote, last season.....but he told the whole stand, it was the cheap paperback version.....it was so funny, my missus hid her face....I didn't know there was a more expensive version.

I am hoping i get my same seat after lockdown, but we will see.

[TRO]

3 hours ago, VillaChris said:

Yeah Carl's a big Villa fan, saw him in the lower Witton concourse once coming into the ground. Think his Dad Buck Chinn was part of Villa shareholders association and was in the press a fair bit in the Ellis out days.

Bang on

[Zatman]

8 hours ago, JAMAICAN-VILLAN said:

Here's an entry for Sub - Gate.

Although, probably an indication of how shite our bench is as well.

That cant be true, Hause and AEG scored from the bench this season

[sheepyvillian]

2 hours ago, DCJonah said:

The moans, the constant criticism from the same posters, and the over the top posts based on delusional expectations, have been the posts that get people to react.

The very fact that they feel their criticisms are being seen as unfair and without justification, for me, speaks volumes. At times it's like reading the outpourings of an overgrown child. 

We may have not liked what O'Leary called us, but that doesn't mean he didn't have a point. 

[Stratvillan]

6 minutes ago, sheepyvillian said:

 

We may have not liked what O'Leary called us, but that doesn't mean he didn't have a point. 

Just because he said it doesn't mean it was valid. There's  a group of managers , and I'd include Bruce in that who regularly blame fans to disguise their own shortcomings. 

Fickle implies changing views without a valid reason, not changing views full stop, that's called being enlightened. 

[nick76]

3 hours ago, DCJonah said:

The moans, the constant criticism from the same posters, and the over the top posts based on delusional expectations, have been the posts that get people to react.

Not sure how I can make that clearer. 

Spot on!

[JAMAICAN-VILLAN]

17 minutes ago, sheepyvillian said:

The very fact that they feel their criticisms are being seen as unfair and without justification, for me, speaks volumes. At times it's like reading the outpourings of an overgrown child. 

We may have not liked what O'Leary called us, but that doesn't mean he didn't have a point. 

Maybe we just don't like you...

[sheepyvillian]

I know plenty of people who have changed their views, and trust me, the last thing they are is enlightened.

For example, the actor John Voight used to be very liberal in his political views. Now he's a right- wing, chest - thumping, Trump supporter. " Enlightened "? I don't think so, but then that's just my " view ".

[sheepyvillian]

5 minutes ago, JAMAICAN-VILLAN said:

Maybe we just don't like you...

Wasn't that the reply from supporters ?

 

[JAMAICAN-VILLAN]

1 minute ago, sheepyvillian said:

Wasn't that the reply from supporters ?

 

[sheepyvillian]

1 minute ago, JAMAICAN-VILLAN said:

Hence the like. Although, for a second or two, I felt a little bit of insecurity creeping up.

A prerequisite of Villa Talk is undoubtedly a thick skin.

[DCJonah]

49 minutes ago, sheepyvillian said:

The very fact that they feel their criticisms are being seen as unfair and without justification, for me, speaks volumes. At times it's like reading the outpourings of an overgrown child. 

We may have not liked what O'Leary called us, but that doesn't mean he didn't have a point. 

It really is. 

It's a pretty pathetic 'I want it now mentality.' Which given our history as a premier league club, blows my mind.

 

[nick76]

5 minutes ago, DCJonah said:

It really is. 

It's a pretty pathetic 'I want it now mentality.' Which given our history as a premier league club, blows my mind.

 

and if Smith doesn’t do something they want it’s an error by Smith or he’s inflexible or he needs to learn....such arrogance that they know better and Smith is obviously wrong.

There are definitely still a lot to do, a lot more learning and growing still needed and we need more quality but the arrogance of some on here of their view being right and Smith this and that is incredible.

Constructive criticism is always welcome but some, and yes some and not the majority of the stuff on here in recent months hasn’t been that. 

[barry'sboots]

2 hours ago, blandy said:

I know possession isn't the same as "giving the ball away", but they're related. It isn't completely irrelevant to the point around style of play. A team that plays a progressive game is taking risks all the time, of losing possession and better players help with that.

Also, obviously, if you don't have possession, you can't give it away. But being under pressure means that clearances, attempts to find a lone striker up front are harder, everyone is in your half and so you will lose the ball more as soon as you get it. It's kind of a vicious circle - you don't have the ball, you're under pressure, you clear to no-one, or an outnumbered striker and lose the ball, and repeat. 

I agree on the Arsenal and Liverpool games, and there we were very good because we let them play in front of us, and then hit them on the break, repeatedly, and sure when we did have the ball, we made few unforced errors to lose possession.It's what West Ham are very good at, but generally teams with low possession stats give the ball away more, for the reason I've explained (I hope). There is also a flip side, which is that the more you have of the ball, the more likelihood there is that your players will eventually make a mistake and give it away. And that's where Man City are outstanding, for example. Their excellent players and coaching mean they make fewer mistakes.

I don't think it's down to Deano, I really don't. Players making unforced errors "giving the ball away sloppily" is entirely down to the players state of mind, ability, concentration and so on. The other thing that's obvious, in my eyes, is that teams that play a possession based style look terrible when they are out of form, when it doesn't click. And that's us recently. If/when confidence returns, we'll also return to looking really pleasing and entertaining.

Of course, better players help with possession and spending a £1bn plus, like Citeh have, should mean that you have better players that can hold on to the ball.  However, I would imagine that Leicester don't have much better possession stats than us but they are better at using it more effectively, just as we were at the start of the season.  I think we need to be able to play different ways against different teams and think that's where we struggle because Dean likes to play his way and doesn't like to vary it much.

I gave one example of Dean's lack of flex in his tactics - the West Ham game.  Coufal had Jack in his pocket and there was another right back (forget his name) playing in front of him.  It was crying out for Jack to switch to the right/centre i.e. to get away from Coufal/break Moyes' plan.  We didn't do it until towards the 70th minute and scored shortly thereafter from a cross from Jack on the right.  One very clear example.  It was not rocket science.  This is down to the coaching staff.  

I am hopeful that he can develop this flexibility over the next few years.  I am sure that this can become easier as the squad is padded out but we need to buy the right players that allow that flexibility rather than buying like for like.

[JAMAICAN-VILLAN]

If we are honest, all fans are "fickle' to some degree.