Dean Smith

[Rightdm00]

2 hours ago, QldVilla said:

Believe he was always there.

A good manager sets the team up to suit the players skill level. He now has better players he can trust to carry out more complex tactics.

Fully agree. A good manager has to be flexible and able to employ any number of methods to give his team the best chance of winning. 

[villalad21]

16 minutes ago, Rightdm00 said:

Fully agree. A good manager has to be flexible and able to employ any number of methods to give his team the best chance of winning. 

I would say that makes sense the first year at the club. 

But after many transfer windows and money spent the manager can buy the players that suit his system. At that point it's the opposite. 

Players needs to adapt to him. Not the other way around. 

[Dave-R]

Smith was always confined by limited quality players, now he has more available your going to see the book of Smith get thicker.

Smith knows what he's doing and he may not be achieving it fast enough for some villa fans which is what concerns me. 

What would you rather have a plan that is rushed a d most likely fails or a plan that takes much longer, in fact as long as its needed and is successful down the line. We can't do what City did and buy our way to a quarter of a bill team nor would I want that if it went against the rules. We just have to buy into the plan and take the losses and draws with the wins and soak it all up and be patient.

Tactically Smith has the ability to surprise top managers and he's had a ton of praise from them also which speak for himself. A 3 mill loss to chelsea doesn't really fit what the score should of been. If we had of tightened up at the right time which is most likely player error then we wouldn't of been in that scoreline. If we hadn't made schoolboy errors then we the scoreline for sure wouldn't of been three nil.

Chelsea did not have a easy game but because we were not surgical in front of goal, Chelsea unfortunately came out on top.

[DCJonah]

1 hour ago, Dave-R said:

Smith was always confined by limited quality players, now he has more available your going to see the book of Smith get thicker.

Smith knows what he's doing and he may not be achieving it fast enough for some villa fans which is what concerns me. 

What would you rather have a plan that is rushed a d most likely fails or a plan that takes much longer, in fact as long as its needed and is successful down the line. We can't do what City did and buy our way to a quarter of a bill team nor would I want that if it went against the rules. We just have to buy into the plan and take the losses and draws with the wins and soak it all up and be patient.

Tactically Smith has the ability to surprise top managers and he's had a ton of praise from them also which speak for himself. A 3 mill loss to chelsea doesn't really fit what the score should of been. If we had of tightened up at the right time which is most likely player error then we wouldn't of been in that scoreline. If we hadn't made schoolboy errors then we the scoreline for sure wouldn't of been three nil.

Chelsea did not have a easy game but because we were not surgical in front of goal, Chelsea unfortunately came out on top.

Yep, it was pretty obvious when you looked at the quality we had in depth the last two years. No surprises with better players, we will start seeing more of an ability to adapt and change. 

I love the fact he said, we no longer have to come to teams like Chelsea and just try and contain. We can go toe to toe with these teams. 

Yeah, it's not always going to go for us but great place to be. We'll put together a strong run at some point when everyone is fit and settled. 

We still haven't been able to start our strongest team yet.

[QldVilla]

2 hours ago, villalad21 said:

No I disagree with that. 

Do you think Pep will change tactics to suit Jack? Of course not. 

A good manager shouldn't adapt to his players. The players should adapt to the manager. 

Italy traditionally has played a 3 at the back system. Mancini didn't care about any of that. Players had to adapt to him and his usual 4 3 3 system. 

Your conclusion is a contradiction.

Of course a coach, like Pep, isn’t going to change his tactics to suit JG, it’s one player, but he wouldn’t have signed him if he didn’t believe he would fit or could develop into how he sees his role in the team. With regards to Mancini, yes he set the tactics he wanted to play, but selected players that would fit into the style he wants to play.

With regards to Smith, he has still been naive with some of his tactics, but that was to be expected by someone who had no experience at PL level. He thought he could play a certain way similar to how he played in the Championship and soon realised he didn’t have the players suited to that style of football. Hence, when he had the opportunity became more pragmatic, but subsequently in every transfer period since has targeted players who would suit the style of football he wants to play and now we are starting to see what that will look like.

[villalad21]

45 minutes ago, QldVilla said:

Your conclusion is a contradiction.

Of course a coach, like Pep, isn’t going to change his tactics to suit JG, it’s one player, but he wouldn’t have signed him if he didn’t believe he would fit or could develop into how he sees his role in the team. With regards to Mancini, yes he set the tactics he wanted to play, but selected players that would fit into the style he wants to play.

With regards to Smith, he has still been naive with some of his tactics, but that was to be expected by someone who had no experience at PL level. He thought he could play a certain way similar to how he played in the Championship and soon realised he didn’t have the players suited to that style of football. Hence, when he had the opportunity became more pragmatic, but subsequently in every transfer period since has targeted players who would suit the style of football he wants to play and now we are starting to see what that will look like.

It was naive his first season as he didn't have the squad to play his way.

He does have the squad now.

I would expect to see 4-3-3 now and attacking football. Not play a 2 striker system just to shoehorn Watkins and Ings in the same team. It's ok to bench one of them for the good of the system. The world ain't gonna end.

Edited September 12, 2021 by villalad21

[Rolta]

3 hours ago, villalad21 said:

I would say that makes sense the first year at the club. 

But after many transfer windows and money spent the manager can buy the players that suit his system. At that point it's the opposite. 

Players needs to adapt to him. Not the other way around. 

You're ignoring the affect of different injuries and having different options available at different times. 

[villalad21]

19 minutes ago, Zatman said:

Funny for 3 seasons you criticize Smiths tactical skills because he doesnt change from 433

Eh no?

I criticize his in game management mainly. 

Stop making stuff up as you go along.

 

[markavfc40]

I can't remember the last time I posted in this thread but in terms of Dean Smith I feel the same now as I would have done the last time I did. That is that I believe he will again do this season what he has done in the three previous seasons and take us forward.

I thought Smith played a blinder yesterday with how he adapted our tactics to nullify Chelsea whilst still allowing us to be an attacking threat and bar 30 seconds in the first half it worked a treat. Second half Tuchel adapted, as you would expect from a manager/team that are champions of Europe, and we found it more difficult but had it not been for a stupid mistake, which can happen, we could well have taken something and in fairness based on the whole game we probably did deserve something. 

I listened to Smith's post match interview last night and he did as he always does and described exactly the game we had all seen. No bullshit. I also listen to his pre match interviews and despite being given opportunities to do so he never plays on the injuries we have had, the covid problems, the issue with the two Argentinian lads. He hasn't got close to putting his best 11 on the pitch this season but he has made no excuses and still over the last 3 games I have seen plenty to be positive about.

We get our best 11 on the pitch fit and firing and I think we are in for a real treat. It may well be we are going to have to be a little patient as it may take a few more weeks yet before we are fully up to speed and I think we may well see the opposite to last season and a slower start but really kick on in the second half of the season. I just hope as supporters we don't become impatient and start getting on the managers and players backs as that will only hinder our progress.

Edited September 12, 2021 by markavfc40

[Phil Silvers]

3 minutes ago, markavfc40 said:

I can't remember the last time I posted in this thread but in terms of Dean Smith I feel the same now as I would have done the last time I did. That is that I believe he will again do this season what he has done in the three previous seasons and take us forward.

I thought Smith played a blinder yesterday with how he adapted our tactics to nullify Chelsea whilst still allowing us to be an attacking threat and bar 30 seconds in the first half it worked a treat. Second half Tuchel adapted, as you would expect from a manager/team that are champions of Europe, and we found it more difficult but had it not been for a stupid mistake, which can happen, we could well have taken something and in fairness based on the whole game we probably did deserve something. 

I listened to Smith's post match interview last night and he did as he always does and described exactly the game we had all seen. No bullshit. I also listen to his pre match interviews and despite being given opportunities to do so he never plays on the injuries we have had, the covid problems, the issue with the two Argentinian lads. He hasn't got close to putting his best 11 on the pitch this season but he has made no excuses and still over the last 3 games I have seen plenty to be positive about.

We get our best 11 on the pitch fit and firing and I think we are in for a real treat. It may well be we are going to have to be a little patient as it may take a few more weeks yet before we are fully up to speed and I think we may well see the opposite to last season and a slower start but really kick on in the second half of the season. I just hope as supporters we don't become impatient and start getting on the managers and players backs as that will only hinder our progress.

Sorry out of likes but nice one Mark.

The doubters need to be realistic as to what an upgrade on Deano would look like. A few are a side ways move at best, most are not as good and those that are at the top of the game probably wouldn't entertain coming here (yet).

We're fine and we will move forward again as you say.

[QldVilla]

2 hours ago, villalad21 said:

It was naive his first season as he didn't have the squad to play his way.

He does have the squad now.

I would expect to see 4-3-3 now and attacking football. Not play a 2 striker system just to shoehorn Watkins and Ings in the same team. It's ok to bench one of them for the good of the system. The world ain't gonna end.

That’s your opinion and you also have the luxury of not having to coach the players, set the tactics and have your methodology tested.

He now has options and will play different formations to suit the opposition to get the best outcome for the team.

[Wurzel]

15 hours ago, AVFC44 said:

Why did you not want him as manager?!

I remember when Dean Smith’s Brentford absolutely made a mockery out of us under Bruce and I absolutely wished that he was our manager!

I love him and I love how we play and I am happy that we are a solid side moving in the right direction.

I suppose I wanted a bigger name TBH, but he has totally won me over, he is the bestmanager we have had for a very long time.

[maqroll]

Dean seemed a bit extra annoyed with the Mings error in his post match comments. "Big mistake", "took the wind out of our sails"...

Could his patience for those kinds of mental errors be wearing thin?

[villalad21]

1 minute ago, maqroll said:

Could his patience for those kinds of mental errors be wearing thin?

He named him his captain so I strongly doubt it.

[ejvilla]

10 hours ago, villalad21 said:

No I disagree with that. 

Do you think Pep will change tactics to suit Jack? Of course not. 

A good manager shouldn't adapt to his players. The players should adapt to the manager. 

Italy traditionally has played a 3 at the back system. Mancini didn't care about any of that. Players had to adapt to him and his usual 4 3 3 system. 

Regardless of the domain, be it football or any other industry, the best managers assess the capabilities within their team and distribute responsibilities to deliver the best possible outcome. 

A manager will have a vision for how they'd like a team to organise, and will surely explore opportunities to shift to that model, through recruitment and people development.

Bad managers impose a system without regard for existing capability. 

Some inherited teams are so badly organised, or of such weak capability, that the risk of imposing a system on underprepared people is equivalent to making no change. These teams will have high attrition and, while some will deliver high reward, in most cases the risk will materialise as underperformance.

Some organisations have unlimited funds and can afford the wreckless abandonment of existing staff to restructure for an incoming manager. These orgs are rare and tend to have more money than sense.

The best managers are adaptable. 

If you are in a management position, I'd implore you to read a book on the subject.

[Tomaszk]

Not once under Smith have we ever looked the embarrassment Leeds have been this first 30 mins.

I can't begin to imagine the pant wetting.

[villalad21]

34 minutes ago, Tomaszk said:

Not once under Smith have we ever looked the embarrassment Leeds have been this first 30 mins.

I can't begin to imagine the pant wetting.

4-0 against Leicester was pretty embarrassing 

3-0 loss to the team you are trash talking was a bad one too. 

Edited September 12, 2021 by villalad21

[Tomaszk]

16 minutes ago, villalad21 said:

4-0 against Leicester was pretty embarrassing 

3-0 loss to the team you are trash talking was a bad one too. 

Can you read?

50 minutes ago, Tomaszk said:

Not once under Smith have we ever looked the embarrassment Leeds have been this first 30 mins.

 

[JAMAICAN-VILLAN]

2 hours ago, maqroll said:

Dean seemed a bit extra annoyed with the Mings error in his post match comments. "Big mistake", "took the wind out of our sails"...

Could his patience for those kinds of mental errors be wearing thin?

Wouldn't surprise me to be honest. He's ambitious himself, he doesn't want to just be making up the numbers, he wants to play good total Football. The higher you want to progress, the finer the margins gets.

Deano seems a great guy, but he always speaks about emotional intelligence and control, don't be surprised if it gets to a point where he reluctantly has to be ruthless.

He usually gives players LONG ( probably too long at times ) rope to hang themselves with.

If you think about howany points we have dropped due to individual errors over the past couple years it's mental.

[Made In Aston]

11 hours ago, villalad21 said:

It's ok to bench one of them for the good of the system. The world ain't gonna end.

Its a tough one as they have different strengths. Watkins is the better presser, willing runner and will work the channels more while Ings has the better positioning and clinical finish. If Smith could borrow Jeff Goldblum's machine from The Fly then we would have a world class player on our hands!