mikeyp102 Posted January 1, 2019 Share Posted January 1, 2019 Second half really didn’t seem a smith team performance at all. We reverted to type and were just launching the ball forward. The defence didn’t step out with the ball meaning the midfield were receiving the ball deep. Their was no movement so the ball went back to Hutton and bree who both just hit an aimless ball forward. Disappointing. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TRO Posted January 1, 2019 Share Posted January 1, 2019 On 30/12/2018 at 12:09, hippo said: Yes - I think he will fail here. you want me to say something else other than what I believe. To be fair now he is here he needs a couple of windows to bring his own players in . But if you ask me honestly I think the defensive frailties that were present at Brentford will continue here - even when he does get his new recruits in. I think that is a legitimate concern. He needs time to bring in his own players and then we can make a judgment, but its only fair to give him a fair crack of the whip. at least he does acknowledge what we see after a match.....I have hope, but concern too. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TRO Posted January 1, 2019 Share Posted January 1, 2019 43 minutes ago, mikeyp102 said: Second half really didn’t seem a smith team performance at all. We reverted to type and were just launching the ball forward. The defence didn’t step out with the ball meaning the midfield were receiving the ball deep. Their was no movement so the ball went back to Hutton and bree who both just hit an aimless ball forward. Disappointing. To be fair....It still is a Steve Bruce team in terms of personnel. 1 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AVTuco Posted January 1, 2019 VT Supporter Share Posted January 1, 2019 (edited) 4 minutes ago, TRO said: To be fair....It still is a Steve Bruce team in terms of personnel. But some think it's the best personnel in the division... Edited January 1, 2019 by AVTuco 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MaVilla Posted January 1, 2019 Share Posted January 1, 2019 (edited) 1 hour ago, AVTuco said: But some think it's the best personnel in the division... But it really isn't, I think we have rose tinted glasses sometimes for our own players. Granted they might be decent in an average team playing a certain way , but playing possession based progressive football, more than half of them are atrocious. A good % of them cant pass in intricate spaces or apparently have the intelligence to play in that way, regardless of what you do with them. Edited January 1, 2019 by MaVilla 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TRO Posted January 1, 2019 Share Posted January 1, 2019 (edited) 4 minutes ago, AVTuco said: But some think it's the best personnel in the division... I know. In certain situations we are....but the word is out, we can't defend( as a team) and every team that comes thinks they can score 2....no body sits deep anymore, they are up for it....Villa Park has become a Kindergarten, I felt ****ed off watching the ease at which we concede. We can't even head the ****ing ball, so teams gain ground on us in so many ways Edited January 1, 2019 by TRO 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KHV Posted January 1, 2019 Share Posted January 1, 2019 1 hour ago, villalad21 said: I don't know, we seem to be averaging 2 goals every game under DS if we can be more solid at the back these draws would turn into wins. That's been the problem with all of Dean Smiths teams over the years. Can't organise a defence at all. Usually entertaining games with lots of goals, his Brentford side were like this. Great to watch for entertainment but shite defensively. Hopefully he can change that here. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dave-R Posted January 1, 2019 Share Posted January 1, 2019 19 minutes ago, TRO said: To be fair....It still is a Steve Bruce team in terms of personnel. In every way apart from Lovre and kortney hause, two players so far, still need plenty more from Smith and time to work the magic. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dave-R Posted January 1, 2019 Share Posted January 1, 2019 17 minutes ago, AVTuco said: But some think it's the best personnel in the division... It is not and by a fair bit, yes we have the best two midfielders in Grealish and Mcginn, they are priceless, the only other one setting the place on fire other than those two is Tammy and hes not even our player. Our keeper has good away games and dodgy home games. Our defence of Elmo, Taylor, Hutton and Chester, bree has resulted in elphick being recalled because they are just poor and we need better defenders. Our midfield is very questionable unless it has Mcginn and Grealish in it, who when they are playing are performing for other team mates as well. Attack, well what can be said about that apart from it's Tammy and Tammy alone, the rest are not consistent enough which is why bruce went to Chelsea and got Tammy in to replace kodjia. Our Strikers are under performing. Our bench- well let's put it like that when they come on apart from Houricane and Whelan here and there who have scored, the rest are looking shocking. I'm sure Smith see what we are, as I said before expect for many of our players to be phased out over the next couple of seasons. Yes there are other reasons also why players are under performing but the real answer is, that they were not good enough under Bruce, what makes us think that many of them can do what Smith wants them to do, we can see them messing it up time and time again on the pitch. Some are that bad at it lime Hutton, that goofball replaces one touch triangle football like they can't replace what's be installed in there heads. It's time to move on from many of our players, just like the club has moved on from the past two decades of badness, got new staff in. The only way our club moves into the future is by a complete refresh, we keep the best and get rid of what doesnt work. Smith knows what and who isnt working now, Smith will of tried with players but some will get it and want to play it and others wont get it and wont want ro play it. We have some defenders/midfield/attackers who are not getting it. For example kodjia simply doesnt seem to want to play to what Smith is preaching with his new style, yet were sposed to keep onto those players??? That is what we do not need to do, that is a bad mistake waiting to happen that is very costly long term. For the sake that some fans like certain players and see them as irreplaceable, let's face it though from the top down to get villa back to the premiere and working rite every body if need be, needs to be replaceable if the cogs in the machine need to be replaced, its common sense that we seperate our feelings from players in order to see Aston Villa become the club it once was again. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dave-R Posted January 1, 2019 Share Posted January 1, 2019 41 minutes ago, TRO said: I know. In certain situations we are....but the word is out, we can't defend( as a team) and every team that comes thinks they can score 2....no body sits deep anymore, they are up for it....Villa Park has become a Kindergarten, I felt ****ed off watching the ease at which we concede. We can't even head the ****ing ball, so teams gain ground on us in so many ways For us to head the ball, we need to stop signing Lord of the Ring heroes like gimli. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dave-R Posted January 1, 2019 Share Posted January 1, 2019 (edited) 35 minutes ago, KHV said: That's been the problem with all of Dean Smiths teams over the years. Can't organise a defence at all. Usually entertaining games with lots of goals, his Brentford side were like this. Great to watch for entertainment but shite defensively. Hopefully he can change that here. The thing is though he really had no choice but to make do with what he had at his previous clubs. With financial backing, Smith should be able to get some decent lads in that can make a good defensive line and sort out what he wants with pretty much who he wants. If Smith can get his attacking football rite at villa then there is no reason why we can't be winning games with ease. It all then boils down to getting a defence in that can do the job set out, while our midfield and attack keeps the ball as much as they can and destroys the opposition. Let's face our defence is a joke because of many errors, these are not errors that we can say well you tried and let's carry on, these are errors very beginner like, that are costly and often leave the rest of our game messed up. Our defenders shouldnt be making the silly mistakes they are making. To say these players at one point while JT was in the team were rock solid, to see now go out and make a mockery of themselves and undo the rest of the work other players have put in, is just absoloute heart breaking. Edited January 1, 2019 by Dave-R Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
A'Villan Posted January 1, 2019 Share Posted January 1, 2019 We took double the shots, commanded over 60% possession, were fouled twice as much, had 9 corners to their 1, completed 150 more accurate passes, we had triple the amount of crosses, over double the amount of successful dribbles as well as nearly double the amount of attempted dribbles. If that's not a good attempt at creating your own luck, I don't know. Watching the game I thought the only thing that we lacked was potency in the final third. Bolasie and Adomah were poor from a supply perspective and Kodjia also didn't have his best game. El Ghazi made an impact but 3 of 4 of your wide men off their game over 90 minutes then you're limited in approach. Our midfield 3 spent their energy winning the midfield battles (56% of duels went our way) and ensuring the ball was pushed forward from a place that left the wide men and striker free to receive the ball in favourable positions. I think it's easy to rue the absence of Grealish or Tuanzebe but personally I thought it was the wide men on the pitch who were sorely missed, despite being present. Our obvious go-to men for creativity and potency in attack were always going to be the wide men today and they were off their game except El Ghazi, who only saw 30-40 minutes. 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Keener window-cleaner Posted January 1, 2019 Share Posted January 1, 2019 I don't think that was a bad performance, I think us being critical is a testament of how far we have come. We were much better than them, played ok football and created many chances. They hit us on the counter and scored two goals. We seem to have lost a bit of a spark compared to before christmas, but that I'd say is mostly because of fatigue, especially in midfield. Our midfield looks knackered and is carried by McGinn. The problem is that we have first and foremost Grealish injured, but also that the ones that could come in and rotate like Jedi, Lansbury and BB are or have been injured. I dont know if it would have been better but I would have liked Doyle-Hayes to get a run in the side. So on the whole, we are hampered by injuries in midfield and it's taking it's toll. I think DS and the management team is doing almost everything right at the moment, it's not much else they can do. I can hardly see us buying a lot of new midfielders while having Jedi and Lansbury on the wage list. 4 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mikeyp102 Posted January 1, 2019 Share Posted January 1, 2019 1 hour ago, TRO said: To be fair....It still is a Steve Bruce team in terms of personnel. It is... but then again it isn’t.. in a way that El Ghazi and possibly Bolasie don’t really seem Bruce type of players (I’m thinking the owners/Purslow/Agent) had one eye on a new manager when these were made. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TRO Posted January 1, 2019 Share Posted January 1, 2019 3 hours ago, markavfc40 said: He is always brutally honest which I really admire about him especially as he predecessor had a habit of often describing a different game or making excuses. He will get it right again and I think we will see us back to the levels, and some, that we saw in his first couple of months here and especially against the likes of Boro, Derby and Albion. I think under Smith regardless of personnel we will always be susceptible to conceding and be quite open. What we have failed to do too often lately under him is get the second/third goals in games and kill teams off as we have gone one up then taken our foot of the gas. We certainly did it today and on Saturday. When you play as open as Smiths teams do without killing teams off you are always open to the sucker punches. He'll be as disappointed as anyone that we have taken 7 points from a possible 18 and only won one of our last six as he will know we are capable of much better. Unlike under his predecessor though where it had become apparent despite being capable of better we were never going to achieve it under Smith we have already shown we are a match for any of the better sides in this division and I am confident we will soon show that again. I accept that Deans Football will be more open to the counter....but it is not always easy to out score teams. What I am seeing in the games we concede is in the main individual Errors. He will need to bring in players who are less susceptible to these errors and display a better level of consistency. I am not overly convinced its possible to get out of this division by simply out scoring teams....there are times when we have to tighten up and see a game out. Since the Albion game, I have seen a tendency to yield space and initiative to the opposition and it tends to appear like handing goals on a plate, they look quicker and first to the ball....that has to stop IMO if we have any ambition to get out of this league. Dean has to find a way of defending better, without inhibiting the offensive style. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TRO Posted January 1, 2019 Share Posted January 1, 2019 6 hours ago, TrentVilla said: Some people will be starting to give Smith stick I’m sure but I said earlier this week people seriously over rate our squad and I stand by it. Out squad just isn’t as good as some people seem to think, there are so so many issues with it. I think this season is a right off, play offs are looking increasingly unlikely. Smith needs to rebuild the majority of the squad and that’s not happening in January. People can’t kid themselves about the strength of our squad when we have players like Hutton starting every game. Spot On Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KMitch Posted January 1, 2019 Share Posted January 1, 2019 With Kalinic coming into the squad, Elphick filling in for Axel, Bree at RB, Taylor coming back from injury for Swansea, and hopefully a new DM this month, our defensive issues will be a lot less prevalent in the 2nd half of the season. I mean, we looked a lot better at the back today with Elphick & Bree. Get Taylor in at LB on Saturday and someone else besides Hourihane playing at DM and we should dominate the match. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
A'Villan Posted January 1, 2019 Share Posted January 1, 2019 5 minutes ago, Keener window-cleaner said: I don't think that was a bad performance, I think us being critical is a testament of how far we have come. We were much better than them, played ok football and created many chances. They hit us on the counter and scored two goals. We seem to have lost a bit of a spark compared to before christmas, but that I'd say is mostly because of fatigue, especially in midfield. Our midfield looks knackered and is carried by McGinn. The problem is that we have first and foremost Grealish injured, but also that the ones that could come in and rotate like Jedi, Lansbury and BB are or have been injured. I dont know if it would have been better but I would have liked Doyle-Hayes to get a run in the side. So on the whole, we are hampered by injuries in midfield and it's taking it's toll. I think DS and the management team is doing almost everything right at the moment, it's not much else they can do. I can hardly see us buying a lot of new midfielders while having Jedi and Lansbury on the wage list. Midfield did a good job of winning the contests, ball retention and in build up moving the ball forward so that it was received by the wide men or Tammy in a position that should result in an opportunity to threaten goal. The job in midfield was always going to be dogged if we were to be in the contest and they were. Unfortunately no one had the finesse today to make the most of the space we occupied and the chances created, but that wasn't really the main responsibility of our midfield 3 today anyway. I thought they did their part. However unspectacular. The only criticism I have of midfield was we were often clumsy when playing someone in with a tunnel pass, whether direct and long or with a simple push pass. It was nearly always mishit and nullified any chance of the receiver being through on goal. Our overlapping runs and wall passes weren't sharp and penetrating like usual either which added to our difficulty in penetrating QPR's defense. I don't know if we're particularly fatigued though either. I thought we had the engine and ran well but lacked the poise required to execute when it called for it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TimTort Posted January 1, 2019 Share Posted January 1, 2019 30 minutes ago, TRO said: Dean has to find a way of defending better, without inhibiting the offensive style. I don’t post often but my sister is married to a Brentford supporter and when Dean Smith was appointed, he said exactly that to me - almost word for word. Although he was not happy when Smith left them he also made a few comments that I thought maybe were just an indication of his disappointment and they may well prove to be, but he said that whilst the open attacking style of Brentford was the best he had ever seen in his time supporting them, the defensive frailties of the team as a whole were never really solved. The defensive players who were signed kept getting better in terms of their footballing qualities but the defensive organisational side of their game never improved. I found this a really odd thing to say about a man who had been a central defender himself but my brother-in-law’s response was that when Smith joined Brentford, a Walsall fan came onto their forum and said they would see some fantastic attacking football because Dean Smith’s teams loved having the ball up top because they didn’t know how to defend. I'm not decrying Smith at all and I think he’s a fantastic appointment in comparison to recent managers, but it does worry me a tad. 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Zatman Posted January 1, 2019 Share Posted January 1, 2019 I said at start of season(before Tammy joined) we have a really poor squad and play-offs would be a great season. Last manager short termism while it nearly got us up last season was always going to damage us long term 2 senior centre defenders and one is a kid(I dont include Jedinak as a centre back) signing aging players who arent up to it anymore Whelan, Jedinak, Elmo signing a goalkeeper and playing him in front of a shoddy defence was also criminal one senior left back at the club No back up for Jack too many loan signings 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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