Dean Smith

[VillaChris]

1 hour ago, hippo said:

Touche - like a said a few posts back I don't think we brought terribly well in the summer.

 

There is potential in lots of players imo. Infact two of them (Engels and Mings if he can be counted) have been our two best performers up to the second half today.

Ultimately though I can't believe after 15/16 when we gave a textbook example of how not to replace a regular 20 goal season striker we've again gone into a premier league season completely undercooked in the final third. Put it bluntly it costs you loads of points in the premier league as we've seen already.

Edited September 22, 2019 by VillaChris

[TRO]

12 hours ago, Villan_of_oz said:

I haven't read all the comments but it is still a matter of opinion what is constructive criticism and what is BS. I've had 2 hours sleep to think and I'm still feeling very much the same.... That was a shambolic 30 mins of football that could have been managed by the players and the manager so much better.

We can keep being optimistic, and that is how I want to be. However a couple more performances like that and it'll be Xmas and we'll be in the bottom 3.

Based on what I've seen, Burnley will be the hardest game we've had so far and we'll do well to get any kind of a result. Another loss and we will be becoming detached soon. 

We may beat Burnley and all of a sudden I look silly, I hope that is the case, but to blindly defend any manager is naive.

I like Dean Smith, in fact I've said he was becoming my favourite Villa manager (of my time) but don't let the fact it was Arsenal at the Emirates, it was a poor performance (last 30mins) Ive seen from players and coaches under his reign.

Burnley will be tough, they press very well and are robust in the tackle and closing down.......Its quite ironic when they have 2 players who were labelled as light weights when they was with us and have made a good account of their switch ever since.

Dean certainly has some work to do and some things to think about, because so far its not working, in terms of points.

Edited September 23, 2019 by TRO

[granto]

Where were the subs when we're getting hammered by 10 men? It was obvious they were gonna score and fresh legs were needed. Piss poor.

[LondonVillian]

Never rated DS said it last season as well think he is an average manager  - yes we had a good run and got promoted but we also had an awful run loosing to bottom half teams never changing the tactics or setup. Think he is being found out in the prem. He must adapt and be prepared to make changes tactically and make the correct subs. 

Edited September 22, 2019 by LondonVillian

[KentVillan]

A more optimistic analysis:

We went to a top 6 side, went 1-0 up with a good goal, and put them under sufficient pressure that they were picking up yellow cards unnecessarily which led to the sending off (was a nice move to send El Ghazi through for Maitland-Niles's first yellow).

First half we put in a very creditable away performance:

• A lot of our passing out from Engels and Mings was superb, and created some great counter attacks.
• Trezeguet looked very good on the ball and defensively, but just needs to work on his end product.
• El Ghazi's ball for McGinn goal superb.
• Jack got Xhaka booked early which caused him problems later in the game.
• John McGinn made a great run for his goal, and later had 2 or 3 genuine chances which he created for himself.
• Nakamba looked excellent.

Second half we did dip, and were exposed by Arsenal's superior pace and ability, but we still did some damage:

• Jack set up a goal by beating three players, and won a couple of dangerous free kicks.
• Wesley scored with a very neat finish, giving him a 1 in 3 goal scoring ratio this season = 13 goals if continued over the season. A healthy return for one of our worst ever signings.
• Heaton made a superb save from Guendouzi, looked solid throughout, and was probably blameless for all of the goals.
• We had a blatant penalty turned down by referee and VAR.

Ultimately all Arsenal's goals came from individual errors:

1. Penalty comes from two uncharacteristic mistakes by Engels - first a bad pass out, and then the foul.
2. Uncharacteristic mistake from Mings for Chambers goal under minimal pressure
3. Nakamba (who was otherwise very good) makes a mistake for the free kick

You can talk about bad decisions from Smith but the two substitutions we were crying out for (quick striker / winger to hit them on the counter, and ballwinning machine in central midfield) aren't in our current squad.

Yes it raises questions about our recruitment over the summer, and how well conditioned our players are, but we'll stay up by taking points against worse teams than Arsenal.

Overall the main thing today says to me is that we are capable of picking up points in games like this, if we hold our nerve better. The performance today suggests that Dean Smith and the boys are more than capable of getting 3 points against Burnley. UTV

[Mantis]

If games finished at half-time we'd be on 11 points instead of 4. That suggests to me that we have a big problem with fitness.

Edited September 23, 2019 by Mantis

[KentVillan]

5 minutes ago, Mantis said:

If games finished at half-time we'd be on 10 points instead of 4. That suggests to me that we have a big problem with fitness.

That's entirely accounted for by the Spurs and Arsenal games, where we nicked early goals against better sides.

I didn't see any problem with our fitness against Palace, where we basically equalised in stoppage time with 10 men.

[Mantis]

2 minutes ago, KentVillan said:

That's entirely accounted for by the Spurs and Arsenal games, where we nicked early goals against better sides.

I didn't see any problem with our fitness against Palace, where we basically equalised in stoppage time with 10 men.

Just realised it was actually 11. And yeah we did do that but a lot of our goals seem to come from individual errors, which of course tiredness can exacerbate.

[Skruff]

1 minute ago, Mantis said:

If games finished at half-time we'd be on 10 points instead of 4. That suggests to me that we have a big problem with fitness.

Our players runs themselves to the ground. They put in plenty of miles.

However Smiths tactics today  wasn't sustainable for 90 minutes straight. Even versus 10 men. We need to control the tempo more, and take moments to rest with the ball. 

There's a handful of examples from today's match, when we're up 2-1 where there's room to slow down and take a breather. Where there's easy passing options to unmarked men, where we choose the difficult pass and go straight in attack instead. Which either led to the loss off possession or the winger recieved it in a isolated position. 

When our wingers/midfielders bust a gut to win the ball back, then burst into attack only to lose it and bust a gut to win it back again. Over and over, there's no wonder they run out of energy.

[KentVillan]

15 minutes ago, Mantis said:

Just realised it was actually 11. And yeah we did do that but a lot of our goals seem to come from individual errors, which of course tiredness can exacerbate.

You're right, of course, that tiredness affects quality - and it definitely affected some of our play in midfield and attack in the second half. But the really bad errors that cost us the game were by our two centre halves, and I doubt tiredness was the cause. Just a lack of concentration.

We're watching these boys learn at the moment. It's horrible, and we might get relegated, and we do lack some quality in key roles. But I do think collectively they're improving week on week. This was a better performance than the West Ham game.

[PrimevalVillan]

I'm not going to blame Smith too hard. There are a lot of variables going here. We didn't really have a full strength preseason and I think it shows from time to time. We just have to stick with the team. I look at the first half.... and I see a very competitive team and I look at the second half and I see a young, newly promoted team. Hopefully this serves as a teaching point for the team.

[abdulaziz1]

I would like to see Hourihane, Lansbury (or Luiz) starting instead of El Ghazi and Trez. With ofcourse getting Targett to start.

I think we'd see a huge difference that way. 

[zab6359]

47 minutes ago, abdulaziz1 said:

I would like to see Hourihane, Lansbury (or Luiz) starting instead of El Ghazi and Trez. With ofcourse getting Targett to start.

I think we'd see a huge difference that way. 

Not ever going to happen in a 4-3-3 formation.

[Hobbit Feet]

4 minutes ago, zab6359 said:

Not ever going to happen in a 4-3-3 formation.

Maybe a change of formation is required. We only play it to accommodate Jack and John. We really should of put on fresh legs earlier and played keep ball today, made them chase shadows, we really shouldn’t be the team getting tired and making mistakes against 10 men for so long. It’s far too early to be calling for deans head and anyone that suggests that is silly but a few more bad result then the people will start asking bigger questions. 

[zab6359]

5 minutes ago, Hobbit Feet said:

Maybe a change of formation is required. We only play it to accommodate Jack and John. We really should of put on fresh legs earlier and played keep ball today, made them chase shadows, we really shouldn’t be the team getting tired and making mistakes against 10 men for so long. It’s far too early to be calling for deans head and anyone that suggests that is silly but a few more bad result then the people will start asking bigger questions. 

I can't comment on the game yet as I haven't seen it until I get home tonight. But just from reading the comments on here it does seem DS made a tactical error in not introducing the subs earlier.

But at six games in and after losing against what is possibly a top 4 team (definitely top 6) at the Emirates I don't think it is time for big changes. We've tried to defend a lead firstly against Spurs (top 4 team) and then Arsenal and ended up sitting deeper and deeper under pressure and ended up losing.............. it's why they are top 4/6 teams and we are a newly promoted most likely bottom 6 team. They have the talent to break teams like us down. Just wait until we visit Liverpool & Man City that's when the real spankings will start. I think some fans have unrealistic views of where we sit in the pecking order.

[Demitri_C]

7 hours ago, Vive_La_Villa said:

No I think they are naturally dropping deep when under intense pressure because they shattered and scared of getting caught too high up the field because won’t be able to handle balls played through them. On top of that they can’t handle the press and keep giving the ball away which causes them to drop.  Our fitness levels and inability to keep the ball is hurting us

I also don’t think people appriecate how much better Spurs and Arsenal’s players are compared to ours. 

We didn’t sit deep against West Ham.  We just ran out of ideas.

We did sit deep against West ham. Also Smith's subs came again too late. If your a manager and you see your teams countries why not  change it !? He waited until after we went 3-2 down to bring in fresh legs.

Pathetic and amateur management from smith. How he manages to throw a 2-1lead against ten men I'll never know.

[Rightdm00]

12 minutes ago, Demitri_C said:

We did sit deep against West ham. Also Smith's subs came again too late. If your a manager and you see your teams countries why not  change it !? He waited until after we went 3-2 down to bring in fresh legs.

Pathetic and amateur management from smith. How he manages to throw a 2-1lead against ten men I'll never know.

Smith said in the post game that the team set deep in contrast to his instructions to move up and press Arsenal.  If that was the case then why not make the changes necessary to help his team push the line up. Instead he just watches us drop deeper and deeper. So yeah some of those inflexible tactics he showed us in the Championship are starting to rear their ugly head again. 

[villalad21]

If we are bottom 3 by Christmas i can see JT getting a crack at it because of Owners panicking.

Don't think it would be the worst to happen. A man with his stature would get huge respect from the players.

That being said i hope it works out for Smith. But based on his limits as a manager tactically, i'm not too sure he will last at this level.

Edited September 23, 2019 by villalad21

[Demitri_C]

49 minutes ago, Rightdm00 said:

Smith said in the post game that the team set deep in contrast to his instructions to move up and press Arsenal.  If that was the case then why not make the changes necessary to help his team push the line up. Instead he just watches us drop deeper and deeper. So yeah some of those inflexible tactics he showed us in the Championship are starting to rear their ugly head again. 

Exactly. Also if he isn't instructing the team to play deep why is he bringing on Elmo a defensive winger for trez? 

If he wanted to go more attacking jota or lansbury/Conor much sooner. We all knew it was going to happen then he makes positive changes once we go behind.

All the blame goes to Smith for yesterday. Was tactically poor.

[New_Hope]

So where is the credit to Smith for getting us into a winning position in the first place?