Dean Smith

[ciggiesnbeer]

1 hour ago, mikeyp102 said:

Starting line up surprised me with Luiz in instead of Nakamba and El Ghazi ahead of Trez. But he got it absolutely bang on. Tactically outthought Newcastle. 

Only criticism is lack of subs. Is this something Villa managers pick up here? Jack has been out injured, McGinn been away international. Both could’ve done with coming off after 75 (maybe only one to not disrupt team too much).  Bruce was the same, as was Lambert and especially MON

Lamberts triple sub at West Brom as he took his jacket off was a great moment. Far too rare in Lamberts reign tho sadly.

[Keyblade]

4 wins from 7 in all competitions. We're not doing too shabby.

Actually our record in the last 9 games in all competitions is:

P9 W5 D1 L3 GF 18 GA 14 GD +4

Not bad at all.

[Tomaszk]

Marvelous for Luiz and Lansbury for McGinn were two clear subs that should have been made in my opinion.

McGinn was shattered and Luiz was getting sloppy and lost it twice leading to chances.

Sub usage remains an issue I think.

[hippo]

1 minute ago, Tomaszk said:

Marvelous for Luiz and Lansbury for McGinn were two clear subs that should have been made in my opinion.

McGinn was shattered and Luiz was getting sloppy and lost it twice leading to chances.

Sub usage remains an issue I think.

Smith didn't make any meaningful substitutions last night. Sure some look jaded in the 2nd half - I wonder what would have happened had he not any substitutions against liverpool. 

 

[The Other Mat]

Once Bruce altered their formation, the players already on the pitch were the ones best suited to counter their approach. We saw that game out easily and should have been been 3/4 nil up by the end. 

[tomav84]

18 minutes ago, Tomaszk said:

Marvelous for Luiz and Lansbury for McGinn were two clear subs that should have been made in my opinion.

McGinn was shattered and Luiz was getting sloppy and lost it twice leading to chances.

Sub usage remains an issue I think.

agree with every word. i dont want to be overly critical after a good win, but on 70 mins we couldnt string a pass together and newcastle were coming back into it. it was crying out for marvelous

[JAMAICAN-VILLAN]

1 hour ago, hippo said:

Smith didn't make any meaningful substitutions last night. Sure some look jaded in the 2nd half - I wonder what would have happened had he not any substitutions against liverpool. 

 

Problem is if he made the subs and then we conceded he would have also gotten slaughtered. lol

I wonder if sometimes there is an element of "It might take a player a few minutes to get up to speed" in a period of the game where we can't afford a "warm up".

[useless]

We won the game, no one if somehow given the chance would go back in time and make substitutions as that could lead to a different outcome.

[hippo]

10 minutes ago, JAMAICAN-VILLAN said:

Problem is if he made the subs and then we conceded he would have also gotten slaughtered. lol

I wonder if sometimes there is an element of "It might take a player a few minutes to get up to speed" in a period of the game where we can't afford a "warm up".

Good point

I was thinking - although we are hanging on - We are hanging on - so why change it - I thought he was correct not to change it last night. We didn't have great options:-

Marvelous for Luiz ?  - much of a muchness really

Trez - for Wez - again not convinced

 

[vreitti]

16 minutes ago, JAMAICAN-VILLAN said:

Problem is if he made the subs and then we conceded he would have also gotten slaughtered. lol

I wonder if sometimes there is an element of "It might take a player a few minutes to get up to speed" in a period of the game where we can't afford a "warm up".

I completely agree, and it's always a risk you take whichever way you choose. However, yesterday I feel we would have benefited from some fresh legs in the middle of the park, and would've seen out the game even more comfortably. 

You could easily make a case for replacing anyone of McGinn, Luiz, Hourihane or Grealish. McGinn especially looked quite knackered toward the end. Also considering that Grealish has been out injured for a while, and given the fact how important he is for the team, it's highly irresponsible to risk him getting injured again.

[A'Villan]

We had the better chances on goal, 62% possession, went a fair way to doubling their passes made with an 86% completion rate, and doubled their corners.

More importantly we won 2-0 in a fixture fans expected a result in, and we ended our run of three defeats. Not that results are a given in any fixture, but the next three are tough.

If you want to scrutinise and speculate about the substitutions made, go ahead, but from where I sit it's a game to be celebrated and hopefully a catalyst for better performances.

An introduction on our end would've changed the dynamic of a game we were truly on top of. I thought Smith's formation, tactics and substitutions kept the balance in our favour.

[Ikantcpell]

I like him as a person aswell, he come across as a very honest and genuine man, there is nothing false about him.

[osmark86]

53 minutes ago, Ikantcpell said:

I like him as a person aswell, he come across as a very honest and genuine man, there is nothing false about him.

He seems like a great guy. Makes me really hope he goes on to great things with us. He sure af has my patience.

[Rodders]

3-0, then we make subs, otherwise at 2-0, and if none of the players look hurt or on cards then carry on as you are. I think it was right to keep with the same players in that situation, maintain the rhythm.

[MotoMkali]

2 hours ago, Rodders said:

3-0, then we make subs, otherwise at 2-0, and if none of the players look hurt or on cards then carry on as you are. I think it was right to keep with the same players in that situation, maintain the rhythm.

Disagree mcginn has been running himself into the ground, Jack got hit on his shins which he has had problems with, Luiz had started getting lax and Wesley seemed to have little puff. I think it would have made sense for wesley for trez with el ghazi going up front (although Dean probably wanted him to score), mcginn for Lansbury and nakamba for Luiz. If we kept wes on trez for grealish. I think we need to think about load management and our players aren't super durable so if one of them had to come off injured last night I would personally blame Dean for not making the subs earlier. 

[Pelle]

3 hours ago, Rodders said:

3-0, then we make subs, otherwise at 2-0, and if none of the players look hurt or on cards then carry on as you are. I think it was right to keep with the same players in that situation, maintain the rhythm.

During the game I thought that he could've subbed Luiz for Nakamba and McGinn for Trez, but in the end I felt that Smith knew what he was doing. More than I did, obviously. He made the right chouces. Had he done those subs I wanted you never know what could've happened.

[useless]

Apparently we've recruited Aman Singh Shergill from small heath as our ' physical performance scientist ', that job title sounds like he might eventually be able to help us stay in games longer, or at least that that might be the idea.

[KenjiOgiwara]

On 26/11/2019 at 22:04, Pelle said:

During the game I thought that he could've subbed Luiz for Nakamba and McGinn for Trez, but in the end I felt that Smith knew what he was doing. More than I did, obviously. He made the right chouces. Had he done those subs I wanted you never know what could've happened.

That's pretty much it. While no manager is without errors, Smith knows more about football and the squad than any of us on this forum, so it's probably wise to consider this before ranting about what he should have done different. 

[villalad21]

It's about time for Smith to give us a big scalp now.

The season has been too predictable so far, losing to the big teams beating the lesser teams.

It's important for fans to get the unexpected result every now and then

[Rightdm00]

1 hour ago, villalad21 said:

It's about time for Smith to give us a big scalp now.

The season has been too predictable so far, losing to the big teams beating the lesser teams.

It's important for fans to get the unexpected result every now and then

It's also important that fans have realistic expectations.  We came up through the playoffs as the #5 team in the Championship. Develop a progressive style of football and stay up.  That's it. Anything else is a bonus.