Dean Smith

[tinker]

We have good enough central defenders to play 3 at the back, push Taggart and Fred into  midfield . With 3 at the back we should be more able to defend against set pieces. A midfield with Jack , Hourihane and Douglas and Wes with either Kodjia , Trez and Elgahzi up front..  

It's vital we don't lose against Watford , especially heavily and let's be honest the  Norwich game was far to open for us feel comfortable with our performance and changing one or two players from that team isn't going to make the difference we need .

 

[Dr_Pangloss]

7 minutes ago, tinker said:

We have good enough central defenders to play 3 at the back, push Taggart and Fred into  midfield . With 3 at the back we should be more able to defend against set pieces. A midfield with Jack , Hourihane and Douglas and Wes with either Kodjia , Trez and Elgahzi up front..  

It's vital we don't lose against Watford , especially heavily and let's be honest the  Norwich game was far to open for us feel comfortable with our performance and changing one or two players from that team isn't going to make the difference we need .

 

I floated a 3-5-2 (or 5-3-2 depending how you look at it) a couple of months ago. I think we do have the players to do it and it's not like our wingers are delivering. El Ghazi IMO could play as a support striker as well.

[Blasterpocket68]

I don't think we defend well enough as a team to play 3 -5- 2 - we are far to narrow , i think 3 at the back would make this even worse. We need to go to ridged 4-4-2 IMO. Our midfield simply don't defend well enough particularly our wide players who then leave our full backs exposed.

Trez shoudnt wear the shirt again after yesterday pathetic! I can take poor decision making and basic ball control errors, |But not running back strolling around on counter attacks  is not acceptable.

Basics basics  defend as a team  

[tinker]

19 minutes ago, Dr_Pangloss said:

I floated a 3-5-2 (or 5-3-2 depending how you look at it) a couple of months ago. I think we do have the players to do it and it's not like our wingers are delivering. El Ghazi IMO could play as a support striker as well.

Be nice to be able to play Trez and Elgahzi rather than Taggart and Fred but their not performing well in their defensive responsibilities. Think that would make it more a 3 5 2. 

Think opposition managers have also clocked our weaknesses in the present formation and we also have players who are hiding under the pressure of our situation, not playing to their previuos6 standards. I have seen this before with good quality players who get in a cycle of bad performances and struggle to pull out of it as a collective. 

Edited December 27, 2019 by tinker

[TRO]

16 hours ago, villalad21 said:

The only difference from the Southampton game was Heaton had an absolute worldie and we won.

Although we can be happy we won. Relying on Heaton keeping up performances like this isn't realistic nor a sustainable strategy.

Play like this and we'll go down, 100 %.

Nakamba is miles off the pace. Targett is a poor left back. Centre back pairing is changing every week. Wesley spends more time in  midfield than being in striker areas.

We aren't organized and defensively a mess. It's so easy creating chances against us.

To sum it up we're all over the place at the moment and something needs to change.

14 mill.....and we give  Enda  Stevens away a while back......I shall go in to a corner and cry.

 

[TRO]

I do think its strange when Dean is acclaimed for attacking football and our front 3 are as blunt as a sausage......where do some of these claims get their origins?

[KenjiOgiwara]

People complain when we don't see out matches we're leading. Then we see out matches we're leading and everything is still wrong and every single player is shit. 

Some of you just don't come across as Villa fans. You really don't.  

[DCJonah]

19 minutes ago, TRO said:

I do think its strange when Dean is acclaimed for attacking football and our front 3 are as blunt as a sausage......where do some of these claims get their origins?

Brentford and us last year. This year our attacking football is damaged by our attacking players. Grealish is the only attacking player that looks prem quality  

If we stay up our front 3 needs major changes. 

[TRO]

8 minutes ago, DCJonah said:

Brentford and us last year. This year our attacking football is damaged by our attacking players. Grealish is the only attacking player that looks prem quality  

If we stay up our front 3 needs major changes. 

so, by deduction.....He should address this in January?

so what do we do with 18 mill worth of wingers who can't beat their man or cross the ball?....just do an oliver twist and ask for more?

Edited December 27, 2019 by TRO

[Delphinho123]

We’ve wasted so much money, AGAIN.

[villabromsgrove]

Dean said after the match that he felt the need to play a more defensive team against the team that are now bottom of the Premier League. We didn't deserve three points, but we got lucky and won against yet another team that dominated us. If it wasn't for Heaton's inspired performance we could easily have been thrashed by a bunch of very average players who are obviously well coached.

I'm starting to doubt whether Smith is going to be able to adapt to the demands of the Premier. He persists with a non existent striker, two defensive central midfielders and an almost total reliance on "give the ball to Jack".

We've been shown well coached football recently while playing against the likes of Wolves, Leicester, Sheffield United, Southampton and now Norwich all making us look like a Sunday league side. Santo, Rodgers, Wilder, Hasenhuttl and Farke are all clearly competent coaches who are working hard and effectively on their respective team systems, while on match day the Villa players look like they have a bit of a kick about during the week.  

I'm relieved that we got the three points yesterday, but very concerned that Dean Smith still hasn't got to grips with Premier football. His comments and the evidence of my own eyes are telling me that he may not be the coach I thought he could be. 

[Davkaus]

50 minutes ago, KenjiOgiwara said:

People complain when we don't see out matches we're leading. Then we see out matches we're leading and everything is still wrong and every single player is shit. 

Some of you just don't come across as Villa fans. You really don't.  

I'd take stealing a win over playing well but losing like we have so many times this season, but people are quite right to criticise after that performance. 

[TheStagMan]

11 minutes ago, Davkaus said:

I'd take stealing a win over playing well but losing like we have so many times this season, but people are quite right to criticise after that performance. 

We didn't steal that win. It was a fairly even game and Norwich were not robbed as the commentators were making out. 

 

Yes, there is work to do, and yes we have hit a rocky patch - I have faith in Smith to sort it out. 

[villalad21]

1 hour ago, KenjiOgiwara said:

People complain when we don't see out matches we're leading. Then we see out matches we're leading and everything is still wrong and every single player is shit. 

Some of you just don't come across as Villa fans. You really don't.  

Heaton made us see out the match. 

You really are papering over the cracks. Norwich deserved to win.

[TheStagMan]

2 minutes ago, villalad21 said:

Heaton made us see out the match. 

You really are papering over the cracks. Norwich deserved to win.

Are goalkeepers not supposed to stop the ball going in the net though? Just like theirs did during that game?

[Davkaus]

5 minutes ago, TheStagMan said:

We didn't steal that win. It was a fairly even game and Norwich were not robbed as the commentators were making out. 

 

Crazy how differently 2 people can see the same game isn't it!

There's all kinds of stats I could chuck at you about number of chances, saves, possession, striking the post, but ultimately I think if things had been the other way around, we'd see it as a game we'd dominated and be dismayed we'd not made the most of it.

[DaveAV1]

6 minutes ago, villalad21 said:

Heaton made us see out the match. 

You really are papering over the cracks. Norwich deserved to win.

I’m sorry you’re disappointed. I hope it hasn’t ruined your Christmas. 

[TRO]

16 minutes ago, Delphinho123 said:

We’ve wasted so much money, AGAIN.

Its a real, real worry as to how much money we waste over various administrations.

There is one sure fire way to destroy and feel good factor apart from Losing all the time.....is to spunk money on players, who are not worth it....It causes Internal strife.

Owners no matter how rich they are, will not countenance, a constant stream of over valued players, where their sell on value is questionable.....where would we in all honesty recover some of the money we have spent....eg. 14 mill on Targett, who would give us that?

where is the confidence from the owners, we will get it right in January?

from a mangers point of view, its almost as  quick through the trap door as losing.

Managers who don't spend a lot, always have a get out of jail card.

[Delphinho123]

4 minutes ago, Davkaus said:

Crazy how differently 2 people can see the same game isn't it!

There's all kinds of stats I could chuck at you about number of chances, saves, possession, striking the post, but ultimately I think if things had been the other way around, we'd see it as a game we'd dominated and be dismayed we'd not made the most of it.

You’re not seeing it wrong don’t worry. We were totally dominated tbh by a team that will definitely go down (probably with us). I genuinely don’t know where we go from here.
 

The thing is, I don’t think Smith signed the players and you can talk about tactics all day, if the players aren’t good enough then it’s a moot point.

Smith is a miracle worker if he can keep this set of players in the league. Nakamba, Luiz, Trezeguet, Wesley all look poor buys and these were players who meant to make us better. 

[TheStagMan]

3 minutes ago, Davkaus said:

Crazy how differently 2 people can see the same game isn't it!

There's all kinds of stats I could chuck at you about number of chances, saves, possession, striking the post, but ultimately I think if things had been the other way around, we'd see it as a game we'd dominated and be dismayed we'd not made the most of it.

Quite, and I remember thinking exactly this during the game. 

There are a few of their attempts that fell tamely into Heaton's arms without him even having to think about to much, yet they count as a shot on target, there was a good five minute spell where they were kicking it about in their half and we were just waiting for them to bring it forward - got their pass count and accuracy up, but offered no threat whatsoever at that point. so stats only tell you so much. It was not the one-sided game that everyone made out. Had AEG not fluffed some fairly easy chances, we could have scored 3 as well.