Dean Smith

[Phil Silvers]

38 minutes ago, villalad21 said:

Loser mentality.

 

Yeahhhh, treble dream is over, double still on, let’s do this!

[Brumstopdogs]

https://www.avfc.co.uk/News/2020/01/04/deans-debrief-fulham

Quote

Dean Smith spoke to members of the press at Craven Cottage after his Aston Villa side lost 2-1 to Fulham. 

The manager gave his thoughts on the result, the FA Cup’s standing in English football, the inclusion of two Villa youngsters and January recruitment. 

Here’s what he had to say… 

On the result…

It wasn’t a great spectacle. I thought we gave an average performance, and it appeared to be two pretty even teams on the day. 

We’ve had the best chance in the first half where Anwar El Ghazi should score. I don’t think our goalkeeper’s made a save in the first half at all. 

We’ve huffed and puffed in the first half, but there didn’t seem to be an awful lot of quality in the final third from either team. 

Harry Arter’s scored a goal that he’ll never score again to win it and that summed the game up. 

On the FA Cup…

I don’t like losing in any competition, but everyone can see from the selection and the squad that we brought here it wasn’t the top of our priorities. 

That’s simply because we’ve had three major injuries to three key players. The amount of games we’ve played since our Carabao Cup quarter-final against Liverpool has been incredible. 

I had rest some players to make sure they’re ready for two semi-final games and four or five Premier League games. 

It’s lost its sparkle. It doesn’t help when you have finals that kick-off on the same day as the Premier League. For whatever reason, it has lost its sparkle and it wasn’t on the top of our priorities. 

On recruitment…

There’s a lot of candidates that we’ve been looking at. We’re looking in the market at a lot of things. 

We’ve had a good chat about positions and players that we want. We’ve got to priortitise. 

January is a narrow window and I’m not sure there’s a lot of teams who will let players go that are playing for them at the minute. That narrows it down even more. 

On Villa youngsters…

That was the biggest positive. Leaving Jack Grealish, Douglas Luiz and Tyrone Mingsat home allowed me to bring some of the young lads who’ve been training with us. 

We gave them some exposure to real men’s football out there, so it was good for Jacob and good for Indiana. 

They’ve got to continue their progression and make sure they stand out when they train with the first team

 

[PieFacE]

Fair summary.

[mikeyp102]

53 minutes ago, Dr_Pangloss said:

Certainly the case that our academy has not produced enough over the past 20 years. Needs an overhaul.

The new owners have just done a complete overhaul, it takes time to come to fruition

[Zatman]

13 minutes ago, villalad21 said:

I would pay what it takes to take Rafa to the club.

We need some structure and solid defensive organization and he is one of the best in the business organizing teams.

for the 1000th time which you ignore, Purslow and Rafa hate each other. Purslow doesnt rate Rafa

[sidcow]

20 minutes ago, villalad21 said:

I would pay what it takes to take Rafa to the club.

We need some structure and solid defensive organization and he is one of the best in the business organizing teams.

I would give it 5 minutes before you started posting negative comments about him just to get everyone hot under the collar. 

[AV82]

Elmohamady, Engels, Nakamba, Hourihane, Lansbury, El Ghazi, Jota and Kodjia have all performed very well, individually, at levels above or equal to the Championship and not one of them looked half decent today against a less than impressive Fulham side. I couldn't possibly choose a MOTM.

Anyone who thinks this is acceptable because 'the players are shit', 'its our B team' or 'lads, its the FA cup' have their heads buried in the sand. We should at least look competitive when fielding our 'B' players. They are capable. I don't expect us to smash Fulham 3-0 with 70% possession but we should at least carve out a few opportunities and show some positive play. We didn't do that today, besides one well executed pass, and I don't accept that it's because our players are just 'bad' - we've sold or released far too many players who looked more capable after a move away from Villa Park.

Given that we had to field a weaker team today my issue is with how Smith utilises the players that are available. Let's consider:

- Jota is not a right winger. He looks his best when he receives the ball between the lines, has space and can pick a pass. Why not play him central instead of asking our notoriously weak playmaker to receive the ball close to touchline with his back to a defender who is tight to him? Senseless.

- El Ghazi cannot cross, rarely beats a fullback and looked equally out of position on the left, as he has for weeks now. He has pace, gets into great goal scoring positions and has a decent shot on him.

With these two points in mind why not play El Ghazi and Jota as number 10s in a system that's geared towards their strengths and was utilised effectively 3 days ago with Grealish and Trezeguet? Bonus points for giving our backup players a taste of our new formation, allowing them to slot in more comfortably when called upon.

Another point - Nakamba we can agree is not a great passer of the ball and often loses the ball or releases a shit pass when closed down. He needs help, particularly when partnered with Hourihane and/or Lansbury who are not mobile players and rarely show for the ball. 3 days ago Nakamba looked a lot more comfortable against Burnley having a third centre back behind him to pass the ball to.

In light of this Smith chooses to ignore Jota's and El Ghazi's skillset, deploys them wide in a 4-3-3 formation that hasn't worked for months even with our better players and sits Nakamba in front of two centre backs behind an immobile central midfield.

The final score paints a more competitive fixture but our performance was abysmal, and it has happened before.
 

Edited January 4, 2020 by AV82

[villalad21]

Smith changed his tune.

Before the game he talked about our proud history in the cups and we are taking them seriously.

In his post match interview he says the game isn't a big priority and refers to the substitutes made for us not taking it that serious.

[DaveAV1]

44 minutes ago, jim said:

I’d love to know what this long term plan is everyone bangs on about. To me it looks like 4-3-3 and that’s it, regardless if we have the players to suit it. 

What he should be doing is identifying what works and in bedding it throughout the squad and u23’s so that rotation and covering for injuries becomes a lot easier and less of a disruption.

Persisting with a formation that doesn’t work is counter productive

I think that there is an element of rigidity at the club right now. Recruitment wise we seem to have been a bit stuck with buying for the future. In style of play we are trying to implement a style that runs throughout the club. Both are laudable long term aims, but we mustn’t ignore the hear and now whilst we are trying to get there.

Most people have recognised that building a squad will require patience, so the powers that be need to recognise that building a culture will also take patience and time. It almost feels that there’s a sort of puritanical dogma behind the scenes. Perhaps recent links to more experienced players and a change of set up in the Burnley game indicates that they may have realised this. As usual it’s a matter of balance. 

[TRO]

53 minutes ago, sheepyvillian said:

What they all had, and in abundance, was that drive to compete for every minute they were on that pitch. 

I still remember the step over by Gidman and his continuous patting down of his long hair just before he took the throw in. 

Smell them hot dogs, TRO. 

They had a manager, who demanded it.

Not having a go at Dean, I think he has a lot to learn, particularly in this league......I hope he keeps us up and comes through it.

I still don't think enough fans realised how damaging that season of the 3 wins was to the club and we are still recovering.....The quickest way to recover is by prudent signings....not sure we are the best at that.

Do you remember, how long it took Leeds after Risdale to recover.....and Wolves was in the doldrums for years prior to Nuno.

[Zatman]

2 minutes ago, villalad21 said:

Smith changed his tune.

Before the game he talked about our proud history in the cups and we are taking them seriously.

In his post match interview he says the game isn't a big priority and refers to the substitutes made for us not taking it that serious.

Its like you changed your tune by saying Nyland was brilliant this season and now after one game as starter you dont trust him.

Its a bit annoying when somebody keeps changing the tune dont you think

[foreveryoung]

35 minutes ago, useless said:

We were ten points of the play-offs in February and the team in sixth place had two games in hand over us, to reach the play-offs we had to break our record for wins in a row, to achieve that is near enough a miracle. Also since Smith came in only Norwich took more points than us, that's whilst playing for two months without Grealish or Tuanzebe. Can't take away from what Smith achieved last season.

I respect Smith for this, but some continue to use it as evidence he has what it takes to turn it around in the PL

Just because he performed miracles in the fizzy pop league, this has no bearing on weather he will do well in the PL. I for one. am not one of those fans who think just because we beat a poor Burnley side with a change of tactics, we are now convinced he is the man to keep us in the PL. I'm still 50/50 weather he will turn it around, but weather he does or not, I will stick to my guns that it was far to early for him to manage in the PL, an he has proved over and over, with his still dodgy decision making.

[villalad21]

1 minute ago, DaveAV1 said:

I think that there is an element of rigidity at the club right now. Recruitment wise we seem to have been a bit stuck with buying for the future. In style of play we are trying to implement a style that runs throughout the club. Both are laudable long term aims, but we mustn’t ignore the hear and now whilst we are trying to get there.

Most people have recognised that building a squad will require patience, so the powers that be need to recognise that building a culture will also take patience and time. It almost feels that there’s a sort of puritanical dogma behind the scenes. Perhaps recent links to more experienced players and a change of set up in the Burnley game indicates that they may have realised this. As usual it’s a matter of balance. 

We don't have time.

We go down and will lose our star players and we saw today how average we are without them.

If we get relegated there may be a long time until we get back to the Prem.

[Zatman]

Just now, villalad21 said:

We don't have time.

We go down and will lose our star players and we saw today how average we are without them.

If we get relegated there may be a long time until we get back to the Prem.

[DaveAV1]

2 minutes ago, villalad21 said:

We don't have time.

We go down and will lose our star players and we saw today how average we are without them.

If we get relegated there may be a long time until we get back to the Prem.

I’m not sure you understood my post. Never mind. 

[TRO]

35 minutes ago, Rightdm00 said:

Let's see if this works. 

I think he had little alternative......but I hope we can improve things in the window.

The talent spotting really does worry me.

[Condimentalist]

Can't disagree with Deano, we can't manage another cup and it looked like we didn't care much on the pitch. Sad but the two watching from the Cottage - Suso and Purslow - are the real key players this month. Guff like Lansbury and Taylor will hopefully not have much more to do with this club. 

[foreveryoung]

16 minutes ago, AV82 said:

Elmohamady, Engels, Nakamba, Hourihane, Lansbury, El Ghazi, Jota and Kodjia have all performed very well, individually, at levels above or equal to the Championship and not one of them looked half decent today against a less than impressive Fulham side. I couldn't possibly choose a MOTM.

Anyone who thinks this is acceptable because 'the players are shit', 'its our B team' or 'lads, its the FA cup' have their heads buried in the sand. We should at least look competitive when fielding our 'B' players. They are capable. I don't expect us to smash Fulham 3-0 with 70% possession but we should at least carve out a few opportunities and show some positive play. We didn't do that today, besides one well executed pass, and I don't accept that it's because our players are just 'bad' - we've sold or released far too many players who looked more capable after a move away from Villa Park.

Given that we had to field a weaker team today my issue is with how Smith utilises the players that are available. Let's consider:

- Jota is not a right winger. He looks his best when he receives the ball between the lines, has space and can pick a pass. Why not play him central instead of asking our notoriously weak playmaker to receive the ball close to touchline with his back to a defender who is tight to him? Senseless.

- El Ghazi cannot cross, rarely beats a fullback and looked equally out of position on the left, as he has for weeks now. He has pace, gets into great goal scoring positions and has a decent shot on him.

With these two points in mind why not play El Ghazi and Jota as number 10s in a system that's geared towards their strengths and was utilised effectively 3 days ago with Grealish and Trezeguet? Bonus points for giving our backup players a taste of our new formation, allowing them to slot in more comfortably when called upon.

Another point - Nakamba we can agree is not a great passer of the ball and often loses the ball or releases a shit pass when closed down. He needs help, particularly when partnered with Hourihane and/or Lansbury who are not mobile players and rarely show for the ball. 3 days ago Nakamba looked a lot more comfortable against Burnley having a third centre back behind him to pass the ball to.

In light of this Smith chooses to ignore Jota's and El Ghazi's skillset, deploys them wide in a 4-3-3 formation that hasn't worked for months even with our better players and sits Nakamba in front of two centre backs behind an immobile central midfield.

The final score paints a more competitive fixture but our performance was abysmal, and it has happened before.
 

Fans should stop the love in with Smith and realise his huge inadequacies in the PL.

The loss today may be because we wasn't much interested in the FA Cup, but to me, it's not this actual losing to better teams, it's all about the manner we lose in. The team did not lose today grafting, playing good football. It looked as though, yet again, like many games this season, they had no idea what they were supposed to be doing.

An please don't get me on why Smith went back to 433, when we need to get hold of the new system.

[MaVilla]

my thoughts after the Fulham game:

1) should have played the 343 (3-4-2-1), it may have even given our B team a chance to play the system that worked so well for us, and should be our main formation for the team/players we have.

2) Jota is lightweight but a good passer, who would probably operate better in the 10 role of a 3421, and El Ghazi (who cant cross), both would have suited the 3421 better imo, criminal that we reverted back to the 433.

3) Nakamba for his faults, what do you expect when he is the only player on the midfield 3 who works at all?, being in there with lansbury and Hourihane is basically saying "we are playing a 1 man midfield", i think Nakamba will be a good player for us, he just benefits currently when he isnt carrying the whole midfield himself.

4) Kodjia is sh*te.

5) Hourihane is a terrible player (other than dead balls and the odd goal), if anyone says he's a starter, it just means we are admitting our midfield options are championship level.

6) Lansbury is a terrible player, poor poor player. (but not in a salary sense, we pay this guy a LOT if reddies to perform like this apparently).

7) Im not concerned about the result, i really dont care overall, BUT, on paper the team we put out should have been better than the Fulham team, we werent, we got 40% possession against a Championship side?, criminal, seriously criminal.

8 ) I think all that result shows, is a number of our players just arent good enough at all (mid level Championship), no strength, guile, agility, pace, bite, aggression etc......or anything that makes the requirements of a modern team.

9) If Smith plays 433 and not 343 (3421) in our next serious game (where we field our best 11), i am seriously going to start wondering about his ability, even then, we should be playing 343 with A & B team players to get them used to it, i hope to the lord Deano doesnt revert back to a formation that isnt working for us......we need to go with the 343.

10) We need to make some good purchases in jan, or i fear for us, i think we have the basis of a good side, but they are developing and i dont think they are being helped in some ways (ie: religiously sticking to the 433), hopefully we will see an improvement over the next few weeks, i really think we have a good team that can develop, they just need some help currently.

11) i have no doubt Engels, Konsa, Hause, Targett, Guilbert, Mings, Nakamba, Luiz, Wesley (and ofc Heaton/Grealish), will prove Prem quality (or already have), the rest, not so sure. (Trez, Ghazi, Jota, Taylor, Elmo, Lansbury, Hourihane, Kodjia, Nyland etc)

 

 

 

Edited January 4, 2020 by MaVilla

[briny_ear]

1 hour ago, Rightdm00 said:

Let's see if this works. 

If that's what he told the players before the match, no wonder they didn't seem too motivated.