Ratings & Reactions: Villa v Bournemouth

[Brumerican]

30 minutes ago, Awol said:

I said this on another thread but Jota hasn’t got the pace for a winger in this league. I’d put him in between Jack & Trez with Luiz & McGinn sat behind them. 

Having two DM’s allows fullbacks the cover to bomb on, & SJM can have licence to join attacks. 

AEG isn’t good enough, imo. If Nakamba can do the job he was signed for then McGinn can move up for Jota. 

As you say sentimentality at this level is absurd. We’re not using our best players to their strengths, if that means changing formation then Deano should be all over it. 

I said before he'd kicked a ball for us that Jota plays like he has a parachute attached to his back . He's never going to get to the line and turn defenders so he needs others to make runs and create space for him .   We were so static today and it killed us. Our off the ball movement was really poor which allowed Bournemouth to keep their shape so well for most of the game.

[TRO]

2 hours ago, useless said:

Can't keep writing games off, at some point we're going to have to show that we're capable of winning games at this level, or before we know it we'll be cut adrift in the bottom three. The longer we go without a win, the harder it's going to be to get one.

Is the real danger.

We all have a duty to remain  positive and its best we do.....but the truth is, things are on show that are not good and don't bode well if they continue.

but we will see.

[thunderball]

11 minutes ago, TRO said:

inevitably......but we need to move to allow the guy on the ball options.....we need to read the game better and be ready or even show out for the pass.

Many times today, I saw our players with the ball and no one moved for the pass .......they were out of position, not reading the situation, sufficiently......its like we are still not playing like a team, more individuals

I agree with your sentiment......but we don't want to be having this same conversation well in to the season.

There are things clearly not right.....In the early exchanges they were out muscling us, we have to be more aware and ready for this.

I agree with this, noted the lack of movement myself, we are no where near dynamic enough in the middle and final third. Another poster mentioned we should have signed Maupay, but I don’t believe this is the issue, it’s more fundamental, we need more energy, more options, I fear our ‘possession’ style is slowing us down and we lack the movement to make this pay. I think Jota will help this though, he is smart in possession.

We generally lack aggression and drive other than McGinn. 

My hope is we are finding our feet, learning fast and despite the results, there is much to merit in this squad.

[Vancvillan]

2 hours ago, BigJim said:

Our set piece delivery was really poor today

This - it was the most memorable thing from the first half for me. Every corner and free kick was wasted. Surely we don't have to have Hourihane on the pitch to at least whip a couple of decent corners in?

[ferguson1]

I've missed this league like a hole in the head. I realise money requires us to be here, but she's a cruel mistress! 

Edited August 17, 2019 by ferguson1

[TRO]

1 minute ago, Brumerican said:

I said before he'd kicked a ball for us that Jota plays like he has a parachute attached to his back . He's never going to get to the line and turn defenders so he needs others to make runs and create space for him .   We were so static today and it killed us. Our off the ball movement was really poor which allowed Bournemouth to keep their shape so well for most of the game.

For me that is one of our most worrying issues.....and was last season.

I thought it would improve, but i have not seen it yet....but hope it does

For me the player on the ball gets caught with it due mainly to having no options to release it to.

[TRO]

1 hour ago, thunderball said:

I agree with this, noted the lack of movement myself, we are no where near dynamic enough in the middle and final third. Another poster mentioned we should have signed Maupay, but I don’t believe this is the issue, it’s more fundamental, we need more energy, more options, I fear our ‘possession’ style is slowing us down and we lack the movement to make this pay. I think Jota will help this though, he is smart in possession.

We generally lack aggression and drive other than McGinn. 

My hope is we are finding our feet, learning fast and despite the results, there is much to merit in this squad.

you and me together, the alternative does not bear thinking about.

I would be tempted to ditch 2 wingers for 1 while we are like this .....your other stuff I agree with.

2 x wingers is a luxury we can't afford right now.

Edited August 17, 2019 by TRO

[VillaChris]

2 hours ago, useless said:

Can't keep writing games off, at some point we're going to have to show that we're capable of winning games at this level, or before we know it we'll be cut adrift in the bottom three. The longer we go without a win, the harder it's going to be to get one.

Everton will be tough, haven't conceded yet this season and had good defensive record end of last season. Would gladly take a point, feels like sort of game where we need to show some b***cks and grind out a 0-0/1-1 to get us going. We weren't far away from doing that at Spurs so not impossible.

After that it's Crystal Palace, West Ham, Arsenal, Burnley, Norwich and Brighton up to November. Must get 2-3 wins from that to get the season up and running.

[MikeAVFC]

Mixed feelings after that. Had a lot of the ball, played better 2nd half however stupid mistakes are costly and you can't give teams a 2 goal head start at this level. The team need to learn very quickly that this ain't the championship anymore, can't be losing concentration so easily. Slightly concerned at the lack of bite at the top end of the pitch, however.  I think it'll be a while before we see anything resembling a cohesive unit with all the new faces bedding in.  I expected a tough season and that's what we're going to get. All those predicting a comfortable midtable finish are in cloud cuckoo land I'm afraid.

Oh, and a special mention the ref was absolutely **** awful how Billing didn't see red was baffling.

Edited August 17, 2019 by MikeAVFC

[Brumerican]

1 minute ago, TRO said:

For me that is one of our most worrying issues.....and was last season.

I thought it would improve, but i have not seen it yet....but hope it does

For me the player on the ball gets caught with it due mainly to having no options to release it to.

Bingo.

There's a reason Jack has lost the ball more times in the last 2 games than he did in the last 3 years. If nobody makes a run for him then these smarter defenses can contain and pressure him with ease.  

I think our problems are very fixable when a confident Dean Smith comes back off holiday to replace the Skrull currently portraying him.

 

 

[TRO]

24 minutes ago, KenjiOgiwara said:

Think it's safe to say it's not an overreaction stating Grealish was shit today. I think we played alright and showed character, but Grealish was by some distance the worst Villa player on the pitch. 

We praise him a lot when he performs, but it goes both ways 

Easy Tiger you may be marched out of the ground.

Jack is our golden boy.....and I like that, because when he is on he is on.

I am not sure what is wrong maybe the new league and the captaincy weighing on him.....or the set up of the team......He needs to let the other players get on with their work and concentrate on being more effective with his.....jack should be scoring goals with his talent.

I get the impression, he is trying to help everyone....and forgetting about himself.

[MikeAVFC]

And let's not forget, Bournemouth have a very poor away record and the 3rd worst defence last season. From that POV, extremely disappointing. 

[VillaChris]

1 hour ago, OutByEaster? said:

We have much to learn.

Lesson number one from this one - in this league you have to take your chances, We were the better side, we had 22 shots on goal, Trezeguet should have scored twice, Grealish had a simple header, Wesley could have had one, Taylor had a good chance and we created umpteen half chances - Bournemouth were clinical. 

I thought Heaton's decision to dive at the ball in the opening minute might have been a little rash, I'd need to see that one again. Luiz's mistake for the second was foolish - that's all they needed.

Beyond those two moments, the centre backs looked reasonably solid against two quick, physical strikers, the two fullbacks played well and deserve their places right now, Luiz has a poor first half, but was playing much better in the second, even before he banged in his superb strike, Mcginn was industrious as ever and maybe should have done better with the chance he hit straight at the keeper - but - El Ghazi isn't having a big impact on games thus far and Grealish has given the ball away more often in the last two games than in any other game I remember seeing in his career - he's maybe in need of a bit of a reality check - Wesley did some good things today, but you don't get the feeling he's always on the edge of a goal - we're toothless in many ways - Grealish, McGinn, Trezeguet and co might get five or six each this season - that's not going to be enough and much of our hopes will rest on the big man's shoulders - we need more of the good stuff.

With all that, we played well, we were the better team - undone by some knowhow in terms of being clinical and what the BBC called being "streetwise" but you and I would know as cheating. I thought some of Bournemouth's antics were disappointing to say the least. The diving by Bournemouth was horrific - now I'm not putting on my holier-than-though robes here, we're more than capable of turning a challenge into a free kick - but I don't think I've ever seen a team so often have a player run into a defender, thirty or forty yards off the ball and go down. They had 172 players go down injured in the ninety minutes* - and each of them seemed happy to stay down - Wilson appeared to be stung by a wasp on a number of occasions. Billings should have gone in the first half for one of the four fouls he committed after his yellow - and Martin Atkinson was the usual dickhead we've come to know and abhor. The thing with that is, we do know and Bournemouth will have known that too - and Bournemouth played Martin Atkinson a whole lot better than we did. Lesson two - learn to use the referee.

I'm caught in two minds:

On the one hand, we've played well, we were better than Bournemouth despite the result and if we learn some of these lessons quickly, we'll be fine. We were better in the second half than the first and this is a team getting used to each other. There's some talent - I thought Trezeguet showed some real promise and Luiz could become an excellent footballer. There are some good signs if we can find that little bit of sharpness and edge.

On the other hand, we've had good spells in two games and got no points, we host the seventh best team in the country on Friday, followed by a really difficult trip to Crystal Palace who are very good at home - no points from four games is a very real possibility - and if it happens, everything will seem more difficult and bleak.

I think there's probably something in both - I'll be hoping for a point or two from our next couple of games - and preaching patience if they aren't there.

Also, and I realise it's uncharitable on the back of a defeat, but the sooner this tinpot town and it's arseheap, flouncing team run out of Russian money and piss off back to league 1 the better. It's not a small town fairytale, it's a seaside petrochemical vanity project with a ground smaller than the Holte End. Bah humbug.

 

*I made this number up.

Bit harsh on Bournemouth, yes they've spent a lot last few years (as pretty much every prem team nowadays) but it's still a side full of decent young players playing decent pressing forward under promising English coach. We want more of that in premier league right?

Apart from that I agree with most of the rest.

Palace is the key game imo. I look at their squad and depending what mood Zaha is in it dosen't scream many goals at me. If we could go there and pinch a 1-0 then we can get the season up and running.

I think Palace and Newcastle will be the two established prem teams seriously in relegation trouble so would be an even worse one to lose than today.

[thunderball]

TBH, Bournemouth are an honest team but they I don’t rate them better than a Pulis team: limited but well drilled athletes. I think we have more options and our stats show this. We made two errors, they got lucky on several occasions, we will improve I think they are firing on all cylinders. I have plenty of hope

[Awol]

27 minutes ago, Brumerican said:

I said before he'd kicked a ball for us that Jota plays like he has a parachute attached to his back . He's never going to get to the line and turn defenders so he needs others to make runs and create space for him .   We were so static today and it killed us. Our off the ball movement was really poor which allowed Bournemouth to keep their shape so well for most of the game.

I think that’s right, but Jota has (imo) a great touch & footballing brain. He’s also (from pre-season) the player most likely to get Wesley scoring. 

Dropping him into a central attacking   role, where he can pull the strings without relying on pace, might work pretty well & allow him to release teammates who can run. 

[useless]

If we were to finish a place below Bournemouth, it would mean we will almost definitely have avoided relegation, and probably have had a decent season. Whilst three points was important today and people are well within their rights to be disappointed we didn't get them, that doesn't take away from the fact they're a decent Premier league side, much better than any team we will have faced in the championship over the last three years.

[TRO]

17 hours ago, useless said:

If we were to finish a place below Bournemouth, it would mean we will almost definitely have avoided relegation, and probably have had a decent season. Whilst three points was important today and people are well within their rights to be disappointed we didn't get them, that doesn't take away from the fact they're a decent Premier league side, much better than any team we will have faced in the championship over the last three years.

I think they do things that will get you points....they are athletes and look like they all spend time in the Gym, they can out muscle teams...and today in the early exchanges particularly, they exploited us well. They did enough to get their win and that is the most worrying aspect for me.

Its not new to us We struggled at times against similar traits with Norwich,Leeds , Albion & Sheff Utd....and before that Wolves,Cardiff and Fulham....... I just hope the new additions are sufficient to improve us enough.

We are not good enough to out play teams like Man City and the top 6 teams......so we might struggle to find a USP in our make up, I fear for that, because its like saying we are not really good at any one thing.

IMO We have to get good at something if we have a realistic chance of staying up.

Edited August 18, 2019 by TRO

[The Fun Factory]

Some thought on a disappointing and sobering day at B6.

Disastrous  start which basically killed the game. What was Heaton thinking and Luiz was caught faffing with the ball. He did get better and his goal was class. Loved the response to the crowd.

McGinn and Mings were our best players again. Jack was poor and El Ghazi non existent. In fact our wing and full back play was no where near good enough to support young Wesley. 

Wesley looks like a decent prospect who I would have been happy to have on loan if we would still in the Championship. However I have serious concerns if he is to be our only choice holding the line for half a season. He does not look like a striker, more like a forward. I will be amazed if he gets double figures.  Our midfield will have to contribute or this is going to be a short return to the top flight.

We needed a result today as now there is pressure on for Friday. At the end of the day if you play nice neat football without scoring goals, and make mistakes at the back that is only going to result in one thing,

Oh well onto the next game.

Edited August 17, 2019 by The Fun Factory

[TRO]

50 minutes ago, MikeAVFC said:

And let's not forget, Bournemouth have a very poor away record and the 3rd worst defence last season. From that POV, extremely disappointing. 

thanks for the uplifting information.....I have a rope, must find a bridge.

[OutByEaster?]

58 minutes ago, TRO said:

I would be tempted to ditch 2 wingers for 1 while we are like this .....you other stuff I agree with.

I'm not I understand you TRO - I can understand dropping both wingers for a narrow 4-2-3-1 like (I think) AWOL suggested earlier in this thread - but when you say keep one winger, are you moving Grealish out to the flank to balance that, or moving McGinn out to the flank to balance that? I'm not sure what you're replacing the missing winger with, or how you're covering the flank.