Ratings & Reactions: Sheff Utd v Villa

[Graham t]

1 hour ago, tinker said:

Grealish and Wes show , the others hide. Nkamba hides whenever we have the ball, his positional sense is terrible, or hes hiding because he's scared. We never win the second ball Wes wins the first ball  it it goes to the opposition. Grealish works his socks off closing down while others disappear. 

We need to re group , as Norwich did when we dismantled them at home. Hourihane should start and Douglas and maybe Trez. McQuin néeds resting , saw him fade last season and he had a couple of games out and came back stronger. Play Grealish there and let Hourihane pressure the opposition's back 4 . 

. We need reinforcements, a forward is a must . Wes gets injured and we are stuffed.

Smiths demeanor changed in his pre match interview, he looked downbeat. This is a real test of our metal, seen the look before and it didn't end well but we have a chance to pull this around , we need to rebuild the confidence we had and make ourselves harder to beat .UTV

'Wes gets injured and we are stuffed', is this meant as a joke?

[TRO]

One thing for me is....We have a midfield....Hourihane-Lansbury -Mcginn ( at the moment) -Nakamba-Luiz and the wingers.....who can't win the ball.

It was the same in the championship, but down there they make mistakes and you can intercept and pick up loose balls.

In the premier League the standard of ball retention is much higher and those opportunities are less frequent.

We have a team presently, all standing off and waiting for the champagne pass to get them going.....and its not coming, because no one is winning it......I don't think we have anyone in the squad who can, its poor recruitment.

We now have a confidence crisis, but it's been coming...the problems have been unchecked and the last 2 games we have dipped dramatically.....Leicester and Sheff Utd don't play the same, but they are similar in as much as they get about their opponents, they get in your face, that's something we hate, we need time and space....Chelsea did the same and we struggled.

This is a time we will see what kind of manager we have.....they are all good when the going is good.....This is a time to stand up and be counted......I hope he manages to come through it.

Edited December 15, 2019 by TRO

[tinker]

7 minutes ago, Graham t said:

'Wes gets injured and we are stuffed', is this meant as a joke?

Wesley does not hide , he may not be Drogba but he's far from our least affective player

[TRO]

14 minutes ago, roonst83 said:

My point about Leicester was it was the first game we were well and truly beaten in front of our home supporters and this will have, undeniably, dented confidence in the team. And, as I mentioned in my post, Smith alluded to this in the pre-match press conference. I believe our confidence was shot from that game and yesterday was a hang over from it which will have contributed to the poor result. That’s all I meant.

But I do also agree this form has been coming and in previous posts I’ve cited how our Achilles heel has been the fact we, unlike those around us, can’t seem to be able to pick up points against the top teams.

sorry, if I interpreted it wrong.......but yes your right.

right now Watford-Norwich and Southampton are showing more fight.

[VillaCas]

1 hour ago, tinker said:

Wesley does not hide , he may not be Drogba but he's far from our least affective player

He’s a terrible footballer. He only “shows” for the ball in the middle of the park, he never “shows” in the box. He offers precisely nothing. 

Not the only very poor performer but at least the others (eg McGinn) have shown good form previously 

If we’d signed Maupay and Beherama(?) I believe we would be sitting comfortably now - possibly we’d done all our money but even so to bring in Wesley instead was a really really bad decision. 

This season was always going to be a challenge and I will be delighted with 17th. The squad has been improved but still has a lot of work required over the next few windows

I like Smith and think he will sort it out. It’s a steep learning curve but I’m backing him to get things right. I can’t believe someone like Terry would be sticking around if he wasn’t seeing the right things happening day to day

We need a couple of forwards and maybe a midfielder in the window

Finally, someone in the match thread claimed Mings and Grealish swan around all week like they own the place - This is pure bullshit. I have a family member involved with the club and I know for a fact that this is a long way from the truth. Both are very well thought of at all levels and take time to offer advice and interact with younger players

[TRO]

3 minutes ago, VillaCas said:

He’s a terrible footballer. He only “shows” for the ball in the middle of the park, he never “shows” in the box. He offers precisely nothing. 

Not the only very poor performer but at least the others (eg McGinn) have shown good form previously 

If we’d signed Maupay and Beherama(?) I believe we would be sitting comfortably now - possibly we’d done all our money but even so to bring in Wesley instead was a really really bad decision. 

This season was always going to be a challenge and I will be delighted with 17th. The squad has been improved but still has a lot of work required over the next few windows

I like Smith and think he will sort it out. It’s a steep learning curve but I’m backing him to get things right. I can’t believe someone like Terry would be sticking around if he wasn’t seeing the right things happening day to day

We need a couple of forwards and maybe a midfielder in the window

Finally, someone in the match thread claimed Mings and Grealish swan around all week like they own the place - This is pure bullshit. I have a family member involved with the club and I know for a fact that this is a long way from the truth. Both are very well thought of at all levels and take time to offer advice and interact with younger players

my likes are exhausted.....good post.

[AntrimBlack]

I thought SU were well on top for the entire game. I certainly did not expect much from this game considering how we have been playing recently, but I did not think we would be beaten so easily.

I think it may be a management/coaching problem, but I also think we have not bought particularly well. Possibly a combination of the two.

Too soon to panic, but this will be a very important window.

This should have been a window of consolidation, but instead we probably have to spend big.

[rjw63]

1 hour ago, AntrimBlack said:

I thought SU were well on top for the entire game. I certainly did not expect much from this game considering how we have been playing recently, but I did not think we would be beaten so easily.

I think it may be a management/coaching problem, but I also think we have not bought particularly well. Possibly a combination of the two.

Too soon to panic, but this will be a very important window.

This should have been a window of consolidation, but instead we probably have to spend big.

The time to panic will be after the next three league games, if we don't win at least two of them.

 

[romavillan]

19 minutes ago, rjw63 said:

The time to panic will be after the next three league games, if we don't win at least two of them.

 

Not losing in the next three and winning at least one is enough (just)

[Vive_La_Villa]

I think we need at least 5 points from the next 3 to remain on track to stay up.

[Pelle]

Yep, that was poor. Really poor. I feel a bit worried, but I don't feel the panic. But we were definetely too static. We only reacted, if that, whilst they acted. Their 2nd goal was a perfect example of that. Fleck kept on running into the box and our players were watching when the pass came our players started to run but by then it was too late. He got the ball with no Villa players within the space of 5 yards and could calmly bring down the ball and put it past Heaton. The whole game we were waiting for the ball and they went for the ball. We need to change that.

But right now we are around where I expected us to be. We're in a relegation fight and that's what I expected us to be. The most worrying thing right now is that we're getting worse. We've hit the bad form just in time for a crucial string of games. Typical Villa.

[flashingqwerty]

To me it looks like DS is losing the dressing room.

Noone wants to pass to Wes as they have no faith in his ability, and a few are showing signs of frustration in the roles they are being asked to play that arent their natural positions.

Add to that, players in poor form not getting dropped when others in good form are, then you've got a cauldron of malcontent.

DS, for me, is still making the same mistakes now, as he was on day 1, same tactic all the time, like for like subs, if subs at all, taking off effective players and leaving on ineffective ones, the list goes on.

Then you see his change of demeanor and attitude pre-match and you have to wonder.  The man looks beaten.

2 defeats over xmas, and i think he'll be gone by new year.

[TRO]

On 15/12/2019 at 01:22, icouldtelltheworld said:

Tells me that they have a settled team who know each other’s strengths and weaknesses, whilst we have a side who have barely played half a season together working under a manager who got us promoted when he had no right to do so, winning a club record number of league games in a row in order to make it possible.

 But we all read things differently, I guess!

but one of our main area's of issue is midfield.

Grealish- McGinn - Hourihane have played together for some time now......Its a point that cannot be ignored, but I think its a red herring.

[LakotaDakota]

On 14/12/2019 at 21:44, TRO said:

This wankfest over unconditional attacking football and giving small quarter to defensive qualities will be our undoing......We all like attractive attacking football...but you have to WIN the right to play it first.

That would all be well and good if we were actually playing attacking football rather than having all 10 players in our own half before launching it somewhere in the direction of Wesley for him to lose every time we manage to touch the ball. We have now played 4 games on December and managed a combined 8 shots on target in those 4 games whilst averaging less than 40% of the play

[TRO]

17 hours ago, LakotaDakota said:

That would all be well and good if we were actually playing attacking football rather than having all 10 players in our own half before launching it somewhere in the direction of Wesley for him to lose every time we manage to touch the ball. We have now played 4 games on December and managed a combined 8 shots on target in those 4 games whilst averaging less than 40% of the play

depends on what period you are talking.....right now, you are right......but I said in earlier posts this has been coming for some time IMO.

in the earlier months we was just coming out in a swashbuckling style with little respect for any defensive qualities....it was working then (to a degree), in terms of results,.............. in terms of on the pitch analysis, and drilling down,I was still in doubt.I saw things I was unhappy with, the danger is when you are winning, it can come across ungrateful and mean.

I have seen the odd game under Dean Smith that resembles anything sheff utd have built their success on, even the away game at Leeds last season,we struggled to compete physically or combatively or show urgency, its a good job Derby beat them in the semi, I think we would have struggled, but that's just my opinion.

I honestly, can't see the change, I am looking for, even after January.....so I will just keep my fingers crossed and hope for the best.

 

Edited December 17, 2019 by TRO