Pre-Match Thread

[KentVillan]

4 hours ago, villalad21 said:

But is that in his DNA as a coach?

I think he’s shown before that he can coach a defence, certainly towards the back end of last season we were defensively solid. What DS isn’t up for doing is the Bruce tactic of parking the bus and praying for a 1-0 against the run of play.

There is definitely a valid argument that the Bruce approach works better for survival, although Bruce has the advantage of having some real quality attackers on the counter attack, which we don’t really have (Grealish is more of a front foot player).

So I’d say if Dean squeaks it this year, we give him a bit more to work with (a proper DM for a start) and let him have another crack. I think in more of a mid table contest, Dean’s style of football will come to seem less naive, as once you’re away from the relegation battle, it does make more sense to play for the win in most matches.

But I can see this season why people fret about whether his approach is sensible. The only thing I’d say in his defence is I just don’t think he’s had the personnel to pull off what Bruce has managed at Newcastle. We have no real pace in attack, and our midfield is weak (especially with McGinn injured).

[TRO]

3 hours ago, Vive_La_Villa said:

Not expecting anything tomorrow. Just hope to see a good performance.

Really, and in the whole scheme of things, what exactly will a good performance achieve, without a good result or is that what you meant.

I don't care how we play, even if its ugly......I just want 3 points.

Edited March 8, 2020 by TRO

[Vive_La_Villa]

4 minutes ago, TRO said:

Really, and in the whole scheme of things, what exactly will a good performance achieve, without a good result or is that what you meant.

I don't care how we play, even if its ugly......I just want 3 points.

We play shit and fluke 3 points it wouldn’t give me confidence for the rest of the season. There’s still 10 games to go after tomorrow. 
 

[TRO]

5 minutes ago, KentVillan said:

I think he’s shown before that he can coach a defence, certainly towards the back end of last season we were defensively solid. What DS isn’t up for doing is the Bruce tactic of parking the bus and praying for a 1-0 against the run of play.

There is definitely a valid argument that the Bruce approach works better for survival, although Bruce has the advantage of having some real quality attackers on the counter attack, which we don’t really have (Grealish is more of a front foot player).

So I’d say if Dean squeaks it this year, we give him a bit more to work with (a proper DM for a start) and let him have another crack. I think in more of a mid table contest, Dean’s style of football will come to seem less naive, as once you’re away from the relegation battle, it does make more sense to play for the win in most matches.

But I can see this season why people fret about whether his approach is sensible. The only thing I’d say in his defence is I just don’t think he’s had the personnel to pull off what Bruce has managed at Newcastle. We have no real pace in attack, and our midfield is weak (especially with McGinn injured).

but surely the manager has to have a say on who comes in......however, I do agree, i don't think he has enough of the right characters to dig out results.....He has 11 games to prove me wrong.

[TRO]

4 minutes ago, Vive_La_Villa said:

We play shit and fluke 3 points it wouldn’t give me confidence for the rest of the season. There’s still 10 games to go after tomorrow. 
 

fluke a few more and play shit and I would be happy.......we can rebuild to get eye candy performances.....its all about survival now, not spectacle.

We have played some decent football all season.....where has it landed us?

a clean sheet tomorrow with a breakaway goal and I will be delighted.

Edited March 8, 2020 by TRO

[KentVillan]

1 minute ago, TRO said:

but surely the manager has to have a say on who comes in......however, I do agree, i don't think he has enough of the right characters to dig out results.....He has 11 games to prove me wrong.

We don’t know how it works, but I suspect Purslow and Suso are as much to blame as Smith for any imbalance in the squad.

[villalad21]

38 minutes ago, KentVillan said:

I think he’s shown before that he can coach a defence, certainly towards the back end of last season we were defensively solid. What DS isn’t up for doing is the Bruce tactic of parking the bus and praying for a 1-0 against the run of play.

There is definitely a valid argument that the Bruce approach works better for survival, although Bruce has the advantage of having some real quality attackers on the counter attack, which we don’t really have (Grealish is more of a front foot player).

So I’d say if Dean squeaks it this year, we give him a bit more to work with (a proper DM for a start) and let him have another crack. I think in more of a mid table contest, Dean’s style of football will come to seem less naive, as once you’re away from the relegation battle, it does make more sense to play for the win in most matches.

But I can see this season why people fret about whether his approach is sensible. The only thing I’d say in his defence is I just don’t think he’s had the personnel to pull off what Bruce has managed at Newcastle. We have no real pace in attack, and our midfield is weak (especially with McGinn injured).

But that run is a low sample size. He has to show he can organize a defence over a whole season.

[zab6359]

14 hours ago, villalad21 said:

I don't know if we actually do. At current rate 35 pts will be enough to ensure survival.

Beat Palace, Newcastle and West Ham would take us to 34 points.

So we only need to win those 3 teams and get a couple of draws. As things stand.

Only one of those games we should win is CP, we will need something expected to stay up and those below us to do worse. 

[sheepyvillian]

1 hour ago, TRO said:

yeah, so does Pep, but i was trying to compare with clubs closer to us in terms of stature.

I wouldn't exactly say Palace and Burnley are equal to us in stature. It's a simple request, we need to be more intense defensively. We have to develop that, " they shall not pass mentality ".

[KentVillan]

1 hour ago, villalad21 said:

But that run is a low sample size. He has to show he can organize a defence over a whole season.

2017-18 his Brentford side conceded 52 goals, and kept 15 clean sheets.

For comparison, that same season, Chris Wilder's Sheffield Utd conceded 55 goals.

I'd say those were two pretty similar squads. The idea that Dean's teams ship goals because of his style is just based on the fact he's mostly managed relatively weak teams (as Villa are this season in the PL).

With all the new players Dean's had to integrate into the team this season, it's no surprise at all that we have problems with defensive organisation, whereas Wilder has managed to get his more experienced Shef Utd functioning as a solid unit.

I really don't think Dean is the defensive disaster he gets made out to be. Is this Villa side defensive dodgy? Yes, definitely, but I think it's much more to do with the upheaval of last summer, and the lack of a really strong, defensively minded midfielder to tie everything together.

[sheepyvillian]

5 hours ago, TRO said:

fluke a few more and play shit and I would be happy.......we can rebuild to get eye candy performances.....its all about survival now, not spectacle.

We have played some decent football all season.....where has it landed us?

a clean sheet tomorrow with a breakaway goal and I will be delighted.

I think we all would. We're not suddenly going to play to the Charles Hughes manual, but cutting out playing from defense  when a good old fashioned clearance would be safer,then I'm definitely all for that.

Survival at any cost ,that is the new mantra. 

[BleedClaretAndBlue]

 

[villalad21]

6 hours ago, KentVillan said:

2017-18 his Brentford side conceded 52 goals, and kept 15 clean sheets.

For comparison, that same season, Chris Wilder's Sheffield Utd conceded 55 goals.

I'd say those were two pretty similar squads. The idea that Dean's teams ship goals because of his style is just based on the fact he's mostly managed relatively weak teams (as Villa are this season in the PL).

With all the new players Dean's had to integrate into the team this season, it's no surprise at all that we have problems with defensive organisation, whereas Wilder has managed to get his more experienced Shef Utd functioning as a solid unit.

I really don't think Dean is the defensive disaster he gets made out to be. Is this Villa side defensive dodgy? Yes, definitely, but I think it's much more to do with the upheaval of last summer, and the lack of a really strong, defensively minded midfielder to tie everything together.

Don't know what you are trying to prove here? That still isn't good. Over a goal per game, in a much weaker league.

Dean's style of play of play is very vulnerable to the counter. You just have to concede that.

[rjw63]

2 hours ago, BleedClaretAndBlue said:

 

I'll believe that when I see the official team sheet at about 7pm tonight

[rjw63]

BBC Sport saying Steptoe will play.

Also, Less=-ter haven't won in 4, or scored in 3.

Oh dear...

[Lord Willard]

7 minutes ago, rjw63 said:

BBC Sport saying Steptoe will play.

Also, Less=-ter haven't won in 4, or scored in 3.

Oh dear...

I hate this stat. Villa love to change other teams fortunes. 

[rjw63]

2 minutes ago, Lord Willard said:

I hate this stat. Villa love to change other teams fortunes. 

Been doing it for decades!

[BleedClaretAndBlue]

Be interesting to see how we set up tonight. If he goes with the 4 at the back, like we did at VP in the league, Rodgers went with a diamond and 2 up top and they cut us open time and time again. Granted that was without our best defender, but it was worrying we didnt do anything to counter this in-game. They could have had 8 that day, was painful to watch. Guess it depends if Vardy really is out or not. We contained them a lot better with the 5 at the back in the 1st leg.

[John]

Wouldn't a win be brilliant tonight? Three points would take us above Bournemouth, Watford and West Ham. We would be a point clear of them and only a point behind Brighton, with a game in hand of everyone as well. We would also be 8 points clear of Norwich. A win would not end our relegation worries, but it could be the beginning of the end of our relegation worries. 

This does feel like a really crucial game. It's our most important game of the season, before our next most important game of the season, at the weekend. An early goal, a clean sheet with, Iheanacho and Vardy, not scoring against us, and for once our players all being as up for it as we are, is what we so want.Wouldn't things look so much more rosy tomorrow morning? Make it so Villa! 

[Tayls]

29 minutes ago, John said:

Wouldn't a win be brilliant tonight? Three points would take us above Bournemouth, Watford and West Ham. We would be a point clear of them and only a point behind Brighton, with a game in hand of everyone as well. We would also be 8 points clear of Norwich. A win would not end our relegation worries, but it could be the beginning of the end of our relegation worries. 

This does feel like a really crucial game. It's our most important game of the season, before our next most important game of the season, at the weekend. An early goal, a clean sheet with, Iheanacho and Vardy, not scoring against us, and for once our players all being as up for it as we are, is what we so want.Wouldn't things look so much more rosy tomorrow morning? Make it so Villa! 

That's the dream of the evening isn't it - however, you just know the players are not going to turn up for the fight and the fans will end up disappointed again, it's always the same.

We literally can not be presented with a more perfect situation to get us out of the relegation zone, above the rest of the pack, with a game in hand - Lose tonight and I think that is it, it will be clear what the mindset is.