Ratings & Reactions: Villa v Southampton

[One For The Road]

I said before the game that a draw would be a good result. This isn't a "better fan than you" crap. It's reality.

I am positive about the Villa this year. Our owners have shown their intent and its translating on the pitch. Works in progress don't smash every team. Or even beat every team. In fact, they stun teams and they get stunned by teams. Its the way it goes.

Go back yo our last stint in the Premier League and the difference is palpable. The only stunning result was when we didn't get battered. 

This is the classic work in progress and the 2nd half today impressed me as much as the first half disappointed me.

Villa ARE back. We just need patience from the fans and we will be ok. 

Stay up comfortably this year and we are still at least a season ahead of progress.

Arsenal should be an opportunity to get back to the positive vibes of early October. And if its not  we have to remember that we will have literally played 5 top half form teams in a row. 

Not time to panic, just time to calm down, be realistic, get behind the project and keep going. 

After all, the team we lost to today lost 9-0 at home not long ago and now they are flying. Keep the faith. UTV.

Edited November 1, 2020 by One For The Road

[Brumstopdogs]

 

[TRO]

8 minutes ago, Philosopher said:

Didn't vote in the match poll as Villa didn't have a man of the match for me. They were collectively terrible until we scored our first. Then collectively decent. 

Plus Ward-Prowse's free kicks were sensational. They they alone easily got him MOM.

Just didn't seem prepared to get stuck in and fight until it got to 4-1. 

Would've thought the disallowed goal at the start would have woken us up, but we got worse.

Dean Smith got this badly wrong.  Failed to get the lads properly up for the game, should have started Trezguet. Needs to have a word with Mcginn.

Jack started pressing at 4-1 and we started putting them under sustained pressure. Jack needs to do that from the start. Just because you're the most skilled player on the pitch doesn't mean you can coast.

McGinn had a stinker, lost count how many times he gave the ball away. He holds on to the ball too long and gets himself surrounded.

Too many longs balls first half. We are far more dangerous when we play out rather than hit long. We don't have even have a big man up top for freaks sake.

Mings always going bloody long pissed me off. But he did get our first goal, which woke us up.

Barkley is a good player, but for me he is being a bit overhyped. I don’t see him being good enough to start regularly for Chelsea or any other top six team. Has improved us though. 

We lack a quality set piece taker. We have the most fouled player in the league but no one to provide quality deadballs. Conor is on the bench but we are considerably worse in open play with him.

Traore shouldn't have started. We were always going to need Trezguet's work rate. Traore does seem to have quality though.

Konsa had his worst game for some time.

We MUST start our next match playing how we finished this one. With intensity. 

Good post.....most of them should be like this.

We only play that way when teams allow us to......they had the game won, when we started playing and their intensity waned......we don't WIN the initiative, we are only ok when its offered.

For me this is a team thing....we are just totally wide open and lighweight.

The 2 in the 4-2-3-1 are so way off the pace of things, its just not working and is having a knock on effect......they have a far more durable team, like Leeds and win the duels.....both teams had multiple chances, but they just out muscled us once again.

[The_Steve]

It’s only on a year ago that Leicester beat Southampton 9-0. But look at the transformation by sticking with their management and improving their squad. It’s something that we should be aspiring towards, specially off of the back of one of the best transfer windows we’ve had in many years. There’s a lot of ability and character in this squad. We just faced better opposition who hold a great record against us. The Villa of old would have sunk further. But we fought back and almost took a point. It just shows the progress amid our own mistakes. It’s a work in progress, but we are still a world away from the side of last year. 

[Keener window-cleaner]

Based on created chances we should have won or got a draw. I'm very please with the way we picked ourselves up from being 4-0 down, it's easy for the players to drop their heads and let in more goals, embarrassing themselves completely.

We gave away 3 of the goals and were punished for that, as I wrote in the DS thread I think we should rotate more and that the mistakes could be because of the players playing too many games getting mentally tired.

We were unlucky that they scored 4 goals on their 4 shots on target. Guess ur luck against Liverpool was evened out today. 

[Podster]

We have a manager who has the one tactic he employes game after game, there is no tactical sense to the game he has us playing, this is just en extenstion of last season, he doesnt seem  to have the ability to get the team playing any different. Without change we will be talking bottom third of the table by christmass. I dont think we will get relagated, but that is only because the I am sure the 3 teams relagated will come fron the current bottom 4, and we were lucky enough to have a 12 point head start on them. I hope the owners dont wait untill we are in the bottom 6 before they bring in a manager who has the tactical ability to know how to play in the premier league because clearly Smith doesn't.

[Hobbit Feet]

51 minutes ago, SuperTed said:

I would honestly drop Barkley and McGinn for Arsenal if we had adequate replacements. 

Easily done play Davies up top move Watkins left jack inside trez on right Conor and luiz centre mid 

[AVTuco]

We will concede a lot of goals with this defense and center-mid. Hopefully we'll score some too and improve on last season's finish.

[BOF]

As I said about their efficient attack. Scored 4 with an xG of 0.68. Then we showed you can roll a turd in glitter.

[Hobbit Feet]

Look at the stats on sky. Us 56% possession. 10 shots on target, them 4. There keeper 7 saves ours none. I think the score line flattened take away the great free kicks then it would of been an even game. Not panicking stations yet but a few tweaks for the arsenal game needed no doubt.

[Villaphan04]

The roles of Barkley & McGinn need to be defined for our midfield to be decently balanced.

Jack or Trez for my MOTM. 

Don't like how easy some of our players (not talking about Jack here) go down under very soft challenges. 

[Robbie09]

28 minutes ago, darrenm said:

Anyone saying we shouldn't be giving those free kicks away, what do you think Douglas should have done when Walcott (I think) was running past to the edge of the area? Let him past? People would be up in arms if he had.

Then should Cash be leaving a ball to go straight through to Walcott through on goal? Or should he be taking the foul?

You have to give fouls away sometimes. The balance of probability is that you'll be able to defend it easier than a player through on goal. Unfortunately sometimes really good players score free kicks.

I’d prefer Walcott having a shot to Ward Prowse taking a free kick.

[Nigel]

5 minutes ago, Podster said:

We have a manager who has the one tactic he employes game after game, there is no tactical sense to the game he has us playing, this is just en extenstion of last season, he doesnt seem  to have the ability to get the team playing any different. Without change we will be talking bottom third of the table by christmass. I dont think we will get relagated, but that is only because the I am sure the 3 teams relagated will come fron the current bottom 4, and we were lucky enough to have a 12 point head start on them. I hope the owners dont wait untill we are in the bottom 6 before they bring in a manager who has the tactical ability to know how to play in the premier league because clearly Smith doesn't.

He played 2 different tactics today, which were both different from how we opened against leeds. 

[BleedClaretAndBlue]

Grealish easily MOTM. Assist, won pen and scored. Put a few brilliant balls in, that one on his left foot to Trez at the back post especially. 

We worked our way into the game after the early VAR call, but again looked to let our heads drop after going behind. I didnt think Southampton were particularly good, they just have lethal finishers in JWP (who really has a face that needs punching the little dork) and Ings. We were awful in midfield first half, Barkley, McGinn, Douglas and Jack all wanting far too long on the ball. Saints just press you into losing it, we needed to be much quicker.

Second half was much better. Finally a bit or urgency. Trez and Jack had two good chances with their headers before another worldy from Ings made it look like another home tonking from hell. I worried about our lack of fight and response but they showed it today. They might have took their foot off the gas but we were creating plenty and sustaining some good pressure. At the end of the day we were made to pay for a sloppy disjointed first half with 3 pinpoint deliveries by JWP.
 

Shame about losing 2 in a row at home and conceding 7 but 5 of those were top finishes. Glad its Arsenal next, think thats a more straightforward game for us than these last 2 have been.

[TRO]

9 minutes ago, One For The Road said:

I said before the game that a draw would be a good result. This isn't a "better fan than you" crap. It's reality.

I am positive about the Villa this year. Our owners have shown their intent and its translating on the pitch. Works in progress don't smash every team. Or even beat every team. In fact, they stun teams and they get stunned by teams. Its the way it goes.

Go back yo our last stint in the Premier League and the difference is palpable. The only stunning result was when we didn't get battered. 

This is the classic work in progress and the 2nd half today impressed me as much as the first half disappointed me.

Villa ARE back. We just need patience from the fans and we will be ok. 

Stay up comfortably this year and we are still at least a season ahead of progress.

Arsenal should be an opportunity to get back to the positive vibes of early October. And if its not  we have to remember that we will have literally played 5 top half form teams in a row. 

Not time to panic, just time to calm down, be realistic, get behind the project and keep going. 

After all, the team we lost to today lost 9-0 at home not long ago and now they are flying. Keep the faith. UTV.

Because they changed the way they approach games and their signings since reflect that.when players run and run and run, its easy to think they are better, but its commitment and competiveness and it gives players an edge......ours had no edge.

Like you, I am not trying to say I expected this.....but I did.....I felt that with 9 days prep, I might be wrong, but I wasn't......this team dosen't run with conviction anywhere close to enough, particularly in stopping the oppositions passages of play.

There is nothing to panic about, its clear to any discerning fan what we are.....but scoring 3 goals does not distract from that in my view.

we are work in progress and i hope we sign players next with a view to dealing with these issues better.

I didn't know what the score would be, I just knew what the dynamics of the game would be and i was right, sadly.....having said all of that......3 set pieces were the moments that drove the nail in....2 stupid and clumsy fouls pave the way for them.

[TRO]

10 minutes ago, AVTuco said:

We will concede a lot of goals with this defense and center-mid. Hopefully we'll score some too and improve on last season's finish.

Name the players in the team who are defensive minded or have the natural ability to stop the opposition...who is naturally drawn to the defensive side of the game?

Konsa, Mings....?

even the full backs inc Elmo are offensive minded.

Its simply not enough.

[AVTuco]

1 minute ago, TRO said:

Name the players in the team who are defensive minded or have the natural ability to stop the opposition...who is naturally drawn to the defensive side of the game?

Konsa, Mings....?

even the full backs inc Elmo are offensive minded.

Its simply not enough.

Yep, and the ones you mention aren't especially good at defending either.

[TRO]

15 minutes ago, AVTuco said:

We will concede a lot of goals with this defense and center-mid. Hopefully we'll score some too and improve on last season's finish.

The problem is when you do that, the confidence drains and the attackers go off the boil.

I still think the centre Mid is the main problem.

[Nigel]

11 minutes ago, Robbie09 said:

I’d prefer Walcott having a shot to Ward Prowse taking a free kick.

That's why Walcott dived as soon as he got anywhere in distance 

[TRO]

1 minute ago, AVTuco said:

Yep, and the ones you mention aren't especially good at defending either.

well they won't be if its just them.