Ratings & Reactions: Brighton v Villa

[danceoftheshamen]

I still can't get my head around how often we are currently giving the ball away. Some of the passes are inexcusable for Premier League footballers. You can of course understand the odd wayward pass but crikey me it was practically every time we had possession at Brighton. We literally were like the main cog in their midfield! Simple, basic passes straight to them and second to almost everything. It truly was a shocker and it's been heading that way for weeks. It's like we've been playing our way out of form bit by bit and I agree we will end up with a couple of hidings soon if it doesn't stop.

[TRO]

2 hours ago, danceoftheshamen said:

I still can't get my head around how often we are currently giving the ball away. Some of the passes are inexcusable for Premier League footballers. You can of course understand the odd wayward pass but crikey me it was practically every time we had possession at Brighton. We literally were like the main cog in their midfield! Simple, basic passes straight to them and second to almost everything. It truly was a shocker and it's been heading that way for weeks. It's like we've been playing our way out of form bit by bit and I agree we will end up with a couple of hidings soon if it doesn't stop.

we was.

[TRO]

16 hours ago, VillaFaninLondon said:

The key points for me:

• Barkley looks off the pace, constantly gives the ball away, and fails to track back. There really must be a strong argument now for dropping him for the next couple of games and making him earn his way back in the side. I really missed him when he was injured and was desperate for him to come back, but he hasn't looked anywhere near good enough since he's returned to the extent that he is now disrupting the rhythm of the team and this desperately needs to be addressed. 
• McGinn does ok defensively but is a liability going forward at the moment. Constantly gives the ball away and sloppy in possession, he's also no longer breaking forward with the ball and looks dreadful a lot of the time. Another player who DS must seriously be looking at wondering if he should be taken out for a couple of games (Nakamba has played well when he's started, does the basics right and has been very unlucky not to retain his place after he's stepped in). 
• Luiz is a liability defensively. He gave away maybe 4 free kicks in very good areas yesterday and he's done it all season. I like him as a player but he just isn't a DM and when we're on the backfoot in games like we were most of yesterday it's really noticeable how many misplaced tackles he makes. 
• Martinez deserves every praise he gets. If it wasn't for him we'd have lost comfortably yesterday, another top performance like so many others this season. 
• I'm very concerned that we're not scoring enough goals. Our attacking play has dropped off since the new year. We've scored 9 goals in the last 9 league games, before that we had scored 27 goals in 13 league games. 
• I'm also concerned that defensively we've become more open, tantamount to some of our games last year which is a real worry. In the last 8 league games, we have had 20+ shots against us in 4 games (Man City, Southampton, West Ham and Brighton). In the 14 games prior to that, only one team had 20+ shots against us (Leeds) and that was widely considered our worst performance of the season.
• I'm also concerned that too many players just aren't performing. Even Jack was below par yesterday and you can understand maybe one or two having an off day from time to time, but when Jack, Barkley, McGinn, Traore, Watkins, Luiz all don't perform in the same game it's just puzzling as to why. We've got some very good players in our side, if they all performed yesterday we'd have caused Brighton a lot of problems but none of our attacking players had a good game. Credit Brighton for how they defended too, but it runs deeper than that. 

 

I think some big decisions on selection have to be made. I'd put Jack to no 10 (he's been ineffective on the left recently and in a 10 where he can roam will be more valuable to us). El Ghazi on the left, Traore/Trezeguet on the right (maybe Trez now that Cash is injured and we need more defensive protection), and maybe Nakamba and Sanson or Luiz in the middle.

 

I understand DS being cautious on changing the team and I know he's desperate for Barkley to play himself into form, but if we play like we did yesterday against Leicester and Leeds we could be in trouble. Luckily Brighton don't score a lot of goals but Leicester will murder us if we play like that against them and we've already seen what Leeds can do if you don't turn up against them. 

good post.

[PaulC]

5 hours ago, TRO said:

What is most annoying....is when it is clear as daylight, where the problem lies mostly and some fans just see it as an attack on the team....its isn't, its just observing the games and the issues in them.

We have managed to play excellent for the majority of the season, just having a wobble, playing teams that don't suit our style.....we are work in progress, just saying we need to be aware of some additional players who have a nose for winning the ball back, when we venture in to the market.... we everyones second team and the rest don't like it so, they want to stop our gallop.....we have to counter that.

It might sound obvious to some......but you can't attack without the ball.....we keep signing attackers, without the ability to feed them the ball.

Traore, was clobbered by the fans against Brighton, but who passed him the ball?........He was just starved of the ball.

 

Traore was guilty of giving the ball away as well as the midfield players. One of which put us in a precarious position and forced Luiz to commit a foul in a very a dangerous area. You say Luiz is a poor dm player I say he was put under constant pressure because of payers ahead of him. 

[TRO]

3 hours ago, PaulC said:

Traore was guilty of giving the ball away as well as the midfield players. One of which put us in a precarious position and forced Luiz to commit a foul in a very a dangerous area. You say Luiz is a poor dm player I say he was put under constant pressure because of payers ahead of him. 

I don't doubt that....when I say problem, I mean Midfield......not Luiz on his own......most of the team was giving the ball away.

In actual fact,I thought Dougie was a bit better against Brighton, than the previous few games.

[OxfordVillan]

On 14/02/2021 at 11:39, TRO said:

I thought it was harsh on Nakamba.

This wasn't a bad day at the office, if we think that, we are misleading ourselves....players who keep losing the ball cheaply,should be left out....we can't do anything without the ball.....In fact, we look very ordinary indeed, without the ball.

It has happened in more games than just this, where we have been unable to secure the ball and unable to win it back....this has to be addressed, with some focus.

despite an overall good season..... we have managed to secure 2 points only from games against Brighton,West Ham and Burnley....those teams have a style, we are uncomfortable with and it is clear as daylight.....we need to recruit a few players who will thrive in that environment.....Blimey Joel Veltman cost £900,000, we need a few of them in the squad, for times like this.....He irritated the life out of Jack and our other players offered nothing else, to compensate.

Players who don't work and just ball watch have no place in our project, you only have to watch Man City and their workrate is phenomenal, despite their untold talent, they work like trojans.......We turn up in games like this, with a clear intention of playing football and it stands out, spoilers like Brighton, just rub their hands in glee and set about disrupting our passages of play by stifiling us and getting irritating touches on the ball whilst we are in possession......we have to be cuter and stronger than that....our passing too was abysmal and our players without the ball offering no options to help out, just waiting around for a "Roy of the Rovers", pass......We have to understand the adage " You have to win the right to play football"....and execute it.

This Midfield of ours has no tenacity or combative qualities to counter such acts of competitiveness....we have seen it before....this is no one off, if we think it is ,we are kidding ourselves.

We will see similar issues when we play Leeds, except, they will just run the legs off us.....and we will just resort to the midfield retreating and them expecting the defence to win the ball for them, to start any attacks.

We have to sort out this midfield, moving forward.

 

As I mentioned in the pre-match thread.......we have to earn the right to play our football. There have undoubtedly been games where we’ve rocked up expecting to just play our pretty football and score goals. We all know which games these have been. And I have to say that this mindset must be down to the coaching staff and tactics rather than the players. There’s a fine line between confidence and arrogance. There are undoubtedly occasions when we need to alter our set up to get a grip in midfield, to get the dirty work done. We can’t be comprehensively tied to one formation/style, we need to be flexible, pragmatic. 

[TRO]

53 minutes ago, OxfordVillan said:

As I mentioned in the pre-match thread.......we have to earn the right to play our football. There have undoubtedly been games where we’ve rocked up expecting to just play our pretty football and score goals. We all know which games these have been. And I have to say that this mindset must be down to the coaching staff and tactics rather than the players. There’s a fine line between confidence and arrogance. There are undoubtedly occasions when we need to alter our set up to get a grip in midfield, to get the dirty work done. We can’t be comprehensively tied to one formation/style, we need to be flexible, pragmatic. 

I share your view completely.....i think it sums it all up

in some of these games where we lose midfield so easily, would we be better, including hause in a 3-5-2 when he is fit.

i think we can look at West Ham and learn a bit from the profile of their squad and the durability and industry it produces.....such a rounded side, they have players for all eventualities.

I am just watching them now, in the air, they are so dangerous and create chances for themselves....but they have c 4/5 big units.....to attack ( set pieces) and defend with.

 

Edited February 15, 2021 by TRO

[PaulC]

On 15/02/2021 at 19:38, TRO said:

I share your view completely.....i think it sums it all up

in some of these games where we lose midfield so easily, would we be better, including hause in a 3-5-2 when he is fit.

i think we can look at West Ham and learn a bit from the profile of their squad and the durability and industry it produces.....such a rounded side, they have players for all eventualities.

I am just watching them now, in the air, they are so dangerous and create chances for themselves....but they have c 4/5 big units.....to attack ( set pieces) and defend with.

 

Thats why I dont agree when people say West Ham are just going to fall away. They are a tough physical side. 

[TRO]

1 hour ago, PaulC said:

Thats why I dont agree when people say West Ham are just going to fall away. They are a tough physical side. 

I agree....They for me are like a team for all seasons....meaning they can do a bit of everything and tackle so many different styles.

They too have recruited well with Bowen, Benrama and Soucek, they managed to get Haller out, before he became too much of a residual problem.

I like their holding 2, Soucek and Rice gives a good platform to play off.

[Mjvilla]

4 hours ago, TRO said:

I agree....They for me are like a team for all seasons....meaning they can do a bit of everything and tackle so many different styles.

They too have recruited well with Bowen, Benrama and Soucek, they managed to get Haller out, before he became too much of a residual problem.

I like their holding 2, Soucek and Rice gives a good platform to play off.

Can't help but smile at the irony of this part. They took a £20m loss on Haller in 18 months and it's used as a reason to show they recruited well and have assembled a good squad.

[skell]

On 14/02/2021 at 23:23, flashingqwerty said:

How much of it is down to DS and how much is down to the coaching and recruitment staff?

We don't know what's happening behind closed doors, or what might have been with a different manager.

No we dont. But as he chose most of his staff and has developed them I'd say he deserves praise

[skell]

On 14/02/2021 at 23:26, flashingqwerty said:

I never said manager out.  Yet again you are putting words 8nto my mouth.

You might want to spend more time actually reading what's written rather than looking for things between the lines, because you're finding things that simply are not there.

Apologies. You were pretty brutal to him though. So, to be clear. You would stick with Smith?

[flashingqwerty]

3 hours ago, skell said:

Apologies. You were pretty brutal to him though. So, to be clear. You would stick with Smith?

I think hes not great, and i see no improvement in him.

The team has improved, but is that necessarily down to him or the money thats been spent and the addition of Shakespeare to the coaching team?

We'll never know.

To answer your question, top half finish, and i'd give him more time.  Failure to achieve that, and he should be replaced.

[flashingqwerty]

3 hours ago, skell said:

No we dont. But as he chose most of his staff and has developed them I'd say he deserves praise

Did he?  Terry was here before him, and Shakespeare was brought in by the team, not only Smith.

As far as I know, O'Kelly is the only coach specifically brought in by Smith.

Not a glowing review.

[skell]

1 hour ago, flashingqwerty said:

Did he?  Terry was here before him, and Shakespeare was brought in by the team, not only Smith.

As far as I know, O'Kelly is the only coach specifically brought in by Smith.

Not a glowing review.

Shakespeare was brought in by the team. What a strange comment. Clearly Smith, you know the head coach

As was kelly and Terry developed under him

[skell]

1 hour ago, flashingqwerty said:

I think hes not great, and i see no improvement in him.

The team has improved, but is that necessarily down to him or the money thats been spent and the addition of Shakespeare to the coaching team?

We'll never know.

To answer your question, top half finish, and i'd give him more time.  Failure to achieve that, and he should be replaced.

He brought in the players and deserves credit for doing so.   All these decisions have been made by Smith, you clearly have a vendetta. Most Vila fans would have snapped your hand off at 13 th and upwards 

[flashingqwerty]

20 minutes ago, skell said:

He brought in the players and deserves credit for doing so.   All these decisions have been made by Smith, you clearly have a vendetta. Most Vila fans would have snapped your hand off at 13 th and upwards 

You saying Smith made the decisions carries no more weight than me saying he didn't.

Plenty of quotes out there from the board indicating that transfers are made by the transfer team of which Smith is a part.

Also quotes stating that Shakespeare was identified to resolve issues with our playing style, and not from Smith.

Theres evidence enough out there to show Smith isn't making all the decisions, but if you want to ignore them thats up to you.

Do you honestly think another manager couldn't have done a better job with the same money?

[skell]

23 minutes ago, flashingqwerty said:

You saying Smith made the decisions carries no more weight than me saying he didn't.

Plenty of quotes out there from the board indicating that transfers are made by the transfer team of which Smith is a part.

Also quotes stating that Shakespeare was identified to resolve issues with our playing style, and not from Smith.

Theres evidence enough out there to show Smith isn't making all the decisions, but if you want to ignore them thats up to you.

Do you honestly think another manager couldn't have done a better job with the same money?

The fact hes boss should carry weight. It's just a hunch of yours that he doesnt make the calls. Under his stewardship we have been promoted,  survived, now challenging for europe.  All you need to do.is watch Smith on the sidelines to u understand who is the boss. Your

[flashingqwerty]

10 minutes ago, skell said:

The fact hes boss should carry weight. It's just a hunch of yours that he doesnt make the calls. Under his stewardship we have been promoted,  survived, now challenging for europe.  All you need to do.is watch Smith on the sidelines to u understand who is the boss. Your

Thats the thing though isnt it?  Its not a hunch.  Plenty of quotes from DS, Purslow and others stating that transfers are decided by the transfer team and DS has no more input than anyone else.  Same for the Shakespeare appointment.

[skell]

9 minutes ago, flashingqwerty said:

Thats the thing though isnt it?  Its not a hunch.  Plenty of quotes from DS, Purslow and others stating that transfers are decided by the transfer team and DS has no more input than anyone else.  Same for the Shakespeare appointment.

I get the transfer team part. That's why DS did so well last year, despite the playing staff he had.  Your Shakespeare comment doesnt make.any sense. Of.course it was.smiths choice. It seems to me that if Smith does.badly it's his fault , if he does well its the others . Anyway I'm drawing this to a close. For the record I was blaming smith for the poor team selection today. Not anyone else, why? Because hes the boss