Ratings & Reactions: Villa v Spurs

[YouUnastanFren]

2 minutes ago, pacbuddies said:

One win in seven is relegation form. Only Sheffield Utd and Albion are currently shitter than Villa.

We're in dreadful form but Newcastle are also clearly worse.

[GENTLEMAN]

1 minute ago, barry'sboots said:

4-3-3/4-2-3-1 I should have put.  My point is not so much about the midfield set up but more about the lack of wide options that we have without Jack.  BT is okay as a wild card - he can do some incredible things and then some really frustrating things.  Trez is hopeless.  AEG does nothing but shoot.

We really need to try a 4-4(diamond)-2 from the start and see Ollie and KD as a pair.  I keep hearing how every member of the coaching teams loves KD - well give him a proper chance.  He could open things up for Ollie who works tirelessly but is on his won.  KD did more in 10 minutes tonight than Trez in 70 and he would have given a poor Spurs CB pairing a really hard time.  Targett and Cash are our best crossers (other than Jack).  Leicester are smashing it with two up top and a "10" off them and we should give it a go.  It can't be any worse than the trash we have had since the Leeds game!

Totally agree.

[AVTuco]

6 minutes ago, pacbuddies said:

One win in seven is relegation form. Only Sheffield Utd and Albion are currently shitter than Villa.

Are they really?

[maqroll]

At this rate, we'd lose to New England Revolution under-15s. No attack but for crosses into the box from so far out they ain't a threat. Nothing thru the middle. We may as well play a 4-4-2. Concerning lack of cutting edge and guile, from Smith on down.

 

[Essexvillian]

Emi at fault for the 1st goal, normally knows when to put his foot through it, but he has made this mistake before

Cash another rash bought penalty, not the 1st time

Konsa solid as always

Mings solid today

Targett I thought was our best player tonight, and has been a few times this season

Doug, I think he takes too many touches quite often instead of playing it early, same again tonight

SGM just doesn’t look at his best, or maybe he’s reached his ceiling?

Traore has got talent and vision, but very frustrating, a luxury player that I’m not sure we can afford to have in the team at the moment

Samson, not convinced 

Trez/ghazi I’m just not sure they are good enough

Watkins, love his work rate, but a lot of it is running along the line, and when he does win it back in wide areas we have no one in the middle, maybe 2 up front would suit him? I’m thinking 4-4-2 and try Wes there when he’s back fit, or Tammy as not looking in favour at Chelsea or Eduardo possibly?

Barkley, can’t really see a role for him

Grealish, we are not a 1 man team, but we lack soooo much without him. IF he was to leave, we need mega money and to spend it on already established quality (albeit at a lower level of quality, as money dictates)

[flashingqwerty]

2 minutes ago, The_Steve said:

100%.

First season back was about survival (achieved).

This season is about consolidation (achieved).

Next year will be different gravy in terms of squad retention and ability to attract. Sanson gets extra game time this year, Wesley is back and we've got more competition for places before any major signings occur. And they will.

I think most people whether they want to admit it or not would have taken 8-12th this year, myself included. Anything else, for me, is self-flaggellation.

The form is terrible, every team goes through it.

The most disappointing thing about tonight is the manner of how we conceded.

Think we will be fortunate to finish 12th.  I think, with the form we are in, we'll finish 14th.

Given how well we started, thats pretty poor.  Not finishing top 10 after the start we had will be poor.

Its only 6 games ago, that a couple of wins (games in hand) would have seen us in the top 4.

Given the sides we played, and the results we got, that is shockingly poor.

We've lost to nearly all the teams below us.

[nick76]

3 minutes ago, flashingqwerty said:

For me, the turn started in late november with the Brighton and West Ham defeats.  Thats nearly 8 weeks before the outbreak.

We had the odd good game after that, but no consistency.

Just before lock down we had 3-0 wins against Palace and West Brom, then quality games against Chelsea which we drew and then the really good game against Man Utd which we undeservedly lost and had three or four chances at the end to get the draw.  People were singing our praises still then.  Then covid shut us down.  

Can’t agree with you re late November re performances plus we had 3 wins and a draw in 5 games in December.

[The_Steve]

Sanson. International Assassin.

 

[The_Steve]

2 minutes ago, flashingqwerty said:

Think we will be fortunate to finish 12th.  I think, with the form we are in, we'll finish 14th.

Given how well we started, thats pretty poor.  Not finishing top 10 after the start we had will be poor.

Its only 6 games ago, that a couple of wins (games in hand) would have seen us in the top 4.

Given the sides we played, and the results we got, that is shockingly poor.

We've lost to nearly all the teams below us.

The defeats at Sheffield United and Burnley totally unacceptable. Thought we might turn it around against Wolves but alas.

[jones1328]

34 minutes ago, andym said:

Yes we are missing Grealish, yes we shot ourselves in the foot for both goala, but its 

Even if you are a '1 man team', you still should be able to find a way to score a few more than that

Even if that one man is injured and hasn't played for the last few games?! 

[nick76]

2 minutes ago, flashingqwerty said:

Think we will be fortunate to finish 12th.  I think, with the form we are in, we'll finish 14th.

Given how well we started, thats pretty poor.  Not finishing top 10 after the start we had will be poor.

Its only 6 games ago, that a couple of wins (games in hand) would have seen us in the top 4.

Given the sides we played, and the results we got, that is shockingly poor.

We've lost to nearly all the teams below us.

14th? they are 8 points behind us with 9 games to go.  I don’t know where you are thinking the likes of Wolves and Southampton are going to get Champions League place run of form from and all of them.

[nick76]

13 minutes ago, pacbuddies said:

One win in seven is relegation form. Only Sheffield Utd and Albion are currently shitter than Villa.

Liverpool six defeats at home on the trot

[barry'sboots]

6 minutes ago, Essexvillian said:

Trez/ghazi I’m just not sure they are good enough

I'm positive that they are not!

[flashingqwerty]

4 minutes ago, nick76 said:

Just before lock down we had 3-0 wins against Palace and West Brom, then quality games against Chelsea which we drew and then the really good game against Man Utd which we undeservedly lost and had three or four chances at the end to get the draw.  People were singing our praises still then.  Then covid shut us down.  

Can’t agree with you re late November re performances plus we had 3 wins and a draw in 5 games in December.

Football is about opinions, and i think we are never going to agree here.

Didn't think we played brilliantly in either 3-0 despite the scoreline.  We'd played better in other games and lost.

The man utd game, prob should have been a draw, but again, dont think we were brilliant there either.

Chelsea was probably our best game out of that lot, which we could just as easily have lost as won.

[allani]

Poor again.  We just pose no threat going forwards and if Plan A doesn't work we don't have the ability to change it.  I think we have been behind in 12 matches this season and we've lost 11 of them.  Since January we've played 15 games and scored 12 goals and only scored 2 goals in a match twice (one of which we lost).  15 points from 15 games is slightly better than relegation form but not massively.  We looked amazing in the first few weeks but I am worried that we just don't seem to be able to dig ourselves out of a hole.  Obviously I'd have bitten your hand off if you'd said we'd be where we are at the beginning of the season.  But we can't just sweep 2021 under the carpet and say that we're just on a bad run.  The bad run is now almost 3 months long.  I'm worried that unless we strengthen significantly over the summer that next season could be a real struggle.  If we start badly next season can we turn it around?  What happens if Martinez, Konsa, Jack or Watkins get injured early on?  Obviously it takes a while to build a stable PL squad but I think our form early on papered over just how much work is still needed.

[Spoony]

45 minutes ago, Paddywhack said:

Well luckily we have Grealish and are 10th.

Sort of sums up my feelings.

We are a nothing team either Grealish do didn’t bother tuning in.

Our season is done. Maybe we could have gone for Europe if Grealish had stayed fit but I’d have eaten your entire arm up to the shoulder blade for that at the start of the season.

We need to improve the squad for next season so we aren’t so reliant on Grealish but we basically knew that before the season even began.

In the PL for another year, build on the progress for next years. Much like the players, I’m basically on holiday from football until Covidball is over and we can continue to build. 

[Zhan_Zhuang]

I commented in the pre-match thread it would likely be men v boys, I was hoping I'd be wrong.

To be fair we started the game well but it was a mistake from Martinez that cost us the first goal.

Spuds are way ahead of us in terms of their recruitment and playing staff. Kane is one of the best players in the world and Moura is class, that was the difference.

But we still had a go and caused them problems.

I'm really fed up of McGinn and I had doubts from the moment we were promoted; you just cannot give the ball away repeatedly in the middle of the park and expect not to be punished.

We will be lucky to finish top ten at this rate which is a shame considering how well we started.

[flashingqwerty]

6 minutes ago, nick76 said:

14th? they are 8 points behind us with 9 games to go.  I don’t know where you are thinking the likes of Wolves and Southampton are going to get Champions League place run of form from and all of them.

Its more that i don't see us getting another win.  

Fulham

Liverpool

Man City

West Brom

Everton

Man Utd

Palace

Spurs

Chelsea

At least 6 nailed on defeats there.  I'll call it now, and predict we end the season on 44 pts.

I can see Wolves (9) and Soton (11) picking up enough points in 9 games.  Don't forget Soton were top of the league early doors too, so its not beyond them.

[WakefieldVillan]

Konsa MOTM but should have done better for the first goal, though Emi has to take the main criticism, ridiculous that he didn't just belt that into touch. Never felt we were going to get back into it after that but not going to start calling for the gaffer out or make derogatory remarks about our players. We're better than that. Aren't we?!.

It is obvious there is work to be done in the summer but I'm confident we can kick on and strengthen with some real quality with wide men being absolutely crucial. 

I think if Moura played for us tonight (swap Trez or Traore) we win that. It's not all doom and gloom. We're a mid table side (at best) and without Jack relegation fodder. Accept it and it's much easier. Doesn't mean to say we can't push on next season. 

Another poster mentioned about us being 'too nice' - I agree wholeheartedly with that. We need to raise the standards and we need some steel. 

Thought Watkins, Luiz, Trez, Cash, Traore were all very poor tonight. You can't carry so many players. 

Agree Kane cheated for the pen, but was very stupid of Cash to dive in like he did. Crazy. 

For once (it seems) the international break is coming at a good time (I think).

UTV 

[allani]

13 minutes ago, Essexvillian said:

Cash another rash bought penalty, not the 1st time

Doug, I think he takes too many touches quite often instead of playing it early, same again tonight

Watkins, love his work rate, but a lot of it is running along the line, and when he does win it back in wide areas we have no one in the middle, maybe 2 up front would suit him? I’m thinking 4-4-2 and try Wes there when he’s back fit, or Tammy as not looking in favour at Chelsea or Eduardo possibly?

Grealish, we are not a 1 man team

I agree with almost all of the rest of your post.

I don't think that it was a rash challenge / penalty.  If you look at the lines that Kane and Cash are running they are never coming together in a month of Sundays.  Cash has slid in to block the cross - his "line of attack" is nowhere near where Kane is going.  Kane has lost control of his feet and "fallen" into the line that Cash has taken.  He has no control over the ball at the point that contact is made and if the ball wasn't out when contact was made - there is no way he gets to the ball before it does cross the line if there is no contact.  It is an appalling (but typical) Mike Dean decision.

I think the trouble is that the guys in front of Doug aren't on the same wavelength a lot of the time so they aren't making the space for the early ball.  He looks better when Jack is about because Jack spots the right movement to open space either for him or one of the other players ahead of Doug.  He does seem to lose confidence in the quick ball if a couple go awry and then, as you rightly say, does tend to try and play it a bit safer by dwelling on the ball and then kind of getting himself into a bit of a hole.  I don't think it helps that he is carrying McGinn so much at the moment either (both defensively and offensively).  Oh and he needs to just have a crack at goal more often.  We know he can hit an absolute screamer.

Watkins is so isolated at times - much like all our strikers have tended to be in recent times.  I'm beginning to think that we need a striker and to then either (a) play Ollie down the left, pushing Jack into the No 10 role or (b) keep Jack on the left and get Ollie to play in the hole.  A front 4 of Ollie, Jack, Bertie and Tammy / Eduardo looks pretty tasty.  If Wesley gets back to fitness then I think he could be a great option coming on to either make it closer to a 4-4-2 (by replacing the No 10 role) or just changing the angle of attack in the same formation.  Still need to bring in a new winger who can slot into that 4 should anyone get injured or to put real pressure on Bertie.  Maybe Bertie off the bench (if we can keep him motivated) would be a real super-sub type option?

Sorry but we are - at least in terms of an attacking force.  Almost all the forward players play better when Jack is on fire.  No-one else seems able to grab the game by the scruff of the neck when Jack is out or not playing well.  First few matches I thought that maybe Ross was the answer but he's so far off form at the moment it is untrue.  I think that is why I think a proper No 9 and allowing Ollie to run around like he does at the moment but still having someone in the box threatening the goal area gives us more options than just the "pass the ball to Jack" option.