Ratings & Reactions: Villa v Wolves

[DCJonah]

19 minutes ago, Blasterpocket68 said:

 

That’s an awful lot of investment by the board for mid table finish . 

It's an investment, building something. It's not an instant success thing. I'm not saying we should always be midtable. But this is our 3rd season back in this league, trying to over take teams who have spent a fortune building squads whilst we sat in the championship. 

It's a process. 

[DCJonah]

13 minutes ago, villa4europe said:

Its like a broken record, some people can't or won't see it, the majority of PL squads cost a lot of money, Leeds aside the teams above us last season all cost more, in most cases a hell of a lot more, arsenal for example who we apparently have to finish above this season put out a £500m team in their last game, including 5 £50m+ players

And we've already got a fan mocking the idea of it being acceptable to lose to them. Like 2 years back in the league puts us above them because of what we've spent. 

[TRO]

1 hour ago, Sulberto21 said:

Come on Dougie wasn't on the pitch when they took control. Plus his gas tank emptied due to the jetlag hence he got taken off.

No jetlag he stays on and we win the game.

It was coming before it come.

If he had to go off fine..

I don't accept that if he stayed on we would have won......its just hypothetical.

Edited October 17, 2021 by TRO

[nick76]

8 minutes ago, TRO said:

Nick, it is all about opinions and I do respect yours, i also see grains of acceptabilty, even if I disagree .

I thought before 80 minutes we were not comfortable and I turned to Carl Chinn and said so ( sorry for the name drop)....personally, I think it was coming, the siege, not the result.....I have seen this kind of thing before with Burnley, just bullying their way back in...West Brom did it in the semi final at the Hawthorns, its just clattering us, but teams get away with it.

I have never been in favour of Doug or McGinn playing as a No 6.....I don't think they have the natural nose, for the role.....Its where, I differ from Dean.....but agree with manay other managers in the Prem who do have a recognisable 6.

I am being told by some, the club, will get round to it, I am not so sure Dean see's an issue, but hey ho.

 

Ok, we’ll have to agree to disagree about being comfortable around the 80 minute mark.  I respect your view too.

As we’ve discussed before, I’ve wanted a proper 6 as well but that’s not something we can fix now.  Dougie is in that role and I thought he did more than enough yesterday that we could’ve won had he been able to last the 90 mins imo. Long term, yes we need a quality DM to progress to European places.

[villa4europe]

9 minutes ago, DCJonah said:

And we've already got a fan mocking the idea of it being acceptable to lose to them. Like 2 years back in the league puts us above them because of what we've spent. 

When you throw in the 3 subs then the 14 players they used yesterday cost around £20m more than the 14 players we used yesterday 

Wolves have spent some money too, they brought around £90m worth of players off their bench yesterday 

Edited October 17, 2021 by villa4europe

[DCJonah]

2 minutes ago, villa4europe said:

When you throw in the 3 subs then the 14 players they used yesterday cost around £20m more than the 14 players we used yesterday 

Wolves have spent some money too

I keep saying it, but some just choose to ignore what midtable football is. Look at these teams trying to get into Europe and the money they've spent doing it. And we're meant to overtake them all because? 

 

[foreveryoung]

Just now, DCJonah said:

That's good isn't it? Isn't that why people follow football, for enjoyment and happiness? If it makes you miserable find something else to do. Life's too short  

There were alot of miserable fans yesterday pal, not just me as you continue to single out.

If your happy with midtable, that's fine with me, go an drink your Champers at the end of the season. But for me and many other fans on here, we have expectations a little higher, which you should also accept.

[DCJonah]

2 minutes ago, foreveryoung said:

There were alot of miserable fans yesterday pal, not just me as you continue to single out.

If your happy with midtable, that's fine with me, go an drink your Champers at the end of the season. But for me and many other fans on here, we have expectations a little higher, which you should also accept.

Why? Especially if you're going to use them to criticise the manager every chance you get. And if they're based on **** all.

And for the record I wasn't happy yesterday. No one was. You seem to be confusing one game for a whole season of football. 

[villa4europe]

6 minutes ago, foreveryoung said:

There were alot of miserable fans yesterday pal, not just me as you continue to single out.

If your happy with midtable, that's fine with me, go an drink your Champers at the end of the season. But for me and many other fans on here, we have expectations a little higher, which you should also accept.

But expectations based on what? 

Its coming across that people are criticising Smith and calling for his head on their own personal belief that he won't achieve their own personal expectations 

The negativity is incessant 

[Mantis]

51 minutes ago, nick76 said:

Yesterday hurt so bad!  On a longer term picture it was the Spurs game that worried me more.  A 10 minute manic time can happen but Spurs was below par all game from start to finish.  I think that worried me more after the uptick from Man U and Everton wins.

I didn't see the Spurs game so can't comment on the performance but teams do have bad days at the office from time to time. Stuff like that doesn't concern me too much if it's not too common.

[TRO]

55 minutes ago, nick76 said:

Ok, we’ll have to agree to disagree about being comfortable around the 80 minute mark.  I respect your view too.

As we’ve discussed before, I’ve wanted a proper 6 as well but that’s not something we can fix now.  Dougie is in that role and I thought he did more than enough yesterday that we could’ve won had he been able to last the 90 mins imo. Long term, yes we need a quality DM to progress to European places.

Thanks.

But I have to say, I would not get rid of Dougie, I would play him in a more advanced role

Edited October 17, 2021 by TRO

[TRO]

59 minutes ago, villa4europe said:

When you throw in the 3 subs then the 14 players they used yesterday cost around £20m more than the 14 players we used yesterday 

Wolves have spent some money too, they brought around £90m worth of players off their bench yesterday 

I think the issue is, why we collapsed in a game we should have won......and then we somehow drift on the the bigger picture and all the associated stuff relating to it.

The fans are miffed that we didn't see a game out, when we should have....and futhermore we were undone, by neanderthal tactics that eclipsed our 2 well taken goals from us.

Basic elements of the game are at odds here, not far reaching, beyond our dreams issues.

[TRO]

7 minutes ago, PaulC said:

You can see the difference with West Ham.  Rice and Soucek are so solid.  We play them next at home as well. 

you have taken the words straight out of my mouth...even little cresswell resisting challenges from big Everton player.

Rice is the epitome of my points, he can attack with vigour and defend stoutly by helping the back four, when he is not winning headers in midfield......thats what is needed in a midfield like ours who have ambitions of Europe.

West Ham have grit and an ability in the air to exploit set pieces, fall back, contain a game and go home with the points....its easy to pick on one game, but its their trait.

[wilko154]

Not in the Smith out camp but he has to take some blame for yesterday; although it sounds as though his substitutions were forced on him. We never looked comfortable in the game, and with Wolves not causing a threat it seemed obvious that moving to a 4-3-3 would have favoured us and helped us retain possession and control the game. Instead we continued with our slow build up play, without any creativity (bar McGinn and Buendia). The 2 goals unfortunately masked a poor second half display; and it showed in the last 10 minutes.

What you can't blame Smith for is the defensive collapse in the last 10 minutes. With 5 defenders on the pitch, conceding 3 goals just shouldn't happen; and they need to take a look at themselves. The mistakes for the goals were criminal.

Game management has always been Smith's achilles heel, and he needs to start making changes quicker when games aren't going in our favour instead of sitting and hoping for the best.

[TomC]

2 hours ago, romavillan said:

Totally our form last year was underpinned by clean sheets

I was thinking this too: what happened to our defense that was one of the best in the league last year? But then I looked...

2020-21 goals allowed through 8 PL matches: 10

2021-22 goals allowed through 8 PL matches: 12

We're not that far off last year. Let's not forget those horrid matches against Soton (4-3 loss) and Leeds (3-0 loss) early last year. I have not looked at the league-wide totals, but I also remember hearing last year that scoring was up the first two months and then reverted to average later in the season. Defenses tend to improve as the season progresses; that's true for everyone.

Of course, those two extra goals make a difference...if we had won 2-1 instead of losing 3-2 yesterday, we'd have 13 points and we'd be sitting 7th and nobody would be complaining.

In the end, it's the way we gave up those goals that hurts the most. If we'd lost 3-2 to Wolves in a wide open match, it might be a little easier to accept. But top quality sides don't often make mental lapses in the last 10 minutes when they're up 2-0. We need to learn to kill off a match. How often did you see a Fergie-era Man U side lose a 2-0 lead late? Much more often it was in the other direction. Hate on Man U and the refs all you want, you can't say that Ferguson didn't know how to install a winning, battle-to-the-end mentality in his players.

 

[The Fun Factory]

I suppose if we want to look positive is that we look a mid-tabley side with some key players yet to come into the starting XI and the new signings yet to bed in.  We are not a terrible side at present nor are we a particularly great one either.

[The Fun Factory]

5 hours ago, Wainy316 said:

After the Fulham game at Wembley that’s the worst I’ve ever felt walking away from a football ground.

Wow really I can think of several more. 6-0 to Liverpool, losing at home to Barnsley mid week when we were about 15th in the Championship, the Albion game just before the 10 wins in a row. I could go on.

[Lerner's Driver]

Couldn't watch it because I was at a family do, but I was checking the BBC text coverage and you could tell we were going to lose.

There's no doubt we are capable of giving anyone a game these days, but the one thing we are vulnerable to is teams that want it more, we struggle to match that. 

Great when we are allowed to play and far too easy to bully when the opposition fancy it. That's mental and so are the lapses in concentration.

[mikeyjavfc]

An awful result and worse experience yesterday, but after a few hours to mull it over I can see it in the context of our season. It was another summer of upheaval after selling Grealish and the issues with new coaches, injuries, the euros/copa america/olympics, covid and international breaks have also not helped. The logical conclusion is the second half our season will be better than the first as we become more settled as a team and more comfortable with our system.
I’ve seen enough from this team and Smith in games to see that there is something decent brewing it is just consistency that is killing us, yesterday being the extreme example. I will back us to finish strongly and at a minimum match our league position from last year. No danger of smith being sacked before the end of the season in my view, however next summer I think the owners will think carefully about the long term plans. Even if we have a good season in the end, is Smith the man to lead us for next 5 years? 

[Vive_La_Villa]

Yesterday was hard to handle. Mainly because it was so out of character from last season. We had become so good at holding on to leads.

Whilst we couldn’t keep the ball for one I was really disappointed with the defending on our left hand side for both goals.  Tuanzabe had a bit of a shocker and I don’t think Emi looked his commanding self either.  Target must defend better too.

Easy to have a dig at Smith for the subs but non of them were tactical. They were all fitness related. 

I think the players let him down a bit yesterday but as the manager he also has to be held accountable.

I also think the crowd was poor. Against Everton we got behind our players and it blew Everton away.  This time we all just sat and watched with the odd moan and groan.  Zero encouragement.