Ratings & Reactions: Villa v Watford

[kidlewis]

We didn’t pass with urgency and we didn’t offer a passing option in space near the man with the ball.

one example was we attacked down the right near the end of the game and McGinn was walking and Bailey had to make a 25 yard pass back to him. 
 

they either all have covid or really cannot be arsed playing the game at the moment. 

[VillaParkAvenue]

We all love Buendia and Coutinho, but does it work playing them as the 10s? Not one part of the team is working well right now.

[sparrow1988]

Ah well, at least I had Dennis in my FPL team

[Davkaus]

For anyone wondering, that was Watford's first win since November. Jesus Christ. 

[VillaParkAvenue]

5 minutes ago, Rightdm00 said:

Went 2 up top with a 2 man midfield with a 3rd of the game to play .  Steve Bruce can make the same tactical decision for a 1/10th of the salary. What are we paying him for?

The Watkins for Luiz sub was a real disaster.

[theboyangel]

Wonder what Stevie G has to say now. He threatened changes but put faith in those players again, which clearly backfired.

interested in his post match comments.

 

[sheepyvillian]

Living vicariously through an Villa team has been the death of many.

Edited February 19, 2022 by sheepyvillian

[the_eristic]

Just now, VillaParkAvenue said:

We all love Buendia and Coutinho, but does it work playing them as the 10s? Not one part of the team is working well right now.

It might if they could actually play as 10s. They keep having to come back into our own half to try to get on the ball because our midfield is lost.

[IrishVilla10]

10 minutes ago, VillaParkAvenue said:

I think Smith should have been sacked earlier, and ideally replaced with an experienced coach. Europe is full of managers and coaches.

So much easier said than done. IE Everton lampard 

[AntrimBlack]

Can you see that distant speck? That is the manager's job for Steven Gerrard at Liverpool disappearing over the horizon. 

[est1874]

Deeply depressing.

[gilbertoAVFC]

Rubbish but people need to chill the f*** out.

Goodness me. 

[briny_ear]

Wonder if we could get Grealish back? Clearly this squad can’t play without him.

[mottaloo]

My 12 hr  night shift will be made all the more depressing reading this thread....not having a dig at any negative comments; they just confirm how far off where we want to be.

[rubberman]

The last 2 1/2 games have been a disgrace. Every player / management involved today should give this weeks wages to charity. 

 

[hippo]

Decent first half .

Subs killed it in the 2nd half.

 

[flashingqwerty]

1 minute ago, gilbertoAVFC said:

Rubbish but people need to chill the f*** out.

Goodness me. 

Chill out? On this form we could still get relegated.

[VillaParkAvenue]

2 minutes ago, IrishVilla10 said:

So much easier said than done. IE Everton lampard 

There’s plenty of managers in Europe. Smith, Gerrard and Lampard have one thing in common — they don’t have much experience of managing at a high level.

[Zatman]

2 minutes ago, briny_ear said:

Wonder if we could get Grealish back? Clearly this squad can’t play without him.

7 of the players involved today never played with Grealish

[Philosopher]

That was very poor.

If you play tiki-taka the first requirement is to keep the ball. We aren't doing this anywhere near well enough. The movement isn't good enough either.

Mcginn is a good footballer, but not cut out for this style.

We need a 6 that is a good defender, that's not Luiz. I would not be surprised to see Chambers playing DM next game.

Cash had a very poor afternoon, deserved to be subbed! Unfortunately his replacement faired no better! Denis was a constant threat.

Luiz off for Watkins in the 60th minute was a bad decision from Gerrard. We lost control of the midfield completely after that.

Ings had a decent first half, disappeared in the second half (before Watkins came on). Ings or Watkins makes no difference. The problem is in midfield and defense, between the two of them they have had 2 good chances in total in 3 games and they were offside. this is a supply problem.

The balls into the box, whether crosses or set piece have been awful. Digne is also too quick to go for the cross. If there is one Average height man in the box with 3 defenders why are you crossing from deep?

Bailey for Buendia should've been our first sub. Buendia pissed me off when he dropped to the DM position to ask for ball and conplained when the defense didn't give him the ball (it should have been taken as a hint to get further forward). He was dropping too deep all game.

The fullbacks need to be used smarter. If one is forward the other needs to stay back. Let Ramsey and Mcginn make runs through the middle.

Two playmaking 10's only works if you get your central midfielders and fullbacks running beyond them. If play is on the right then the right back and the LCM should be making the forward runs and vice versa the play is down the left.

We needed a more direct threat in the second half, Bailey for Buendia was the move, not Watkins for Luiz! Really what was he thinking Denis and Sarr were relishing getting beyond our fullbacks so you take off their safety net (Luiz), and throw away our midfield superiority all in one go! This is nothing to do with the Watkins - Ings debate.