Ratings & Reactions: Bournemouth v Villa

[delboy54]

We are so easy to play against, if the opposition score early we are stuffed, we dont have the ability, skill, players, tactics or manager who can change it around

[nick76]

6 hours ago, TRO said:

Well, That was a " shocky horror show"......so much for having a good pre-season.....as they all claim is crucial.

I'm not judging him on one game......but equally, I don't agree with some of his post match comments.

I accept, he can't throw them under the bus, but no player, came out of that with credit at all.

I did half expect it, as I intimated in the pre-match comments.....This team can't play against teams like that....our aerial work is woeful/turgid....and we displayed once again our ability to be negated/cancelled out.

Our defending set pieces is sub standard.....and that first goal, threw any game plan out of the window, because we allowed them to stop us playing, they reduced us to withering, clueless, wrecks.

SG cited a lack of quality, in the final third, we threw in c 30 odd crosses, aiming for no one, no one with the ability to capitalise, even if they were quality balls, and they wasn't.....we are scrapping over Ings or Watkins, both are not no 9's....more inside forwards, who are not competent with it in the air.

We are not producing quality in our creation, because teams are being allowed to stop us.....its catch 22.....we are weak in the challenge or holding players off.

I honestly thought with SG coming in, the team would mirror his image, even if they couldn't mirror his ability......This team is lack lustre, its insipid....its is so,so easily derailed.

I have to believe this is a one-off, or we are doomed.....sure teams have highs and lows, but that took the biscuit.

I heard his after match comments and I can only assume, he's in denial.....but its starting to get worrying.

 

I want to believe it’s a one off but this is why so many of us have concerns about SG before even this game.  He’s great with everything off the pitch but on the pitch even before today is poor.  

Even you, one of his positive admirers, was even concerned/worried before the game against a promoted team, lacking quality, lacking defenders whose manager has been crying to the press all week.

It was awful yesterday but yesterday wasn’t a shock, I’m really concerned and have been for a while.  Yes it’s one game…this season but it’s not that much different from most of 2022.  We have no cohesion, no style of play and quality players looking bang average.

I hope he gets things sorted quick but I’m not confident at all.  

[villaglint]

37 minutes ago, nick76 said:Yes it’s one game…this season but it’s not that much different from most of 2022.  We have no cohesion, no style of play and quality players looking bang average.

Don’t forget 2021! That was almost entirely pants too. 
 

A lot of different players and different managers but we’ve been poor for a long time really. 

[gwi1890]

Conceding early and sloppy goals in general is a massive concern. 

[Robtaylor200]

IMO SG is struggling tactically, picking his best team and how to change it up and maybe he needs advice. MON had this in abundance. (he didn't do it all himself)

Its no good shouting at players etc and demanding more unless you explain what you want them to do. He could shout at me all day and I wouldn't become a better player

He comes over as ruthless and very Ron Saunders ish. So show it and drop Coutinho, if its not working try something different. 

Probably a bit harsh after one game in but I saw no positives 

In saying all that. I will be at VP next week singing his name 

 

[zab6359]

Wasn’t the performance or result we wanted but doesn’t deserve the meltdown some people are having.
 

Difficult to say we were the better team when we go down 2-0 but we did look the better footballing team, hopefully results will come.

 

[Blasterpocket68]

I’m really disappointed but we’re one game in .

[nick76]

I know!

 

[villan501]

OK I've woken up and and analysed what I saw yesterday and come up with this.

We have invested in players to improve and the result is we simply haven't moved anywhere, Gerrard has his favourites resulting in an uneven playing field for some squad members sanson and mings feeling the brunt of it.

 

Our style of play is pathetic and captaincy appointment a complete joke a player who shouldn't be in first eleven should never be captain.

 

It's quite simple if Gerrard does not change he's gone, if he sticks to his favourites he's gone. The pressure cooker is increasing by each game and like I've said before his belief and favourite players will not save him.

[Blasterpocket68]

Disappointing game and performance but the biblical reaction again after 90 minutes of football is once again outstanding. 
 

 

[TRO]

1 hour ago, nick76 said:

I want to believe it’s a one off but this is why so many of us have concerns about SG before even this game.  He’s great with everything off the pitch but on the pitch even before today is poor.  

Even you, one of his positive admirers, was even concerned/worried before the game against a promoted team, lacking quality, lacking defenders whose manager has been crying to the press all week.

It was awful yesterday but yesterday wasn’t a shock, I’m really concerned and have been for a while.  Yes it’s one game…this season but it’s not that much different from most of 2022.  We have no cohesion, no style of play and quality players looking bang average.

I hope he gets things sorted quick but I’m not confident at all.  

Nick, I honestly thought the pre-season wa just fitness and the lack of intensity was just a by product of getting fit....This lack of intensity, in our game is contrary to what I believed, SG would bring, to us.

Not only that, our approach to high balls is laughable, the team other than the odd player (Mings) is small in stature, how can we provide any structure at set pieces, ( its like having 5'6 doorman at a night club, what would we expect?)

I am not saying height is the answer to all our ills, but we are bullied all over the park, and at set pieces, its just a stark example of us being out of our depth.....goals change games and that first goal as inept as it was to concede, set the tone for them.

Other than Mings, its not as if we have a few to bring in, for appropriate game like that or West Ham.......We just keep signing small, or modest built players, when everyone else seems to have highly fit athletic types, with a bit of height.

Outside Carlos and Mings the team is 6' or less.....Thats a lot of players, to not be able to change much, in that area of our game.....a small one goes off, and a small one goes on....how is that addressing a lack of physicality.

Right now, Headers at the back post are like Nukes, they are destroying us......In contrast at the other end, we have 2 sub 6' frontmen posing as No9's, who rarely head the ball, but we still pump in high crosses, more in hope, than design.

We finished 14th last season, with 19 defeats.....sure we have bought hopefully 2 good players for our first team( Couts was already here, contributing to that 19 games).....the rest are back up, how is that going to change much.

I will cringe when we sign anymore.....because this team needs some muscle badly, and I just don't see an appetite for it.....We think we are a re-incarnation of Barcelona, but opponents turn up and just shove us off the ball, no wonder we can't create anything.

[StanBalaban]

First day anomalies happy. I don't expect Fulham to go toe-to-toe with Liverpool this season, just like Burnley didn't push-on by beating Chelsea. Hell, Tony Moon scored a 3rd against Arsenal on the opening day, so they can be a poor indicator of what's to come.

 

Yesterday was alarming however. We looked really poor, devoid of ideas, strategy, shape, leaving us unable to create anything. In addition to being poorly setup, individual players looked like they forgot how to play football - lacking touch, passing and fight.

 

Gerrard knew that Bournemouth were stacked with tall players, yet left our tallest and most physically imposing CB on the bench. I'd probably go as far as suggesting their goals wouldn't have happened had Mings been on the pitch.

 

That doesn't mean we'd have won though, as we never looked like scoring. Poorly delivered crosses into the box seemed to be our only plan - dealt easily by Bournemouth's defenders. They kept us compact, and we didn't have any route through them. No overloads, no through balls, no change of pace once we had the ball under control, there was nothing.

 

On the plus side, Kamara looked quality and Carlos was largely solid. That's about it though. JJ and McGinn don't play well together in this "system". We know that Coutinho is a far better player than he's shown, but he's been in hugely inconsistent form, and yesterday was rubbish. Luiz came on for Kamara, when I think he and Bouba would be better playing together.

 

There were signs that Bailey and Cash can form an understanding, but that leaves us lopsided. In fact, Bailey started more centrally and could be useful there , or cutting in from the flanks to assist a striker, or have the pace to latch on to a through ball. Of which, Buendia needs to start in place of Phil for the next game. Traore and Samson could have been useful options on the bench too.

I fully expect more players in through the door, so I don't think Gerrard is going anywhere just yet, but Everton and Palace will tell us a lot more about what we can expect from this season. He's heaped a huge amount of unnecessary pressure on himself after that shitshow. You'd hope that one of our thousand coaches can see just how disjointed we are and put it right.

The next two games will decide how long Gerrard stays in the job. The one good thing is that, whenever he does leave, we'll have an excellent squad of players, some of whom would not be here without him.

Let's see who can actually get a tune out of them!

 

 

 

 

[CVByrne]

I hope this is just a blip, the next three games will let us know where this team is at. 

[CVByrne]

2 minutes ago, Blasterpocket68 said:

Disappointing game and performance but the biblical reaction again after 90 minutes of football is once again outstanding. 
 

 

It was always on the cards though

[lexicon]

4 minutes ago, Blasterpocket68 said:

Disappointing game and performance but the biblical reaction again after 90 minutes of football is once again outstanding. 
 

 

It's not come from just this 90 minutes, though, has it? There have been lingering concerns for some time now but most of those with concerns were happy to give him a pre-season to sort out the issues. Yesterday showed no evidence of that, coupled with big decisions that don't seem to be right ones. 

[rodders0223]

6 minutes ago, Blasterpocket68 said:

Disappointing game and performance but the biblical reaction again after 90 minutes of football is once again outstanding. 
 

 

It's not that though is it. How many of us sat last season and watched this exact blueprint of football played out repeatedly?

Managers salary has gone up. Season tickets have gone up. Wage bill has gone up.

The football has been the worst since Bruce.

[AVFCforever1991]

7 minutes ago, Blasterpocket68 said:

Disappointing game and performance but the biblical reaction again after 90 minutes of football is once again outstanding. 
 

 

losing to a newly promoted side on the opening day of the season will always garner a reaction, you know why? because it's not good enough

[thunderball]

Missed the game, how did we play?

The worst thing is I am still going to have to watch it knowing the result and reading all this!

We had a poor midfield last season, and despite Kamara arriving we are still short. Pre-season was the same, and the Brisbane game showed we are clueless in attack. Surely this means we have to add the Bentacur/Philips/Bissouma player we have been looking for?

For me the problem is McGinn and an over reliance on Ramsey. Please buy quality.

 

 

[JAMAICAN-VILLAN]

Welp.

It's a new day and i'm still sore.

Sometimes rewatching the match, or highlights can make you think " You know what, we weren't actually too bad "

But i fear trying this with yesterdays game would just piss me off more.

[a-k]

58 minutes ago, Shirtman said:

Yes, I've felt pretty much the same myself. Last season, so many said our squad was not good enough for the football Gerrard wants to play.  Good managers, in all walks of life, get the best out of what's available to them. Scott Parker did that yesterday.

I'm convinced that if managers had been swapped, we would have won in a breeze yesterday