While I’m disappointed that we lost, I really don’t think that was too bad a performance.
Indeed, for probably 60 minutes, I thought we were the better side overall.
I asked for the side to get Wesley into the game more and although I’m not sure we achieved that, he did score one and McGinn and Grealish were excellent. There’s no way you can fault their effort and McGinn particularly, ran himself into the ground, which with his engine takes some doing.
Simply put, we were defending resolutely and actually dominated Arsenal’s midfield, but when you’re working that hard, you can’t keep it up and Arsenal came back into it more and more as the lads tired.
We did really well to get the second goal so quickly after they’d scored their penalty, but as the game wore on, we were sitting deeper and deeper and inviting them on.
That, plus their obvious technical skill made them look very threatening and you could see the equaliser and the winner coming.
But that performance leaves me highly encouraged.
Yes, it’s disappointing that we’ve lost again against 10 men, but to go 2-1 up at the Emirates in the first place is no mean feat in itself.
Let’s keep it real and remember that this was Arsenal away.
A game the law of averages says we’ll lose.
Did we create enough chances to have won the game?
My poor memory says I’m not sure, as Arsenal had a good few and probably more than us, to be honest.
What I do know is, is that in my opinion today’s performance would have given us a win against quite a few Premier league sides.
So while I’m disappointed, I’m not annoyed in the slightest.
We’ll be ok this season, no worries.
Onwards and upwards.
It seems I’m somwhat in the minority and many think Smith blew this game.
I really don’t see it like that and think we just couldn’t keep it up.
I’m not convinced that Smith told the players to go deeper in the slightest.
Not this time, at least.
If he did, that was a major mistake.
Badger, I think we should all be annoyed today. Only Villa seem able to snatch defeat from the claws of victory. Elmo on for Trezeguet isn’t a straight swap. It was a negative hold onto what we have. Smith and the players blew it today. Arsenal were there for the taking at 2-1. There defence was all over the place and they were reeling. We won’t get better opportunities to get 3 points at the Emirates than we did today. Also you mentioned we were tired! Really? Against 10 men? Fitness levels should have been a problem for them, not us.
Hopefully tomorrow when I’ve calmed down I will see some positives but at the moment I’m struggling.
I have to admit I don’t like Elmo coming on for Trezuguet either. The comms on the stream I watched thought that he’d had a good game too and I thought it was a strange sub.
As for fitness, it was suggested that Wesley was blowing hard ridiculously early on (first half, I think).
But there’s no doubt McGinn and Grealish ran their guts out today. One of the comms kept on about it and made the point that he thought today’s mids were either defensive or attacking and didn’t realise you could have both in today’s game.
If it was Smith that made us sit deeper, he cost us big time.
I reiterate that I don’t think he did.
His comments will be interesting.
Cracking post on here some with interesting views, I honestly think our problem was tirednes , our midfielders efforts started to show in heavy legs Mcginn being one of them, I love the man for all he’s doing but he ran out of steam creating our goals. Smith and Terry should have picked up on that in substitutions and its not knocking the players, Arsenal are good footballing side and we played good football but it needed us to match them in efforts the reason being we run out of steam. I have not lost Faith in Villa we will not go down, I can see us being mid table and gaining hope of being in one of the top 6 in time.
Badger, do posts with YouTube links get blocked?
I’m not sure BFR, but don’t think so.
Hmmm, my posts with links aren’t coming through. Links which explain why the player dropped deeper…
They’re not being blocked on the site’s part.
Never mind, they’re not coming through, so I’ll use words. The reason why the players dropped deeper is, quite simply, because their balls aren’t big enough for the PL.
I hope there is a ‘yet’ but we’ll have to wait and see…
Love your optimism Badger but good performances just aren’t enough. Of course going to Arsenal is not easy but we need to take these opportunities when they arise.
Based on the stats, we did have more than enough opportunities to win the game with 9 shots on target to Arsenal’s 6. You can work out the conversion rate but it seems we again failed to take our chances.
If you need a comparison, look how Sheffield United managed their game at Everton, a team tipped for a top six finish, and with a far less expensively assembled squad than Villa.
Is Wilder proving to be the more able manager?
Arsenal also had a good many chances just off target too.
As for Everton, we beat them, remember, albeit at home, but yes point taken.
Again, I’m not convinced Smith told them to sit back.
Indeed, it was pointed out later on during the game that Mings was telling them to push out.
I think if anyone blew it, it was the players in not having the energy left because they didn’t manage their own performance levels.
I don’t know if you watched the game Hitch, but trust me the lads worked their guts out and I have very little to complain about.
Of course, if I’m wrong and it was down to Smith, he needs to bloody well stop it.
No I didn’t see the game that’s why I have raised questions and not directly criticised the performance other than our inability to make the extra man count. Surely, it should have been Arsenal players running out of gas not ours?
The general consensus appears to be there are more positives than negatives to be taken but I also see some questions being asked of both the players and management team about game management.
I agree with Sid that some fans reactions are way out of line as I posted after the Palace game but that doesn’t mean we shouldn’t ask legitimate questions.
I said it a few posts ago, Hitch. It’s similar to last season in that we have to tough it out until attacking reinforcements arrive in January. Last year it was defence that was paper-thin. This year it’s the other end. The fact that we’ve, generally, competed in all the games, gives a bit of hope…
i totally agree with badgers write up and feel it covers my own. i understand fans feeling angry, i am totally gutted but badger is right. loads of positives to take from this game. loads of lessons also to be learned.
villa was the better team 11 v 11 we continued this against ten, but midway through the second half the team collectively realised the scalp they were close to beating and they bottled it. grabbing the second goal should have been the lesson learned but they immediately committed the same errors all over again.
smith will have had no influence on the team withdrawing like the french army waving the white flags. they collectively all decided to keep what they had but they had no idea how to see the game out and that is a lesson they need to learn quickly. personally the correct thing was to hunt the third and arsenal were there for the taking. they were allowed back in twice and they were never gonna allow villa back a third time.
There are definitely lessons to be learned Nath.
Whether it’s Smith or the players, I think we will learn them.
Obviously it’s a case of the sooner, the better.
Yes Nath “They bottled it”.
I got soaked getting there but I was steaming on the way home. Grealish – you are the captain and this is your doing, if not on the orders of Smith. We sat back at 1-0 and a man up. Arsenal’s only hope of scoring was not a breakaway our defenders are too quick for that and far better when they are in space chasing a runner down and tackling him than cramped in a crowded box where their speed is not a factor. Arsenal needed to ‘earn’ free kicks around our box and pens. To prove the point as we invited them on they got a penalty and equalised. However the Arsenal fans if not their team were demoralised by the rapid response and our great second goal.
That was the point where we should have gone on the attack, with a man over. Yes at a risk of breakaways but Arsenal had show little aptitude for carrying the ball upfield without losing it, so the chance of an equaliser from that tactic was small.
What we did was play to our weakness not our strength. Villa have been poor for years at sitting back in their area and inviting teams on to them – they are accident prone in that role. Sure enough when an attempted clearance hit a body the next Villa player – maybe Heaton – did not get the ball out of our area and it was headed baack over him for 2-2. Villa attacked briefly proving they had the legs for it but not the stomach, then finally yet another defensive lapse gave away the free kick. Good as it was – had nobody done their homework on Abamayang and seen he usually shoots across goal and inside the far post?
All that hard work wasted by bad tactical decisions while we are ahead. The on-field skipper, not the manager, is responsible: unless Smith says otherwise.
Smith has confirmed what we all know. The players lost their “fearlessness”. Like Nath said, they bottled it. Like I said, balls not big enough I’m afraid. It’s all very well having slick haircuts and swanky cars and outfits, but to be a PL ‘baller’, you need something substantial in between the tools of your trade.
So we can’t question Smith this time, at least.
I’m still not convinced by Elmo coming on for Trezuguet though.
That smacks of just doing him a favour, to me.
That’s a bit harsh, Badger. Trez may have been tiring after not playing for 3 weeks, while Elmo is a seasoned PL player with more defensive qualities, but can also put a quality ball in. Nothing wrong with putting these fresh legs on in my opinion.
For what it’s worth, we shouldn’t panic yet. Had we not been screwed at Palace and done our job today, we’d be joint 7th with Spurs. The margins are fine. The sooner the players realise that, the better.
I have said this before when we were doing the same stuff in the Championship……Why the hell do we have a manager and back room staff on the bench…get up and shout their lungs out to get the players back up the pitch…Elmo – or anyone _ should have appeared earlier as both our wide men are rubbish…Grealish and even Tyrone showed them what their job is …ATTACK…..Burnley next…Oh dear….
Badger I buy into your analysis of today’s game.
My only criticism of today is some of the comments made by Villa fans.
First one I heard was on talkSPORT. One of our own rang up and said Smith should never have been appointed. This made me angry whilst driving. What utter tosh this fan spoke. Danny Kelly have him short shrift and closed him down.
Next I read another one of our own states Grealish is a luxury player and we can’t afford luxury players. These comments were made to Robbie Savage (who I have little time for) who had to put this fan right.
I wrote a response on this site before the season that we all need to stick together. Just think back to when we were relegated from the Premier, we were a million miles from our cure situation.
We all need to hold our nerve. We will have disappointing days, but I think we have enough to stay up. We are currently finding silly mistakes cost. I see promise, just need to learn quickly:
Spurs – had our chance but clinically dispatched in last 15 minutes
Bournemouth- taught a lesson about mistakes
Everton- showed what we can do
Crystal Palace – poor performance but should have gained a draw
West Ham – defensively sound just lacked cutting edge
Arsenal – scored 2 away so close.
No where have we been thrashed, just needed to be smarter which comes with experience.
UTV
Spot on, Sid.
BFR, interestingly, Birmingham Live have Trezeguet as our man of the match and even suggest bringing Elmo on helped cost us the game.
I wouldn’t go quite that far, myself.
Sidforever, fair comments.
I think us fans are pretty much together, but you’ll always get dissenters and I think a lot of it is born out of frustration.
I was bloody fuming after the West ham game for example, but on reflection thought the result was ok.
Very good point about us not being thrashed. especially when we’ve played two of the usual top six in our first six games.
Results will come and as long as we survive, I’ll be reasonably happy.
Whilst we’re a much better side than 2015/16, it brought back memories of that 3-2 at Leicester early in the relegation season. On top and in the ascendancy, and we blew it through woeful mismanagement. No doubting that killed a huge amount of confidence in our squad that year and todays horrific final half hour could have the same effect I fear.
I so want Dean to succeed but he’s been found wanting so far with some schoolboy tactical naivety at this level. Obviously it doesnt help that our ball retention is woeful but the centre midfield desperately needed fresh legs.
Bitterly disappointing again – some people will say its Arsenal etc but this is the worst Arsenal side in years, even decades, and against 10 men the chance was there for the taking. Burnley with their physical approach IMO will be tougher for us.
We’re being handed glorious opportunities and we’re blowing it. The sign of a team that wont stay up sadly – those that say results will come soon. Well in the PL you really dont get that time – reality is the next 3 could break Dean Smith if he fails to get at least 5-6 points and on current form, I cant back us at all. today will be a game we look at in May and think if only….. its that huge IMO
Generally agree Beamo but it’s too early to panic. I made similar points to yours after the Bournemouth game. It will be a tough season, clearly, but it’s too early to write of Smith and the players. The comparison with the Leicester game is a fair one. However, comparisons are a simple way we make sense of things; I do it a lot.That game was a different era completely. The effect of today’s game could go either way; yes, it could destroy confidence or it could galvanize them and make them determined to grind a result out against Burnley…
Just watching the analysis on the BBC. We’ve been shafted out of a stone-wall penalty and their goals were defensive errors. What was Mings doing for Chamber’s goal???
Same old story. Individual errors and playing against the ref cost us. Essentially, they didn’t have 10 men; the officials were on their side. We played well and deserved at least a point.
I think we need some ruthlessness. If we keep getting screwed by the officials, that should come because the siege mentality will set in.
We’ll be OK. When we play well defensively, we don’t score; when we play well offensively, we cock-up in deference. Just got to get it right both ends!
UTV
Incredible. Moments after saying we need some ruthlessness, I quote the commentator of the Liverpool-Chelsea match: “Liverpool absolutely ruthless!”
Hmmmm…
Analysis of Liverpool’s full-backs is staggering. Sorry to say but it highlights what a weak link Taylor is. He’s not going to provide and assists or goals, is he?
We have an 11m left back who can cross the ball not even making the bench.
fbf though Benno, he’s only just back from injury but if he doesn’t get a start when up to fitness then questions need to be asked because Taylor doesn’t offer anywhere near enough.
True, but was he even making the bench before he got injured? It just seems a bit weird to me. Smith obviously doesnt rate his defensive abilities.
In which case, if we go 3,4,3, Targett will be absolutely perfect for the left sided role! I’m not giving up on this formation idea!
Absolutely gutted at the end of the game. Thought we were excellent for 60 mins, then just ran out of steam and let them back into it. Were they not down to ten men, it would have been understandable, but really it was poor game management from us. Mainly as we sat back too deep again, but also Grealish and McGinn were dead on their feet, and we had Hourihane and Lansbury sitting on the bench.
Some definite positives today, but what a kick in the teeth. And how we didnt get the penalty decision from VAR I will never know.
I didn’t see the penalty incident but one little publicised fact about VAR is that the ref can overrule any VAR decision if he so decides – so having already sent a man off, did the ref bottle giving another decision against a top six London side – or am I being too cynical? 🙂
Having calmed down a little, my reflection of the game hasn’t really changed. Fact is when they went down to 10 men, they scored 3 and we scored 1! At 2-1 however, they were there to be beaten. Smith needed to take off El Ghazi who was anonymous and McGinn ran himself into the ground after 60 minutes. I would have put Hourihane and Lansbury to keep the energy levels up. Smith cocked up yesterday, as did the players with poor mistakes. We have to take the positives from the game, which was the first hour and learn from the mistakes, which was poor tactics and defensive howlers. Also we need a non biased referee and VAR to give us penalties for obvious handballs!
On another note, I think there is an issue with Luiz who was fit but didn’t make the bench. Call me suspicious but I reckon there’s been a fallout, probably because Nakamba was first choice and he didn’t want to be a substitute. Or possibly nothing in it at all.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VXfbshZAk5U&fbclid=IwAR0rgg0WQrMXmGytGBquvv44zlDwtVsKi_xSnXzVvvBRuuihFx7z_LlDyiI
cheers for managers reaction post, i waited ages after the game, but i never did get to hear smith yesterday.
but he clearly stated that he never instructed them to back off or sit deep. i saw him during the second half, trying to bring them out before the second equalizer, i think mings also tried to push them out. no one person is too blame, it was done collectively. one player starts dropping off and the player next too him follows suit and before you know whats happening, all the team are now sitting deep and abandoning the press. its also human nature to sit on what you got than lose the lead over stretching as the team tires.
i was impressed with villa,how they went about stopping arsenal, but this good work all stopped when they decided to sit on the lead, its like i said before they did all the good work and then realised they could win this and started to get nervous. they stopped doing the stuff that got them into that very position. then arsenal got the pen and we switched back on and immediately scored the second and switched by to fearing arsenal and losing the lead.
i think over the six games we played, i have seen enough, to confidently say we can survive this league. but they have to start believing in themselves and the game plan they have. with each collapse we do, will only dent their fragile belief and increase the doubts.
The Sun reports that their winner shouldn’t have stood! More evidence that we were shafted! They weren’t really down to 10 men were they?
BFR, we were shafted 3 times on Sunday. Twice by Sokratis who tried to get Wesley sent off by shamefully head butting his own fist and then blocked a shot with his arm for what should have been a penalty. Their winner broke a new ruling about infringement I believe and shouldn’t have stood. We all keep saying that London and top 6 get things their way but ultimately it is costing us points and possibly premier league survival.
Just to make us feel even worse, I read that it was only the ninth time in premier league history, that a team already losing before going down to 10 men, have gone on to win the game.
Brighton up next tomorrow. Do we go for it or field a 2nd string team?
As I said before – what is the f*ing point of VAR if the ref can arbitrarily overrule it which is plain stupid. If you have an off field referee looking at monitors then his decision should stand where VAR is used.
I’m not against the use of technology but football needs to take a long hard look at how it’s being implemented because it’s not consistent. In cricket it’s now an exciting part of the game because the governing body learnt from earlier mistakes and now have a consistent approach which is balanced (in marginal decisions) between the umpires on the field and the third umpire watching the monitors.
At present in football there is not even a consistent approach between governing bodies or leagues let alone during a match. For it to be a success the fans have to buy into it and for that to happen it has to be used in a consistent and fair manner. At the moment none of that is true and it seems to me to create more controversy than it actually resolves,
Holte, it is costing us points and could cost us survival. If I was Mr Purslow, I would be drafting an eloquent letter to the PL chief, politely bringing this to his attention and suggesting that AVFC will sue the PL’s asses if we go down by the amount of points lost to inexcusable and obvious refereeing decisions. Give them something to think about; maybe they’ll then brief their refs that they can’t get away with being biased, as the media is all over their seriously dodgy decisions every week. Turn the tables on them!