That was a massively disappointing performance which leaves me wondering how we can come back now?
I can handle defeat if we’ve played ok or have been unlucky, but I struggle when we’ve played poorly and make no mistake about it, we did today. I’ll bet Dean Smith is fuming and rightly so.
I’m not sure if we got it tactically wrong or not, as there were so many poor performances that it was hard to tell.
When you have so many poor passes, it’s hard to tell what the team’s trying to do, but it often seemed that the idea was for Mings to hoof it long to Jack Grealish, possibly because the players didn’t trust our (lack of) midfield.
There was a stat that flashed up and it said our passing was actually more accurate than Bounemouth’s. I nearly fell off my chair when I saw it and it certainly didn’t seem like it.
And then there’s the fact that we lack creativity if you leave Grealish out of it.
He was head and shoulders our best player today, but even he can’t be relied on to carry a team through a whole game, although he did his best too.
The lack of movement was incredibly poor too, but what annoys me the most is that Bournemouth just looked much more up for it and did the basics right in pressuring us and working massively hard.
The good thing is that Samatta got his first goal, which was the first headed goal we’ve scored this season. I’m sure that tells me something, but I don’t know exactly what that is.
The goal apart, it was just depressing to see a team play so dysfunctionally and basically watch Grealish having to keep driving us forward. Where we’d be without him, I shudder to think and we’re in deep trouble as it is.
I’m off to drown my sorrows, as having to keep thinking about how poor we were is putting me on a proper downer.
We have an international break now and then it’s at home to Spurs on the 16th. Oh dear.
We’d better start getting some practice in, as it doesn’t seem like they’re doing much at Bodymoor Heath, does it?
If we continue to keep playing like that and let’s face it, we have been poor even during our recent victories, I currently see little chance of survival.
I really hope McGinn recovers quickly.
Just pure and utter rubbish today 🙁
Utter utter rubbish I’d say, I’m fuming over the way we played today, so many disfunctual ways we was playing, did anyone notice from the kick off Bournemouth had 4 players all heading to Grealish as the centre forward played the ball. As always he’s a marked man and we don’t know how to counter that in a game, Grealish is a footballer way ahead of anyone that played today, how is it our coaching staff are that far from being that bad they cannot work any games out. I’m not giving my money on going to Wembley, Man City will murder that side the way we played it.
Bill, you would think with Grealish being a marked man and like you said, usually has at least 2 players closing him down. Why don’t we ever seem to find the spare man. Especially when they went down to 10 men! Bournemouth started the game with zero confidence but were up for the battle which we couldn’t match. Our next few fixtures look really tough so today was a missed opportunity.
There are some positive factors. Villa are a fair weather side. Once the weather warms up so will we. Davis and Manatta at least look up for a battle, which Wesley didn’t – and whether he has the mentality for it or – El Ghazi does’nt have the physical strength.
On his performances to date Marvellous isn’t. I just hope he warms up with the weather. How Konsa was hooked at half time and Hause stayed on cannot have been on their first half showings. Luiz isn’t a battler. We might be able to carry one of them but not the lot.
I think villa should have brought other players in today as Tuesday match must have taken it out of this lot what with the excitement of the night mentally and physically.
What’s the point of having a squad if you don’t use it.3412 for next match must go with 2up top and grealish behind and 2wing backs.
We still in the any 3from6 for relegation and only need 17th shame we given Bournemouth 6points this season.we not as bad as the 60s that was awful.
Absolutely shocking today. No excuses for that sort of performance. Our inconsistency really is difficult to understand.
The amount of times we hoofed the ball straight out of play or directly to their keeper was just criminal. We were casual in possession, slow going forward and our passing was something else! Inexcusable in a 6 pointer like that.
Hard to think of too many positives. Oh yeah, Grealish is fantastic. Way too good for some of the clowns around him. Samatta and Davis played well too. Apart that there was nothing else good to report.
I hope McGinn is back sooner than they predicted, we need his help to get us out of this mess.
If you didnt watch the game, dont bother. It will just piss you off.
We keep losing the 6 pointers, that only spells one thing.
The problems that have plagued the club since O’Neil left are still there, and we are just so predictable it’s not even funny anymore, It’s like Groundhog Day, we are putting more effort into a poxy cup competition than Premier League survival, when we go back down it is back to square one minus our one shining star that is Jack Grealish.
We were very lucky other teams did our job for us today or we’d be in the bottom three tonight.
i agree the draw with hammers and seagulls was perfect and watford losing a two goal lead and losing at home was ideal. if only we we turned up and matched the opposition with the same amount of effort they put in.
It didn’t look right from kick off, the lads put the effort but something just didn’t work. First 20/25 mins Bournemouth had shot, after shot. Not sure if this was a Bournemouth tactic but I counted 5 players in our box and one Bournemouth player, the problem was we had just suffered an onslaught of three consecutive shots which, luckily for us ended up going over the bar. Bournemouth seemed very happy to surround the box and take shots from a little further out, not sure how you counter that but it happened time and time again and to me it made us look little daft as all I saw were villa shirts scurrying around a fairly composed Bournemouth attack. Second half was a little improved but Grealish dropped further and further back as the game went on. He put some great balls into the box as always which needed nothing more than contact with any legal body part to put it away.
Luis and Marvelous shouldn’t be starting in the same line up and should really be rotated, myself preferring Marvelous purely as he seems to break the run of play a little better, however after what I saw today, he made need to spend a few evenings staying on for shooting practice.
New striker looked half decent today and offers some good movement and fight in the box. Can’t help but think Trez and Elmo would have offered more service over Guilhert and El gahzi.
God, the more I write the more I find to fault.
Let’s just leave it as today was a total mess, hugely missed opportunity and potentially the first official nail in coffin.
Tomom
Tom, its how I viewed it, I cannot understand why we have players that say in their heads, Oh Well maybe next time, we need players that will fight, learn how to find space, understand how to move with the game, I’ll never see a player that’s killing himself by busting a gut to win, one man in our side has that in his heart Grealish, we miss a very important player in Mcginn who came down to show how to play the game, we pay the money but don’t get the rewards from some players, won’t be long before Samatta falls into not bothering like some we have. Wake up Villa or we will be back where we don’t belong.
Today’s episode is such a massive anticlimax after Tuesday. Holte Enders in the sky…and then back in the gutter. Talk about a rollercoaster season!
Rough result today but results around us in the bottom 6 were very favourable.
Very true, but we can’t keep relying on other teams to mess up really.
We need to be getting points, especially against the teams around us.
We’re now joint bottom, along with Norwich for goals conceded.
Which just confirms that our defence really isn’t very good.
I’m not sure what that says about John Terry being our defensive coach?
Well actually I am, but don’t want to say it.
Sod it.
Either he, or our defenders are poor.
We are a shambles in defence. Our full backs are weak defensively, and do little to stop crosses coming into the box, and the three in the middle are all doing their own thing. There is no real organisation, or dominant player there, and a simple cross causes mayhem. Mings tries to look casual and in control, but loses possession too often and puts us under pressure.
Luiz and Nakamba look like they have no idea what’s going on around them, and don’t help us retain the ball. They aren’t quick enough either.
El Ghazi is a lightweight who often brings nothing to the side, with occasional flashes of brilliance.
I don’t know the Opta stats but the team doesn’t work hard enough, often enough.
We all know we are in big trouble and could easily finish bottom. The weaknesses are so fundamental, and although we put in the occasional good performance we seem unable to maintain it. Looking at the table it doesn’t need a huge change to get us to safety, but it’s getter harder to see it happening.
A quick well done to Samatta for his first goal though. He was on the front foot and quickest to react, and brave as well.
Trying to find a bright point, West Ham, Brighton and Palace haven’t won in their last five games.
And Spurs have only won one.
Maybe there is some hope after all?
And Spurs play Citeh tomorrow.
The buck has to stop with the manager and coaching staff, simple as that.
I know it’s a new team but they were playing better football at the beginning of the season, they are getting worse week after week, when in reality they should know each other a little better by now and both the football and the results should be improving.
It isn’t.
What are they doing in training?
Absolutely baffled.
That’s a good point.
if you think about early on in the season, we were playing some really nice footy.
We certainly seem to have got poorer since that run of really tough games.
Suggests a lack of confidence to me.
Think nyland would have saved those goals.send Terry back to Chelsea get pulis in as defence coach.does anybody know if they’re going to be training during the winter break or must they take a complete break?
It’s only a break from domestic games. They’ll still be training, but quite often teams go somewhere warm, maybe because there’s less risk of injury???
Or maybe it’s a reward? I’ve never been sure.
Our lot ought to get double training, as they certainly look like they need it.
Samattas goal today was our first headed goal of the season, if that isn’t an indication to how poor our wingers are and how poor the positional awareness of our strikers are, then I don’t know what is.
Also, the fact we have only drawn four games all season suggests we predominantly either win or lose, which raises further questions.
It’s our pisspoor defence, imo.
I’ve moaned about it all season, it seems.
That plus frankly, I don’t think “closing out games” is part of Smith’s vocabulary.
As for positional awareness I assume you mean Wesley?
It’s something I’ve often criticised about his game.
He just never seems to be in the right place, to me.
Thanks maybe they should be doing extra defence training especially how to defend free kicks and corners plus heading practice in opposite goal mouth.
Been looking at games left can only see another 9points take us to 34 we are doomed and probably get points deduction when back in championship because of FFP
I though the same but it does help to look at the form of the teams around us and the fixtures they have. It’s going to be tight that’s for sure
It does look bleak Roy.
What worries me is that I believe we’ve only won one game against any team in the top half of the table.
Never say never though and it isn’t over until the fat lady……
yesterday game was really poor, first off it was a game of two halves and both had major faults. first half we simply thought we just had to turn up. we never matched Bournemouth work rate. they pressed our three defenders that high. this had a major barring on us misplacing lots off passes. we just couldn’t live with the ball pressure that they applied.
second half i doubt the cherries would have been able to continue to press, having a man sent off just put a end to that tactic, quicker than them running out of steam. villa now found themselves with lots of ball and no pressure as they defended much deeper. but we just moved the ball too damn slow, to play against ten men you need patience, but that doesn’t mean move the ball slowly and safely, you have to switch the ball from one side to the other to catch out the defenders you shuffled across. Bournemouth expended loads of energy first half and really should have not been able to last playing the second half with a man less. they did manage too but only because villa just plodded along same tempo SLOWLY. they failed to make the pitch wide as possible. we just had no answers to first half press, Alamo second half deep no space.
lastly i don’t like ripping into players, but nakamba really should be able to kick the ball at goal without converting the attempt out the ground. players that can not shoot straight end up in goal, his body shape was all wrong for both attempts. the players all need to take a long hard look at themselves and ask the question. do they really belong at the top level. if you fail to prepare you best prepare to fail. only player in villa colours who can say they have enough ability and work rates was grealish i also remove the new striker from this criticism being it was his first full game.
I quite agree Nath, our defence is poor to say the least, I would have kept Chester and got rid of Hoause, Targett poor , Guilbert poor, that’s where we giving goals away , I feel sorry for Grealish working his socks off and getting nowhere, Bournemouth had a plan , go at Villa and they will give ground, and they did. Every team in the premiership know that but unfortunately we have players that cannot read a game, Yes its down to coaching and I’m thinking the same as you all Terry is not the answer to our prays, we do need a understudy that’s a proven person and not someone their to learn his trade.
Hard I know but its costing us greatly, I don’t like to slang players off but please take a look at how our backs perform not to mention wing backs. Poor players…
i think yesterday shambles was player faults i really do. they are not up to premiership standards. manager setup/tactic has to be applied on the field.i just do not see enough real premiership quality in our team excluding grealish. they had the game plan, but could not execute it because Bournemouth wouldn’t allow them first half. well that is the name of the game. one team is always going to try to stop the other. our players do not like to be pressed. they crumbled when city did it and yesterday they were like a punch drunk prize fighter stumbling around on unsteady feet.
the manager doesn’t tell our defenders to hit the ball long to the guy in row z. this was result of the Bournemouth press and villa players lack of movement and quality on the ball. players are given a blueprint of the managers tactics, they are responsible to carrying them out on the field. sometimes they have to deviate from this if the opposition are preventing them from do what was instructed. its game management our players lack, collectively too young and together are mostly premiership virgins. its ok when things are going your way but when the shit hits the fan, we have nobody who can lead our players out of the trouble they are in.
yesterdays game was massive and i believe it will be the one that sinks us. but on a positive note like bum said the other results went our way. so we live again but not beating our cherries will come back to haunt us i believe
Without wanting a barrage of abuse, does anyone else on here think Grealish holds onto the ball too long too many times? Whether it’s down to lack of trust in his teammates or he hasn’t got the awareness to see a quick pass before he receives the ball. For the opposition it gives them time to reorganise. The coaching philosophy seems to be pass to Jack and hope he comes up with the goods, that’s pretty much how I see our attacking style anyway. As mentioned already, our attack is too slow and ponderous. El Ghazi, Guilbert and Targett have pace but it’s rarely used.
not sure jack wants to be hogging the ball,but team needs outweigh his own . the reality is he does have a lot of the ball .one reason being is lack of quality around him in the team. if he was in a better team, he would not need to do quite as much as he is doing now in villa team. but saying that teams always lean on their better players and the best teams try to spread around the responsibilities.
guilbert only had to roll the ball past the full back to grealish who pointed the way. but guilbert over hit the pass by miles. this is what will frustrate Jack, that and the nakamba shots he lay on the plate for him.only for him to blast it high and wide and was poorly struck poor Technic. i guess this will be the reason jack will push for a move this summer even if we fluke it and stay in premiership
Nath, if Grealish is called upon for the next England squad and gets to play, it will be interesting to see how he plays with quality players around him. Also training with better players than he is used to will help him too. Downside when Villa players do get called up means they are off to top six side sooner rather than later.
yes it will be good for him to finally play for england. if we are honest he is long overdue his chance. southgate has ignored him long enough. almost forcing him to leave villa to get in the international scene
Totally agree Holte66, I hope and pray he gets a shot at the England games, Yes it will help him to see as to why we are sloppy team. It’s not him but the ones around him, again he holds onto the ball looking for players to find spaces, our players are slow upstairs to create moves for themselves.
That’s the way it looks to me Bill. Apart from Targett occasionally, none of the others are on the same wavelength as him, so he is holding onto possession in the hope one of them finds space.