Merry Christmas all!
I watched most of the Leeds game and I was absolutely livid at the way we threw the game away at the final whistle.
I thought the ref was shocking and seriously wonder how paid officials can get so many calls wrong.
Regardless, I thought Leeds were probably the better side overall.
Did they deserve the win?
I don’t know.
But it is what it is. We’re going to lose some games, simple as that. A 94th minute goal conceded still remains disappointing though.
So gutting that I just didn’t fancy posting anything about it at the time.
That said, I think given our defence, we’re doing quite well.
To keep things in perspective, we gave Leeds a pretty good game. If you accept that they’re looking favourites to win the title at the moment, we have much to look forward to, if Dean Smith can get the right players (read defenders) in.
Surely we have to recall Elphick and then add a decent left back, meaning we will look better?
What’s important, is that I thought the team ran their guts out for the manager and that bodes well.
Our promotion hopes aren’t over for a moment, in my opinion.
Which is why I’m extremely confident that we can beat Swansea.
Squad news and Grealish is out.
Hands up, as much as I thought we wouldn’t miss him, we have.
He definitely adds creativity and we look slightly lacking without him.
Yes, we can still score goals, but we still lack that added clever pass, which Grealish brings at times.
Tuanzebe is out too and that’s probably currently a bigger loss, as he’s really started to look the business recently, in the way he’s played so calmly and without fuss. He also plays out too, something else we lack.
On Swansea’s part there’s still a bit of doubt about Wilfried Bony, who’s still on the recovery trail after an anterior cruciate jobby.
Oli McBurnie and Bersant Celina are available, as is Daniel James. I’ve never heard of any of them.
While we haven’t quite been getting the results we want lately, I’m still optimistic that we can out-score the opposition.
As Smith said, Leeds are probably the best team we’ve played under him.
Hence I don’t see Swansea being so tough.
A nice 2-1 win for us, I reckon.
What we can well do without is yet another draw.
We need the points.
Comments
103 responses to “Brief thoughts on the Leeds game; We move on and will beat Swansea”
We looked a bit off the pace at times today. Leeds game took a lot out of us and maybe morale was a bit low as well after losing it late on. Happy with the win, but we miss Grealish. His ability to receive the ball from the defence and hold onto it, allowing us to recover our shape is really important. Still in touch with the play off positions.
Well done to Nyland. Got us out of jail at the death.
Well done to Nyland! Credit where it’s due. He just needs to earn about another 10 points for the team then his slate is wiped clean…
On a less serious note, watch this lot – makes Nyland look like Schmeichel at his peak. Absolutely hilarious. The top 2 are side-splitting. Pick your favourite! :’)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=af6nDyA2uAs&pbjreload=10
Just been reading our current injury list; on top of a Taylor, Tuanzebe and Grealish, add Jedinak, O’Hare, Doyle-Hayes and Lansbury – couldn’t make it up!
We seem to pick up too many injuries. Is it just bad luck or training methods? Who knows! I managed to watch match just after Hourihane goal, so can’t comment really, other than we were lucky to hang on at the end with them hitting the post and penalty. At least Hyland can take credit for something positive for once. El Ghazi though, what was he thinking giving away such a cheap penalty. We won though which is better than I expected so maybe we can string some wins together now. Does anyone know how long Grealish is out for? We miss the way he breaks play up when we need it and how he attracts a couple of the opposition which in turn creates space for his teammates.
Holte – watched the match and thought we did enough to edge it – overall we defo had the better chances. We played poorly first half hour but were the better side each side of half time.
Last I heard / read they didn’t seem to know what the injury to Grealish is – either a stress fracture or some kind of muscle problem – either way it sounded like a few weeks at best.
Losing both Grealish and Tuanzebe weakens the team considerably.
We were the better team or at least had the better chances by far before the goal. I can’t agree with you about them hitting the post. I couldn’t understand the commentator saying we we were lucky there as it was a very tame effort which if it hadn’t hit the post would have been easily gathered by Nyland. Was great to save the pen though. With singings in Jan and some injured players coming back we should improve significantly
I cannot believe other teams don’t have the problems we have, in injuries alone we have a team out of action, what date dose the door open for bringing in and calling back players.I’m looking at those above and creeping slowly away.It’s nail bite time again.
i thought we showed buckets of character yesterday, first half we struggled, second half we overcome our struggles and managed to get ahead while not playing our best. but what impressed me most was once we got ahead we managed the game better. no need to chase the game as much as before. we slowed down and broke up swansea momentum. we still almost thrown it away right at the death, clumsy challenge by el gazia who had a far better game yesterday than against leeds, nyland to the rescue with a fine save, penalty saves are always instinctive,even if you guess the right way you still have to adjust in flight. that will give him confidence and our team most importantly. its not always about playing well scoring loads, but winning when your struggling or not playing your best is what great teams do best.
There are rumours circulating that Grealish could be out for a couple of months, although nothing official has been said. With Tuanzebe out for a couple of months and ‘possibly’ Grealish too, we might need to look at a creative midfielder in January seeing as the U23’s aren’t good enough apparently. Momentum is building on Elphick coming back which makes sense. We can then switch Bree to RB because he is the future. Recall Mitch Clark and buy a quality young LB. I would think we need to offload one or two from either Lansbury, Jedinak, Whelan and Bjarnasson. Maybe we can terminate Richards and McCormacks contracts. Also Bunn, Steer and the loan goalkeeper whose name escapes me will have to be looked at. We have to get a few wins on the bounce now to break into top 6. That won’t be easy away to Preston and QPR at home. We all remember last season when QPR and Bolton turned us over after a great run.
I don’t know if you seen the game live it was said that they had watched penalty taken by Swansea and state that most was to the right of goal, someone doing their homework at last.Nath have to say the stream I had on that game was dire, it ripped stopped so I struggled to keep pace with it. Have to say yes bad 20 minutes but improved as game went on, just hope we can get our key players back quickly.
that is correct bill. i think they informed nyland the side the taker was most likely to attempt. but you still have to save um bill, having seen the pen again it was a poor pen wasn’t into the side or high enough was ideal but nyland still had to save it.
i have to say i fancy lansbury still has a role at the club and his game will be ideal for smiths tactics. under bruce he couldnt fit in his team or show his game off. but under smith he will be instructed to get forwards in the box at given times. i think if he can recover from injury and get into the team he will be a decent player for us.
also i think smith needs to address the holding mid we don’t have a player who can distribute the ball like a us quarter back. i watched Brentford and thats how they dominated the game. they had ball playing holding mid like bannan could hayes do it i think he could but we have to allow smith to say when the kids are ready he will know best he sees them,
Holte, Nath – problem is, as I understand it, is that Hayes is either injured or ill so I’m not sure him not playing is about his ability.
i seen his early this season and his standards have fallen to those of last season where he was immaculate with the ball. i doubt smith will want to trust a newbie with such a vital role, it wouldnt surprise me if smith went back to brentford and bought a few of theirs he knows them trusts them.
Dean Smith has told BBC West Midlands Sport that Aston Villa are making progress as they look to bring in new players in January.
Villa managed to keep a clean sheet against Swansea City yesterday, as they picked up a 1-0 win at the Liberty Stadium.
But Smith has not been convinced that Villa’s defence is good enough to last the pace.
It seems that Dean Smith is well aware our defence is under par and has irons in the fire for the January window. Pleased to know.
Sounds encouraging Bill. I don’t think he has any choice but to recall Elphick – probably in preference to Mitch Clark although it would be good to see Clark back as well.
Given the criticism (fairly) of Bruce’s failure to adjust game tactics, I’m slightly surprised no one has (yet) picked up on Deano’s change of tactics after 30 minutes which coincided with us getting more of the ball and playing much better. It was very noticeable how he pushed McGinn further up the pitch and he was very unlucky not to score (the ball rebounding off the GK’s head!). If el Ghazi’s challenge warranted a penalty so did the one on McGinn when he was about to poke the ball into the net.
Nath, I thought this is something you would have picked up on?
if i post tactics i am damned by those smarter than me and if i dont i also am damned. tell me how i can please everybody i love to help
tactics are not new, they have always been in the game. every team use um and during & every game one team will out manoeuvre the other and during every game that team will adjust . so villa made a slight adjustments yesterday to retain more ball. this also is why i suggest a barry bannan type will be better at the base of our midfield. whelen doesn’t have the range of passing to start off villa moves,
Hey Nath, my comment wasn’t meant as a criticism of you or anyone else for that matter. Apologies if it seemed otherwise.
The point I was trying to make was the difference between Bruce and Smith’s approach and I wanted to recognise Smith’s contribution to the improvement in our performance rather than getting into the technical details.
i know what you meant, but truth is we fans don’t agree and talking tactics is a no no but i love things like that. why we do stuff and how things go wrong. smith has been a breathe of fresh air. he has released the players to be able to express themselves. but he also demands hard work. he will be a good manager for us iam sure .
odds on villa have shortened on promotion, to were we was before a ball was kicked. which is a positive thing cause we drifted out loads once season started
smith has had no preseason with these players. has has none of his own players. so to come in and change the style and change the mentality is great. if he can had to our squad and strengthen us. we could still reach the promise land this year.
leeds and norwich both don’t have great players or even very good ones,but they have great fight and determination to not get beat just like cardiff had, that will make um hard to catch and pass. wba are looking strong in 3rd and the smart money will be on them on autos. if we can finish play offs it will be the next best thing, wont be easy but you would have to fancy our chances of beating anybody from this division. smith will get us up this year. he has kept us in the race with players probably most not to his fancy. so we should be stronger if he does indeed add his player types
How on earth did you think we wouldn’t miss Grealish? Our best player by a mile. With him playing against Leeds we win that game as, forget about his attacking, he is an outlet for us, rarely loses the ball and wins lots of fouls which is invaluable in seeing out a win. Sign a few ball playing defenders in Jan and we will be comfortably in play offs come May
i said we are more able to cope without grealish than under bruce where he was the heart of our team. therefore we are more able to cope without him under smith who focussing more on the team than individuals. injuries are a part of the game. his role will was ttaken by another player and they have a chance to shine.
Actually Nath, I suspect Sid’s question was aimed at me.
Sid, I reckon Smith is more about the team and not individual players.
Rightly so, imo, because heads can get turned and players will have ambitions at leaving for bigger money/prospects.
I’m ambivalent about Grealish, fwiw.
Yes, he’s skill-wise the best player at the club, by a mile.
But I’m not at all convinced he produces anywhere near what he should.
Hasn’t Hourihane got way more goals than him? (and he’s a player who, on average does very little in games, imo).
That said, I do believe Grealish adds to the team, with free kicks and drawing players.
But he still has lots of room for improvement for me.
Opinions, opinions 🙂
one tactical thing i notice under smith. is with us playing one up front Abraham. when we don’t have the ball it would be generally his role to harass the goalkeeper and defenders, so they don’t pass it around themselves, but under smith he has them alternating this so not to burden one player lol also they don’t press the goalie until its a forces pass back and all off them are pressing, that is stuff that i find really interesting.
Bolasie & Ghazi both helped out their full backs yesterday better, but Bolasie just seems to go back as deterrent rather than to put his foot in. both these two share the load with Abraham. not forgetting hourihane and Mcginn
Abraham was blowing his top at his midfield, they failed to help him attacking goal .I don’t blame McGinn he’s the only player at times getting stuck in, the little guy all over the place after the ball more like him would do us good.
thats all character building lol my old mate used to say bill. he was letting his mates know he needs them closer. its great to see that they are all demanding off each other. midfielders are the engines, they have to support the forwards but also the defenders will also be blasting them for not tracking back if they neglect that part. often see hutton doing that.
1st match I have not watched or listened to for years…..Boxing Day shopping (sad)….and only saw the extensive highlights on Quest- ha ha – so this is the best I have seen so far…..
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sH0IebFfU94&g4id=5
Seems PNE’s injury list is as critical as ours so it’s who has the better second XI – on paper, you’d have to say Villa so I’ll call this a win but won’t be surprised by a draw.
Assume no red button Saturday!
Hitch, I think red button is only available for midweek games. It might be okay for QPR game. Having 3 games within a week will push squad depth to the limit. Even with the injuries we should be better suited to cope than Preston and QPR. If we can get 6 points from these 2 games we should be sitting in a play off position with the transfer window open.
totally agree badger about grealish. i have said recently about grealish injury and we wouldn’t miss him as much as say last year. i don’t mean he isn’t our best player any more. cause i do believe he is the most effective player.but now under smith we do have other players that are dangerous too
but like badger says and i totally agree, smith has brought in many slight changes sofar and one of them is no reliance on one player its more focussed on team. we are coping really well with grealish’s absence. still would rather him be in the team but we are coping very well.
under bruce he would often hold on to the ball too long. or the ball would end up at his feet when our team run out of ideas. pass to grealish was the team talk i bet. this did create space for other players, but we never exploited that under bruce. but smith has used the space grealish creates and its the space he creates which is a loss aswell as the player himself.
Nath, I do think we miss his personal creativity in the middle and his perception in going forwards, yes Smith has stopped that defensive attitude by reverting them to think of going forwards more that backwards.we also have wingers and not wing backs all the time.we now have creative minded players and that’s down to Smith and Terry plus his training crew. Bruce shackled player in thinking defending was the game,
Aston Villa have recalled rookie defender Easah Suliman from his loan spell at FC Emmen, according to reports in Holland.
Suliman joined Eredivisie newcomers Emmen in August but Dutch broadcaster RTV Drenthe claims Villa have agreed to cut the loan spell short.
The England under-20 international hasn’t enjoyed the playing time he’d have liked to in Holland. Three substitute appearances and a total of nine Eredivisie minutes is all Suliman has to show for his four months at Emmen.
Suliman’s fruitless spell in Holland follows on from an unsuccessful stint at Grimsby Town in League Two last season where he only accumulated 58 first team minutes.
The next 6 games are all winable. IF we cab take 18 from 18, we will be challenging for 2nd. It’s a cliche but every game’s a cup final now! Lots of twists and turns. Who’d have thought Forest would be out of the top 6 now? It’s like musical chairs. Who’s in the top 6 when the music stops? I just hope we can put that run together and not be worried about scraping 6th…
According to Sky Sports, we are interested in buying half the Brentford first team LOL
i believe smith will go back there to bag him some bargains. that centre back barbet looks nailed on. sawyers could be another smith might feel he needs to improve us for the second half of season.
Well hes lost interest in Cahill according to Birmingham live .
Aston Villa have abandoned their pursuit of Chelsea defender Gary Cahill, according to reports.
The claret and blues have been tracking Cahill since the summer window with the centre-back’s contract at Stamford Bridge set to expire at the end of this season.
Despite fans’ eagerness to see Cahill – who left the club for Bolton Wanderers in 2008 – back at Villa Park, Villa have reportedly pulled the plug on the deal.
The Telegraph report Chelsea’s preference to offload Cahill permanently in January but Villa wouldn’t be willing to do that or cover the cost of his £110,000 per week wages for a loan deal.
Shit £110,000 a week who would take on a deal of that on loan, these end of life player’s should be grateful to get enough to pay taxes in their banks.
With luck Bill we won’t be seeing any loan signings. I’m fed up of Villa being a feeder club. Also let’s not have players winding down their careers at our expense. Terry was great for the time he was here but I think Smith is looking at long term for new signings. Sticking plaster signings won’t help us if we fail in getting promoted.
With the transfer window about to open, we pretty much agree on the type of players we need to strengthen, but with a wage bill that has to be managed, who are the players surplus to requirements and should be offloaded if at all possible. We have plenty of options in midfield and up front. Hogan, Davis, Hepburn Murphy should be considered, alongside Lansbury, Jedinak, O’Hare and Doyle Hayes as sales / loans. Disgruntled players who never get a chance at first team action will affect harmony at the club. So surely it would be better to get them playing elsewhere with another club paying or subsidising their wages.
davis probably wont be smiths cup of tea, hogan has served under smith before so we have to assume he will be able to carry out his instruction,jedi will be out the door and lansbury will get his chance to shine in the team.
all the kids or players from under 23 are most likely to be loaned out,thats murphy hayes ohare davis probably suliman could be loaned back out if thats permitted.
why would we risk blooding them & weakening our team, only ppl who think they are any good are ppl who have never seen them, but for a friendly or two and a few under23 games. if smiths thinks they might be worth keeping then you will see them in the team. otherwise keeping them to sit on bench is wasting our time and theirs, they all need games to progress and too get them they will have to drop down.
smith has to be allowed to sign who he likes and club and fans should support him and trust his opinions whatever that is,
I see Suliman has been recalled after very few minutes abroad and at Grimsby.
That tells me a lot, even though he’s highly rated.
We’re supposed to be in for Sawyers and a Spanish player. Both are midfielders, with the Spaniard being defensive.
Either we’re going to be spending a lot of money if we’re going to be chasing mids as well as defenders, or more likely, this makes no sense whatsoever.
that sawyers has played under smith at Brentford and Walsall. so i am sure that smith will know him really good, sawyer might play his system really good and that might be the clincher. nobody knows how long grealish is out for his injury wasn’t diagnosed straight away not sure if they know now. maybe grealish will be sold to spuds and sawyers his ready made replacement,
that DM spanish player i dont know him myself. but heard hes a really good prospect. i think we need a dm as jedi whelen are not up to scratch for smiths system he demands more than defending and passing poorly. so that makes sense to me
The Spanish link has been down played but I think Barbet / Sawyers from Brentford are reasonable calls.
Personally, I would move Kodjia on in preference to Hogan as I think (as has been pointed out) Hogan is more of a ‘Smith’ player that Kodjia. Also I believe Kodjia would fetch a better price.
As you will probably gather, I’ve never really been a fan of Kodjia – is Smith?
I agree Hitch that Hogan could contribute more as a team player than Kodja. Up till now though it seems that Smith favours Kodja, probably because with Abraham playing central striker, Kodja is seen as better playing out wide. If Hogan plays either Abraham would have to play out wide or we would have to switch to 4-4-2.