I’ve decided to try and keep this post a little bit calmer (it’s still early over here, so I haven’t drunk too much yet, lol).
The first obvious thing to think about is how we lined up from the off.
I think Bree being injured caused a problem, in that his loss would have left a proper 3-5-2 somewhat unbalanced.
Well, that’s my thinking anyway, as it’s the only reason I can think of us starting with five defenders.
Regardless, I called for a threatening, aggressive line-up and it’s quite simply not what we got.
Why we pay so much respect to the likes of Ipswich is beyond me and I’ve spoken before about going down trying as opposed to being canny and still losing.
But then, if you look at the stats, I believe Ipswich only had one shot on target and scored.
So maybe Steve Bruce is totally correct in not being able to trust the defence?
In Bruce’s defence, he did eventually realise that we needed to be more ambitious and he put Adomah and Green on, yet still retained the same setup.
While you can’t say that’s negative, maybe it would have been a better setup from the off?
But then, the commentator’s comments intrigued me.
We were comfortable in the first half and should have gone in a goal or two to the good.
Yet we began the second half poorly. Again.
What the hell gets said to the players at half time? I’d love to know, because it clearly isn’t working.
And what are the opposition managers saying?
I suspect it’s along the lines of “don’t worry lads, you’ve got these; they’re going to bottle it”. And it would seem correct.
Tony Morley said he can’t work it out and asked if it’s the pressure from the fans, the club or whatever. I suspect it’s all of them myself.
Either way, we came out rubbish, not being able to hold the ball or pass. The usual.
And when we did start to play, we couldn’t get telling balls into the box.
Ultimately, it’s only the result that matters and we didn’t get it.
To lose our unbeaten home record, especially with what Morley called a “whimper” to Ipswich is frankly not good enough.
And when you consider we haven’t won in eight games, it’s beginning to get very worrying.
Because the question is if you can’t get a result at home to Ipswich, who are you going to get one against?
Morley said he feels sorry for Bruce and I partly agree with it.
But he’s done himself no favours whatsoever lately and it would be totally understandable if the fans turn on him, which they’re going too.
Me, I side with Morley, in that the side needs to gel.
But I know many of you won’t see it like that and comments on Villa threads everywhere are going to be interesting this weekend.
I just don’t see how changing the manager again is going to achieve anything.
But Bruce needs to start getting results.
Fast.
Comments
116 responses to “Villa 0 – 1 Ipswich; Simply not good enough”
tinkerman might become on the market soon…… premiership league champion2016. would only take a few weeks at villa to ruin that memory.
its like 4 at the back is brand new, have we not played that system in last 5 years??? beats me why we bother playing other stupid systems 4 at the back for me. last i saw we only played 3 at back last game
There might be something in buying players to suit a system, but it seems to me to be more than that.
RM scoring is exactly typical of what I mean.
I still think there’s a losing mentality at the club and regardless of who we sign it’s going to prove difficult to shake off.
Badger….what do you mean ‘there may be someting in buying a player to suit’ a system’ Isnt that the most relevant and rational way to build a team?
People slag off Pulis (I am not keen on his way if playing) but it does prove that you can do well within a clear, well drilled system. Are they not 8th or 9th in the PL? Ask yourself why. I wouldnt expect them to be that high with their players, would you? They are only there because of the system they play consistently. Pulis buys the players to suit that system….its frigging easy with the right players and right scouting team in place. We just seem to continually buy players not knowing what system suits them……its a fucking nonsense!!
Maybe when jedi’s fit he’ll revert to 4-4-2 with him playing a defensive midfielder role
Agreed Giddy.
Langford, of course it makes sense .
I’m not arguing against it.
But the vast majority were pleased with the players we got in and decent players ought to be able to adapt.
Don’t get me wrong, Bruce’s setups bamboozle me and it seems we’re playing some players purely to accommodate them. Bjarnason is a good example.
No, the point was more that regardless of what we do, we’re going to struggle.
Oh, Taylor too. Never a WB, as long as he’s got a hole in his proverbial, imo.
Well I’m not ‘pleased’ with the players brought in if they are not SUITED to the system we are going to adopt…..what sort of logic is that?
Tbf, Langford, we don’t know what the system will be yet. I think the 5 was to make up for the loss of Jedinak. But that might be an indictment of the manager in itself.
Well….its all arse about face. Surely to goodness, we know what system we are going to play BEFORE buying players….I cant believe anyone can be that naive. Its like not measuring your floor before buying a carpet FFS…..surprise, surprise….the fucking carpet doesnt fit!!
To me Langford, not getting backup for Jedinak is looking like an omission.
We seem to be too reliant on him and I’ve hinted at his fitness before.
Agreed Badger – posted on this point – however I would like to see Gardner given an opportunity to play the holding mid role if Jedinak is unfit. A central defensive mid now becomes a summer priority.
Think we should try a 4-3-3 myself. Kodjia isn’t going to work with someone else. It’s not his game. Something like
Bunn/Johnstone
Bree-Baker-Chester-Amavi
Lansbury/Gardner-Hourihane-Jedinak
Adomah – Kodjia/Hogan – Green
Subs: Bunn/Johnstone, Taylor, Elphick, Lansbury/Gardner, Bjarnason, Grealish, Hogan/Kodjia.
Two up top won’t work with what we have. 2 in the middle won’t work with what we have and playing Adomah and Grealish in a midfield three won’t work with what we have. Could arguably drop Gardner/Lansbury with Grealish or Bjarnason at home. But I just can’t see two up front working.
I think 2 up top can work fine.
The problem is we don’t get enough good balls into the box, Imo.
There have been comments that we didn’t take the few chances we had.
But we should be getting 15-20 good balls in the box against the lesser teams.
Were nowhere near adventurous enough.
That’s true but with no out and out defensive midfielder, we have no chance going two up top and playing two in midfield. Our three midfielders get overrun already, 2 up top with the two we have won’t work. They don’t compliment each other near enough. Now if you say take Kodjia off and bring on Hempburn/Davis or dare say it, Gabby, then maybe. Kodjia worked well alone because he’s stronger, more physical. Hogan loves making runs, and while you’d think they would pair well enough up, Kodjia’s all around game is nothing compared to what Carew and Benteke’s were, so partnering him up with someone would only make the other striker obsolete. Especially because we’d have to play 2 wingers, meaning our team gets even more over run.
i think 2 up wont work lmao hang on we used to play one up, not to long ago and what where ppl saying play two up now we tried two up for 2 games its rubbish wont work more fool you bruce. try three up we had 5 up front under rdm i think we should have 11 players and let them do what they want
🙂
Regardless it should not be a 5 at the back. Not in this league.
And not even if you try and present it as a 3-5-2!
i hope they play 10 defenders next game lmao i need more bait.
unless somebody on here has skills in football management, possesses skills on motivating millionaires. a degree on tactics and systems but you can only play 442 or else we will sack you
352 didnt lose the game yesterday ipswich beat villa and would again if they replayed it and we used 442 4231 424 433 etc
Westwood started for Burney vs. Chelsea and played full 90 min in their 1-1 draw. Mirror rated him 6/10 and said he largely played well.
westy was targeted as a scapegoat just like the formation or tactics. we lost and somebody is to blame
players only join villa for the money. then when they leave they thrive, robinson bent weiman westy ayew sanchez albrighton won a champ medal at villa he couldnt play in his position.
probably that is the cause of our problems, players are on brilliant long contracts on massive long contracts even the prospects earn more than a group of punters. thats the problem at all big clubs. leicester players all have massive increases in pay packets and they earned it. but now they have not given the same application or desire as last season thats the difference. but who will be the fall guy tinkerman will take the bullet in the back
Nath….alot of truth in what you say mate. Footballers in the top 2 divisions are not hungry because they get too much too soon….Leicester are a really good example. As soon as they get fat contracts for being champions the desire goes. Its what football and the world in general is like now!
If that’s the case then why do the top always stay in the top four. They are on huge contracts as well but top 4 teams still won the majority of their games.
Nail on the head Nath. They come for the money nothing more, when kick out they laugh at Villa. Bruce’s tactics are wrong he’s playing defensive games.
I disagree teams have just figured out how to play v Leicester and players like Huth are just past their best now. Also losing Kante was a huge loss. A team like Leicester can’t win the league then go out the season after and buy a couple of world class players to sustain it. Having said that they have done very well in the CL mainly as foreign teams are taken by surprise by them. It wouldn’t surprise me if they actually won it as they will be under estimated by the big teams and have an element of surprise against them. Also there is no pressure so they can play without nerves. If you look at when we won EC it’s a similar situation. We were very average in league that season but in EC we had a counter attacking game that foreign teams couldn’t cope with. The goal we scored Bayern Munich though was a world class build if you look at goal from start to finish.
Yep, they just play deeper so they (Leicester) can’t counter.
Talking about yesteryear did you see Swansea’s second goal yesterday? Loved it, a very Villa under Sir Ron type goal.
Yep great goal 😄
i have racked my brain on reasons we have failed, not just this season over years now we have struggled. its not all down to dud managers. these are easy scapegoats, its runs much deeper than that. you can get a handful of decent players where money doesn’t change them. but the rest are nothing but mercenaries and with the amounts of managers we have hired in such a short period we have assembled more than our fair share of leaches.
we need to pick a manager and keep with them, this is the only way we stop this trend of hiring players like hired guns in the wild west.
Saw the highlights of Villa Ipswich and all of the Burnley-Chelsea game.
Quality in front of goal was my impression of the difference and by that I mean in front of a player’s own goal as well in front of the oppos. Villa ‘battered Ipswich – reckoned on goal scoring chances – but in all cases lashed the ball against the goal frame or defenders rather than placing it in the gaps, and not forgetting two great saves by their keeper. In front of our goal however Elphick slipped, and Hourihane tracked but could not catch the scorer. Our keeper never got close to saving the shot.
Burnley battled for a point, giving up any thoughts of pressuring Chelsea up field at the start of the second half. They dropped 9 men behind the ball. The lone front man (both the starter and sub) worked their socks off to stop Chelsea’s back four playing the ball in their own time. Howton had a good game – as did all the Burnley defence who blocked and tackled like their lives depended on it and without any errors. Westwood did not boss the midfield – he was one of the nine behind the ball all second half, got booked for hacking down a player who took the ball off him and very nearly gifted all 3 points to Chelsea with a sideways pass straight to an attacker.
‘Lowton’ didnt play too bad either! 🙂
I still remember that goal he scored against Stoke should of been goal of the season but they gave it to RVP because he played fir Utd pathetic. Wasn’t even that good of goal
Burnley hardly parked the bus/put 9 men behind the ball. Once Chelsea hit their half Burnley were on them like a hawk and countered quite well. Westwood didn’t boss it but he worked his socks off and looked very good doing it. One stray pass is pretty much all you seem to actually remember of that game. Which you’re right, was poor. But it didn’t lead to a goal.
That’s a good point all I remembered was his stray pass didn’t notice him the rest of the game. That really showed the difference between a team like Burnley and us. If Westwood made that mistake with us it almost certainly have led to a goal with Burnley as soon as he made a mistake the whole back four as a unit covered him and snuffed out the threat. Something we arnt capable of doing.
Badger and ooha thanks for the welcome back ,nice one.
Your welcome 👍
Don’t let Badgers negativity get you down 😄😄
it matters not how you win a game of football. fans can become hypocrites. take villa under mon we won games but we wasnt happy. under berk we won enough games to survive, under lots of cuts. but was we happy then??now we cant win or score or entertain. are we happy I HOPE WE arent
ipswich played their game, style, tactics and formation they have played all season. they have that advantage on villa. this is advantage all the championship clubs have on us. until our players get to know each other and each other strengths, form will be erratic, its like we are stuck in the starting blocks. when we score the first goal, that might be the start, it should be, but its a long road back. if we had signed these players preseason we would have had the time to work on systems, these players recruited might have gone elsewhere.
so patience is needed by fans and our expectations need to be lower, surviving and scoring should be the immediate ambitions, if we can manage this we should be ready for next season in a far healthier position.
But the players we signed pre season were still good enough to get top 6 imo. If you look at all the games we played under RDM we played decent football at times but a lot of our draws and losses came from defensive errors esp Gollini. How do you account for that in pre season. We seem to get one error prone player after another especially goalkeeper and centre halves.
They need educating that to give the opposition a consolation goal, we need to score a few beforehand…..
We’ve recruited merceneries and cant see a way out of this at the moment !!
Oohah don’t like to use the ‘bad luck’ excuse but there’s no doubt we seem to have suffered almost 100% conversion of mistakes into goals. Now everyone and every team make mistakes but don’t expect them to be routinely punished with a goal in the Championship. At the other end we seem to come across goals with bigger and wider posts and bars, GK’s playing blinders and mistakes never quite falling to our forwards. You explain it because I can’t but didn’t someone once say ‘rather have a lucky manager than a clever one’.
At times it does feel like the club is cursed – stupid comment really 🙂
We do have an element of bad luck but as the saying goes the harder you work the luckier you get 😄
Bruce is failing badly. Style of play is shocking, results shocking, man management shocking.
All this “experience and patience” BS is spouted by the media with whom Bruce is pals with. It was the same with Redknapp or even Sherwood. Just look at the disgraceful comments by Merson or the other fools on Sky about Marco Silva or Paul Clement… mocking them before they’d managed a game yet they are both doing terrific jobs.
If the club wants to be progressive, it needs a progressive manager. Bruce is a dinosaur but my fear is that Wyness and the board are too and therefore they will not make the change the club needs.
There is always a balance needed between the ambitous and talented young and the older more experienced individuals. That is true in a football team as it is in management or even in the general workforce.
You might want to decry the experience of SB, Wyness and others – you better include the ageing Brian Little in your list of dinosaurs – but to imply that Dr. T falks into the same category appears to me to be arguing against yourself.
We have a young progressive and successful owner who I’m sure will not be frightened to make difficult decisions in the future as he gains more experience of running our club – or perhaps his lack of experience is really at the heart of the problem?
Good point H60, maybe DrT is pulling all the strings and his innexperience is causing some problems…… But he hasnt been here for the last 6 years….. We need that gypsy women who removed the curse from the stye all those years ago !
stick with the manager and the team in 12 months we will be much better and stronger.
We have had a total overhaul in the summer and another in January and expect straight away to be competing with settled teams.
These things take time as disappointing and frustrating as it is.
I for one am starting to get embarrassed at how many mangers we have had recently.
Who next Rowett, Warburton another squad overhaul and in 10 games start moaning about the manager again.
Be patient !!!!
Easily said , how many goals has our team got this season? I’d be happiest if we could find the net.
My worry is if we find ourselves in a relegation scrap, this lot of merceneries havnt got the fight for it… We’ve spent all season looking up the table and not looking down, and as we cant beat teams below us, this means only one thing !!
Lose tomorrow and we could’ve dragged into it.
i agree bill. finding the net has to be the first step. things will progress once we achieve that.
I’d be happy if we found the ball !
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I can see the arrows, but wheres the fucking Indians?
Langford, why do you think they could help us then?
looks like the manager is going too bow to public opinions.they predict 442 formation, lets hope this works because what will the majority whinge about iff the shit happens and we lose again.
iam sure they will blame the goalie or manager for not playing 352 or 532
i really can’t bare another defeat, my mates have given up taking the piss out of me after villa defeats. its not funny anymore they say the reason.
Same here Nath, use to get phone calls, texts, now they don’t bother, think they feel sorry for me now.
My good mate supports the Blues – we have this unspoken agreement just to ignore football whereas a couple of years ago we’d be winding each other up. It’s just not worth it anymore.