I don’t know which manager will be more annoyed today, Zenga or Bruce.
Zenga will probably come away from Villa park wondering how his team failed to collect the three points.
Whereas Bruce will be fuming that we just looked awful.
Pre-match, it was all good, as Bruce selected a side with players playing in position and went with a 4-4-2 or 4-4-1-1 maybe. It was a sensible choice on paper.
And that’s about as good as it got.
We actually looked okay in the first few minutes and you could see the players had upped the pace and were passing the ball quickly. But Wolves came into it more and more as the game went on, so much so that they completely dominated the game.
We got the early penalty then, after Grealish was judged to have been clipped and Kodjia duly put it away.
A good shot from Kodjia apart, that was it though and I hardly remember another chance being created. Oh, sorry there was one chance where Kodjia feebly went for goal instead of passing to McCormack who was in a much better position.
Wolves got a penalty when Cissokho handballed and it all went downhill from there.
Again we instantly lost all our shape and composure, which allowed Wolves to get in the game even more and create more chances. Fotunately they didn’t convert any and we came away lucky to get a point.
Which is what makes it all so frustrating.
We have a very decent team on paper and it’s not just us fans that say it.
Why then, can’t we seem to do even the basic things right? Grealish is the only player we have that looks remotely comfortable with the ball at his feet. The rest? well the ball just seems to always bounce awkwardly or it’s poorly controlled. Our passing at times is abysmal and there are far too many wayward passes.
A plus for me is that McCormack didn’t take any corners, which left Adomah taking them. But they were mostly poor.
You really have to wonder what the players actually do in training.
For what it’s worth I’d have taken McCormack off and replaced him with Gestede and gone with a more direct style.
I’d have pulled Grealish off too, as while he looked okay, he just didn’t produce anything really.
I thought Richards did reasonably well considering he hasn’t played for a while and Chester did well.
There were too many players that weren’t good enough though and it’s hard to know why when they’re well rated.
I’ll be interested to read Bruce’s after-match comments, but I’ll bet he’ll be more than a little concerned, as Wolves don’t look a paticularly good side to me, yet they dominated massively. At home too.
It’s difficult to know what Bruce is going to be able to do about it, but watching that game today, I’ll bet he can’t wait for the transfer window.
It’s all totally disappointing. Again.
Comments
108 responses to “Villa 1-1 Wolves; Plenty for Bruce to ponder”
Its just so depressing isn’t it? One thing is for certain – we MUST keep Bruce for the long term now, no more chopping and changing managers. To me, bar some miracle, it will be lower mid table this season, and even next season I’m unsure if we will go up.
But we can’t keep changing managers. It’s clear there is something wrong somewhere, and I do trust that in Bruce, we have someone who knows what needs doing and how to do it – but he needs the time to do it.
I mean, how do we make players like Gestede, MC and Kodija (who have all scored hatfuls for average teams), suddenly into players who dont score?
And then players like Sinclair and Gana, who didnt give a feck, sold for peanuts and turn into world beaters?
If we bought Messi and Ronny tomorrow, I bet they would look like duffers against Reading. I just dont understand it.
What I would give now for a Delph or a Milner or a Barry in that midfield area, because we look really, really weak.
Sad sad times for Villa, and I think it will only get worse before we get better.
Agree completely.
It’s been my view for years now that we never did find any replacement for Barry or Milner – although I don’t believe that Delph was ever in the same class – and that’s been a huge part of the problem faced by every manager since MON.
Having said that, I don’t have a clue who could actually fill that role, realistically, – i.e. not Fantasy Footie – for a team in the lower reaches of the “Championship” today?
Sinclair a world beater?
Bob Smith from the Boars Head second 11 could turn out for Celtic and be a world beater.
What where DM and his staff at, players not fit that is a disgrace . We may forget about this season . The dogs in the street knew that DM wasn’t the man but the Doc went for him and look at us now.
The Doc corrected his mistake by get Bruce, give him time .
Fitness is a problem but one that can be rectified. Confidence is.another matter.
However I do think that SB will halt the slide but it may take time.Mid-table at the end of the season wouldn’t be the worst thing in the world if we could see that things are improving.
I said at the beginning of the season that we wouldn’t go up straight away. The arrival of Dr. Tony and the new signings gave me some hope but there’s something fundamentally wrong with the team and it won’t be solved overnight.
Still very glad that SB is now in charge.
Why are we constantly being linked to strikers, when we’ve supposedly got the best at this level, yet can’t get them to score?
Total nonsense, these stories, imo.
Dr T has tweeted lies we are not in for strikers, thinking about how we have gone over the years is it no wonder players wanted out, to see attitudes like we have only work shy players would come to Villa. I hope Bruce can see through some players that want and those that don’t. We are fucked up team.
Agreed Bill. I think we are lucky to get Bruce – OK we should have taken him rather than RDM but now we have to stick with him for the foreseeable future. Forget his past with Blues, forget his average performance in the Prem; He is a very good manager and we have to stake our long term future on his tenure.
Hobbling together a load of players who did well elsewhere doesn’t make a team. You need a phiolsophy, a system, a style of play, which needs to come from the manager. Then you need to get all the players to buy into it. Those that can’t adapt to the system get moved on. Look at Liverpool.
I think we had a system for a while under Lambert, which was to soak up pressure and hit teams on the break. Sometimes it worked, sometimes it backfired horribly. Sherwood initially had a similar approach and then it suddenly turned very negative and we didn’t seem to attack at all! I think McLeish’s style was just hoof it up to Heskey, who would inevitably lose it or misshit it into the stands. Garde was just the wrong person at the wrong time and was lumbered with a load of players who had already lost all their confidence. I found DiMatteo’s approach also very negative – score a goal and then try to sit on it, which we just seem incapable of doing.
It’s ridiculous to hear that Bruce think the players aren’t fit enough. Just not acceptable. But it does explain a lot – we only ever seem to be able to play well for 45 minutes at most. I hope he will bust their asses on the training ground and get them drilling set pieces. At the moment it looks as though we don’t really bother to train and think we should be able to just turn up and get a result!
That’s a good point, I hardly remember the last time we scored from a set piece.
It all goes back to training, but we’ve talked about that for a fair while now and it came before RDM.
We’ve changed coaches god knows how many times, but maybe the problem is a bit further down the chain in whoever is in charge of fitness/conditioning?
Or is that the coaches? I really don’t know how it works these days, with sports scientists and all that palava.
What happened to the good old days, where the manager just ran the balls off the squad? 🙂
Ah, RDM bought Massimiliano Marchesi in as our fitness coach.
Another one for the bullet maybe?
Maybe the whole teams hitting the inert gases????
What, the nitrous oxide?
Strange stuff, that.
Makes motors go like the clappers.
Gone in 60 seconds – love that film!
Is about Villa holding onto a lead?
Nitrous oxide isn’t inert, its the players that are.
I don’t buy the idea that the player’s aren’t fit and can easily be made fitter. Sherwood said Villa players were not fit, and managers since have tried bringing in some staff sergeant from their own country to get the players fitter. Fitness and stamina are not the same thing. I do not think stamina can be increased in mature adults who are otherwise fit, if they do not have stamina by the time they are 18 they are not going to acquire it.
Stamina?
We ain’t talking SAS recruitment here we’re talking 90 minutes of football.
They looked slow…slugish….unfit from the start.
I read a viewpoint that reckons it’s down to fear, which makes you leaden-footed.
It sounds plausible to me. If you’re scared, you’re not going to want to rush in are you?
Bunch of wimps if that’s true.
According to the Sun SB is after Rhodes on loan –
https://www.thesun.co.uk/sport/football/1984408/jordan-rhodes-new-aston-villa-boss-steve-bruce-plans-january-swoop-for-middlesbrough-outcast/
Some midfielders too please SB!
The first few games of the season we looked good; good movement, plenty of energy but we missed chances and the last minute goal at Wednesday and the one against Huddersfield were not down to lack of fitness. And so it progressed missed chances – poor goals conceded.
The longer we failed to win the worse the performances have got going from a positive to negative (fear of losing) mindset. I agree with Badger in that this ‘fear’ saps energy and affects performance and infects the fans who become anxious.
I have no idea how you change such a deeply embedded mindset coming on the back of last season but it sounds like we need a sports psychologist more than a fitness coach.
Hitch, I’m not tuned into today’s coaching and the way they perceived to make themselves a job.In my day you played the game to win, to be better than the opposition, what are we breeding wimps? I’ve had to walk away from watching my 10 year old play for his team, I’ve questioned his coaching methods to be told its now the way they shape a team, i.e. one day a defender, next time a striker, and he is a certificated coach.. I’m at a loss. You play to win in my book.
Can’t argue with any of that Bill. It seems to be how it is these days
Mc cormack looks overweight to me
He’s anorexic compared to shabby
And they could do with changing the kit back to claret and blue it looks more like purple to me on tv
Looked at some photos of it on the Villa website and I agree, it does look as if there’s a tinge of purple in there.
changing the kit will take years…still got old badges at BMH and the shop in Brum….
I believe the Doc was having a pop at DM with is first tweet.
http://www.birminghammail.co.uk/sport/football/football-news/dr-tony-xia-explains-real-12038850
I’ve just been reading about that Dave.
We all think we know it was Xia who wanted RDM when he wasn’t the advisors’ choice, yet after sacking him, he’s basically calling him useless?
I’ll tell you now Xia’s tweeting like this will backfire on him big time, somewhere down the line.
Keeping the fans updated is good, but taking it too far isn’t, imo.
He probably will fuck up but I’ll stand by the way he portrays himself to the fans being I’m one of you compared to a Howard hughes type we previously had.we’ve cried out for a chairman who keeps the fans updated now we’ve got one.
Much more interesting than Twat Tweets is the article in the B’ham Mail – reached with the same link – by sports psychologist Jenny Trueman about Aston Villa. SB could do worse than appoint her as his assistant. She is more needed than Birds*** and a darn sight prettier. Read this article in full and see if it describes what you see.
Agree OLL, she makes a lot of sense. A few quid spent on her telling the players that wouldn’t be badly spent.
Agreed OLL – very good article
The article is here;
http://www.birminghammail.co.uk/sport/football/football-news/aston-villa-worst-enemies-sports-12037227
I’m afraid I don’t swallow it, as it reeks of “give me £100k and I’ll sort it”, just like an American advert, that highlights what we already know, but doesn’t really give a solution.
The over-thinking is there though and I noticed it against Wolves. We didn’t make the easy pass, lots of times and tried to over-complicate things. It doesn’t need a psychologist to see that at all and I’ll bet Bruce already knows it.
That said, there’s definitely something wrong and there’s been many millions wasted over the years, so I don’t suppose it’d hurt much to try.
@Badger
Very much my view. We have the players and the manager but something strange is going on. This ‘hanging on in the last 10 minutes’ she talks about is a definite thing with our team. All she’s saying is if you score don’t think straight away about defending but try to go on to score more.
Okay sounds a bit like NLP (which is a bit suspect alright) but right now we’re a bit like drowning men clutching at straws aren’t we? If we try enough things then perhaps something might work.
Here’s hoping
UTV
That is what I’ve been saying, you go on a pitch to win, all this so called drawing board coaching has ruined the game, player’s are given instruction off what to do and where to go, sod it you play to win , I’ve always been a bad loser I get angry to not be better that other players, the game is all about winning, good job its not the Romans and lions days you’d want to win then.
@Bill
Mmmm…training with real lions.
Now that might help increase their fitness a bit 🙂
Pat57,
I bet they would move then. I know I’m long in the toothe Pat, but any footballer should not throw the towel in at anytime of a match, to give in because it happened before not good enough, fight they get the money fight for your honour. I had my little grandson say to me Saturday after watching that shit performance, can I support another Team? My reply was no you cannot because you should never give up.
Bill, I’m 100% on the same page as you. Trouble is the woolly jumpered lefties think winning is unequal and therefore a bad thing. Schools don’t teach kids to win anymore – it’s not politically correct and it isn’t fair on those that are less able at sports. School sports day is now a taking part day!
Sorry but life is about winning as well as taking part and helping others. We had a hard task master for sports who preached winning but he was also a stickler for fair play and sportsmanship. Amazing how the nanny, taking part society has destroyed all of those attributes!
I’ll retire to my box now!
I see Dwight Yorke is now claiming racism is the reason he didn’t get the Villa’s management job. What happened to lack of experience appropriate to the job compared to other candidates?
Hitch, if he gets away with that old saying. I’ll put it in they didn’t give me the job because I’m old, (ageism ) what planet does Yorke think he’s from.?
Possibly the PRICKs got to dream up some excuse to why clubs won’t appoint him,going down the racial root is well below the belt.for starters he’s got fuckall experience besides assistant manager to his national team in 2009/10 fucking whoopy doo.he should approach national league teams & try his luck there fuckall to do with colour get your head out that black arse of yours buster