Basically, I didn’t get to see the first half, but I gather it was really poor.
Certainly a 0-2 scoreline suggested such and I’m probably glad I missed it.
I saw the second half though and was incredibly disappointed at what I saw.
We looked disjointed, losing possession far too easy, making far too little movement and more importantly, looked far too slow, which meant our game had no edge to it.
Simply, our confidence looks shot.
Cue Jack Grealish with a nice strike and how things changed.
We looked more up for it, which just reaffirms what I think about it being a confidence thing now.
It’s no coincidence that we also looked more of a threat when Dean Smith swallowed things and went two up top, bringing Kodjia on for Hourihane.
I know some of you don’t like Kodjia, but I’m sorry, my view says he did more in his showing today than Wesley has done in the last five or six games. He just does what a striker is supposed to do, in harrying the defence and getting into threatening positions.
My money says that if Smith is going to persist with one up top, he should actually drop Wesley and put Kodjia in his place, as I know who I think is way more likely to score or even assist.
Ultimately, it’s about the points and we quite simply failed to get them, at home to a team that were below us in the league.
That’s worrying and now puts real pressure on us to win against Norwich and Watford.
I feel sorry for the just under 42,000 who turned out today, as they surely weren’t expecting that result.
Well, that’s ruined my weekend 🙁
Really poor performance today and quite frankly it’s was relegation material. I agree with the confidence bit however we have far too many players that aren’t Premiership standard with only Heaton and Grealish which seem to deliver week in week out. Smith has a real problem on his hands and we need to get established Premiership players particularly in defence and up front.
I also agree how much more time to you give Wesley!! I believe he is work in progress and there is too much at stake to continue with him in the side. It’s crunch time and Smith and Terry need to take immediate action in the January window or l feel we can become a Fulham and we all know what happened last season.
Not enjoying my trip home to the North East after today’s display!
I hope I’m wrong, but Smith seems out of his depth. I think he has to play Kodjia from the start. Just what has happened after we played so well against the mancs???
Kodjia should have started because he scored two goals in the week. What message does it send the squad if they do well but Smith sticks to the same old shit? The message I would be getting is “there’s no effing point.” What’s the point in building a squad if there is no competition for places? That means: You’re shit, you’re out. Someone else comes in.
I haven’t seen the game, but from the commentary it seems that Southampton learned from our performance against Leicester. We are vulnerable to teams that break quickly on us with one long ball. We are also poor at defending set pieces.
It’s looking a bit grim. We just don’t seem to have the bottle. I was always worried that we would enter this run of so called easier games on a low. It’s hard to see where we go from here, but we are lacking premiership nouse, and also lacking in leadership.
As for Smith, I don’t know what to say. At 0-2 half time I expected us to go two up front, but he waited until the game was beyond us. We look like the worst team in the league right now.
I went to the Liverpool game earlier this week, and chatting with other fans there was support for the idea of bringing Benitez in. I think he would keep us in the division, and I’m worried that Smith can’t. Ultimately, that’s the name of the game. Harsh but there it is.
Bruce was criticised for playing Grealish out wide. Enter Dean Smith, switch Grealish to attacking CM and we go on fantastic winning run. So why is he switched back to wide left?
I’m very concerned now that we are on a downward spiral. McGinn could well be out long term and confidence is rock bottom.
I think BFR made a valid point with a 3-5-2 because we are lacking in defence and attack. Try Heaton, Guilbert, Engels, Chester, Hause, Targett, Hourihane, Grealish, Luiz, Kodja and Wesley.
Thanks for the nod, Holte. I’m worried that Smith is in “rabbit in headlights” mode. I made the 3 at the back point about two months ago. It’s staggering how he’s stubbornly refusing to try something different. We’re a shambles defensively. How can he not change anything?
It’s galling that ‘equal’ clubs like Everton have top class managers like Ancelotti signing up. I recall suggesting we go for him way back when Martinez almost joined after Houllier’s exit. Everyone scoffed that he was out of our league. Now, albeit a few years down the line, he’s turned up at Goodison.
Meanwhile, a certain Argentine is kicking his heels waiting for an offer. Again, everyone will scoff and say he wouldn’t come. Villa are as big as Spurs. We just don’t act like it. That’s why we’re in this mess and that’s why we will lose Grealish and others. More ambition needs to be shown. Simple.
Other sidenotes:
Scotland should pay AVFC compensation for McGinn’s injury.
I said if after the Leicester game, why didn’t we go for Ings?
To finish where I began, managers such as Hodgson, Dyche and yes, Bruce, know how to ORGANISE teams at this level, which is why their teams are COMPETITIVE. Competitive does not mean losing by one goal every week!
I said two weeks go that this fixture was massive and that the VP crowd would turn if Smith didn’t change tactics and we lost. Hmmm. Who is advising Smith? Anyone? I feel like he needs a clean slap cross the face to wake up.
I really want him to succeed at this level but everything I’ve seen suggests that he won’t. The next to games are ridiculously high stakes with immense pressure. Sadly, I’m not sure if they can handle it.
We all knew this season would have ups and downs. And there are still more to come.
Opposition know that Wesley is unlikely to hurt them. I hope we revert to 4-4-2. I’d like to see Kodja play with Wesley. I think it could be interest and may just take some of the pressure off Wesley.
Unfortunately opposition teams cut through us like a hot knife through butter. I’d beef the midfield up. Before Luiz goes on international duty, I’d play Luiz and Marvellous in the middle and Grealish left and McGinn right, but alllow then the freedom to roam, but the other two remain defending. We need to grind out results.
By they way, what the hell is going on within 5 minutes of half time, we concede goal after goal. I admire Smith’s desire to attack, but pragmatism must also be applied.
I a previous post I stayed 9 points would help us be safe, but anything under 6 would be troublesome. We are now up against it and must show character.
Agreed, Grealish should be in the hole, pulling the strings, instead of playing wide left and trying his nuts off to pull the strings while having to resort to playing out from the back at times.
This is particularly poor from Smith, imo, but that’s the way he sees things.
As for Wesley, we have made a massive mistake with him, it’s as simple as that.
I still firmly believe he wasn’t Dean Smith’s signing, which means someone’s arse is being covered (probably Jesus’).
We need a striker who can get goals and inspire some confidence, as us not being able to score is running through the team and even making our defenders look amateur.
The players we have are designed to attack and they are frankly useless at defending.
I’d even say the same about Mings too, as much as some of us rave about him.
The point is, we are supposed to be taking it to the opposition, not trying to absorb pressure, which is what we’ve seen far too much of recently.
Smith’s whole idea of the game revolves around getting goals and we have to sign players who can do this in the window, imo.
If it doesn’t happen, well, I fear for him, tbh.
Our owners will not stand mediocrity for long and are not in the game of seeing us relegated.
Badger, I agree to a point about not being able to score. We invariably score in every game. But when was the last time we won 1:0? This is the problem. Look at Newcastle and Sheffield and Burnley today. Solid. Palace on countless occasions. Solid. Someone said ‘knife through butter’ earlier. In the second half of December, halfway through the season, that is simply not acceptable.
BFR, that’s the thing.
Smith’s game is not about 1-0s
It’s about winning convincingly.
And it isn’t happening.
I appreciate that, Badger. I’m not suggesting you play for a 1:0. You play to keep a clean sheet (always) and score as many as you can (always). But the higher the level, the harder it is to score. Ergo, 1:0 wins would simply be a consequence of doing a good job defensively and only managing to breech the opposition defence once, which, in a bloody tough league, is admirable and, gives you 3 points. If Smith is arrogant enough to believe that his game of ‘winning convincingly’ is going to make an impact in the PL, then we have a major problem. But think about it. Let’s say, OK, your game of ‘winning convincingly’ is the way to go. How do you ‘win convincingly’? Isn’t it by keeping a clean sheet and scoring as many as you can? (sometimes you can only score 1 against well organised teams with PL nous). So, like you said, it isn’t happening. Nothing’s happening.
3 at the back and 2 up top anyone? I’ll keep trying…if Smith can keep flogging his very dead horse, I’m going to keep flogging mine, because at least mine’s got some life in it, simply because it hasn’t been tried.
Badger, just to add some context to the 1:0 argument, Liverpool have just become World Club Champions by winning 1:0. 1:0 is not Klopp’s game. ‘Winning convincingly’ is. That means, clean sheet and score as many as you can. Today, they could only score 1. But they won. Because they kept a clean sheet.
Today, we scored one. We didn’t win. Or draw. Because we didn’t keep a clean sheet.
we lost today badly and i don’t believe it had anything to do with formation. playing 3 at the back would not have made any difference today. the problem today was all down to individual errors by most of the players in the team. all the defenders had errors in their games today. i could go through them all but i havent the patience. one which annoyed me was guilbert backing off and off and off all the way into the box for their third i think. he was backing off all game then pressing when he should have backed off. he was all over the place (in a bad way) but he was not alone two central defenders played like strangers. ( which they practically are) targett was not great too.
the corner header annoyed me =also why have el ghazi marking one of their best headers. he gave away silly free kicks all game right outside the box in dangerous area. he also was a standout for having a mare. today no system could have helped us. looked like the players were not at the races. i love to know the reason why so many were off the pace.
They’re totally devoid of confidence Nath, imo.
The side smells of it., imo.
Because we don’t look like scoring.
i think you are right. another problem the two central defenders are both followers and not able to marshal the defensive line, we were all over the place. scary defending. tbf we have been poor for weeks but teams are just realising this and how to get about us.
their is also a problems down both flanks defensively. we got out numbered against sheff utd too easy and today was no different. both our full backs were caught outnumbered,they were exposed too often.
heads went down i believe when they scored the first and third. grealish is a great leader by example but does he inspire or motivate the team. if chester is fit to play. i would seriously consider him for the norwich game. engles was slow today and he had plenty errors in him. chester can organise and lead the back line
Perhaps they’re devoid of confidence because they know the way they’re being set up doesn’t work, because they’ve tried it time after time and keep getting beat! How long can that happen before Smith loses the dressing room?
I feel like I’m really hammering Smith, which I don’t like, but you can’t keep doing the same and expecting something to change! And yes, again, I have said that before on here. If the same things are being said but nothing’s changing, doesn’t that say something? Didn’t Conte change formation during a season at Chelsea and subsequently win the league? I recall Victor Moses at wing back being particularly inspired.
Nath, sorry mate, but you’re contradicting yourself. The reason 3 at the back would help in EVERY game is BECAUSE these defenders aren’t good enough and, yes, always have individual errors in them. So having more numbers at the back would make it easier to cover for people’s cock-ups! Again, if the CB’s are ‘strangers’, as you put it, one more would, at the very least, stiffen the back-line because the laws of physics would state that it’s harder to go through three shit defenders than it is to go through two!
Southgate acknowledged that his defenders aren’t very good and adjusted accordingly; he almost got to the World Cup Final because he wasn’t stubborn, accepted his team’s weakness, and adjusted accordingly. At the moment, Smith is failing to show the humility requited to accept that his defence isn’t good enough and needs reinforcing. He’s failing to admit that he’s got it wrong.
This has nothing to do with Wesley. That’s another ‘blind-spot’ for Smith. It’s not that Wesley is shit. But that he’s totally isolated.
So, once again, 3 at the back and 2 up front anyone? No? Fuck it then.
We will go down if Smith doesn’t change course. All the evidence suggests this. Time to get real.
three center backs would not have worked today. soton had movement they where interchanging &loads of give and goes. playing three at the back when you don’t play that system, would only create more confusion. it was not the numbers of defenders back there,being the reason the full backs were out numbered. it was lack of tracking back by the other players in front of the defense the two central mids and el ghazi and grealish where to blame for the outnumbered full back.
your entitled to your opinion, you think three would work cause southgate uses it, teams rarely switch their systems mid season. southgate has played that system for years, as player and manager he has always gone that system,
BFR, I was all for 5 at the back a couple of weeks ago.
But now, I’m not so convinced.
Targett is not a good defender and Guilbert is better, but got his arse kicked today, imo as he has done over the last few games.
If they go more defensive, where’s our threat?
Yes, we have a defence problem, but it’s because the opposition are looking at us and thinking we have little threat up front.
It doesn’t help that our midfield can be walked though, but it all stems from the fact that we offer no threat up front.
Counter our wingers and our threat is totally nullified, as it stands.
Hence why I say Kodjia has to play, as he will at least keep their defenders wary, because he moves like a striker is supposed to do.
My opinion says Smith wants Kodjia out and Kodjia wants to go.
The fact that he’s now getting game time says it all.
Badger, 3 CB’s would make Targett and Guilbert MORE of an attacking threat and give the opposition more to think about! When the opposition attack, yes, they would drop back and defend to make a 5, but the system would, if implemented properly, mean they defend less and attack more. Isn’t that what we want? You wouldn’t have a flat back 5. Obviously not.
not one to drag up past comments. but i remember somebody on here calling the 352 basically a 532 and defensive formation. all systems are only as good as the players playing them. today we were pants and no system would have improved them. hopefully it was just another off day to add to the collection.
these two centre backs are forming a new partnership and this takes time. but the team must defend from the front. today nakamba who was supposed to be the guy sitting plugging holes. he watched a guy run straight past him into guilbert position he never bothered to track him. if i was to mention all the errors it would be a long post. tracking back and following the dangers is the fine tuning which takes time, this team is new and the centre backs have played how many two ?? games.
Tracking back is fine tuning? So what are the basics? Sorry Nath, I’m not deliberately arguing everything you say. I just can’t agree with that. Smith needs to give Chris Wilder a call and ask for some tips. Ask Wilder if tracking back is fine tuning. I’d love to hear his response!
tracking back is not in all players.. el ghazi tracks back but his heart is not in this part of the game. so he will always try to do this but will have lapses,
you mention wider cause he plays three at the back ?? why not say bruce at newcastle
i watched sheff utd loads so i know their system well. just because another a team will play 352, that won’t mean they adopt the same style as wilder, in fact i havent seen anther team play like sheff utd using 352
anyways sheff utd have a tactic to out number you out in the wide areas, and if you pass that test they switch the ball from one side to the other. this to stretch you. but when they faced bruce 352 they lost 2 nil. explain how this happened
i love to know not arguing back lol
3,5,2 is only 5,3,2 if you have no balls! Call me simple, but surely, it’s 3,5,2 when you’re attacking, which, if that’s Smith’s game, will be a lot. But when the opposition attack, which they will, it becomes 5,3,2. Why is that so difficult?
In other words, 3,5,2 could solve our shit defence AND shit attack problem!
Nothing surprises me in football nowadays. If we don’t pick point up in the next two matches it would not surprise me to see Sam Alladyce as Villa manager.
It would surprise me if we went down the Allardyce route, but yes failure to win 1 of the next two and he will be gone. They were pretty swift in ditching Bruce, I don’t believe Sawiris will stand for being in the relegation zone.
Sid, I know you’re an advocate of Smith. I want him to succeed, I really do. And I feel bad that all my posts essentially boil down to suggesting that a man loses his job. That is never fair. None of us would like that. But how can you explain what’s happening? Big job. Big contract. Big responsibility. Big expectations. But something is clearly not right.
Sadly for Dean he is out of his depth. Tactically inflexible and far too reactive – waiting until you are 3 down to make a sub is the sign of weak and risk averse management.
With McGinn possibly out for the season, I can only see us getting worse. Even when we’ve played well, we’ve been let down with poor game management or horrendous individual errors.
The only way out is a new manager and further investment in the squad January – will the owners be ruthless and take the financial leap. Lets wait and see. But the current squad with Smith has very little chance of staying up. We’ve got less points now than any of the Lambert seasons when we barely stayed up and the signs are ominous.
Nath, I only mention Wilder because earlier in the season, he gave a brilliant interview about what he expects from his team. The minimum is hard work (including tracking back) and he basically said players don’t get any credit for working hard; it’s a given.
The fact that he plays 3 at the back strengthens my arguments massively. MASSIVELY. I don’t watch as much football as you so didn’t know that. But I do know how solid defensively and how potent attacking they are. I don’t think I need say more.
As for Bruce outdoing Wilder. Maybe it was a bad day for Sheffield. Maybe Bruce used his experience. Maybe football just throws up odd results from time to time…regardless, both Bruce and Wilder are showing, regretfully on our part, that they are better at dealing with the rigors of the PL than Smith.
or maybe bruce 352 worked better than wilders 352 on the day ??
newcastle sat deep and sheffutd could not get behind them. or get down the sides of them, in the end they committed the cardinal sin, they over committed men forwards and got caught out on the counter attack.
i love sheff utd game. but its not the system that makes them, its a combination of how wider interprets the game and he has got some very flexible players who have interchangeable skills.
take their 3 centre backs they split when they have the ball. the two outside cb can play the wing backs role they are comfortable to go forwards and turn into wingers crossing the ball and back heeling through balls. you won’t get any three of bruces cb doing this. but they are both playing 352
so when you want to change 352 really you mean you wwant wilder
Like I said, Bruce used his experience, so his 3,5,2 worked on that occasion. I wan’t angling for a move for Wilder at all. He wouldn’t come, anyway. He’s bossing his hometown club and threatening to break into the top 4. The point you’ve made to reinforce mine is that 3,5,2, in whatever style it is implemented, is a damn good option and Smith would do well to just TRY IT.
we do not have the players for that system as it stands. then it would take ages to perfect it. smith has his system and it works good when the players are on form. like tyson once said everybody has a good game plan. until they get hit in the face. soton had a good plan and they saw our weakness and they exploited them with loads of help from our players. system really didnt make any difference
Nath, the system hasn’t worked all season. Wesley has been isolated all season. The defence has been shit all season. We’re being hit in the face every week. When you get hit in the face, you go to plan B, which is usually defence, is it not? Smith doesn’t have this plan. If he does, he’s keeping it secret.
So if we’re going to say it’s the players, I would like to apologies to fat Sam for pillorying him in the summer when he said the pounds to players ratio spend suggested a lack of quality in the players signed. IF we’re saying it’s the players and not Smith’s system, he was right.
…and we do, definitely, have the players for 3,5,2.
Nath, you say “soton had a good plan and they saw our weakness and they exploited them with loads of help from our players. system really didnt make any difference…”
I say, the system IS the weakness that was exploited!
If a third from bottom club can come to your home and exploit so many weaknesses, then surely, that means something is seriously wrong.
p.s. when Tyson said that, he was the one hitting people in the face and destroying their game plan, not the one being hit! We’re the ones being hit. At home. By 3rd bottom who have not dumped us in 3rd bottom.
can i ask if you watched the game. cause mistakes were plentiful in claret and blue. doesn’t matter if you have a brilliant formation the best their is unbeatable on paper. then have your players not picking up on corners, giving away cheap free kicks. not tracking back. not stopping the attacking you are face to face with but backing off. we were awful today. i really can not put into words how dire we was, i can only say with one certainty formations had little to zero affect on this game outcome.
i think we exhausted this formation discussion. we are not gonna agree so lets knock it on the head and agree to disagree
I agree about the formation discussion, Nath.
I didn’t see the full game, no. I saw shocking defending from a corner and a marvelous cock-up from Marvelous. So are we saying the players aren’t good enough? Or they’re not being coached well enough? Or both? Somebody has to take responsibility. You can’t just assign individual errors to the ‘miscellaneous, oh well’ file as if there’s nothing you can do about them. Are the players good enough or was fat Sam right?
If there were so many basic errors, does that suggest they’ve lost faith in Smith? How can you be that bad in such a massive game?
i wanted smith and i seen nothing yet to say the job is too big. it was always going to be a massive step up. sheff utd and norwich were miles ahead last season. we have made loads of changes in summer, too many really to be a instant success. sheff utd have adapted the best and i said this last season they have the game to step up. norwich were a countering team, so they will struggle at times. i thought of the three we would struggle the most.
i did think the struggles would be early and we would get better through the season finishing 17 th. we are not miles away from that now. it worries me thou about the defence not attack. yes wesley is struggle and we need another striker. but we score goals and we spread them around the team. but even with mings in the team we started conceding silly goals. from dead balls especially.
having terry on the coaching staff, you would have thought that is one department we would be ok with, but most of the errors are fixable. we need a settled team and find some confidence.
mcginn out injured, i thought would be the biggest sulk on here. nobody mentioned that. this has to be another concern, he is one of the midfielders who actually does the tracking back without fail.
I quote Sid: “what the hell is going on within 5 minutes of half time, we concede goal after goal.”
I quote Beamo: “Tactically inflexible and far too reactive – waiting until you are 3 down to make a sub is the sign of weak and risk averse management.”
Add my major gripe about failing to try something different when the same isn’t working – same as Beamo’s “tactically inflexible.”
If it’s working, fine, don’t change. But it isn’t working.
These are all reasons to suggest that Smith is struggling, Nath.
We’re getting worse, not better. The first quarter of the season wan’t bad, and we were genuinely unlucky with a lot of the defeats, so we all gave Smith the benefit. But we are getting worse.
Anyway. Ancelotti at Everton. Why not Pochettino at Aston Villa? I hear the sniggers. Tell me why not and those will be the same reasons why we won’t ever be successful again.
i do not know the reason why we were dog poo today or have been a few games. defending is not solely down to defenders we are bad as a team defending. corners we are hopeless bad at.
but i do believe we are struggling with our depth of quality in squad. players we recruited were good players, but they are all premiership first timers and while the confidence was high we coped. now the confidence is low we are really struggling. hause and engles are both novices at this level and both new to each other. so are bound to not be on the same page. chester has played one game in 11 months mings out. so we are stretched a little too with our depth in cb.
today we lost cause we were making too many basic mistakes and soton where not forced to defend, they enjoyed themselves countering us and with the gaps like miles corridors, they had plenty spaces to exploit.
smith tactics work but today they did not. formations tactics players abilities loads of factors to why teams win and lose, think the best thing we can do is not add to the pressure the players are under. cause when the fans turn on the players it will only end in relegation. form is down at minute a good maanger will try to rectify that next game. bring on the canaries
I am worried for the first time this season. That performance today at home against a team in the bottom 3 was awful. There are definitely a few players who are looking like they cannot cut it at this level.
For the Norwich game, we have to change something. Mainly I think Jack needs to go back into the number 10 role. We could try a diamond formation, as with attacking full backs, do we really need wingers? Have Wes + 1 other up top, with Jack in behind them.
Be interesting too if brings Konsa back into the team too. Neither of the centre backs had good games today. All in all, a real mess, especially with McGinn’s injury too. Most importantly though, we have to pick up a decent striker in Jan, whether that be a loans or a permanent deal.
At least we have Norwich and Watford up next. Although we all thought that about Southampton!
in all fairness norwich and watford will be looking at villa and rubbing their hands, not because the tactics lol we play. but cause they will smell our blood.form is everything in football, when you got it evrything you touch comes off and you look like a superstar, but forms down and the simplest pass can go wrong, you stop doings things instantly and you dwell. norwich will come to villa seeking revenge for their 4 1 defeat.
another interesting point nobody mentioned even me. the teams we are playing now are ganging up on grealish. today the only thing soton was overly concerned with was grealish, like Leicester they nullified him by surrounding him.legally fouling him giving him a slight nudge, i saw a incident with long nudge grealish when he was flat out speeds. they came together, but this ended up nothing. but after the game they confronted one another again says the report.
being out wide grealish is easier to pin down, but if he was more central this would make it harder for the opposition to mark him. i think if mcginn is out which it looks likely he misses games. i think grealish will go into mcginns role
I’ll just put my scratchy 78 on the turntable..
Teams are built from the back and they also fall apart from the back. Alone, I seem to recall, amongst the posters on here I said I was not happy we had signed Heaton. Because England call up or not – he has always been a leaky keeper. The one positive thing I was able to say about Heaton was that he was better than Steer and on the evidence of Nyland’s performance better than Nyland, so a net improvement.
On the evidence of this week’s two games at VP that isn’t so any longer. Nyland was the MoM against Liverpool youngsters. Heaton was horrible today. Any goalkeeper should have held the shot he stiff-armed out to Ings for #1. Heaton has been sussed by opposing managers and the winter weather adds to the problem. He is excellent at shot-saving from waist height to the cross-bar, but on the ground he is poor. The ball goes under him before he gets down. He does not make the right choice to stick on his line because a tackler is closing on the striker, he comes half way out and gets passed by a grubber at close quarters.
As for the back four, I had said they were reasonably quick. Since Mings is out the selection we now have are not quick to spot the need to sprint back. Full backs were both poor today.
QUOTE….”Nath, I only mention Wilder because earlier in the season, he gave a brilliant interview about what he expects from his team. The minimum is hard work (including tracking back) and he basically said players don’t get any credit for working hard; it’s a given. “……
…as shit as it ALL was its the lack of effort (and speed) that gets me….a roll back for too many seasons now.
all teams suffer with players switching off at times. failing to track back on occasions. all managers will demand the same hard graft as wilder does. wilder has created that camaraderie three years plus ago. they are all well drilled with years of practice together. team is built on relationships. one of you fail to do your job and you have to answer to your teammates.
we had to make many changes. that is not a excuse but fact. we had too many players coming to the end of their career and many loans. so keeping the squad which got promoted was out of the question. season started alright i thought lost games early games, i thought we should have won more. but cracks where their if you looked at the games early on. can not remember exactly when it went really bad, maybe the wolves game. but since then teams are working us out.
players we recruited made us better, but are they all premiership players i don’t think so. many are premiership in the makings. we bought potential because we could not afford to make premiership signings and still have enough too cover each position twice.
losing to soton was bad because of the manner in which they won. they are better away than home which doesn’t surprise me, they where quick to counter and good at it. it also might be the fear too at playing at home. villa now have norwich again at home. are we fearing home turf too. norwich are a countering team like soton. so this might be another deja vu hope not.
if i was manager lol i would drop engles and play konsa and hause in the centre of our shaky defense just for the fact they are both more mobile. which would probably best suited to stop norwich quick forward. move grealish back into midfield with nakamba or douglas and hourihane play trez and el ghazi wide.
heaton
guilbert
konsa
hause
target
hourihane
grealish
nakamba
trez
el ghazi
wesley
my early team selections feel free to criticise lol
There are so many reasons why we are struggling and everyone on here has been constructive with their posts which is why I like this site.
For me the biggest reason is that we have practically rebuilt a new team over the summer. Heaton, Guilbert, Targett, Engels, Luiz, Nakamba, Trezeguet, Jota and Wesley. Usually at least 7 of these are playing every week. Hardly any of them have premier league experience plus add in the factor there will always be duds when signing a lot of new players.
Confidence is rock bottom and what we sorely need most at the moment are leaders. I don’t think Smith will change formation so if playing a flat back 4, would it make sense to bring in Chester, Taylor and Elmo? Give Chester the armband and ask Grealish to play down the middle behind the striker.
I really want Smith to succeed as we all do but we can’t let sentiment drag us back into the championship without exploring other options. Aston Villa is bigger than any one person and must always come first when tough decisions are made. Pochettino is available so if we have a disastrous next two games, WHY shouldn’t a club of our size not go for him?
Moving on (temporarily?) from the debate on 352 253 622 or whatever, I would like to throw another consideration into the hat.
Badger – I refer to your point about Mings and the fact that his decision making was being questioned by some.
However, the fact is that this terrible run (not just defeats but failing to compete) coincides with Mings being absent through injury and McGinn not being fully fit. These are not just two of our best players but real leaders on the pitch – something we seem to be sadly lacking at the moment!
Whilst I also question Smiths apparent lack of ruthlessness I don’t think our poor results and the injuries I mention are mere confidence.
However, the mark of a good manager is being able to adapt to deal with it. I’m sorry but either Smith can’t or frankly our squad just hasn’t got enough strength in depth to cope with the EPL when key players are injured.
Smith has to be hard on selections and tactically more aware – not rewarding players by picking them because they had a good game last time out!
Kodjia and Chester should have started Saturday and why did we bring on another defensive midfielder when McGinn went off?
I like Smith BUT can he cut it at this level?
Watford beat Manure today which suggests they may have turned a corner.
I also think failure to win at least one of the next two will see Smith gone and I believe our owners will go for a ‘big’ name this time.
Yes, I was one of those who thought Mings needed resting, as he was incredibly sloppy at times.
But I agree, he now looks a better bet than any of the other options.
Hopefully he’ll come back more focussed when he returns.
Even so, a fully fit McGinn is a much bigger loss, imo.
I’ve said I’d rather see Kodjia start and we rest Wesley, but I disagree about Chester starting.
Fair enough, Smith might think about it now, but I think it would have been the wrong decision to start him yesterday. He’s only ever going to be backup for us now in times when we have no other choice, imo.
Is now one of those times?
I doubt Smith thinks so, myself.
As for Smith, well I’d like to think he can turn things round, but we were so, so poor that I’m not convinced.
I don’t know about a big name manager, given that we must at least have some money concerns.
Poch, for instance would be great, but how much would he want to spend?
Having said that, I’d say it’s a bit early to talk about Smith getting fired.
We have been mostly ok this season, after all.
The thing is though, if it’s going to happen, it would have to be before the window ends for any manager to have a chance of changing things.
Will our owners be so rash?
I don’t know, but they’ll surely be thinking we can’t possibly go down.
Mings absence has played a major part in the lack of organisation at the back. if you watch him play he berates players who slack like el ghazi. was it pool where he got Mings irritated because he switched off as he always does. these are the finer details we fans miss of a players attributes. yes his form was dipping. but he gives much more than just his own performances he demands others to keep up their standards. he marshals the backline from dropping too deep and he also play a good pass for a defender.
mcginn now will need to be replaced, think we all know what he brings to the table and it will not be easy to find a replacement in the villa squad. i think grealish will drop back into midfield, which will benefit him and us.
el ghazi and trez really need to up their games. they shown only glimpses in games. time now to step up and show your worth for the team. they have to remember, when we havent got the ball, not allow the opposition full backs to wonder forwards without them being their shadow. little details like this is a major difference between top leagues players and second division standards.
all the players need to step up whoever we call upon, players get injured and we have to cope with this. smith had a big influence in most of our summer signings. i think he knows most of them pretty well. he has to pick them up after a bad defeat, next game has intensified because of last game. soton were beatable but we allowed them to dictate to us we need to impose our game on the opposition. cause we can not defend.
norwich game we have to approach like a cup final, do not allow them to settle. get the first goal and continue to get in their faces.they will be as vulnerable as us. that first goal will be all important, heads dropped for us against soton and norwich will drop their heads if we score first. fans should also make it like a cup game and make it the most uncomfortable away day of the canaries life
Strongly believe we’ll be bottom come the New Year. Watford are showing fighting spirit and with Deeney back theyll grind out wins – he’s not pretty in style but effective. If only we could say the same about Wesley….
Another gripe is how every team in the league bar us has managed to beat one of the traditional top 6 – the likes of Arsenal, Man Utd and Chelsea have been there to be beaten but we bottled it against all of them and Dean is culpable. Smith cannot be allowed to continue unless we secure a minimum of 7 points from the next 3 games.
That’s been going on for years and was also the case in the Championship – even last season.
Are we suffering from an inferiority complex?