Villa 2 – 4 Leicester; The defence rests it’s case

And the verdict is; Guilty. Of being horrendous.
Punishment; the central pairing need to be replaced.

Harsh?
No, not for me, in the slightest.

I’ve said exactly the same a few times this season and my opinion is nowhere near being changed.
I’m sick to death of criticising Mings while it seems some fans still think he’s a great defender; so much so that I’ve tried not to mention him for months.
But he needs to go. I don’t care how he supposedly marshals the defence. The fact is he switches off far too often for my liking. The argument I often hear is “who can we get to replace him?” and my answer is I don’t care. I’m not paid lots of money to get them in and it isn’t my job.
We need someone who doesn’t switch off all the time.

But he’s not alone. Konsa needs to go or at least be upgraded too.

We actually played quite well today and normally would have had enough to beat a lot of teams, I felt.
But just as we quite often tend to do, we gifted goals to a side that we really ought to be beating, especially at home. To think that I read that they haven’t won since November only winds me up even more.

Our horrendous defence apart, I think Emery is learning new things all the time.
Digne is finished at the Villa, or at least from now on will only be back up to the far superior Moreno, even though he played a shocking part in one of their goals.

Bailey too, surely will be upgraded in the summer. He offers so much promise, but has under-delivered for far too long. He’s another Traore, where he’ll score a cracker on rare occasions, while offering very little else for most games.

Ah, I’ve had it with this for tonight. Some of these players seriously disappoint me and need to go.

40 Comments

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  1. OLL again
    OLL again February 4, 2023 at 9:32 pm . Reply

    I wrote before this game that Emery had designed a system to suit the players he has. Oh Dear. It appears that only applies to our away performances. Playing out from the back at home is not in our repertoire yet against a team prepared to press high.

    Scoring the first goal might allow us to hoof it forward and chase scraps in the away half. If there is one clown giving the ball away as we play out maybe the solution is changing that person, but when there are four players making errors the management has to alter the tactic for home games.

    Badger has it in for Mings, so did Gerrard, and perhaps now Emery will attempt to sharpen him up. If Sean Dyche can order shin-pads and no snoods for training then Emerycan order Mings to spit that gum out before leaving the dressing room, forget ‘looking cool’ for the home crowd and concentrate on his performance. Last chance.

    Digne – already too late. he is not a top half EPL right-back, period.

    1. Hitchens60
      Hitchens60 February 4, 2023 at 9:35 pm . Reply

      Or even left back – is he playing out of position 🙂

      1. Bill Pearson
        Bill Pearson February 5, 2023 at 7:51 am . Reply

        Got to give you that Badger, every thing you’ve said has now been shown they are not good enough, I’m putting it also down to the January window, it’s closed now and a mark change in attitude from the players in thinking I’m safe .we need a leader in our defence that’s a hard man in the team that will smack a few ears in dropping standards, I think that showing has told Emery what’s needed, as for the playing out in defensive play is mentally to draw the opposition out and we are dragging our feet it not knowing when to pass it. A disgraceful game and now the attention on the players a massive clear out is needed. Disgraceful game I feel for the people that paid good money to see that match,

    2. RSS
      RSS February 4, 2023 at 10:06 pm . Reply

      Masticating in public?
      Is even legal?

  2. Hitchens60
    Hitchens60 February 4, 2023 at 9:37 pm . Reply

    Can’t really argue with your summation for the defence – or should that be for the prosecution ….

    BUT – the first goal was a mistake by Martinez putting Kamara under unnecessary pressure – and not for the first time has he done this as has Olsen.

    BUT – there second and third goals came from us losing the ball in a critical midfield area – Kamara guilty in one of those. Losing the ball in these areas to a quick counter attacking team unbalances the defence and often leads to a goal threat or goal.

    At the other end of the pitch we had 19 shots on goal but only 4 on target whereas Leicester had 5 shots on target – scoring four – from 9 attempts!

    Lots for Emery to work on,

    1. Hitchens60
      Hitchens60 February 4, 2023 at 9:38 pm . Reply

      *Badger’s summation.

    2. Roy Bracy
      Roy Bracy February 4, 2023 at 11:28 pm . Reply

      What a shambles every time we get into a good position to climb up the table we blow it it’s happened again
      The January window was terrible too
      Again they’ve failed to strengthen the team while in a strong position
      Before we needed striker when Dean was in charge failed then wanted a defensive midfielder again failed and now needed a striker again but failed
      Always too late getting what we need when will we learn
      In emery I don’t trust
      And it’s a bit worrying that the money for transfers has dried up plus getting rid of players to save on wages
      Are the owners turning into learner???
      Something not right

      1. RSS
        RSS February 5, 2023 at 2:24 am . Reply

        Are you serious?
        After Randy’s antics, the Doc?
        And you somethings afoot?
        A proven manager with pedigree not there to take the club forward?
        How do you sleep at night?

  3. John Read
    John Read February 4, 2023 at 11:58 pm . Reply

    I’ve never been a fan of playing out from the back. Especially when you haven’t got the players to do it – like Villa. How many heart attacks has our defence caused by faffing around in front of goal. I’m also sick of Martinez playing our defenders into trouble with stupid short balls to someone who is tightly marked. He also annoys the hell out of me by playing chicken with oncoming attackers when he’s got the ball at his feet. It’s sacrilege to say it, but I wouldn’t be sorry to see him go. It’s also worth mentioning after such a poor defensive display that we’ve just sent a rock solid defender out on loan. The vastly underrated Nakamba.

    1. Bum Bum
      Bum Bum February 6, 2023 at 8:03 am . Reply

      I agree with you about Nakamba. I could see him in a Milan team pulling up trees.

  4. OLL again
    OLL again February 5, 2023 at 12:01 am . Reply

    Having watched MOTD I will take back my criticism of Digne, he did some good work – in the opposition’s half as usual, and his replacement made a bigger mistake.

    Soft goals. If there was a competition for the softest 10 goals given away in the EPL Villa would win it, with Bournemouth and Southampton duelling for 2nd place. It is definitely a problem at Villa Park for us, which Emery has yet to fix. Under him we have looked very solid on the road.

    1. Bum Bum
      Bum Bum February 5, 2023 at 12:17 am . Reply

      Just watched MOTD. That was absolutely abysmal defending. We handed them all 4 goals on a plate.
      Enery has to concede this is a dangerous ploy in a super fast Premier League and change tack.
      Our defending overall was shameful. Utter pants.

      1. RSS
        RSS February 5, 2023 at 2:14 am . Reply

        Utter pants?
        The male equivalent of Tena lady?🤣

      2. Bum Bum
        Bum Bum February 5, 2023 at 9:26 am . Reply

        Yep. And they come in claret and blue.
        Hopefully for a limited period only!!!

        1. RSS
          RSS February 5, 2023 at 11:17 am . Reply

          😁

        2. Bill Pearson
          Bill Pearson February 5, 2023 at 1:30 pm . Reply

          😄😄😄😄

  5. Sidforever
    Sidforever February 5, 2023 at 8:00 am . Reply

    Better get used to the style of playing out from the back.

    Emery said “That is the way we want to play and that is my headache I want to propose for the players. We had moments today playing good, breaking their press and getting good chances. We have to analyse and practice to improve those actions, we are thinking about correcting the style. We will work for the next matches to keep on improving.”

    I’ve no problem with it. Being a sport we will win some matches and lose others. But what I do know is that the titles Emery has won far outstrips any of our previous managers. I have no doubt that he and NSWE are in unison. I can’t believe some of the comments I’ve read here today.

    This is the best ownership and manager we have had in sink since McGregor set us on the path to glory in the 1890s. Don’t be fickle!

  6. DSVilla
    DSVilla February 5, 2023 at 8:50 am . Reply

    All the best teams play out from the back, taking risks and trusting their technique. At times yesterday we did that really well. This gave us more space further up the field and that’s why Buendia, Luiz and even Coutinho played well.

    We will get better at it, and we will need to. We probably need to occasionally vary it too, just to put some doubt in the pressing team. Anyone who can’t do that will be replaced. I will be very surprised if Emery drops the tactic, but there is no doubt what happened yesterday will encourage other teams to press us hard.

  7. OLL again
    OLL again February 5, 2023 at 9:24 am . Reply

    Having heard Emery and Emi post match, the previous commentators are right – Villa will continue to play out from the back. Opposition coaches would be daft not to order their team into a man-for man press when Emi has the ball, having seen what happened v Leicester. Villa need to get better at their chosen tactic, which means passing the ball away – not attempting to beat a player with a dribble or feint in our goal area.

    There was another poor choice by Emi. Rushing out from goal is great if the keeper knows he will get to the ball before an attacker. Rushing out to narrow the angle in a one-on-one is not. The hardest shot in football to get right is shooting in the direction in which the ball is already travelling – when running at full speed. Staying on the goal line forces the attacker to attempt that shot and may allow time for a defender to interfere with the attacker’s balance.

  8. Bum Bum
    Bum Bum February 5, 2023 at 9:29 am . Reply

    It’s gonna take a while to get the concept of hoof-ball out of our defenders system.

    1. RSS
      RSS February 7, 2023 at 12:43 am . Reply

      Or the personal to change?

  9. little8
    little8 February 5, 2023 at 9:50 am . Reply

    Different management same problems, same old

    1. Bum Bum
      Bum Bum February 6, 2023 at 8:07 am . Reply

      That’s the beauty of football. Who’d have thought Everton would’ve beaten Arse yesterday? Or Spuds Citeh?
      Infuriating isn’t it!!! We could have gone NINTH leapfrogging Chelsa and Liverpool…

    2. RSS
      RSS February 7, 2023 at 12:41 am . Reply

      Not imo L8, some of the attacking play was exceptional ( not something we ever saw under King BD).
      Yea the defence wasn’t the best but this is a work in progress mate.

  10. Hitchens60
    Hitchens60 February 5, 2023 at 10:20 am . Reply

    I’m very optimistic about the future for Villa. We have arguably the best manager since Sir Ron and the wealthiest and most savvy owners ever in the history of the club – what’s not to like?

    Martinez is a showman (and might explain previous reported tensions with Emery who is not) but he’s also a world class keeper and talk about replacing him at this stage is an overreaction. Yes he’s made the same mistake a couple of times and we have to stop playing it short to the edge of the D when there’s two opposing players pressing the ball receiver. Neither Kamara nor Luiz could do a lot with the ball in that situation – did they have time to pass it safely?

    I’m no football expert but it strikes me that once we start playing expansive, attacking football we leave ourselves open in the middle of the park and consequently at the back. It also seemed to me that Leicester turned over more balls in the dangerous middle third than we did allowing them to attack without our deep sitters in front of them.

    Thought Buendia had his best game for Villa and he was unlucky not to have got on the scoresheet and looked like the player we expected for a club record fee.

  11. Guest
    Guest February 5, 2023 at 3:36 pm . Reply

    I think Hitch is spot on here.

    At the end of the day, it’s going to take a while to adjust to new tactics and style of play, it took Arsenal a long time and they were making the exact same mistakes at the back in the beginning. Further to that id also say none of their back line were particularly cultured ball playing defenders to begin with, before any steps in with the “we don’t have the players to play that way” nonsense.

    Emery is a class manager who will improve us and help us push on, and our owners are fantastic, all this slating of them after one poxy defeat is utter rubbish.

    Positives from yesterday are we looked dangerous going forward and created a load of chances, had the lion share of possession and the only reason we lost were due to errors, we weren’t outplayed and we didn’t look toothless.

    All the doom mongering is ridiculous, we are going to lose games like that, every club does.

    1. Bill Pearson
      Bill Pearson February 5, 2023 at 4:51 pm . Reply

      Their you go Man city copy kat error pissing about trying to play out, it morally wrong in my eye.

  12. Bum Bum
    Bum Bum February 6, 2023 at 11:36 am . Reply

    LOL!!! About bloody time…

    https://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/football/64536785

    1. Hitchens60
      Hitchens60 February 6, 2023 at 12:49 pm . Reply

      Agreed but we all know they will slide sideways through this and get away with it using all manner of legal trickery at their disposal.

      Going to cost them a few bob though!

      1. Bum Bum
        Bum Bum February 6, 2023 at 12:54 pm . Reply

        Should be a points deduction and banned from CL for several years.

        1. RSS
          RSS February 9, 2023 at 12:41 am . Reply

          I was going to post it won’t happen, every time they throw a shed load of money at it, get a top brief and drag it through the courts and guess what….
          https://www.express.co.uk/sport/football/1731893/Man-City-lawyer-Premier-League-court-battle-football-news/amp

    1. Hitchens60
      Hitchens60 February 7, 2023 at 4:17 pm . Reply

      Think that’s highly unlikely even in the event they are proved to have been fiddling the books and I’m not even sure whether it falls within the sanctions available to the EPL.

      The comparison with match fixing is a bit apples and pears!

      At least it gives HITC an excuse for running lots of ‘click bait’ articles. 🙂

      1. RSS
        RSS February 7, 2023 at 4:52 pm . Reply

        Would it warrant an open top bus???
        (-:

  13. Hitchens60
    Hitchens60 February 9, 2023 at 8:09 am . Reply
  14. Hitchens60
    Hitchens60 February 10, 2023 at 6:35 pm . Reply

    Just been reading Guardiola’s comments on the charges against Citeh.

    Is it just me or did smack of the arrogance that supporters of other clubs have hated about them for years.

    ‘I have no doubt we will be proved innocent whilst accused by other clubs that our guilty’

    I accept that’s a précis of what he said – but that’s either blind acceptance or arrogance at a truly astounding level?

  15. Hitchens60
    Hitchens60 February 10, 2023 at 6:44 pm . Reply

    *’that are guilty’

    Apparently it’s a conspiracy by all the other 19 EPL clubs.

    No smoke without a fire?

    1. RSS
      RSS February 11, 2023 at 2:32 pm . Reply

      If they were to lose their financial clout, have to live within their means and compete on an an even footing.
      Let’s see just how long it is before Pep says adiós?

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