I really don’t know what to think about this one.
I’ve spoken to a Villa fan at work and he strongly thinks we’ve got this.
Intruguingly, my Stokie mate, who’s also on the same job, thinks we’ll win too.
I really don’t know why, in all honesty.
Wolves are a way better team, who are challenging for European footy, with their Champions league class players that they miraculously managed to sign (ahem).
They aren’t going to be backing off at all.
Then again, neither are we.
We do have advantages.
We’re at home and there is the case where we spanked Wolves 4-1 at home, even though it was over two years ago.
Is that where the confidence comes from?
From what I’ve read today, Dean Smith has played down Villa going two up top from the off, because it means it’s difficult to start Grealish at the same time.
Hands up, I just think that is an utterly, utterly pathetic way of looking at it.
When you have a player who is so much better than the team he’s playing with, it seems to me you can start him anywhere, apart from goalie and he’ll still shine if you give him the ball.
My opinion now is that Smith has become way to pragmatic, in that he’s now playing too defensively.
Dean, in case you haven’t realised, we need WINS and draws are not going to be good enough.
If we let Wolves come at us, they will beat us easily, just the same as Chelsea should have.
They’re just too strong in attack, if you let them be.
Hence sometimes, the best form of defence is attack.
Put them on the back foot and keep them there, as long as you can.
We don’t have the pace in the side and my prediction is if we don’t start to take teams on and play them at their own game, we’re going down, simple.
Playing cagey has proven it for months and if we keep doing it, then I will begin to have serious doubts about the manager.
Let’s face it, we have some really difficult games coming up and while the likes of Liverpool might play a weaker team against us, I don’t think others will.
Pussyfooting about hasn’t worked, fact.
But then, Dean Smith thinks we’re in a comfortable position.
All I can say to that is he’s the manager, who’s getting paid a boatload of money to make sure we survive.
And I’m just a fan, who knows nothing.
Let’s hope Dean can justify the money.
You all know how critical I am, have to say a marked difference with Villa efforts today, the lost of targatt hadn’t made that much difference and you can see Wolves tactics on stepping up the efforts. Good first half from Villa.
formation has been good. it looks like a 433 still but you got samatta and davis with grealish joining them on occasions. midfield of luiz flanked by hourihane and nakamba. we havent hit the long ball to often but it is a option if we need it. midfield has been narrow but strong. defense well has been ok but we still got a mistake in us and that worries the life out of me.
looks like davis and samatta and grealish could do some damage to wolves if they had more ball deep in wolves. good half except for a mistake not mentioning
Not too bad a first half although Nyland nearly gifted them. How many goals have we gift wrapped this season? I’m sure Traore will come on soon and destroy us.
For all that we have looked OK. Its a matter of time before Wolves get a goal. We just don’t make enough chances, we can pass it around the middle and the defence all day but we can’t keep the ball anywhere near the Wolves box long enough to create something. Its usually just hopeless passes that go out of play. Our set pieces have been awful today too. Not looking forward to Traore introduction you see the game swing for them when he does.
0-1
🙁
2 strikers and shite service is main problem today. I welcomed the substitutions but inevitable that they would score.
Douglas caught ball watching for their goal, sloppy mistake that cost us yet again
i’m sick to my back teeth of these overpaid f@ckers!
Sadly, there is just a huge gulf in class in the final third….has been for most of the season We just don’t look like scoring. And that is a recipe for relegation! UTV
I can accept that we quite clearly don’t have the quality that is needed for this league. What I don’t accept is the obvious absence of effort from most of the players. We are fighting for survival and I must admit to being quite optimistic when Smith stated that the players were “Raring to go” for the restart.
His lack of tactical awareness, together with the much apparent ‘ Couldn’t give a toss attitude’ by the team, will see us going down with a whimper.
The scenario is lads, it took a Ex Villa player to sink us. Told not good enough and the thing is we playing better . Hey ho. Villa till I,die.,…
what’s it like to actually win a game on tv? i can’t remember the feeling? are we not allowed to feel that ? ffs 👎
Not working Samats and Davies, have we anyone else? Put the effing goalkeeper on as centre forward. Please lord help us.
“It is difficult for Villa, especially playing against a very good side like Wolves. They’ve got no goals whatsoever and defensively they look all over the place. They’ve got some good individual players but as a team they just can’t get it right. They are very frustrating to watch because you know they’ve got it in them. There’s not enough players out there taking responsibility of their position and performance to collectively give you a strong performance. It’s too easy to play Villa at the moment.” Dion Dublin on BBC
Sums it up for me!
Grealish appears to have lost his edge – looking towards a new team next season perhaps!
Grealish looks like he has given up on us. Cant blame the lad really. The quality and tactics have let us down. Why oh why did we not get a second striker in last summer. Just not the quality in coaches and players for this league. It appears the job was too much for dean smith. Wish him all the best for the future but would like the entire coaching staff replaced in the summer regardless of which league we are in. We are in a stronger position as a club this time round. A few quality players can be sold and money reinvested sensibly and we will either have the quality to come straight back up or even stay up if the unlikely happens this season.
We are paying the price of poor recruitment at every level. We are playing without confidence as well which hampers our approach to the game. Question is how many Villa players would walk into the Wolves team and for me the answer is none of them.
Hoddle said that we would need every player to be at their best to scrape a win at the moment. Anything below that and we are likely to lose.
well this was better than i feared. we were solid but lacked any creativity, you have to consider the strength of the opposition and quality we were up against a really top side. so nothing much to say other than it was always a write of this game. 1 nil was as best we could hope for. wolves could have put the game to bed had they wanted too, but they were much happier to time waste and fall on to the floor,
i looked through the fixtures this one had me worried. the rest while are all top sides most of them have little to play for. so i do hold hopes on them. but we need to find a balance to being harder to play against like today and creating more dangers for the oppositions, easier said than done what is it 7 or 8 left no rush
Six, I think Nath!
Love your optimism but glad I didn’t put £10 on 0-3 – Villa would have let me down on that as well.
I just hope our owners will still be just that when we return to the Championship!
six>>>>>>>>>> i think if we wasn’t panicking already its time we was.
we can do this hitch holding my voodoo dolls. we just need to strike a better balance between being harder to play against and getting more dangerous with the ball. today we were up against a too well organised side that has made better sides than villa look ordinary,
i believe
My neighbour next doors , text me to say they was in the bottom three, see what I have to put up with, you lot don’t have a west ham nutter next door.
Still he’s a ace of a lad. We played a lot better, Samatta and Davies is not the answer. We need a creative player in the middle plus a winger that has Adama skills of crossing. Good luck to Wolves they are back from the days I knew them as world class.
I know what you mean Bill all my family are bloody Leicester fans and the blinking phone hasn’t stopped ringing well it has now threw it out of my window so now I’ve got to get a new phone Piss on you Dean Smith sell Grealish and Mings and buy Dwight Gayle get ready for the championship VTID
we might be seeing you bill on that tv program neighbours from hell. when you lose your patience with him and put him under the patio
That stands a chance Nath., looking at the news, Did Smith have a go a one of his coach when leaving the pitch? I seen him angry at the older coach more or less saying its your fault, or am I reading into something that’s not there.
he definitely cares. i saw him very animated on the sidelines.
on the pitch i see players like hourihane and grealish put in bad passes and over hitting passes. but that cause they are over trying. the goalie mistake was caus ehe was in two or three minds and ended up doing nothing, he went to throw out and changed mind saw the left back in space and went to throw and i think he changed his mind as he was throwing and some how handed a golden chance to their dangerous striker and he messed it up
this sort of sh it happens when you know you have to be perfect and still you might not win. also saw grealish when they scored, he really cares, he was really pi ss ed off when we conceded.
we will find a win or two before the end. will it be enough is another thing