Brighton 0-0 Aston Villa post match thread

[LukeJames]

Edit. Fucked up my message

[Legion]

I still cant get my head around how poor we were yesterday, we haven't been great over the last few weeks tbf but we are picking up points when not at our best.

Off the top of my head Southampton, Westham, Arsenal and Brighton all had close too or over 20 shots on our goal, thats back to last seasons form, thankfully we have the best GK in the League.

World.

[sid1964]

I have not watched every full game as I don't have all the sports channels - but Saturday is the worst attacking performance I have seen from us this season

Thankfully the defence and especially our goalkeeper got us a draw

[JUAN PABLO]

Who's JJ?

Jacob

[chrisw1]

If this is our bad patch, then 10 points from 5 games is pretty good. We seldom get anything when we're poor, something we've let opposition get away with for years.

It's 7 points from 5 games (Burnley, Southampton, West Ham, Arsenal & Brighton)

In those 5 games I'd say we've played well for 1 half (Burnley).  The points haul is by no means disasterous, but we have ridden our luck and have to be thankful for some great keeping and 2 (in my opinion) very lucky VAR decisions against Southampton (I know we've been on the end of similar, but that doesn't mask the form point)

So yes, compared to last season we are doing brilliantly and have a lot to be thankful for.  But in terms of form we are really struggling and if we can't find a solution it would be a shame if the promise we have shown fizzles out.  If we finish around 10th-12th, from where we've come from that would be great.  But it will feel like an opportunity missed, particulary the sharks circling around Jack.

[ChicagoLion]

If this is our bad patch, then 10 points from 5 games is pretty good. We seldom get anything when we're poor, something we've let opposition get away with for years.

It's 7 points from 5 games (Burnley, Southampton, West Ham, Arsenal & Brighton)

In those 5 games I'd say we've played well for 1 half (Burnley).  The points haul is by no means disasterous, but we have ridden our luck and have to be thankful for some great keeping and 2 (in my opinion) very lucky VAR decisions against Southampton (I know we've been on the end of similar, but that doesn't mask the form point)

So yes, compared to last season we are doing brilliantly and have a lot to be thankful for.  But in terms of form we are really struggling and if we can't find a solution it would be a shame if the promise we have shown fizzles out.  If we finish around 10th-12th, from where we've come from that would be great.  But it will feel like an opportunity missed, particulary the sharks circling around Jack.

good points, our form has been poor and the stats show this. We can not rely on a defence constantly getting us out of jail if we are allowing 20 attempts on goal every game, eventualy we will concede as we did West Ham and Burnley.

[OCD]

We will do very well to maintain our form we showed in the first half of the season over the second half of the season. Most sides will have a good half of the season and less so with the other half of the season. Whether we can or can't maintain that form will be a really good indicator of where we are in our recovery.

As for our form, it's not as if we're alone there. You only have to look at Tottenham and Everton for other contenders for the European spots to see others who are struggling for form. Then consider the size of Tottenham's squad and how much both have been able to invest into their squads in recent years. They're doing no better than us with far more time and money spent in improving themselves.

[in exile]

For what it's worth, I thought we were poor.
McGinn and Barkley need benching, but I doubt it will happen.
Just my opinion of course.

[Virgil Caine]

I wonder if some teams have now got us sussed- double up and Jack and you nullify the attacking threat. If that is the case its more reason to be a little disappointed with Barkley as he should be feeding on the extra space around him. Also I wonder if the CoVid break served to take the edge of our play as the performances have generally been behind those pre isolation break.

This is where Dean Smith could pull off a tactical master stroke by changing formation, potentially giving Jack a freedom to roam across and behind the forward line, pushing John McGinn further forward, swapping Barkley for Sanson to take McGinns place in central/defensive midfield, starting with Trez and using Traore as impact sub if needed. Whilst there are advantages in having a settled side/formation perhaps taking the risk and being flexible would give the Villa the upper hand in games to come.

[Gerrin]

I wonder if some teams have now got us sussed- double up and Jack and you nullify the attacking threat. If that is the case its more reason to be a little disappointed with Barkley as he should be feeding on the extra space around him. Also I wonder if the CoVid break served to take the edge of our play as the performances have generally been behind those pre isolation break.

This is where Dean Smith could pull off a tactical master stroke by changing formation, potentially giving Jack a freedom to roam across and behind the forward line, pushing John McGinn further forward, swapping Barkley for Sanson to take McGinns place in central/defensive midfield, starting with Trez and using Traore as impact sub if needed. Whilst there are advantages in having a settled side/formation perhaps taking the risk and being flexible would give the Villa the upper hand in games to come.

He definitely needs to work something out if this going to be the tactic to double up on Jack, as it seems to be very effective in stopping him so far.

[dcdavecollett]

Just don't understand why folk persist with the view that we 'got lucky with VAR' against the Saints. In fact, the ref (Mason FFS!) got two marginal decisions perfectly correct as was confirmed by the review system.

It's when the VAR system gets it horribly wrong (see W Ham away) when people should complain.

[dcdavecollett]

Oh and Man City, of course!