Aston Villa v Swansea City Post-Match Thread

[barrysleftfoot]

 Was you there?  Crowd was very supportive yday, if a bit quiet.But then again 7 home goals this season, and how many wins?, what do you expect?

[Chris Smith]

The crowd are awful. It was like a pantomime wih all the booing and whinning.

Blame it on the baddie .

I'd like to see Grealish recalled and given a run in the team .

I really don't think it's the time to blood more youngsters, they need to be introduced into a settled environment not thrown in in desperation.

[Ron Manager]

The crowd are awful. It was like a pantomime wih all the booing and whinning.

Blame it on the baddie .

I'd like to see Grealish recalled and given a run in the team .

I really don't think it's the time to blood more youngsters, they need to be introduced into a settled environment not thrown in in desperation.

The voice of reason.

[Pat McMahon]

The crowd are awful. It was like a pantomime wih all the booing and whinning.

There were some irate reactions to specific incidents but the crowd were patient, if quiet for a lot of the game.

I was in the North Stand - which I hate- and it was just very quiet up there until anger settled in on a few occasions. No booing, and in the second half you couild hear a marked increase in noise from the Holte supporting the team when they were under the cosh.

[supertom]

The crowd are awful. It was like a pantomime wih all the booing and whinning.

There were some irate reactions to specific incidents but the crowd were patient, if quiet for a lot of the game.

I was in the North Stand - which I hate- and it was just very quiet up there until anger settled in on a few occasions. No booing, and in the second half you couild hear a marked increase in noise from the Holte supporting the team when they were under the cosh.

a 37k attendance against a middling club like Swansea, the way we've been playing at VP for years? I think every Villa fan who turned up deserves a bloody knighthood (minus anyone involved in the unfortunate post match fracas). Every one of them to a man deserves to be able to have a whinge and a boo for what they've forked out to be there.
Awful is a word for describing our play on the pitch, but most certainly not the fans.

[damon loves JT]

The Holte was loudest when we were defending a corner, under serious pressure at 1-1. We weren't on their backs.

[jembob]

I wonder if it's a confidence issue as well, where you have players so scared of giving the ball away they're just taking the easier option and passing it back to Clark/Baker/Guzan, who then inevitably boot it upfield and back to the opposition.

It seems to me that the team are coached in playing counter attack football and not much else. This shows when we are in possession around the half way line and our forwards just seem to stand  by the opposition's back line waiting for a killer through ball. It's very easy to defend against but the real result is that our 3 forwards show no inclination to drop deeper in any meaningful way which, in turn, means that the midfield don't have many options. If you were a midfielder playing for Villa at the moment, you wouldn't real want to be given the ball if you weren't going to be able to do anything worthwhile with it.

It was the same under the Scottish manager and MON. What is it about our managers and coaching staff over the last few years that has resulted in the Club seemingly adopting dire-quality hoofball as the house style. Our standard of football has been risable for a number of years while teams with inferior squads play with so much more style and composure.

I would be willing to accept our crap style of play if it yielded decent results, but it doesn't and we end up with worst of both worlds. While we clearly don't have players capable of playing intricate football, it's difficult to understand why we can't to even the most basic of things. Lambert makes the point that football has 'moved on', but as a club we are stuck with an outdated, tedious and failing style of play which again will see us languish at the wrong end of the league.

[London Villan]

3 goals score in the last 7 games... I'm amazed they haven't had more stick from the crowd...

Another basic point was the lack of urgency in our play, we amble around at free kicks and corners, there is no energy in the team, keeping the tempo up. This is something that can be drilled into the players... imagine how a lower league team goes at a premiership team in the cup... we never ever do that... that is down to the management.

[Ad@m]

I wonder if it's a confidence issue as well, where you have players so scared of giving the ball away they're just taking the easier option and passing it back to Clark/Baker/Guzan, who then inevitably boot it upfield and back to the opposition.

It seems to me that the team are coached in playing counter attack football and not much else. This shows when we are in possession around the half way line and our forwards just seem to stand  by the opposition's back line waiting for a killer through ball. It's very easy to defend against but the real result is that our 3 forwards show no inclination to drop deeper in any meaningful way which, in turn, means that the midfield don't have many options. If you were a midfielder playing for Villa at the moment, you wouldn't real want to be given the ball if you weren't going to be able to do anything worthwhile with it.

It was the same under the Scottish manager and MON. What is it about our managers and coaching staff over the last few years that has resulted in the Club seemingly adopting dire-quality hoofball as the house style. Our standard of football has been risable for a number of years while teams with inferior squads play with so much more style and composure.

I would be willing to accept our crap style of play if it yielded decent results, but it doesn't and we end up with worst of both worlds. While we clearly don't have players capable of playing intricate football, it's difficult to understand why we can't to even the most basic of things. Lambert makes the point that football has 'moved on', but as a club we are stuck with an outdated, tedious and failing style of play which again will see us languish at the wrong end of the league.

Believe it or not, Lambert is setting the team up in a very modern way, he just doesn't have the players to play that style.

The current trend is to have a defensive unit of two/three centre halves and a defensive midfielder sitting in front of them and breaking up anything that comes through.  That then frees up the fullbacks to join in the attack and can effectively give you eight attacking players when going forward.  That's how all the top clubs in Europe play nowadays.

The trouble is our centre halves aren't good enough to cope without the protection of our fullbacks.  Our fullbacks, who if the system works shouldn't really need to be able to defend, end up being pegged back and then their lack of defensive ability is blatant, and we don't have the defensive midfielder to cover either (Westwood doesn't cut it in that role).

Then, further up the pitch we don't keep the ball well enough to make sure we don't get caught out of position nor do we have the technical or creative ability to open up teams when we get in to their half.

Arguably, the system isn't the problem, it's that the players aren't good enough.  This is what I think the project is, it's a long term plan to develop a more modern style of play with the right players involved.  It doesn't happen overnight though.  The trouble is, do you play a style to suit the players you currently have (and that didn't work for TSM) or do you build an ethos, bringing in players in a sustainable way, and run the risk of it all blowing up in your face?  Currently we're doing the latter.

[London Villan]

The "project" is all well and good, but where do you start when the players struggle with the basics of the game, like passing under no pressure to the same colour shirt, or taking a throw-in so the player receiving it doesn't have to struggle to control it, or picking up a player at a short corner..

These are fundamental things that kids learn to do on a football pitch... things which our millionaires struggle to do time and again.

[silhillvilla]

I've re-watched Gabbys bizarre goal celebration and he does appear to make a bee line for Culverhouse . Worrying.

[Hampshire Villa]

if someone had offered a point before the game , n]based on Boxing day I would have taken it. However on the day, frankly Swansea were there for us to beat! Yes they had a a lot of possession, yes they passed it sweetly, why? because we allowed them to! They didn't actually create much finished product, not many real chances! We on the other hand sat back , gave them too much room and allowed them to play their football on the ground! We did have short periods when we closed them down and harried them which got the Vill Park faithful fired up and cheering effort!! It also forced Swansea to make errors! We seemed to do this for a few minutes and then just sit back again and allow the to play!
If we could show the effort and aggression we would show for a couple of minutes throughout the game we would have had a much better chance to win.
Our Players look so nervous, no one wants to make a mistake! for fear the Crowd will turn on them.. I would urge everyone , please stop the booing, please support the team, Their confidence is already low don't sap it any more! I know the old cliches of  " these players are earning a fortune etc etc"  Well yes they are  but they are still human beings! If you were trying hard but made a couple of mistakes  in your job and your Boss humiliated you infront of 37000 do you think you would perform better or would it make you even more nervous! Would your confidence improve or reduce!
Does booing help?? No it doesn't! Please support the team!, We are all fans  and we have one thing in common  - a love for Aston Villa, this is something we cannot change, we are stuck with it, through good and bad. We therefore must support it! and especially those 11 young men who represent it!  Keep the faith!

[supertom]

if someone had offered a point before the game , n]based on Boxing day I would have taken it. However on the day, frankly Swansea were there for us to beat! Yes they had a a lot of possession, yes they passed it sweetly, why? because we allowed them to! They didn't actually create much finished product, not many real chances! We on the other hand sat back , gave them too much room and allowed them to play their football on the ground! We did have short periods when we closed them down and harried them which got the Vill Park faithful fired up and cheering effort!! It also forced Swansea to make errors! We seemed to do this for a few minutes and then just sit back again and allow the to play!
If we could show the effort and aggression we would show for a couple of minutes throughout the game we would have had a much better chance to win.
Our Players look so nervous, no one wants to make a mistake! for fear the Crowd will turn on them.. I would urge everyone , please stop the booing, please support the team, Their confidence is already low don't sap it any more! I know the old cliches of  " these players are earning a fortune etc etc"  Well yes they are  but they are still human beings! If you were trying hard but made a couple of mistakes  in your job and your Boss humiliated you infront of 37000 do you think you would perform better or would it make you even more nervous! Would your confidence improve or reduce!
Does booing help?? No it doesn't! Please support the team!, We are all fans  and we have one thing in common  - a love for Aston Villa, this is something we cannot change, we are stuck with it, through good and bad. We therefore must support it! and especially those 11 young men who represent it!  Keep the faith!

The trouble with how we play though, is that all that aggressive pressing which unsettled Swansea works up to a point. It's also impossible for a team that spends 70% of the game chasing the ball, to apply that kind of pressure consistently. They'd have to be cyborgs to press like that for 90 minutes. As it happens some players are also getting very tired right now too.

What we need is an actual game plan to help us see out a 90 minutes with a fair share of the ball and on our own patch at least, the lions share of chances, especially against sides below the top 8.

[pauliewalnuts]

I've re-watched Gabbys bizarre goal celebration and he does appear to make a bee line for Culverhouse . Worrying.

Why is that worrying?

[JUAN PABLO]

. Luna looked better.

really    he was awful