It's not Sherwood!

[BoskoDjembaSalifou]

Clark in defensive midfield when Sanchez is sitting on the bench? What was that about?

[SamTheMouse]

I can actually believe it was planned. A sort of extension of the "keep it tight for 20 minutes, then let rip" approach. With confidence low after recent results, Sherwood presumably wanted to make sure we were solid in the first half and didn't let them play through us, as that would have allowed them to build up a head of steam, given them belief and set nerves jangling among our players. Then, after half-time and with the players more confident, you start to play some more expansive football.

Also, going more direct in the first-half would have the effect of pushing their back line a little deeper to deal with the long balls, thus leaving the space in between their defence and midfield that Jack and Ayew went and quite conspicuously stood in. Making the change at half-time would ensure SHA were not expecting the change when they came out for the second half and Rowett would struggle to make the necessary tweaks.

I also wonder whether Rowett was 'meant' to get that leaked line-up, just to make sure the plan worked.

OK, this all seems far-fetched and I sound like a conspiracy theorist. But whatever, it worked, so credit where it's due.

[KRS]

If Gestede said that, then why would he say he got it wrong?

Its odd I grant you.

Gestede pretty much confirmed the game plan/tactics for both halves as it panned out, and said it was good management.

The interview was literally minutes after the final whistle and is on the Sky match report for those that haven't seen.

[Dave]

I can actually believe it was planned. A sort of extension of the "keep it tight for 20 minutes, then let rip" approach. With confidence low after recent results, Sherwood presumably wanted to make sure we were solid in the first half and didn't let them play through us, as that would have allowed them to build up a head of steam, given them belief and set nerves jangling among our players. Then, after half-time and with the players more confident, you start to play some more expansive football.

Could we not have just used the fact that we've got much better players than they do to play well in the first half as well?

Us trying to attack and score a goal or two in the first half would have been a better way to stop them 'building up a head of steam' than launching the ball out of play or giving away possession with every fourth pass we tried to make.

[KRS]

Clark in defensive midfield when Sanchez is sitting on the bench? What was that about?

He wanted to give Clark 90 minutes so played him in midfield for the first half as he's played there before. Apparently it was planned to give Lescott only 45 minutes and subsequently switched Clark back to CB in the second half. It was a very odd starting line up, a formation we've never used before and we looked shite, so lets just hope he doesn't try it again.

[PeterWithe]

If he planned for us to be so shit in the first half I wished he'd deliberately leaked that as well, I would have stayed in the pub till the second half.

[SamTheMouse]

I can actually believe it was planned. A sort of extension of the "keep it tight for 20 minutes, then let rip" approach. With confidence low after recent results, Sherwood presumably wanted to make sure we were solid in the first half and didn't let them play through us, as that would have allowed them to build up a head of steam, given them belief and set nerves jangling among our players. Then, after half-time and with the players more confident, you start to play some more expansive football.

Could we not have just used the fact that we've got much better players than they do to play well in the first half as well?

Us trying to attack and score a goal or two in the first half would have been a better way to stop them 'building up a head of steam' than launching the ball out of play or giving away possession with every fourth pass we tried to make.

Well yeah, but that ignores the psychological element. We obviously have better players but perhaps Sherwood felt they were mentally a bit fragile and needed 45 minutes of just being solid and direct. This was a derby, after all, and Villa do have a habit of losing to lower league opposition. So I can see the justification for it.

Launching the ball allowed us to hold our shape. the way we played in the second half was great, but it does entail a bit more risk-taking, and I think that's what Sherwood wanted to eliminate until half-time.

I don't think he meant for us to be shit, which is the inference some have made. I think he expected us to compete a bit more than we did. But there's no doubt that when Jack and Ayew came on and played in between their lines, they weren't set up to cope with it.

[themossman]

It's not inconceivable that we would have a strategy that involved starting direct and changing shape later, with Grealish coming on and running at them. Obviously that plan wouldn't specifically require us to play crap and not score in the first half. It may be that he would have otherwise made the change later in the game.

The likeliest thing seems that there was a broad plan, which worked overall in a qualified kind of way, and now Tim is, in his braggadocious way, trying to claim it was deliberate right down to the finer details.

Worse things have happened at sea lads.

[frankmosswasmyuncle]

As soon as the team was announced, and with the personnel on the bench, I thought it was pretty clear that we were going to lump it up to Gestede and try to use Gabby's pace as our main mode of attack. If it works then fine; if not the players are there on the bench to change it completely.
And I think that's pretty much what happened.
I don't think TS planned to be so shit in the first half but he may well have intended playing "predictably" so that their midfield/defence set up for it. Second half - Gabby off, adjust defence to give us an extra player in midfield who can actually control the ball closely, add another, and stop lumping it.
Their defence must have been well-chuffed with themselves first half...second half they looked uneasy and then terrified...don't know the name of the one player who mis-kicked about three times in the second half when under almost no pressure at all. He looked completely fu*ked and totally demoralised with about 20 minutes to go...Ayew and Jack were taking the p**s.
The change of tactics I can see as deliberate and planned...the shitness of the first half performance, obviously not.
If true I find it reassuring that TS is being more savvy than he was at Leicester.
Only regret is that we didn't score a few more to reflect our dominance in the second half.

Saturday will be interesting!
 

[Chris Jameson]

Brendan Rodgers will be telling Liverpool they need to be at least 3 up by half time on Saturday as Villa will really tear into them in the second half.

[Toronto Villa]

I can actually believe it was planned. A sort of extension of the "keep it tight for 20 minutes, then let rip" approach. With confidence low after recent results, Sherwood presumably wanted to make sure we were solid in the first half and didn't let them play through us, as that would have allowed them to build up a head of steam, given them belief and set nerves jangling among our players. Then, after half-time and with the players more confident, you start to play some more expansive football.

Could we not have just used the fact that we've got much better players than they do to play well in the first half as well?

Us trying to attack and score a goal or two in the first half would have been a better way to stop them 'building up a head of steam' than launching the ball out of play or giving away possession with every fourth pass we tried to make.

agreed. We've done it in a few games now that instead of playing our game with the players we have we played to stifle the opponents. Yet when we try and play we show we can do it very well. When Swansea went to Chelsea they played their game and really took it to Chelsea instead of letting them dictate events which invariably leads to one thing. I grant you it might not work all the time and there will be parts of the game we need to soak up pressure but don't want us to adopt "The Lambert Approach" from the very start.

[themossman]

Brendan Rodgers will be telling Liverpool they need to be at least 3 up by half time on Saturday as Villa will really tear into them in the second half.

Unless he bases his tactics on the Leicester game and does the exact opposite.

[Kingthing]

We took a Millwall fan with us last night and he loved it, first of all we came out of the Lions club right into no mans land between two rows of coopers keeping fans apart then my Villa mate managed to punch him in the face and give him a nose bleed when we scored, he said it was just like being at the Den.

[Witton Warrior]

We took a Millwall fan with us last night and he loved it, first of all we came out of the Lions club right into no mans land between two rows of coopers keeping fans apart then my Villa mate managed to punch him in the face and give him a nose bleed when we scored, he said it was just like being at the Den.

Looks like there were more Millwall than Zulus in the Holte then?

Good lad for the crafty smack!

[LeeB]

If that first half was planned, then I'm Kim Jong Un.



I'm not, by the way.

If you're Kim Wilde, pm me. Still.