Aston Villa v Brentford Post Match Thread

[Villafirst]

Gardner was shocking for the brief time he was on. Gave the ball away needlessly. Brentford's players zipped the ball around with speed and skill. Most of our players looked ponderous, lacked confidence and worringly unfit to last the full 90 minutes. I think Carles Gil would've stood out in this league.

[Bad English]

Hilarious 'Mind the Gap!' Championship table  SHA compared to Aston Villa meme doing rounds on Facebook now.

[tony scott]

I know it's really early days,just wonder why Bakers not getting a game having performed really well in the championship last year, also there must be a midfielder in u23 squad to play 3 in midfield for balance.  Finally I wonder if C Clark has ever played in a team that's won 6 on the bounce? it's still hurting

[PaulWinch again]

We were ok first half without ever dominating. Second half we were mostly second best save for a short spell after Amavi came on. For all that we probably had the better chances over the whole game. They deserved to get something from the game so one Villa fan went home happy at least.

The team just looked unbalanced, too early to panic but he needs to get a better balance in midfield and perhaps be slightly less gung-ho with selections.

Yep and he also needs to get the team to stop sitting back on a lead. We are getting punished every game, because once we take the lead we don't take the game to the opposition and finish them off.

[kippaxvilla2]

I think he will get to the international break and if we haven't won any by then it could be the end. He got Smethwick up with 100 points playing gung ho football.  I just think the league has moved on since then.  Teams more closely matched. Teams more tactical and ready to sit in.  You have to grind a good few results out.  I remember Burnley did that a lot last year.

[Witton Warrior]

Typical Villa - we get the much-vaunted "mid-table mediocrity" a season too late!

On a balmy night in B6 with a decent crowd in the Holte I watched Brentford run and tackle as if their lives depended on it. The wee ginger lad ran the show (just like the Huddersfield game's bald fella) and we had no answer to him (RDM tell someone to stay on him?). No pressure, no closing down - pathetic.

I know Kadjia score a great goal and had good touches but there was a move in the second half when Ayew (?) nicked the ball, passed to Amavi and he set off - he arrived at the box and there was no Villa player within 30 yeards - K wasn't even jogging forward. Not picking on him because they were all lacklustre.

[Fin Feds Dad]

It's garbage . No obvious formation , too slow , players who haven't got the guts / skill to receive the ball and turn towards goal. Almost every pass is back toward our own goal .

Wood (the ginger haired lad in midfield) was head and shoulders the best player on the park .

[QuintonVilla]

What I don't get with his tactics is he plays four forwards but then when we go a goal up we sit back? Surely if you play with four forwards your idea is to kick on when you score and try and get three or four. Why play that formation if your aim is to defend a 1-0 lead?

[oldtimernow]

I think to play just two midfielders needs them both to be talented, seriously athletic and willing to get in and fight. We don't have that from any of our midfielders. So why set us up for that?

This.

also agreed......how hard is this managing larky?

[Proposition Joe]

I'm sure RDM thinks with the 4 attackers we have, including some of the most successful forwards this division has seen over the last couple of years, that teams will fear us and we'll be pinning them back all game. Hence the neglect of the midfield during rebuilding.

Problem is, we are the equivalent of the cowardly lion in Wizard of Oz. We start games well ("put em up, put em uuup") but as soon as the opposition decides to have a go we cower, lose all nerve and end up chewing on our tail.

I've said it before and I'll say it again, 4-2-4 or 4-2-3-1 needs to be kicked into the long grass for the forseeable. Need to shore up that midfield, god knows who with though.

[themossman]

What I don't get with his tactics is he plays four forwards but then when we go a goal up we sit back? Surely if you play with four forwards your idea is to kick on when you score and try and get three or four. Why play that formation if your aim is to defend a 1-0 lead?

We're the worst of both worlds. Start with too many strikers, score first, but then fail to capitalise and score more. Invite inevitable pressure and unable temperamentally and formation wise to hold on.

If we're playing gung ho we need to score a few not sit back. If we're  trying to nick a goal and sit on it we need to dig in and make sensible substitutions.

[oldhill_avfc]

We have a team that could (possibly should) win this league.

No we don't.

The squad is totally unbalanced.  We're weak in midfield and shaky at the back.  The attackers aren't performing well enough to compensate.

[themossman]

Yes I'm starting to think we spent the money poorly. Jedi and the 2 centre backs looked like the best business but have been extremely disappointing so far.

[Chico Hamilton III]

Regardless of what we might all think about the situation, I don't imagine Xia will be prepared to put up with shit like this for too long. He's going to want to see some return on his investment, pronto. We've got the players for this league.

[Jimbo]

Jedinak will be fine with a proper partner in there with him. Beard aside, he had presence in the midfield in the first half, actually made some tackles, and kicked the ball forwards occasionally, unlike Willow the Wisp Westwood.

We didn't possess a proper midfield, and I will grow to be a shrivelled, dusty husk of the man I am now before I understand why we sat back for an entire half, at home, to Brentford, with three strikers in the team, and the most immobile one on the planet up front on his own.