Aston Villa v Burton Albion Post-Match Thread

[usav]

I think sometimes we're too 'nice' a team in this league. Said a lot for me after their goal the team all stood about looking sorry for themselves with no one trying to rally the others. Definitely need a character who as well as leading by example doesn't give a sh*t about upsetting anyone when they're playing below par and telling it like it is. Hopefully Steve's got some idea of who come January.

A Joey Barton type......but not Joey Barton.

[Matt C]

Remarkable turnaround from when Bruce took over and he deserves great credit for that. We're not aesthetically pleasing to the eye, granted, but we're accumulating points at a rate that looked unthinkable in September.

[Axl Rose]

Remarkable turnaround from when Bruce took over and he deserves great credit for that. We're not aesthetically pleasing to the eye, granted, but we're accumulating points at a rate that looked unthinkable in September.

I agree.

I think it's hard to be attractive or at least play attractive football in this league. Newcastle, Sheffield Wednesday and Brighton have at times, and we did at home to Forest and away at Brighton. But it is hard.

We are doing alright, and we are around the top 6 now. Despite the shit start, we are still close to the playoffs. I take my hat off to Bruce. I was really against him coming in, but he's been excellent. Well done, Brucey.

[jwarry]

I do wonder if Gil could have done a better job in this division. At least he could pass

[Walmley_Villa]

I think the team were a bit intimidated by the full house tbh. They cannot manage the expectation just yet whereas the opposition raise their game. That might explain the inability to control or pass?
Having said that Kodija was poor and has developed a case of the 'Ayew' when you beat a player but then have to beat them again and again until you fall over or lose the ball.
Grealish and Ayew changed the game for us. RMC actually had somebody on the same wavelength on the pitch. Special mention to Ayew for his last gasp tackle in our box.

[Toronto Villa]

I don't think the full house had anything to do with it. We've looked this way for a few weeks now. We are just disjointed and looking to play with too many forwards and not enough balance coming from midfield. We don't control the game enough and we are still poor at retaining possession. Yet still we are picking up points so there is tremendous upside if we can bring in a player or two to start to affect how we play and control games.

[Morleys left boot]

We must stop giving  the ball away , we create  our own  problems  fix that and we'll be fine
Oh and  let's stop fucking moaning it's better than getting beat every week

[ROBBO]

The midfield has been our problem for years even when we were playing decent football in the prem, it's been so bleeding obvious yet a procession of so called professional managers didn't find a way to improve it.

[Jimbo]

We're scrappy and disjointed because we have no shape. The addition of some proper midfielders should settle that area of the pitch and allow the rest of the team to become settled in their roles. Our passing is erratic because we're all too aware of the weakness in the centre. And we'll attack more fluidly if we do it from deeper.

[in exile]

I just don't see the point of playing Gardner yet alone giving him a new contract.
I'm still not convinced that Amavi is a defender.
Agbonlahor looked good up until the part where he came on to the pitch.

[Chris Smith]

The previous manager bought loads of players with the hope that they would become a team. Bruce has done his best, we are more solid at the back which means we have been able to win games with a couple of individual contributions from the attacking players as happened yesterday. I am sure the Manager knows what is required but there is no guarantee that the right people will be available in January.

[villabear]

I just don't see the point of playing Gardner yet alone giving him a new contract.
I'm still not convinced that Amavi is a defender.
Agbonlahor looked good up until the part where he came on to the pitch.

Looked good? I beg to differ

[lukey27]

We were poor again but you have to give them credit for finding a way to win at the moment.

The harsh reality is though, that we're massively imbalanced as a squad. Another shape to the team at the start 4-4-2 which didn't really work. Jedinak hasn't the pace to play in that formation and the game bypassed Gardner.

We changed again second half but Kodjia just isn't a central striker as much as we want him to be. He can't play with his back to goal for a start. When we get a couple of midfielders in, I'm convinced he'll play on the left in a 4-3-3.

Once we address the imbalance in the squad, we'll get much better but it might just be more of the same until that point.

[john e]

it was rancidly poor from Villa, at times almost unwatchable
but hey we got 3 points so we go again

[PeterWithe]

Baker, Chester and Bacuna were good, Jack changed the game and Ayew did very well in the short time he was on, other than that most players had a day to forget.

Ross McCormack is a conundrum, he shows flashes of brilliance that make you think he should be one of the first names on the sheet, his link up play with Jack was excellent but then he disappears from the game and his work rate is poor. What do we do with him?

Strange that we are so top heavy with forwards in the squad but still look like we need more.