Victorious Aston Villa v Derby Post Match Thread.

[LukeJames]

I have had time to reflect on the game yesterday.

I have been watching kadoja recently and he is a f*cking liability. Never since Baros (without a bit of his ability) been such a poor selfish individual. The second half we were penned in by his abysmal effort. If you watch him closely he actually ducks to avoid heading the ball if challenged by a centre back.  If he doesn't get the ball to his feet it's arms the air and a little skip to state 'I tried'. Get there first hold the ball and wait for support it's the least I expect.

Absolutely! This is what I have been saying for weeks, we can not become more of a unit while he is in the team.

[mr underhill]

so  are you suggesting  replaces our only real goal threat and score ? FFS.

[mr underhill]

that should be so who are you suggesting should replace our only threat goal threat and score goals with Hogan etc injured. Thank you.

[Mister E]

I have had time to reflect on the game yesterday.

I have been watching kadoja recently and he is a f*cking liability. Never since Baros (without a bit of his ability) been such a poor selfish individual. The second half we were penned in by his abysmal effort. If you watch him closely he actually ducks to avoid heading the ball if challenged by a centre back.  If he doesn't get the ball to his feet it's arms the air and a little skip to state 'I tried'. Get there first hold the ball and wait for support it's the least I expect.

Absolutely! This is what I have been saying for weeks, we can not become more of a unit while he is in the team.

The problem is not entirely of Kodjia's making, though. He is not going to win high balls when confronted by the big, lumpy CB that dominate this division. Playing to his strengths - and those of Hogan - by playing the ball on the ground and having good support from the MF will see a far better return from our proven scorers at this level.

[willenhall villa]

Just thinking about Kodjia's performances. Yes he's selfish yet very skilful with it. He's saved us a few times this season but has he cost us points?
Would you rather have Kodjia our a partnership of McCormack and Gestede? I say this because at the start of the season they looked like an ideal partnership.

[Ads]

It's the Holte End way to moan like billio about our leading goal scorer.

Somebody was vociferously calling Green, 18 year old local Villa fan, played collectively maybe four senior games, a fucking twat on the weekend.

Some it's just frustration, some of it an absence of joined up thinking.

[Clampy]

Some of the criticism Kodjia gets is justified. He can seem to try and do too much and looks a bit too casual (if that's the right word) at times but I'm glad we've got him. I think he's been pretty good for us and a 11 goal return considering he wasn't here for a month is not too shabby.

[robbo1874]

Hutton, Bacuna, Jedinak, Baker, Chester - that's half the outfield team - all had ok games. It was just a poor game to watch. I'd have taken that beforehand as would most people I think. Hopefully another win in a couple of days will see the corner turned. Sounds like a cliche, I know. But we just had one cliche with a scrappy, somewhat lucky 1-0 win to stop the rot.

[passitsideways]

It's the Holte End way to moan like billio about our leading goal scorer.

Somebody was vociferously calling Green, 18 year old local Villa fan, played collectively maybe four senior games, a fucking twat on the weekend.

Some it's just frustration, some of it an absence of joined up thinking.

The way I see is that it's boring to take a shit on the same players every week when the team as a whole is doing poorly, unless you fit in the category of horrible professional (Gabby, Richards, etc.) or serial scapegoat, so eventually a player like Kodjia was going to be in the firing line.

[Abbeyfealeavfc]

Kodjia-11 goals in 25 appearances, directly contributing to 18 of our points total. Our next highest goalscorers currently playing for Villa are Grealish and Adomah with 3 each. It's true Kodjia's impact has lessened since the close of the January transfer window, but that is down to Bruce and his team formations and tactics. After Villa scored against Derby, Adomah dropped back as a wing back with Hutton pushing inside for large periods in the 1st half. With this tactical change, Villa at home were playing with 6 defenders if you include Jedinak. In the second half  things got even worse with Lansbury and bacuna playing deeper and deeper. What chance does that give Kodjia of being effective? It's true Kodjia is not the finished article as a player, but which players are who play in the championship or even outside the sky 6 in the premier league? We need to support our leading goalscorer and hope Bruce settles on a formation and tactics that bring the best out of him.

[paul_e]

Hutton, Bacuna, Jedinak, Baker, Chester - that's half the outfield team - all had ok games. It was just a poor game to watch. I'd have taken that beforehand as would most people I think. Hopefully another win in a couple of days will see the corner turned. Sounds like a cliche, I know. But we just had one cliche with a scrappy, somewhat lucky 1-0 win to stop the rot.

They all put in good defensive performances (and Chester got the goal obviously) but it's very clear that none of the attacking players played well, Bacuna as the box-to-box midfielder was the only player who got near their box in open play who actually did anything.  I don't blame the players for that I think Green and Lansbury in particular both tried to make things happen but they were doing it 20 yards to deep and with far too many defenders between them and the goal.  If you refuse to commit men forward that's what happens.  Yes it meant that Derby struggled to get in behind us but it's not a tactic that will work every week because if you give up the amount of ground that we do you give teams the option to gamble by taking long shots or hitting hopeful balls into the box and hoping for a rebound.  If we want to get to the last 20 minutes without having everyone on the edge of their seats we need to make teams scared of over-committing against us right now they can flood our box and know that if they keep Kodjia marked we will just keep giving the ball back to them.

[LukeJames]

Just thinking about Kodjia's performances. Yes he's selfish yet very skilful with it. He's saved us a few times this season but has he cost us points?

Wolves and Leeds at home off the top of my head, simple balls for McCormack to tap into an empty net.

[old man villa fan]

I have had time to reflect on the game yesterday.

I have been watching kadoja recently and he is a f*cking liability. Never since Baros (without a bit of his ability) been such a poor selfish individual. The second half we were penned in by his abysmal effort. If you watch him closely he actually ducks to avoid heading the ball if challenged by a centre back.  If he doesn't get the ball to his feet it's arms the air and a little skip to state 'I tried'. Get there first hold the ball and wait for support it's the least I expect.

Absolutely! This is what I have been saying for weeks, we can not become more of a unit while he is in the team.

The problem is not entirely of Kodjia's making, though. He is not going to win high balls when confronted by the big, lumpy CB that dominate this division. Playing to his strengths - and those of Hogan - by playing the ball on the ground and having good support from the MF will see a far better return from our proven scorers at this level.

The simple answer is to work the ball closer to the forwards before passing to them.  Long balls give the defenders time to react and, if it is in the air, you are just giving the ball back to them.

Our football needs a 6 foot something lump up front.  Our forward players need different tactics.

[boozey182]

Some of the criticism Kodjia gets is justified. He can seem to try and do too much and looks a bit too casual (if that's the right word) at times but I'm glad we've got him. I think he's been pretty good for us and a 11 goal return considering he wasn't here for a month is not too shabby.

I agree. While he frustrates the hell out of me, he's been the only attacking player to show any kind of form under Bruce. It can't be easy for any of them to play with any freedom under his tactics, so I don't really know what we expect from him. He gets the ball so infrequently, and he has so few options when he does, that every mistake is highlighted. In a normal team, I'm sure we wouldn't notice his (undeniable) selfishness half as much. Hopefully over the next few matches we'll start to have a bit more of the ball, which will make it easy for him. If not, he'll continue to struggle, as will Adomah, Green and Jack if he plays.

[Abbeyfealeavfc]

Re LukeJames
Would they be like the tap-in that Gates McCormack blazed over the bar at wolves away after an excellent cross by Amavi? Simple passes, if made, still need to be converted.