Aston Villa 2-3 Leeds United Post Match Thread

[ROBBO]

Agree about Hogan he has been given a few chances coming on late and delivered nothing. Adomah would have given us more defensive cover as I noticed on a few occasions the wingers were not covering hard enough, that's where I think we really missed Grealish and his ability to run and cover all game hope he's back soon.

[andyh]

And exactly what do people expect from Hogan when he played about 30 mins this season?
He is nowhere near match fit and the only way you get that is by playing games.
We need to consider where the front 3 (permed from) Kodjia, Bolasie, adomah and Tammy, is set in stone, or whether we need to freshen things up and use the squad and with  the number of games coming thick and fast, maybe that’s an option?

[Villatillidie1982]

I think Nyland has improved in the last couple of matches since finding out he is about to lose his place.

A back line of  Taylor,  Elphick (where is he now), Terry (if he could be persuaded to put his boots back on) and Bree (in his correct position) couldn't have done any worse than that. Whelan is no Jedimak. When he's back the pressure on the defence will improve.

Keep the faith. Look forward to beating Albion at Wembley in May.

[Drummond]

I think we need to remember that Smith is using Bruce's squad.

He's trying his style with players he didn't choose, and they are coming up short and will be replaced. See the goalkeeper as evidence of action.

Chester is having a very bad season, I don't think he he can play Smith's style, his passing is very poor. Tuanzebe was missed today, Bree wasn't match fit and given his lack of appearance on even the subs bench for a while showed he's not ready. Full backs aren't good enough without better players around them. I think that with a decent pair of commanding centre backs the full backs would do ok.

Midfield is ok but nothing more; going forward it's great but defensively it's just not good enough and with the players behind it that's a disaster (I was going to say waiting to happen but it doesn't seem to wait).

Should have done better.

[curiousorange]

I'd just like to add, judging by my retweets and likes from Leeds fans this evening, that any and all misfortune they have will be taken with good humour, grace and forbearance, because that's apparently what was expected of Villa fans today. So, y'know, hope they don't bottle it again or anything.

[KevinGage]

I'd just like to add, judging by my retweets and likes from Leeds fans this evening, that any and all misfortune they have will be taken with good humour, grace and forbearance, because that's apparently what was expected of Villa fans today. So, y'know, hope they don't bottle it again or anything.

Leeds can fuck off.

And their pondlife, throwback fans.

[BC Villain]

Bree wasn't match fit and given his lack of appearance on even the subs bench for a while showed he's not ready. Full backs aren't good enough without better players around them.

Bree coming here has been a complete waste of time.  He's never been given a run in the side and when he plays, its normally as a last minute change, or out of position.  It's not as if we've even loaned him out to get some game time.

[Sexual Ealing]

We were shit. They were good. Kodjia, Elmo, Hutton and El Ghazi were mince. My turncoat nephew roared Villa on all game and then decided he was still a Leeds fan in injury time.

As much as I'd rather sever all three of my testicles than spend any time with them, I thought the Leeds fans made a lot of noise. Having said that, and I hope I'm wrong, but did I hear them singing in support of Tommy Robinson at one point (after we sang for Tammy Abraham)? If so they can obviously fuck back off to the sea.

[eamonn]

Those puzzled by Smith's lack of using the young players - he has inherited a bloated senior squad, all on big money for this level and has been told/decided to give them all a crack of the whip where possible (ie everyone except Micah). We may not see the kids given a run until he has sifted through those he wants to discard of the senior crop.

Bolassie's "effort" that went embarrassingly wide - he clearly had little confidence in his left foot to use it which is pretty disappointing at this level.

[brian green]

It is a worrying concept that we might be back in the for want of a better word politics of squad use.  The notion being that we have paid and are paying a lot of money for players so we have to showcase them with game time to enhance their resale value.  If that is happening it should not be, because all the club focus should be on building upward momentum not wheeling and dealing.  Cheque book  bashing strategy is straight out of the Steve Bruce playbook and has got us where we are today.

Having slept on it, yesterday's disaster is just as painful now as it was yesterday afternoon.  Too many old demons rose up again that I thought the arrival of Dean Smith would blow away.  That Leeds game I fear will go down as season defining.  In years to come it will be the Villa game at Christmas on a foul day in front of a full house when we threw away a two goal lead and the 2018/19 season.

[PaulWinch again]

We were shit. They were good. Kodjia, Elmo, Hutton and El Ghazi were mince. My turncoat nephew roared Villa on all game and then decided he was still a Leeds fan in injury time.

As much as I'd rather sever all three of my testicles than spend any time with them, I thought the Leeds fans made a lot of noise. Having said that, and I hope I'm wrong, but did I hear them singing in support of Tommy Robinson at one point (after we sang for Tammy Abraham)? If so they can obviously fuck back off to the sea.

Kodjia was excellent.

[Ads]

Kodjia was our best player.

What on earth was going through Smith's head when he took him off I have no idea. Not only was he excellent going forwards, but he stopped their full back crossing the half way line
 
When he went off they doubled up on Elmo, who you could replace with anybody out of the crowd and not see any drop in defensive ability.

[pooligan]

One thing that worries me about Dean Smith is that his teams seem to concede a awful lot of stoppage time goals  Off hand i can think of Villa and Leeds both scoring very late on this season  against his Brentford team and of course the Albion and Leeds in the last few games against Villa .I was praying for the referee to blow his whistle as i just knew if anyone was going to score it was Leeds .When you have the likes of Elmo,Hutton and Taylor as your full backs your always likely to concede

[brian green]

Kodjia also does a lot of effective work in our penalty area from corners and set pieces.

[simboy]

We were shit. They were good. Kodjia, Elmo, Hutton and El Ghazi were mince. My turncoat nephew roared Villa on all game and then decided he was still a Leeds fan in injury time.

As much as I'd rather sever all three of my testicles than spend any time with them, I thought the Leeds fans made a lot of noise. Having said that, and I hope I'm wrong, but did I hear them singing in support of Tommy Robinson at one point (after we sang for Tammy Abraham)? If so they can obviously fuck back off to the sea.

Kodjia was excellent.

Kodjia made the goal for Hourihane, had their left back on toast and helped out a poor Elmo defensively first half. Admittedly he faded a little in the second half but he was better than El Gazi when he came on.

Where we lost the game (imho) was the fact that they switched Alioski out wide and had Hernandez and forshaw running the game. Those two dominated late on and played the ball wide to attack our increasingly vulnerable full backs. Smith put on BB to counter the problem on the right (no accounting for the complete fuck up by Elmo) and it looked as though it was going to be a draw.

Having said all that the lack of trust between Elmo and his keeper was clear in the first half when Elmo kicked the ball almost out of Nylands hands in a bit of a scramble in the box.

Two tough games against two decent sides (Stoke and the Dirty Leeds) but we will strengthen and improve. Thank you Mr Bruce for your lack of forward thinking and possibly condemning us to another bloody year in this league.