Aston Villa 2-3 Leeds United Post Match Thread

[PeterWithe]

Despite us going two ahead I thought they were the better side by some distance with no’s 10, 7 and 47 being particularly impressive. We struggled for energy in midfield and they always had forward passing options whereas we relied on a bit of brilliance which became rarer and rarer. Strangely I thought our best period was the start of the second half before they scored.

The makeshift back four looked exactly that, all three goals were perfectly preventable, Elmos defensive performance was unforgivable for a player of his experience,  Brees more understandable given the lack of faith shown in him beforehand.

A few doubts about Dean as well, we needed more energy in midfield and all three of his subs looked unprepared. Kodja and Bollassie had run out of steam and weren’t tracking back and the obvious sub was Adomah, if he wasn’t fit enough for 20 mins then he shouldn’t have been on the bench. We just looked far too open against their mobility

Much too do in the transfer window, we need new defenders and freshening up in midfield.

[Matt Collins]

There's only going to be so much we can do this transfer window. If we leave it with a better keeper and more credible options  in defence I'll be OK

Think it will be next summer before we can sort the midfield - exchanging jedinak and whelan for more mobile technical types - plus we'll have to get new players in for the loanees leaving

There'll be lots to do

[The Edge]

We're a shambles at the back and we all know it. Thanks Bruce you fucking moron. A huge cull of players is required if we can find any takers for them. Hutton, Taylor, Elmo, Whelan, Barney, Hogan, Jedinak  and that's just for starters. Every substitution weakened us to the point where we were there for the taking. And so it was to be. For the second time in 2 weeks Elmo gifts the opposition a goal at a vital time. It's not all doom and gloom though. Our attacking prowess is as good as any in this league. I don't think I've ever seen so many glum faces leaving Villa Park. Merry fucking Christmas Mr Bruce.

[Ads]

Pray for a left back and a left sided centre half as soon as possible in January. Then Chester can switch and I think will improve (won't be hard will it) and Hutton can go back to being a mediocre right back rather than a dire left back.

[Villafirst]

Our wingers didn't really double up and cover the full backs. Adomah is very good at that. Their wingers had far too much space to exploit. Last season Snodgrass covered his full back brilliantly.

[AV82EC]

Well after a bit of reflection you have to say fair play to Leeds, much the better team.

Positives for us

Tammy - another goal and good effort
SJM - constant non stop work and trying to do the work of three men as Whelan and Hourihane went missing.
Kodjia - looked a threat but tired quickly, was he ill?

Negatives for us

The whole defence - Nyland as jittery as ever, Chester lacking leadership, Bree little boy lost, Hutton meh, Elmo an utter disgrace (3 goals over the last 2 games his fault.)
Whelan/Hourihane - passive, lacked energy and drive and didn’t work as a unit.
Bolasie - tricks aside what did he do.
Dean Smith - out thought by Bielsa today and didn’t seem to have a tactical answer to the problem posed. Their press forces us to go long which meant we never got our passing game going.

We desperately need a left sided centre back and left back early in January. Thanks Steve you potato headed moron.

Oh and I hesitate to say it but are we a one man team, there was a massive Jack shaped hole in that midfield today. No tempo or consistency to our play.

[mr underhill]

The only players who played yesterday that I would certainly keep are SJM and Chester - and for the latter, only if he is played in his rightful position. I might be tempted to keep Kodjia but the more I see, the more apparent it is how much of what pace he had, has been reduced by those injuries. As a consequence, I also think he's carrying too much weight. Bree might be ok as a squad player at right back.

[PeterWithe]

As we are discussing the relative merits of the coaching staff, you have to say that the expected defensive organisational improvements expected when John Terry returned, simply haven’t happened. I’m really not sure about that semi Zonal defensive on corners where Chester stands alone on the six yard line and allows big players to attack the ball.

[London Villan]

Two thing about defending corners. Nobody on both posts and we dont have players attacking the ball. The new keeper might change this.

[in exile]

We're a shambles at the back and we all know it. Thanks Bruce you fucking moron. A huge cull of players is required if we can find any takers for them. Hutton, Taylor, Elmo, Whelan, Barney, Hogan, Jedinak  and that's just for starters. Every substitution weakened us to the point where we were there for the taking. And so it was to be. For the second time in 2 weeks Elmo gifts the opposition a goal at a vital time. It's not all doom and gloom though. Our attacking prowess is as good as any in this league. I don't think I've ever seen so many glum faces leaving Villa Park. Merry fucking Christmas Mr Bruce.

So many posts on this thread that I agree with but the above sums it up nicely for me.
Absolutely gutted.

Merry Christmas all

[PeterWithe]

Elmo simply can’t allow the lad so much time and space to come inside but once he had, Bree (I think) has to close the space down. My girls team would have shown more aggression and commitment.

[sickbeggar]

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.

I think that's a bit harsh Brian. It's a major rebuilding job and no one game is going to rule us in/out of promotion at the moment. With the best will in the world this side is not the same one that got to the Play-off final, and i can only speak personally but when we ran out for the 1st game of this season i wasn't looking at our squad and thinking "now there's a team a shoe-in for promotion". With the loans clicking last season i think problems with the team were rather papered over to an extent, and with snodgrass, terry, Johnstone and Gabban all gone that's a third of that team missing. Add Grealish and Tuanzabe injured and we currently have 3 players who played a major part last season. I think we just have to hold our nerve at the moment and given the right signings re-assess where we are in February. I see no reason given re-inforcements we can't grab a play-off place, and if we don't  then i'd still have Smith ahead of schedule. And if we did go-up, the fact remains come the end of another play-off final, Smith would still be looking at having to replace or sign at least another 9 first team players on loan or out of contract. If that isn't damming indictment to the mess Bruce left us in, I don't know what is.

[Nev]

But for Elmo's cock up it would've been a decent point in the circumstances. Against the best side seen at Villa Park this season, without our most important attacking and ball retaining midfielder, a rookie CB and a makeshift one. Smith made poor subs but we were competitive at times and played our part in a game where I was fearful that we would be steamrollered. The nature of defeat was hard to take but I believe in Dean's philosophy, he needs better players and has already started that process.
I can't give up already, plenty of football to play.

[DB]

We're a shambles at the back and we all know it. Thanks Bruce you fucking moron. A huge cull of players is required if we can find any takers for them. Hutton, Taylor, Elmo, Whelan, Barney, Hogan, Jedinak  and that's just for starters. Every substitution weakened us to the point where we were there for the taking. And so it was to be. For the second time in 2 weeks Elmo gifts the opposition a goal at a vital time. It's not all doom and gloom though. Our attacking prowess is as good as any in this league. I don't think I've ever seen so many glum faces leaving Villa Park. Merry fucking Christmas Mr Bruce.

So many posts on this thread that I agree with but the above sums it up nicely for me.
Absolutely gutted.

Merry Christmas all

I agree too. We look great going forward but awful at the back. You could see the the defence had no confidence in the keeper. Chester's distribution was awful too. Thank God only 1 more game with Nyland.
As for Leeds, much better than us? I didn't see anything that showed that. Not as good as Wolves last season. Their defence looked poor at times, we created enough chances. They are much better than anything we have played on the tricky run of games.

[Matt Collins]

As we are discussing the relative merits of the coaching staff, you have to say that the expected defensive organisational improvements expected when John Terry returned, simply haven’t happened. I’m really not sure about that semi Zonal defensive on corners where Chester stands alone on the six yard line and allows big players to attack the ball.

It's a good point on Terry

The thing is, he spent his whole career playing in a Chelsea side with a low block, and a great defensive midfilder in front of him

I wonder how expert he is at coaching defending in a side that plays the complete opposite way

Either way nothing explains why elmo didn't just stick that fucking cross behind