Aston Villa 0-3 Swansea City Post Match Thread

[Roysmert]

Not sure why Whelan is getting such a bashing.

The whole of the midfield was woeful and Smith is also culpable.

Swansea loaded the centre of midfield - playing 4-2-3-1.  At times it was 5 vs 1 (Whelan) and we were very slow to react.

Our full backs and central midfielders simply aren't good enough to play the system Smith wants - he needs to try something else and quick as essentially this was a near first choice XI he started with.

Exactly. Like you say at times we had one against 5 or 6 in there, and that one was Glenn Whelan. Very unfair to put the boot in on him.

[oldhill_avfc]

@Sheffield

It was near enough our first choice xi of those available now and in the near future.

That's why he needs to rethink.

[kippaxvilla2]

I’m watching the Middlesbrough away game again.  It’s the last time we played well for 90 minutes.  It’s a sort of medicine.

[sirlordbaltimore]

Did i imagine it or did the scoreboard say there were only 30,000 there yesterday?

No way did i see 12,000 empty seats

[Dr_Fegg]

I know its not fashionable but we looked much more solid playing 4-4-2 when Kodja and Davies were on.

My biggest issue (as an ex centre half) is the complete lack of protection/help the defense get. If teams are supposed to defend from the front then adomah and especially El Ghazi need to learn how.

The amount of times players walked past them was a disgrace - no effort, no attempt at any sort of tackle,challenge or even just standing in the way. Bree and Taylor might not be brilliant but the amount of times theyre pointing to the spare man and the winger(?) just stood there made my blood boil. Leaving us constantly 2 on 1 causing the CH to have to cover and leave more holes is why were conceding.

And yes I agree Hogan and these 2 were totally fucking useless - Swansea couldve left one at the back if they wanted to and still not be in trouble.

[Pvb1968]

So far under Dean smith we have been in every league game and of the 3 defeats we were leading in two of them. Yesterday we were second best from start to finish but that was not the first 11 by any stretch, hopefully the process of this windows recruitment will accelerate.

[adrenachrome]

I know its not fashionable but we looked much more solid playing 4-4-2 when Kodja and Davies were on.

My biggest issue (as an ex centre half) is the complete lack of protection/help the defense get. If teams are supposed to defend from the front then adomah and especially El Ghazi need to learn how.

The amount of times players walked past them was a disgrace - no effort, no attempt at any sort of tackle,challenge or even just standing in the way. Bree and Taylor might not be brilliant but the amount of times theyre pointing to the spare man and the winger(?) just stood there made my blood boil. Leaving us constantly 2 on 1 causing the CH to have to cover and leave more holes is why were conceding.

And yes I agree Hogan and these 2 were totally fucking useless - Swansea couldve left one at the back if they wanted to and still not be in trouble.

I agree with you. Yet Albert was fine in this regard last season, and always did his defensive work quite well.

Maybe the two loan wingers have blunted his enthusiasm, as the introduction of Darren Bent did for Gabriel.  On the other hand nobody apart from John McGinn seemed to put the effort in, so maybe they took a look at the team sheet and thought it was a practice match.

[Dr_Fegg]

I know its not fashionable but we looked much more solid playing 4-4-2 when Kodja and Davies were on.

My biggest issue (as an ex centre half) is the complete lack of protection/help the defense get. If teams are supposed to defend from the front then adomah and especially El Ghazi need to learn how.

The amount of times players walked past them was a disgrace - no effort, no attempt at any sort of tackle,challenge or even just standing in the way. Bree and Taylor might not be brilliant but the amount of times theyre pointing to the spare man and the winger(?) just stood there made my blood boil. Leaving us constantly 2 on 1 causing the CH to have to cover and leave more holes is why were conceding.

And yes I agree Hogan and these 2 were totally fucking useless - Swansea couldve left one at the back if they wanted to and still not be in trouble.

I agree with you. Yet Albert was fine in this regard last season, and always did his defensive work quite well.

Maybe the two loan wingers have blunted his enthusiasm, as the introduction of Darren Bent did for Gabriel.  On the other hand nobody apart from John McGinn seemed to put the effort in, so maybe they took a look at the team sheet and thought it was a practice match.

 

[pauliewalnuts]

Adomah and El Ghazi were lazy bastards yesterday, barely broke sweat

[LeeB]

Adomah and El Ghazi were lazy bastards yesterday, barely broke sweat

And both displayed the kind of touch usually associated with Lenny from Of Mice and Men.

[The Edge]

Did i imagine it or did the scoreboard say there were only 30,000 there yesterday?

No way did i see 12,000 empty seats

Where have you been? We've been having that that debate since yesterday! And yes I'm with you. I just cannot see where that figure came from. I've been going to villa park for 4 decades and I know it as well as I know my own house!

[KRS]

Any links to DS post game interviews please?

[brontebilly]

Not sure why Whelan is getting such a bashing.

The whole of the midfield was woeful and Smith is also culpable.

Swansea loaded the centre of midfield - playing 4-2-3-1.  At times it was 5 vs 1 (Whelan) and we were very slow to react.

Our full backs and central midfielders simply aren't good enough to play the system Smith wants - he needs to try something else and quick as essentially this was a near first choice XI he started with.

Agreed 100%. Smith's job is to get the best out of his resources but he has them playing to a structure most of them are patently unsuited to.

We have been getting overloaded in the wide positions all season, that wasn't a problem last season. Our midfield provide little or no resistance without the ball, a problem all season but not last. These are issues Smith should be rectifying but isn't.

I know he is raw but if Abraham is off I'd give Davis the chance to replace him. He made a decent impact at times last year as a focal point for our midfielders to play off. The trio of mercenaries Kodjia, El Ghazi and Bolasie can start earning their places in the team.

[footyskillz]

Any links to DS post game interviews please?

https://mobile.twitter.com/AVFCOfficial/status/1081609240647733249

[footyskillz]

Not sure why Whelan is getting such a bashing.

The whole of the midfield was woeful and Smith is also culpable.

Swansea loaded the centre of midfield - playing 4-2-3-1.  At times it was 5 vs 1 (Whelan) and we were very slow to react.

Our full backs and central midfielders simply aren't good enough to play the system Smith wants - he needs to try something else and quick as essentially this was a near first choice XI he started with.

Exactly. Like you say at times we had one against 5 or 6 in there, and that one was Glenn Whelan. Very unfair to put the boot in on him.

Yes we haven't the players for Smith preferred system so either bring in players this window or adapt system to suit players.

A covering defensive midfielder , deep lying midfielder with energy would cover the full backs and leave the wide forward attacking players ideally to do their jobs