Aston Villa vs Sheffield United Post-Match Thread

[papa lazarou]

Some good points about the lack of tempo in our play.  It's gone ponderously Bruce like in the last few games, whereas when Smith first came in we were committing players forward and getting the ball forward quickly.  Really not sure why that's changed.  It can't all be down to losing one player.

I think one of the reasons is that Grealish makes himself available. We get possession of the ball and everybody stands still, there's no movement and it's infuriating, particularly when the opposition are running all over the pitch giving options.

[SoccerHQ]

Some good points about the lack of tempo in our play.  It's gone ponderously Bruce like in the last few games, whereas when Smith first came in we were committing players forward and getting the ball forward quickly.  Really not sure why that's changed.  It can't all be down to losing one player.

I think one of the reasons is that Grealish makes himself available. We get possession of the ball and everybody stands still, there's no movement and it's infuriating, particularly when the opposition are running all over the pitch giving options.

Grealish also has that great football brain of seeing what's around him before he's even got the ball so he can quickly get a crossfield ball to a wide player.

It's like when we had Barry-Petrov as our midfield combination. Neither were quick and could get overwhelmed by three man midfields but what brilliant footballers they were. Both were great at getting the ball and quickly hitting a pass to Ashley Young so he could be 1 v 1 against the right back. When one was out and we had Reo-Coker playing it obviously wasn't the same.

Same here. I'm really disappointed in Hourihane. I assumed with his style as a midfielder he'd be a decent long range passer but look at how many crossfield balls he was firing out of play. For our creative midfielder in Jack's absence not good enough by a long way.

[olaftab]

For anyone who couldnt make it last night it was no turning point - we struck lucky thanks to Sheffield thinking the game was done and dusted

With respect Sir that's load of bollocks. You can not come back from 3-0 down with less than 10 to go with just luck. Some character was and good performance did that.

[auntiesledd]

I suffered the first 45 minutes in the pub whilst watching a screen with the sound turned off (thankfully). I'd had enough at HT - as no amount of alcohol was likely to numb me further from that atrocious 'performance' - & I went home. When in, I stuck Talkshite on to see if anything had changed since the resumption: only to learn that Sharp had just completed his hat trick & a cricket score seemed highly likely. I awoke to find out we'd managed to snatch a point at the death & I'm still in shock tbh. I can't say I'm convinced that those final 15 minutes will engender a mahoosive confidence boost throughout the squad,  but shirley vital lessons will be learnt regarding the abysmal displays (again!) from the usual suspects. A Summer clear-out can't come quickly enough for me: & I've a sneaking suspicion that DS will wield the axe with precision and brutality. Bring it on.

[VILLA MOLE]

That was spectacularly awful and then Man United Fergie esq for 15 minutes. We are, utterly, maddeningly, nuts.

The negatives

The midfield.

Jedinak and his distribution was diabolical. His absence of mobility had us so deep. Utter waste of space and the poorest midfield performance from anybody so far. His last game.

Hourihane. Off the ball he's a ghost.

The full backs. Taylor doesn't compete and offers nothing going forwards. For all Hutton's dog chasing a car enthusiasm, he is devoid of quality.

How isolated Tammy was.

Kodjia; ineffectual.

The midfield is a problem, as everybody knows. We let them run further, faster and harder than we did. They moved the ball so much quicker. We've got to get a person at the base of the midfield who can find a pass and find it quickly first and foremost. If you're as slow as we are in transition, then you will lack movement.

The referee. The 2nd goal was a joke, Sharpe a yard offside and kicking it out of Kalinic's hands. The repeated fouls he was awarding them, then nailed on penalties, plural, he missed. The referees down here are disgraceful.

Sheffield United didn't outplay us. They lack quality, they didn't create an awful lot and hoofed it more regularly than we did. What they did do was put in so, so, so much more effort in closing and moving off the ball. It's unforgivable.

The Positives

The centre halves. Looking at the 3rd goal Mings could react quicker. But Jedinak and Hologram give up and Taylor doesn't compete. They're unforgivable errors. But by and large Elphick and Mings look ok to me.

I'd have Hause glued to the treadmill. Get him fit and get him in. Get Taylor gone.

Tammy; 20 goals!

The insanity of being so out of a game, to come back like we did...that's an uncanny quality. It must be a springboard.

I watched hourihane jog back to catch up with play ,  he is so insipid

[tomd2103]

Some good points about the lack of tempo in our play.  It's gone ponderously Bruce like in the last few games, whereas when Smith first came in we were committing players forward and getting the ball forward quickly.  Really not sure why that's changed.  It can't all be down to losing one player.

It's the lack of movement as well.  When our midfielders and defenders have got the ball there is literally no movement in front of them.  We just look so one dimensional and rely on getting the ball wide where we haven't great quality really. 

We are fast approaching nothing to lose territory and I want Dean Smith to take the shackles off and look at a more attacking formation.

[Allan C]

Some good points about the lack of tempo in our play.  It's gone ponderously Bruce like in the last few games, whereas when Smith first came in we were committing players forward and getting the ball forward quickly.  Really not sure why that's changed.  It can't all be down to losing one player.

We haven’t lost one,we’ve lost two really influential players leaving us with pretty much a dire squad.

[Marlon From Bearwood]

Our biggest weakness for me is our total lack of energy when we don’t have the ball. The full backs trot back casually when we lose the ball (especially Taylor), the same goes for Hourihane and Jedinak who was particularly woeful.

As for Kodjia, I was pleased he started but how wrong I was. Appalling, can’t-be-arsed body language again, hiding behind defenders rather than showing for the ball and generally looking like he’d rather be somewhere else.

Finally, if Hause isn’t good enough to replace Taylor then why did we bother loaning him? It appears we’ve written him off completely due to his 30 minute shitshow at Wigan. Taylor offers nothing positive and is a massive weak link.

[sirlordbaltimore]

A truly awful display for almost the full 80 minutes before Mings scored. As bad, if not worse than Wigan and being at home that was totally unacceptable obviously. There's no disgrace in losing to Sheff Utd this season as they're a WAY better team than we are. That's just a fact.

But the way we meandered about the pitch doing the square root of fuck all for 80 minutes was absolutely embarrassing.

Hard to pick any positives from that period of the match. Despite being 3 down i thought Elphick and Mings looked fairly solid, and McGinn was ... well McGinn. But the rest of them were bloody awful. I'll forgive Tammy as he was getting absolutely nothing to work with to be fair.

There's no visible shape
There's no hunger/desire
There's no midfield. Well, there's a one man midfield at best
There's zero quality or pace out wide. The pair of them stood like statues on the line most the time never once making a run inside into space (and there was plenty on many occasions) to receive a through ball or to give anyone options other than to slow things down and pass out wide time after time
Worst full backs in the league
Keeper, the jury is still out for me. Not seeing anything we didn't already have in the much maligned Nyland

I cannot fathom out what's changed so much (don't say Grealish) from the early Smith era tactics that worked so well. You'd be forgiven for thinking half the players don't want to play for him on recent displays, but i can't believe that in reality.

I think it's far more likely that they simply can't play how he wants them to. Too many of our side are stuck in their ways and can't change now.

The clean out this summer will have to be huge. So much so that from those on the pitch last night, and more importantly the ones we actually own i can only state a case for Kalanic, McGinn and Green to still be here come August

I'd also possibly give Elphick a short term contract, maybe 2 years at a push if he wants one.

[berneboy]

I think Deano is more frustrated than any of us and would love to tell us that half the team is simply not good enough and that he can't wait for the summer to rebuild. But he can't, can he?

[UK Redsox]

Hopefully we never see Jedi again after that performance. A player has to be really awful for Whelan to bring both more energy and more quality.

I think that Jedi was the reason that Conor looked poor; he had no one to work with.

Mings was impressive, including a few pinged passes. Mad Tom looked ok but there’s always a mistake around the corner.

Hutton was ok and Taylor, although poor overall, did improve in the second half.

The keeper looks the part but he’s no better than Steer or Nyland.

[Ads]

There is a brilliant video on Twitter of our equaliser from the away end.

3-0 and you fucked it up!

[walsall villain]

I think Deano is more frustrated than any of us and would love to tell us that half the team is simply not good enough and that he can't wait for the summer to rebuild. But he can't, can he?

No he can’t. Also we’ll be wanting a bit of cash when for rebuilding so no point in talking their values down further.

[walsall villain]

There is a brilliant video on Twitter of our equaliser from the away end.

3-0 and you fucked it up!

That’s made me chuckle!

[Chris Smith]

There is a brilliant video on Twitter of our equaliser from the away end.

3-0 and you fucked it up!

That’s made me chuckle!

Are you fuckin’ kiddin’ me!