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Author Topic: Anyone starting to get worried?  (Read 219954 times)

Offline ROBBO

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Re: Anyone starting to get worried?
« Reply #540 on: November 10, 2019, 10:05:55 PM »
Not just a centre forward though, the midfield is lacking Luiz hasn't impressed me although Marvellous has done well and we really need cover for Jack I honestly believe if he had played today we may have got the points that's why we need cover for him don't ask me who.

Offline ChicagoLion

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Re: Anyone starting to get worried?
« Reply #541 on: November 10, 2019, 10:08:31 PM »
I am also concerned that we seem stuck with a rigid  4 3 3 system that is often not working for us.

Online LukeJames

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Re: Anyone starting to get worried?
« Reply #542 on: November 10, 2019, 10:15:54 PM »
Enjoy it.

Worried? I was after the Fulham playoff final.
I'm not now.

I think we have enough quality to survive, but more importantly the players have the right character.

As for the two week international break - I'm starting to miss the non stop championship games.

This, we have enough to survive this season. Then I have no doubt we will continue to build again.

I really hope you are right. I must admit to being a bit worried
Last 3 results have put pressure on us to beat Newcastle, but I believe in the long run our philosophy will see us survive comfortably.

Offline Mellin

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Re: Anyone starting to get worried?
« Reply #543 on: November 10, 2019, 10:48:02 PM »
We're in the middle of a tough run of fixtures. If we don't win against Newcastle we'll probably be in the relegation zone in 3 games time. I wouldn't be panicing though as it gets easier after that.

Offline SoccerHQ

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Re: Anyone starting to get worried?
« Reply #544 on: November 10, 2019, 11:22:55 PM »
The International break has actually fallen well for us. A chance to get key players fit for what is a massive game against Newcastle.

I agree, we need them all out there. If Grealish was only 50/50, Engels only got a knock and Heaton has a calf strain they should all be ready for Newcastle in 15 days.

What today has shown is we won't be beating any reasonably good premier league team if we have a mini injury crisis. That needs to be improved in January otherwise more points will slip by in second half of the season.

Offline Steve67

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Re: Anyone starting to get worried?
« Reply #545 on: November 11, 2019, 12:28:46 AM »
For once, playing on the Monday night gives us a boost as we won't be in the bottom three and can concentrate on getting players fit.

Online OzVilla

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Re: Anyone starting to get worried?
« Reply #546 on: November 11, 2019, 01:00:31 AM »
Those burned points early in the season was always going to come back to haunt us.  Spurs, Bournemouth, Arsenal, West Ham, Burnley, Liverpool were all games where we were the architects of our own downfall. Losing leads/points late or just not taking advantage of playing 10 men.  Should taken at least 8 points from those games - instead we took 2. 

Offline Drummond

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Re: Anyone starting to get worried?
« Reply #547 on: November 11, 2019, 03:25:21 AM »
I'm worried.

But not at all about football and our place in this league.

Today we were without our first choice keeper, and then lost the second choice keeper to injury. We lost our first choice centre half before the game and our first choice left back during it.

We were without our best player, and captain, and his direct replacement.

We've just lost three in the bounce to three teams who between them have squads worth a fuck load more than ours (at least one of which probably has a player worth almost as much as our whole squad cost), who qualified for Europe, 2 in Champions League including the reigning champions, who will comfortably finish top two again.

We lost by a 1 goal margin in 2 games and in the other the team that beat us scored the average number of goals they've scored this season.

My pants are dry.

Offline Drummond

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Re: Anyone starting to get worried?
« Reply #548 on: November 11, 2019, 03:25:56 AM »
And yes, we were shit today.

Offline de bank

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Re: Anyone starting to get worried?
« Reply #549 on: November 11, 2019, 06:52:59 AM »
I am a little worried, I think with Dean Smith being ‘one of our own’ there brings some blindness, the 433 hasn’t worked, it didn’t really last season until greaish was fit & it papered over the cracks & it’s not working now at all, the wingers are championship standard, it leaves us open & the midfield lightweight & Wes isolated, all these problems we’ve been saying since last year! I don’t think Smith is learning, I don’t think we have played that well apart from about 2 games, yes, he needs time, from the Newcastle game till Xmas will be a crucial period for Dean smith.

Offline Ian.

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Re: Anyone starting to get worried?
« Reply #550 on: November 11, 2019, 07:13:46 AM »
Not at all, we’ve played a few of the best teams in this league over the last few weeks. We held our own against 2 of them the a good part and we just failed to turn up yesterday, which happens once and a while. It was a bad day at the office.

We knew it would be tough, even tougher when injuries kick in, but other than yesterday there is nothing to suggest in my view we’ll be relegated.

Offline QuintonVilla

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Re: Anyone starting to get worried?
« Reply #551 on: November 11, 2019, 09:48:24 AM »
There is zero creativity without Grealish and he is seemingly the only one who can keep the ball as we gave it away everytime we had it yesterday. Our attacking options worry me though, I said at the start of the season I couldn't believe we spent so much money but left ourselves so short up front. If we don't sign a striker in January we'll go down.

Online brontebilly

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Re: Anyone starting to get worried?
« Reply #552 on: November 11, 2019, 09:56:30 AM »
I am a little worried, I think with Dean Smith being ‘one of our own’ there brings some blindness, the 433 hasn’t worked, it didn’t really last season until greaish was fit & it papered over the cracks & it’s not working now at all, the wingers are championship standard, it leaves us open & the midfield lightweight & Wes isolated, all these problems we’ve been saying since last year! I don’t think Smith is learning, I don’t think we have played that well apart from about 2 games, yes, he needs time, from the Newcastle game till Xmas will be a crucial period for Dean smith.

Dean Smith is poor at making tactical changes during a game. Before Targett's injury we were being utterly annihilated throughout the pitch. The back four simply had to push further up the pitch, this was corrected at half time but at that stage Wolves should have been home and hosed.

It's all well and good giving good copy in post match interviews but managers earn their crust during the 90mins. Subs remain poor, Lansbury for Nakamba was another strange one.

Offline Ketzster

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Re: Anyone starting to get worried?
« Reply #553 on: November 11, 2019, 10:26:20 AM »
I am a little worried, I think with Dean Smith being ‘one of our own’ there brings some blindness, the 433 hasn’t worked, it didn’t really last season until greaish was fit & it papered over the cracks & it’s not working now at all, the wingers are championship standard, it leaves us open & the midfield lightweight & Wes isolated, all these problems we’ve been saying since last year! I don’t think Smith is learning, I don’t think we have played that well apart from about 2 games, yes, he needs time, from the Newcastle game till Xmas will be a crucial period for Dean smith.

Yes. I’ve had huge doubts about Smith since last year and promotion didn’t change that. Grealish came back and pulled us up, before that came some of the worst football I’d ever seen from a Villa side. That 14 game run before Derby when Grealish came back told us more about Smiths capabilities than what came after. He needed to find a way of doing something different during that run and didn’t.

The never changing formation, no matter who you are playing and who you have available didn’t work between December and March, so it certainly wasn’t going to work in the Premier League. Other than Rotherham away when we had no choice because of Mings being sent off, I can’t remember a single minute of a single game under Smith where we have played anything other than 4-3-3. He’s great at getting us a lead, but there’s not much point in that if you don’t change anything once the opposition make a change. I’ve never had such dread as I have under Smith when the opposition make a substitution. I can’t think of any other manager that has never tried a different formation. His game management is very poor. A prime example being leaving Grealish on against Man City when the game was gone. I said to my uncle ‘why is he leaving Grealish on to get injured or sent off?’. Sure enough one of those inevitably happened.

People say Smith will learn. There’s no evidence of it, just like there wasn’t between Leeds at home and Stoke away last season. You can only learn if you are willing to change things, and I don’t count playing Grealish on the left as a real change. Spurs, Arsenal, Liverpool are all games that we might have won had Smith parked the bus or at least tried doing something different with 20 mins to go. Any substitutions are always like for like keeping the 4-3-3 which just won’t work at this level. It didn’t work at Wigan away last season either when he made that triple substitution, so no, he doesn’t learn. People say play 4-2-3-1 which I agree with but under Smith we know that isn’t going to happen.

We’ve beaten a dreadful Everton side on that Friday, a dreadful Norwich side and got extremely lucky against a Brighton side that were running rings around us until Mooy got sent off. If Smith stays I think we are going down. At the moment we are in danger of wasting a great opportunity
« Last Edit: November 11, 2019, 09:16:12 PM by Ketzster »

Offline Three Spires Villa

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Re: Anyone starting to get worried?
« Reply #554 on: November 11, 2019, 10:30:42 AM »
Our midfield is not good enough to play 4-3-3. Yesterday he should have played 4-2-3-1, or 4-1-4-1, offer some protection, Dean in my humble opinion is to rigid to one system, without Jack we often look poor

 


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