Aston Villa v Burnley post-match thread

[taylorsworkrate]

I wonder how many of the 11 league goals we've conceded have been good goals by the opposition rather than involving stupid mistakes and/or shit defending by us,

2 Tottenham goals, 2 Bournemouth goals, 2 against Arsenal and probably both today off the top of my head have been down to braindead errors from us.

[Davkaus]

Anybody else getting really frustrated with Wesley? I really can't see him making it in this league.

A worrying trend of letting games slip which is now 8 points lost from winning positions.

Norwich next week now looking massive.

Definitely. Fed up of his theatrics and his lack of menace up front. He had a rest in midweek and then he puts in that clueless anonymous performance. He’s a complete luxury at the moment. Lack of another striker has fucked us. Thick as shit move that.

A "luxury" isn't how I'd describe him. He's fucking shit. We may as well have chucked £25m on a bonfire. He offers us nothing.

Imagine how useless Kodjia would be in the PL. I'd start him over this passenger without a doubt.

[PeterWithesShin]

All 3 Arsenal goals were from poor play by us, Palace goal was awful defending by Jack and Mings.

[Nii Lamptey]

It's not all bad I guess... we're a point better off at this stage than the season we went down!

Norwich away is massive now, but I can't see us getting anything there. Pukki party anyone?

[curiousorange]

One of the things which really fries me about today is that we had VAR go against us when we were clearly on top, and we still scored and led. We didn't let it get us down no matter the perceived injustice. And then we conceded equalisers so limp you could have ruined a Big Mac.

[Neil Hawkes]

F##k

[Risso]

Wesley is utter shite. Quite what anybody saw in the useless lump to make them part with £20m+ god only knows.

[brontebilly]

Dreadful second half performance so can't have any complaints with the result. Never started at all, Hendrick had a great chance within a minute, centre halves spending far too much time on the ball with only Nakamba or Grealish coming off left wing looking for it.
Passengers on pitch and on sideline I'm afraid. How could Smith not see that we urgently needed a rejig in midfield or that we were effectively playing with 10 with Wesley ? So disappointing, even last 10 mins and injury time, no urgency at all or quality let's be honest.

Heaton 5 - little to do but had to come off his line to compete with Lowtons cross for the second. Bottled it for me.
Guilbert 7 - fine assist for the first and a willing runner throughout.
Engels 6- solid generally but beaten in air for second goal
Mings 7 - struggled with Wood in first half but dominant in the second.
Targett 7- fine debut, ability on the ball helped us switch play quickly.
AEG 6 - brilliant run and finish for goal but that aside wasn't involved too much in play, not convinced re how hurt he was from the collision for first goal.
Nakamba 7 - one of our more consistent players throughout , quick and tidy on the ball . A fully up to speed Luiz next to him and we would have a good partnership I think.
Hourihane 6 - playing in no man's land from general play but good from set pieces and broken play. Like others drifted out of the game.
McGinn 7 - outstanding in the first half but goal aside was anonymous in second.
Grealish 6 - obviously not too happy on left , in fairness he kept playing until end but quality around box not there this season yet. Really poor shot when it opened up for him in second half. As captain needs to be showing more leadership.
Wesley 2 - absolutely useless, not a single positive in his performance. Bullied physically and technical skills are miles off the required level. Scandalous how he lasted as long on the pitch.

Taylor 3 - arguably at fault for two goals, nowhere near good enough on the ball.
Trez 6 - fine assist for McGinn but a fairly limited player
Davis 6 - showed more in the 10 poxy minutes he got than Wesley. Quicker and a lot braver for starters.

Smith 4 - refreshing change away from his standard formation from the start but we simply have to have two midfielders sitting. That became abundantly clear early in the second half when we lost control of the game. His faith is Wesley is badly misplaced and has become a tactical liability on the sideline during a game. 5 points from 7 games is an awful start.

[Clark W Griswold]

As it stands were fucked. A point at home to Burnley on top of the points average prior is not even close to good enough. It’s going to have to take a dramatic turn around and it’s down to Smith and his team to sort it, either by finding a way of playing which is a lot more fruitful or by making a few amazing signings in January, or maybe a bit of both. Although for me he and his team have already proven they’re no mugs, it’s whether they can prove that they’re real quality from here on in.

[four fornicholl]

Played well for longish periods, got caught out by poor concentration, we'll be fine.

[Stu]

I can see us going down again, easily. Lose against Spurs and Arsenal away from home, fine (as frustrating as the Arsenal game was, it exposed this team to a tee). Getting 1 point from Bournemouth, Palace and Burnley though, with two of those fixtures being at home, then nah. We're not good enough.

[brontebilly]

Why don't we change formation at half-time? 4-3-3 is exhausting because it leaves so much space to cover. If that's the case, withdraw a winger, put on another striker and close up the midfield. Sod drawing pretty, start winning disgusting.

Seemed 4141 today, Nakamba was certainly all alone regularly with the rest of the midfielders too far ahead of him. Grealish didn't stick much to the left, mind.

[themossman]

I want to see hourihane and Davis start every game. If we’re going to fuck it up every week I’d rather see players who give a shit and aren’t picked based on transfer fee.

[PaulWinch again]

We’re not good enough at the moment, clearly. We play well for periods of games, but never a full game or even the majority of it. We have to stop tailing off. Dean needs to sort it and learn to react when we fade.

[taylorsworkrate]

Played well for longish periods, got caught out by poor concentration, we'll be fine.

It's poor concentration regularly occurring, and we are now nearly 2 months into the season. We are not showing any signs we are learning from mistakes. We've thrown away 5 points (possibly 7) from the last 3 games where we have had golden opportunities.

I think there is a squad of players here (need a striker in January desperately) for us to be able to survive, but they aren't showing it at the moment.