Aston Villa v Southampton Post Match Thread

[brian green]

Summed up perfectly Mr Underhill.  Time to find out what our owners are made of.   

[Risso]

And we’ve gone back to conceding cornerlties every match.

[brian green]

Always wanted to write a truly insightful Villa book.  The Return Of The Cornerlty.   Hm.

[Risso]

We've spent £60m+ on new defenders and keeper yet are conceding two goals a game on average.

[Villafirst]

4 points from the last 27 (9 games) is appalling. The team play so open and get picked off easily by the opposition.8

[brian green]

No headed goals,  a striker who cannot head the ball and a defence that cannot protect their goal in the air from set pieces.  Add to the £60 million plus for the defenders the wages of the coaches.  Yes John Terry I am looking at you.

[Bobby Boy]

Villa 1 Leicester 4. Two quick strikers exploiting the empty spaces behind our high line and bombing on full-backs.

Villa 1 Southampton 3. Two quickish strikers exploiting the empty spaces behind our high line and bombing on full-backs.

Opposition managers saying that they intended to exploit the empty spaces behind our high line and bombing on full backs.

Someone is doing some homework. Can we do some homework please?

[Clark W Griswold]

Went up yesterday. I sill maintain that these players are decent, promising young players that should be easily good enough to play at this level but we just don't look like a team and as others have pointed out, tactically we're too easy to play against and don't have a plan B. Smith himself falls into the same category as the players, in-experienced, lots of promise but finding his feet (the hard way at the moment). Somehow, we have to find a formation with the right tactics and the personnel from this big squad to grind some results out. I like the philosophy and the way they've been going about building this squad but the sole focus from now on in is survival, they have to do what it takes to make this happen. I would like to think that they'd bring in a couple of experienced attacking players who know the premier league for starters, and as I say work on some winning ideas and tactics on the training ground.

[Demitri_C]

Sheffield united have spent less and look like a proper team. Us on the hand meanwhile play well one in 3-4 games. That consistently isnt good enough if you want to stay in premier league

How many game sunder smith from a winning position have we gone on to not win? He makes the same mistakes every week and defensively we looking worse as ecah week goes on.

If he loses against norwich then big questions will need to be asked as that sjmply is not good enough. Spending 100m and being 18th at this stage is not good enough

[LukeJames]

Villa 1 Leicester 4. Two quick strikers exploiting the empty spaces behind our high line and bombing on full-backs.

Villa 1 Southampton 3. Two quickish strikers exploiting the empty spaces behind our high line and bombing on full-backs.

Opposition managers saying that they intended to exploit the empty spaces behind our high line and bombing on full backs.

Someone is doing some homework. Can we do some homework please?

This is really pissing me off, I know I sounded like an annoying broken record mentioning it 3 or 4 times last night but playing a high line against Vardy and Iheanacho and not learning a thing from that experience really is woeful planning.

[PaulWinch again]

They don’t look like they’re coached or that they do any fitness work at all. That is damning.

[Clark W Griswold]

Villa 1 Leicester 4. Two quick strikers exploiting the empty spaces behind our high line and bombing on full-backs.

Villa 1 Southampton 3. Two quickish strikers exploiting the empty spaces behind our high line and bombing on full-backs.

Opposition managers saying that they intended to exploit the empty spaces behind our high line and bombing on full backs.

Someone is doing some homework. Can we do some homework please?

This is really pissing me off, I know I sounded like an annoying broken record mentioning it 3 or 4 times last night but playing a high line against Vardy and Iheanacho and not learning a thing from that experience really is woeful planning.

It's a very good point from BB that I hadn't considered, the Southampton manager must have watched the replay of the Leicester game and just decided to do the same thing. Feckin worked a treat as well didn't it.

[brontebilly]

Villa 1 Leicester 4. Two quick strikers exploiting the empty spaces behind our high line and bombing on full-backs.

Villa 1 Southampton 3. Two quickish strikers exploiting the empty spaces behind our high line and bombing on full-backs.

Opposition managers saying that they intended to exploit the empty spaces behind our high line and bombing on full backs.

Someone is doing some homework. Can we do some homework please?

It's so damn obvious too. Guilbert bombs forward constantly, far too much in my view. AEG offers no cover whatsoever and might aswell not be there when we lose the ball. Our right sided midfielder, (of the three), (e.g. Luiz, Lansbury, Hourihane) offer no cover either and are usually out of position themselves. I felt sorry for Engels yesterday for that second goal. Granted he should have taken the yellow but our line was too high to try and play offside. He had no midfielder or right back near him to try and drop off. Instead he was left with the option of taking Long out or trying to win the ball. He did neither but the root cause for that goal was elsewhere.

That's why the guff from Smith pre-game re playing on the front foot was particularly worrying. The solution is not for both full backs to bomb forward with an immobile and frankly gutless midfield MIA...centre backs haven't a prayer in that situation. As the superstars Long, Redmond and Ings proved beyond doubt yesterday.

The above scenario is something that Benitez for example would rectify immediately.

[GarTomas]

We have 10 players on the pitch that wait for Grealish to do something. To allow this to happen is first and foremost Dean's fault. We're not going to start winning again until this mentality changes. We bought a load of players in the summer that had potential and were to be developed. All I'm seeing are passengers.

Our last good performance was Liverpool where they didn’t have that option.

[auntiesledd]

They don’t look like they’re coached or that they do any fitness work at all. That is damning.

Indeed. It appears far too many individuals are allowed to carry on doing their own ineffectual thing - when it's patently obvious that we desperately need to be properly organised, disciplined and 100% committed throughout every game. Admittedly every player is responsible for what they do (or don't do) on the park, but ultimately the buck starts and stops with DS. I hope to god he has a Damascene moment bloody soon as his future - and that of our club - depends on him waking up to the bleedin' obvious. This current shambles simply can't be allowed to continue, but I'm increasingly doubtful that Dean Smith has the required skill and experience necessary to turn this around now. Lose to Norwich & reckon he'll be toast, so no pressure eh?