Aston Villa v Chelsea Post Match Thread

[john2710]

Smith would have been sacked after the Chelsea game before the lockdown. I think there's zero chance of him going now.

[john e]

For the first time ever I just thought of Allardyce and didn't recoil in horror.

I'd take him now no problem. Spare me the eye bleeding football comments because what I saw today was worse by a long way than anything one of his teams as ever thrown together. Dean Smith is very much in Remi Garde/Black/McLeish territory.

Yep agreed. We’re down with a whimper. Smith is a rubbish manager, surely he won’t start next season. A good outcome at this point is having someone decent for the last few games and the small window between seasons, so that we don’t waste next season getting our shit together.

if you keep on appointing British managers with their stuck in the mud style tactics
ie Lambert, McCliesh, Bruce and now Smith things will never change

don’t keep on repeating the mistakes of the past

[Flin5tone]

FAT SAM in NOW sort it out Purslow

[Rudy65]

Smith would have been sacked after the Chelsea game before the lockdown. I think there's zero chance of him going now.

If we do nothing we are down

How about put JT in charge for the remaining 8 games?  Desperate times but desperate measures are needed. I don’t think it can get any worse. Terry might command a bit of respect from the players

[David_Nab]

There was more intensity from the piped in music than anything the Villa players produced today. Embarrassing really on the pitch and on the sideline. We looked a disorganised rabble from the start, defending far too deep against the pace of Giroud, midfield practically sitting on top of back four and 20 yards plus then to Davis.

At a minimum Smith simply had to change our shape at half time. Failure to do so meant Chelsea would inevitably score and they cruised to victory. Same nonsensical like for like subs. End of the road for Smith today as that can't continue. Grealish's body language as captain was dreadful but hard to blame him at times.

Nyland 6 - nearly threw one in but that aside made a couple of solid saves and took a few crosses.
Konsa 5 - ok in first half but poor in second, somewhat lucky that Chelsea directed nearly every attack down our left. Ambition and ability on the ball Cuellar-esque
Hause 7 - scored and solid defensively. Inability to kick the ball with his right foot doesn't exactly help ball retention.
Mings 7 - solid enough, against I thought a dreadful Giroud, one brilliant block with his head in first half
Targett 4 - improved a lot in second half but first half was embarrassing. So slow and physically weak, identified as a weak link and targeted ruthlessly
McGinn 3 - poor effort with a good chance in first half but that aside there wasn't a positive contribution, miles simply miles off the pace
Luiz 6 - very good first half and excellent assist. Poor for their winner and died away in second half
Hourihane 3 - pace too much for Houri at this level, the ease in which Mount got away from him in first half was pathetic
AEG 5 - probably our best defender on left flank in first half so can't fault his effort. Not strong enough in possession though
Grealish 4 - did well for our goal but absymal effort to try and defend the cross for their equaliser. Body language dreadful throughout and didn't work hard enough.
Davis 5 - Ronaldo at his peak would have struggled to make an impact in the role Davis was asked to perform today. Seemed to lose faith the longer it went on and his hold up play wasn't as sharp as it needed to be

Nakamba was the best of our subs I thought, Jota came close to scoring but lightweight and ineffective would sum up their collective impact.

Grealish is clearly frustrated , he hardly gets on the ball as most of our play was lumps down the park from Mings.When he did get on the ball he was fouled.
Nakamba simply had to be brought on earlier , McGinn and Houriane were both so poor.
Davis was left holding up the ball for no one as no one was anywhere near him to lay it off too.

Newcastle a massive game now but this game physically would have taken alot out of us as we spent all game chasing the ball

[colin69]

I had to laugh when Alan Smith said Chelsea had had to work hard for the result. Not sure what game he’d been watching.

[AVH87]

They had 74% possession and 24 shots, 5 on target.  I remember a long period before the break where we routinely conceded c. 20 shots per game.  How is this possible?

Not loads better, but they had 19 shots according to BBC.

[AVH87]

Was out for Father's Day, depressing thing was after checking the beeb at HT and seeing we were winning, I didn't even get excited as I knew there was zero chance we'd hold on to win. In my head I thought 'I'd snap your hand off for a point', but just like against Liverpool, Spurs, Arsenal et al, we aren't even good enough to do that from a leading position.

[hilts_coolerking]

They had 74% possession and 24 shots, 5 on target.  I remember a long period before the break where we routinely conceded c. 20 shots per game.  How is this possible?

Not loads better, but they had 19 shots according to BBC.

You're quite right, apologies.

[IFWaters]

We were a few inches away from a great afternoon. If Jota's punt had gone in would we be all saying there is hope ?

I agree the problem is the manager though but looking at just the maths of it, there is still hope. Bournemouth and West Ham are in as bad a run as we are. Anyone who can nick a win in the next 2 games could still get themselves out of it.

[Villan82]

We are still in with a sniff but that was a disappointing performance.

It was very weak. It was very passive.

[steamer]

Not sure how changing managers works in this reset
I would have gone for it before lockdown, mayb

[brontebilly]

Massive gulf in quality today, needed fresh legs earlier today after spending most of the game chasing the ball.

Lampard did us a favour with him team selection today aswell. Giroud was laughably poor until his flukey winner, Loftus-Cheek was as anoymous as McGinn was. And still they ran around us at will

[hilts_coolerking]

Anyone who can nick a win in the next 2 games could still get themselves out of it.

When did we last nick a win though?  January?

[steamer]

Maybe it is to late and we need to see it through.
But it is clear that without a different mindset and stated ambition, what ever league we are in next year we we will continue to underachieve.
I do not see DS as the answer