Villa v Leeds post match thread

[OzVilla]

Very even first half and we were on top first 10 mins of the 2nd and could/should have been ahead. But then the wheels fell off and we got slaughtered. It happens.

We were far better than some are saying on here but they ran over the top of us in the last half hour, we had no response. Bamford is a shithouse but he took his goals brilliantly.

Cash did well with little help, Martinez conceded 3 but did nothing wrong and Konsa looked assured again. The rest were off the pace and it showed.

Oh and Gabby, shut the feck up next time.

[cdbearsfan]

We were never going to win every game. Shame it had to be those ******, but 37 wins will still be a decent season.

[PeterWithesShin]

Our last 2 league defeats have seen us collapse after going 1 down. Something that needs to be rectified.

[ChicagoLion]

The really worrying thing was at 0-2 down, we threw in the towel all over the pitch. Mings (arguably our worst player tonight) trotting up the pitch like some kind of superstar. Hoofing the ball back to Leeds at every opportunity. Theres a horrible soft centre still there, as that could have been any score for a finish tonight. Leeds breaking six on three on us in the 92nd minute said it all.

Tactically, completely destroyed and the old Smith failings there for all to see with his in-game changes. Were were crying out for a tactical reshuffle but what he do. Like for like change, Traore for Trez with the net result we got even more torched on our right side. So many non performers tonight and the fact Smith didnt feel like hooking two of them cant be good for squad morale. For decisive in game changes, see Bielsa after 20 mins tonight.

Jack scores that worldly and maybe things would be different. But to be honest I dont think so as Leeds had our number in midfield particularly at that point. Smith's tactics of having McGinn and Barkley so far ahead of Luiz were horribly exposed. Luiz didnt have a chance, was crying out for McGinn to sit next to him or bring in Hourihane/Nakamba. I dont think we will get away with a midfield set up for much longer than includes McGinn, Barkley and Grealish so far ahead of the ball and making pitiful efforts to get it back.

Martinez 7 - dont think he could have done more with the second, looked sharp in general
Cash 4 - battled but destroyed lets be honest against an outstanding Harrison
Konsa 7 - our best defender by a long way, covering for Cash as best he could all night
Mings 3 - hopeless, timber legs stuck in the ground while Bamford embarrassingly turned onto his left foot and passed the third in. Terrible for all three goals actually.
Targett 4 - not my favourite player by any stretch but was doing ok until getting overrun into the second half, no support from Grealish
Trez 4 - anonymous with the ball but we sure did miss his graft without the ball when he went off
Luiz 6 - did his best but hopelessly outnumbered, sold down the river by Smith's tactics
McGinn 4 - anonymous for most of the game, unfortunately was up against superior athletes tonight and it showed
Barkley 3 - absolutely useless and should have been subbed immediately after his efforts to stop their second goal
Grealish 6 - should have had a peno and had two kicked off the line but lost the ball a lot tonight and his effort without the ball were risible, pathetic yellow card too
Watkins 4 - really poor in first half when he got lots of possession, made no impact in the second but we stopped playing at that point
Traore 3 - yikes, a bit of a horror show. looked miles off the pace but balance of team was totally wrong

We go again I guess

This summed up the game for me.
A shit show

[ktvillan]

To be fair that was pretty even until the hour mark and first goal was going to dictate how the game went.  We started the second half well and just looked to be getting on top when they scored. After that we fell apart, and they could see it and grew in confidence and energy.  Doesn't say much for our resilience when going behind, and something Dean needs to work on.

Ultimately Leeds thoroughly deserved t although I hate Bamford even more after that theatrical penalty appeal.

[PeterWithe]

They were great, fair play a deserved easy win

Bielsa is a fantastic coach, negated Jack really well. Sometimes you just accept the defeat and the fact you’ve been done fair and square and move on.

[adrenachrome]

I thought the grass looked shorter than for the Liverpool game.

Good point.

We need more grass; longer and lusher. Break out the hydroponic lamps and sprinklers. 

[Luke8]

Our last 2 league defeats have seen us collapse after going 1 down. Something that needs to be rectified.

If we are undefeated in the eight games inbetween each time though we will probably be alright. 

[Toronto Villa]

Our last 2 league defeats have seen us collapse after going 1 down. Something that needs to be rectified.

The good thing is after Man U we came back much better until tonight. So we have to do the same again. Next 5 games gives us a huge opportunity to put things right very quickly.

[Monty]

They were great, fair play a deserved easy win

Bielsa is a fantastic coach, negated Jack really well. Sometimes you just accept the defeat and the fact you’ve been done fair and square and move on.

This is how I feel. Nothing wrong with getting bested by Marcelo Bielsa.

[PaulWinch again]

It was bad all round, but manager and players both take plenty of blame. We set up wrong and didn’t respond, but equally players performed well below their best.

[Bermuda Villa]

27 Shots says it all, this is going back to the numbers of last season. The midfield were dreadful and Dean just stood and watched it happen, I don't know why he never changed things. That is the first time we have gone behind and the reaction was not good to see.

The most frustrating thing for me is the narrow back 4 and trying to deny space through the middle, Leeds are all about width and we played into their hands. We competed first half but some of the defending was last ditch stuff. He could have pushed the back 4 higher up the pitch and tried to compress the midfield to help us but the worrying thing for me was how isolated Ollie was in the second half. If you are going to play Jack, Ross and SJM bombing forward then you have to have another holding midfield player in there. Dougie was overrun time and time again.


Still 12 points on the board after 5 games, I will have a bit of that after last year.

UTV

[Legion]

Bielsa is a quality manager. Bamford is still a prick for what he did the other season, regardless of the hat-trick. Leeds were simply better.

[PaulWinch again]

Our last 2 league defeats have seen us collapse after going 1 down. Something that needs to be rectified.

Yep good point. Need to respond a lot better to adversity.

[Luke8]

I’d agree with those saying that it was fairly even for 55 minutes. Both team had probably three/four decent chances at that point and the key first goal could have gone either way. Our reaction to conceding was disappointing though. Have to say that Leeds were excellent from the goal onwards and that performance would see off several others teams as well.