Post match thread. Villa 1 Leicester City 2

[robbo1874]

First-half crap, second-half less crap.

Barkley's recent performances have been absolute garbage and he's now managed to augment that with a questionable attitude. It's time for him to sit on the bench.

SJM trys but it's not been good enough from him either lately. Start Ramsey and Sanson.

Luiz is the other question mark, but I think he has done enough to stay in the first XI for now.

Konsa is experiencing a dip in form, hope he turns it around quickly.

im not suggesting any discord between the 2 players, but aside from the Liverpool match, Barkley’s presence seems to nullify McGinns threat, to a degree. It brings to mind England trying to shoehorn lampard and Gerard into the side. Seems to me it’s one or the other with that pair.

[RamboandBruno]

It’s a shame the way the whole Barkley signing seems to be turning out. I think our best performances this season have been Liverpool, Arsenal away and Leicester away. Barkleys performances in those games, were integral to the wider dynamic attacking display of the team, along with Grealish he carried the attack to the opposition.
I think he has struggled for fitness, that has impacted on his form and the combination of these factors seems to have in turn impacted on his mentality.
Unfortunately, we can’t carry him and he needs taking out of the team and then seeing if there is a reaction when he comes on as sub.
Luiz is also out of form a touch. However, as much as I like Nakambas efforts, he’s being judged as doing well when he’s come in, in comparison I feel to the car crashes of last year. He was tidy against Burnley and anonymous in the 2nd half against Arsenal. I think we have to judge Luiz in a changed midfield that retains the ball better and presses better without Barkley in it.
On Grealish, any team in this league, other than maybe Man City, would miss their best player. Leicester without Vardy, Spurs without Kane, Man U without Rashford maybe in comparison. We are going to miss Jack, this doesn’t mean we haven’t got quality in the team. The spine of Martinez, mings and Watkins is strong. Targett and Traore have quality and I feel McGinn is working really hard but needs more support. I don’t think Smith will change to dramatically, so it’ll be either Ramsey or Sanson in for Barkley and Trez in for Ghazi.
Finally, we don’t know the seasons going to disappear down the pan and I think the manager and most of the players need the benefit of the doubt after the season we’ve had so far.

[AlexAlexCropley]

Sick of being a nursery for semi fit players.
If he ain't fully fit,don't pick him.

[robbo1874]

It’s a shame the way the whole Barkley signing seems to be turning out. I think our best performances this season have been Liverpool, Arsenal away and Leicester away. Barkleys performances in those games, were integral to the wider dynamic attacking display of the team, along with Grealish he carried the attack to the opposition.
I think he has struggled for fitness, that has impacted on his form and the combination of these factors seems to have in turn impacted on his mentality.
Unfortunately, we can’t carry him and he needs taking out of the team and then seeing if there is a reaction when he comes on as sub.
Luiz is also out of form a touch. However, as much as I like Nakambas efforts, he’s being judged as doing well when he’s come in, in comparison I feel to the car crashes of last year. He was tidy against Burnley and anonymous in the 2nd half against Arsenal. I think we have to judge Luiz in a changed midfield that retains the ball better and presses better without Barkley in it.
On Grealish, any team in this league, other than maybe Man City, would miss their best player. Leicester without Vardy, Spurs without Kane, Man U without Rashford maybe in comparison. We are going to miss Jack, this doesn’t mean we haven’t got quality in the team. The spine of Martinez, mings and Watkins is strong. Targett and Traore have quality and I feel McGinn is working really hard but needs more support. I don’t think Smith will change to dramatically, so it’ll be either Ramsey or Sanson in for Barkley and Trez in for Ghazi.
Finally, we don’t know the seasons going to disappear down the pan and I think the manager and most of the players need the benefit of the doubt after the season we’ve had so far.

id include the palace game in that too. We were fantastic in that one.

[ROBBO]

Next game will tell us a lot about DS, surely he cannot pick Barkley again after that performance. We have players that are plainly not good enough like Trez and El Gahzi, we know Barkley is capable but for some reason not willing to put the effort in. Ramsey deserves a run out, lets see how he goes after ninety minutes.

[PaulWinch again]

Next game will tell us a lot about DS, surely he cannot pick Barkley again after that performance. We have players that are plainly not good enough like Trez and El Gahzi, we know Barkley is capable but for some reason not willing to put the effort in. Ramsey deserves a run out, lets see how he goes after ninety minutes.

Sanson is probably the first choice to come into midfield for me. He looks lively, makes good runs and presses well. We need that against Leeds.

[Chris Smith]

Grealish being injured at the same time as Cash means we lose a threat on both sides of the pitch and we don’t yet have the squad depth to deal with that when playing the better teams.

[Risso]

Grealish being injured at the same time as Cash means we lose a threat on both sides of the pitch and we don’t yet have the squad depth to deal with that when playing the better teams.

We didn't have to let Guilbert go.  Elmo was dreadful today, absolutely hopeless.

[eamonn]

We were unlucky that Cash got injured having missed one game all season, the week after Guilbert was allowed to go out. Most of us didn't think he was someone that would be missed.

[brontebilly]

Next game will tell us a lot about DS, surely he cannot pick Barkley again after that performance. We have players that are plainly not good enough like Trez and El Gahzi, we know Barkley is capable but for some reason not willing to put the effort in. Ramsey deserves a run out, lets see how he goes after ninety minutes.

Sanson is probably the first choice to come into midfield for me. He looks lively, makes good runs and presses well. We need that against Leeds.

I think he could play next to Nakamba v Leeds in a deeper role. Has two good feet and can turn quickly with the ball. Luiz was hopeless again today. Ramsey further forward for me.

[john e]

Expectations have been raised because we have been fucking brilliant right up to the West Ham game
Even in the games we have lost Man United, Man City, West ham 1st game etc we have still been a joy to watch

West Ham were the first team to out play us and since then we haven’t been the same
Unfortunately when we have hit these bad runs of form in the past Smith has come up short in knowing what to do about it

I’m not interested in where we were two years ago I am more bothered about where we are going to be in two years time
The opportunity is now
The talk of well we are improved from last year is okay but it’s defeatist

The future is very much dependent on Grealish for us at the moment
We need to give him a platform and that platform needs to be higher than a mid-table team even if that is is an improvement
We are at the crossroads

Are we just going to be satisfied with doing better than last year or are we going to believe in Ourselves like we did at the start of the season and play with no fear and attack the opposition

We know we can do it because we have
If Smith doesn’t get it right soon we will be kicking ourselves in a couple of years time and looking back saying that was when we had the opportunity and we screwed it up the same way we did a number of times with the Doug Ellis

I would have taken A mid-table place at the start of the season
But not now my expectations have been raised by the team by the performances I’ve seen by the players
i’m not willing to settle for second best now I want the best

I want us to be going for Europa football it’s the best way of hanging onto Grealish
And it’s where a club the size of ours with the financial backing we have and one of the best players in the country on our books should be aiming for imo

[AlexAlexCropley]

Expectations have been raised because we have been fucking brilliant right up to the West Ham game
Even in the games we have lost Man United, Man City, West ham 1st game etc we have still been a joy to watch

West Ham were the first team to out play us and since then we haven’t been the same
Unfortunately when we have hit these bad runs of form in the past Smith has come up short in knowing what to do about it

I’m not interested in where we were two years ago I am more bothered about where we are going to be in two years time
The opportunity is now
The talk of well we are improved from last year is okay but it’s defeatist

The future is very much dependent on Grealish for us at the moment
We need to give him a platform and that platform needs to be higher than a mid-table team even if that is is an improvement
We are at the crossroads

Are we just going to be satisfied with doing better than last year or are we going to believe in Ourselves like we did at the start of the season and play with no fear and attack the opposition

We know we can do it because we have
If Smith doesn’t get it right soon we will be kicking ourselves in a couple of years time and looking back saying that was when we had the opportunity and we screwed it up the same way we did a number of times with the Doug Ellis

I would have taken A mid-table place at the start of the season
But not now my expectations have been raised by the team by the performances I’ve seen by the players
i’m not willing to settle for second best now I want the best

I want us to be going for Europa football it’s the best way of hanging onto Grealish
And it’s where a club the size of ours with the financial backing we have and one of the best players in the country on our books should be aiming for imo

Well said

[ktvillan]

I think we all want what John E wants but I think we have to be a bit more patient.  Even with mega rich owners it takes time to build a squad capable of sustaining a season long challenge on the top 4 places.  We still have a lot of players on our bench who aren't good enough for that level even as backup.  We need wide players that are better than Trezeguet and more consistent than AEG.   We need better back ups at  full back on both sides.  We probably need another striker and a centre back.  I reckon we'll get most of those next summer if not all of them.

[Villan82]

Expectations have been raised because we have been fucking brilliant right up to the West Ham game
Even in the games we have lost Man United, Man City, West ham 1st game etc we have still been a joy to watch

West Ham were the first team to out play us and since then we haven’t been the same
Unfortunately when we have hit these bad runs of form in the past Smith has come up short in knowing what to do about it

I’m not interested in where we were two years ago I am more bothered about where we are going to be in two years time
The opportunity is now
The talk of well we are improved from last year is okay but it’s defeatist

The future is very much dependent on Grealish for us at the moment
We need to give him a platform and that platform needs to be higher than a mid-table team even if that is is an improvement
We are at the crossroads

Are we just going to be satisfied with doing better than last year or are we going to believe in Ourselves like we did at the start of the season and play with no fear and attack the opposition

We know we can do it because we have
If Smith doesn’t get it right soon we will be kicking ourselves in a couple of years time and looking back saying that was when we had the opportunity and we screwed it up the same way we did a number of times with the Doug Ellis

I would have taken A mid-table place at the start of the season
But not now my expectations have been raised by the team by the performances I’ve seen by the players
i’m not willing to settle for second best now I want the best

I want us to be going for Europa football it’s the best way of hanging onto Grealish
And it’s where a club the size of ours with the financial backing we have and one of the best players in the country on our books should be aiming for imo

Well said.

[Hillbilly]

I'm not sure how it's done in terms of who is picked or tactical changes but we need to stop teams driving a coach and horses through the middle. The opposition pick up the ball near halfway and have been able to play straight to the edge of the box without challenge. And this is happening with disturbing frequency because we keep losing it up front Mr Barkley.