Post match thread. Villa 1 Leicester City 2

[Allan C]

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

You are bang on John but at this stage
We don’t have the squad for it. At the start of the season when they were all fit and fresh we looked good. The problem was always going to be what happened when they got tired and injuries occurred. Add COVID into that and a ridiculously high amount of games in such a short period you have the recent performances. With the exception of Ramsey and Sanson, possibly Nakamba, the quality isn’t there to replace the first team regulars. That will take time but it’s coming

[tony scott]

This defeat was pretty disappointing, a good Leicester side who would have had problems lasting the 90 mins following their European adventures.  I think the inability to hold up the ball in forward positions isn’t giving the team time to move forward and create pressure, it might be an idea to replace Barkley with luiz or McGinn and also play Ramsey on the right with marvellous playing dm. I think it’s a good idea giving Morgan some time to get up to speed. Are we betting Jack will be back before Wesley don’t yeh just love Deans mind games, oh and can we get Fred back please.

[Three Spires Villa]

Leeds were the first team to out play us

[ktvillan]

Leeds didn't outplay us until we went behind.  The match was fairly even up to then, and on chances we could and possibly should have been two ahead by the time they scored.

[mr underhill]

time to shake up team selection and formation. nothing to lose, go on Dean!

[The Edge]

https://www.skysports.com/watch/video/12224997/madisson-barnes-shine-as-foxes-beat-villa

That's the first chance I've had to watch the goals. Very disappointed with both of their goals. Both goals were poor from our perspective. And what was their keeper having a go about when Bertie scored? He did nothing wrong there.

[Ads]

See Deano and me have the same eyesight for foul throws.

[john e]

Leeds didn't outplay us until we went behind.  The match was fairly even up to then, and on chances we could and possibly should have been two ahead by the time they scored.

I agree with that
Leeds were the better side on the night and scored 3 outstanding goals
but I never felt they completely outplayed us like West Ham and Brighton did

[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

You are bang on John but at this stage
We don’t have the squad for it. At the start of the season when they were all fit and fresh we looked good. The problem was always going to be what happened when they got tired and injuries occurred. Add COVID into that and a ridiculously high amount of games in such a short period you have the recent performances. With the exception of Ramsey and Sanson, possibly Nakamba, the quality isn’t there to replace the first team regulars. That will take time but it’s coming

True
but the further you go up the league the finer the decisions you have to get right

when your best fit right back has joined the French foreign legion and your relying on a player who’s contract has every chance of not being renewed at the end of the season because he’s not up to the job, they are the decisions that you get away with in the championship and if you just want to avoid relegation but not if you want to compete for a Europa spot

the line ups and tactics have to be spot on
you can’t let a game drift on for an hour being outplayed then make like for like changes and hope it will some how come good
the Manager the coaches and the players have to learn, and learn quickly that the finer things are now important things that can have big outcomes

This is the difference between surviving or challenging

[Bobby Boy]

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

You are bang on John but at this stage
We don’t have the squad for it. At the start of the season when they were all fit and fresh we looked good. The problem was always going to be what happened when they got tired and injuries occurred. Add COVID into that and a ridiculously high amount of games in such a short period you have the recent performances. With the exception of Ramsey and Sanson, possibly Nakamba, the quality isn’t there to replace the first team regulars. That will take time but it’s coming

True
but the further you go up the league the finer the decisions you have to get right

when your best fit right back has joined the French foreign legion and your relying on a player who’s contract has every chance of not being renewed at the end of the season because he’s not up to the job, they are the decisions that you get away with in the championship and if you just want to avoid relegation but not if you want to compete for a Europa spot

the line ups and tactics have to be spot on
you can’t let a game drift on for an hour being outplayed then make like for like changes and hope it will some how come good
the Manager the coaches and the players have to learn, and learn quickly that the finer things are now important things that can have big outcomes

This is the difference between surviving or challenging

This is fair comment. Everyone agrees that we are progressing but to go further still we need to be more savvy with team selection and in-game management.

Brendan Rodgers seems to be pretty switched on as do the likes of Guardiola and Tuchel but these are the top level.

Hopefully we're heading in the right direction.

[eamonn]

Weirdly we beat Leicester in xG yesterday. Not sure how!

[OCD]

Guilbert is our best right back? I know players get better when they aren't playing but to say he's better than Cash is ridiculous.

[Taylor]

Maybe Gilbert had his nose put out when we signed Cash, and asked for a transfer. Elmo is a capable player and a model professional. No one knows the full story but perhaps our management didn’t want an unhappy player around the squad.

[Brazilian Villain]

https://www.skysports.com/watch/video/12224997/madisson-barnes-shine-as-foxes-beat-villa

That's the first chance I've had to watch the goals. Very disappointed with both of their goals. Both goals were poor from our perspective. And what was their keeper having a go about when Bertie scored? He did nothing wrong there.

Sums it up for me. I also thought Schmeichel was deliberately leaning on Traore for way longer and more heavily than necessary trying to get a reaction out of him (presumably so he could go down like he'd been hit by Mike Tyson). W@nker!

[danno]

Guilbert is our best right back? I know players get better when they aren't playing but to say he's better than Cash is ridiculous.

I think he was saying he was our best fit right back, as Cash isn't fit atm.