Crystal Palace 3-2 Utterly inept Aston Villa

[john2710]

Out muscled & out fought for the entire second half. Yet Smith doesn't react, again.

We have too many players without the fight needed against the likes of Palace.

I hope that the lack of ability & strength will be addressed in the summer. If not Smith is on borrowed time.

[itmustbe_it is!]

Whatever else this game shows, it's that our second string players are nowhere near good enough. We can't deal with our first choice players being out.

Elmo has had it at this level - culpable for two of their goals,  Hause is very limited, not a Prem player, El Ghazi is a good finisher but thats all, Ramsay needs time hopefully . I'm glad Neil Taylor hasn't  had to see the light of day.

Add to that Grealish being clearly half fit (if there were no Euros to come he would be nowhere near the side this season) , and that our back up strikers are Davis (see Hause comment) and Wesley we'll finish above where I'd have expected to be honest. Also throw in that Ramsay was starting because the Barkley experiment failed and he couldn't be arsed, thats another "starter" we didn't have today.

We need to kick on again this summer -up and coming  centre half and left back who can put pressure on the starters and be a reliable backup when needed, bring Freddie back from loan. Two new midfielders to give Luis and Konsa some competition, then Ramsay has time to develop without being asked to start. And a replacement for Traore so he becomes a backup/bench player. Personally I'd go get Tammy, then our first string frontline would be Grealish, Watkins and Abraham . I'll take that.

[PaulTheVillan]

Piss poor. Starting to get very typical of us now.

Starting to think Smith hasn’t got it at this level.

[Legion]

https://www.skysports.com/watch/video/12308097/palace-come-from-behind-to-beat-villa

[nick harper]

Just overrun in the second half, physically second best all over the pitch and you can’t give Eze and Zaha that kind of space and expect to get away with it. Really fed up at the way we continuously step off the game when we go ahead and let teams dominate us.

Grealish should have played through the middle for Ramsey to get him on the ball more.

And how many more opportunities for Traore? He is low on confidence but doesn’t even try to compensate by putting in a shift.

[Baldy]

With 4 or 5 good signings we have the making of a decent team. Serious question marks over:

Traore - We are not good enough to carry a luxury player. Has no respect for possession.
El Ghazi - Too much of a solo artist. We need team players. See Leicester!!
Ramsey - Failed end of year exam. Maybe, try again at the end of next year.
Barkley - Enough already said
Nakamba - Clearly not made the level if constantly overlooked for subtitutions when we need fresh legs.

Deano needs to analyse a game during it, not after it.

To lose to a bog standard team like Crystal Palace is an embarrasment. 

[Toronto Villa]

In true Villa fashion, that’s the first time Palace have won a league game in three years when losing at HT.

[PaulWinch again]

Thought the second half was a disgrace. To ship that many chances against Palace is appalling.

We really haven’t progressed at all with game management. The midfield needs some work, the balance isn’t right.

[caster troy]

Off the top of my head is that 6 points vs West Brom, Fulham, Palace, Sheffield United, Newcastle, Brighton, Burnley in 2021? With or without Grealish, that is diabolical.

Ramsey should have been off after 60 mins, nothing against the kid, he's still learning, but the game was passing him by and we either needed Nakamba to shore things up or Chukwuemeka to try something different. It seems like Dean will only make changes after we concede, he needs to be more proactive. The worrying thing is he doesn't seem to be learning these lessons (as others have said this was Burnley mark II).

[themossman]

Atrocious. These capitulation from good positions are more worrying than straightforward bad performances, because they suggest smith and the players aren't learning at the necessary rate.

Leeds are showing us up, also rooted in mid table but finishing bang in form with quality performances.

[wolfman999]

Shocking by us on and off the pitch this week. I could go off them😉

Off the pitch?

I’m still sulking I didn’t win in the ballot.

Lucky you.

[Skerra]

What with the injuries and our performances in the last couple of months, I can’t see any of our players actually playing a match for England in the Euros. Given also that Southgate has quite a few players that have been on form to pick from.

[Des Little]

We aren’t ruthless enough - once again we don’t get the second goal - or in this case third to seal the game - and that invites the inevitable pressure, with the same predictable outcome. Until we stop being a soft touch, we’ll continue to see these piss weak performances.

[mr underhill]

There are mitigating circumstances in the falloff in our form since January ( Covid and JG's injury), but Smith's taken us to his personal zenith. If we want to scale higher peaks, he's got to be replaced, and I know that sounds harsh, and will attract an avenanche of oppprobrium, but it's true.If we really want to be in the top six, seven or eight someone demonstrably more astute is needed.

[villa for life]

There’s been progression from last season to this season, but there’s been no progression during this season.

 The owners spent a shed load during the summer, so of course we were going to be better then last season. Even Bruce would have achieved that!