Bournemouth v Villa Post match thread

[Monty]

The team selection doesn't matter. How the 'RCM' and 'LCM' are footed really doesn't matter. Which of Watkins or Ings play - how many goals in the last few seasons each? - certainly shouldn't matter.

None of these selection points matter if you don't have a coherent set-up for ball retention, for how to 'progress between phases' as they say, how to beat your opponents pressing or standing off, how to do anything other than hopeful chips and vague crosses. I'm sure Gerrard knows all this, and they said the same of Arteta (that he flatters to deceive) and he's turned it around.

Yesterday, however, was genuinely horrendous. I've never seen a midfield so static, doubly frustrating given that when Gerrard arrived the signs off the ball were so promising. Coutinho, Bailey and Buendia didn't play well, but there's no structure for them, no plan how to manipulate the space so that they can receive the ball in situations where they can cause damage. Danny Ings is spending most of his time wide right or in the centre circle, Ramsey almost never had the ball at his feet (getting stuck in scraps for bouncing balls), and McGinn looked like an amateur player at times, needing five touches where should need one, looking around him like he's wondering who the hell these guys are and what they want.

You can have bad days and I certainly hope for better ones, but it was a bad day to the bones. No positive signs whatsoever.

[wittonwarrior]

Had all pre season  to work this one out and have come out short.  Bailey terrific pre season only showed one or two touches.  Nothing whatsoever from our front three and them goals.  If that was Sunday league you would have a meltdown, nevermind top class football.  Great day though in a beach bar before hand.

[ChicagoLion]

I thought it was critical to get off to a good start to the season, this meant wining at Bournemouth.
The defeat has opened up all the doubts about the manager and some of the players.
The fact that it looked like we were not prepared and got what we deserved, absolutely nothing, is unforgivable.
Our owners are too heavily invested to allow this to continue and if I were them I would be seriously holding Purslow to account here.

[aj2k77]

I'd love it if we employed a manager with a good track record in a top league some time soon. It's been years and years since we made the effort to do so.

[ChicagoLion]

I'd love it if we employed a manager with a good track record in a top league some time soon. It's been years and years since we made the effort to do so.

Big Ron was the last time?

[john e]

people saying the tactics are wrong and the system is'nt working, i dont see any tactics or system
i cant for the life of me see what we were trying to do yesterday, it just seemed like a load of blokes plonking the ball here and there and hoping for the best, pointless crosses into the box to no avail

iv'e no agenda, i was one who supported Gerrard from the start and was hoping for at least a clear pattern of play, everything off the pitch seems near on perfect right up untill we take the field
it was extremely poor yesterday in all areas, theres no positives to take from the game at all

the one thing above all for me is how little we created, not many if any decent chances, zero goal threat, i mean it defies belief just how useless we were in front of goal, its not as if we were missing a load of chances we wern't creating any,
and this against a side who will probably go 10/15 games now untill there next win, and will almost certainly finish bottom of the league

i like a lot of what Gerrard is doing and saying and i will stick by him for now,  but i cant defend him yesterday it was abysmal from start to finish

[brontebilly]

The team selection doesn't matter. How the 'RCM' and 'LCM' are footed really doesn't matter. Which of Watkins or Ings play - how many goals in the last few seasons each? - certainly shouldn't matter.

None of these selection points matter if you don't have a coherent set-up for ball retention, for how to 'progress between phases' as they say, how to beat your opponents pressing or standing off, how to do anything other than hopeful chips and vague crosses.

The setup of the midfield does matter from a ball retention perspective. For starters Ramsey and McGinn particularly are not comfortable taking the ball on their weaker foot under pressure. McGinn always turns back into contact on his left foot. To make matters worse, to actually get our wide men/full backs quick ball in areas that might matter, requires quick ball down the line. Good luck if you can find a clip of McGinn releasing Cash down the line with his right foot. We will never be able to build a pattern of play if we persist with such a setup.

I'm not a fan of 433 at all. Kamara as the mythical no.6 to fix all our issues seemed very naive at times defensively. We need to have 2 sitters back there for me. 4231 with Buendia at 10.

[exigo]

Highlight of the day was the football memorabilia shop next door to the Bell Inn in Pokesdown. He'd hauled out everything Villa, from signed shirts to Villa News and Records going back to the 60s.
Few beers in the sun and life was all good, until 3.01pm.
The most typically Villa opening to a season, since, erm, last season.

[Ads]

people saying the tactics are wrong and the system is'nt working, i dont see any tactics or system
i cant for the life of me see what we were trying to do yesterday, it just seemed like a load of blokes plonking the ball here and there and hoping for the best, pointless crosses into the box to no avail

iv'e no agenda, i was one who supported Gerrard from the start and was hoping for at least a clear pattern of play, everything off the pitch seems near on perfect right up untill we take the field
it was extremely poor yesterday in all areas, theres no positives to take from the game at all

the one thing above all for me is how little we created, not many if any decent chances, zero goal threat, i mean it defies belief just how useless we were in front of goal, its not as if we were missing a load of chances we wern't creating any,
and this against a side who will probably go 10/15 games now untill there next win, and will almost certainly finish bottom of the league

i like a lot of what Gerrard is doing and saying and i will stick by him for now,  but i cant defend him yesterday it was abysmal from start to finish

The tactic is to use the full backs for width. Fine. But the issue yesterday was;

(A) bar a 15 minute spell in the 2nd half, how slow we were in working the ball wide.
(B) How each cross was an effective diagonal, no variation and absolutely terrible
(C) How it was a percentage ball given the volume of bodies  Bournemouth had back.

The alternative was to get Mepham facing his own goal, but we invariably couldn't find Watkins when he came on and Ings lacked the pace to stretch then.

McGinn and Ramsey were so poor. Their distribution, movement, willingness to run with the ball. Coutinho was just as wasteful and entirely workshy when he slotted in at 8.

Emi quickened us up when he came on, but he did so from 10/15 yards deeper, with a need for the 8 to get beyond him, as the only out ball was Digne. Slow, predictable and wasteful.

[London Villan]

Luiz and Kamara on paper look like they could be the holding two - that is if Kamara is decent at the break up play. Doug would give them a bit of dynamism moving forward too.

But that still leaves a problem with the striker. One up front needs to be more physical than Watkins, Ings or Archer and needs to be more of a goal threat than Davis.

[Percy McCarthy]

I am struggling to comprehend how the manager of smallest team in the league thought it was a good idea to keep lobbing in crosses against the tallest team in the league, without an ounce of success.

What's the definition of insanity again?

Playing a left footed player at RCM and a right footed player at LCM?

If only. They actually play full back with only Kamara actually playing in midfield (and Coutinho because it’s the only way he can get on the ball).

[john e]

in Fairness Coutinho was dreadful yesterday, for someone who is supposed to be comfortable on the ball with a delicate touch and ball skills he gave the ball away more often than he found his man

That’s not tactics that’s someone being a bit shit and out of form on the day
The tactics bit is to hook him off and put someone better on earlier

[London Villan]

Do we know why Ramsey was hooked at halftime? Pretty damning if the tactics you have spent all summer working on are thrown out because you are 1-0 down at half-time to one of the relegation favourites.

[PeterWithe]

Do we know why Ramsey was hooked at halftime? Pretty damning if the tactics you have spent all summer working on are thrown out because you are 1-0 down at half-time to one of the relegation favourites.

I’d guess that we needed a change and Ramsey was just as poor as everyone else, but had been booked as well in the first half?

[ez]

It has to be coaching. Surely we have better players than Bournemouth. They just don't know what to do. If a move comes off it looks more by accident than design.