Brentford vs Aston Villa Post-Match Thread

[AGRIPPA]

When Mings or Torres is standing on the ball on the halfway line for an eternity before playing sideways, I’m not sure they are performing PSR calculations.
Then again, it would explain a lot.

I really do broke they are playing to orders…….i think they hope the opposition will eventually give up!!

[astonvilla82]

Overall compared to teams like Brentford it's seems the team believe we don't have to put in that extra effort to get a result, should have been a win if you compare both teams regardless of financial issues, well done Brentford because they know they aren't world beaters but put that extra effort in

[Gaztonniller]

Toothless with no cutting edge.
 Like watching a cave man trying to cut down a tree by using a wooden club.

[MillerBall]

The seeds of the poor performances against Newcastle  and Brentford were there in the  "No show" performances against palace in the FA Cup Semi Final and Manchester United on the final day of the season. Both of the latter were strategically important matches where there was truly no ign of any plan from Villa other than slow, highly predictable football that was totally ineffective.
We have to accept that there will be times when there is a "bad day at the office" so to speak but at the moment  Villa currently seem to be in some form of tactical transition which involves inertia and carelesness  and an absence of speed and enterprise.
Let's hope this is just a temporary blip but the poor play at the end of last season leeds to suspicion that there is more to this than just a minor slump.

[dutchvilla]

Let's hope this is just a temporary blip but the poor play at the end of last season leeds to suspicion that there is more to this than just a minor slump.

You're right about the Man utd game and the Palace semi but we didn't win 10 if the last 11 league games with no plan.

[Skerra]

The thing that worries me the most is that we look fairly lethargic now and, we haven’t even started with the European matches yet.

[N'ZMAV]

Everyone would improve if we just upped the tempo. Fucking hell if I’m ever struggling to sleep I might put that match on again.

[VillaTim]

We don't seem to have a clear plan anymore . Other than give it to Rogers there doesn't seem much going on .

[Pat McMahon]

We added width too late. There's something to be said for concentration levels when it's in front of you and you have 11 men behind the ball condensed space between defence and midfield and you're blocking passing lanes. It's quite another thing to see how that concentration lasts when you have 22% of the ball AND you're being asked to turn and face your own goal and run into a wide channel to defend.

How we ended, with Malen and Evann drifting wide ought to be how we started, for me. Same with Maatsen. There was scant defending to do all game, so unleash that pace a little earlier. We don't have that out ball we had in the run in, where we were absolutely excellent, by overloading the midfield as we are.

I agree. You can see that's what Guardiola's tried to adapt the possession thing this way (much more and earlier switching of play), and I keep noticing that all the really successful teams against lowblock bus-parkers seem to do it as well. If nothing else, constantly swivelling about is a ballache and must get to you on some level.
[/quote

Another key factor in Guardiola’s game plan is that the ball must always be moving. If there are no gaps he is happy for his players to play anodyne 5 metre passes among themselves just so the opposition can’t stand still, even if they only need to move 2-3 metres.

We are the exact opposite. The number of times our central defenders have an option to make a simple pass but then dawdle on the ball weighing up options before playing the initial obvious ball is infuriating. As several have said above, our slowness of play is a big factor in allowing opponents to set up in their “starting blocks” to defend against us.

It is all very flat and uninspiring at the moment and that dismantling of Newcastle and right away performance at Bournemouth in April seem like an eternity away.

[Ads]

It's really hard to take a slump too seriously that extends to 2 defeats, split over 2 seasons now and a draw. It's being spoken about in the same tones as our away form in 2015, as if we're praying for our Reading away moment.

[brontebilly]

It's really hard to take a slump too seriously that extends to 2 defeats, split over 2 seasons now and a draw.

If you focus just on results and ignore this shit show of a transfer window.

[Ads]

It's really hard to take a slump too seriously that extends to 2 defeats, split over 2 seasons now and a draw.

If you focus just on results and ignore this shit show of a transfer window.

Which I havent. It's also not over. I tend to wait for the plane to come to a standstill before I try and get my overhead bag

[rooboy316]

We added width too late. There's something to be said for concentration levels when it's in front of you and you have 11 men behind the ball condensed space between defence and midfield and you're blocking passing lanes. It's quite another thing to see how that concentration lasts when you have 22% of the ball AND you're being asked to turn and face your own goal and run into a wide channel to defend.

How we ended, with Malen and Evann drifting wide ought to be how we started, for me. Same with Maatsen. There was scant defending to do all game, so unleash that pace a little earlier. We don't have that out ball we had in the run in, where we were absolutely excellent, by overloading the midfield as we are.

Spot on. This has been vital when we've played well in the last couple of seasons. Diaby, Bailey, Rashford make teams defend differently, because there's a different angle they can run and attack from, as well as having pace to get in behind. McGinn, despite all his other qualities, cannot offer this, so teams know he will turn back in and play a ball centrally using his left foot. It doesn't help that this mirrors what Cash is being instructed to do, so teams know the threat from our right hand side is completely one dimensional and easy to set up against.

Digne on the overlap was also important for this down the left, but I wonder if he's half a yard slower now... he seemed reluctant/unable compared to previous years.