Well, the holiday was great and the truth is I really wasn’t looking forward to coming back to this cold weather.
I hate this time of the year, with it being dark, damp and cold etc, but I always try to look for the positives and have always said that if you didn’t have the bad, you wouldn’t have the good would you?
Plus, at least it means we’re daily getting closer to the summer of next year.
I’m generally a pretty optimistic person.
Unfortunately, for some reason, it’s been decades since I felt so positive when it comes to football and particularly the Villa. I think it stems from donkey’s years of constantly being disappointed and it’s now a case of expect little and everything you get is a bonus.
Which probably sums up how I feel about this game. I really, strongly expect us to lose tomorrow.
Dean Smith has come out and said our games against Spurs and Wolves were pretty close really and I can see his point, although I felt we were very much second best to Spurs and throwing the Wolves game away was criminal.
He also quite rightly said that we were poor in the first half against Arsenal. That’s a massive understatement and it was probably one of the worst performances we’ve seen under the Great Barr man’s tenure.
Things did improve somewhat in the second half, but it was mostly because Smith changed the setup to something that the players were more comfortable with.
His total denial that the system led to the defeat is frankly laughable.
Smith also made the point that there is nothing wrong with the system; it worked well in previous games.
And he’s totally correct. It did.
But five at the back won’t work in every game and us fans could see it within minutes. Not half an hour or an hour, but minutes.
So why couldn’t Smith or the coaches? They must have done. I’ve always professed to be nothing like an expert in tactics, but even I could see it. So it tells me that Smith, as someone who does football for a living, flatly refused to change it so he could accomodate Tuanzebe. And it was only when he knew we would probably go on to lose by a worse score that he changed it at half time.
And this intransigence is what I can’t stand the most about Dean Smith. It may well be that he is looking at the bigger picture and we’re not seeing that. But we don’t care, do we? All we want as fans is win after win, week in, week out. It’s all that matters. No one remembers who came second, let alone ninth, tenth or eleventh or whatever.
So that’s my rant about Dean Smith. I’m trying to move on.
West Ham then and oh dear, what to say?
They beat us 3-1 at home last season and I expect at least the same tomorrow. They’re going well, having won 5, drawn 2 and lost 2. They’ll be strong and pushing for Europe again, because Moyes has them organised and well setup (playing a system they know, but hey ho).
Which makes me wonder how we’re going to set up against them.
Surely we can’t go five at the back again can we? Certainly not with Tuanzebe anyway. I don’t think he’s too bad a defender, but he has looked awful this season and has to be dropped. Along with many others I’d be strongly thinking about dropping Mings too and going with Hause alongside Konsa.
But I suspect it’ll be five at the back again to try and counter West Ham’s very good set pieces, which is something we’ve proven poor at defending up to now.
Then again, I think Mings is a liablity when it comes to set piece defending and it wouldn’t bother me in the slightest if he is rested.
And of course, four or five at the back decides if we go with one or two up front.
Ings has played against West ham nine times and never scored. What does that mean?
Drop him because of that, or play him because he’s due a goal against them? Depends on your POV, I suppose. I don’t know either way.
Squad news then and we still have issues. Apart from the usual, Martinez is back after going to see his Father, who needed heart surgery in Argentina. Fair play son, some things are more important than football. I’m glad he’s back, as I feel he’s going to be seriously needed in this one.
Jaden Philogene-Bidace and conveniently, Morgan Sanson are both ill. Conveniently? Well, it seems a bit of a co-incidence after the player supposedly threw a strop at the Arsenal game.
I had a bit of a read up about Sanson and he went through a similar year to the last twelve months in 2016, I think it was. He got a serious injury, came back in November and then got another serious injury in January.
What actually led to me reading up on him was that it’s lurking in my head that I read somewhere that the Frenchman was said to have had a poor attitude. I’m normally very good at remembering that sort of thing, but couldn’t find any evidence to back it up, so I have to discard it as me being wrong (I definitely read it about someone though).
Whatever, what I did read was that it was said that the player found the physicality of Ligue 1 a real struggle and it took him a long time to come to terms with it. I find that concerning, as if he found the French league tough, what does that say about him getting to grips with the toughest league in the world?
I seriously suspect we now know why he hasn’t featured and I have to wonder if those who discovered him for the Villa knew about his history?
The only other news is that Smith commented that Leon Bailey was blowing during his run out in the Arsenal game.
I’d expect him to get on the pitch, but not start.
What to think then?
I think it’s more about trying to restore what seems like fragile confidence than anything. If we compete well and keep the result tight, I’ll possibly be happy enough with that.
A win is obviously the desirable outcome but I don’t see it. If we go something like two down by half time, things might get a bit tasty amongst the support, but hopefully it won’t come to that.
A 3-1 loss, I’m afraid.
Call it cynical but I think we need to get rid of Smith now and get a new boss in with some new ideas. Its too toxic and I think he’s losing the dressing room. A new manager comes in and It instantly gets rid of the doom around this team which has now built to a ridiculous level where most fans probably expect the worst before each match. Not good.
We have all been saying for a long time that our midfield is lightweight and today proves it. Trouble is when you are in a relegation battle which we are then it’s difficult to get the players needed. I don’t know why Smith didn’t bring Archer on instead of El Ghazi and play Watkins out wide. I fear for Smith after today.
I think we need a poll Badger to see if Smith should go or stay!
It’s looking more and more likely that JT and ROK had a greater input than the idiots who have come in recently. I can’t see what Macphee brings to the party.
I’m surprised the referee didn’t get MOTM for West Ham.
It’s easy to have a go at Smith – and I sympathise with that view – but frankly every single decision tonight went against us.
We just have to try and ride it out – the worry is that decent teams get relegated when the ‘rub of the green’ turns against them.
The last time i tried to add a poll, I struggled for some reason I can’t remember.
I’ll add one if I can though.
I’m off to do myself some grub while I mull over what I saw today and will post later.
Disgraceful refereeing bias, the worst since Elleray, and possibly as bad as that. The 10 men had a real go, but unfortunately that is the wrong tactic if you are a goal down, you should camp in your area leaving 2 quick guys forward for a breakaway.
If NS+WE are like Napoleon who “preferred his Generals to be lucky” then Deano’s calamity circus has just posted their job vacancy advert.
What was that then? Can’t blame Smith, the fans told him to drop Mings, play 4 at the back and start Bailey, he has proceeded to do every single one of those things and we have lost 4-1, he has done all he can tonight.
Fair comment, Alfie. Sounds like like it was 12 men versus 10 for half the game. What chance do you have?
Yep! But Smith can’t keep blaming the referee for every single game, something has to be done there and some of the comments he was making I did question.
But when fate – or in this case biased refereeing goes against you – no manager in the World can win.
I find it difficult to criticise the players – they put their heart and soul into the game but if the cards are stacked against you ………
Badger, I’m not sure a poll at this juncture would result in a rational outcome – Smith is the obvious target of fans frustration but as Alfie said he did everything the fans asked,
I really don’t see where our next win will come from but now is not the time for an emotional knee jerk reaction,
Bloody hell – listen to me – the ultimate in Herat on the sleeve wearing over the top reaction 🙂
It may well be that to achieve our owners ambitions we will need to appoint a more experienced manager but to throw Smith to the dogs at this stage will achieve what? Shakespeare in charge on an interim basis or perhaps we should appoint JT and ROK?
On reflection, if you do put put up a poll, perhaps it should ask, if Smith goes, who we should appoint with a list of managers that might be available?
*heart on the sleeve
Terry for manager on route to the Chelsea job is not a bad call, Hitch. Maybe that’s why he left. Maybe there was a feeling that Terry was becoming more influential than Smith, so to not stab the man who gave him a chance in the back, Terry did the honorable thing and left before things got ‘awks’. Not a bad theory, eh? I think the team miss JT as much as they do old what’s his name, Jim Brealish or whatever his name was…
Anyway, last season’s relative success was based on a superb defence, which JT would have played the main part in. Now look. We’re scoring one or two per game but can’t pick up any points; last year, one goal was usually enough for a win. The Wolves defeat was catastrophic. If we’d won that, we’d have won at Spurs too, because they’re so poor. It absolutely shattered confidence, probably because no one figured out how or why it happened.
Make no mistake, though, we are up Shit Street and defeat at St Mary’s next week will probably see us in the drop zone. I don’t know where the club go from here, but the players and staff need to stick together. I’d stick to the back 4 and give Young a run of games at left-back; I think his experience will be needed now. I’d also go with Luiz, Nakamba and McGinn for a few games to give them extra protection. Luiz and Nakamba protecting and McGinn supporting the front 3 should give the team more balance. But, hey, what do I know?
Keep right on…shit, wrong slogan… I mean UTV
I dont see Smith surviving that which is a shame but we need more bite and discipline. The team don’t seem to know what the plan is.
Well it’s not going to plan and it is about what happens next.
Smith made the changes many of us wanted and we were hammered. But are there extenuating circumstances.
* Another bout of illness. Showed up how weak our midfield is. Whether it is McGinn & Luiz they are not strong enough even with the 3rd midfielder added. This winter window Villa must buy a dynamic midfielder. Or is Samson the man.
* Defence – a new left back is a must to put real pressure on Targett to produce.
* Manager – I hope Smith is given the opportunity to sort out the problem. Will NSWE hold their nerve?
Football is a cruel and generally impatient game. Only Purslow and NWSE know what the plan is. Keep faith with Smith and hope he eventually has a full squad to pick from or get rid and bring in someone new to try and restore confidence. I agree that Smith chose the team that most fans wanted but West Ham are a strong team in great form with confidence at a high. The referee didn’t help us one bit but even without his help I think they still would have won. Rice called the shots in midfield where they bossed us as most teams have this season. Pundits continually bring up the post JG era as a major issue and they are correct. When we were under pressure he would receive the ball and draw a foul. That’s why Targett and the rest of our defence are conceding goals at an alarming rate. We do not have the players in front of them good enough to offer protection.
Southampton on Friday is now a relegation battle and Smith needs as many players available as possible. Unfortunately and I don’t know whether to blame bad luck or our training or the medical team for ‘soft tissue’ injuries. Why is Covid affecting our club so often? Are our players a big bunch of pussies? I’m sure we all have different opinions but at the moment what I’m pretty certain about is NWSE have spent massively and they will be far from satisfied with the way things are going.
I don’t quite understand how a midfield with Luiz and McGinn is weak. OK, the third one is weaker, be it Ramsey or whoever, but for me, Luiz and McGinn are top players who could play for clubs bigger than ours. They shouldn’t be overrun. These are young, high energy. old fashioned ‘box-to-box’ central midfielders in the Bryan Robson, Paul Scholes mould. So what’s the missing ingredient? And why is it missing? I’m not qualified to answer.
While on the subject, though, can someone tell me why ‘Dougie’ hasn’t scored for over a season, after his two pearlers against Bournmouth and Norwich in our first season back in the PL? Surely, if you have that in your locker, you should be coached to use it on a regular basis?