Match thread: Villa vs Swansea, 20 October 2018

[FoxyAV]

Nyeland
Hutton Tuanzebe Chester Taylor
McGinn Bjarnasson
Elmo Grealish Adomah
Abraham

Not bad at all. Interesting to see Elmo on the right instead of El Ghazi.

[VTID85]

Well it sure is quiet here! What I was able to see, looked nervy and grinding BUT 3 points on the board and the new chapter is just beginning. More time coaching the hooves off them will pay dividends and if we have to battle for every 3 points in the meantime then so be it.

Dean Smith's Claret and Blue Army.

[andrew24561]

Different manager same old squeaky bum 1-0er
Smith out !!!!!!! lol
Give it time and I'm sure he will get it sorted

[Army villain]

Not a bad result considering he has only a few days with the full team, Smith will get to see what the players can do also, defending was better but agree it was squeaky bum time, but onwards and upwards UTV.

[Saunders82]

Yep a little bit of squeaky bum at times but considering the amount of time they have had together it was pretty good IMO, at least we pressed the ball, looked to pass the ball forward most of the time and lots of running, just got excited at times in front of goal. We still have the problem of ball watching, but I'm very happy with what I saw today on the whole, and the 3 points were really needed. UTV

[FoxyAV]

I was trying to listen to it on the Villa site while being mugged by small children. I assumed you were all at the match! It sounded like Dean has a lot of work to do but has a bunch of players up for it. I have to say it was great to hear Grealish and Albert getting stuck in, and Elmo making a contribution again. He's really grown on me. A great result even if it was very touch-and-go that we'd come out of it with three points!

[Dions_Bald_Head]

I read that we usually lose our first game with a new manager so he's bucked the trend already.

So glad we're starting with a win, not just for the 3 points but for confidence & momentum.

[VillaBill]

Definitely better today, I noticed straight away the hoof ball was no more, we held a very high line defensively and pressed from the front, we even had Abraham running about.
Tired in the second half and dropped a little deeper, but that’s understandable considering recent results, which gave Swansea the initiative, before then though we should of been out of sight, Abraham should of had three , Jack missed a sitter & Albert had a decent chance.
Mention for McGinn, Motm by miles, his best performance to date

[smetro]

Not going to go on a total wankfest and say 'oh what a difference' 'you could see this and that" - Main thing for me today was the defence - sure there were squeaky bum moments - but they looked calm - seemed to communicate well and right when you needed Nyland to step up he did (although still not a convincing performance)

Not quite sure how Albert made the starting 11 - although he helped out defensively when Kjodia didn't.

Mcginn was MOTM for me - thought he was excellent.

Grealish is a concern though - restored to his central position - but seemed to lack any zip to his game - and finishing/decision seem to have gone back to square 1. I hope I am wrong but think this could be the beginning of the end for him at Villa.

Good enough start for DS - Norwich will be a tough test though.

[DelboyVilla]

Is McGinn banned for the next game after getting another yellow? Shame if he is?
Decent start by Smith and it makes a change to keep a clean sheet and hold on to a lead?
One game at a time!

[villawayne]

[quote="DelboyVilla"]Is McGinn banned for the next game after getting another yellow? Shame if he is?
Decent start by Smith and it makes a change to keep a clean sheet and hold on to a lead?
One game at a time![/J mac out for next match due to 5 yellow cards, he will be misseduote]

[achilles]

I thought the first half was brilliant, the tempo was good, the high line of the defence helped us to be more compact and press Swansea which confused them as they couldn't play their normal game. Unfortunately the second half resorted a bit to the old ways as we tired and eventually defended on our 18 yard box which doesn't help at all. The substitutions of Elmo and Adomah for Kodjia and Bolasie didn't really help, although well intentioned as they offer us a greater attacking threat but offer us nothing defensively and Dean won't start them if they can't do the defensive side of things.

A good start and things will only get better when the players have more time to adopt his methods. A really good sign was when Dean was deciding what subs to make, JT and O'Kelly were alongside him discussing things with him.

McGinn was absolutely superb, he will be the first name down on the team sheet for Dean as he is exactly what Dean wants from a player (although he could improve his shooting), unfortunately suspended for Tuesday but it will give him a welcome rest as he expends so much energy on that pitch.
Abraham probably should have had a hat trick but he was another who worked their socks off up front on his own and I think he was probably too worked up and not relaxed enough, as he showed at the final whistle when he slumped to the game with his fists clenched banging the turf, total emotion at winning the game, it meant a lot to him! Fair play to him as well, that after acknowledging the Villa fans he went over to the remaining Swansea fans who applauded him as well.

A positive step forward and it can only get better as well with more time on the training pitch and fitness levels.

[De Kuip]

My feelings are pretty much similar to some posts above - obviously we're not fixed by a long way, but we are less broken, that's for sure.
I also think we should recognise that Swansea are improving all the time and Potton has them playing the sort of pass and move game we will no doubt see in due course from Villa.
I too was surprised to see Elmo start and whilst he
wasn't bad, I didn't think he was anything special either.
We were wasteful in front of goal at times, that might just have been anxiety to deliver given the new regime at the club and I don't want to be too hard on Grealish but if that is the quality of his shooting, maybe it is better that he doesn't shoot that often.
Thought Nyland was worth a mention - much better and he made a great save midway through the second half.
I thought Bjarnasson played well, did all the ugly stuff and I think he is the kind of player who benefits from playing every week as he is high intensity as well.
McGinn was class and as others have said; will be sorely missed on Tuesday.
All in all a better feel to the team, and as I said to my brother after the game, under Bruce we'd have drawn that.
My only other gripes - 42,000 in the ground and it was like a fecking morgue - we must have the shittest home fans in the league atmosphere-wise. No wonder the Swansea fans were singing "We'll sing on our own". That's why I normally go in the Holte Upper - there's more atmosphere on Mars than in the Trinity.
Final gripe: 25 fecking minutes to get served 2 bottles of beer at ht - and people wonder why there are so many empty seats 15 mins either side of the break. Mind you, we made up for it in the Aston Social afterwards!
All in all a better display, but much still to do balance, style and fitness-wise.

[FoxyAV]

It's why I have such high hopes for Hogan. When Bruce played him you could see him working his arse off trying to create something from nothing - running into space (while the ball was passed sideways instead), chasing down the goalie (who'd inevitably hoof it wildly to one of our players), harassing players and running rings round them. When Deano has them all training his way and assuming he'll stay fit he'll be well up for it. I don't want to take anything away from Tammy, I really like him, but we've already seen it in Hogan and he was incredibly successful under Smith.

Apparently all the coaching last week involved not losing possession and not conceding goals. I have very high hopes for this defence, and this team.

I'm still really intrigued by El Ghazi and it's a huge shame Green was sent away, I bet he's precisely the kind of player we're going to end up playing.

Roll on tomorrow...

[achilles]

In response to the last couple of posts:

Firstly, I too was surprised by the lack of atmosphere as the ground was full, I really couldn't understand it, that was a real disappointment. It wasn't even the fact that we were playing badly, very strange! I was expecting a real buzz around the ground and it just wasn't there!

Hogan will get his chance but I don't think he will until Dean feels that we can play to his strengths and to be fair to Tammy on Saturday he did everything that was expected of him, so it would be unfair to drop/rest him at this time.
Also I am not certain how Kodjia fits into this team as his defensive abilities are non existence, which definitely won't get him a starting place.

[FoxyAV]

In response to the last couple of posts:

Firstly, I too was surprised by the lack of atmosphere as the ground was full, I really couldn't understand it, that was a real disappointment. It wasn't even the fact that we were playing badly, very strange! I was expecting a real buzz around the ground and it just wasn't there!

Hogan will get his chance but I don't think he will until Dean feels that we can play to his strengths and to be fair to Tammy on Saturday he did everything that was expected of him, so it would be unfair to drop/rest him at this time.
Also I am not certain how Kodjia fits into this team as his defensive abilities are non existence, which definitely won't get him a starting place.

Where was Tammy for their corners?

I would imagine Hogan's going to make an appearance as a sub and we'll go from there. Both he and Tammy are central though, whereas Kodjia can play wide, albeit as well as Grealish can, and it always stank with Bruce of trying to cram in as many potential goal scorers at the expense of players playing in their correct positions who are arguably what you need more than someone likely to score. But we've moved on, now it's all about working out which of Bolasie, El Ghazi and to a certain extent Green (if we can recall him) and Elmo will be partnering Albert out wide.

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