Match thread Villa v Sheffield United Villa Park 8.2.2019

[Saunders82]

Well this is a good game to make a statement of intent, we know they will be up for it but we have to match them and use some of the extra class we obviously have, I'm going to be positive and say 2 nil to us.

[VillaBill]

As a season ticket holder working in Sheffield with Blades fans giving it “the big un” this is one game I need Villa not to let us down, Monday will be torture.
On current form, they should win, they start every game very strongly, if we don’t score first I fear the worst
I’m going 4-3 Villa

[FoxyAV]

I'm going to get pissed in a brewery Friday afternoon and evening. If we win I'll need all your help convincing the wife I need to do it every match, for luck.

[Army villain]

Would love to see villa come out and attack, and not sit back, hope DS will change around the wingers, mix it up a bit. Hoping for a win.

[Dazzle]

It seems that Green has been training all week and so could play some part in the game, I would think it more likely from the bench. What can we change, what can we do to find a way to get the 3pts we so desperately need? Might Grealish be closer to a return than we’re being led to believe? I think it’s possible. Even a place on the bench would give us all a lift. I’d like to think we’re capable of throwing out a 3-5-2 if required, Hutton on the left and Elmohamady on the right. Perhaps that could be plan B if our usual is falling short? I suppose the likelihood is that we’ll see the same starting 11 as we did at Reading, that would be the safe and obvious scenario. I just don’t want to see us found physically wanting in the middle of the pitch again, that’s where Fer could have been invaluable for us. Never mind. Perhaps Carrol will start the game to see if we can control possession and tempo, take the heat out of Wilders team? It just feels to me that we need to do something different to what we’ve done the last couple of months, or certain players need to find some form. We can ill afford to keep waiting for a performance from one or two of them.

[Saunders82]

Lets hope for the result we want, after all these are the games where the big names in our squad should shine. UTV

[Army villain]

That's the problem some big name players are not trying, some of them will be leaving at the end of the season, they have lost interest and are not playing for the shirt. I hope for a win and the new signings might help. UTV.

[FoxyAV]

It seems that Green has been training all week and so could play some part in the game, I would think it more likely from the bench. What can we change, what can we do to find a way to get the 3pts we so desperately need? Might Grealish be closer to a return than we’re being led to believe? I think it’s possible. Even a place on the bench would give us all a lift. I’d like to think we’re capable of throwing out a 3-5-2 if required, Hutton on the left and Elmohamady on the right. Perhaps that could be plan B if our usual is falling short? I suppose the likelihood is that we’ll see the same starting 11 as we did at Reading, that would be the safe and obvious scenario. I just don’t want to see us found physically wanting in the middle of the pitch again, that’s where Fer could have been invaluable for us. Never mind. Perhaps Carrol will start the game to see if we can control possession and tempo, take the heat out of Wilders team? It just feels to me that we need to do something different to what we’ve done the last couple of months, or certain players need to find some form. We can ill afford to keep waiting for a performance from one or two of them.

I hadn't been to a match for a while before Reading and it was quite shocking how few players were actually trying. Whelan got stuck in at the start and was then cantering around watching. No one apart from McGinn made themselves available for corners, if everyone was actively trying to give the thrower an option it would contribute to solving one of the main issues - a lack of effort and zero enthusiasm to go balls out to try to win.

One of the things I like about Green (and Tammy, Tuanzebe, McGinn, Jack and only one or two others) is their energy and enthusiasm for trying to win no matter what. Hutton has it too but is being defeated by age. I'm sure some of the other ones try but there's too much farting around, like the wingers in particular did in the last match. I don't know what's gotten into Albert's head or if he really doesn't fit into the system Smith is trying to play but he looks almost totally disinterested.

Players nearing the end of their contracts should be working their arses off to either earn a new one with us or somewhere else, like Hutton did in the second half of last season.

I wonder if the owners and Smith decided this year should be about rebuilding first team and academy, running down the contracts of older players on higher wages, cherrypicking a few players for the future (both in the first team and academy) and planning the big rebuild in the summer. They've subsequently realised there's a good chance we can make the playoffs and are putting in some effort towards that. We're all resigned to losing Jack at the end of the season but we shouldn't have to be so reliant on him (or, for that matter, Tammy, who's also most likely going to be off) and I suspect the main push will be towards building a team rather than relying on two or three key players.

Bringing in the likes of MIngs the Merciless ('look - water is leaking from his eyes', 'it's called blood' etc etc etc) and Carroll (especially Carroll) is for me more a test to see if we want them as part of the team, sending away the best academy players is much the same (plus letting someone else pay their wages and give them a chance to find somewhere new if they're not signing a new contract for us). The only oddity I see there is if we're seeing this season as the one where we rebuild, why send Blackett-Taylor and O'Hare away when we could do with another young winger willing to run his balls off for the team and a number 10 to stick on the bench and play for the last 10 or 15 minutes. Ok, Albert hasn't played a huge amount this season but from what I can see, 22 appearances with no goals and three assists. There's something very wrong there (even if a bunch of those appearances have been from the bench).

I'd genuinely rather see Green and Blackett-Taylor running the wings. They can attack and defend, they bring something different and frankly even if they only score and assist the same number of goals as El Ghazi and Adomah we'll be bedding them in for next season (or not!) and we know they'll give their all.

I agree that Green will most likely come on as a sub but we'll have to stick with Albert and El Ghazi, or try out Green on the left and Kodjia on the right. I don't think Green will be risked though.

Apart from that, start Carroll in Whelan's place. Whelan's just not cutting it. He's all show and very little go, which is the opposite of what Smith wants from his players.

[Dions_Bald_Head]

Does this lack of enthusiasm stem from the reported dressing room bust-up a while ago? Either way, it now has to be Smith's way or the highway - which is obviously only feasible if he has options for replacements. It's a shame to hear the likes of Thor slipping away because I thought he had something to offer.

[Dazzle]

Tonight will go a long way to showing us where the season goes from this point. My opinion is that lose and our season is as good as done, mentally. If players can’t raise their game for a fixture like tonights then they won’t at all. If it’s a case of we get to half time and the same players are producing the same under par performance then I’d hope to see changes at that point. Try something different, something that is going to be with us beyond the summer. I’d like to see some more minutes for Kienan Davis, and Andre Green also if he is fully fit. So please, if it’s not going well at half time let’s make the changes quickly. I hope, of course, that it’s going well and my aforementioned scenario is but a bad dream. But I am concerned that you don’t just pull a performance out of nowhere when there’s been no signs of a special performance.

[VTID85]

That's the problem some big name players are not trying, some of them will be leaving at the end of the season, they have lost interest and are not playing for the shirt. I hope for a win and the new signings might help. UTV.

Give us a couple of "for instance...."'s. Colour me only curious.

[Dazzle]

That's the problem some big name players are not trying, some of them will be leaving at the end of the season, they have lost interest and are not playing for the shirt. I hope for a win and the new signings might help. UTV.

Give us a couple of "for instance...."'s. Colour me only curious.

I think that what armyvillan perhaps means is that there is probably a likelihood that one or two players coming to the end of their careers at Villa are perhaps not at the 100% commitment level that the likes of, say, a John McGinn might be. I’d be inclined to agree with him if that were the case.

[VillaBill]

Doubting a players commitment while playing a competitive game is a bit harsh, they may lack fitness or skill levels, but I think the guys give 100%, it’s just some of the players aren’t that good

[deadbuzz]

Even Smith himself has indicated in not so many ways that the players aren't trying hard enough, in fact he's done this twice, first when he said that he told them that they should look towards how hard McGinn works, and then he also said that he showed them a video of Man City v Liverpool, again he said the point of this was to show how hard these sides work, to get to where they are.

A lot of our players are out of contract in the summer, so there's not as much motivation for them to do well, and others know that if we do get promoted then they'll probably be out of the team anyway. Smith has tried telling them, that they should be trying to earn a new contract, but I think we know, that they'll be gone in the summer whatever happens, only one I can see getting a new deal, if he performs adequately between now and the end of the season is Elphick.

As for tonight, we need to win, but then we say this before every match, and more often than not, we don't win, and we probably won't tonight either... Shows how far we've fallen, I remember when we first got relegated, and some were saying that at least we'll win most of our games, here we are three seasons as a Championship club later, and we play Sheffield United at Villa Park, and most of our fans lack any confidence that we can beat them.

[Dazzle]

Even Smith himself has indicated in not so many ways that the players aren't trying hard enough, in fact he's done this twice, first when he said that he told them that they should look towards how hard McGinn works, and then he also said that he showed them a video of Man City v Liverpool, again he said the point of this was to show how hard these sides work, to get to where they are.

A lot of our players are out of contract in the summer, so there's not as much motivation for them to do well, and others know that if we do get promoted then they'll probably be out of the team anyway. Smith has tried telling them, that they should be trying to earn a new contract, but I think we know, that they'll be gone in the summer whatever happens, only one I can see getting a new deal, if he performs adequately between now and the end of the season is Elphick.

As for tonight, we need to win, but then we say this before every match, and more often than not, we don't win, and we probably won't tonight either... Shows how far we've fallen, I remember when we first got relegated, and some were saying that at least we'll win most of our games, here we are three seasons as a Championship club later, and we play Sheffield United at Villa Park, and most of our fans lack any confidence that we can beat them.

I couldn’t disagree with any of the above.

[Dazzle]

12mins in and being completely dominated, 1-0 down, Jedinak on a yellow and miles off the pace. Midfield non existent

[big ming]

25 minutes. We are getting an absolute schooling. We look completely disjointed. Very disappointing. Expected more from Dean Smith by now. Hope it can be turned around.

[big ming]

69 minutes. 3 - 0. Good football team against disorganised rabble. We are not going up but, hopefully, not going down either.
The rest of this season is the perfect chance to bin the lazy timeservers and play a couple of the kids.At least we would see some energy and effort. We might even develop a system that works.

[VTID85]

Well fuck me, maybe only a point but hot damn the last 10mins was a great watch!

[FoxyAV]

80 minutes of pure drivel followed by 15 minutes of players trying their hardest to play. Great, we scored three (and great to see Green score), but I think we had three shots on target all match and all were goals. McGinn was superb and that's about it. Sure, we should have had two penalties and one of their goals shouldn't have been allowed but we wasted 80 minutes with two DMs not really doing any of the D or M.

At least we know Green's going to start the next match and Kodjia can go back to being Tammy's deputy.

[Dazzle]

Well fuck me, maybe only a point but hot damn the last 10mins was a great watch!

Delighted to say I placed a bet on the draw at 3-0 down with the last £4 in my coral account. The missus is now £244 better off! That aside, that crazy finish could just be the injection we need to kick on. Pivotal points in the season and all that. And to be fair we fucking deserved that after the clusterfuck of that 2nd goal that should have been disallowed about 3 times. Come on you Villa boys

[VTID85]

I never want to see Jedinak play for us again as I don't want to loathe him but can't help but feel each performance will be worse than the last for him. Never did I expect Whelan to show him or anyone up!

[deadbuzz]

I suppose many will see coming back from 3-0 down as a big positive, and normally those kind of comebacks feel almost as good as a win, but just when we keep a clean sheet in the last match, and it looks like our defence might be improving, we then go and concede three goals at home, avoid that, and we don't need to make a comeback to begin with, we desperately needed the three points, one point is no good to us.

Some will say we can use this as a springboard to kick-start our season, but I bet we don't.

That's one win in eight at Villa Park for us now as well, that really is a dire stat.

[VillaBill]

Absolutely atrocious tonight, we robbed them blind, the worst I’ve seen us all season & somehow we don’t lose, I thought I’d seen everything but this is Aston Villa .
Jedinak tonight, WTF ?

[FoxyAV]

I was watching it on telly and it looked like a tactical error. Were both Jedi and Hourihane playing in front of the defence with McGinn supporting Tammy? Only when Green came on to put some energy down that wing and Whelan came on with his 20 minutes of energy did we see some action, and by then we'd wasted most of the match.

Whelan's still (for me) a late substitute. Jedi's been out for ages and is going to take time to get match fit but even so, he's surely exactly the kind of player Smith isn't interested in playing? I suppose though the only other option is Bjarnason, who I would be quite happy seeing play in front of the defence anyway. No, not his natural position but he did ok there for Bruce.

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