I wasn’t hopeful, even with a fit SJ against Leicester. Same with this game. Not because they are as stellar as made out because they are absolutely not. But they are actually good at what they do, even if it is successful or not (and I do not think they will succeed in the long run tbh). And if there is one thing that Smith’s villa are not good at coping with, and never has been, is a team that presses us and puts us under pressure. Leeds will do this come rain or shine and based on what I am seeing at the moment and have seen we need to drastically up our game intensity and become less passive to cope with them.
Yesterday’s game had a very last season familiarity about it before, during and indeed as soon as the game kicked off. I knew exactly what was coming from Leicester. Intensity , pressing, first to everything and we were so on the back foot and passive in the first half that we lost the game and the initiative straight away. It was all very predictable like it was so many times last season.
Leeds are not special but 3 times Smith has faced Bielsa‘s Leeds and all we have got to show is the disputed point away in 2019. Smith needs to get us set up differently because how we are at the moment will not yield a result. We are too passive and are ok when teams sit back against us but when they come at us like Leicester did we look really poor and devoid of ideas and like yesterday dick around at the back before a long ball at a small and isolated Watkins.
Really concerned about this one I’m afraid. Like before Leicester, for me there is an air of inevitability about what to expect and what will happen.