Aston Villa v Leicester City Match Thread - Sun 21 Feb @ 2.05pm - Sky | Page 40 | Vital Football

Aston Villa v Leicester City Match Thread - Sun 21 Feb @ 2.05pm - Sky

Divine_islet said:
We have all the excuses in the world ready to defend our performances instead of focusing on doing what is needed to truly progress and rectify poor performances. Dean said he was disappointed by our display against Brighton, so one would imagine we would come out looking like we really wanted to win the next game, and what do we actually do? End up looking worse ! :clap:

I guess none of that matters as we are in 8th and better than last season so far and so as long we finish at least a place higher than last time, we should not complain.
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Out of interest , what would constitute a good season for you then ?
 
I mean, having a mass outbreak of a serious respiratory disease and then 2 games a week for 3 weeks may have a little effect. I don't know I'm not a doctor.
 
robbali said:
He's still saying today that he's confident Barkley will find his 'form' .
Deluded....
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Reading crap like that boils my blood. I am sure he does not believe that garbage himself, but has to say it hoping that Ross does not get further dejected.
 
sirdennis said:
Out of interest , what would constitute a good season for you then ?
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Doing better than last season AND seeing us not struggle without Jack. I am not saying that we should improve to an extent within a season to the point where we are just as good without Jack as with Jack but at least some improvement. The game vs Leicester showed we are a million miles away from that. I was not expecting a win but to look clueless with just one absent player is shocking whereas Brighton with so many changes in our game against us outperformed us. No wonder Merson said we look like a team in relegation without Jack.
 
Divine_islet said:
Doing better than last season AND seeing us not struggle without Jack. I am not saying that we should improve to an extent within a season to the point where we are just as good without Jack as with Jack but at least some improvement. The game vs Leicester showed we are a million miles away from that. I was not expecting a win but to look clueless with just one absent player is shocking whereas Brighton with so many changes in our game against us outperformed us. No wonder Merson said we look like a team in relegation without Jack.
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We were worse at Brighton with Super Jack than Sunday without him.

That aside , we are achieving your goals then , so surely you can be happy with the a season so far. You can't just base it one one game v second in the table Leicester .
 
Divine_islet said:
As long as Jack is with us he will make Dean look like he is doing a good job. Until we show on the pitch we can be a good team playing attractive football regardless of who plays in the starting 11, I am not giving him any credit. I want to see him drop Barkley in the next game, which I don't think he will.

For a manager to take us forward, one of the things he should possess is the balls to drop players like Barkley instead of saying deluded crap like " Dean Smith says he's been pleased with Ross Barkley since his return from injury and batted away claims suggesting his form has taken a dip.His numbers have been really good in terms of his output on the pitch."
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Apologies to the mods.....I know this is going off the match thread somewhat!

You give him no credit at all? Wow that seems a bit extreme. Of course we need to perform when Jack isn’t playing and Dean needs to find a way to ensure that happens. You then you go onto mention his attitude to Barclay....frustrating maybe but another reason that we can write off every aspect of Smith’s capability? I don’t think that’s fair. Being a head coach/manager encompasses a whole range of skills surely? Other than the fact that we’re now in an infinitely better place compared to when he arrived what about also considering that Jack’s form has been off the scale since Dean joined the club? Hasn’t he got more out of the lad than anyone of us could have believed 30 months ago? Jack himself has praised his man management in getting the best out of players. Whilst I can see where you’re coming from with some of your concerns, to say you can’t give any credit to the bloke after 30 months of steady improvement but prefer instead to put all that down to Jack Grealish, for me that doesn’t give much, if any, balance to your argument.
 
Langoe66 said:
Apologies to the mods.....I know this is going off the match thread somewhat!

You give him no credit at all? Wow that seems a bit extreme. Of course we need to perform when Jack isn’t playing and Dean needs to find a way to ensure that happens. You then you go onto mention his attitude to Barclay....frustrating maybe but another reason that we can write off every aspect of Smith’s capability? I don’t think that’s fair. Being a head coach/manager encompasses a whole range of skills surely? Other than the fact that we’re now in an infinitely better place compared to when he arrived what about also considering that Jack’s form has been off the scale since Dean joined the club? Hasn’t he got more out of the lad than anyone of us could have believed 30 months ago? Jack himself has praised his man management in getting the best out of players. Whilst I can see where you’re coming from with some of your concerns, to say you can’t give any credit to the bloke after 30 months of steady improvement but prefer instead to put all that down to Jack Grealish, for me that doesn’t give much, if any, balance to your argument.
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Dean & Co have to take credit for the turnaround, especially defensively, but he does not have a Plan B If Grealish is double teamed or out injured. Barclay,Trez & Elghazi are not going to be the answer in the modern game, as the struggle with the defensive part of the game
 
8th is great at this stage but it slightly papers over the cracks and on current form we will slip down what is quite a tight table if we don't pull our socks up.
After Leeds we do have some winnable games we need to be capitalising on if we are to stay top 10 - Sheffield, wolves, wba
 
robbo110 said:
Dean & Co have to take credit for the turnaround, especially defensively, but he does not have a Plan B If Grealish is double teamed or out injured. Barclay,Trez & Elghazi are not going to be the answer in the modern game, as the struggle with the defensive part of the game
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Agree and you’d hope that this summer he’d address those areas if we’re to progress again next year, finding the right players and a formula that can work whether Jack is playing, when other teams double up or if he’s out injured.
 
sirdennis said:
We were worse at Brighton with Super Jack than Sunday without him.

That aside , we are achieving your goals then , so surely you can be happy with the a season so far. You can't just base it one one game v second in the table Leicester .
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Nah mate, I smash the place to bits when we lose and I celebrate like crazy when we win. My house is just rubble covered in Champagne.
 
Langoe66 said:
Great to see you’re warming to Deano, Divine.....though I think suggesting because he’s a Villa fan that will influence how long he stays with us is going a bit far to be honest. :grinning: The weaknesses Gilette points out are perfectly valid but he has plenty of strengths as well hence where we currently are compared to where we were when he arrived. I’m a big fan of Dean as many others are but not once have I seen anyone mention he has a right to stay here because he’s a Villa fan and should therefore stay as long as he wants. You don’t think he’s good enough, others prefer to give him a bit more credit, that’s football but ultimately he’ll be judged on results and overall progress and certainly not on his allegiance to Villa.
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I am not anti-Dean....but I wish he would address the list of issues I gave. Then I would be happy as Larry.
 
Some interesting points.
Positives:
None of us thought we would be where we are at this point in the season. The defence has mostly stopped shooting themselves in the foot and giving away sloppy goals. Konsa, Targett, Cash, Luiz have all improved. The goalkeeper would not look out of place in any of the top four teams. Jack has been sensational, Olly and Traore have equipped themselves well so far. We are one win away from staying up. The management must take some of the credit for this. We have something to build on.

Negatives:
I think Barclay has only had two decent games for us and is now getting in the way of Ramsey. Where would we be if we had not signed him on loan. (pretty much where we are I would suggest). Fleeting glimpses of Sanson looks promising, but may be one for next season. El Ghazi and Trez are middle to average for me. One big thing is the reluctance to put a few kids on the bench and give them 10 -15 minutes exposure. What happens if Olly gets injured? I would really like to know what Deano thinks of Davis if he wont even bring him on for a last throw of the dice. Wesley hadn't convinced anyone during his first stint. Lets see how he fares after his comeback. Biggest one, I fear that Jack is gone before the start of next season. But to end on a positive, We'll have enough cash to by three Ross Barclays.
 
Wicked Messenger said:
Complacency though can also masquerade as perspective. After we built a great early platform to go forward on we have either stood still or gone backwards depending on your perspective. Thankfully Dean does not seem to be looking for excuses and will not want to stall and possibly fall at this stage.
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Yup, and we are in a dip of form and that can't be denied. If this continues until the end of the season questions should be asked and things can be weighed up.

But, that's not for now, particularly with the batshit fixture list we've just had and the assumptions about Covid.
 
One thing that constitutes a good season for me is that we are playing better rather than worse football by the end of it. We’ve seen many teams start a season like world beaters only to fall from a great height. We don’t want to be one of those. I believe we are making great progress as a club and Martinez, Watkins, Cash and Traore have all improved the team. The defensive midfield has collapsed and Barkley has recently been a big disappointment but I think it’s fair to say that Luiz has fallen below the level he set himself at the end of last season and earlier in this one. McGinn’s in and out performances have not helped either.
Sanson seems a logical call to give the young kid Luiz a break from his responsibilities then Ramsey should be given another full outing.. But we need another big spend in the summer before we can join the elite.
 
sirdennis said:
We were worse at Brighton with Super Jack than Sunday without him.

That aside , we are achieving your goals then , so surely you can be happy with the a season so far. You can't just base it one one game v second in the table Leicester .
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I am not saying that I am not happy with the season so far, but I would have been happier if I got to see real progress and by that I am mean to play effectively without Jack, to no longer be called a one man team.
 
robbo110 said:
Dean & Co have to take credit for the turnaround, especially defensively, but he does not have a Plan B If Grealish is double teamed or out injured. Barclay,Trez & Elghazi are not going to be the answer in the modern game, as the struggle with the defensive part of the game
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To me it's a bit different. We still don't have a midfield which performs consistently. Sometimes it does well and we're a hard team to face. Other times it's disjointed and off the pace. When it's like that we rely on Jack, and when he's then out our level drops.

I still think we have the players who can put on a top-half performance even without Jack. Ultimately it's the manager's job to see that we do. Whether that means dropping Barkley or not is up to him, but if playing him results in weak midfield it lands on his doorstep.
 
Divine_islet said:
I am not saying that I am not happy with the season so far, but I would have been happier if I got to see real progress and by that I am mean to play effectively without Jack, to no longer be called a one man team.
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But we have played one game without him. One game.

I think it is very simple . We are in a slump of form which every team that has ever played goes through from time to time. Also we are a mid table side who by definition are prone to inconsistency.

I think we have seen real progress when you compare this season to last season .I have seen improvement in several players and hopefully that improvement will continue. With another transfer window to come I think there is a lot to look forward to.
 
sirdennis said:
But we have played one game without him. One game.

I think it is very simple . We are in a slump of form which every team that has ever played goes through from time to time. Also we are a mid table side who by definition are prone to inconsistency.

I think we have seen real progress when you compare this season to last season .I have seen improvement in several players and hopefully that improvement will continue. With another transfer window to come I think there is a lot to look forward to.
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100%, and we still have a thin squad, despite many of them stepping up more than we thought was possible on last season's showing. However, a fully fit first eleven kind of picks itself, so when the team suffers a dip in form and/or gets hit by a debilitating respiratory virus then we don't really have much to draw on to give the team a kick up the arse.

We're another couple of transfer windows away, at least, from really challenging.
 
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