Absolutely, there's always a comment that "i hope that was our bad half" when losing at half time... only able to show up for 1 half isn't good enough. there shouldn't be any problems motivating players for games- "this team is above us, beat them and we catch up on them, show them you're footballers/ this team is below us, they're muck, show them that you're better players" if they beat us earlier in the season, there's the motivation not to let it happen again. Previous bad performances are also enough to motivate a player not to happen again.
What does Smith say at half time that can't be said prematch? He was saying after Brighton he didn't do a debrief cos they were so bad......so they got away with it and no repercussions.
Villa are so obviously a confidence side, if the opposition score first, our heads drop and we usually concede another fairly soon. If we're not allowed pass and play, we panic. So so easy to play against, press the players, don't give them time on the ball and man mark grealish. This should be expected at this stage. If there is no plan B, then expect every game to look like this.