Match Thread: Blackburn V Villa, Sat,15th, 5.30PM (Sky) | Page 26 | Vital Football

Match Thread: Blackburn V Villa, Sat,15th, 5.30PM (Sky)

As for most of the games I go to , another good day spoilt by the football.

Welcomed at Blackburn by one and all, drank in a working mans club just opposite the ground, everyone friendly, drinks cheap.

Got to the ground, the game started and for the first 10 mins you actually thought "this is more like it". We started on the front foot, Grealish and McGinn were getting on the ball, Abraham was a nuisance, Albert was working his socks off, lovely jubbly I thought, only a matter of time.

But then, during a short break in play for Abraham, Mowbray called a few over, changed the way they played and bang - their No. 10 and No.23 were so dominant over McGinn and Grealish is was embarrassing. That meant , Adomah and Elmo were forced to become extra full backs and we had no outlet - from the 11th minute on all we did was defend, we got the ball back, we gave it to Nyland, he hoofed it, Abraham lost it, it started again.

Now, I don't know........ is it Bruce, is it the coaches, or is it Grealish and McGinn's fault - I honestly think it is a mixture of all of them.

We did that until Kodjia belatedly came on, and he then showed the middle two how to do it - picked the ball up, drove forward, played balls in dangerous areas, and we improved.

Yet again, we scored from the tactic I keep saying - back back, sideways sideways , hoof, fall over, set piece, goal - that is ALL we have got.

Player wise

Nyland - great save from Tuanzebe, but frightens me to death - no command of his box what-so-ever

Hutton / Taylor - first half were tore to shreds, thus as above, forced our outlet back to cover. Improved second half

Chester / Tuanzebe - sorry, were all over the shop - should have been 3 down first half all down to them (Tuanzebe header, both of them slicing the ball over , by going for same ball, the disallowed header)

Jedinak - actually did what Jedi does well - can't really knock him as he did what he was supposed to do - now whether he should have been doing that job, or if that job was needed against Blackburn, thats another question

Grealish / McGinn - sick of it. Every year our central midfield is totally outfought and outclassed by some midget I have never heard of. Both were totally anonymous and thats where the issue has lay all season.

Adomah / Elmo - workrate and defensive duties, you cannot knock. Yet again, Adomah goes off, and we concede - it ain't a coincidence. Offered little going forward but that's because the two above were being destroyed,

Abraham - showed promise but missed an absolute sitter that Stephen Hawkin would have been embarrassed to miss - when you play at the Villa, you invariably get one chance - and you need to take it !

Kodjia - MOTM for us and how long did he play ? - why the feck was he dropped.

Hourihane - keep saying, he may not be as "gifted" as Grealish but he offers 100 times more. Assists more, scores more, passes are more "dangerous" - I equate this to a similar scenario to Arsenal - Jack Wilshire has all the natural talent in the world, but Aaron Ramsey actually produces more - and thats why Wilshire was surplus to requirements.

Bruce - Utter and I mean UTTER pathetic !!!!!

I didn't boo, I didn't chant Bruce Out or Sacked in the Morning - I was one of the few who didn't - but I bloody agree with them. I didn't as he is a decent bloke, who has gone through hell - but it is time for a change. Two weeks on the training field to give what I have described above. I am totally prepared to right off this season to get rid of the manager and coaches in order to get some in who have any idea of how a team should play. I honestly dont care if it is an Allerdyce "organise and hoof" a Dean Smith "play lovely passing football" or a Guardiola "press them high and quick" style - as long as we DO have a style !!!!

At the moment we don't

Utterly disgusted yesterday, and a piece of brillance from a player who has been treated badly by the manager should not change the outcome
 
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Wurzel said:
Let's hope that the people who run Villa do not make changes on the basis of forum posts, let's hope they completely ignore the nonsense that is posted on the internet and run the club in a professional way.
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OK - Brucie is managing the team in a "Professional way" You are correct and more or less everyone else is wrong!?:lol: and everyone should keep quiet because you think it's "nonsense"

It may be nonsense to you Wurzel because clearly, you have always wanted Steve Bruce to remain and as it's a free world I'm glad you can say so but this forum is a platform for other people to express how we feel about Steve Bruce while he remains with us and comment on the way he manages etc and long may that continue thank you.
 
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Birmingham City are the shit, we were shit yesterday and have been all season. If we choose to rectify the problem then fair do, but if we don't the poor results will persist and any chance of the top two will disappear. We play poor football even when we win.
 
holtelower said:
Nyland - great save from Tuanzebe, but frightens me to death - no command of his box what-so-ever

Hutton / Taylor - first half were tore to shreds, thus as above, forced our outlet back to cover. Improved second half

Chester / Tuanzebe - sorry, were all over the shop - should have been 3 down first half all down to them (Tuanzebe header, both of them slicing the ball over , by going for same ball, the disallowed header)
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To be fair to Nyland, can you blame him? He will be absolutely fine, I have no doubt. But when he is playing behind such a poor defence, how can anyone blame him for looking a bit shaky? Even Sam Johnstone, or any established keeper, would have their work cut out with our current defence and they form they are in.
 
Anyone else starting to think we may have been better off selling Grealish. I know hindsight is a wonderful thing etc but he isn't the same player. Hope he gets his focus and form back.
McGinn appears to be quickly going backwards.
El Ghazi dropped already?
If we fail to beat Rotherham I can see it getting ugly again
 
He's exactly the same player. He's just having to come too deep to get the ball as we're terrified of coming forward. Get the ball to him 30 yards from the opposition goal instead of 30 yards from ours and we might see something different. But then we'd need to want to push on wouldn't we.
 
The whole team seems totally unbalanced . I'm not sure Grealish & McGinn will ever work together , shades of Gérrard/Lampard in terms of incompatibility.
 
The team is unbalanced. Possibly due to the fact that our best players are our attacker's yet we go out every game looking to sit back, scrap it out and nick a win via a set play or moment of magic. Perhaps if our team went out to play on the front foot instead of going out as if we're playing against Barcelona every week we might so something.
 
McGinn and Hourihane must be given a go centrally in my opinion. And for those who’ve been on the forum for a while.... don’t forget the FL raving about Bradley Dack a couple of years ago at Gillingham, was the main man there and seems to be the creative spark at Blackburn
 
We looked like everyone bar Abraham was sitting deep. Admittedly this was my impression from watching the game on TV so it might be different at the ground. But from what I saw all the old problems were there. We could play any player we have available, in any position in any formation and its going to be the same thing. We've had 2 years where we've gotten away with a lot of shit performances because we've had a solid defence and players like Adomah,
Kodjia, grealish, hourihane can produce a moment of magic to get us out of jail. I'm just sick to death of it. It's been near enough a decade of solid shite and it's not going to get better under this manager.
 
Heard an interview with Bruce on WM when he was manager of the Vermin in 2006. 12 years ago! He was spouting the same drivel and offering the identical excuses that he is now. It was really spooky. Taxi for Bruce, PLEASE!
 
holtelower said:
I honestly dont care if it is an Allerdyce "organise and hoof" a Dean Smith "play lovely passing football" or a Guardiola "press them high and quick" style - as long as we DO have a style !!!!

At the moment we don't
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I've always disagreed with this idea that the man doesnt have a style when we do consistently play a certain way and thats no accident.

Bruce is the consumate conservative sets out his stall to be rigid and defensive literally let the lads on the pitch figure it out themselves in attack. He's given it a name before and its befitting its pure resilience and its why we can't go out and take games by the scruff of the neck and seem to just nick it everytime.

I am pretty sure our 'expected goals' stat is shocking low and if you're wondering what that new school bollocks is its purely about the quality of chances created. Said it time and again last year we are literally praying for moments of pure brilliance or inspiration from one our key men and they keep delivering just enough to keep Bruce in the job. Those moments are what football is about but by god it's no good if you cant win enough games.

I am wearing thin, in fact I am probably worn thin. We need someone who is very attack minded because we need to be able to score 2+ goals more often than not to get promoted with this unstable defense.
 
The type of game that we played was predictable after our recent run of results. I predicted a 0-0 defensive showing and that is broadly what we got - few chances created and defend first. This is why we had Elmo and Albert, because they put in a defensive shift.

Grealish, for me, is a shadow of the kid that Sherwood put into the team. He always holds the ball up now and tries to beat a player. There is an old adage in football - let the ball do the work - Grealish has broadly forgotten what he did v Liverpool, pass and move. This doesn't make him a bad player btw, just think he needs players around him that will remind him occasionally.

Bruce is under stress, everyone can see it. This makes him revert to type, don't lose. For me he can make all the excuses he likes, but he is ultimately responsible for what is served up on the pitch. Others have said that winning ugly was acceptable. I agree if it is the exception to the rule, unfortunately it has become an aspiration now. For all of the above reasons and all the others posted on here, I sincerely hope the end is nigh and we move forward with a new coaching set up ASAP.
 
If we were playing this crap and sitting in the top two he might get away with it, but not sitting in mid-table. He has two winnable home games
which could save his bacon with the owners,but it is only putting off the inevitable. Anything less than a convincing win against Rotherham and we will probably see the crowd get after him tomorrow.
 
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