Well, so much for embracing the challenge. After finally catching a bit of a break by being awarded a questionable penalty and converting to go ahead, Aston Villa once again squandered a lead and dropped points from a winning position to scrape an undeserved 1-1 draw. As everyone pointed out yesterday following the match, Wolves looked quicker, stronger, and more committed for almost all 90 minutes.
About the only positive I could take away from it was that we didn’t concede in the last 10 minutes. But we certainly could have, and should’ve conceded more earlier on.
The head-scratching all round is completely understandable. I’ve almost given up trying to understand. Every reason I’ve heard offered seems entirely plausible. And like everyone else, I’m having a lot of trouble understanding how fitness could possibly be an issue. I can certainly understand stress, anxiety and expectations weighing them down. What I can’t understand is how they could be training that much differently or less than other teams. And I don’t understand how they couldn’t have run themselves into game shape having played 12 games so close together. Are we instead looking at problems with nutrition and recovery? The nature of training during the week?
Beyond seeming leggy, Villa were still timid, still second to virtually every loose ball, still increasingly devoid of ideas following initial periods of brightness. One thing I did wonder is just how much taller the Wolves side might be, on average. Villa lost virtually every contested header the two-thirds of the pitch outside our own end. I suppose we could be too leggy to jump. Or too scared.
Which, naturally makes one wonder about Rudy’s continued exclusion, as folks are already doing. We certainly do look a different side when he’s in the team. Yes, he does dictate a certain style of play, but we get the ball to stick upfield better, and have much more threat from knock-ons, set pieces and the like. As noted, he brings other players into the game, and gives the defense a different dimension to worry about. Obviously he seems to have fallen victim to the plethora of attacking options we have.
I do understand it will take Bruce a little bit of actually seeing the team close up to really understand what he’s got. He’s too experienced for it to be a huge feeling-out process, however. And he’ll already know a number of the players from his time in the Championship. Thinking more like he’s got to see who clicks together.
Jedinak continues to be a concern. I was one who thought he’d be a good signing, the kind of player we haven’t had. But he has looked off the pace, and many of the passes he’s trying aren’t coming off. Perhaps the set-up around him leaves him too isolated at this stage of his career. It’s a legitimate question as to whether travel has affected him, and whether the knock he had has affected his fitness or mobility. However, if he is playing for Australia, it can’t be that bad. I know these guys never do it, but perhaps a break from international play would have done him some good. Maybe he just really is past it. But he didn’t look past it last season. He was, however, surrounded by different players. With aging players, there’s a saying over in the States: it’s better to get rid of a player a year too early than a year too late. And maybe Jedinak was let go at just the right time.
Regardless, everyone looked poor yesterday in one way or another. Cissoko had a mare and Hutton was Hutton. Well, Gollini did well enough. Chester had a decent game. Jack flashed, and McCormack tried exhorting the players to get forward, provide options and press high. He seemed rather obviously frustrated on more than one occasion. Not least of which when Kodjia, I think, went for goal himself instead of laying it off to him for what seemed like an impossible-to-miss opportunity. Adomah did provide forward drive, but all too often the end product was lacking.
Beyond that, far too many passes went astray, real cohesion was missing for great periods, and it always looked like Wolves wanted it more. Villa seemed like deer in the headlights when Wolves came at them and cut through easily, finding plenty of space and time in wide positions, and lots of willing runners getting behind defenders. If nothing else, we just do not have any steel in the middle whatsoever. And we don’t have many players who are particularly rugged ball-winners. A number of those 50-50s were there for the taking, but our desire wasn’t as great. Jack may track back now, but he’s no threat in the challenge. The same could be said of many players. Even when we got to the ball, it seemed like Wolves always eventually came away with it.
So, Bruce clearly has his work cut out for him. Like everyone, I wanted to be pleasantly surprised and see a new energy and application. But it looked for all the world like 12 games in nothing has been learned. Which, at the moment, means that either they’re just not good enough, RDM did absolutely nothing to mold them into a side, or recruitment was too lopsided. Most likely a combination of all of the above. And confidence still remains at all-time lows.
However, as most of you note, none of these players was terrible at their previous clubs. Pretty much the opposite, overall. But they are not making a good team together at Villa. When you recruit, you have to be thinking about how players will slot in together and complement each other. One wonders how much thought was given to this.
It will now be rather fascinating to see what Bruce does for game two in charge. Will he persist with the side we saw yesterday? Will he rotate for freshness? Or will he be trying out new combinations? Anyone’s guess at the moment.
All I know is that yesterday morning I thought the playoffs were still possible. Yesterday evening, they felt much, much further away. Over to you.
The Author
John Clark
John is co-owner of AVL, and has followed the Villa since the '70s. A journalist by trade, he is, by most accounts, a very nice person. You can follow me on Twitter @JClarkKohoutek. It's an astonishing experience. Or a complete waste of time.Comments 44
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Excellent leader John , thank you . I agree with all you have written particularly the surprise that they couldn’t even seem to muster that energy / drive to at least impress the new mgr . I don’t believe any of the current players want to do badly in front of 32,000 not to mention the millions watching on sky tv so the ‘can’t be bothered’ criticism doesn’t hold any merit for me .
For those like me questioning the ‘fitness reason’ have a read of this . It’s absolutely right : the fitness ‘excuse’ has been used by every single mgr since MON. Now either BMH is being run by the mafia who are untouchable or its nonsense .
http://www.myoldmansaid.com/aston-villa-players-lacking-fitness-excuse-is-a-dubious-trend/
Nice article sir! Sums up all of the problems perfectly.
Root cause for me is recruitment in the absence of a plan for how the team will play, and still too many of the old deadwood being played.
Sigh…..
JC: “Will he persist with the side we saw yesterday? Will he rotate for freshness? Or will he be trying out new combinations?”
Oh, I’m sure he’s going to have to change things around for at least 2 or 3 games until he gets a balance. But if he can’t, then what?!
He’ll be doing the same things that RdiM was being blamed for, i.m.o. – i.e. not keeping an unchanged side.
Jenny,
Yes, that link you provided is fair comment.
But it comes back to the issue that SB has observed something lacking which he describes as a fitness issue. So in one sense he’s right – the question is will the causes of this be properly addressed. If he does treat it as solely a physical thing then we’re still in trouble, for sure.
Does anyone know a source of stats for the players in championship games, particularly distance run?
It would be interesting to see how players compare and if our players genuinely are working less hard than our opponents.
As others have said though, its more likely to be a mental fitness problem rather than physical. Anyone who’s played sport knows that if you ‘believe’ you are going to win you somehow ignore the tiredness and find the extra energy you need. . . . it’s that ‘belief’ that’s missing.
Well I agree with Paul W, the initial crime was recruitment in a rush without a firm plan other than 4231. I assume RDM thought he could make do with Westwood GG Bakuna etc to fill the gaps as buying 20 players in the time period was not possible.The loss of Gana who would of been outstanding in the 2 CM position was a biggy. The scramble to exit VP would not of helped him either as he looked for willing players.
This has given us an unbalanced midfield and the resultant draws and losses have nosedived the initial confidence they had in one another and themselves.
As you hinted at JC recovery is king in this league and stress and worry produce the wrong hormonal response for that to be effective not to mention the in match effects, running on adrenaline for half a match as they are hyped up then crashing second half would fit that too, leaving the players looking leggy and Jaded.
Steve Bruce has said that he knows what the defensive issues are “its obvious” he said and he also mentioned confidence and mentality, so lets see what lessons he’s learned
I must agree with all of the comments so far – one thing I have noticed, not just since SB arrived, but also during the RDM era, is that the short passing is not crisp i.e. it doesn’t reach the intended target. This results in the movement forward through the midfield stalls and ends up as defence.
I am not sure if this is due to lack of confidence of the passer or lack of ability of the receiver but so many midfield passes are falling short and being picked off by the opposition. Is it just me?
I know SB has had 2 days to assess the squad and we must remember the games come fast and furious in the Championship so graft at Bodymoor Heath lads.
PS – it’s about time the Villa management looked at Jenny’s blog
Clive-
Not just you. I’ve seen the same thing. Passes either left short or easily intercepted. To me, underhitting a pass seems like a sign of anxiety: over-thinking, poor execution, and not putting the right weight on it instinctively.
John – or even no confidence in the receiver – either way we are in agreement on this terrible midfield ‘give away’
Gentlemen,
It’s not only the passing … did you notice Richards’ throw-ins? Three on the bounce went straight to Wolves players. And those throws were taken so casually, too.
I think im done. I know nothing anymore. I think we are on the right path then it turns to shit.
Im at breaking point
JL- When Richards came on at Luton I thought he was messing about, he could not even hold the ball, he really is suffering a loss of belief in himself and that is continuing. How that does not effect all around him I don’t know and its likely it does. If last seasons players get the jitters easily its no surprise to see it spread to others as they loose faith in those players.
My latest revised article to include the wolves game – https://twitter.com/avfc_news/status/788046254332841984
Skip the first bit – Dr Tony has already commented . I don’t agree with him .
At least he or his PR dept have commented . Shame he’s taken it as criticism rather than constructive alternative
“Actually not quite right. No such mental problems but more just becoz of less intense training caused unfitness&unclear tactics made worse.”
Well the comments at the bottom were complimentary but the Doc not so impressed, wouldn’t have thought he was the type to have a closed mind. Very disappointing that he dismisses it when he’s missed half the games.
Well if Grealish is suspended for three games it looks like we could be bottom three by December, the vermin will have their backs up and will probably smash our gutless wimps. Possibly a draw 2morrow, defeat to Fulham and a real low vs the rats.
I see the usual suspects are blaming the fans for our pathetic performances, complete denial, its not the fans on the pitch missing chances and giving away goals, they should be delighted that 32,000 turn out to watch the crepe they serve up, what do the happy clappers want the rest of the crowd to do, cheer the missed passes, applaud the lack of effort, the results speak for themselves, if the HC’s don’t like it then take their own advice and stay away.
I put up a post on an AVFC facebook group after the draw, after many ciders and completely tongue in cheek that was asking why Bruce hadn’t turned things round in one game. Let me say there are some very angry Villans out there and many it would appear require the use of smiling emoji as an indication of a joke or miss the point.
Needless to say I was called every name under the sun over the 50 odd comments. The point is Bruce isn’t going to be able to change things in the short term, we need to expect that it will be Christmas by the time the lads understand the system and what’s required of them and primarily who Bruce believes is his first 11.
At that stage he’ll have a clear picture which positions need to be strengthened although it’s not exactly rocket science to know we are struggling in the middle, we need to replace de Laet and central defence/keeper either settles and becomes consistent through a system or we buy again.
Hate harping on about this but RDM would have already established this and presumably was working his way towards the next transfer window to right some wrongs in midfield and establish which of the forwards were best suited to his system. I fully believe the players we have just aren’t committed to doing well enough for us, talk was of signing players with character but I’ve yet to see players really break a sweat, again they may have been playing to get RDM sacked but we’ll see if it’s a case of better the devil you know under Bruce.
Brian Little is now the only visible connection to what AVFC was/is all about and probably not at BMH much anyway, very few players have come thru the ranks and if local boys like Richards and Lescott before him don’t look at playing in our colours as anything special, then we’ve got essentially outsiders with no regard for the club, it’s a payday for them, they’ve achieved a certain level, they know or feel they won’t be able to achieve anything more with Villa so play within their means in terms of extending the life of their football careers by not getting injured which means not putting in the same effort as someone playing for teams higher up the league who see a purpose to putting the effort in to win a game.
Its not a fitness thing, it’s not a mental thing, it’s an acceptance by all people with power at Villa that the club reached it’s zenith back in the 80s and briefly in the 90s which was curtailed by having Doug as chairman. I don’t believe Dr.T anymore, five year plans to reach the CL is schoolboy stuff designed to placate the mindless happy clappers we have, there is no evidence beyond 50m being badly spent to suggest anyone is buying into the idea that we need to fight for promotion, perhaps if we get promoted all the current players lose their payday and have to drop salaries in order to play for another championship team so play to keep their contracts.
Change all their contracts to a std 10k a week and only the remainder is paid on winning a game, then you’ll see some effort, I know it wouldn’t work in practice as only those playing can influence a game so why should those on the bench suffer etc etc but I don’t believe any manager thru tactics or arms around shoulder will get this team fighting. Bring back Roy Keane to light a few rockets under their arses.
Apologies for the length of the article, if you’ve read it thru, fair balls
DO’R,
No need to apologise for the length of your post, but why wasn’t it posted as a main article?! It’s worthy of it.
I don’t quite agree with you this time (on all points) but you could be right in every aspect.
Anyway, as far as SB is concerned, if he hasn’t turned it round within 3 matches there will be a lot of people asking the tongue-in-cheek question you put – except it won’t be tongue-in-cheek!
John, you’re being very generous in suggesting that fans will be prepared to wait 3 games before pronouncing SB a failure. Some of the ‘everything is shit’ brigade (or happy crappers as I like to think of them) knew he was destined to fail even before he had arrived!
They may turn out to be right of course, and I look forward to having that pointed out.
Thanks John, I do note the comments re the article, maybe I should get in touch with Matt and see if he’d like a contribution from me at some stage.
Very interested to hear where you disagree with me, my opinion/thought process doesn’t preclude me from being wrong or to be influenced enough to change my opinion.
Happy Crappers like it Robbo, may borrow for my next facebook adventure 🙂
DOR,
How dare you criticise AVFC even in jest, you know that the last six years have been footballing utopia, you can’t please some folk can you ? arf, arf.
RoBBo,
The point that most of the dissenters are making is that its not just Spud who’s a crepe manager all Brits are rubbish at footy management that’s why we hardly have any English bosses at what is laughingly called ‘top level.’ If you look at the England team its the same, failures and novices. The Doc has the financial power to poach any grade 2 manager in Europe so why risk appointing a disloyal, unprincipled mediocrity like Spud and split the fans.
Great story about ex Villan Gareth Farrelly.
https://www.theguardian.com/football/2016/oct/09/gareth-farrelly-everton
the other day I got a direct reply on twitter from the dr himself! Thought there was something up when my notifications were going off the hook!
I only kindly told him he had wasted 50mill and we needed a new mid and def! Just trying to point him in right direction. replied about being positive and finding soloutuions!
Got a fair lot of comments from villa fans calling me fickle and negative!!
I wish I was fickle…would be supporting spurs or summin at the mo. Not dreading an away match to reading.
Andrew,
Four wins in 55 games says it all, these dummies know F-all about football or even Villa.
DO’R,
Where do I disagree? Well, let’s take Dr. Tonix as the main one.
I do feel that he has shown naivity in several respects, but I think that generally his heart and ambitions are in the right place.
I do hope that he becomes more amenable to thinking about psychological (“mental”) issues. It makes me wonder whether he thinks that in 10 years we’ll have programmed robots running round the pitch in place of humans! 🙂
But it’s still early days with the Doc. Maybe by January he’ll have gained a lot more understanding about what the game is about.
has bruce went for worst available side
gollina
mutton cissko two worst fullbacks ever
chester
baker cannot manage 90 mins
jedi gardner makes wastewood look playable
bacuna champions league player
adoamh
codja
rudi
I am dreading the scoreline
I think I’m going to hide behind the settee for a couiple of hours. I really don’t fancy this at all.
Steamer, the only management appointments I’ve been excited by since MoN were Houllier and Garde, neither of which (for different reasons) worked out.
The Doctor strikes me as a passionate pragmatist and we’re now seeing a demonstration of his pragmatism. He wants a quick return to the Premiership so we now have the manager with probably the best record of any of taking teams up into the premiership.
If SB got us there but struggled to make quick progression I have little doubt that the Doc would be prepared to make another pragmatic decision at that point
RoBBO,
IMO even if we’re promoted in the next two seasons there’s such a massive amount to do to transform the club into a genuine EPL club that i think for a start we need a manager with vision and for the life of me i can’t put that label on Spud. The entire club needs an injection of quality or we’ll end up like Hull or Naarwich.
Dr X seems to be an asset though rather than a millstone like Lerner was.
Steamer: “Dr X seems to be an asset though rather than a millstone like Lerner was.”
Yep, therefore the project should succeed, given a bit of time … no?
Yes without Spud.
Yes, I agree he’s not likely to be there when we next win the European Cup! 🙂
Blast 4-2 at the sty.
Baker certainly makes a diff.
Still need six more in Jan.
Archie,
You can come out now … we actually won! 🙂
Do we still get three points for a win ?
JL
I swear couldn’t check until 10.00, but a wins a win. I’m pleased for Brucie the lads and those super Villa fans who made the journey. Nice journey home for a change.
Well tonight, once again, a deciding goal was scored after the 85th minute.
But — for the first time since Methuselah was in nappies … it was the Villa that scored it!!
Woo-hoo!!!
We do seem more organized, the substitutions made perfect sense, and at the end it was our boys who were putting their defense under pressure.
Seems like times, they may be a changin’ …
Oh, and Gollini seems to have found his confidence and is improving match-by-match (perhaps just in time for Juventus to come calling).
Bloody skys on the blink. Telling me villa won a game scoring a pen in the last min. We all know that happens once in ablue moon!
Just heard brucey, he does say the right things! Loving gg and baker. Apparently we actually run around a lot and put a shift in. Baby steps
Only 31% possession? Bruce out!
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New post up!
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Extremely pleased to get a win to shout about not really for the manager or players but for the most fantastic travelling support, sold out virtually every away allocation took the best part of 6,000 to Preston these fans really deserve something to pay them back for their undying effort following this team all over the country, lets be honest they are a credit to the club.
Premiership support for an average championship club.
SWV