Everyone has pretty much covered it, dreadful game, dreadful performance. Burnley were even knocking on the door before they scored, then Brownhill hit the bar. It honestly could have been 4-0 against a team who can’t score.
I’ve seen too many comments “we didn’t win the physical battle”, “we need to be better at their game”. There wasn’t a physical battle, and we can’t be better than Burnley at being Burnley. We basically just looked like a Sunday league team and hoofed the ball forward anyway. No quality possession or anything. Villa are a team of midgets and they ran rings around Burnley but they couldn’t finish their dinner, we didn’t create a chance. We just needed to use our Portuguese internationals ability in the CM to try and control possession higher up the pitch (not on the edge of our own area!)
But this is a fundamental problem with how we play. We play so deep that our only chance of an attack is Neto and Podence receiving the ball and running 50 yards with it. We don’t work a chance, we don’t push them back and get men in their half.
We’ve heard the “transition” thing mentioned too much. We weren’t transitioning before, we were just doing what we did before worse. Then when we actually did start transitioning (and looking dangerous with 4-2-3-1), we’ve then ditched it again. Explain how you can go 4-3-3 at Liverpool and then scrap that at Burnley with even less attacking players...
I honestly can’t get my head round how bad we are as an attacking unit. Like I’ve said a million times, it’s not what we play it how we play. Podence and Neto up top might have worked if we actually tried to get players within 10 yards of them. But it’s just so dull and negative and I don’t understand why.
Few individual things to mention. RAN playing as the WB was the right thing in a “horses for courses” approach, but he did absolute zero in an attacking sense other than fake pass > drag back > pass to Saiss. If he wasn’t going to cross the halfway line and we were going to play so deep we may aswell have played Saiss there and had more height in the team.
Semedo don’t give away a goal today, but he didn’t do anything either. We need more from him surely? He’s our big summer signing in a key position but I don’t think he’s anymore a RWB than he is a RB. He gets forward a lot and makes loads of runs, but I don’t actually think it’s ever going to lead to anything. He had that good opportunity to cross early doors and he just scuffed it. He doesn’t ever beat a man dribbling, hasn’t demonstrated any lethal crossing, doesn’t score, not great defending. Expensive run of the mill player who’s got a mistake in him. I Honestly don’t know what he is.
Neves was dreadful. Ashley Westwood was better than him. Why is everything so rushed? Why are you playing like Dave Edwards? Again partly down to this deep dull football we play where he has no outlets, but Nuno must like it this way...
Otasowie was given no chance today. Looked like a 5 a side player in an 11 a side game. He’s got decent skills but playing him as some #10, false 9, I don’t even know is just a shocker.
And the ref was fine. Wasn’t even that physical a game. Nuno just looking for someone to blame.
