Immediate thoughts

[tomytony]

After a night's sleep and a bit of reflection it seems to me that we held our own, competed, were always in the game etc, etc but were nowhere near the swashbuckling, pacy, attacking force that took the league by storm early on.

The question is why?

Have we become a little more circumspect,less gung ho, more fearful. less confident, found out?

The build up is, to be polite, more measured, or, to be frank, ponderous tippy tappy across the back and midfield.

This causes the strikers to have less service, less chances, and, at this slow pace, it's much easier to defend,

The disruption with injuries and new additions will take some time ( not long hopefully) but the speed and style of play seems to have lessened.

Is it tactical or because of the reasons stated above?

[woodysrightfoot]

Agree JJ no running down the channels for me unlike what we did at Leeds and S6
My view should have brought Billy on instead of Donaldson hopefully we will get that back with Brooks

[shorehamoldboy]

brooks getting back to fitness is pivotal in the remainder of our season gives us pace and has the individuality that were just lacking a little bit of would like to see a system with leon up top and brooks and holmes supporting him from deeper

[Currieisgod]

Pretty much bang on. Subs were weird. Can argue Wilson looked tired but Evans was pulling the strings and that just didn’t make sense.

Agree with that one, I was slightly baffled at why Evans came off as he was our best player and looks more than an able replacement for Coutts.

I understood Wilson coming off as he looked tired and frustrated towards the end of his stint although i am sure he will get better over the next few games,

Donaldson didn't work at all last night as he wasn't given the chance to run the channels.

Clark hasn't had a good game since Derby away, but the most baffling one for me was the decision not to bring Duffy on for the last 10 minutes instead of Holmes,

Duffy can dictate a game as opposed to Lundstram who is far too slow despite being a decent footballer,

[GuancheBlade]

brooks getting back to fitness is pivotal in the remainder of our season gives us pace and has the individuality that were just lacking a little bit of would like to see a system with leon up top and brooks and holmes supporting him from deeper

Agreed. Think a 3-4-2-1 might just mix it up enough to confuse the opposition without completely re jigging our setup from the back

[shorehamoldboy]

thats the one gaunche keeps our wing backs but just gives us somat a bit different in the final third but of course chris does like 2 up top so its a tricky decision for him dont think weve owt to lose now odds slightly against us getting in top 6 but by no means an impossibility and easier teams coming up after this lot of games

[tomytony]

I thought in the first half we were back to our best, Evans fitted into the Coutts role seamlessly, Clarke had his best 45 minutes for a while we moved the ball a lot quicker because of Evans and they were on the back foot. Second half they pressed us further up the pitch and we couldn't deal with it preferring to go sideways too many times rather than go for it down the flanks. They focused on squeezing Basham and Oconnell and neither made a forward run of any note in the second period.

At the beginning of the season we were getting the first goal and usually winning games as a result. Last night we failed to take our chances and looked devoid of ideas in how to overcome Villas change in tactics. The substitutions killed the game for us they were the wrong ones and we suffered as a result.

Yes we miss Brooks and there is an argument to say we shouldn't let Thomas go out on loan because he provides a different option off the bench. Its not about tactics for me but better game management. Duffy and Sharp would have caused Villa more problems last night and we need to learn from these games.

It was indeed a game of two halves LST and, after they had been subject to Bruce's words of wisdom, they were a different proposition and we seemed a bit baffled or stymied by it.Substitutions were baffling to a degree but I wonder how much fitness levels, as opposed to effectiveness, contributed to Evans' withdrawal? Wilson was blowing hard and seemed to be getting frustrated ( probably by his own first touch) so his was understandable.

The replacements were strange given the scoreline when a bit more drive and creativity, as opposed to 'sitting in' might well have done the tricck.

Did CW feel obliged to give Holmes a run out I wonder?

[jcunited]

It was indeed a game of two halves LST and, after they had been subject to Bruce's words of wisdom, they were a different proposition and we seemed a bit baffled or stymied by it.Substitutions were baffling to a degree but I wonder how much fitness levels, as opposed to effectiveness, contributed to Evans' withdrawal? Wilson was blowing hard and seemed to be getting frustrated ( probably by his own first touch) so his was understandable.

The replacements were strange given the scoreline when a bit more drive and creativity, as opposed to 'sitting in' might well have done the tricck.

Did CW feel obliged to give Holmes a run out I wonder?

lundstram is crap end of and his name is hard to type

[GuancheBlade]

It was indeed a game of two halves LST and, after they had been subject to Bruce's words of wisdom, they were a different proposition and we seemed a bit baffled or stymied by it.Substitutions were baffling to a degree but I wonder how much fitness levels, as opposed to effectiveness, contributed to Evans' withdrawal? Wilson was blowing hard and seemed to be getting frustrated ( probably by his own first touch) so his was understandable.

The replacements were strange given the scoreline when a bit more drive and creativity, as opposed to 'sitting in' might well have done the tricck.

Did CW feel obliged to give Holmes a run out I wonder?

Should have been Duffy not Holmes. Was never the moment to give someone a debut. Needed a cunning more experienced older head to try and carve Villa open.

[Blade for Life]

brooks getting back to fitness is pivotal in the remainder of our season gives us pace and has the individuality that were just lacking a little bit of would like to see a system with leon up top and brooks and holmes supporting him from deeper

Absoltely spot on. What ever 2 we put up front it’s not working. It’s a combination of poor movement up front and wingbacks that have suddenly become full backs. All summed up perfectly in the piggy game when all the play was crammed into a middle section and we had no width, no room and no space. The 2 strikers play as individuals and get poor service. It’s not working and whoever we play up front it’s not going to work unless the wingbacks start doing their job. That is not going to happen unless we sign Kyle Walker and Danny Rose in the next few hours. We have to change the system to get the best out of what could be an excellent midfield/striker combination. We have Brooks, Duffy and Holmes who could provide the link between a loan striker and the midfield. We are not a long way off it just needs a few tweaks. Comparing the team with Adkins rubbish is ridiculous by the way, have a word.