Olé Posted January 1, 2018 Report Share Posted January 1, 2018 Last time we lost 5-0 it was the punctuation mark to an awful run, a culmination to weeks of mostly poor football. Faces contorted with rage in the Deepdale away end. Players were ashamed. There were no obvious redeeming features to our performance. Where was the hope going to come from when a team can't even turn up for a trip to a mid-table club. Today we have lost 5-0 away from home and the only consistent with many prior weeks is the bright, energetic way that City went after Villa from the off. Not only did we seek a fast rebound from the Wolves result, we made an expensive Villa side look anonymous as neat triangles and overlaps carved them open. At 20 minutes my mate looked at me and said "we really have some sensational players". So THIS was the match that we'd lose 5-0. Paterson and Brownhill repeatedly sprinted in on the Villa defence, while in rare breaks into our half, Pack, Baker or Wright were comfortably stepping up into through balls and tidying up the danger. Bobby Reid had the ball in the net after a flicked header on (ruled out for offside), Pack lashed a shot just past the post from outside the box, and Brownhill also went close from similar range after some neat underplay. It was surely a case of when not if. Home fans were silent. Much has been made of our overworked and barebones side being physically exhausted. While this is true, it is nothing compared to impact of mental exhaustion. We have made every game for the past month into a high stakes encounter. Convert one of our early chances tonight and they would have found an extra reserve of energy. Villa Park can be easily demoralised and quiet, as teams have shown at this level. Many of our wins have come from a confidence and sheer bloody mindedness. Today the real breaking point was not physical but mental. They broke to score against the run of play, and our hearts sunk. Suddenly the home team had a spark. I actually thought early in the build up to the goal that the Villa player (Jedinak?) rolled a 50-50 ball off his arm to start the move. But what followed was as incisive as it was fast. Grealish released Adomah on the left and he got to the byline before crossing for Hogan to head home. It was a swift counter attack and if anything we were victims of quite how comfortable we had felt pushing up. All of a sudden Villa had their gameplan, launching wave upon wave of quick attacks out via the wings. Magnússon looked ill at ease with the pressure, Baker scythed down Grealish on one break, and our midfield 5 started to sink deeper out of fear, only exacerbating a lack of out ball - Reid marooned up front among large Villa defenders. City were all at sea. In minutes it was two. Grealish had already been leading our defence a merry dance, but it was Adomah once again with a cross, from which Steele made a reaction save from the header, but Snodgrass was on hand yards out, unmarked (but apparently not offside) to tap home. Suddenly Villa Park came to life while players like Magnússon visibly shrunk. Careless with the ball and uncertain what to do. We reverted to the nervous passing back of last season. In a calamitous close to the half Grealish would drill a low shot into the post as Villa sensed blood in the water. But more evidence that this was not the 0-5 of Preston last season emerged with City's adjustments after the break. Kelly came on for Magnússon, Taylor on for Pack, and Flint once again sent forward to lead the line - with Smith adopting a curious clearing up role at the back in front of Wright and Baker. Almost immediately it was City on top again. From a well worked move the ball looped to Flint inside the Villa defence just yards out, but as he tried to turn home Taylor also laid claim to the ball with his back to goal, and succeeded only in blocking a certain Flint strike on the goal line, letting Villa bundle clear. City had Villa back tracking now and minutes later another swift move saw the ball break loose on the edge of the box but as Baker and Taylor converged, this time it was Flint guilty of trying to connect with a ball he was poorly placed to finish, snuffing out the clear opportunity. At the other end Snodgrass did get inside Kelly and fire over, but it was City who looked liveliest and from another break, Taylor released Brownhill on the right and he raced to the edge of the box, with Flint and others converging in the middle, the young midfielder blazed an ambitious shot over. It was now telling that despite throwing Flint forward, City had yet to truly pepper the box with crosses and that would have been the best chance to try. And like the first half, City had emerged to take the game to Villa and in failing to secure any reward yet again, finally both their fragile mental and physical energy would really evapourate. On the hour mark Grealish would go on a surging run through the middle from his own half. Weary players back tracked, Smith tried to wrestle the ball clear, but Grealish finally released a square pass inside Kelly in the box and Snodgrass raced past him and applied the finish. Now City truly were shattered. This team has done so much this season and anyone with a heart would have wanted the team to escape anymore punishment now, regardless of the result. There was little fight left, only a cruel spectacle of our exhausted players in a now precipitous shape, clinging on for dear life while still speculatively trying to break, but finding their legs and their touch giving out on them - resulting in only wildly over-hit or underhit passes and none of the fluency with which this team has made its name. Two more painful Villa goals would follow before the end - the fourth a carbon copy of the third, as City defenders again back tracked and dropped off, this time from Hutton's mazy run, allowing some sub I've never heard of to convert. At the end a cross from the Villa right was poorly and hesitantly dealt with in a crowded box, the ball left free for Hourihane to smash home. If the players couldn't escape the humiliation, City's fans had been streaming out since the third, and those still left now beat a hasty retreat. But while there were plenty of prophets of doom to be found filtering out talking about perceived weaknesses in the team, this was a freak result for a side that has played with a flamboyancy and confidence that so often has delivered rewards home and away (this only our second away defeat of the season) but tonight treaded a very fine line between capitalising on our typical early endeavour or surrendering to sheer mental and physical fatigue of recent weeks. As it was, the team did challenge those fine margins for as long as they could, but the moment the match slipped the wrong side of that line, City's fragility was exposed and their capitulation became more and more inevitable the more they fought in vein to prevent it. Steele 4 Magnússon 4 Wright 5 Baker 6 Flint 5 Pack 6 Smith 5 Bryan 6 Paterson 6 Brownhill 5 Reid 5 Taylor 4 Kelly 5 Woodrow 5 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AppyDAZE Posted January 1, 2018 Report Share Posted January 1, 2018 Good report, and I even heard the Villa fans calling out your name towards the end, Ole. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GrahamC Posted January 1, 2018 Report Share Posted January 1, 2018 Good stuff, Rob. Ran out of likes again. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
reddoc Posted January 1, 2018 Report Share Posted January 1, 2018 Slightly rose tinted, but I see where you're coming from Ole. We did look good in the short periods you mention, and I agree had one of those chances converted it could have been a different game, but I suppose you can always claim that. We were largely over run by Villa because we had no legs, and a team with that amount of talent will exploit that. Tonight's game told us nothing about either side. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LondonBristolian Posted January 1, 2018 Report Share Posted January 1, 2018 I think today is one to forget in every sense of the word. I wonder if LJ will even go through it with the players when they come back to training in, from what he said, two or three days time or whether he'll just decide to treat today as one of those things. Ultimately we have had two of our toughest fixtures at the worst possible time with players out or exhausted but, as long as we regroup and don't dwell on it and let it, it has inflicted minimal damage as we are still very much in the hunt. At the start of this December I felt this run of games would be a real test. We have come through it with 4 wins, a draw and two defeats in the league and progress to a league cup semi-finals. We are a little clear of seventh and in touch with automatic promotion. If you asked me a month ago if I would have taken that very happily. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Harry Posted January 1, 2018 Report Share Posted January 1, 2018 I agree that we looked bright for about the first 10-15 mins, and then again for 5-10 at the start of the 2nd half, but that aside, we were very poor today and looked shattered. I’ve no idea what our 2nd half formation was. As you say Rob, Smith was in a curious position, seemed like he spent most of the half at centre back and we quite literally had no midfield. It was quite bizarre. To a man, they’ve all been brilliant lately and have sweated every ounce, but tonight they all looked shattered. They need a week off, and I’d hope we rest most of them at Watford. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cidered abroad Posted January 1, 2018 Report Share Posted January 1, 2018 Good report and thanks Ole. Really disappointing result but something some of us may have feared for a few weeks now. The first team must be absolutely mentally shattered, the fringe players not able to bring the same quality to the table. I'm now convinced that one or two of the squad are unable to regularly perform at the required standard and will be moved on, maybe in January but definitely by summer. January recruitment and the return of the wounded, may be enough to keep us in top six but will we have enough for second spot behind Wolves? I'm not being defeatist but perhaps the last three days have made me more realistic about what we can achieve this season. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Loosey Boy Posted January 1, 2018 Report Share Posted January 1, 2018 At the start of December, I would have taken four wins, two defeats and a draw without a shadow of a doubt. Just hope today's drubbing doesn't impact the players too much. December on the whole has been brilliant - 5 points clear of 7th and only two off of second, not forgetting the fact that we have reached the semi-finals of a major cup competition too! Norwich is a huge game now though!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Shtanley Posted January 1, 2018 Report Share Posted January 1, 2018 Only watched via beamback but Paterson and Brownhill stood out as the worst. As sloppy as I can remember us playing. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Swede Posted January 1, 2018 Report Share Posted January 1, 2018 That's a great analysis Olé. I have been saying for ages that its the fatigue that will catch up with a threadbare squad. With our high pressing game its bound to happen. Really feel for LJ & the players. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Bard Posted January 1, 2018 Report Share Posted January 1, 2018 1 hour ago, Harry said: I agree that we looked bright for about the first 10-15 mins, and then again for 5-10 at the start of the 2nd half, but that aside, we were very poor today and looked shattered. I’ve no idea what our 2nd half formation was. As you say Rob, Smith was in a curious position, seemed like he spent most of the half at centre back and we quite literally had no midfield. It was quite bizarre. To a man, they’ve all been brilliant lately and have sweated every ounce, but tonight they all looked shattered. They need a week off, and I’d hope we rest most of them at Watford. It was 3 5 2, but Wright and Kelly were very wide for RCB and LCB meaning Smith was very deep. In front of him were Paterson and Reid with Bryan and Brownhill as very advanced wing backs. More of a 3 1 4 2 than a 3 5 2. We did this against Wolves against 10 men. If we'd only been a little more compact defensively and had taken the chance early in the 2nd half the game could have been different. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Harry Posted January 1, 2018 Report Share Posted January 1, 2018 Further to my comment earlier about our bizarre formation in the 2nd half, just watching their 4th goal back and our back line was Kelly, Baker, Smith, Reid!!! Wright was in the midfield somewhere. Joe was hugging the far touch line, Brownhill let 2 men run past him. We were quite literally all over the place. That’s a mentally exhausted team as well as a physically exhausted one. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Harry Posted January 1, 2018 Report Share Posted January 1, 2018 1 minute ago, The Bard said: It was 3 5 2, but Wright and Kelly were very wide for RCB and LCB meaning Smith was very deep. In front of him were Paterson and Reid with Bryan and Brownhill as very advanced wing backs. More of a 3 1 4 2 than a 3 5 2. We did this against Wolves against 10 men. If we'd only been a little more compact defensively and had taken the chance early in the 2nd half the game could have been different. It looked like it was meant to be a 3-5-2, but in reality it looked like there were not 3 in the midfield, there were, at times, none!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Bard Posted January 1, 2018 Report Share Posted January 1, 2018 1 minute ago, Harry said: It looked like it was meant to be a 3-5-2, but in reality it looked like there were not 3 in the midfield, there were, at times, none!! It made no sense to be so gun ho when we were so tired. We were effectively asking our striker to play as a box to box midfielder, our centre half to play up front, a centre mid to play RWB, a bloke on a yellow card to play more or less as a sole CB with everyone around him pushing on. In fairness to LJ he seems to have acknowledged his role in some of what happened in the 2nd half. Perhaps him and the coaching staff were also mentally fatigued. There was a lot of wishful thinking going on.. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wendyredredrobin Posted January 1, 2018 Report Share Posted January 1, 2018 I shall take this one on the chin. Our players have fought and chased all season and it is now telling on both bodies and minds. I have no idea how many injuries we are playing through, though it is clear that Bakes and Patto are suffering and I think Joe is carrying something too. I heard that Bobby was wearing some sort of protection too. Normally, I would be livid after a 5 -0 loss, but not today. The boys have given 100% and the coaching and medical staff too. You just can't ask for more than that. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
downendcity Posted January 1, 2018 Report Share Posted January 1, 2018 18 minutes ago, wendyredredrobin said: I shall take this one on the chin. Our players have fought and chased all season and it is now telling on both bodies and minds. I have no idea how many injuries we are playing through, though it is clear that Bakes and Patto are suffering and I think Joe is carrying something too. I heard that Bobby was wearing some sort of protection too. Very sensible for a young man out and about on a Saturday evening to act responsibly. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dr Balls Posted January 2, 2018 Report Share Posted January 2, 2018 I must admit I didn't have a good feeling for this match, especially when I saw the stat that we hadn't won away on New Years Day since 1903!! It was clearly always going to be a challenge for the same outfield 10 players (more or less) to play 4 games in 10 days after the exertions against Man United. More so only 48 hours after the last minute defeat to Wolves. Many of the players need a bit of a break, and fortunately that appears to be LJ's thoughts. Ideally we would put out a "squad" team against Watford, and damn the consequences. Another cup run would likely only be a distraction anyway, plus it's a chance for some of the younger players to have a run out, and you never know they might just push for more involvement in the league match day squads. The players shouldn't need building up for a Semi-Final at the Etihad, and as long as we come out of that with a decent result, the most important thing will be how we perform against Norwich. And at least they no longer have Snodgrass playing for them, as he seems to have become a latter day "David ****ing Kelly" against us! COYR!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Esmond Million's Bung Posted January 2, 2018 Report Share Posted January 2, 2018 We did look bright for 10/15 minutes but then lacked the skills in the final third of the pitch, something that needs attention IMO, we were also guilty of over complicating things in defensive and offensive positions. I really think that your mark for Pack is incredibly generous, even @Harry thought he had a shocker and LJ took him off at half time, so presumably LJ thought he was poor, a 6 would lead people to believe that he was one of our better players. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bazooka Joe Posted January 2, 2018 Report Share Posted January 2, 2018 Thanks for the analysis - genuinely. However, at the end of the day every 5-nil defeat goes on record as a 5-nil defeat - so in that respect they are the same. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lanterne Rouge Posted January 2, 2018 Report Share Posted January 2, 2018 13 hours ago, Dr Balls said: I. And at least they no longer have Snodgrass playing for them, as he seems to have become a latter day "David ****ing Kelly" against us! COYR!! Just watch Norwich sign the bastard back next week now. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Wanderingred Posted January 2, 2018 Report Share Posted January 2, 2018 There are two Villa fans in my workplace and it says a lot that despite the 5-0 scoreline, I felt like I was the one with bragging rights over them this morning. 5-0 was a totally undeserved scoreline on their part and I hope their fans realise that it doesn't make them anything special or deserving of any credit... they simply caught us at the right time. We had bigger fish to fry beforehand (United, Wolves) and have bigger fish to come (Man City x2 and second placed Derby). My colleagues didn't really have any reply to that and walked away meekly! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CyderInACan Posted January 2, 2018 Report Share Posted January 2, 2018 17 hours ago, GrahamC said: Good stuff, Rob. Ran out of likes again. Get your fiver out! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mr Popodopolous Posted January 2, 2018 Report Share Posted January 2, 2018 I listened to the game- obviously didn't see it as wasn't at Sports Bar. It sounded on the radio like basically every or the overwhelming bulk anyway of shots on target went in. Stats say 6 shots on targets, 5 goals- yeah they deserved to win but 5-0 sounds like it was harsh on us/flattered them somewhat. (For the record, the expected goals was 1.8-0.2 in favour of Villa- so a win yes, a reasonably comfortable win yes, but not 5-0). Great report also Ole. Once again no likes etc left so can't give it the like or thanks it deserves. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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