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S1 E34 A nightmare in Bruges
14 Plays1 month ago
On today's episode Joe and Nyla review the disappointing 1-0 defeat against Club Brugge.
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Transcript
Introduction
00:00:01
Speaker
Every club, every day, the Global Sports Podcast Network. work Hello and welcome to today's episode of the Daily Villa podcast as part of the Global Sports Podcast Network.
Game Recap: Bruges vs. Villa
00:00:19
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My name is Joe Boone and I'm delighted as ever to be joined by Naila to talk about the game that has literally just finished in Bruges. Before we dissect it Naila how are you? Yeah not not bad to be fair I feel like it's been a week and it's only Wednesday. um ah How are you? Yeah I'd be better if we were talking about a thrilling win in Belgium. But no, we have to settle for a disappointing 1-0 defeat against Club Bruges, in which we just couldn't seem to to really get going. um The goal coming from a a penalty in the 52nd minute, given away by Tyrone Mings, converted by Hans Van Aken.
Is Villa in a Slump?
00:01:04
Speaker
What were your initial kind of emotions after the result? How are you feeling? I feel a bit disappointed. Like you said, I was expecting maybe a bit more life um out of the squad tonight. I think, you know, with everything said in the media, um kind of McGinn asking for us to give them kind of perspective in terms of not letting the Tottenham result dictate or or taint the season. um But yeah, it's a bit hard not to kind of move towards the idea that are we in a slump? um What were your thoughts heading in? Yeah, it's a disappointing one, I think. It's exactly that. I think, you know, off the back of the Tottenham game, I think doubt started to creep in amongst a lot of the the supporter base. And I think a lot of the players were pretty quick to try and dispel any of that in in the media. And I think ah tonight would have been a great opportunity for for us to put a really great performance on, beat Bruges and and kind of lift morale of of everybody around the club and I think we looked flat, we looked lethargic, we looked a bit tired and we just didn't seem to click in any way, shape or form so it's really disappointing to obviously lose our perfect start to Champions League football and I'm sure that kind of looking ahead Emery's going to be be very disappointing and I think there will be some stern words in the in the dressing room after the result because ultimately that's a game that we should be winning and we have the quality to win and and we've come away empty-handed so it is very disappointing. and I think it's even more disappointing when you look at the fact that Bruges have really struggled in the Champions League so far. They've won one, lost two in the competition. I mean, they've got really good league form. They're sat second in there their division and and it's quite the opposite of us, really. We've been great in the Champions League and struggled at times in the league. I suppose, what what did you expect going in before kick-off?
Squad Issues: Rotation and Chemistry
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I thought i thought we get in into performance. I think that's what we've all been craving. And I know, obviously, as a player, you're always striving to to be at your best. um For me, like you said, it just wasn't clicking. um I don't know if that's squad rotation and in chemistry or um if we're just, you know, at that point in the season now where, you know, youre you're kind of struggling with creativity and that sort of thing as well. But I think, you know, Emery, he's doing all that he can do. I thought the subs that he made were were effective. um But I think now it's just on kind of the players to to find a way, I guess, to um to pull out the performance. But I just think things were off. The decision making wasn't there. I think a lot of it was at our own hands. We were forcing things, choosing the more difficult um path that and just trying to force plays to work. And it just wasn't working for us. What were your your thoughts? like What do you think went wrong for us? Yeah, I think it's just that a case of not being able to to click. I think you know you look all throughout the squad. I don't think anybody had a particularly great performance. um I think especially in the attacking areas, we just struggled to to create much. I think kind of that that final ball wasn't necessarily always on. I think a lot of the times, you know creating chances in general, we struggled to do against the side that we should be dominating the ball, creating plenty of chances and ultimately winning the game. So I think it's very disappointing in the sense of not only the result, but the performance. You know, players look tired, they look lethargic. And I think it's potentially down to rotation. Obviously, we've got a lot of players in there that played a lot of minutes and absolutely they'll want to play every minute that they can, especially in the Champions League. but It's whether the the workload is kind of, is too much for some players. And I think that's reflecting a little bit in ah in some of our our players'' performances and I think we're going to get into the more kind of specific details of the game a little bit later on but first things first the starting XI brought a few surprises, players we didn't exactly expect to start.
Emery's Strategy and Team Selection
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What what did you make of Emery's first XI selections? I'm fully in Emery Retrust so So even though you know it wasn't who I predicted to start, I have full faith in in his game plan. And I think obviously he's seen things in in some of the players that we've brought in that maybe initially as fans we've not seen. And then we've seen them kind of develop and fit into the club and the squad and in really embody the style of play that Emery is looking to implement. um But I think it's just another testament to to the club in terms of squad depth. We now have all these players that can come in in Champions League or they can come in in the league and that way we can hopefully not be as affected by injuries as we were last season um and give some of the some players some rest but also I think it it just makes the squad more competitive I think that will only push them to be better to be on top of their game and and really kind of add that pressure to perform it's a strange one I think you know, we we look at players and obviously we're going to mention Tyrone Mings, who was kind of the villain of the evening um with with him giving the penalty away a little bit later. But I think its it's interesting and it's something that we maybe haven't covered as much in the sense of we've got two players in in Kamara and Tyrone Mings coming off really long-term injuries. um Injuries that have kept them out for, I think, Mings has been out for over a year. Kamara, I think, has not been far off, potentially over as well. But for me, it's surprising how quickly they've come straight back into the fold. I think starting games, especially, is really... I suppose, as you say, Emery we trust and I'm absolutely on that. I'm not for a second critiquing Unai Emery, but I do think that throwing Tyrone Mings back in straight away was a little bit of a mistake because I think that you've got to allow players to to to play to play to match sharpness, even off the back. We saw at the start of this season, it takes players a few games to to kind of reach that that sharpness level. And Tyrone Mings has been out for a year. That's a long time of not being at that level. And to be thrust back into football straight away, starting in his Champions League debut, I think it's a little bit of a shame that his Champions League debut has kind of been
Mings' Return and Performance
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tarnished by that. Do you think that that's a a kind of reasonable concern? Or do you think that's, you know, as a player yourself, coming off the back of an injury, you know, being thrust straight back into the team? Yeah, that's a really great point. I think it comes down to an individual, like who you are as an individual in terms of how much um that is. it's It's a high pressure situation. So it's how can you, how do you manage pressure as an individual? um I do agree. It is a bit jarring, not, well, it's a bit jarring just, yeah, like you said, to throw them into the, to these matches, just coming back from injury. Typically you might see a player work into it after such a long-term um recovery return to play um it's just really unfortunate um that his involvement in us conceding that goal that ultimately led to defeat um but i think you know in term in terms of match sharpness it, it's not just maybe maybe fitness he's there, um physical fitness he's there. But again, it's dealing with those pressure situations in the match, decision making and that sort of thing, which I think will take maybe a bit more time. We don't know, maybe, you know, behind the scenes, he's been in with the team, inter-squad things we've seen him with the the U21s as well but for me I think maybe I would expect to have seen him more in the league first rather than Champions League would you agree with that do you disagree yeah definitely I think it's it's for me I think it's just getting him playing football and building it up, as you say, not necessarily throwing him straight into a starting 11 and expecting him to perform for 90 minutes with complete sharpness and focus because he's been out for a long time. I ah would have thought he'd been bedded in a little bit more, maybe brought on off the bench for kind of towards the end of games and games that we're we're maybe slightly more in control of. I think that's how I would have expected to see him used. And obviously it's such a shame because coming back off a long-term injury, every single Villa fan wants him to come in and hit the ground running. And it's ah a little bit of a shame that his kind of Champions League debut has been tarnished by giving away a really bizarre penalty. So I think it's just, ah it ah it feels kind of almost ah an added layer of disappointment in the fact that it is him that's kind of cost us the goal. So I think it was just an interesting observation. I'd be interested to know what the the listeners think about that. We're going to be back after a short message from Zencastr to delve into the details of the action from the Jan Bredel Stadium.
Zencastr Podcasting Promo
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00:11:12
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welcome back and we're now going to be delving into the action from Villa's defeat to Club Bruges. We mentioned Tyrone Mings in detail before the break and it was ultimately him that gave away a really weird kind of penalty. What were your thoughts regarding what turned out to be the winning goal? As a goalkeeper, that's actually my worst nightmare. Like I'm so, so, so careful about even those situations, just because obviously I'm not dealing with Premier League refs and Champions League refs and UEFA refs, but I don't even want to chance anything um and and and weird enough i think i've seen i i don't remember what team or league it was but i've seen that happen a few times where the goalkeeper's gone to play a ball to their teammate and they've just picked it up i can't i think might have been a bundesliga two um match where they had two like two of that situations in the match and it ended up being penalties for both. But it's just really unfortunate and not something you would expect at all to see. um Yeah, I really i don't have much other than that. It's just I'm still kind of processing kind of what but the thought process was there and and why there was maybe a bit of lack of communication or just verifying that everyone was on board and ready ready to get going to start the play. um What were your thoughts when you saw that? Yeah, so it's a really weird one. It's kind of, you don't know almost looking at it back now, whether he doesn't hear the whistle or whether there is a lack of communication or whether he's just trying to get started quickly. It's really difficult to kind of put your finger on what has actually happened. But ultimately, it has ended up costing us three Champions League points. And I think it is it's kind of what we said before the break about being Matt Sharp, both physically and mentally.
00:13:02
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it's you know it's not kind it's kind of having that that that experience. And he is an experienced player and those are mistakes that you'd kind of expect him to not make. But I think he's so, he's such a headstrong kind of leader in that squad that he would have wanted to get that ball
Football Under Pressure: Decision Making
00:13:18
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moving really quickly to to potentially counter and and try and put us one nil up. And ultimately, you know, he is only human. And I think, you know, that that human element of of football is it something we we maybe don't consider when we see them do magical things on a Saturday. And and you have to kind of remember that they are people too. And I think tonight was ultimately a bit of a disappointing reminder that that is often the case. I think it's ah it's a goal that, you know, you want to say it's a preventable goal, but it's human error. And I mean, there's not really much that could have been done. He didn't hear the whistle, maybe a bit of communication from Emi in goal or or the back line, just to kind of ah make him aware of what's going on. But it's so disappointing that we've lost kind of points in that fashion rather than a a particular a mistake, a footballing mistake. It's ultimately just the communication thing. But, you know, we we kind of, you have to look at the game as 90 minutes, I suppose. And the game as a whole, it never really felt like we got going. It never felt like we clicked, especially going forward. We had eight shots with only one of those being on target. Bruges had 13 shots in total. They hit the post in the first half. And why do you think it was just so difficult for our attack to kind of get going? um Like I said before, I think we were just missing that that final quality. I felt like the decision making at times was poor. We were forcing things. We were trying to go the more difficult route rather than just playing the easy pass or the simple pass or, you know, the closest person to you. um There are a few really loopy over over the top or or trying to cross it across the pitch. Ones that I thought was a bit odd and and we didn't need to do that when we could just kind of move the ball laterally side to side and and try and get them to to pull out of position there. But I think it was just that. I think um the reaction when we lost the ball was a bit slow to get going. I felt like Buendia, when he came on, he did really well at that. You know, even if the ball was behind him, he would apply pressure um from behind. But yeah i think we were just we were just lacking that quality and in decision making and and even just the execution of of passes and and crosses there what were your thoughts what did you see yeah yeah very much the same I think it's a weird one it's kind of once again we we spoke a little bit earlier about mentality versus kind of the physical side of of football. Do you think that the kind of the the decision making and the overhitting, underhitting passes may be playing a little bit less of that kind of ball dominant possession style that we've become accustomed to with with an Emery kind of side. How much of that do you think is a mental thing and how much of it do you think is is physical tiredness uh that's a really great question i think you know a few times here and there it's bound to happen it will happen um like you said it's it's that human error of sport and with var and all the technology now i feel like we've really taken a lot of the human error out um but i'd say you know a if that happens, okay, but if it's consistently happening, then then maybe you have to ask, yeah, is it is it ah a fatigue thing? um Is it lack of concentration? And just pinpoint what exactly it is. I think at times when when we play different teams, obviously, they've studied us, they've developed their tactics, and they set up a certain way. They want us to force to to play a certain way, and I think we we played into that a little bit. and I felt like at times, a lot of the Villa players were forcing things because, like I said, we were playing into how they wanted us to play. It just kind of felt felt like, well, you know, I've sat on the ball now, like, let me just get rid of it rather than actually passing it on with a purpose and with, and with quality. I, yeah, I think it just comes down to patience and, and just finding the opportunity to have a quality attack.
In-Game Adaptation
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I felt like sometimes we were just kind of swinging at things. it It wasn't on. Maybe the near post cross wasn't on, the far post cross wasn't on, but we were trying to make it work and it just wasn't happening. Yeah, yeah, definitely. And I think we know as Villa fans how much of a ah kind of meticulous planner Unai Emery is. We know that every game he goes through foot hours of footage, analyses every player and knows every little kind of um kind of area of of how to exploit Club Bruges. Do you think we saw a a game plan that wasn't carried out? Do you think that there were kind of moments where the the team maybe didn't understand what was required of them or do you think it was a just a purely physical tiredness thing into the point where they couldn't physically carry out the plan I think I think maybe it's a bit of both I think perhaps and no I'll give this to all the managers out there um managers you know like you said we'll study the footage they'll come up with the tactics, with the plan, um formation, all of that. But at the end of the day, the manager can only set you up for so much success. As players, if you're carrying out that plan and in you're seeing that it's not working, the other team has adapted, they've changed something on on how they're playing, then it becomes an in-game decision. Well, we have play this way but that completely is shut down so what can we do now to adjust ourselves to find success i feel like that wasn't happening we weren't recognizing that or fine-tuning um how we were playing to break down bruges a bit more um and that's where i felt like we were just forcing things, um forcing, you know, those balls into the middle where it didn't need to be. We could have just, you know, kept the ball, sat on it a bit more to really pull them out of position and exploit um the spaces. And yeah, I just, I think it's maybe just adjusting, recognizing in the match, adjusting from there. If you, you if realise that what you've been training to do and what you've trained for is not working. Yeah, absolutely. And I think, you know, kind of talking about those those maybe tactical decisions, do you think that, I mean, we don't again, we don't want to pull out individual players because nobody had a great game this evening. But I think an area that I think sums up maybe what we what we mentioned there was Esri Konza
Konza's Positioning: Right Back Effectiveness
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at right back. Do you think this is kind of signaling the end of the right back experiment with Esri Konza? Well, I'll take this with me to the grave. i I just, I don't see ever why, i like, if he doesn't need to be in the right back, I would never put him there. I think he's so strong for us centrally and he does so well for us centrally. um I'd like him just to stay there. I think you know we saw Nadelkovic come in. like What other options do we have for those outside backs that can that can now step up to the plate and we can keep Kanz essentially where I think he's he's he's the best for us in terms of what we can get out of him um so hopefully it is the end of that and we can see maybe some new faces in that right back position but yeah I just that's that's one thing I will never have understood with all with all due respect um what about you is that something you agree with yeah I think it's a it's a weird one because I think it it kind of Esri Konza at right back has to come down to one or two things it's either that that Emery has so much loyalty to Torres and Carlos and he sees the strengths that Konza has and has to get fit three of them into a back four in some way, which I do understand because I think they're all players that have their qualities and we know that he's not a huge fan of Matty Cash, especially defensively. But then on the same score, it's Esri Konza doesn't fit the profile of a what a right back is in the modding game for me. He's not a great crosser of the ball. He doesn't give you a load of output attacking wise. He's a really good defender, a great one-on-one defender, brilliant in a tackle, great in the air. But ultimately, in the modern game, you need a little bit more out of your fullback going forward. And Konza just doesn't offer that. And I think he he's almost at the point where you know that because he's so far pinned back, it's an area that teams will look to exploit down their left, their right side. And I think it's it's a real shame because it means that one of Torres, Carlos or Konza will have deputised if Konza shuffles back into the middle. And I think that's a really difficult decision for Emery to make. But I think tonight is ah an example of what can go wrong when you're playing a centre half as kind of a makeshift right back. It just doesn't work for the balance of the back four and I think it makes things a lot more difficult than they necessarily need to be. We are going to be back after a short message from the Global Sports Podcast Network. This podcast is part of the Global Sports Podcast Network, the only network bringing you exclusive daily news and views on your Premier League team, the Premier League, women's football and fantasy football. A unique listening experience that puts the fans first, bringing you the very latest breaking news from your team. Subscribe wherever you get your podcasts and make us your first listen
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every day global sports podcast network every club every day
00:22:58
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talking about where Aston Villa go from
Villa's Champions League Strategy
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here. We are now winless in four games in all competitions and we're really struggling to find our form. How do you think Emery is going to approach the second half of this kind of Champions League phase in this kind of group phase, this new way that they're doing the kind of group stage in the Champions League? I don't see much changes, to be honest. I think, you know, after, you know, bringing up the winless in four games, that kind of felt like a punch to the gut. But I think I don't see much changes. I think leaning back on what John McGinn said, like the perspective, we need to have that perspective. I think for us to have had those three wins and three clean sheets in the first three matches of the Champions League was massive. And to drop one, maybe not against the top competition, but to drop one in those four matches is not, to me, a big deal. I think we're still in a really good spot. I think there's still a lot more in us to go forward in in the competition so I'm not panicking just yet I would like to see some response or reaction in terms of performance going forward but I think um I think it's it's not we're not panicking just yet and I think we can redeem ourselves a little bit. What are your thoughts on that? Yeah, I think exactly that. I think it's not necessarily time to hit the panic button yet because I think that large parts of our team are and have shown their quality and that they're perfectly capable of winning games in both the Champions League and the Premier League. I think it is just minor tweaks. I think it's little things that need changing, such as the Esri Konza situation, maybe working out kind of fitness and sharpness because, you know, it's a fine line between wanting to rotate the squad and give players the rest that they deserve, but also ensuring that the players that are coming into the squad are physically and mentally ready to kind of put up with the demands of Champions League football, especially. So I think tactically, you're not going to see any major changes. Emery has a very distinctive style that he plays, and I don't think we're going to deviate from that necessarily. But I think it's going to be interesting to see who he goes with and who he remains loyal to because I don't think we can afford to throw away points in the manner that we did tonight not only in the in the Champions League but in the Premier League as well you know you can't at this level afford to gift teams points because you know this is a warning sign for me as to further down the line in crunch games what the consequences of kind of silly mistakes can be and the games are coming thick and fast for us as well they don't get any easier we look ahead to to Saturday against Liverpool you know we're now as I said winless in four and something seemingly has to change what do you think is the most important thing that needs to be addressed before we travel to Anfield? That's really hard to pinpoint it to one match. I think if we're going to say addressed full stop, I would say consistency. I think for us to have really strong performances in Champions League and then we show up to Premier League match and we're dropping points. We've had a draw with someone where we should have won or we've lost because we've just kind of switched off in the last 20 minutes of the match. I think that is something that can easily be addressed. It might not be a fitness thing. It could be mentally or it could be a fitness thing but i think just that consistency and performance i think we can only harp on this so much about we need to turn this around and and because liverpool is not one to like they they will show no mercy and they will exploit us and they will punish so i think we can keep seeing it again and again like the next match needs to be better but i think now it's just about that that passion in life that's what i want to see um heading in to anfield i want to see passion in life it doesn't matter if our passes are off by your yard or we're our shots on goal or silly or they're not they're not with power or they're not accurate and we're kind of just padding stats.
Looking Ahead: Passion and Focus for Liverpool
00:27:31
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But I just want to see the fight in the players because I think when you come up against a team that's really gritty, it doesn't matter what their tactics are. It doesn't matter their skill level. They'll just be hard to play against if they're determined to get some points. What would you want to see heading into Enfield? I think for me, it's focus. I think that's been a huge thing that we've kind of, that's been the kind of everlasting issue that we've had, especially over the last four games. I think if you were to delve into each of those four games and kind of pinpoint the reason that we dropped points or lost them, it is down to focus. In the Bournemouth game, it was a last minute lack of focus from a free kick that dropped us two points. In the Palace game, it was a silly goal that kind of allowed them to beat us, a lack of focus. I think there was a lack of concentration and focus today in a really crucial pivotal moment. And then the Tottenham game where we went 1-0 up and then there was a lack of focus that allowed them to get back into the game. We don't want to rehash that one, definitely. But I think that's, you know, again, as you said there, Liverpool are a really, really good outfit. They're perfect in the Champions League, sat top of the Premier League and they will punish you for any lapses in concentration or focus. And I think that's definitely something that Emery will want to kind of, will talk to the players about in the fact that this is not a game we can afford silly mistakes, kind of sloppy passes, laps in concentration from set pieces. We have to be watertight. And I think those are all things that are going to be really important, especially with the environment that the Anfield brings whenever you go there. So it's going to be an interesting one. I'm slightly more nervous for the Liverpool game now than I would have been, say, four games ago when we were flying, beating everybody in the Champions League and flying high in the Premier League. But it's going to be an interesting one.
Conclusion and Tease for Next Episode
00:29:28
Speaker
And we will have a full preview for that Liverpool game later on in the week once we've recovered from this disappointing Champions League defeat. But that is all we now have time for on today's episode of the Daily Villa podcast. Thank you to Nyla for joining me. Be sure to get in touch across all the socials that you can find in the podcast description.
00:29:49
Speaker
this has been a global sport podcast production thank you for listening and of the bell