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S1 E56 Sob on the Tyne
14 Plays14 days ago
On today's episode Joe and Nyla analyse the issues from a 3-0 defeat against Newcastle on Boxing Day.
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Transcript
Introduction and Overview
00:00:05
Speaker
sports podcast network work
00:00:10
Speaker
Hello and welcome back to another episode of the Daily Villa Podcast as part of the Global Sport Podcast Network. My name is Joe Boone and I'm delighted once again to be joined by Nyla to talk about all things Villa. Before we get into it Nyla, how how are you feeling? How are you doing?
00:00:28
Speaker
Yeah, I'm not too bad to be fair. um Obviously could be a bit better, but also everything could be a bit worse. um But it's the holidays ah as you said earlier. So we're trying to keep everything up in good spirits. How are you doing?
00:00:42
Speaker
Yeah, it very much the same. I think, you know, Villa, I'm trying not to let it ruin the ah the festive spirit. But yeah, it's ah a really tough one and a disappointing one, I think, which we we're going to get into in in
Post-Match Analysis: Villa's Defeat
00:00:55
Speaker
this episode. So as we've alluded to, we're here after a really disappointing three nil defeat at St. James Park in which it seemed as though a sort of a catalog of errors, especially in the second half from Villa.
00:01:07
Speaker
We're going to dissect all those key moments throughout this episode and try and work out exactly what's happened. But first of all, just as a kind of general point, Nyla, in your eyes, what went wrong today?
00:01:19
Speaker
Well, there was a few things and I think, of course, everyone might, well, everyone might, everyone will say, have something to say about the officiating. um I think that's just football. There's going to have, you're going to have games where it feels like you've got kind of an upper hand with the officiating and games where you feel like you're you've got, you're playing against 12 men.
00:01:41
Speaker
um But with that, it just comes becomes about what you can control um and taking, almost playing as if you can take the officiating out of the match so it doesn't have an impact. But aside from that, um obviously playing with 10 men for a good portion of the game was tough. I think defensively it was a bit sloppy.
00:02:05
Speaker
And I think that's where they really punished us and capitalized there to put the game away. What were your thoughts about the match? Yeah, I completely agree. I think exactly what you said there in terms of being able to control what we can control. We're going to get into the officiating a little bit further down the line because I think that's a whole different argument in itself. But exactly what you said there is correct. We have to roll with the punches and we've been on both the good and the bad end of some of the controversial officiating that we've seen this season. and And ultimately, you know, we have to look at exactly what you said there in terms defensively. We were sloppy. The decision making was really poor, which is another point we're going to touch on later. But we lost, you know, we went down to 10 men, but it wasn't a center half or a left back or a right back or even a holding midfielder that when it was our striker. So as much as that does affect the press in terms of how we play, it shouldn't affect our
00:02:59
Speaker
like defensive decision making, which is where I feel we were kind of so sloppy and where I think a lot of the goals came from. So I think that the whole 10 men thing, as much as it did hinder us going forward, it can't be used to kind of, um it can't be used as an excuse for a lot of the the sloppy defensive play that I think we've seen today.
Key Moments: Gordon's Goal
00:03:17
Speaker
um We found ourselves a goal down in in just under two minutes as Tenali won the ball in the midfield. He's kind of worked it out to Anthony Gordon and very Grealish-esque goal from Anthony Gordon kind of opens his body up and seems to curl it up and over Martinez into that that top corner. But one of the things that I noticed, Nyla, was the the kind of miscommunication between Konza and Cash down our right-hand side. So Newcastle was left where Gordon was attacking down. They kind of both leave him. I think they assume that the other one's going to pick him up and ah Gordon was kind of caught in that half space and was able to have kind of the freedom of Newcastle to take his shot. so
00:03:56
Speaker
Did it look to you as though there was sort of some sort of miscommunication there? I actually had to go watch that back a few times. um I did feel like in that build-up to that play there was a bit of a Newcastle overload on that side but regardless that shouldn't have changed our back line. They still needed to be compact um and I think what the trouble was um was that Matty Cash maybe was anticipating the ball to go out wide his positioning His positioning was a bit off. I think he's a bit too far from Kanzo there, um allowing that gap.
00:04:33
Speaker
But also, the way that his body is positioned is doing absolutely nothing for Martinez. He's not blocking the path of the ball. He's not forcing um the ball carrier towards the the the sideline. So he's he's really not doing much there to do anything. And and whether that's kind a miscommunication between content and cash, I don't know. But it just kind of felt like Cash didn't know what he was doing. It didn't look to anyone that he knew what he was doing. It was just a bit kind of in no man's land facing the wrong way. um So so yeah that's just what it looked to me um like I think if we're we've got our heads kind of screwed on and and concentrated he's just tucked in a bit more towards Kansa and that lane might not be there to to pull off that shot. That's just what I saw but would you say it looked like a miscommunication between the two? Yeah I think it was and I think what you said there about the overload on that side is is exactly right. I think looking at that in terms of
00:05:38
Speaker
why we're getting overloaded on that side. I think exactly what you say, Cash is expecting the the overlap from, I think it was the Newcastle left back whose name's escaped me that is kind of overlapping looking to kind of cross the ball in. But as you mentioned there, Cash's body's completely wrong. He kind of assumes that the ball's going out wide. And I think also we look at the kind of two holding midfielders, whether it's Kamara or Anana,
00:06:01
Speaker
One of them has got to be in that kind of space just in front of the back four to kind of pick up Anthony Gordon there because we know how much of a danger he can be going forward and and kind of the skills and and the ability that he has. In terms of the actual shot going in as a keeper yourself, is there much more Martinez could have done just to kind of cover that base?
00:06:18
Speaker
No, this is one of those ones where you just have to give credit where it's due. It was just an excellent finish. um Not to say that Martinez didn't have some great saves as usual, but that one, that's just a tough one. You just kind of have to shake it off and give credit where it's due. There's only so much you can do as the last line of defense there.
00:06:39
Speaker
But I'm sure he's kind of kicking himself that always, what if, you know, what if my positioning was this or, you know, what if I took an extra step here or that? So you can really go on and and never kind of end up with a finalized answer, but I just think that was a great finish. Yeah, I think that's probably of the three goals, the one that you could look at and go, you know, fair enough, that's a great goal. It's how now we respond to that.
00:07:04
Speaker
um And at one nil down, we're we're still in the game.
Controversial Red Card Debate
00:07:07
Speaker
It's still very much you know in the balance until what was for me a really horrendous decision that we kind of alluded to earlier in the episode that saw John Duran dismissed for seemingly trying to avoid stamping on Fabian Shaw. Really bizarre decision in my mind. What what did you make of it?
00:07:26
Speaker
i Yeah, I also thought it was really bizarre and I think um In the post-match interview Unai Emery said something really interesting and he kind of mentioned how he was a bit confused about, you know, where the consensus came to determine that as a red card. And he mentioned something like, you know, maybe it is because it's John Duran. And I think with all the attention he's gained over the season, um it kind of can put a bit of a target on your back. um And not saying like, i again, I'm not saying anything's right or wrong, but it does make you think a little bit where now you've got this,
00:08:05
Speaker
player who's over the course of the season, he's gained this reputation, super sub, he's been, you know, on a good performance streak in the last couple matches. So yeah, I think, I think, ah I don't know, I don't, I wouldn't give that a red card. um ah Yeah, the pure intention there. I don't think so. Yeah. Would you agree?
00:08:28
Speaker
Yes, I will. I think for me, what kind of makes this so strange is the fact that you can give a little bit of almost sympathy or the benefit of the doubt to the on-field ref because it's coming together. It all happens very quickly and you don't know exactly where Duran's feet end up or what Duran's kind of intentions are, but it's a straight red card. The VAR officials can look at that incident in slow motion and see that Duran is trying to pull his foot out of going down at full force on Fabian Shah's back. and I think it's such a ah strange decision and I think there is reports coming out now that it's something we're going to look to appeal which I think is it makes a lot of sense and you'd like to think that kind of sanity will prevail and we will have John Buran for the the Brighton game but I think it's just another example to add it to the list of sort of things that VAR hasn't quite got right and you know that's a kind of topic we can make a whole episode on VAR decisions and
00:09:22
Speaker
It's just, you know, like what's the what's the alternative there? you're Your opponent's falling in front of you. Your body momentum's going the same way. You're trying not to step on them. And then you're also kind of like the grass is a bit slick. So you're skidding. You're falling. ah What is he supposed to do?
00:09:39
Speaker
Exactly. And I think that's the big thing for me is the intention. There is there's nothing else he can do, you know, with the momentum of the speed that he's running at and the tackle from Fabian Shah that kind of took Duran's leg out from underneath him. I don't know where else he's meant to put his feet. And I think Eddie Howe in his yeah post there match conference even kind of emphasized that it was a bit of a harsh decision. So hopefully that will be appealed and that will be successful and we'll have him because he's obviously a really important player and now seemingly ah a starting striker for us. So Yeah, but after this short break and a short message courtesy of Zencast, that we're going to be looking at some of the stats and the remaining goals from the 3-0 defeat at Newcastle.
00:10:23
Speaker
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Defensive Challenges and Errors
00:11:02
Speaker
Welcome back and Villa found themselves 2-0 down after a ball was swept across the face of goal and met at the back stick by Alexander Esak. Poor defending, once again from the backline, two men relatively unmarked in the middle. How has that been allowed to happen? niya I would love to know. I think that's always been something we've struggled with is that ball coming across the the six yard, the 18 yard, whatever it may be. And we've got runners coming in back post. It's a tracking thing. um Perhaps it's we're not checking our shoulders. We're losing sight of the man.
00:11:40
Speaker
um I don't know if it's it's, it's hard because when you're in that situation, you're both facing your own goal. I think it's a bit hard to defend those types of balls, but at that point, I mean, we saw, I think it was Kansa tried to slide and intercept that, but it just wasn't enough.
00:11:58
Speaker
um For me, it's just disappointing because I that's been a common theme that I've noticed um that they will struggle with in the fact that it's still getting getting us um and allowing us to concede at this point is a bit disappointing. Yeah, but the it is really disappointing. I think, you know, it's a very kind of signature Alexander Esak goal popping up in the in the middle to kind of sweep home balls across the box and I don't know how somebody of his quality was kind of left to roam free in that area if you know if I'm a defender in that situation I'm touched tight to Esak at kind of every opportunity because you know the the clinical nature that he has and I think the fact that he's been allowed to kind of walked into that area relatively unpressured
00:12:43
Speaker
and what was even more kind of frustrating is that I can't remember again who was at that back post but there was someone else there who'd kind of been allowed to if ESAC did miss it there was somebody there to sweep it up so it was just it was miscommunication once again from the back line and I think that that's something that Emory's going to have to kind of drill into the players that we we've conceded a really sloppy goal there through miscommunication and Newcastle's dangerous attacking players being able to kind of have the freedom of the box to to tap home. So, yeah, it's really concerning, I think. I think it's something Emery will also find concerning given his kind of tactical attention to detail.
00:13:23
Speaker
I think another kind of on on top of that issue, the nail finally came in the coffin in added time at the end of the game where Jolinton added a third goal. There was a few occasions where the decision making from the defence, we've spoken about that kind of briefly already. And Emi Martinez was also poor in terms of playing the ball out from the back, sloppy with some of our passes, not clearing the ball when we needed to. What is that kind of that that lack of focus or or lack of of decision making, I suppose? what What do you think that comes down to?
00:13:54
Speaker
That could i could be so many things. I don't know. um I think our away form we've struggled with, but that shouldn't be an excuse. um For me, i don't I don't know if it's the time of year that it is that people you know have other things going on. So that's where their mind is. um i I don't want to come down to preparation. We know that Emory puts so much into preparing the game plan and strategies.
00:14:22
Speaker
um Even coming down to the lineup who's playing and and where but for me, yeah, I there' just It's been something that I think has been building as well. like We saw it with in the Nodding the Forest game, just pur dis like the making towards the end especially, but yeah, I just i don't know, but it it needs to be addressed, it needs to change. um I think with that, it just it's making the match harder for Villa unnecessarily, um putting them under pressure and putting them in situations where they can get exposed.
00:14:55
Speaker
um Which is you don't want to show that because there are teams in this league that will punish that ruthlessly um wait Is it maybe mental fatigue because we have played a lot of matches up to this point um I don't know you could you could pin it on a lot of different things I think it might be a mixture of everything but was there anything that stood out to you specifically and Yeah I think it's a really difficult one as you said there to kind of put your finger on one thing because I think there's a ah few kind of variables that could that could be at kind of play here but I think for me the biggest kind of issue from today's game was communication in terms of kind of the way that the back four linked up and seemed to move together. We've we've kind of been lauded for that ability of that back four moving up and down together and and playing a high line sitting when it needs to and
00:15:51
Speaker
And it seems that we've kind of seen week on week that be kind of exposed or unraveled a little bit. And I think a couple of goals today come down to lack of communication and and maybe poor positioning from some of the defenders. So I think that today is probably where the the the fault lies for me and in the performance. But looking at the game more generally,
00:16:10
Speaker
I think we mentioned we spoke in detail about the red card earlier and how that kind of changed the game a little bit. But in terms of us not being able to take the game to Newcastle without our striker, what do you think the game plan was from Emery? What do you think his message was when Duran went off? Do you think there was a kind of an emphasis on still taking the game to Newcastle or do you think he tried to shut up shop a bit too early?
00:16:34
Speaker
Um, I don't see him as one to to shut up the shop. I think with that situation, like you you mentioned earlier, it's it's our striker that's gone. It's not, you know,
00:16:48
Speaker
where you have to redesign and reimagine the whole game plan. You've just got that front line, that press that might have to adjust. With that, it's super hard to defend the majority of the game. When you're defending most of the game, you're going to you're going to concede. It's really hard to to have solid defending when that's all you're doing for the game. So I think The balance would have been to find more control, um whether it's maybe it's not getting forward as quickly, so we're not caught in transition perhaps, but at least just maintaining possession of the ball, um even if it's near the midline, near halfway. Just to relieve that pressure off of our back line, I think probably would have been
00:17:34
Speaker
Maybe the word said, but I don't see him you know saying sit in this low block and just defend because I don't think there would be, as you saw, any really good outcome from just playing defensively for the rest of the match. What were your thoughts on that? Do you think?
00:17:50
Speaker
Yeah, I do agree. I think he would have had a a sort of message for when Duran came off in terms of how he wanted the team to play.
Strategic Improvements Needed
00:17:58
Speaker
I think one of the things that was slightly alarming for me was, I think if I'm a manager who's just had ah a striker sent off, the thing I want the team to do is look after the ball for the majority of the game when you've got it because you know you're going to give up a certain amount of possession and Villa certainly did that. Newcastle had 63% possession which is a lot of the ball and very different to the way that we're kind of used to see this Villa team playing. whi We're kind of more used to us having more of the ball but
00:18:24
Speaker
you can put that down to the striker being sent off, that's fine. What was more alarming to me is the ah pass accuracy of the team was 80%, so that's one in every five passes going astray. Now, without my striker on the pitch, I know that we're going to give up possession, so I also know that the possession that we do have needs to be... We need to look after the ball, and I don't think Villa did that well enough, hence why we've kind of come off on the the wrong side of the result. In terms of looking after the ball,
00:18:53
Speaker
When when you you go a man down, how important is that to kind of keep the ball and and keep possession? It's so important, I think, in terms of managing the game, especially with the time that Duran was sent off. i mean you're You're a man down, so you have to also manage your legs. you have to If someone's under a lot of pressure, like having possession of the ball allows your team to also rest. You do have to you know work to get yourself in position to keep the ball, but it slows the game down, allows you to breathe.
00:19:25
Speaker
um And really all that asks for you, of you, is is just a bit of creativity. You just have to find a way to get yourself in the position to keep the ball, really, and for everyone to keep doing that. um But I think it just allows a bit of relief to the back line.
00:19:43
Speaker
um And I think it would have allowed stoppage in Newcastle's momentum. I think it's an excellent way to kind of slow the game down to break up their momentum so they're not just right down our throats, um back to back to back, play after play. So I think that's something, and even in any match that Villa plays, I think that's something that they can improve on um that will definitely change the game.
00:20:11
Speaker
Yeah, absolutely. I completely agree. And another kind of stat that was quite alarming is that Newcastle ended up with 22 shots on our goal. um That for me is ah at once again a really alarming stat because you know we can keep going back to the fact that we were down to 10 men and our striker wasn't on the pitch. But as you mentioned, if you keep allowing a team to kind of attack you wave after wave of pressure, then eventually you're going to break. And I think with 22 shots, are we I suppose fortunate that it was only three goals?
00:20:42
Speaker
I would say so. I think there was a few ones where it went out of bounds before it was hit the back of the net or um things were called offside or it was called back. So I definitely think the score could have been higher for Newcastle. I think in terms of all of the shots that um they were on target, if you look back and you look at where the shots were and and so you go back to those plays, we're just giving them way too much time.
00:21:12
Speaker
They can take a touch and have the space to look up, put their head down and strike. That's too much time. um No matter where it is on the pitch. And I think that was a big letdown for Villa. Not just a back line, even in midfield. There was just too much time for them on the ball to get shots.
00:21:31
Speaker
Yeah, I think we we give them far too much space. I think you can see that in the first goal, even early on, we've got 11 men on the pitch. Anthony Gordon's got far too much space to be able to take that shot. And I think that's something that was a kind of reoccurring theme throughout the game, how much space Newcastle seem to have to kind of be able to do whatever they want, whether it was make a pass or take the shot. I think that's something Emery will hopefully try and and stamp out because we were so good at pressing for so long and it was something that we were kind of known for not giving teams that that time and and hassling them and making it really difficult for them and that's something we haven't necessarily seen in recent weeks. and I think some of our results, some of our our wins especially at home have kind of papered over the cracks for the fact we've maybe not seen that as much so I think that's something he's going to be pretty keen to re-establish.
00:22:18
Speaker
We're going to try and put this behind us and look ahead to the the game against Brighton, inject a bit of positivity after a very short message from the Global Sports Podcast Network.
00:22:30
Speaker
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00:22:59
Speaker
So as I mentioned, we're going to be looking ahead to the Brighton game. What type of reaction do you expect from the team, Nyla?
Looking Ahead: Villa vs. Brighton
00:23:08
Speaker
I hope a fiery one. um I'm a bit uh i don't know i'm i'm a bit concerned i think heading into this match i think obviously with duran out with the red card for a couple games i know you mentioned they'll try to appeal who knows what happened with that but i believe um maddie cash picking up a card means he won't be available as well
00:23:33
Speaker
So I've got no idea yeah what's going to happen with that back line. But I hope that we do see more aggressive defending. We see that communication. We see a unit that moves up and down the field side to side together. um And I think you have to simplify it. That's really it. I just want to see everyone on the same page um playing together as one unit rather than having three different lines or you know the different positions and in layers to that. What would you like to see? Yeah, I'd like to see a ah team that are kind of on the same page. As you said there, I think we're back at home, which is where we tend to perform better this season. I want to see a performance that is more kind of reflective of Bunai Emery's villa and how good we know we can be. I want to see pressing. I want to see the way we move the ball properly, the way the defense moves up and down together. And just a complete performance. I think it's a ah really good opportunity to get back on track bright in a without a few of their their key players, especially in kind of midfield and defensive areas. So I think it's a really good opportunity for us to to go out and and and win a game and put ourselves back in that kind of top five conversation because you know I'm looking at the Premier League table now and it's it's so, so tight in those kind of fifth to ninth tenth spot so you can win one game and be straight back up there so you know it's not panic stations in terms of a league form yet but i think there are some questions that will be asked of of maybe some of the performances in terms of kind of in the Brighton game as i say i just want to see a ah possession side that is reflective of Unai Emery
00:25:13
Speaker
that are all on the same wavelength and hopefully pose some attacking threat with or without Duran, whether it's Watkins or Duran that starts that game. And to wrap up the episode, Nyla, we're going to obviously have a ah preview, I dare say, of the Brighton game further down the line, but how important is this Brighton game after today's result?
00:25:33
Speaker
I think the Brighton game would be the opportunity to kind of right this wrong um and to end the year on a good note. I think a win against Brighton would almost kind of cancel out this Newcastle disaster.
00:25:50
Speaker
um But you know when you look at all the results of December, um a win with Brighton would kind of balance the board a bit in terms of how the month has gone for Villa. So yeah no pressure, but I think you know the a result would be massive for the team.
00:26:11
Speaker
Yeah, I agree completely. I think it's going to be huge, as I mentioned there, in terms of the table. You know you can go up to as high as fifth if results go kind of our way. And I think that you know we need to keep putting ourselves in in those positions, those fifth and sixth positions, consistently. Because I think there are teams in that that kind of lower top half of the table that will ah will fall away as the season progresses. We're getting into a ah really congested kind of fixture period.
00:26:39
Speaker
of the Premier League and I think we need to make sure that we're in and around those positions pretty consistently. That is about all we 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. This has been a global sports podcast production. Thank you for listening and as always of the Villa.