My reflections for what they're worth yesterday. We pressed well in the first half, but it was a silly sloppy mistake that allowed the long shot for the Vila goal. A huge set back. That said, Mbia and Diakite looked good in the middle and the little chipped effort was beautifully angled in by Mackie. Jamie Mackie, whist not technically the best, gives absolutely everything and if he could encourage others to do the same, we'd have no lack of chances. At this level we need to be pressing teams such as Villa throughout, as technically all of the EPL teams are well setup, but cracks show under pressure. Without Diakite and Mbia we lacked incision. We all love Derry, but he was yards off the pace and isn't going to go past players, as such this slowed down the play and Villa held a high line and forced us to try to pass through them. Hoillet needs a rocket. He came on and jogged around when tracking back. A disgrace. There were also a few signs where both full backs gave up. If anything is going to get the crowds back up its a perceived lack of desire. Thankfully it was only two incidents, but these guys must know how this comes across. A few worrying signs, at times Villa countered and seemed to have a player over, especially on their left side. Better sides will kill us off in these circumstances. SWP for all his previous failings seemed to find some form at last, but he must take some shooting practice. We had four golden chances before 75 minutes. Had we taken one of these, I think we would have gone on to win 2-1. After that we ran out of ideas and were so slow Villa's fresh subs just held a solid line. In the last quarter of the match we must gamble more, I lost count of the number of times that we could have taken a quick speculative shot, but chose to switch the ball to the wing instead. They won't always come off, but sometimes, a little deflection or parry by the keeper can open up a simple tap in. And forget the short corners, just get the ball in the box! So, in summary, a little step forward, but we needed much more.
Too many passes around the box rather than into it, and when the ball did go into the box there weren't enough bodies to make it count. Why were Villa's backline nearer the halfway line than their goal line in the last 15 minutes? We were powder-puff upfront...
