[Albion] What WAS Roberto thinking?

[Kalimantan Gull]

Here's my postcard:

RDZ is playing the long game. Its a long season and players will get tired. So rotating, resting, giving minutes to young players and trying out different things is more important than the result.

Villa away is easily one of our four or five hardest fixtures of the season. Losing it doesn't matter that much in the great scheme of things.

We also forget how much of a development squad we are. Ferguson, Bart, Gilmour, Facu, Adingra, JP, Hinsh, Joao Pedro, Baleba are all youngsters. Lamptey, Fati, Dahoud haven't played that much of late. They need minutes and they need to be given time.

So, long season, don't really expect or need a result at Villa, so rest, rotate and give minutes to youngsters. Losing 6-1 probably wasnt part off the plan though.

 

[Cowfold Seagull]

Nah Baleba was ok to play. Ok he's raw but at least he's strong. Absolutely mental decision.

I'm not sure it was "mental", how many fit midfielders did he have? Remember too that we have two massive games within a few days next week, Marseille and trhen Liverpool.

It's Catch 22 really, does he play his absolute strongest eleven now and risk injury and overplaying them? or rest a few an d have them fighting fit for those very important games?

Not a decision l would want to make.

 

[Cowfold Seagull]

Here's my postcard:

RDZ is playing the long game. Its a long season and players will get tired. So rotating, resting, giving minutes to young players and trying out different things is more important than the result.

Villa away is easily one of our four or five hardest fixtures of the season. Losing it doesn't matter that much in the great scheme of things.

We also forget how much of a development squad we are. Ferguson, Bart, Gilmour, Facu, Adingra, JP, Hinsh, Joao Pedro, Baleba are all youngsters. Lamptey, Fati, Dahoud haven't played that much of late. They need minutes and they need to be given time.

So, long season, don't really expect or need a result at Villa, so rest, rotate and give minutes to youngsters. Losing 6-1 probably wasnt part off the plan though.

I agree that losing that one game isn't a disaster, (shame it had to be by so many though), losing however can quickly become a habit.

We need to bounce back fast.

 

[Terry Butcher Tribute Act]

Every pass the midfielders played forward ended up with the forwards losing the ball and not holding it up though. They needed an outlet to play the ball but weren’t getting any.

Yep. The forwards being useless didn't help. Welbeck's only defensive contribution was a silly yellow

 

[Kalimantan Gull]

I'm not sure it was "mental", how many fit midfielders did he have? Remember too that we have two massive games within a few days next week, Marseille and trhen Liverpool.

It's Catch 22 really, does he play his absolute strongest eleven now and risk injury and overplaying them? or rest a few an d have them fighting fit for those very important games?

Not a decision l would want to make.

I imagine when we're out of the cups and Europe we'll see a strongest eleven game in game out for the second half. And then hopefully go again in Europe and the league 24-25 with a more experienced team. Its a long game.

 

[macbeth]

If we'd beaten Villa today 6-1 with the same team selection, we'd all be praising RDZ.
He makes the decisions and will get them wrong and so what.
We lost 2 major midfielders, so will have to adjust.
Move on....

but everyone could see we weren’t going to win 6-1 before the game, people weren’t surprised with what happened during the game and the end result was kind of expected too.

so i think it’s fair enough to discuss the decisions when a lot of people predicted the outcome they had

 

[tigertim68]

I thought we were poor today , awful in the first half against Bournemouth , not very good against AEK , and pretty average against Chelsea , something needs to change

 

[Colonel Mustard]

It is what it is. I’m going to the pub.

 

[Guinness Boy]

It is what it is. I’m going to the pub.

Have one for me Graham

 

[Guinness Boy]

I don’t buy RDZ’s post match comments about “not being used to playing so many games”. Who exactly has played too many games, he keeps rotating them? Haven’t heard the interview but if he did say that it’s bollocks. It could work in the long term but at the moment the wheels are coming off with the rotation, don’t blame the amount of games players have played. It’s not true.

He means the squad / club / him. Obviously

 

[stss30]

Here's my postcard:

RDZ is playing the long game. Its a long season and players will get tired. So rotating, resting, giving minutes to young players and trying out different things is more important than the result.

Villa away is easily one of our four or five hardest fixtures of the season. Losing it doesn't matter that much in the great scheme of things.

We also forget how much of a development squad we are. Ferguson, Bart, Gilmour, Facu, Adingra, JP, Hinsh, Joao Pedro, Baleba are all youngsters. Lamptey, Fati, Dahoud haven't played that much of late. They need minutes and they need to be given time.

So, long season, don't really expect or need a result at Villa, so rest, rotate and give minutes to youngsters. Losing 6-1 probably wasnt part off the plan though.

Agree completely. A bit like the end of last season, our squad is very thin in some areas, particularly at the moment. Compare our squad to Villa's as a case in point today:- they had the likes of Ramsey and Tielemans on the bench.

It was just a particularly chasening scoreline today, I felt we didn't have much luck with VAR decisions which didn't help us in that regard.

 

[kevo]

Agree completely. A bit like the end of last season, our squad is very thin in some areas, particularly at the moment. Compare our squad to Villa's as a case in point today:- they had the likes of Ramsey and Tielemans on the bench.

It was just a particularly chasening scoreline today, I felt we didn't have much luck with VAR decisions which didn't help us in that regard.

Also massive deflection for their fourth goal when it looked like we *might* get back into it.

 

[willalbion]

If we'd beaten Villa today 6-1 with the same team selection, we'd all be praising RDZ.
He makes the decisions and will get them wrong and so what.
We lost 2 major midfielders, so will have to adjust.
Move on....

That, and Emery is an excellent manager, Villa are an excellent team and the way we play, we're gonna get a kicking from time to time. Least it's not boring.

 

[AmexRuislip]

but everyone could see we weren’t going to win 6-1 before the game, people weren’t surprised with what happened during the game and the end result was kind of expected too.

so i think it’s fair enough to discuss the decisions when a lot of people predicted the outcome they had

I'm only critical of the people who implode when we lose like this.
I thought we'd be in a decent chance of getting a result today.
Isn't RDZ philosophy of all our players fitting in whoever they are.
If he thought Hinshelwod was ready, then I would trust that decision.
Like I said if we'd won with today's side, then there's no issue, but as we lost, we just move on accept the loss, even though it hurts and trust in RDZ.

 

[Neville's Breakfast]

We’ve gone into a European season with a midfield significantly weaker than last season.

Our recognised CM’s are:
Gross
Gilmour
Baleba - not ready
Dahoud - not convinced by him.

We knew we had games every 3 days and one injury means we are playing an inexperienced young lad in midfield.

I don’t want to be reactionary because we’ve had a fantastic start to the season but today does really highlight just what a massive loss those two were, especially without proper match ready replacements.

Neither MacAllister nor Caicedo were match ready when they were signed. Similarly, we were never going to be paying the £150m that would have been needed to sign match ready equivalent replacements…if they exist…and were happy to sign for us. I just think it’s better to reserve judgement on this until the new players are settled in and playing. Neither ‘we are going to win the title’ threads nor their opposite equivalents do justice to the bumpy path we are on.

 

[AmexRuislip]

I imagine when we're out of the cups and Europe we'll see a strongest eleven game in game out for the second half. And then hopefully go again in Europe and the league 24-25 with a more experienced team. Its a long game.

The PL is our bread and butter.
Euro trip a gift from that bread and butter.
FACup nostalgic.
Carabao Cup to give Chelsea a chance of some shiny thing.

 

[Shropshire Seagull]

Answers on a postcard please.

Playing Gilmour and Hinselwood in midfield against Luiz, McGinn and Ramsay has potential to be one of the most mind boggling tactical decisions I’ve ever seen at the Albion, even Mac and Caicedo struggled to contain the Villa midfield last season.

Today really highlighted our lack of proper match ready replacement for those two key players we lost, which has finally come back to haunt us. Oh and just how vital Gross is to this team.

Maybe reading too much into it but RDZ can’t be happy with the midfield we’ve been left with surely? To sell £150m of world class midfielders and not replace them is rather questionable to say the least.

At the end of his post match interview, when specifically asked about 18-year-old Jack Hinshelwood, I'm sure I heard RDZ say he was our best player ....

 

[DJ NOBO]

Our defence normally ping it about with massive success. Opposition know what we are going to do but can’t stop us. Today our stalwarts looked pressured, shaky and unsure, from the off. Disastrously, the forwards were invisible and the midfield lacked the presence and clout to bail them out. No Caicedo, no Mac, no Gross.
Billy has vision and can spot a pass but he lacks the wide skill set of Mac and Caicedo. He’s dogged but small.
And it was too much for Hinshelwood to be expected to collect the ball from Dunk and Webster with two Villa players on him. Maybe that’s why they didn’t pass to him much. It was the wrong call to play him against a team like Villa.
Baleba is physical and would have enjoyed standing up to villa’s midfield. I don’t understand why he didn’t play.
Unless RDZ is rotating him, but that makes little sense as he’s hardly played. If Baleba doesn’t start against Marseille I really am scratching my head.

 

[Bakero]

100%. Selling Caicedo looks stupider every day.

Someon really should have realised Caicedo was good and tried to keep hold of him. That Argentinian kid too.

 

[The Wizard]

Someon really should have realised Caicedo was good and tried to keep hold of him. That Argentinian kid too.

I said at the start of the season and I stand by, selling Caicedo and Mac for £150m+ and essentially attempting to replace them with 2 midfielders (Dahoud and Baleba) dramatically weakened us, that’s going from a midfield that is arguably up there with the best in the league to two unknowns who aren’t ready.

I have a feeling this issue is going to reoccur this season as well, you can’t lose two players of that quality and fitness and replace them so half heartedly when you know we are going to play an unprecedented amount of games.