Aston Villa were on the end of a 2-1 defeat by Chelsea on Wednesday night and fans’ opinion was split on comments made by manager Dean Smith after the game. He explained how successful Chelsea were at putting them under pressure but thought his side went “toe-to-toe” with the Blues in spells.
Speaking to the club’s media team after the game, he said: “We ended up getting some great blocks and having to weather some storms. They put us under a relentless amount of pressure.
[freshpress-poll id=”264841″]
“But there were pockets of play where we went toe-to-toe with them and showed them what we’re about, but them pockets need to be more consistent if you’re to get a result at these sorts of places” (quotes from clip).
Consistency has been an issue for Villa, not just within isolated games but from week to week, with them putting consecutive wins together just once so far this Premier League season (Transfermarkt).
Aston Villa’s official Twitter account posted the clip of his interview to their page and fans were split when it came to Smith’s assessment about going toe-to-toe with the Blues. Many replied and disagreed with each other, with some choosing to point to the manager’s selection of Wesley as the main issue on the night.
Here are Dean Smith’s thoughts on #CHEAVL. 🗣️#AVFC #PL pic.twitter.com/uHMY50rksp
— Aston Villa (@AVFCOfficial) 4 December 2019
Some agreed with the manager:
Spot on analysis there deano, there were positive spells, but few and far between sadly, @TomHeatonGK was absolutely amazing and that free kick save was one of the best you’ll see, class keeper he is 👍
— mike (@m1kerafone) 5 December 2019
He’s the realist manager ive ever heard at villa
— charlie morrison (@charlrugby) 5 December 2019
Keep going deano 👏🏻👏🏻
— Peter Vahey (@VAHEY) 4 December 2019
While others were quick to criticise the manager’s selection of Wesley, which they felt didn’t work:
you need to drop Wesley , useless
— pjhollis74 (@pjhollis74) 5 December 2019
You could have any striker in the world playing solo upfront and perform the same as wesley. If you’re not getting fed the ball then all you’re doing is chasing down defenders. Which he did all game. You could see towards the end he was getting fed up doing it too.
— Kisu (@KisuAnt) 5 December 2019
Serious doubts if he sticks with Wesley. It’s not working.
— La Princesa de la Rodeo (@PrincesaRodeo) 4 December 2019
Watch Premier League Football Live and Free on Amazon Prime!
