Aston Villa fans have been fuming with manager Dean Smith for his post-match interview after Sunday’s defeat to Leicester.
This comes after Villa journalist Ashley Preece shared a post on his official Twitter page revealing how Smith said his team were “not too open” in defence despite conceding four goals.
Preece’s post also contained an article from the Birmingham Mail on Smith’s full post-match interview.
This post then gathered many replies from Villa fans who did not like Smith’s comments on the Villa defence.
Will Aston Villa avoid relegation this season?
Yes
No
Here’s a sample of Villa fans reacting to Smith’s post-match comments:
This is the 1st time I’ve taken issue with Smith’s post match comments. He made a mistake picking Elmo, he made an error with Mings and we were too open as we’ve been frequently this season.
— Mark Ashmore (@mg_ashmore) December 9, 2019
By and large i think the defence have defended quite well this season. The issue is they are having to defend too much. Hit something so many times with a hammer, it eventually breaks.
Sorry Deano, we are far far far too open.
— Scott (@CaptainScott87) December 9, 2019
It’s been a major problem from the get go. Aswell as teams playing through the lines far too easily, we don’t defend crosses well enough at source and get caught ball watching hence why we concede. Targett, Luis are good examples, too slow and passive out of possession.
— stuart plant (@splanty19) December 9, 2019
Villa currently sit in 17th place just above the relegation zone in the Premier League table. Now with this latest defeat against Leicester, some Villa fans have been asking questions of Smith and his team.
This is my big concern
He laments shots conceded. But this has been a problem all season. We’ve allowed more shots than anyone in the league
They just broken onto out back 4 at complete ease. How on earth that isn’t too open I don’t know
— Marty Funkhauser (@BullocksBig) December 9, 2019
FWIW I think it’s been too last ditch and desperate at times-examples of great individual defending but think there’s too much pressure on them at times, whether we look to play 2 holding/drop a winger and go more solid in the middle I don’t know Rodgers 100% had our number
— Noel Gerard Loughrey (@NGLoughrey) December 9, 2019
Well if you’re going to pick garbage such as Targett and Elmohamdy then you’ll be lamenting every week to some degree.
— Brian Brogden (@you_big_bully) December 9, 2019
What do we think?
To avoid relegation in their first season back in the Premier League, Villa need to fix up their defence and get someone in who can score goals consistently. With the upcoming January transfer window just around the corner, it would come as no surprise if Villa were to bring in some reinforcements to bolster their squad for the remainder of the season in an effort to avoid a relegation battle.