da wazamba： Dean Smith gave an honest admission about Aston Villa’s defensive woes following their 3-1 loss against Southampton, as reported by the club’s official website.
What did he say?
da bet nacional： Only Southampton and Norwich City have conceded more Premier League goals this season than Villa’s 33.
This offers an indication of just how leaky their defence has been since they took the step up from Championship football to the top tier, despite signing the likes of Tom Heaton and Bjorn Engels.
The poor defensive record will definitely have played a part in the Villans’ current place in the bottom three, as they have outscored everyone who is 12th and below, while they have also amassed more goals than fifth-placed Sheffield United.
With this in mind, Smith has spoken about their defensive troubles: “Players have to take responsibility at times and so do I. We’ve conceded seven in the last two home games.
“We were very poor defensively against Leicester, but today was more individual mistakes with the goals.
“There are certainly elements that we need to get better at defensively and we have to do that quickly.”
Must improve
The Villa manager mentioned that seven goals have been conceded in their last two home games, which simply isn’t good enough – even if four of those came against a Leicester City side that has been very impressive this campaign, sitting in the top four.
Red Herring or Real Hero: Only hardcore Villa fans will get all of them right….
This need for improvement was on full show against the Saints, as the defending was nowhere near good enough for any of their three goals.
Bjorn Engels was easily done by a Nathan Redmond pass, Jack Stephens was put under no pressure for his header and Marvelous Nakamba presented Danny Ings with his chance on a plate.
To give away three goals with such ease, especially in a game of such importance, is seriously concerning for Smith and his team.
It is undoubted that Villa need to improve defensively if they are to begin climbing the table.
In other news, fans have blasted Smith after their defeat to Southampton.