One man who didn’t take his opportunity to impress in the weekend’s clash with Swansea City at Villa Park was on loan Everton man, Yannick Bolasie.
The winger came on for Ahmed Elmohamady in the in the 64th minute of the second half and with Elmo having had a pretty decent game and with him laying on the assist for Tammy Abraham’s opener, Bolasie was going to have to do something to take the headlines for himself.
He didn’t and whilst plenty of fans were more than happy to heap praise on new head coach Dean Smith for making three attack-minded substitutions, a poor day for the 29-year-old saw him come in for some criticism on social media and it only boosted the praise going in Elmohamady’s direction.
Delighted for the win. Lot of hard work still for the new boss. Chances spurned, but we must stop giving the ball away so cheaply (Bjarnason worst culprit). McGinn terrific, Abraham works hard & another goal. Bolasie? Worst half hour I've seen for some time ???? #utv #avfc
— Rob Aston ???????????? (@RobA19) October 20, 2018
Bolasie was gash. Elmo was having a great game too. #avfc
— Chris Stanley (@chrisstanley1) October 20, 2018
Great win , McGinn and the defence were class , Bolasie was dreadful . Grealish with another mediocre performance . Would it be better to play Hourihane ahead of him ? Smith making 3 positive attacking subs tho , quality #avfc #utv #vtid
— everything villa (@thevillahub) October 20, 2018
Clean sheet. 3 points. McGinn was unreal. Bolasie was worse than shocking.#AVFC #UTV pic.twitter.com/sdpRY3RFbD
— Sam McAllister (@SupersizedSam) October 20, 2018
Can see why bolasie doesn’t start, he doesn’t seem to know what defending is #avfc
— villa_views (@villanews11) October 20, 2018
Safe to say I can see why Elmo starts of Bolasie… #UTV #AVFC
— Jamie (@DavzSkiller) October 20, 2018
In fairness to Bolasie, he still doesn’t look a shadow of the player he was at Crystal Palace to me and whilst fitness may not now be an issue for him following his injury, confidence is the next thing to follow. But he’s never been renowned for a defensive ethic as far as I’m aware so it feels harsh to criticise him on that basis.
However, Smith will want rounded performances from everyone and that may prove to be his undoing, irrespective of what he may offer in the future at the top end of the pitch.