Reivax_Villa

I can forgive Lansbury for that miss, he has converted more penalties this pre season

Without a doubt Chester and Terry are cleaning up the attacks nicely.

We have the best defence in the league..

I think in a nutshell They are going to provide this club with the necessary tools & technology to fulfil some of our objectives and hopefully this knowledge and understanding would be something that this club would utilise after the partnership deal has completed. In return Hisense gain a greater exposure in the UK resulting in a newer demographic consumer & business wise and within football, rugby and other sporting industries. It does appear to be a good partnership for them. This could potentially help Hisense build more partnerships in the UK.

It appears that this man is having a serious impact to our commercial side . One of our main objectives at the start of last season was to have a real online presence. We now have just over one million followers on twitter. The youtube channel appears very active. The club seem to be supporting Villa view on youtube. We have acquired a few partnerships with the view over creating a better consumer (Supporters) experience. Renovation to the Directors box Marketing Campaigns in the city centre. There may be more that i have missed out. I like how Luke Organ is pushing us commercially and setting objectives like we are a premier league club during his short time. If you look throughout this league, the clubs have a very modest approach commercially. I know that this is a results game and it may mean nothing but one cannot be excited, especially if we get promoted. I would go far as saying that we are making a bigger stand commercially than some of the premier league clubs. If we do not get promoted I would not be surprised if a club like Everton or West Ham try to get him on board. Exciting times ahead... IF we get promoted

I have been saying this for a while. Didn't Bruce ship out Hourihane as a youngster at Sunderland?

So we spent 5 million on a league one quality player..

I think he's our best CM at the moment.

hmm

Lansbury is currently our better center midfielder. He has a lot more influence on the game. Aggression, passing range, set pieces, penalties. Very important player for us at the moment.

He looked great, let's hope he can build on more from this. He looks to enjoy playing with elmo

This is the first time i've seen hogan enjoying himself in a Villa shirt

Both goals coming from the right side. Well done Elmo

It is great to have Steer back. Our goalkeeping department looks relatively solid now

Totally agree with this however i would like to think that he is working on his game.

Big season for him. I think he will deliver. He has goals in him, he just needs to work on his play and linking up with the players better.

The tournament will be streamed live on the villa youtube channel

What i do like most about this signing is that he was almost a significant part of the narrative "But could they do it on a cold rainy night in Stoke? ". Hopefully he brings a new toughness to our side and the pundits will now say "But could they do it on a cold rainy night at Villa? ".

1 GK Sam Johnstone (on loan from Manchester United) 2 DF Nathan Baker 3 DF Neil Taylor 4 DF Micah Richards 5 MF Henri Lansbury 6 DF Tommy Elphick 7 MF Leandro Bacuna 8 MF Aaron Tshibola 9 FW Scott Hogan 11 FW Gabriel Agbonlahor 12 DF James Chester 13 GK Jed Steer 14 MF Conor Hourihane 16 DF James Bree 17 MF Jordan Veretout 19 MF André Green 20 MF Birkir Bjarnason 21 DF Alan Hutton No. Position Player 22 MF Gary Gardner 23 DF Jordan Amavi 25 MF Mile Jedinak 26 DF John Terry (captain) 27 DF Ritchie De Laet 28 DF Aly Cissokho 29 FW Rushian Hepburn-Murphy 31 GK Mark Bunn 35 MF Corey Blackett-Taylor 37 MF Albert Adomah 38 MF Jordan Lyden 39 FW Keinan Davis 40 MF Jack Grealish 44 FW Ross McCormack 46 DF Kevin Toner — DF Christopher Samba — FW Jonathan Kodjia — DF Ahmed Elmohamady — MF Glenn Whelan

He's doing a bit of talking right now

I was saying in the other thread that he has the ability and makes intelligent runs but i'm afraid that is not enough. He needs to try improve his game, whether that is getting a few touches on the ball at the start, playing some shot passes back to midfield, he just needs to mix it up and impose himself in the game a lot more. Gabby is ahead of him in the team at the moment and the word is that Bruce is looking for another striker. I just hope he is able to adapt sooner rather than later.

I see your point I don't think Amavi will be here, i think the choices available for left wing back position are Taylor , Bjarnason, Green (Despite being a winger). To be fair I am not a fan of this formation too but.. I am convinced that Bruce is going to persist with this shape. My problem with Hogan at the moment is that despite having the ability to do well here, he is adapting slowly and he is struggling in games. I just think that he has to impose himself a bit more into a game. He is always looking for that inch perfect through ball, but we rarely play that way, so he needs to find other ways of getting the ball whether it's coming up short or getting more touches ect My opinion is that Bruce fancies Gabby upfront more than he does with Hogan right now. I still think places are still up for grabs so Hogan still has enough time to impress.

I think Bruce would want to make a big statement for the 1st home game live on Sky against Hull. Defence If Baker is fit, the defence will pick itself to be honest. Terry and Chester will be calm and experienced as usual and I think they can push Baker to the next level. Wing Back Bruce rates Bjarnason a lot, especially in this position, he works hard and he will track back and will attack also. He always finds himself in good positions. Elmohamady will play in the position that he was ultimately signed to do. He will try to play the ball into the box and may look to McCormack to push him into crossing positions. I think occasionally he could leave the right side exposed defensively but that is why we have Whelan. Midfield Whelan's role would be just to break up the opposition attack, play simple passes but stay disciplined and put the opponent under pressure alongside Lansbury. I am hoping that Lansbury will dictate the play a bit, spreading the ball to the byline allowing for both wingback's to put the ball in early into the box for our strikers, McCormack would suit this position well because he likes to roam around the offensive side of the park and pick the ball up from in and around the box. I could potentially see him linking up more with Kodjia opposed to Gabby. I think Gabby likes to come on the wing a bit more than often which could leave space for McCormack to have a chance at goal. Strikers I would not be surprised to see Gabby starting if he is fit. Gabby likes to hassle the defence, whether it is closing down the opposition further up the pitch, or playing his back against the goal bringing the midfielders in. I think he does more off the ball than any of our other strikers and he has a few goals in him this season. Kodjia starts because he does what he knows best i.e, scoring goals and creating opportunities for himself if no else does! Shape This is an ideal formation for Bruce based on discussion to the media and what he is trying to implement. It is a good formation if played correctly. It's the type of formation where you can play high tempo football resulting to an early goal in the first 25 minutes and then sitting back without changing too much. I think that this will pretty much be our game plan against stronger opposition in this league this season.

questionable

We have too many players in this squad. We need to sell the following; Richards, Elphick,Bacuna Tshibola, Veretout,Gardner Amavi, Cissokho, Toner loan moves - Lyden, Davis, Hepburn Murphy, Blackett Taylor.