Reivax_Villa

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.

Hopefully we can sign a solid big man. We are lacking that physicality in the box and bringing others into play.

Rolan & Ojo to Fulham Looking like contenders

This whole "It's only pre-season" malarky is not getting past me that easily i'm sorry. Maybe if he joined at the end of the season then I would share that opinion too but he hasn't The man has been at this club since 12th October 2016. This squad was assembled at the end of January. There is no excuse to have those players and not be able to set them up to attack in a friendly IF "It's only pre-season". The first 25 minutes was okay we had fractions of decent play. The rest of the match like the last was poor, and his subs again.. were questionable. We are going to Germany.. We go again..

It also does not take 9 months to set a team up and implement a style of play. Jaap Stam, Gary Monk were able to do this within this time . Also Silva at Hull, Clement at Swansea.. I think we have been sold a dream by Bruce & Round. What Bruce needs to do make this team effective. If he cannot. We need to find someone that can.

I think that the players are going to let him down big time. Bruce has made mistakes, he has signed players that do not compliment his style of football. Wyness is without a doubt monitoring everything and I am confident that they would have a few replacements in mind already in case this season goes pear shaped at the beginning. We have a lot of central midfielders and we are looking to sign more. He needs to find players that can produce quality for our strikers on the flanks.

Erm all the Gods known to mankind? It's tough at the moment because the players are still struggling to gel as a cohesive team. I think we are strong defensively. but beyond our back four were decent..i guess.. but I don't think are good enough. We have one of the slowest teams in the league. We lack pace and direct play. I am not expecting possession football in this league. But what i am expecting is a higher tempo and being effective. We play at such a low tempo we are yet; 1) We do not have the players to fulfil this. 2). Lack the creativity. 3) Lack the discipline and awareness to follow this through. Surely Bruce needs to go direct if we have any chance of promotion. We need some pace on the wings and a big man up top. It may not be pretty but it is very effective. If Bruce wants to play two up top that is fine, but we need a target man, and we need to be strong on both flanks. We have so many different types of players for different systems they are struggling to adapt and play to the level that were previously playing before joining us.

Sadly, I don't think he'a going to last. It's not even because we do not play attractive football. It's because we are so ineffective as a team. The players have been so poor tonight. But Bruce is unable to make us into an effective team.

I wish McCormack could get in the positions that Thor is finding himself inside of the box

I have not been impressed with Bree so far in Pre-Season.

I am happy with the bits of play that we have been producing. Lansbury and Hourihane need a holding player Jedinak or Whelan. I hope we sign Whelan this week

http://www.hullcityindependent.net/?page=forum&forum_id=8&thread_id=25616

This specifically is the saddest part of the entire situation. We should not have to hope for a rebuild in the Premiership but it is looking that way IF we get promoted. All we can do at this stage is wait and see how this season will transpire.

Well.. At least he's good at interviews ay?