Delphinho123

21 minutes ago, DCJonah said:

He's asked to play Central where there is no space for him to exploit with his pace and dribbling. He also starts one game, then dropped, then back in. That's not how someone who basically missed a whole season of football is going to get up to speed. 

Nearly scored a wonder goal. 

Get him out wide with a similar player on the other side. 

Agreed. If we bring in Sarr, maybe have him one side and Bailey the other. 

Problem is, we both know we don’t play that system. 

Whole thing is a mess. 

Just now, AVFCforever1991 said:

yeah i agree with this, we can have a solid base and let Sarr, Bailey, Buendia, coutinho, ings and watkins concentrate on attacking, whatever the combination of these players are.

 

Personally, I didn’t think a 4-2-3-1 is the way to go yet. I think we need to sure things up a little and play a 4-3-3. Unfortunately, that means leaving some good attacking talent on the bench.

Id be inclined to play Luiz, Kamara and Irroegbunam/Ramsey. You can then take your pick of Coutinho, Bailey, Sarr, Buendia behind either Ings or Watkins. 

We absolutely have to get players playing in the middle of the pitch again. Or at least standing there. Novel idea, I know. 

2 minutes ago, M_Afro said:

That’s interesting. We had our best run of form under Gerrard when Nakamba was starting, before he got injured. Gerrard even said that he was an important player for us. Since then he hasn’t been given a sniff!

I actually don’t think that he is the answer. He is just not PL standard but he certainly offers more physicality, energy and passion into the middle of the park.

I think we need a bigger, better version of Nakamba. I thought that this would be the first purchase we made in the summer and yet we still wait. I did wonder whether Tim had progressed so much in the summer that Gerrard thought he was ready and yet he isn’t even making the squad! It’s all a bit odd and very frustrating.

I will remain in hope up until the end of the window but if this is not properly addressed then Gerrard will be gone before he gets chance to address it again. 

This much is true.

If Gerrard has even an ounce of intelligence or footballing nous, he’ll be banging the door down for at least one new central midfielder before the window closes.

Unfortunately, I don’t just think it’s the players in central midfield that are the problem. It’s a big part because McGinn is f***** rubbish and Ramsey is young and out of form. It’s more the system. Playing central midfield in this system is akin to a fairground ride - f***** mental. You’re kind of asked to cover the fullback and support the attack whilst not actually doing anything in the middle of the pitch. I don’t envy any player that comes here and asked to play as a central midfielder in Gerrards system. 

We have an awful central midfield. We all know that, but it isn’t going to get any better until Gerrard leaves I fear. 

6 minutes ago, zab6359 said:

Our ‘system’ can change in a heart beat with a change of manager.

I completely agree we have more pressing issues until we sort our midfield out everything else is just bullshit!

 

That we can agree on!

1 minute ago, zab6359 said:

Look at the top 4 sides and tell me they don’t have a mish mash of players on massive money.

Backed up by CL revenue. They can afford it. We most definitely can’t and it will catch up with us sooner or later. Their players also justify their massive wages! 

We had Coutinho and Ings on the bench yesterday. Both earn 125k a week. That is inexcusable and down to poor management. 

4 minutes ago, zab6359 said:

Did you see him absolutely terrorise Matt Targett a year ago? Whilst he’s not absolute top draw he is very good

 

I’ve also seen Ryan Woods completely dominate us. Look, I don’t think Sarr is a poor player, I’m sure he has his qualities. 

The problem is he is a touchline winger. Someone who uses pace and likes to beat his fullback in a one on one situation - like he did with Targett.

Two things. We don’t play a system with wingers. Our full backs provide all the width and our forwards tuck in and play more as 10’s. We have Bailey who is almost a carbon copy. Wants to play wide right and likes to use his pace. 

We have far more pressing issues that need attending to than at right wing. In fact, if you asked me which position we absolutely do not need anybody else for, given the system we play and the players we have already, it would be wide right/left. 

2 minutes ago, zab6359 said:

He’s 24

Not commenting on Sarr’s age specifically. I know how old he is. I’m talking about ending up with a mish mash of players and several ageing players on massive money. Sarr is a pointless signing. 

12 hours ago, Rightdm00 said:

I see now that Bertrand has gone you have zeroed in on your new target.  Bagged an assist and cracked the crossbar completely off his skill alone.  Did more than anyone else on the pitch from an attacking perspective. Steven  playing him as a CF which also does him zero favors.

If Steven got Eze he would look just as bad. Probably have him at FB or somewhere else dumb. 

Just because I didn’t rate Traore, who you may have noticed has been loaned to a random club nobody has ever heard of, it doesn’t mean I should rate Bailey. 

Bailey has been a poor signing. He may turn it around, he may not, but let’s not kid ourselves into thinking it has worked out yet because it hasn’t. The only difference between him and Traore is that Bailey is hampered by a god awful system. In that regard, I feel for him. He’s not a no.10 and never will be. 

Will find himself on the bench again I imagine next week. 

1 minute ago, MWARLEY2 said:

This is just reminding me of Charles NZogbia

Eeerily similar. We’re putting together a bloated, ageing squad of players in a mish mash of positions and spending tens of millions doing so.

We’re going to end up like Everton. Give it 2 years. 

1 hour ago, Tomaszk said:

It's **** insane the tough spot we've put ourselves in now.

Someone I would have loved like Marco Rose becomes a much bigger risk because we've wasted our pre-season with Gerrard.

No head coach out in Aus and the **** PR manager wandering round the training ground with a clipboard, Jesus Christ.

Whoever we appoint it'll be a huge departure from the non-system we're currently deploying.

Leeds have just appointed Rose's main assistant and it's not ideal to get anyone without their preferred #2.

Gerrard will cling onto this. He gets sacked from Villa it's only stupid clubs like Everton and West Brom who will touch him for years. Well run middling clubs like Brighton, Brentford and Newcastle won't answer the phone to him. And of course, at said stupid clubs he won't be given tens and hundreds of millions to spend. This could actually be it for him.

Similar to O’Neill in that sense.

Gets off lightly. Not sure what his job is to be honest anymore other than just randomly choosing well known players and giving them astronomical wage packets.

What is he doing that we all couldn’t? Genuinely? I see more scouting in our transfer thread than what goes on at Villa. 

Has it honestly taken 3 months of enquiries, negotiation, scouting etc. to land on Watfords Ismailia Sarr? Laughable. 

I like Digne tbf but he lacks pace and is told to get so far forward that we’ll always look exposed down either channel until the system changes.

He’s paid a staggering amount of money and has barely any resale value. Whilst I think we was a good signing, it’s actually just another failure of Lange and co. to be able to identify anybody better or a lot younger on half the wage. 

Like I said in another thread, we’re being run just like United. Big names on big wages. No real long term plan. No plan to be fiscally responsible. Just Vibes. 

We should really be looking to move McGinn on. The club have no idea how to sell players but my god, if we could get a fee for him and reinvest it in a better player, it would be the best decision of this transfer window. 

I’m not a massive fan of Bailey but I’m convinced he’s being used incorrectly. He almost can only play as a right winger. Somebody who hugs the touchline and wants to run at his man. I think we’ll see more from him if he plays in that position.

As a no.10, I think he’s pretty poor tbh. 

So far, it’s been a poor signing.

The perfect end to the window would be two new central midfield players and our manager getting the sack. 

Anything else and this season is a complete write off already. 

They tore us apart time and time again. They were much the better team and deserved the win. The penalty decision was farcical but I have no doubt they’d have gone on to win the game anyway given their superiority in every department. 3-1 probably flattered us. 

We were set up to fail, as we are every in match. Playing McGinn and Ramsey in midfield is asking for trouble as neither can control a football match and both want to bomb on all the time. Konsa shouldn’t have started and Ings was unlucky to be dropped. The system itself is a complete shambles and Palace played through us with ease. 

We’re playing as badly now as we did for the majority of the season we were almost relegated. We have better players (I think) but a manager who has one system and absolutely no idea how to play any other way. It’s an absolute mess and Palace took full advantage. 

If we continue down this path, we WILL be in a relegation scrap. 

Individual player performances. Personally, I thought Martinez was very good. Cash, Mings and Kamara were all ok and I thought Buendia looked dangerous at times. Ramsey, Watkins, Konsa and McGinn were particularly atrocious as they have been for a while now. 

Luiz isn’t the answer I don’t think. Sorry, I just don’t. 

However, he’s better than McGinn because he can pass the ball. McGinn is just getting worse as time goes by. 

9 minutes ago, Chicken Field said:

Don't shoot me, I know how Villatalk feels about it, its just a though

 

Would it make sense playing with 5 at the back? this would allow digne and cash to continue to bomb forward and be covered by our center backs. In my opinion Cash and Digne are limited defensively.. It would also help us not get so overrun in counter attacks. Thirdly, it could cover the fact that our center backs are pretty limited. 3/5 at the back does work if implemented correctly and not used as a panic formation change like last time we tried (which I guess is where was a similar position to where we are now).

 

So something along the lines of

Martinez

Cash, chambers, konsa, mings, digne

Kamara, Luiz

Bailey, watkins, buendia

Yeh, why not. It’s something different at least. It literally couldn’t get any worse I don’t think atm.

Potter. It’s a no brainer for me. 

Poch won’t come here. That’s just fanciful thinking. 

If we can get Potter, I think we’ll at least play with a system that doesn’t completely nullify our own midfield. 

It will be very interesting to see what happens with Coutinho when Gerrard leaves. 

He’s here because of Gerrard. Plain and simple. 

3 hours ago, a m ole said:

This is so, so, so painfully true. 

Honestly, Mings and Kamara must wonder what the f*** is going on. Time and time again they’re having to defend against whole teams attacking them. Konsa has regressed to the point where I’m not sure he’s even a PL footballer anymore and the fullbacks just bomb on. Ramsey and McGinn can’t actually pass the ball and even if they could, they’re playing in this weird wide position either trying to cover the fullbacks or trying to join in with the attack.

Am I being unreasonable here? I have zero coaching qualifications and don’t even watch much football outside of Villa and even I can see that the way we play is absolutely f****** ludicrous. 

Why can’t we just play a 4-3-3 where the fullbacks don’t bomb on and the central midfielders play a little deeper to support the defence? We’re not blessed with great central midfielders, I think the best manager in the world would struggle with our midfield, but the way they’re asked to play is absolutely suicidal. This system and set up is so, so bad. At least Smith had a system and a way of playing. Yes, he failed and probably deserved the sack, but right now I genuinely think things are worse. 

F*** off Gerrard.