Delphinho123

If Trez is ever the answer then either we’re not asking the right question or we’ve been relegated (probably twice). He’s awful. He’s popped up with a couple of important goals, no doubt, but is all round play is not PL standard and barely Championship standard at times. I like the bloke but we really need to be moving the likes of Trezeguet and El Ghazi on. We can’t just stockpile players and we’re so bloated in those forward positions at present.

Not sure if it’s been mentioned but apparently Keinan is off to Forest on loan.

When Ferran Torres wanted to leave, pep said that City never stand in the way of a player if he wants out. I don’t know how true that is, but it would be very interesting if Grealish wanted to leave at the end of the season. I don’t know Jack and if it’s purely money that floats his boat then he’ll stay, but I could potentially see part of him wanting to come back and play for Villa sooner rather than later. If there is a deal to be done, I wonder if we’d be interested?

Do we have any links to defensive midfielders, left backs or centre half’s we think are credible or excite us? Hickey seems to be a rumour that doesn’t go away. Gomez has obviously been linked but what about that defensive midfield spot? I know we’ve been linked to Kamara but I don’t think he’s that defensive is he?!

We'll probably need to replace every single outfield player over the next 3 years if we want to break the top 6, and certainly if we want to break the top 4. That's just how it is. Unfortunately, you can't do that because of FFP so it's a slow process where we need to constantly improve on our weakest player/area. If I had to guess, we'd be looking at the following as our next signings: LB DCM DC I quite like Targett but I'm not sure he's athletic enough for the style Gerrard wants to play. A defensive midfielder because, well, I think it's been a weakness of ours for a while. Nakamba came in and did very well but he's nowhere near progressive enough with the ball to turn us into a possession based team. A central defender because Tuanzebe and quite possibly Hause, will be leaving at the end of the season. After those three areas are sorted, I imagine we'll strengthen the forward areas - The two no.10's and the striker as they haven't performed well at all really this season. The problem with doing this is we'd need to get rid of a few before we brought any in. We are very bloated in attack but frustratingly, none of them seem to perform on a consistent basis. All of the signings we need to make need to be better than what we have if we want to improve. There is no point buying a defensive midfielder to sit on the bench, he needs to come in and command a place in the side.

He’s not a scapegoat, people are rightly calling him out on his poor performances. Losing the ball and misplacing passes are nothing to do with adjusting to a new system or the manager. Stop making excuses for him. Yes, we all want him to do well, but to say he’s been anything other than poor since joining is just wishful thinking. He needs to be much better.

Haha, not based on his quality! He used to frustrate the life out of me because he never played!

This.

Agreed I’m afraid. The contract situation is a really worrying one.

Would you possibly play McGinn there if Ramsey was in the three?

Very good point.

I agree that he should play as a striker and nowhere else but let’s not kid ourselves thinking that’s the issue here. He played there against Palace and was the worst player on the pitch and also against Norwich and was arguably our worst player. He just doesn’t look like he can trap a bag of cement at the moment and constantly loses the ball. I really don’t know what the answer is. I’d be tempted to give Archer a go given the form of Ings and Watkins.

I’d honestly be tempted to play McGinn as a 10 with Sanson, Ramsey and Luiz in midfield. He does a good job there for Scotland and he can score goals. It can’t be much worse than Watkins and Buendia at 10.

I once started a thread on VillaTalk called ‘The Midfield Three’ so I thought I’d do one for ‘The Front Three’. Last season it was very much Grealish, Watkins and one other. Now it feels like a real problem area for us. Ings and Watkins have zero chemistry when on the field together, Buendia has been very poor since arriving and Bailey is constantly injured. We then have El Ghazi, Trezeguet, Traore and the youngsters. Who are our best front three? Right now, I genuinely couldn’t tell you.

I just can’t believe how much worse he is than last season. Right now, everything he touches mostly turns to s***.

Disagree, he’s been excellent this season. That tackle was a stupid one though, without question. The same people who are saying Cash isn’t as good as people say he is are probably saying Buendia is having a good season. One of our best players, if not our best player this season (McGinn runs him close).

That last bit is the key. Luckily, he’s still quite young-ish (clutching at straws) so maybe he can improve but if he keeps going the way he is, he’ll be out of the side on a permanent basis. With a full squad of players to choose from, he makes the bench, just.

Another poor performance in what is becoming worryingly common. His performances are night and day in comparison to last season. Probably starts for us up top in our best XI, but that’s not saying much atm. He’s having a poor season.

He’s Norwich summed up in a player. Far too good for the championship, not good enough for the PL. Ill keep waiting for him to come good, but I’m really not holding out that much hope. Looks to be a waste of money.

They’re a much better side. We were superb in the first half until the front 3 got involved. We’ll probably lose now but it’s nothing to be ashamed of.

He’s played well

It’s been that day since day 1. I didn’t think they’d play well together but not quite as badly as they have. Zero chemistry

Our front 3 have been poor. I’d move Watkins through the middle and bring on Carney or someone who won’t keep shooting at their defenders or giving the ball away. We’ve been brilliant in defence and midfield

I’d say it’s been fairly even. If we had their quality in the final third we’d be 3/4 up.

Watkins has been poor for most of the season. No surprise he’s played badly, especially in a position he’s been very poor in. Buendia not athletic enough for this level.