WakefieldVillan

23 hours ago, villa89 said:

That setup wouldn't work it's too narrow and there's no width. If you can't control midfield with 3 players in there then it's not the formation that's the problem it's the players. Hourihane, Whelan, Thor, jedinak all aren't good enough. When you have to play two of those you are screwed. 

Also it is Hulls wide men Bowen (and to a lesser extent) Grosicki that will, if allowed, cause us the most problems.

He's a good centre half at this level, but as been said before, he is more comfortable with a strong leader next to him and he his not captain material. 

Ultimately, going forward, I'd like him as a back-up centre half and would like us to sign a real tall, tough, no-nonsense ball playing centre half to play alongside Tuanzebe! 

3 hours ago, Skruff said:

Give us Dack, Lolley and Bowen. And a LB. 

 

All would be tremendous signings but unfortunately out of our budget I would say with FFP, them 3 though with Reach and Maupay would be players I would be trying for, also I think we should be going for Paul Coutts from Sheffield United, centre midfielder with more Scottish grit, he would add some real steel into our midfield and knows this league, he was quality last season until his injury but been on the bench a fair bit this season due to an impressive looking blades midfield 3, he  his a proper no nonsense player though strong in the tackle.

I know everyone's down after the last few games and especially today but I wouldn't rule us out just yet.

Hopefully Smith will get a response from the players and we can get back on track with 2 home victories against an in-form Hull and then Reading, then let's re-assess where we are.

I still think 5th or 6th is achievable.

Looks ok when Jack's playing and we are winning a game, completely goes missing when we need him most. 

Watched him a few times when he was at Barnsley and he was a completely different animal, bossing games, getting stuck in, spreading play ETC, I get that there was no pressure / expectation playing for them but was hoping for so much more from him at Villa.

Awful, awful result. 

Not seen the whole match, just the highlights and read the match thread, but by all accounts Wigan thoroughly deserved the victory and we were extremely poor.

I am not going to over react and make ridiculous comments that Smith hasn't got a clue, job to big for him ETC ETC, it is one game in albeit a poor little run of performances but he's still only been here a few months and he deserves a little patience from us before the knives come out.

For me, it's as much a mental problem as anything else, we have just come off a decent run playing top sides and lost 1 game to the league leaders in the last minute, we then play the so called "lesser" sides and we are out-fought and out-battled by teams that want it more than us. This is something Smith has to sort and sort ASAP, whether it be installing a different mentality with the players here or finding new players with that hunger or our promotion play off hopes will be gone by the end of January.

I think some of our players think they have already 'made it' playing for a club like ours on big wages, but this attitude needs to change quickly or we will be in this league for a good while.

And one last thing, it is quite ridiculous how much we miss Jack, one player missing should NOT affect the team this much, but it does. Other teams will and have coped with injuries much better than us.

Time we started fighting like lions, the fans deserve better.

I'd take Adam Reach, but not for anything more than £6M. The times I have seen him play he generally as stood out for Wednesday, he has got good energy, keeps the ball well enough and has obviously scored some wonder goals, including the one at Villa Park, but I'm not too sure he influences games that much, in that way maybe too much of a likeness to Hourihane.

If we were in the market for that type of player, I would prefer either Bowen or Lolley (as I have mentioned before) but I doubt we would get these due to premier league clubs showing interest and likely they would likely cost more.

I think he has featured at left back too in his career, I definitely wouldn't be adversed to this signing if that was where Smith was looking at playing him.

I like Albert, in the fact he comes across as a real genuine, nice, likeable fun chap who does little dances when he scores and seems to have a good relationship with his team mates and supporters alike... but...

He just isn't very good his he?! Rarely beats his man, not got any pace, his final ball his dodgy at best, he offers a little more protection than a Bolasie or an El Ghazi but that aside he should not be starting (m)any more games for Villa. 

For me, he had one major purple patch, where to his credit, he was knocking a fair few goals in, but even in this period I personally had my doubts about his overall contribution and his abilities as a footballer.

Now don't get me wrong, he's not let us down as such, but if we are to progress as a team I think there is no room for a player of his ilk.

1 hour ago, wilko154 said:

I don't think Hause is a left back but a left sided centre back.

Going forward, and if he is fit, I would like to see him partnered with Chester. This then means Chester can play on the right hand side where he is a lot better and we have a left footed centre back on the left side.

I agree, just trying to find any solution not to play Taylor

2 hours ago, wilko154 said:

Would go with this on Saturday, a must win game which could start a run of much needed win's. We need to start picking up 3 points whilst the teams above us are playing each other to catch up with the playoff placed sides.

 

                      Kalinic

Bree     Elphick      Chester     Taylor

                   Hourihane

Adomah  McGinn  Lansbury  Bolasie

                       Abraham

 

The game will most probably come too early for Hause, but the defence will be strengthened with Taylor back. I would give Bree the nod over Hutton as he needs a run of games at right back.

In the midfield Lansbury should be given a chance after a decent cameo on Saturday. The other option is Bjarnasson but he has looked unfit in recent appearances. A fresh Hourihane should be able to do enough to shield the centre backs with McGinn and Lansbury ahead of him.

On the wings Adomah and Bolasie, I would let them swap at times to give the full backs a hard time. Adomah is in over Kodjia simply because he will help out Bree (although he didn't at the weekend)

This for me, except El Ghazi for Adomah.

Also, thinking about it, if Hause is fit and can play LB would he be a better option over Taylor?!

But anyway, hopefully we have enough, vital we get 3 points.

Prediction 1-2 Villa.

15 minutes ago, Shropshire Lad said:

Ok, if it’s about form rather than league table positions, let’s have a look. Last six opponents-

Baggies - had won 3 out of their last 4 going into our fixture, including hammering Leeds. Looking at automatics and in good form. Robbed of a win by the officials.

Stoke - when we played them, they had gone 8 games unbeaten (and would go on to reach 10 games). Mid table, not so high in the league, but in reasonable form. Hard to beat. 

Leeds - First or second in the table, when we played them. Won the previous 5 games going into our fixture, that number would increase to 7. High in the table, electric form.

Swansea - well, we won this, so their form doesn’t really come into it.

Preston - ok, here we go. A depleted Preston side, lower in the table. Had won 2 and lost 3 of the previous 5 games that month. Form patchy. Should have been a win.

QPR - Of their previous 5 games, they had 1 defeat to Leeds, drew once and 3 wins, including wins against Boro and Forest. One place higher in the league than us and in good form. Not a great performance, but hardly a disastrous result either.

So whether you want to judge it by sides we’ve played who are above us or sides that are in form. Whichever way you want to cut it, the past 5-6 weeks has been overall rather hard. Only the Swansea and Preston games stand out to me as a nailed on “should win” game, and I don’t need to remind you what happened when we played them earlier at Villa Park.

Just so we’re clear, no one is saying we can’t be doing better or that we shouldn’t have done better in those games. We should have done. And no one is saying it’s all rosy either. But we knew that December was going to be hard, we said as much at the start of the season so apologies if I or some of us have remembered that and are not as despondent as others might be about the recent patchy month.

Good post. 

The worry for me in the last few games is that as well as the results, the performances haven't been there either.

I understand that the main reason is more than likely due to the loss of Tuanzebe and Grealish but nevertheless a tad disappointing after such a promising start under Smith.

We have Wigan (A), Hull (H), Ipswich (H) and Reading (A) coming up, we need to be looking at 12 points out of 12 to get us firmly in the play-off mix, I think we have a great chance of doing that then hopefully Jack will be back and along with a couple of additions it will be an interesting few months.

31 minutes ago, sne said:

I wouldn't mind having Maupay at Villa.

But we really must start finding these players ourselves and not have to pay the Championship premium after they've had 1 good season in the league.

They bought him for 2 m Euro and will probably ask for £10m and he'll ask for 10 times the wages he had.

I agree totally

23 minutes ago, wilko154 said:

I wouldn't sign Maupay if he is anywhere over 10 million. That money would be a lot better off invested in the defence and defensive midfield where we are currently an absolute shambles.

Goals are being scored from around the team and Kodjia will chip in his fair share if Abraham leaves, the key is stopping them going in at the other end of the pitch.

As @DaveAV1 quite rightly made the point of Maupay is a similar type and size player as Hogan (more aggresive though), we have never been able to provide the right service to Hogan so I would be worried that Maupay wouldn't receive anywhere near the right service should be sign him.

I agree, the defence is obviously the area that we need to strengthen first and foremost.

1 hour ago, DaveAV1 said:

On a more serious note, how does Maupay compare with Hogan? They are about the same size I believe, so won’t be strong in the air, like Abraham is. Therefore I’d assume Maupay would need similar service to Hogan, which we don’t appear to have been able to provide for him much. So is Maupay just a better, more busy and aggressive version of Hogan and if so is that enough to make him effective or will we just have two similar players who are equally as ineffective. If that’s the case we either look elsewhere, or adapt our style to improve the type of service Hogan needs and save our money. 

Great post. 

I believe Maupay is actually smaller than Hogan, but he's younger and a far more aggressive player who has a much better all round game. His strengths apart from his tenacity are running the channels, his movement in and around the box, he has a decent touch and can pick a pass, he's a strong runner and can obviously finish. Having said all that, a lot of these traits are what Hogan does offer (just not in the same capacity) and I can see why you would have concerns that we would be getting someone that doesn't fit our style of play - I would hope though that under Smith we are going to be play a much more fluent style and that players like Maupay will fit in perfectly.

3 hours ago, av1 said:

That's unfortunate, the kid looks like a decent player, is young and has a nasty streak in him something we desperately lack. 

Is your scepticism based on the ability to afford him or something else?

It's the nasty streak he has that makes me want him over his other traits.

For far too long we have become a soft touch, we need players with fire in their bellies.

6 minutes ago, JAMAICAN-VILLAN said:

Where did he say we were in the game, he said the opposite of that.

He said at 2 - 0 he took off Callum O Hare because at 2 - 0 down he felt the atmosphere would change if we didn't do something to try and win the game.

Yes Smith said that he felt we were still in the game at 0-2 but also he took O'Hare off to protect him.

Didn't see any of the game but voted anyway because I wanted to see the other votes voted Lansbury MOTM based on the match thread, voted very poor for the manager based on the result and team selection.

Very disappointing day, hate going out of the cup so early

Was surprised with our line up, which looked quite 'strong' for a cup tie, but even more surprised by our opponents starting eleven, much stronger than I imagined it to be and knew prior kick off it wasn't going to be easy.

We need to remain positive as fans and get behind Smith, it's been a dodgy few weeks but I am sure he will turn it around and I suppose it is the league that is priority.

Looks like a few of the players have not taken their chance today and the consolation of our defeat today is surely the owners/gaffer will be in the market to improve us moving forward.

First move for me would be raiding Brentford for Mepham, Watkins & Maupay, give them Hogan as part of the deal. (I know it aint as easy as that, but we need to get players in and out!) And this is for another thread! 

The best part for me was Kompany calling him a pu55y three times whilst he was rolling on the floor  

I wouldn't have been surprised if a red card had been given, looked a little out of control. 

58 minutes ago, jackbauer24 said:

I'm not sure how I feel about this one. On one hand it's undeniable that he's scored a shed load, on the other I'm fairly sure a lot of that is down to our general attacking play. Would Kodjia have scored around the same amount given the service and chances Abraham has had? 

I actually think Abraham's touch is pretty poor, his hold up play isn't great and he actually needs quite a few chances to score. There was a match I can't remember who against this season where he missed three or four absolute sitters. But he's a beast in the air and can reach plenty of crosses due to those gangly legs of his. He's certainly a brilliant Championship player but don't think he'll do much at Wolves this season.

I think a fully fit Kodjia would, and has proven at Villa, match the kind of scoring Abraham has provided considering the crosses that come in from the wings and the balls through from our much more creative midfield. He holds it up better, I think he finishes better but isn't quite as good in the air. The other obvious issue can be his work ethic.

I'm really stuck but I'm not too fussed, I think we may be pleasantly surprised by how little it effects us. On saying that, I think we're going to struggle to make playoffs anyway.

Main difference for me between Abraham and Kodjia is desire. Tammy has it in abundance whereas Kodge often looks disinterested. Ability wise I don't think there is much between them but Tammy has really led the line well this season and it's difficult to say if Kodge would have had the same impact in terms of goal input.

There is however still room for huge improvement to Tammy's overall game (his hold-up play and being more clinical in front of goal being two areas) and I hope that he decides that staying at Villa is the best solution for him at this stage of his development. 

The game where he missed a few sitters was away at Albion but he's missed chances in other games too, what i do like about him though is that even when he misses he doesn't go hiding, he will come back for more, which is what you need from your goalscorers. The worry is when they are not even getting (into positions for) chances. 

7 hours ago, villa4europe said:

city have arsenal at home, chelsea at home, everton away, utd away

liverpool have utd away, everton away, spurs at home, chelsea at home

city need them to do the typical liverpool thing and drop points to someone like burnley or watford

If City play with the same intensity as last night and can keep Fernandhino fit and away from any suspensions I could see them going on an unbeaten run until the end of the season dropping very little (if any) points in the process.

United away for me is the toughest fixture they have left, but one they would still probably go into as favourites. The 4 point gap however still puts Liverpool as slight favourites (unfortunately)! 

Cracking game, City deserved it, work-rate was immense.

Fernandinho was excellent, closely matched by B.Silva and Sane. 

Fingers crossed they can stop the Scousers from winning the title (Hopefully Aguerrrrrrrrooooooo last-second style to make it more painful for the reds)!

Got £10 on Mane FGS, I felt a bit dirty wanting that effort to go in, hate Liverpool.

Fancy them to win this though, unfortunately. 

7 hours ago, wilko154 said:

Personally would give this a go:

 

                    Kalinic

Bree      Elphick     Hause   Taylor

                    Whelan

Bolasie  El Ghazi  Lansbury  Adomah

                     Kodjia

 

For me Bree needs to play at right back, he is now our first choice right back and needs to play there.

Elphick and Hause will need to get used to playing at the back and in front of Kalinic. Chester needs a rest.

Whelan should be fresh at DM.

Bolasie and Adomah should be pretty fresh out wide.

Lansbury can come in and give an unfit Bjarnasson a break, but he could play if Lansbury isn't fit. El Ghazi through the middle is something I would like to try whilst Grealish is out, this is the perfect chance to see how it works.

Kodjia up top, get his confidence up. Otherwise we also have Davis and Hogan looking for game time.

Agree with the defence, but although Whelan didn't feature against QPR he did play huge chunks of the previous four games and at 34 a rest wouldn't do no harm, but as another poster has mentioned it is all dependant on who is fit and available. El Ghazi in a central role is an interesting one, though I would be surprised to see it. Biggest thing for me though is that this is a perfect chance for Hogan and/or Davis to get some playing time.

No doubt Swansea will be reciprocating us by resting some of their first team squad so with this is in mind I am confident we can put in a positive performance and have enough to see us through to the next round.

                    Kalinic

Bree    Elphick     Hause      Taylor

                    Jedinak

          Bjarnsson   Lansbury 

Adomah        Hogan            Kodjia 

Subs;

Steer, Elmohamady, Revan, Whelan, Bolasie, El Ghazi, Davis 

Important to rest/not risk;

Chester, McGinn, Hourihane, Abraham

1 hour ago, Dave-R said:

Well if Tammy goes, bookies are saying it's looking like we're second favs to sign Maupay 11/2. That the brentford striker will like a reunion with Smith. 

Huddersfield favs at 7/2 are apparently first spot to sign the frenchman.

The times I have seen this guy play I have been very impressed, in an ideal world (for me) we keep Tammy (at least till the end of the season) and sign Maupay.