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allani

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Everything posted by allani

  1. allani

    Austin MacPhee

    allani replied to Strog's topic in Villa Talk

    Like you say it is also connected to the fact that Mings has been out all season. We probably need another player like him - tall, good in the air but also pretty decent at playing the ball around - so that we have cover if he / they are out. Our other CBs (brought in by different managers) probably all have the same weakness when it comes to winning aerial battles. I can absolutely understand why Emery prioritised signing Pau (before Mings was injured) but I do think it's something we need to look at in the summer even if Mings is back at peak fitness / form.
  2. allani

    Austin MacPhee

    allani replied to Strog's topic in Villa Talk

    It is interesting (I think) that MacPhee mainly gets a lot of **** on here (and elsewhere) about the goals we have given up from set pieces and yet TNT were also talking about how brilliant Villa are from set-pieces and referred to the fact that we've scored more goals from set-pieces in all competitions of any team in Europe (I haven't verified how accurate that is but they seemed pretty confident). I think the goals we concede will can be fairly easily remedied either if Ty returns next season or by upgrading on Carlos with someone who is better in the air and less wayward in his passing (there are quite a few players who meet those criteria who you'd think we would have a good chance of signing if we were interested / have the money). The goals we score tend to be very, very difficult for teams to defend. The movement for Ollie's goal was brilliant (although you have to question why Lille forgot to mark him) and the McGinn goal was just genius. I don't suppose that MacPhee is calling them from the touch-line but there is clearly a whole playbook that the team know and are ready to deal with some variations. We almost scored a worldie with Tielemans too - except for the fact that their defender decided to lie down almost after we'd taken the freekick.
  3. allani

    Austin MacPhee

    allani replied to Strog's topic in Villa Talk

    I think it was Pako and their goalkeeping coach who had an altercation in the tunnel at half-time and that both got sent off.
  4. allani

    Matty Cash

    allani replied to paul514's topic in Villa Talk

    Agree. Top two priorities for sure. I'm still not sure that a CB whose good in the air (and on the deck) isn't also high on the list. Konsa and Pau aren't the best aerially. But if we can stop the crosses coming in to start with that would certainly help. However, always worth remembering that it wasn't long ago that we needed upgrades all over the pitch. Now we're down to being a couple of players away from being a top class squad (especially when you consider that some of the issues are arising because of the sheer number of more defensive players who have been out this season). Surely next season we can hope / expect that we can be more consistent in picking our bext XI and / or rotating our best / second best player in each position rather than our third or fourth best.
  5. allani
    I think we'll score in Lille. Hopefully we can do so early and then look for the killer balls behind their defence for Ollie and Bailey to chase. No idea how we didn't get a penalty for the guy taking out Ollie. Nuts.
  6. allani
    The more teams we have in the CL next season with the new format the better - makes it more likely that 5th will be enough for CL places the season after (due to the number of additional matches that teams will play).
  7. allani
    I think another Kamara would be fine. He's good enough on the ball to play more of a Luiz role (at least up until he gets close to the opposition box). I think there are games where we could benefit from two Kamara-like CDMs holding in midfield but good enough on the ball to transition play quickly to our more attacking midfielders / attackers. We've got Tielemans, McGinn, Buendia who can play a more advanced version of the Luiz role if / when Dougie is out. The key is to use their attacking prowess rather than having to rely on them in a more defensive role. Some people think Luiz's form has dropped - but I think he's mainly just a bit more exposed as he's not getting the defensive support he needs or he gets when Kamara is playing.
  8. allani
    Agree on the CDM. I'm happy for them to be just below top quality but with a high ceiling. Someone who can deputise for Kamara in the first half of the season and then give us options when Kamara is back. I was going to say a hybrid of Kamara and Luiz but to be fair I think Kamara is a hybrid of a CDM and Luiz. So someone similar to Kamara would be great. I would like us to have the option of playing 2 CDMs in games where we know we might need to sit back, absorb some pressure and then hit hard on the break or when we want / need to close up shop. The advantage of a Kamara style CDM is that they're good enough on the ball to not significantly impact on the progressive / offensive side of our gameplan.
  9. allani
    100%. I can see the favourites for 4th tag changing hands a couple more times yet this season.
  10. allani
    The post implied that we're mentally not as strong as them and that they wouldn't throw away 2 points against a team like Brentford. Which the facts don't support. I think we're pretty equal - we'll look invincible one match, less so the next. They are probably just about favourites for 4th at the moment but that could change next week or the week after.
  11. allani
    We've dropped 5 points having taken the lead in matches this season. Spurs have dropped 20. But yeah apart from that.....
  12. allani
    Yep - wins for Man City, Arsenal, Liverpool and us midweek would be delicious. I think 5 points will be enough for a top 5 finish.
  13. allani
    Man Utd are closer to not qualifying at all for Europe than they are of finishing 4th (or 5th if England gets the extra CL spot). It is entirely conceivable that after the next round of fixtures they are 9th. Bournemouth away is not easy. Newcastle have a huge home match against Spurs (the pressure very much on the away team and Newcastle will see a win as a major step towards finishing 6th), West Ham at home to Fulham and Chelsea at home to Everton.
  14. allani
    Back to being the team that has conceded the fewest points having taken the lead in matches this season. But apparently we are mentally weak and are throwing points away like crazy. 11 points clear of Man Utd with a goal difference advantage of 19 goals with 7 matches left for them and yet we'll be lucky to finish 6th. Some of the over-reaction in recent weeks has been insane. As @TRO rightly points out - we are a WIP. The teams around us have been in this position for most of the last 20 years (or longer) whilst we've been down in the dumps. Are there areas for improvement? 100%. Could we do with strengthening certain areas (especially defensively)? Absolutely. Should we be resting on our laurels and ignoring the areas where we can improve? Absolutely not. But is there a major crisis that is threatening to derail our plan and see all our players leave? Not at all. Learn and improve from our mistakes - but let's stop with some of the incessant negativity (for the avoidance of doubt this isn't aimed at the previously referenced poster as I get where he's coming). Should we have seen out the game yesterday at 2-0 up - for sure. But in seasons gone by we'd have gone to 2-3 and lost the match. As it is we dug in, got the equaliser and were the team pushing for a winner at the death.
  15. allani
    Yeah I would agree that we've conceded two goals in a short space of time a bit too often. I do think that's where a player like Mings comes in - a big voice to try and get the focus back quickly.
  16. allani
    But does any of that history really matter. I mean for most of the last 20 years we've been poor. But we're (hopefully) at the start of a different era now. We need to stop projecting past failings onto the current team otherwise we're in danger of them impacting us. We have mainly been superb at seeing out matches since Emery arrived. Let's stop thinking about all the **** that came before. It is (mainly) irrelevant.
  17. allani
    I am going to keep on saying this. Liverpool have dropped 4 points from a winning position this season. We've now dropped 5. Arsenal have dropped 9. Man City 10. Man Utd 13. Spurs 20.
  18. allani
    A lot will depend on the team that Arsenal field and the result of their first match against Bayern. They'll have an extra 48 hours to rest before the match but hopefully they will be more worried about the short turnaround to the second match.
  19. allani
    And yet (as I will keep on saying) we have dropped fewer points from leading positions than any team in the league apart from Liverpool. Yes we've scored a couple of late goals to recover (as have other teams). But we've dropped 25% of the points that Spurs have from a leading position this season. 50% of the points that Man City have. Our "obsession" with us throwing points away is likely to turn this into an issue where the crowd get nervous and transmit that to the players.
  20. allani
    Because realistically it will need an all German CL final for England's coefficient not to be enough. Although there is a risk that Man City, Liverpool and us will play a weakened / tired team in Europe because of the demands of a tight PL race.
  21. allani
    Our goal difference this season is +17. Our goal difference last season was +5. Yes our defending for those 10 minutes this afternoon was poor. But how many times have we played our Best 4 defenders this season? (The answer is 0).
  22. allani
    We have dropped 5 points from a leading position. Arsenal have dropped 9. Man City have dropped 10. Spurs have dropped 20. Man Utd have dropped 13. I am frustrated with today's result. But we're in danger of turning this into an issue that doesn't really exist.
  23. allani
    And yet only Liverpool have conceded fewer points this season having taken the lead in a match (4 points dropped). We are second (5 points dropped). I'd hate to imagine what some people would be saying if we'd dropped 20 points from a leading position (Spurs) or 13 points (Man Utd). Even Man City have dropped 10 points from leading positions so we are literally twice as good as them in this regard. This fixation with us throwing points away when we are leading is complete horse****.
  24. allani
    Although it keeps him fresh for the matches against Lille.
  25. allani
    Great finish! He deserves that today. Been very good so far.
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