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Don’t think this has been posted yet (no hits on forum search) but here is a link to an article by Statsbomb website. It is a simply fantastic study into our style of play this season. I do not think I have read a more in-depth analytical report on Villa. It’s very long but so, so worth spending the time reading it. Enjoy. https://statsbomb.com/2021/02/aston-villa-2020-21-deep-dive/ At the time of writing, Aston Villa have played 21 games of their 2020/2021 Premier League season. Here is where they rank in a few choice performance measures this campaign vs last: Points per game: 0.92 (17th) in 19/20 vs 1.67 (7th) in 20/21 Goal Difference Per Game: -0.68 (18th) vs 0.57 (7th) Non-penalty Expected Goal Difference Per Game: -0.62 (19th) vs 0.31 (5th) How about that? From relegation candidates (probably deserving it, in their case) to in the Europa League hunt after one season back in the top flight. Such a turnaround is worthy of a look into how they got there........

Maybe but not by design. Pretty sure we will see a more solid 2 and a 1 vs Arsenal. Possibly Sanson replacing RB to be a proper no 8. With Barkley naturally a more advanced 8 and often playing as a 10, it can leave is light in CM especially with a lack of a proper, dominant no 6.

Regardless of whether RB played as he should....the tactic yesterday was 2 8s and a 6 as confirmed by DS.

Yep, needed one for years. As I said in the match reaction thread, we have good technical CMs but they are all slight in stature and under 6 foot. Real lack of physicality which is essential in the PL for some games. Nakamba out and a proper enforcer in over the Summer although DS has never really preferred that type of CM in his career....

Has been the case for years tbh. When Sanson came on he is the identikit Villa midfielder in terms of physique. All of our CMs are relatively slight in stature and around 5’10” or so. We really do need a much stronger physical presence in their for some games. Dean admitted getting it wrong by going for a 6 and 2 x 8s especially when our 6 is Luiz in regards to his physicality. This is not me digging any players out; we are just missing that big CDM that some games require. I think we will see Nakamba replaced in the Summer with such a player. Although Smith has never really gone for physical CDMs in his management. We shall see.....

It is a bit apparent that we do struggle against teams who press us consistently. Our default when we lose the midfield possession is for Mings to look for the long Hollywood ball far too often. Yes, Ollie is good at holding the ball up but he is t gonna pluck too many sky high balls out of the air all the time. I think fatigue played a part but we need to develop the ability to have a different approach in-game if we cannot beat the opposition press. It will come in time as our players and manager gain more PL experience. Good times ahead so let’s keep our perspective and enjoy the ride.

Not sure on this. Half way through this 6 game blitz and I think the fitness numbers may starting to drop a bit for some players. Wouldn’t be surprised to see changes in midfield and out wide on Sat. More solid set-up I would imagine. Too soon for Sanson to start, though, I would have thought.

Agree but I think this is our preferred defensive tactic. By that I mean, our FBs tuck in when out of possession and we accept that there will be more crosses coming in but we have faith in EK/TM to clear the cross. I think this is a clear tactic from DS and, to be fair, overall it’s been pretty effective.

10000000% Completely agree mate.

Yep. This is typical of solid mid-table teams who are not yet at a top six level.....which is precisely what we currently are. We will play some great football and win more than we lose but still be susceptible to some poor results and in-game inconsistency. Simply due to quality of players in our squad. I have gratefully accepted that we will be looking at a 10th-12th finish and am delighted with the progression from last season. We are not yet strong enough for top 6 but if we maintain the astute recruitment and keep our better players that overall squad quality will continue to improve and last night’s type of result/performance will be happening less.

You are obviously entitled to critique players, however, I just don’t understand the need to do it when we are in such a good place. EVERY player is contributing and we are not a team of £50M experienced PL stars so there will be times when not all of our players are at a 10/10 level. Can we not just enjoy what we are currently watching without singling out individual players when the overall improvement from last season is immeasurable. We’ve had years of very poor fayre to put up with so let’s all try to enjoy the moment instead of spending time trying to identify a weak link in a a very effective overall unit... especially one who cost us pennies and has repaid that investment beyond all expectations. As I said, let’s all enjoy this ride while it lasts as we know all too well that things can change very quickly

Jeez . We are playing the best football I can remember since Big Ron and are an absolute joy to watch. Yet still some fans have to talk about who our worst performer is. Can we for even for just a few hours/days appreciate the effort and performances that ALL our squad are putting in and leave any negativity out of it?? I know us Villa fans can be a moaning bunch at times but come on...give it a go eh?

That long?!!

Yeah, all the stats and analytics show him to be a terrier type of CM. Has excellent pressing stats which I imagine is why DS so keen on him - its all about having more ‘legs’ in the midfield and obviously why CH was not getting picked. IMO, see him rotating with Luiz and McGinn as you suggest as opposed to a Barkley alternative. Excellent signing as it was in this CM position that we really didn’t have any quality depth.

Let’s relax a bit here - it’s called negotiating. They NEED to sell him especially with Milik incoming so we try our luck with a low ball offer. It gets rejected unsurprisingly but defo worth the punt. We will now come back with a counter offer(s) until we find a compromise probably around €12-15M. We have moaned for years about how we overpay for players but we now have savvy and successful businessmen in charge so let’s leave them to their negotiating . I’m very confident that he will be a Villa player soon.

They play Lens tomorrow. AVB has named him in squad for the game on the official site. Must be a French thing - it is only the 21 squad so not the match day team etc....

Well, he’s been named in the OM squad for their game tomorrow so still some work to do to get this one finalised.

Sorry mate, I just don’t see it with Barry.....yet. The lad has some talent and it was a well taken goal. However, he is nowhere near first team football yet, especially with the way we need our CF to play. Some fans are saying that he should play as Rooney and Owen played first team football at his age, 17. Totally different levels of player in regards to physicality (Rooney was a ‘man’ at 17) and pace (Owen was lightning at that age). Barry has a nice touch and a decent turn of pace but he is miles away from those 2. Don’t get me wrong, he has serious potential but that is all it is at the moment - any thing more and Smith I’m sure would be picking him or at least get him training every week with the first team squad. A loan next season even to a League 2 team would do wonders for his development and then we will start to see if he really could make it. In the meantime, we are desperate for another striker as even now Ollie could have Covid and be out for weeks. We simply must sign one this month - prob a loan to see us through until Summer. Imperative, IMO.

I admire the sentiment but could not disagree more. The massive impact on our future success and stature would be immeasurable if we ever managed to finish 2nd vs an FA Cup win. (Sorry for swaying into OT territory).

Yeah, the overall cost of any transfer that is predominantly wages, is the key. Hence the reason I just can see us buying any first team players in Jan.

As per my previous post, completely agree re FFP. I don’t think the thread is pointless though....maybe some realism needed in regards to our targets

I agree with the general consensus of improving the team when we are in a good position - best and easiest way to progress and develop due to being better proposition for better players. However, I think we are underestimating/forgetting the FFP implications. We were hamstrung by it in the Summer with DS constantly staying we needed to sell to buy after we had bought our initial targets. We were clearly at our limits of FFP mainly due to still having to factor in our previous 2 Championship seasons. Therefore, I cannot see how this situation has changed and will not change until the Summer and even then our final season in the Champ will still be part of the calculation and so have an impact, albeit a diluted one The will to strengthen in Jan will definitely be there but the lack of financial ability due to the rolling 3 year FFP accounting period will probably mean a small outlay if any in Jan even if we offload CH for example. I can see the loan to buy option being our only route as we are then utilising the Summer budget in Jan without the initial outlay prior to the FFP period ending; it will then be a case of the wages of that player being ‘paid’ for by outgoings. Kalinic out on loan will free up some wages but i’m guessing that those alone will not cover any incoming salary. Obvs I could be totally wrong but cannot see how the FFP limitations we had to abide by in the Summer will have disappeared only a few weeks later. Overall, definitely need outgoings if we are to bring anyone in and only then probably only looking at one incoming, hence the fact Dean is extolling the virtues of our ‘deep’ squad with ‘players still to come back’. Managing our expectations, IMO.

I was thinking the same, mate. I’m not sure we do unless we move some out in addition to Kalinic.

It’s a valiant sentiment, however, the realistic machinations of football will trump sentiment all day long. If a player wants to leave he will leave - simple. There is no way that we can keep Jack if he seeks a more elite challenge for trophies. That’s not bending over, that’s football imo. Good to have differing opinions and I’m sure that enjoying Jack whilst he is here is something we can all agree on - however long that may be

Good post. I don’t see it as a ‘loser’ mentality to be realistic that one of the best players in the PL will both want to play at the highest level and will clearly get that opportunity from another club. As had been said, we are prob at least 3 seasons away from challenging top 4 and by then Jack will be 28. I hate to say it but we can’t expect him to stay for that long. He is a phenomenal player and in my 40+ years of watching the Villa, probably the best I have seen. He needs to be challenging for titles and CL medals - and he will want fo that before we are in a position to offer him that its not a loser mind set it is a realistic acceptance that this is the way the modern game works. Jack himself said just after signing the contract that he didn’t know where he would be playing this season so clearly there were talks and interest. I am certain that Lange has a Jack replacement high on his list of priorities as unless we challenge top 4 next season he will be gone. Your best players will always move on to more successful clubs - even Utd lost Ronaldo to Madrid. One day we may be in a position where WE are able to attract the best players in the world by consistently challenging at the very top; until then Jack won’t be the first and definitely won’t be the last to move onto bigger and better things. Realism NOT resignation.