stegzy

2 hours ago, OutByEaster? said:

Really good test for them tonight - Wolves pressed us high and hard right from the first whistle and we really struggled to get out. We're a team used to being on the front foot and being the aggressor and we looked a little lost at times when we couldn't get the ball into forward areas. We have weapons at the top end that can hurt teams and Wolves countered that by insisting the game be played in our half - fair play to them, it takes a heap of hard work and a load of organisation to do that well and they came with both. Their number three, Lembikisa was excellent throughout.

For us I thought Lamar Bogarde was outstanding and Tim Iroegbanum not far behind him, young Frankie Ealing also deserves a lot of credit for the shift he put in, he works harder than a fireman in an earthquake. I thought we struggled a little in midfield where we sometimes tend to go one at a time rather than as a unit - when we're on top in games it works well, but there were times tonight where we needed to keep things tight and tidy and struggled - like the syllabus of a school for recovering meth-heads, there wasn't any chemistry.

One player with a massive lesson to learn tonight is Aaron Ramsey. Ramsey is the most talented player on that pitch. He had a poor game. More than most he looked like a player used to being able to show the full range of his skills in attacking positions that was struggling to adjust to having to battle away in the trenches. In the second half he lost more balls than the local blind golf society and by the time he was substituted he looked frustrated and lost and his head had gone a bit. He can learn from this - you have to work and you have to earn it - and he will, he's an immensely talented young man, there still no one else out there that can do the spin turn that almost had him in on goal in the first half. He'll be back.

I thought Feeney added to his already impressive record of looking like the worlds most mature sixteen year old, he was solid, and the big Dutch farm boy next to him I thought showed signs of being a very passable left back - he's still a centre half out of position, but it was nice to see him get forward and be a bit more vocal.

They hit the bar and we showed flickers in the final minutes where we might have done something, but I think the draw was the right result. 

Lessons to be learned and some good ones on offer - probably better for these players in the long run than another big scoring win. 

Thanks for the thorough report BOF. Was looking forward to this one and was very gutted when I got home from my after work “pint” and realised I’d missed the lot. Doesn’t seem like a bad one to have missed as we generally get at least 2 goals in every match. Great that Feeney is in amongst this age group already but can’t help but feel our attacking capabilities will improve 10 fold when Chrisene gets back as Swinkels is not a full back at all.

1 minute ago, ender4 said:

His face is annoying?

What have they got where his face should be?

They have a face that looks nothing like Watkins face, whereas all other players have photorealistic faces!

Such a great defender and wins everything in the air. Just a shame he can’t pass for toffee and now it looks like he’s been asked to get it up the pitch (if anyone near him) he still floats one up to the opposition 9 times out of 10.

28 minutes ago, villa4europe said:

The brief video I watched on it said they've fixed the defending so I'll play it at some point 

Fully expect the standard EA difficulty increase problems, the opposition AI doesn't get better your team mate AI gets worse 

Yep. I’ve always found professional way to easy and World Class way to hard. Haven’t checked that on this version yet.

Yeah, I’m sure they have a bit to sort still but gameplay feels much better. Really angry that (after waiting about 5 updates so far) they still haven’t updated Watkins (really annoying) face but have got Jacob Ramsey’s 

Has anyone else tried the free 10 hours of this yet? I’ve had a go and feel it’s a massive upgrade on previous versions. I wonder if they spent the last 2 years trying to get this one right as feels like a proper upgrade.

18 minutes ago, romavillan said:

Always pass to the left, if you hold on too long you will be bogarding.

He is Dutchie too

2 hours ago, Vive_La_Villa said:

Could it just be that the physical demands of the French league are so behind the Premier League it takes some players a lot longer to get up to speed. Especially when all they have ever known is that league. Remember the state of Veretout and look at him now. We shouldn’t be too hasty with Sanson.

I think there could be something in that as we signed Gueye from France that same season, and although he adjusted a lot better, he improved ten fold the following season for Everton and then moved to PSG!

14 hours ago, Woody1000 said:

Hope he carries on his form from Brentford, I have a feeling he will be starting tomorrow.

I’m sure he will following his MOTM performance last time out. Was great to see him have a great all round game, rather than the occasional moment. Good for Bailey as well that he has less pressure to be the saviour.

Iroegbunam Scored an absolute belter in this from 30+ yards. Think there are highlights on AVTV

I would like to see a midfield 3 of Luiz (deep) with Mcginn and Buendia either side with a front 3 of Bailey, Watkins and Traore. Don’t think we’re good enough, or have the correct players, to play 4231. 
Buendia would be able to link better in this role and play his clever through balls, plus he’s not afraid to graft.

2 hours ago, TrentVilla said:

Still no sign of my kids packs.

I have though had numerous e-mails telling me to activate one of my memberships even though I've already bought tickets on each of them.

Oh and I've had an e-mail trying to sell me a membership.

So I decided to ring them and select option 2 as the e-mail said, only option 2 no longer goes to anyone about membership not that they ever answered anyway.

Absolutely incompetent.

Same situation. Been trying to activate for 2 months but doesn’t work.

11 hours ago, Sam-AVFC said:

I think you're watching a Copa America replay as that happened in one of the games and they've not played anyone in this break so far. 

Thought I was suffering a bit of deja vu reading that 

16 hours ago, CVByrne said:

Seen a couple of articles saying his performance against Newcastle (after his second half against Watford) was another factor in not going after a midfielder in unless one went out (Luiz/Nakamba). 

Look we're what priced by the bookies as a 10% chance of making top 6. If we end 8th or 10th what's a big difference if we spend the season bringing on players like Ramsey, Chuk, JPB and Archer and came 10th vs bringing in a McKennie and a Kamara and say finishing 8th. 

We've a golden opportunity now to give the kids the game time they need to come good. 

I totally agree, they deserve a chance, as there should be no chance of a struggle with this squad and if we are struggling come January, we have an incredibly fat wallet to put things right!

8 hours ago, JAMAICAN-VILLAN said:

I contacted Dan Bardell, and he has passed it on to someone at the club.

So here's hoping he gets some help!

I was pleasantly surprised he even answered my message!

He’s a good man

So, so sad. Was struggling to even read this earlier on Facebook without breaking down. Can’t even begin to understand the pain they must be going through! I’ve had a couple of friends take their own lives in the last 2 years that I didn’t even know were depressed as they didn’t talk about feelings. I felt so shit about not seeing the signs as would have tried so hard to help them. The guilt of not realising made me take a course to read the signs and I now feel as though I’d be a lot better at spotting them. It only took 30 mins to an hour and was a real help. Think it may have been this one. If anyone is ever feeling down and wants to talk to a fellow villa fan I am always available (if PMs are possible on here).

https://www.zerosuicidealliance.com/

I think he’s great as a DM with 2 other midfielder ahead of him but doesn’t work in a 2. If there is enough quality around him he will be great in the quarterback role, waiting in deep space to take off defenders and start attacks.

Worst I’ve seen us play for a long time. Only Mcginn hasn’t been rubbish. Tricky situation now as we need more help defensively but also need goals. Full backs have been particularly crap.

31 minutes ago, RicRic said:

We should certainly not start with Leon Bailey tomorrow he has hardly trained, youd be bonkers to want him to start, it will be El-Ghazi and Young 

I think it may be Young and JPB. Would be harsh to put El Ghazi on his opposite wing in place of JPB, who’s been superb preseason. If anything it’s between Young and Ghazi on the left and JPB and Buendia on the right.

22 minutes ago, Keyblade said:

Ings is skillfull but I don't think he can play the Firmino role quite well. At Southampton it was Adams who was playing that role and Ings was playing the predator role in behind. If we're playing Ings I imagine it'll be as a pure #9 because that's what he excels at.

I think Ings could play the 10 role pretty well (opponent dependent). When Barkley played that role last season he was almost up alongside Watkins most of the time, which Ings could do, but Ings would track back better and is a lot more tenacious, plus he has a great strike frome edge of the box.

6 minutes ago, TrentVilla said:

No point signing someone as back up to Nakamba we need to sign better.

I like Nakamba and think he’d be great in a sitting role rather than part of a 2. Doucoure May be better for all we know but is also only 21 so certainly has potential to be better.

I’d be happy with us getting Doucoure as backup/ competition to Nakamba as DMC and playing a midfield 3 with Nak/Douc deep and Mcginn/ Luiz one side and Sansom/ Buendia/ Chuk other side and 3 up top out of Bailey/ Ings/ Buendia/ Watkins and Traore (with El Ghaz and JPB as backups).

35 minutes ago, brummybloke said:

From the 6 or 7 games I've seen him play , he reminds me of David speedie, ok maybe not quite so strong in the air but just his style of play , physicality and knack of getting goals.

He is one of the most similar to Watkins strikers I have seen. Loads of energy and aggression and will chase all around the forward positions upsetting the defenders. He also has no shortage of skill, pace and finishing. Not sure if he’s ready to backup yet but certainly ha s the potential too.

52 minutes ago, thunderball said:

Mixed bag second half: Guilbert, Hourihane, McGinn, Wesley all failing to catch the eye or turn it on. Youngsters great.

Thought Gilbert was decent, strikers looked knackered after 2 minutes though.

Love the look of Buendia quite central putting those balls through and with the energy and tenacity to track back. May be room for Leon on the right after all.