Irinous

Is he a winger or a striker?

Would love to know how that matches with the fact that he has resurrected Charles N'Zogbia's career and apparently fired him up to play decent football at last. Or does he not count as a "foreign" player for some reason? Not that I exactly believe that Sherwood prefers English players over foreign imports, but N'Zogbia has been playing in the PL for like 10 years, maybe Sherwood can't disregard that.

I think Clark is that kind of player though Stevo, he is more the reckless type. It's like you are requesting him to be boxer when instead he is a MMA fighter. Sometimes it pays off, sometimes it doesn't. Had Clark the years of experience and the technical skill you have, he might be more formal in his tackles haha.

Does anybody know if there is a video out there showing the 12 goals Gabby got a couple seasons ago? I need to jog my memory and see if I can make more sense of his current transition as a player. I thought he held and moved the ball well against Newcastle, but he isn't exhibiting the tenacity that is so central to his game. He used to get into way more goal scoring positions and run the channels and run straight on at defenders at times leaving them fat on their arse. That said, I hope he recovers from this dip in form and shows us that he has still got it in him.

When you deal with the one of the best clubs in the world like us, you have to show a certain respect. Having said that it would take more than 10 million to take Vlaar off our hands, we know that clubs like United and Southampton have money to spend. Then again, if we sell him, who do we replace him with? Do we go for an established defender, maybe with similar attributes and style to Vlaar? Or do we go for a younger talented one that will lead for years to come? Vlaar is our captain, you look at him and you know that he lifts those around him, if he leaves, replacing him becomes the number one priority, we are no longer safe without him.

Lib zMb

He is a bit goofy but not bad for the price. Hopefully he turns out to be good for us.

Hey mate, I'll help you out.

Fixed. Haha sorry mate, I only put the question mark next to his name because I wasn't sure what position he'd be playing.

In a way, I believe that it is our lack of attacking play that puts constant pressure on midfield and defence, we need to be able to play in the opponents half for longer periods of the game. Aside from a LB and maybe a loan for Barry, our attack should be the focus. I reckon we need to dish out on an attacking midfielder who can actually thrive in the biggest pitch in League (Hoolahan will be a good backup to this player). Also, we need a more direct and effective wide players that can play with the ball, get involved and put constant pressure on our opponents. I like Gabby and I like Weimann but I think they are limited in the roles they are playing and they have been found out. However, that is not to say that they are not useful, they are strikers at the end of the day and have had better displays when played there. GK: Guzan, Steer RB: Lowton, Bacuna CB: Vlaar, Okore, Clark, Baker (maybe another backup if funds are available) LB: New signing, Bennet, Luna DM: Barry, KEA CM: Delph, Westwood AM: New signing, Hoolahan, LW: New signing, Grealish? RW: New signing, Robinson, N'Zogbia? ST: Benteke, Kozak, Agbonlahor, Weimann, Bowery, Helenius

In all honesty, I am reserving my judgement of Lambert (if he stays) once I see him get one or two quality attacking players. I want to see how we play with the ball at our feet during longer periods of possession. I have at times seen glimpses (and I am sure many of you have) of nice silky play and effective counter attacking football and I do wonder whether he can build upon that and sustain it. If Lambert gets the funds to bring in quality players and our playing style doesn't develop or results remain tediously inconsistent then maybe it will be time for him to go. However, I do feel that injuries to some of our more valuable players, the lack of investment and management issues have made his job hard and must hold some weight in our criticism of him.

Wow, as if Lallanna is worth that much? I mean he is pretty good but that's a bit much don't you think?!

I don't know if it's just me, but I think his age is often overlooked. The guy is 22 years old, playing in the most difficult league in the world and is maturing more and more every game. If he continues to develop the different aspects of his play he could turn out to be a very good CB in a few years time.

It seems that our forward three of Gabby, Weimann and Benteke have started to click again, I wouldn't tamper with it at the moment.

In all honesty we were playing Liverpool at Anfield and they needed the points. Holt came on and at least did something in a half where Liverpool scored two goals and had the majority of possession. I don't think anybody is saying that it was an inspiring debut, he had an ok game considering the circumstances and showed that he could at least link up with our players. We shouldn't judge him so early, and we should remember that he was bought as cover. Hopefully he can prove to be effective in the limited time that he is on the pitch, either as a sub or starting the odd game as a result of injury.

We have smashed them once already and we will smash them again.

I was just watching a few of his youtube videos and a lot of the time it doesn't look he is playing as the striker. If Lambert was after cover for Kozak then you'd think it would be Hansen. Wells seems more of a backup to Gabby or Weimann rather than a direct replacement for Kozak.

I agree with TJVillan. If Wells comes to Villa along with a number 10 and an experienced player, I don't see a problem. If we don't buy him I think we will see him in the Premier League soon either way. For instance, just say a club like Nottingham Forest get him and he thrives as they gain promotion and he scores another goal against us in the PL. There is the possibility of battling with the team that buys him next year.

I was just reading the article in the Transfer Speculation thread about our interest in Kiyotake and it also mentioned that N'Zogbia is back in training trying to get fit! I wish him luck in coming back as a strong player. The injury he suffered is a nasty one, hopefully it doesn't jeopardise his career as he is a pretty good player at the end of the day.

I've seen quite a bit of Samaras and on his day he can be a special player. However, he is very frustrating to watch at times and I do question his work ethic and attitude. Also, Lennon deploys him as more of a left midfielder where he is much more effective than he is at playing striker. His inconsistency would really frustrate many fans if Lambert brings him to play as the out and out forward. That being said, Samaras has been linked with many clubs over the past few years, including Barca after his impressive tally of goals in the Champions League last year. Despite this, he has never moved from Celtic, maybe he is happy there and would hesitate coming back to a league where he is still thought of as shit. I think he would be an interesting signing but maybe not right for Villa and the Premier League.

Is it a possibility that the lack of competition for the LB position due to Bennett's injury is affecting Luna? Maybe he is too comfortable at the moment?

I reckon we should just play music from the Lion King.

At the moment we have the better striker in Benteke so hopefully Arsenal don't go out and buy a world-class striker till after we play!!!

I'm just going to keep saying this whenever someone complains about the corners, villa had the fifth most goals from corners last year from the fifth fewest attempts. It's clearly not an ineffective system, most teams don't score a lot from corners. So what if he his? Lambert will tell him to float in 2mph balls aimed at Baker anyway. Is he any good at corners?? Where did you get that stat from my friend? Also, did Westwood take most of our corners that led to goals last season? What about this season? Every corner is a goal scoring opportunity. Did you see United last season? They had around 14 goals IIRC with an EFFECTIVE system. You can't dismiss a persons frustration at our corners by throwing that particular stat out. Nobody wants to see a corner hit a persons head 10% of the time, its about consistency and putting actual pressure on an opponent. Just found this as well: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sport/football/article-2311576/Premier-League-corner-conversion-statistics-Manchester-United-best-Newcastle-United-worst.html You have to understand that this is the highest level of football in the world, Westwood should be finding his team-mates more. I am not expecting to score 15+ goals from corners but we need to be more effective from this position.

Is he any good at corners??