VillanousOne

If any of our forwards get injured or we are chasing the game it will be great to have the option to play Tonev or Helenius - it feels like we would be changing roles wgoing fwd between them and the current front four. or if we need steal or fresh legs then Bacuna or Sylla Those are the four I see being rotated most in the squad. I still think that ultimately our season will be dictated to how we fair with injuries, but i think we have a better squad than last season.

Wow, let's hope we fight even harder second half now we've finally got going. Hope mourinho doesn't think he's got any chance of getting Tekkers!

I thought actually getting treated well by a ref against a big team wouldn't last.

It's August & we've played Arsenal & Chelsea!And? It doesn't seem to matter what team we play there is always one comedy defensive moment in us per game.'Another season of...' based on two CL sides seems less than fair. That's all. No very fair point, it was more the fact we conceded so early that irked me. I agree we miss Syllas ability to press players KEA never gets near anyone.

It's August & we've played Arsenal & Chelsea! And? It doesn't seem to matter what team we play there is always one comedy defensive moment in us per game.

So another season of giving every team a goal head start.

I think he and Baker aren't intelligent defenders - they are quick, physical and aggressive. They need someone intelligent beside them such as maybe Okore? And possibly Clark if he can keep it together long enough. we expect way to much from Vlaar - he is forced to play an unnatural game for him because of his age and experience. I thought Lowton was pretty poor yesterday also, but his awesome form last season means he is less likely to get criticised.

I don't think we played brilliantly overall but certainly showed flashes of what we can do. I think almost every player went from terrible to sublime in a heart beat. But I do think we looked more solid as a unit and aside from the soft goal we defended pretty well. Surprisingly Clark did well, KEA was very tidy and intelligent although I still think we need Sylla at times for the battering ram affect. Gabby was superb again, it just shows you what a useless prick Woy Wodgeson is too overlook our players.

Wow - absolutely speechless, aside from the soft goal we were the better side! It was nice to see some 50/50 decisions work in our favour!

Was that Benteke flooring someone?

good play by Gabby

oh dear Baker off for Clark, Okore must not be fit enough.

i've seen children mark better

so new season new players same **** terrible defending

I thought he had been dobbins all pre-season?

If Okore is fit i guess he would start alongside Vlaar. But no idea who will play in midfield alongside Delph and Westwood - maybe Tonev or Bacuna? Arsenal were poor on both occasions against us last season but it only takes a bit of composure and individual flair to rip us apart like soft bread. we might get a 1:1 draw if Arsenal have an off day.

I don't agree with this - I did at the time think it was madness when he threw Bent out of the first team squad and would only harm his value. But I think the reality with these players is they know they are not wanted as do their agents and hence as do other clubs. Agents and clubs likely knew long before anyone was bombed out that Bent/Ireland/Bannan etc. could be got on the cheap. It also puts the onus on the player - if you want to play football go and talk to other clubs, negotiate wages, make it happen yourself. If you just want to earn money for doing nothing here's the bomb squad - enjoy. Its' clear what the bomb squad want to do. But that's the problem isn't it - they won't get the wages they are on now - and they still think they are good enough to justify those wages somewhere else - or are prepared to do nothing and just take the money - believing they have been treated poorly. Bent is probably the only one you could say that is probably worth most of the wages he is on as when he plays he scores much of the time. How do we expect people to want these players if we are happy to let the world know how little we value them. Segregating them and making them train alone just says to the world 'Here is a bunch of expensive arseholes we don't rate, are disruptive to the rest of the team and we will do anything to get rid of' Bent is an asset, he may not be better than what we have in the formation we play - but if we'd kept him as a sub or occasional plan B then we wouldn't be struggling to shift him. But Lambert decided that getting absolutely nothing or nowhere with/from Jordan Bowery was the better option.

Players used to take a wage cut to get a move to be able to play football again and restore their credibility, it seems none of our lot will do that not even sodding Bannan! If we don't get rid of these players then we may aswell use them, all publically bombing them out does is ensure their dwindling value drops even further.

Seriously, we can't even give the guy away. Spurs can command a fee for Parker who is 32 and past it, and Dempsey who os 30 and past it and yet we can't even send Bent on loan to a team who will cover his wages!!! FFS!

We don't actually know for certain he doesn't give a shit, it's a toxic mix of the fact how his attitude has been portrayed, the fact he clearly winds managers up by not playing to his potential and who he replaced at Villa. We don't even know what wages he is on. He is clearly one babybel short of a packed lunch, but still not sure if he deserves the derision we give him. I love Lambert, but the total bomb out approach of players he doesn't fancy, has just affectively ruined any chance we have of moving any of them on. We can't even get rid of Bent for less than a quarter of what we paid for him.

All the hatred is based mostly on assumption and because it's become fashionable. Player on high wages that Lambert doesn't rate = HATE HATE HATE HATE Unfullfilled expectation = HATE HATE HATE same with Bent. Not saying I rate or want to keep either, if Lambert doesn't want them then they need to go but it is scary how people spit bile at these players. MON/Houllier, Lerner gave them the stupid wages in the first place, both players have had their values decreased and their playing time reduced to nothing. Yes it must be good to do **** all and earn that much but it's not their doing is it.

you're entitled to that opinion but i don't accept the type of comedy defending every week that makes us the laughing stock of the premiership is ok as long as we score a few nice goals. Attacking football and a reasonably competent level of defending doesn't have to be mutually exclusive. Every team will make mistakes, defensive howlers and clangers, but there is no reason to expect those to be every week. Also not sure about this 'Lambert way' i don't think Norwich were as shit at us at defending.

I'm not saying this is the case, but if we haven't improved defensively after last season (and I get that we did get better last season) then there is no excuses. I really don't want another season were we have the attacking potential of a top 8 side, but the defence of a pub team. If we can't get a defensive coach to sort out positioning and set piece defending then we will continue with the 'we have to score four goals to win a game' bullsh*t. and i realise that this is just pre-season, and it will take time for Okore and Luna to settle, and any improvements will take time....... but.............

Westwood's corners were a bit better. Once we ditched Bannan - we started to look a threat from set pieces. I think Tonev, Helenius and Bacuna can beef up that side of things, maybe even Luna, Gardener if he plays. Does anyone know who took set pieces during the friendlies aside from the Gardener free kick. Young's were far from consistent, in fact although he was awesome at times, I think we have a romanticised memory of how good he was.

If we approached him, then surely we want to sign him. But I imagine the German club don't and the transfer fee is a lot higher than we want to pay, although under the circumstances it is hard to expect any different. I doubt we want to go down the player power route if he does actually want to sign for Villa. I am sure we will look at other cheaper targets and then if we fail to get them and manage to shift some dead wood we might go back in and bid. the most positive thing we can take from all this is that we are looking at this type of player