OxfordVillan

It’s a strange thing, isn’t it? Not that long ago Villa were probably the worst defensive unit in the Premier League, and many were talking of how the England teams biggest problem was that there were no stand out CBs/defenders. All of a sudden we’ve seen a season with Villa being amongst the very best of defensive units, and where players such as Mings, Konsa, Cash, Targett, Keane, Stones, Luke Shaw, WanBissaka are having superb seasons, to the point where you’re now looking at England’s options in defence and thinking there’s no shortage at all in there. Targett, in particular, must be in with a great chance at LB. Chilwell hasn’t exactly been outstanding, Targett has. Maguire has been shaky at CB this season, Stones/Mings/Konsa have been imperious. Villa could be very well represented in the England squad.

Sorry, no way Barkley comes back into my starting 11.

I’m thankful that a handful of posters here aren’t anything to do with our team preparation. As we’ve ALREADY found out to our cost, you don’t take ANY team in the premier league for granted, you have to earn the right. Talk of easing past the bottom team, blowing them away etc. Misguided.

Fred isn’t as good as Cashy, but he’s a better back up than Elmo IMO. I can’t envisage Elmo remaining a Villa player beyond this season, and so as things stand we have a player who can fit straight into the 1st team squad for next season. We don’t have to worry about a replacement for Elmo. We also have Kessler waiting in the wings. We’re ok at RB for the foreseeable future.

Dignity, pride, personal ambition. With acceptance of relegation you may see a slightly more relaxed Sheffield United. This is a team that isn’t hindered with fancy players already looking for a way out, with their 2nd or 3rd manager of a catastrophic season. No, from what I’ve seen is a team that have simply lacked that little bit of quality in front of goal, they are all still putting in a shift and don’t suffer lack of effort. Brewster has proven to be a completely ineffective signing for the Premier League, perhaps a naive signing when it’s clear to most observers that they needed more proven, experienced quality up front. Against Liverpool yesterday they could and should have scored at least a couple of goals. They didn’t and that’s their problem. But that doesn’t mean that Villa can turn up expecting chances to be missed by Sheffield United, Wednesday could be one of those rare days when Sheffield United chances get taken. We don’t exactly have many goals in us at this moment in time, so clean sheets become quite vital when you’re looking for wins. If we turn up Wednesday even slightly under motivated, or over confident, then we’ll come unstuck.

Sheffield United played well against Liverpool, they just lacked that little bit of composure or luck to get the ball over the goal line. The composure can be attributed to lack of confidence, understandable given where they are in the table. This will not be an easy game for Villa, quite the opposite. I think in Sheffield United you have a team that know they’re realistically down, but with so much of the season left to play they are playing for dignity and actually playing quite freely, from what I watched. It’s just putting the ball in the net that’s problematic for them, and on any given day that might change. We have to make sure that doesn’t change against us. So Nakamba definitely gets to start again, the only change I might contemplate would possibly be Sanson in place of Ramsey.

I do think there is a message in there for Barkley. For me there looks like there’s been a bit a little bit of tension in the team over the last few games, so call it coincidental, if you like, that a good TEAM performance turned up with both Barkley and Luiz looking on from the sidelines. Difficult to see how Barkley, in particular, can get back into the starting lineup for Sheffield Utd.

I think you are correct, and the absolute priority of the two positions would be the No.6. There are two really good players in the Premier League that would fit our profile, Kalvin Phillips and Declan Rice. Something remarkable would have to happen for either of those to be obtainable to Villa, so I think we’re scouring the world for an alternative.

Excellent from all involved. Ramsey & Nakamba to retain their starting position for the next game. UTV

If we line up as we did against Leicester then unfortunately I can easily see the game being out of reach by 60mins.

Unfortunately I do think he’ll start because Dean Smith keeps bigging him up and hasn’t really shown an appetite to change things at all from his preferred starting 11, unless forced by injury. I think it’ll prove to be a mistake starting him, but would be delighted to be proven wrong.

If only the coaching staff would sit Ross in the video room and just keep showing him footage of Ollie Watkins and his work rate. “Ross, we just need you to show half the work rate of this guy”.

I think you miss my point, ref Nakamba and AEG. I’m alluding to the environment that can be created when players who come in and do well get instantly dropped, the message that can send out to the rest of the squad. I’m not saying they’re better in the long run than those in the starting eleven, but players form can and does dip. You can only play well against what’s in front of you, Nakamba has faired pretty well in the games he’s been played in. It’s all well and good labelling certain opponents but we’ve been beaten or failed to beat similar level teams to Newcastle et al when Nakamba hasn’t been played at all. Players are only as good as their last performance. ElGhazi had actually played himself into a bit of form after looking distinctly average. Barkley seems to start game after game despite being utter . I just worry about the message that can send.

For me we’ve approached certain games over confident, too arrogantly. I feel we’ve turned with the attitude that “you’re below us, we shall blow you away with our marauding football”. I suppose some of this is perhaps inevitable with the plaudits we were getting, we’ve bought into our hype. It’s a learning curve. But we’ve got to get back to the raw basics of hard work and discipline, players that are really earning the opportunity to play. We had two very decent performers pre-Covid outbreak at VP in Nakamba and ElGhazi, both of whom have been tossed aside in favour of others who really haven’t been at the races and deserved their starting place in the team. This is the premier league, teams that want to succeed cannot afford to wait 6,7, 8 or 9 games for players to find some form. You’ll get found out.

I’m pretty certain that Morgan Sanson isn’t accustomed to playing LW. I’ve not really selected McGinn there to play as a winger, for the obvious reason he’s not a winger. I’ve selected him there for his work rate and tenacity to get into the Leeds players on that flank, to team up with Targett and match Leeds work rate. Ditto the opposite flank with Trezeguet and Kessler, I’ve gone with work rate and pace. Also worth noting that these players do still possess qualities, just maybe not the raw talent/flair of a Traore. If we don’t get to grips with Rafinha, Harrison, and Bamford then I feel we’ll lose the game. Our flank pairings have to work hard against the Leeds pairings, it’s a battle that mustn’t be lost.

I’d be really disappointed to see Barkley in the starting eleven this weekend. We have to get back to players playing that have earned the opportunity, performance and not reputation. Barkley has been consistently below par for a number of games, he must sit some out.

...........................Martinez........................... Kessler........Konsa.......Mings........Targett ..........................Nakamba.......................... Trez.........Luiz..........Ramsey.........McGinn ............................Watkins........................ 4-1-4-1. Let’s go and put in a higher energy midfield display, put out fires higher up the pitch. Let’s fight for a foothold in the game and maybe turn to some goal scoring flair on the bench if we’ve earned that right. I want pace and desire (with a splash of surprise in youth) to give us a bit of a lift in what is a difficult period for us. Kessler and Ramsey won’t disgrace themselves at all. Set them free.

He needs to be our DM in a 4-1-4-1 against Leeds, tasked with shadowing the shitbag that is Bamford for the entirety of the game. Nakamba hasn’t deserved to be dropped after any of his appearances this season, he’s been perfectly capable.

I’d honestly be considering playing McGinn out wide in a midfield 4 for the Leeds game. You need tenacity and running power against Leeds wide men. I’d be looking at 4-1-4-1 formation as we really don’t have the personnel to go 3 at the back at this moment in time.

..........................Martinez........................ Elmo.........Konsa........Mings.........Targett .........................Nakamba .......................... Trez.........Luiz............Ramsey.......McGinn ...........................Watkins............................ I think we need to tweak our set up for Leeds. We need desire and work rate in the team, players to match the running of Harrison and Rafinha and shut them down. I feel that if we do that for an hour or so then we would have that bit of quality on the bench ready to come on and find a little bit of space later in the game against tiring legs. Nakamba needs to shadow Bamford, annoy him and get under his skin as often as possible. Much of Leeds better stuff goes via Bamford.

McGinn has been guilty of giving the ball away quite often of late, so you may be right in putting him further up the pitch. My take, however, is that both McGinn and Douglas Luiz are under more pressure as a result of the players ahead of them not doing enough to press and slow down the ball coming back at us, they have less time to pick out forward passes. Barkley, and to some extent Traore, being in the team has resulted in less protection for our midfield. I think Sanson or Ramsey in for Barkley will instantly help, and we have Nakamba to come in at DM if we need some more energy.

I don’t think for a single second that our performance or results will be equally as poor if Ross Barkley is dropped. There are now other factors to consider, such as Cash & Grealish now being out of the team, that will inevitably influence performance and results. That aside, Villa will be a better unit with Ramsey or Sanson in for Barkley. With the injuries mentioned it requires Villa to become a bit more pragmatic, to do the basics very well and make sure they work as hard as any opposition. Ross Barkley doesnt give you that. The bulk of his displays have shown him to lose the ball relatively easily, and to not work hard to press and win balls back. Without Cash & Grealish in the team Villa cannot afford to carry anyone. We’ve been carrying Barkley for too many games now, and his petulant antics on the sideline when he has been subbed off just compound the problem. Make no mistake, Villa will be better at this point in time with Barkley out of the team.

My midfield three for Leeds would be Douglas Luiz, Nakamba, and Ramsey or Sanson. I think I’m just slightly edging towards Sanson over Ramsey, but I’d be relaxed with either of the two. What we definitely cannot do is go into the game with one ponderous midfielder who offers nothing of a press, and another who has started to pass the ball to the opposition more often than not. We need to get back to the very basics of players earning their place by doing the simple things very well. We’re not good enough to carry anyone.

The very simple fact is that Ross Barkley doesn’t currently warrant a place in the starting eleven, we were instantly improved when Ramsey came on in place of Barkley. The right thing to do for the team now is to bench Barkley. I think maybe Douglas Luiz or McGinn could easily join him on the bench until they rediscover their form. We need to start getting more minutes for Ramsey, Sanson, and Nakamba. Frankly it would be cruel to start Barkley against Leeds, they’ll destroy him. Which in turn means they’d destroy Villa. Now is the time to take Ross out of the firing line.

That should be the last we see of Barkley trudging off for a good number of games now, time for him to spend a few games on the bench. And that would be generous at the moment.