VillaFaninLondon

Yes I want us to be able to retain the ball better like those sides, don't you? It's not all about results to be able to see the bigger picture of where we go as a team - when we had MON as manager and were finishing top 6 I didn't like our style of play and I said so as much at the time. IF we want to become a really top side in this division (which I hope we do), then we have to be able to keep the ball better, beat the press better, press ourselves better, and stop playing long balls. I honestly couldn't see who was more of a long ball team than us or Bruce's Newcastle on Friday night. I agree with you on the first third of the season, we were playing progressive, exciting, attacking football, and also pragmatic by playing more counter attack against the likes of Liverpool and Arse. But now we've regressed, and did so even before Jack got injured - we're not just talking half a dozen games here, almost double that which is not just a mini slump. And yes, I realise Jack is very good at football. But I care mostly about the club and when we don't have Jack we look a shadow of the team we are. I think Dean needs to try structuring the team so it is not so reliant on one individual - but of course I understand that this will take more investment. That's why I said this summer window is important to attract a higher calibre of player. Leicester is where we should be aiming to get to. They are a very good team and we're a way off that at the moment I understand. But my general point was that Rodgers can get players like Iheanacho who has generally been in the doldrums this season to perform when they need someone to get them goals. Plus he's changed the formation to suit the personnel he has available at his disposal currently, even playing Iheanacho and Vardy together. And that's impressive management.

I think the talk of him being sacked (even if it did come from Twitter) is ridiculous, even though I have my doubts about him. In terms of where we are in the league and the season as a whole, we have met expectations if not slightly surpassed them. Our aim was I believe to finish between 8th and 12th and that last season was unacceptable, so we've clearly done that this season and should finish between those 2 positions. However, my beef with Dean is over two things: 1) No defined style of play - is it really that difficult to develop a positive brand of football like Brighton/Fulham/Leeds play? Why can't he coach his team to pass the ball correctly despite having better players than the three aforementioned teams and why do we constantly revert to hoofing it? 2) Over-reliance on Grealish - Grealish's return helped us move from midtable in the Champ to getting promoted, if he'd got injured for any length of period last season we would have gone down, it's that simple. We weren't exactly playing great before he got injured but it's clear we're struggling to create anything without him. I get that he's a phenomenal player but Leicester won 5-0 today without Maddison and Barnes, and Iheanacho (who has barely played all season) scored a hat trick. If DS gets another summer of investment which I suspect he will, he has to start building a quality squad which doesn't rely on one player. If I were the owners I'd be pushing the manager to try to resolve the two issues above next season. Finishing top half again next season wouldn't be a catastrophe and would keep us stable, but getting into Europe should be the aim if we want Jack to stick around for longer and to also take this club back to where it should be. And in order to do that we have to find more consistency by beating the teams at the lower end of the table.

I feel with Tammy he's not quite good enough for a side like Chelsea that are going for the league title really let alone top 4, but for a side like us that wants to be knocking on the door of the top 6 and trying to at least make the Europa then he's a very good signing (maybe CL will be the aim longer term but for now just being involved in any European competition is good for the club). I don't think Smith will play 2 up top, and on that I agree with him. We struggle to control the midfield and keep the ball as it is, if we take another midfielder out of our team then we'll struggle even more. I'm fine with 1 up top, but yeah Watkins could play out on the right as for me Traore shouldn't be anything more than a squad player (although I'd be looking to bring in another winger too and move Trez on). Even if Watkins was benched some games, it would be good for me as right now he looks knackered and out of form and having someone to really push him is important. West Ham need a striker and are based in London and having a really good season, Tammy would be tempted there but I just feel if we really pushed it he'd come here as he really enjoyed his time here and was popular. It depends on our budget as he won't be cheap, a creative mid, defensive mid, winger and at least one full back should also be on the list so it will all depend on how much the owners are willing to put in (and whether they save a bit of money by perhaps loaning in 1 or 2 players for the positions that need improving). For me though, we need another big summer of investment to become more consistent in this league.

Yeah, I'd have Barry on the bench over Davis, but Barry is only 17. He does look like a young Michael Owen/Jamie Vardy type and looks a real natural finisher, but we can't be pinning our hopes on him for a few years yet. And while I agree we need to fund moves in other positions, I still think a striker is needed. At the moment the order of strikers at the club is: 1) Watkins (plays 90 mins every game, puts in an awful lot of effort off the ball, but technically for me isn't great and mis-controls the ball often, and misses far too many chances, plus tends to score in spells and can go weeks and weeks without scoring and we need his scoring to be more consistent) 2) Wesley (still 2nd in pecking order when he's fit I'd say, we have no idea how he's going to come back after his injury, he'll be in contention for the matchday squad after a few under 23s games, but jury is completely out with him) 3) Davis (Barry should be 3rd choice really but Smith picks Davis, hold up play is alright but he's not good enough, hasn't scored a goal in the league for 3 and a half years when we were in the Championship, either sell him or loan him out, he's no use to us) 4) Barry (great prospect but still very young, given our dire striker options though there is absolutely no harm in including him in matchday squads from here on in) Now we only play one up front, but Tammy is likely to be sold this summer given he's not even on the bench for Chelsea these days. He loved his time here, the fans love him, he's young and in the England squad, OK he does miss chances too but he's proven himself in this league already (15 goals last season) and will really boost our forward line. It seems like West Ham are another serious option for him, we mustn't let him go to them and potentially improve a rival if we have an opportunity to get him.

For me I think we need 4 or 5 big signings this summer: ST (Tammy should be priority) AM (De Paul) Winger (Thauvin) LB (Wijndal, Henry) DM/CM (Bissouma, Berge) Tammy could cost £35-40m I'd imagine but we desperately need more firepower and competition for Watkins. I'm not convinced Wes will come back the same player (and didn't set the world alight anyway) and Davis is nowhere near good enough. We need more creativity too, if Jack gets injured again next season we need someone who can make things happen in his absence (but play with him when he's fit too). De Paul is supposed to be the Serie A version of Jack and is was linked with a move to a few clubs last summer for around £30m, if we can get him for that we should be all over it. Another wide player is important, if Fulham go down Lookman could be worth a look but Thauvin's contract is running down and he'll be available at a reasonable price. Saint Maximin may be another one but doesn't score enough goals for me. Proper competition at FB is also important. Cash has had a really good season and personally I think him and Fred fighting it out is good enough next season, but it's whether Guilbert wants to come back or not. At LB someone like Wijndal would be great competition for Targett and mean we can rotate more in those areas. I still think we lack a proper DM. Berge has been linked and is the one player I'd take from Sheff U, but maybe is more box to box than a sitting midfielder. Bissouma seems to be more in the mould of what we need as the only proper holding midfielder we have is Nakamba and he's not good enough on the ball. If we did get the aforementioned players in I'd be happy to sell Trez, Hourihane, Davis and possibly Nakamba. Taylor and Elmo are both out of contract so we'll have a similar sized squad to this season but with an upgrade in quality.

We were playing quite poorly before he got injured actually, I think I've only seen Villa play really well in an attacking sense once since that COVID outbreak, away at Burnley (and we still lost). But he gives us that something extra even if he's not having his best game. Barkley has been a big disappointment for me too. His first couple of months were good, but this year his output has been appalling and he's lost the ball many times which have nearly cost us goals. It simply ain't good enough for a recognised England international and a player on over £100K at Chelsea. I don't agree with you that we haven't got the money to afford proven top quality players, I think we have, though where we may have an issue is FFP and convincing the players to come (and having to give them a lucrative contract to entice them here). Up front is also an issue because Watkins was shocking last night and didn't deserve to stay on for the full 90 but we've only got Davis to come on who should have been moved on last summer. Even though some aren't sure of it, if we have a chance to sign Tammy this summer we should definitely go for it to give Watkins proper competition (hopefully Wesley and young Barry will provide that next season too). Of course Jack would have gone if we'd gone down, but I think he'll stay for next season because we should finish where he was told the aim was (8th-12th). But we will need to push on next season and he must be frustrated watching us play because right now we are a complete bore fest.

Problem is we've said that far too many times this season after not winning against a weaker side. At least we didn't lose is pretty much the only thing you can take out of it.

A lot of people have given Konsa motm last night and certainly from a defensive point of view he was very good. And I am a big fan of his. But his passing (much like many others in our team) is where he's letting himself down and for England (and I believe he deserves a call up) he would need to keep the ball much better than he's doing for us. He gave the ball away cheaply several times last night.

What worries me is if Jack leaves we would be in big trouble. Without him we would absolutely be hovering around the bottom 5 and we've been over-reliant on him for the third season in a row now. There are some on other Villa forums saying he's not going to stick around this summer, I personally think that's overreacting bedwetting. For one I don't think many teams could afford to pay £100m+ which is the minimum it will take to buy him, and of the top clubs (certainly in England) they have priorities in other positions imo. I believe he'll give us at least one more season but we've got to start signing players to take the weight off him and still win us games when he's not available. That player was supposed to be Barkley but sadly that looks like it hasn't worked out and I can't see us buying him this summer. De Paul, Pulisic, someone of that calibre would really push us on and help in his absence, but it will take an awful lot of persuading to get someone of that ilk to come here and obviously big investment. I think it's necessary for us to move forwards though.

I get what you're saying, but this is also on the manager too I'm afraid to say. Dean has been here for 2 and a half years now and we are still just lumping the ball upfield with no real pattern or style of play. He spent £28m on Watkins and it seems he wants to frustrate him because Watkins is just feeding off long balls all the time. It's feckin infuriating and I hate all the claims we've been a joy to watch and given it a go this season because quite frankly in the last dozen games or so we've been so boring to watch. Against a side like Newcastle who have almost half their first team out (and play long ball even when they have a fully fit team) we should be dominating that football, wearing them down, and making them chase the ball. But we didn't do that, we looked just as bad as them if not worse. Our decision making in the two most important areas of the pitch is appalling: in our attacking third and our defensive third. In our defensive third we make the wrong decisions time and time again which often leads to big chances against us and this is because Dean is telling them to play out all the time. Example - Barkley giving the ball away in his own half last night before they very nearly scored but hit the bar. In the attacking third we also make the wrong decisions. Example - Watkins against Wolves when he should have shot instead of passing to Traore. Or last night when we had a break and could have scored a 2nd to kill the game, there were 2 men free on the left and instead Barkley (I think) gave it to Watkins on the right who had a man marking him and we didn't take the opportunity. The top teams (in the main) do indeed pass the life out of you, but then look at Spurs: one of the reasons Mourinho is so unpopular there despite an upturn in recent form is because he's so negative despite having some phenomenal attacking players. Then look at a team like Brighton or even Fulham - they play better football than we do and they absolutely do not have better players than us. Yes, I do believe we still need better players to progress, we again need to invest, and I realise we aren't going to become a top team overnight, but there comes a time where it can't keep being about the players supposedly not being good enough and where you have to question the coaching and tactics. Out of the bottom 6 teams, we've played Newcastle, Sheff U, Burnley and Brighton 8 times and won only 2 of them, which is a 25% win rate. The reason we didn't win 6 of those 8 games is not because those teams have better players than us, it's because they got the better of us tactically. This season we've had some great wins against Leicester, Plop, Arse and Wolves, but how many disappointing results have we had - I could count around 7 or 8 games this season where the result has been disappointing (and in a lot of cases the performance too) and last night was yet another one of those occasions. If it's true that players are coming in late to training because they're playing computer games all night it shows that DS is failing to stamp his authority on the squad and they've become complacent - which is absolutely shocking if you ask me.

Smith is really just an average manager at best. We’re always poor without Grealish and again that hasn’t changed this season. Newcastle are a awful team and we played arguably worse than them.

9th is of course much better than 15th for a number of reasons. But right now they’re playing like they don’t care where they finish.

We were shit even when we had Grealish playing, but at least he gave us a spark. At the moment no one in our midfield is giving us anything. All our midfield players’ output is shocking, absolutely no goals or creativity in any of them.

Shit. Again. Actually just want the season done now.

F*** off. Why didn’t we just clear it. Muppets.

Yes it’s a shame we have no one to bring on as Watkins has been simply awful. Given the ball away about 100 times!

Watkins has given the ball away every time he’s had it.

So far it’s just pass it around at the back and hit long balls to no one. Watkins isn’t playing great and isn’t holding the ball up, Ramsey looks out of his depth, McGinn and Luiz aren’t creating anything. The only positive is we can’t get any worse in the 2nd half surely.....

Fair’s fair. I have edited my comment now though.

Oh here we go, I’m sure you’re delighted by this rubbish performance as per.

Should make another change at HT to change this game but he won’t.

We are so boring to watch, one of the worst in the league for entertainment currently.

If they’re not fit to start, ok. If they are fit to start, they should be. Spurs game isn’t for 9 days. If we win tonight I won’t care a jot, but the selection isn’t great.

2 up top wouldn’t work at the moment, Davis is gash. But the team selection is a bit baffling.

He’s apparently recovered from his leg injury but illness kept him out of tonight. Hope he’s back for spurs.