Dodgyknees Posted October 6, 2013 Share Posted October 6, 2013 I've thought for a while there were places we need improving. This year our defence looks less shakey, Bacuna has helped, as has the improvement from Clark, the improvement is pretty obvious. The biggest problem is the injury to Okore, I cannot wait for his return as I feel we will be even stronger. Right now I would not change anything. Bacuna - Vlaar - Clark - Luna Midfield is our biggest problem, we have the big improvement from Delph and El Ahmadi, but Sylla and Westwood have gone the other way and don't look their best yet. I also think we lack somebody who can regularly score goals, a James Milner in the middle for us would be perfect and would stretch teams. Right now we have far too many who sit back or who do not get forward in support, nor do they look like scoring or creating decent chances. Midfield is often bypassed by the long ball which also doesn't help and creates a lot of rushes, this doesn't help possession. Delph - KEA - ????? (On current form) Attackers have been hit and miss, Bent once said Weimann was the best finisher he had seen, but that is far from obvious this season. His finishing and open play work looks a shadow if the player from last season. Gabby has been outstanding from wide and I wish he would stay fit for a long period as I think getting injured stops his momentum. Certainly needs to be in the team. Benteke, well he speaks for himself, alongside Delph, Gabby, Guzan and Bacuna As first names on the sheet right now. Kozak, Tonev and others need time to settle as they are not good enough right now. I also think we only have one option to replace Weimann and that is Albrighton, is he good enough? ??????? - Benteke - Gabby January? I think we need a playmaker, somebody to cover Okore's injury and another winger who can come in straight away. Where do you think we are right now and what improvements are needed? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PaulC Posted October 6, 2013 Share Posted October 6, 2013 Weimann maybe having a blip in form but he's still only 22 so no way would I write him off. Long term he will score more goals than Agbonlahor imo. Long term we will need to replace benteke because he may leave us after the world cup. Is Kozak really the answer. The Defence is ok. I don't think we can sign another centre back because we have an injury to okore, because then we will have 5 centre backs on our books. We need a quality playmaker to improve the team. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Avfc96 Posted October 6, 2013 Share Posted October 6, 2013 I think we have improved massively over last season especially defensively. But we still have an issue when it comes to breaking teams down especially the 'smaller teams'. Our lack of a playmaker to unlock defences is going to hurt us especially later in the season as we can't keep relying on Benteke to dig us out of holes and create something out of nothing. Also some of last seasons stand out performers such as Lowton, Westwood and Weimann have gone backwards which is a cause for concern as they will be needed to play a part this season and going by their current performances we might struggle with them in the team. But overall I think we are in a better place now than we were this time last season and this is mainly down to how our defense has improved and the considerable improvement in Vlaar and Clark. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
alexvilla4 Posted October 6, 2013 Share Posted October 6, 2013 For me i would love us to try and strike early in January and go for Tom Ince and Will Hughes. Both young, both British, both would definitely challenge for first team places. Yes there will be other competition for them and we would probably end up paying over the odds but i think they will only get a lot better so their values will increase. If they were concerned about first team football then Villa would be probably the best place for them in the Prem. Ince would rival Gabby and Weimann and Hughes could slot in as our attacking midfielder. I know Lambert doesn't like loans but another option could be a cheeky loan bid for Kevin de Bruyne. Awesome player 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dodgyknees Posted October 6, 2013 Author Share Posted October 6, 2013 For me i would love us to try and strike early in January and go for Tom Ince and Will Hughes. Both young, both British, both would definitely challenge for first team places. Yes there will be other competition for them and we would probably end up paying over the odds but i think they will only get a lot better so their values will increase. If they were concerned about first team football then Villa would be probably the best place for them in the Prem. Ince would rival Gabby and Weimann and Hughes could slot in as our attacking midfielder. I know Lambert doesn't like loans but another option could be a cheeky loan bid for Kevin de Bruyne. Awesome player I'd love us to, but I don't think the money is there. Both would fit our style perfectly. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PaulC Posted October 6, 2013 Share Posted October 6, 2013 For me i would love us to try and strike early in January and go for Tom Ince and Will Hughes. Both young, both British, both would definitely challenge for first team places. Yes there will be other competition for them and we would probably end up paying over the odds but i think they will only get a lot better so their values will increase. If they were concerned about first team football then Villa would be probably the best place for them in the Prem. Ince would rival Gabby and Weimann and Hughes could slot in as our attacking midfielder. I know Lambert doesn't like loans but another option could be a cheeky loan bid for Kevin de Bruyne. Awesome player Yep as hes not figuring for Chelsea. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rob182 Posted October 6, 2013 Share Posted October 6, 2013 We now have the makings of a squad. We just need to build on it. There is competitions for places, and we appear to have way more than 11 players who COULD play in our first team and actually perform. We just need to get the balance between attacking & defending, and build on this squad. I too would like Will Hughes, but if he'd cost too much, maybe Lambert will go for a foreign AMC. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Raymond Posted October 6, 2013 Share Posted October 6, 2013 (edited) We have needed a playmaker for quite some time. I am hopeful Nzogbia comes back and can be a spark. If Benteke is on the field with some of the runs Delph was making yesterday we also may have had something. We have to find a plan other than counter, but to be fair this was the same problem under MON and we were able to finish sixth. I think this squad finishes top half regardless of what is brought in during January. Unfortunately that is probably good enough for our owner right now, and I doubt we see investment. Edited October 6, 2013 by Raymond Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
villa-revolution Posted October 6, 2013 Share Posted October 6, 2013 Westwood & Sylla have not had too much game time so far this season as their pre-season was affected by injury. A few more games under their belt & watch them grow. Lowton has probably been the biggest disappointment so far but I'm sure he will bounce back. Tbf Bacuna is gonna take some shifting on his current form so let's hope he can maintain his promising start other than his performance against Liverpool where on reflection nerves probably got the better of him. We also need to regularly see Weimann, Benteke & Agbonlahor as our main attack as all three offer something different & bounce off each other. Hopefully Tekkers will be fit for the Spurs game & normal service can be resumed. We could also do without the International breaks too as they always appear to interrupt our momentum. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jonoridge91 Posted October 6, 2013 Share Posted October 6, 2013 Based on yesterdays performance our issue seems to be when we actually play better than other teams we just can't seem to unlock them. I wouldn't worry at the moment as Lambert knows this and our team is very much a work in progress. I mean we enquired about Kiyotake who we really needed yesterday to provide that creative spark so Lambert is on the look out for a creative player to be used in games like yesterday. I think that creativity against lesser teams is the only thing we're missing to be definite top 10 now imo. Hull aren't a bad team but we never really looked in danger against them and whilst we couldn't break them down I think it was a very positive performance especially defensively. Clark especially is showing how good he is as a number of times he would not only with the ball but clear it to one of our players to provide a counter attack. Lots of potential and I hope we can finish top 10 this season. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KjParton Posted October 6, 2013 Share Posted October 6, 2013 Has to be a playmaker - we've been crying out for one desperately Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
samjp26 Posted October 6, 2013 Share Posted October 6, 2013 (edited) Based on yesterdays performance our issue seems to be when we actually play better than other teams we just can't seem to unlock them. I wouldn't worry at the moment as Lambert knows this and our team is very much a work in progress. I mean we enquired about Kiyotake who we really needed yesterday to provide that creative spark so Lambert is on the look out for a creative player to be used in games like yesterday. I think that creativity against lesser teams is the only thing we're missing to be definite top 10 now imo. Hull aren't a bad team but we never really looked in danger against them and whilst we couldn't break them down I think it was a very positive performance especially defensively. Clark especially is showing how good he is as a number of times he would not only with the ball but clear it to one of our players to provide a counter attack. Lots of potential and I hope we can finish top 10 this season. Certainly agree with this. I don't think we need to improve a position as such, but we need a player with quality that can break into defences or can put other players into better positions. I actually don't know if we need somebody else in the middle of the park, KEA seems to be getting forward more as each game goes on and our midfielders are playing very well to be honest. Personally if anybody is to be 'replaced' with somebody of better quality I think it needs to be one of our wide forwards. Just look at how Ben Arfa ripped us a new one. Helenius may be able to play in such a role but we're yet to see. Lorenzo Insigne anybody? (I wish) Edited October 6, 2013 by samjp26 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Condimentalist Posted October 6, 2013 Share Posted October 6, 2013 Still deseperate for an attacking mid (when are we not) and I'd still like some more solidity in defence, though we've been better so far this year. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tomaspg Posted October 6, 2013 Share Posted October 6, 2013 we need a cheapo version of özil Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chap of Steel Posted October 8, 2013 Share Posted October 8, 2013 I agree, I wish we could get a Michu-esque bargain from La Liga for a couple of million. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chappy Posted October 8, 2013 Share Posted October 8, 2013 we need a cheapo version of özil We had one and sold him to bloody Crystal Palace. Lambert Out. 4 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
turnbull Posted October 8, 2013 Share Posted October 8, 2013 An Aldi Ozil or a Lidl Ozil then..................................... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ulver Posted October 8, 2013 Share Posted October 8, 2013 Defence Midfield Wide Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sne Posted October 8, 2013 Share Posted October 8, 2013 (edited) Our current midfield doesn't help the rest of the team enough. During the last part of last season they worked togheter well as a unit but still didn't deliver many goals or assists, or help the defence. The players are pretty similar in that neither of them are specialized in any position they are ok at many things but not great at anything. Delph has improved a lot but sadly Westwood for the time being has declined. I still feel that we need 2 new midfielders, 1 defence oriented with a bit of bulk and 1 creative playmaker type. Add to that we need a wingplayer to replace Weimann so that our center forward can get some support from the wings and add some width to the team. Weimann can compete for the center role instead of the wide role. I know some people hate loans but De Bruyne & Zaha would improve us no end Edited October 8, 2013 by sne Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Zatman Posted October 8, 2013 Share Posted October 8, 2013 I think after 7 games we have been solid and consistent even in defence, 2 clean sheets only 8 conceded in 7 games while playing some heavy hitters is a great start. Our only criticism for me so far is our lack of product when with the ball, if can use the ball better in the final 3rd im sure we will be fine come end of season Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts