pintpotvilla Posted July 9, 2018 Share Posted July 9, 2018 (edited) 10 minutes ago, daggy_333 said: With the recent Steve Bruce interview almost confirming that our better players will be leaving, I was interested to hear where people thought we most needed to improve our starting 11? Off the top of my head, and injuries permitting i see this as our strongest 11 for the opening game... GK-Steer RB-Bree CB-Elphick CB- NEW PLAYER (HUTH?) LB- Hutton RW-Adomah CM-Hourihane CM-Bjarnasson CM-Lansbury LW-Green FW-Davis/RHM/NEW PLAYER What would your starting 11's be? Actually thats not a bad side, you've left Jedi out too & Elmo! Edited July 9, 2018 by pintpotvilla Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
daggy_333 Posted July 9, 2018 Share Posted July 9, 2018 1 minute ago, pintpotvilla said: Actually thats not a bad side, you've left Jedi out too & Elmo! Completely forgot about Jedi Left Elmo out on purpose as i'd like to see what Bree can offer on the right hand side. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pintpotvilla Posted July 9, 2018 Share Posted July 9, 2018 2 minutes ago, daggy_333 said: Completely forgot about Jedi Left Elmo out on purpose as i'd like to see what Bree can offer on the right hand side. Forgot about the Beard that's feared? Hope he's not tuning in!! 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
VillaChris Posted July 9, 2018 Share Posted July 9, 2018 AEM and Hutton will be starting full backs, not the worst at this level. One is pretty solid defensively, other gets crosses in. Bree as back up to either. Even if we sell a few we should still be able to put out competant midfield. Even if Jedinak is used at the back he's still an option for us as a DM, Green will be on one wing, maybe Albert on another and then see if Bjarni/Hourihane and probably a loan can provide some spark going forward. It will really come down to who we get as CBs and upfront as we're going to lose plenty of quality from those areas so asking a lot to find great options from cut price loans. We'll also probably get 5-6 injuries at the same time sometime next year which would massively knacker us. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dante_Lockhart Posted July 10, 2018 Share Posted July 10, 2018 -----------------------------Steer----------------------------- Bree-------------Elphick----Jedinak-------Hutton -------------------Birkir----------Lansbury-------------- Adomah-----------Hourihane-----------------Green -----------------------Hogan/Davis----------------------- Bench: Bunn, Elmo, Clark, Whelan, Gardner, Gil, Hogan/Davis Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jareth Posted July 10, 2018 VT Supporter Share Posted July 10, 2018 (edited) Major most painful outs in order to balance books and meet FFP - Snodgrass - replace with cheeky loan for decent premier league youngster Terry - Huth Grealish - COH Chester - Elphick back in the fold Kodjia - Didn't play anyway so as we were We won't have squad depth, but there's a team in there. Edited July 10, 2018 by Jareth Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rob182 Posted July 10, 2018 Share Posted July 10, 2018 I'm glad that people have come round to the idea that we can actually bring players in. Just a week ago people were sticking by the fact (a 'fact' from the media, of course) that we would be selling players and not bringing anyone in. Bruce himself has said that we'll need to beg, steal and borrow, so I'm sure we will bring players in. What was it last week, 'Villa can't even afford free transfers'. Pull the other one. We're not going to sell half of our squad and then only rely on the players we have left or youngsters with less than 5 appearances between them. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
A'Villan Posted July 10, 2018 Share Posted July 10, 2018 Are we a club that can still perform well in this division in 2018/19? Hard for me to make a prediction at this stage, I'm biased and emotional. My confidence in Bruce and the squad he assembled was sky high going in to last season. Now, with everything that's been said and done, and the fact we find ourselves in this league still, I find myself quite dubious about what we can achieve in the coming season. That said we still don't know what the squad will look like (on the assumption I haven't missed anything of significance) or how this new look team will come together. For me our season is reliant on three facets of the club: 1. Squad. Players we already have rekindling the form that saw them purchased by the club, who leaves and who comes in. 2. Assembly. Formations, tactics, fitness levels, preparation, training, morale and chemistry/cohesion. 3. The fans. It's a difficult point to include because it's a political one. Nonetheless, it will have some influence on the team. I'm going to end this post prematurely, I might add to it a later time. In short though I think Assembly will be most important followed by squad then the fans. The way we organise ourselves for each performance, whether it be in training or match-day, is going to be more important than having individual talent on the pitch. "Hard work beats talent when talent fails to work hard". We saw this all season, highlighted in the POF. Fulham's understanding of one another saw them control the first half and score through passing sequence. Our best effort came from a remarkable solo effort by our best player. I can understand what Cairney meant when he said, "football won". Now that we've had the off-field madness, as I have outlined above, I think the responsibility falls heavily down to Bruce's assembly above all. That's not such a bad thing in theory - if he gets it right on any given day, 11 others get it right as a consequence. What he does this season is an unknown. I hope his idea of raising the standards is not shouting louder during practice. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sidcow Posted July 10, 2018 VT Supporter Share Posted July 10, 2018 I am still convinced we are in with a shout. We will have to do something with Defence, especially if Chester goes. I think we will have broadly the same midfield with Green coming in on the wing. RHM and Kienan to be more involved up front. Talk of relegation is nonsense, I think we will be more likely to get promoted than relegated. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jas10 Posted July 10, 2018 Share Posted July 10, 2018 (edited) Central defence is the biggest concern imo if Chester leaves, looks like it will be the weakest part of the team unless we can bring anyone decent in. I’m afraid we’re going to resort back to hoofball unless we have quality replacements. Was good to see Chester & Terry as a partnership last season, playing the ball out from the back rather than lumping it upfield. Our overall play and passing ability definitely improved. Finding it hard to be positive tbh, some of my hopes have been dashed by the revelations from Bruce’s interview and I am having a hard time accepting that Grealish is going to leave (especially for much less than his value and the fact that whatever funds we get will not be reinvested into the squad/replacements). I just hope we can have a competitive side that isn’t too dull to watch... Edited July 10, 2018 by Jas10 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
A'Villan Posted July 10, 2018 Share Posted July 10, 2018 4 minutes ago, Jas10 said: Central defence is the biggest concern imo if Chester leaves, looks like it will be the weakest part of the team unless we can bring anyone decent in. I’m afraid we’re going to resort back to hoofball unless we have quality replacements. Was good to see Chester & Terry as a partnership last season, playing the ball out from the back rather than lumping it upfield. Our overall play and passing ability definitely improved. Finding it hard to be positive tbh, some of my hopes have been dashed by the revelations from Bruce’s interview and I am having a hard time accepting that Grealish is going to leave (especially for much less than his value and the fact that whatever funds we get will not be reinvested into the squad/replacements). I just hope we can have a competitive side that isn’t too dull to watch... We have Jedinak who if played at CB would be able to play it out from the back. It depends on a few variables but I think the more important aspect is the understanding, mobility and movement of the midfield receiving the ball. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jas10 Posted July 10, 2018 Share Posted July 10, 2018 2 minutes ago, A'Villan said: We have Jedinak who if played at CB would be able to play it out from the back. It depends on a few variables but I think the more important aspect is the understanding, mobility and movement of the midfield receiving the ball. Mate, Jedinak already struggles to pass the ball well in midfield. His dominance in the air and leadership are his best qualities but he is old and injury prone - not a player we can rely on. Realistically (so that unfortunately excludes the wasters that are Richards and McCormack) I would like us to sell the aging players firstly and most of all. I don’t think they offer much and can’t be relied on, we don’t need Whelan & Jedinak. I agree with your point on the midfield, it’s all going to depend on who we manage to retain. Then again, you’re not going to get much mobility from aging players either. Midfield trio of Hourihane, Lansbury and Bjarnason should be decent but Bruce seems to have other ideas and hasn’t really got the best out of them... All 3 of them could be sold too... So much uncertainty atm... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jas10 Posted July 10, 2018 Share Posted July 10, 2018 The only way I can see us having a half decent season is if we manage to assemble a young, dynamic and pacey team. I don’t expect Bruce to do this but would love to be surprised. I don’t see any other choice but to back him and hope for the best atm, the club is in a horrendous state. Otherwise, we are going to be torn to shreds and embarrassed by “smaller” teams... They will run rings around us. Enough with the “old heads” (and legs)... I want to see an “up and at them” approach, enough of this “batten down the hatches” shite 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GREAT_BEARD_OF_ZEUS Posted July 10, 2018 Share Posted July 10, 2018 (edited) I don't think you can go far wrong in looking at what Southgate has done with England as an example to follow. In a bizarre way he was in a similar position to the one in which we find ourselves - one where he had to turn to youth and completely rebuild the side. He (or rather we as a footballing nation) had to do it, to set about a change and safeguard the future success of our national team, rather than to comply with financial restrictions, never-the-less it still bears uncanny similarity. You would never have imagined him dropping all the big, experienced names that he has done, but look at us now! I even look at the system he's playing now and I think it could work for us. I mean it really looks great with the squad we have now... ----------------------------- Kodjia ----------------------- ------------------------ Green ---------------------------- ---------------- Grealish ------ Hourihane --------- Clark ---------------- Lansbury -------------- Bree ------- Tuanzebe -- Jedinak -- Chester ------- ---------------------------- Steer -------------------------- Green could be adapted to play a support Striker role in the same way Sterling has. Lansbury despite being a bit part player last season, is actually not a bad Championship version of Henderson. He's got that deep playmaker ability in his locker. Tuanzebe is the only addition to the squad (which I think there's more than a good chance of happening) and both him and Chester as ball playing CBs supported by Jedi moving back to a central defensive role could balance very nicely. Mitch Clark may not be ready to start straight away, but I think him and Bree should be developed and given opportunity to become our future wing-backs. Hutton and Elmo doubtlessly sharing game time with them. Now I know Grealish, Chester and Kodjia are likely to go - shame considering they fit the system perfectly but... The second string to that formation shows that there are still ways to make it work and still be able to sell on the likes of Adomah, Hogan, Taylor, Gardener, Whelan and Lyden. Personally if we do sell the 3 crown jewels then I'd hope we'd be able to invest some back in trying to bring in a little bit more quality in the CAM positions and a decent, ball playing central defender. ----------------------------- Davis ----------------------- ------------------------ RHM ---------------------------- ---------------- McKirdy ------ O'Hare -------------- Hutton ----------------- Thor----------------- Elmo --------- Suliman -- Elphick -- De Laet---------- ---------------------------- Sarkic ------------------------ Edited July 10, 2018 by GREAT_BEARD_OF_ZEUS Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
A'Villan Posted July 10, 2018 Share Posted July 10, 2018 6 minutes ago, Jas10 said: Mate, Jedinak already struggles to pass the ball well in midfield. His dominance in the air and leadership are his best qualities but he is old and injury prone - not a player we can rely on. Realistically (so that unfortunately excludes the wasters that are Richards and McCormack) I would like us to sell the aging players firstly and most of all. I don’t think they offer much and can’t be relied on, we don’t need Whelan & Jedinak. I agree with your point on the midfield, it’s all going to depend on who we manage to retain. Then again, you’re not going to get much mobility from aging players either. Midfield trio of Hourihane, Lansbury and Bjarnason should be decent but Bruce seems to have other ideas and hasn’t really got the best out of them... All 3 of them could be sold too... So much uncertainty atm... 2 minutes ago, Jas10 said: The only way I can see us having a half decent season is if we manage to assemble a young, dynamic and pacey team. I don’t expect Bruce to do this but would love to be surprised. I don’t see any other choice but to back him and hope for the best atm, the club is in a horrendous state. Otherwise, we are going to be torn to shreds and embarrassed by “smaller” teams... They will run rings around us. Enough with the “old heads” (and legs)... I want to see an “up and at them” approach, enough of this “batten down the hatches” shite Yeah on second thought I would agree regarding Jedinak, I mentioned him just because some managers will use a DM at CB for their passing ability, rather than Jedinak being suitable at CB for us. Yeah the uncertainty is bemusing. From the sounds of it we are stuck with a few whose wages are disproportionate to their value. I think Lansbury is one of those. I am hoping we can retain Hourihane. If we do, that is potential for a decent midfield. Albeit we haven't seen it at Villa yet. Jedinak and Whelan are both okay for this level, but you're right I don't think either are at an age where you want to play twice a week and train as hard as those in their 20's and I'm not particularly excited to see either start. Agree regarding the up and at them approach. Not necessarily that we need to be young but I'd have little issue with that if we had the right players for the system we employ. Youth only guarantees energy where the motivation is there and certainly doesn't guarantee skill-set or discipline. Snodgrass and Adomah both examples of players who are motivated enough to be dynamic and challenge anyone in this division, at the age of 30. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jas10 Posted July 10, 2018 Share Posted July 10, 2018 2 minutes ago, A'Villan said: Yeah on second thought I would agree regarding Jedinak, I mentioned him just because some managers will use a DM at CB for their passing ability, rather than Jedinak being suitable at CB for us. Yeah the uncertainty is bemusing. From the sounds of it we are stuck with a few whose wages are disproportionate to their value. I think Lansbury is one of those. I am hoping we can retain Hourihane. If we do, that is potential for a decent midfield. Albeit we haven't seen it at Villa yet. Jedinak and Whelan are both okay for this level, but you're right I don't think either are at an age where you want to play twice a week and train as hard as those in their 20's and I'm not particularly excited to see either start. Agree regarding the up and at them approach. Not necessarily that we need to be young but I'd have little issue with that if we had the right players for the system we employ. Youth only guarantees energy where the motivation is there and certainly doesn't guarantee skill-set or discipline. Snodgrass and Adomah both examples of players who are motivated enough to be dynamic and challenge anyone in this division, at the age of 30. I hear you mate and don’t completely disagree. I like Jedinak for his determination and leadership but I wish he was a few years younger, noticed he loses the ball a lot in midfield too. There’s no point paying big wages to players who can’t even show up and perform for, I don’t know, 60-70% ?? of the games. I think Whelan was a stupid signing though. Snodgrass and especially Adomah really slowed down and kind of lost form toward the end of the season though and Snodgrass wasnt even here all season. They Were completely ineffective in POF final too. I don’t think many players aged 30+ can cut it all season and handle the rigours of what is a gruelling CH season. On the other hand you don’t want too many young and inexperienced players either and our youngsters seem to be very injury prone. Just look at Green and RHM. We need a decent squad. We have to look beyond the first 11 because if we pick up any serious injuries then we will be in a right hole... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JAMAICAN-VILLAN Posted July 10, 2018 Share Posted July 10, 2018 We caught Wolves yet? 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jas10 Posted July 10, 2018 Share Posted July 10, 2018 1 minute ago, JAMAICAN-VILLAN said: We caught Wolves yet? Don’t know whether to laugh or cry! 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
VILLAMARV Posted July 10, 2018 Share Posted July 10, 2018 1 minute ago, JAMAICAN-VILLAN said: We caught Wolves yet? I believe we are in the process of minding the gap 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
VILLAMARV Posted July 10, 2018 Share Posted July 10, 2018 Just now, Jas10 said: Don’t know whether to laugh or cry! laugh Jas - always laugh - if there's a choice 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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