Premier League 2019-2020 Thread

[OxfordVillan]

12 hours ago, Elton said:

When he was 19..

It’s funny how we always play better when he’s on the pitch though. We seem to be able to play more in the opposition half. He’s no goal machine but he is a very useful player for us if he can ever stay fit. 

 

I point people in the direction of Giroud for an example of a near non goal scoring CF that can make a whole team better. Now before anyone kicks off I’m not saying Davis is the equal of Giroud, I’m merely suggesting that the styles are similar. Look at Chelsea on Tuesday night with Giroud back in the team, transformed. He allows others to play better, he brings others into the game more. Davis, for me, is similar in that we do appear to be better with him up top. Just my opinion!

[Mjvilla]

1 hour ago, villalad21 said:

I agree Sheff Utd is a very tough game for them.

But Norwich is in a position of zero pressure.

They've spent nothing. Everyone expect them to stand no chance.

We've spent 140 Million. All eyes are on us, and people will mock us if we fail. Finishing below Norwich would be outright embarrassing.

Theres points at stake. It isn't a cup match. Of course there's pressure.

[Zatman]

8 minutes ago, Mjvilla said:

Theres points at stake. It isn't a cup match. Of course there's pressure.

It doesn't matter as doesn't suit his made up arguments. 

Its ok for Norwich to beat Spurs in cup but meaningless if Villa beat Leicester. Not sure why a Fulham fan spends so much time on here

[OxfordVillan]

For what it’s worth I think the postponement of our home game with Sheffield Utd works in our favour. It’ll very likely be a midweek match under the floodlights, and McGinn will very likely be back and up to match speed. I always fancy us in midweek games under the lights at Villa Park. Sheffield Utd will also be very likely safe in the league but away from chance of top4, and possibly still competing in FA Cup. They won’t have as much to play for IMO, which might just remove a bit of edge from their game. There is still over a quarter of the season left, whilst  performances and results recently have left us feeling a bit flat, we aren’t adrift and listless. 

[Okonokos]

4 minutes ago, OxfordVillan said:

For what it’s worth I think the postponement of our home game with Sheffield Utd works in our favour. It’ll very likely be a midweek match under the floodlights, and McGinn will very likely be back and up to match speed. I always fancy us in midweek games under the lights at Villa Park. Sheffield Utd will also be very likely safe in the league but away from chance of top4, and possibly still competing in FA Cup. They won’t have as much to play for IMO, which might just remove a bit of edge from their game. There is still over a quarter of the season left, whilst  performances and results recently have left us feeling a bit flat, we aren’t adrift and listless. 

I thought the same thing. Surely it will be on a Tuesday/Wednesday, which seems to favour us. I was happy when the Crystal Palace game was moved to Monday night too for the same reasons. Those 2 games are absolutely huge.

[Tomaszk]

Wouldn't be surprised if Norwich got out of this. For the last six weeks they've looked better than the six sides above them.

[Rob182]

20 hours ago, Okonokos said:

I've been dying to see Davis and Samatta start a game up front together ever since Davis came on against Bournemouth. Samatta is a quality finisher and makes great runs but it's blindingly obvious he gets too isolated and we can't expect him to do it on his own. If we drop the 5 at the back and got to a flat back 4 (fingers crossed) for the rest of the season this should allow us to play a more advanced centre mid or 2 up front. Both of these systems should see Samatta thrive. It NEEDS to be done. Smith, do you hear me?!?

Everyone think's they know the magic formula to win us games.

As much as I'd like to see Davis and Samatta together, we'd inevitably lose players in wide positions because we haven't got good enough central midfielders to only play 2 in the middle. So, if you want to see Davis and Samatta, chances are we'd either play a 4-3-1-2 with 3 centre mids, Jack in the hole/free role and Guilbert/Targett providing the majority of the ammunition in wide roles, or, we could play a 4-3-3 where Davis or Samatta would need to play in one of the wide roles.

Either way, as nice an idea as it would be to play 2 up top, it would leave us open somewhere else on the pitch.

I think the best way to see it would be when we're chasing a game, because I think it would show up our defensive fragility even more than usual, if we were to play it from the start.

[VillaChris]

7 hours ago, gurru991 said:

I get the feeling that the relegation run in is going to be crazy. Watford & Norwich on a high right now !! 

 

Norwich still got a very tough away run, Sheffield United away and also have to go to Arsenal, Chelsea and Man. City. People writing us off when we've got three of those at home.

To have a chance of staying up they'll need to win majority of their home games left. Beating West Ham and Brighton would help us.

[Okonokos]

15 minutes ago, Rob182 said:

Everyone think's they know the magic formula to win us games.

As much as I'd like to see Davis and Samatta together, we'd inevitably lose players in wide positions because we haven't got good enough central midfielders to only play 2 in the middle. So, if you want to see Davis and Samatta, chances are we'd either play a 4-3-1-2 with 3 centre mids, Jack in the hole/free role and Guilbert/Targett providing the majority of the ammunition in wide roles, or, we could play a 4-3-3 where Davis or Samatta would need to play in one of the wide roles.

Either way, as nice an idea as it would be to play 2 up top, it would leave us open somewhere else on the pitch.

I think the best way to see it would be when we're chasing a game, because I think it would show up our defensive fragility even more than usual, if we were to play it from the start.

Let's face it, we haven't got much quality on the wings anyway, have we? That's why I think a 4-3-1-2 would work. Grealish would be given a free role so can pop up on either wing. Guilbert and Targett are both good enough to get forward when needed but also defend too. And then the 3 in the middle should also help us become more solid. I really think the main reason for our terrible defensive record is the lack of presence in the centre of midfield. Teams just seem to walk through us. So I actually think a 4-3-1-2 would help us defensively. Then if needed we have El Ghazi and Trezeguet on the bench to come on and offer a different approach.

The main reasons I think 4-3-1-2 is the way to go is that it will give us more presence in centre mid, allows Grealish to play a free role and stops Samatta being so isolated.

[danceoftheshamen]

We have just got to hope & pray we don't get any more no shows from this team.

It seems to be "a thing" with them. About 1 in 3 games they just don't show up. I'm thinking Wolves (a) Palace (a) Southampton (h & a) Leicester (h) Man city (h) Sheff Utd (a) Bournemouth (a) among a few others. These are not simply games we lost but ones where we were well below par in my view. We have lost others but ones where we turned up like Liverpool (h) Spurs (h) etc & i'm fine with losing provided the players have a go.

like i say It seems to be a bit of a thing with this team even reaching back as far as when Steve Bruce was here when he regularly used to criticise them for "throwing bombs" when they didn't show up in a game.

We would be safe & can be safe if they stop this throwing games away like that but it seems to keep happening which is what makes me doubt them sadly.

[Mazrim]

Huddle power will see us safe. You watch.

[Okonokos]

15 minutes ago, danceoftheshamen said:

We have just got to hope & pray we don't get any more no shows from this team.

It seems to be "a thing" with them. About 1 in 3 games they just don't show up. I'm thinking Wolves (a) Palace (a) Southampton (h & a) Leicester (h) Man city (h) Sheff Utd (a) Bournemouth (a) among a few others. These are not simply games we lost but ones where we were well below par in my view. We have lost others but ones where we turned up like Liverpool (h) Spurs (h) etc & i'm fine with losing provided the players have a go.

like i say It seems to be a bit of a thing with this team even reaching back as far as when Steve Bruce was here when he regularly used to criticise them for "throwing bombs" when they didn't show up in a game.

We would be safe & can be safe if they stop this throwing games away like that but it seems to keep happening which is what makes me doubt them sadly.

That is the nail on the head there. We've had too many of them and cannot afford any more. Every single one of them needs to run their arse off every single game. Anyone who doesn't pull their weight can sod off.

[John]

14 hours ago, Bugzy1991 said:

Terrified of our remaining fixtures. 

Struggle to see where we will pick up points. 

I would break them down something like this myself:

Winnable game - Palace (h).

Games we can take a point from and might get 3: Sheffield United (h), Newcastle (a), Wolves (h) & West Ham (a).

Games we can take a point from: Manchester United (h), Everton (a) & Arsenal (h).

Games we will do well to get a point from: Leicester (a) & Chelsea (h).

Game we will be unlikely to get anything from: Liverpool (a).

We might get some surprise results of course (positive ones hopefully) and VAR might start to belatedly even out things for us, by giving us the odd dubious call (highly unlikely). It's going to be tough, but there is still a chance that we can get the 38-39 points, that I think that we're likely to need. Nil desperandum (just yet)!

 

[lexicon]

58 minutes ago, Mazrim said:

Huddle power will see us safe. You watch.

Villans in the centre circle, Huddle power!

[Rob182]

56 minutes ago, Okonokos said:

Let's face it, we haven't got much quality on the wings anyway, have we? That's why I think a 4-3-1-2 would work. Grealish would be given a free role so can pop up on either wing. Guilbert and Targett are both good enough to get forward when needed but also defend too. And then the 3 in the middle should also help us become more solid. I really think the main reason for our terrible defensive record is the lack of presence in the centre of midfield. Teams just seem to walk through us. So I actually think a 4-3-1-2 would help us defensively. Then if needed we have El Ghazi and Trezeguet on the bench to come on and offer a different approach.

The main reasons I think 4-3-1-2 is the way to go is that it will give us more presence in centre mid, allows Grealish to play a free role and stops Samatta being so isolated.

Although our wingers aren't great, them simply being there to regularly overlap with our fullbacks has produced some quality. El Ghazi has a respectable assist/goal tally (for someone that cost peanuts) this season, and if you change the formation to accommodate 2 strikers, you're going to reduce effectiveness on the wing.

It's a catch 22. We want two strikers, allowing Davis to feed Samatta, but to do that, we'll basically need to take our wingers out of our team, meaning that there would be fewer opportunities for crosses to be put in to Davis.

Two up top will probably work best for us if we plan to hoof it up and play direct.

I'd like to see it, just like you, but lately it seems that everyone wants to see something, until it's done and fails (loads were calling for 3/5 at the back, and although it stopped the rot for a short spell, it's now out of fashion for AVFC fans and we're mostly calling for a back 4 again).

I'll just trust Deano and the coaching staff, as they're the ones that see the players daily and know their limitations. (Playing devil's advocate. Ie: Maybe Deano & Co don't think our fullbacks providing the only width is a sensible approach and would leave us open at the back, or perhaps they think it's too naive to do a U-turn by switching to a direct approach, hoofing to Davis and often completely bypassing our best player in Grealish).

[Okonokos]

23 minutes ago, Rob182 said:

Although our wingers aren't great, them simply being there to regularly overlap with our fullbacks has produced some quality. El Ghazi has a respectable assist/goal tally (for someone that cost peanuts) this season, and if you change the formation to accommodate 2 strikers, you're going to reduce effectiveness on the wing.

It's a catch 22. We want two strikers, allowing Davis to feed Samatta, but to do that, we'll basically need to take our wingers out of our team, meaning that there would be fewer opportunities for crosses to be put in to Davis.

Two up top will probably work best for us if we plan to hoof it up and play direct.

I'd like to see it, just like you, but lately it seems that everyone wants to see something, until it's done and fails (loads were calling for 3/5 at the back, and although it stopped the rot for a short spell, it's now out of fashion for AVFC fans and we're mostly calling for a back 4 again).

I'll just trust Deano and the coaching staff, as they're the ones that see the players daily and know their limitations. (Playing devil's advocate. Ie: Maybe Deano & Co don't think our fullbacks providing the only width is a sensible approach and would leave us open at the back, or perhaps they think it's too naive to do a U-turn by switching to a direct approach, hoofing to Davis and often completely bypassing our best player in Grealish).

It's definitely a catch 22 and I think there are multiple different systems that could work. I suppose the good thing is to have options and looking at our squad we do actually have the capability to play a number of different systems. I think what we have been doing (5-2-3) worked to start with but it's blatantly obvious it's not working at the moment so something needs to change. We looked much, much better with four at the back on Sunday, so I would be very disappointed if we go back to the back five on Monday. I'd be happy with 4-2-3-1 or 4-3-1-2. What would be mad is to persist with something that just doesn't work. Hopefully McGinn's imminent return will force their hand anyway and make them change the system. I just hope we can - a) find a way to get more presence in the middle of the pitch and stop teams walking through us (MCGINN) and b) get Samatta involved more. Do those two things and we have a great chance, I really believe that.

Edited March 5, 2020 by Okonokos

[BOF]

Table versus top half opposition

Quote

 

P	LP	TEAM	P	W	D	L	F	A	Pts	GD	PPG
1	1	Liverpool	14	13	1	0	29	7	40	+22	2.86
2	5	Manchester United	14	6	5	3	19	14	23	+5	1.64
3	2	Manchester City	13	7	1	5	22	17	22	+5	1.69
4	4	Chelsea	14	6	4	4	27	23	22	+4	1.57
5	6	Wolverhampton Wanderers	14	3	7	4	16	18	16	-2	1.14
6	3	Leicester City	14	4	4	6	14	19	16	-5	1.14
7	14	Newcastle United	16	4	4	8	11	26	16	-15	1.00
8	13	Southampton	16	4	3	9	17	36	15	-19	0.94
9	17	Watford	15	3	5	7	12	27	14	-15	0.93
10	11	Everton	14	3	4	7	17	24	13	-7	0.93
11	7	Tottenham Hotspur	13	3	3	7	20	20	12	0	0.92
12	10	Arsenal	13	2	6	5	13	19	12	-6	0.92
13	8	Sheffield United	12	2	5	5	13	16	11	-3	0.92
14	15	Brighton & Hove Albion	13	2	4	7	13	22	10	-9	0.77
15	12	Crystal Palace	13	2	4	7	11	21	10	-10	0.77
16	18	Bournemouth	14	2	3	9	12	25	9	-13	0.64
17	20	Norwich City	15	2	3	10	16	33	9	-17	0.60
18	9	Burnley	13	2	2	9	10	30	8	-20	0.62
19	16	West Ham United	14	2	1	11	11	31	7	-20	0.50
20	19	Aston Villa	13	1	2	10	16	35	5	-19	0.38

 

Table versus bottom half opposition

Quote

 

P	LP	TEAM	P	W	D	L	F	A	Pts	GD	PPG
1	1	Liverpool	14	13	0	1	35	13	39	+22	2.79
2	2	Manchester City	14	11	2	1	46	12	35	+34	2.50
3	3	Leicester City	14	11	1	2	40	9	34	+31	2.43
4	9	Burnley	15	9	3	3	23	9	30	+14	2.00
5	8	Sheffield United	15	8	5	2	16	9	29	+7	1.93
6	7	Tottenham Hotspur	15	8	4	3	26	19	28	+7	1.87
7	6	Wolverhampton Wanderers	14	7	5	2	25	16	26	+9	1.86
8	12	Crystal Palace	15	7	5	3	14	11	26	+3	1.73
9	10	Arsenal	14	6	7	1	26	17	25	+9	1.79
10	11	Everton	14	7	3	4	20	18	24	+2	1.71
11	4	Chelsea	14	7	2	5	20	16	23	+4	1.64
12	16	West Ham United	14	5	5	4	24	18	20	+6	1.43
13	19	Aston Villa	14	6	2	6	18	17	20	+1	1.43
14	5	Manchester United	14	5	4	5	23	16	19	+7	1.36
15	13	Southampton	12	6	1	5	18	15	19	+3	1.58
16	15	Brighton & Hove Albion	15	4	6	5	19	18	18	+1	1.20
17	18	Bournemouth	14	5	3	6	16	20	18	-4	1.29
18	14	Newcastle United	12	4	4	4	13	15	16	-2	1.33
19	17	Watford	13	3	4	6	15	16	13	-1	1.00
20	20	Norwich City	13	3	3	7	9	18	12	-9	0.92

 

[DCJonah]

I wish I could believe we have a chance still but I can't. 

Just don't see where the points are coming from. We don't have enough quality to get them. 

Hope I'm wrong but starting to accept that we may even finish bottom.

[gurru991]

3 hours ago, Tomaszk said:

Wouldn't be surprised if Norwich got out of this. For the last six weeks they've looked better than the six sides above them.

I've been thinking the same thing myself. They looked very good against Leicester & were 100% deserving of their win. So much of winning is about confidence & Watford & Norwich have it in spades right now.

[Wainy316]

This season has shown how much better off a few draws can make you.