jim Posted August 17, 2019 Share Posted August 17, 2019 I’m getting flashbacks to 2015 at the moment. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dodgyknees Posted August 17, 2019 Share Posted August 17, 2019 5 minutes ago, jim said: I’m getting flashbacks to 2015 at the moment. No. We were really disjointed. This team does need to gel, but it's not the same. 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
VillaChris Posted August 17, 2019 Share Posted August 17, 2019 We looked o.k in the first few weeks of 15/16. Beat Bournemouth, lost narrowly to Man. United, played weell at Palace but like today awful defensive mistakes cost us and then should've trashed Sunderland but only drew 2-2. Then the infamous Leicester game where we were superb for an hour. I think we're better than them but still the doubts remain, not enough goal threat in final third as there was then and also feeling if opposition really attack us we'll struggle to keep the ball out. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Zatman Posted August 17, 2019 Share Posted August 17, 2019 1 minute ago, VillaChris said: We looked o.k in the first few weeks of 15/16. Beat Bournemouth, lost narrowly to Man. United, played weell at Palace but like today awful defensive mistakes cost us and then should've trashed Sunderland but only drew 2-2. Then the infamous Leicester game where we were superb for an hour. I think we're better than them but still the doubts remain, not enough goal threat in final third as there was then and also feeling if opposition really attack us we'll struggle to keep the ball out. Lescott made his debut in the Leicester game Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cheltenham_villa Posted August 17, 2019 Share Posted August 17, 2019 2 hours ago, PieFacE said: I'd honestly try changing things up completely in the next game. Heaton Freddie - Engels - Mings - Targett Luiz Mcginn - Hourihane Grealish Trez Wesley Get width from the full backs and Trez can make runs in behind for Wesley to find. I think it's more important to allow the team to settle and get to know each other, wouldn't tweak the back 4, they have probably looked the best part of our team. Maybe I'd put in targett, the team needs time. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bojong Posted August 17, 2019 Share Posted August 17, 2019 2 hours ago, PieFacE said: I'd honestly try changing things up completely in the next game. Heaton Freddie - Engels - Mings - Targett Luiz Mcginn - Hourihane Grealish Trez Wesley Get width from the full backs and Trez can make runs in behind for Wesley to find. This. But I'd probably keep Taylor in. He's been okay. Safer than have two fullbacks making debuts same game. If all goes well then introduce Targett in next game. And my bench would be: Steer, Elmohamady, Konsa, Targett, Lansbury, Jota, Davis. Rest El Ghazi and hopefully he'll come back stronger next time. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Popular Post Zatman Posted August 17, 2019 Popular Post Share Posted August 17, 2019 Watching fans reaction video and was expecting the dramatic rubbish you see from some posters when we lose on here. Fans seemed positive about our performance and are backing the players 9 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rodders0223 Posted August 17, 2019 Share Posted August 17, 2019 1 hour ago, jim said: I’m getting flashbacks to 2015 at the moment. Waaaay too early. 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Biskitt Posted August 18, 2019 Share Posted August 18, 2019 (edited) Having watched both games, here's how I see it so far. Goalkeepers - Fine. Mistake from Heaton cost us yesterday but confident he'll be a good player for us. Plenty of backups too. Full backs - Elmo and Taylor have played ok the first 2 games defensively but are not particularly great getting forward. Target and Guilbert seem more forward thinking so hopefully we'll see them soon. Surprised neither have played yet which is a little worrying. Centre Backs - Mings and Engels look a good partnership so far and 3 decent players as back up, pretty happy with our options here. Central Midfield - Not sure we've quite got the right balance yet but Mcginn, Grealish look like they can play at this level and I think Luiz can too once he's up to speed. Yet to see Nakamba and think Hourihane is a good squad player. Lansbury is probably 6th choice which I'm fine with. Think there are number of teams with worse midfields than ours. Wide Forward - Trez looks like he might be ok at this level and looks a threat, if a little raw. El Ghazi blew hot and cold in the championship so was concerned about if he could step up, still not sure he can and was hoping he would be more of a squad player this year rather than a starter. Jota has looked a bit off the pace in his cameos so far. Bit concerning that there's not going to be enough goals/creativity from these 3. Centre Forward - Quite concerned here. Wesley did a couple of good things yesterday but was still pretty quiet and touch let him down a few times too. Can he get up to the speed and physicality of this league? Davis is very raw and would ideally be 4th choice. Kodjia blows hot and cold but seems a more natural goalscorer than Wesley. Worried about where the goals will come from on a regular basis Think there is some solid foundations in defence and midfield, just hope were not going to regret not getting another striker/wide forward in that most of us were hoping for Edited August 18, 2019 by Biskitt Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dale Posted August 18, 2019 Share Posted August 18, 2019 Llorente or Sturridge still available, I'd back them to score far more than Wes... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Genie Posted August 18, 2019 Share Posted August 18, 2019 (edited) I was worried a few weeks ago, spending huge amounts on a squad of players almost exclusively from inferior leagues to the premier league would not pay off. It was a huge gamble. Not only do we need them to gel together quickly, we need them to perform at a level they've rarely or never played at. Its early days and either or both of those points can still come through, I pray they do. Otherwise we're in big, big, trouble. Edited August 18, 2019 by Genie 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mikeyp102 Posted August 18, 2019 Share Posted August 18, 2019 (edited) I wouldn’t be surprised at some point this season we see a midfield 3 of Luiz, Marvelous, McGinn . Then have Grealish and either Jota or Trez both in the number 10 position playing off Wesley. Yes it’s a different way of playing than we are used to but it would get ball players closer to Wesley playing the ball into his feet. Width can come from fullbacks Edited August 18, 2019 by mikeyp102 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
OutByEaster? Posted August 18, 2019 Moderator Share Posted August 18, 2019 I think the cup team will be interesting in terms of what it tells us about the squad. The natural second eleven is: -----------------------------------Steer----------------------------------- Guilbert---------Konsa ------------ Hause----------Targett --------------------------------Nakamba----------------------------- ---------------------Jota---------------Lansbury------------------- ?????????----------------------------------------------?????????? ----------------------------------Davis--------------------------------- In terms of what I can sort of figure, I guess we could play Kodjia on the left wing and maybe Jota on the right with Hourihane in the middle- but we are very short of wingers - I don't think Jota is one and I definitely don't think Grealish is either. In terms of naturals in the position from our squad, we're looking at Indiana Vasilev and Colin Odatayo - I love em both, but they're not ready for the Premier league (and I'd argue Vasilev is a CM too). So, Jota and Kodjia wide seems to be our back up plan - but they're as much a pair of wingers as me and your mother. I don't think we'll see the same formation for every game this year. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
VillaChris Posted August 18, 2019 Share Posted August 18, 2019 3 hours ago, mikeyp102 said: I wouldn’t be surprised at some point this season we see a midfield 3 of Luiz, Marvelous, McGinn . Then have Grealish and either Jota or Trez both in the number 10 position playing off Wesley. Yes it’s a different way of playing than we are used to but it would get ball players closer to Wesley playing the ball into his feet. Width can come from fullbacks It worked alright for a spell under Sherwood, Jack was very effective although still an unknown quantity to prem teams in those days. I hadn't really considered it as the 4-3-3 has been set in stone for quite a while but don't think it would be the worst idea to bring in another CM and make it harder for opponents to play between the lines against us. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
VillaChris Posted August 18, 2019 Share Posted August 18, 2019 32 minutes ago, OutByEaster? said: I think the cup team will be interesting in terms of what it tells us about the squad. The natural second eleven is: -----------------------------------Steer----------------------------------- Guilbert---------Konsa ------------ Hause----------Targett --------------------------------Nakamba----------------------------- ---------------------Jota---------------Lansbury------------------- ?????????----------------------------------------------?????????? ----------------------------------Davis--------------------------------- In terms of what I can sort of figure, I guess we could play Kodjia on the left wing and maybe Jota on the right with Hourihane in the middle- but we are very short of wingers - I don't think Jota is one and I definitely don't think Grealish is either. In terms of naturals in the position from our squad, we're looking at Indiana Vasilev and Colin Odatayo - I love em both, but they're not ready for the Premier league (and I'd argue Vasilev is a CM too). So, Jota and Kodjia wide seems to be our back up plan - but they're as much a pair of wingers as me and your mother. I don't think we'll see the same formation for every game this year. Luiz will play the cup game. Hourihane aswell who of course Steve Bruce thought was a wide midfielder when he first signed..... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Keyblade Posted August 19, 2019 Share Posted August 19, 2019 8 hours ago, Genie said: I was worried a few weeks ago, spending huge amounts on a squad of players almost exclusively from inferior leagues to the premier league would not pay off. It was a huge gamble. Not only do we need them to gel together quickly, we need them to perform at a level they've rarely or never played at. Its early days and either or both of those points can still come through, I pray they do. Otherwise we're in big, big, trouble. It's been 2 games. We could have went with the approach you wanted us to and have lost these 2 games, one of which was against the CL finalists. The second was down to a silly error by a seasoned PL player. Give it time. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Genie Posted August 19, 2019 Share Posted August 19, 2019 4 hours ago, Keyblade said: It's been 2 games. We could have went with the approach you wanted us to and have lost these 2 games, one of which was against the CL finalists. The second was down to a silly error by a seasoned PL player. Give it time. I didn't realise Spurs were in the CL final, people should mention that more often Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Keyblade Posted August 19, 2019 Share Posted August 19, 2019 4 hours ago, Genie said: I didn't realise Spurs were in the CL final, people should mention that more often Well yeah, it just drives home the point that we would have lost that game 9 times out of 10 regardless of what recruitment policy we adopted. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gaffer85 Posted August 19, 2019 Share Posted August 19, 2019 Honestly think we need hourihane in the team for his set pieces I like to see something like this Heaton Elmo/Guilbert engels mings taylor/targett Luiz hourihane Mcginn grealish trez Wesley Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
a m ole Posted August 19, 2019 Share Posted August 19, 2019 On 17/08/2019 at 18:57, PieFacE said: I'd honestly try changing things up completely in the next game. Heaton Freddie - Engels - Mings - Targett Luiz Mcginn - Hourihane Grealish Trez Wesley Get width from the full backs and Trez can make runs in behind for Wesley to find. I’d love to see it, and Marvellous can fight his way into the 4. If we need to cross it comes from the full backs. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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