MotoMkali Posted December 20, 2019 Author Share Posted December 20, 2019 7 minutes ago, Villan_of_oz said: I'm amazed how many people on here can have an opinion but don't like hearing someone else's.... Yeah but he didn't offer an alternative. He was essentially saying your opinions are so stupid I don't have to deign myself to state mine and justify them which is what I did. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Villan_of_oz Posted December 20, 2019 VT Supporter Share Posted December 20, 2019 (edited) 55 minutes ago, MotoMkali said: Yeah but he didn't offer an alternative. He was essentially saying your opinions are so stupid I don't have to deign myself to state mine and justify them which is what I did. Yeah sorry that's what I meant, if you see above I asked someone to articulate themselves rather than just say Wesley is 'shite' and I got no reply..... Some people don't really seem to want to debate points on here anymore. Edited December 20, 2019 by Villan_of_oz Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MotoMkali Posted December 20, 2019 Author Share Posted December 20, 2019 3 minutes ago, Villan_of_oz said: Yeah sorry that's what I meant, if you see above I asked someone to articulate themselves rather than just say Wesley is 'shite' and I got no reply..... People want don't really seem to want to debate points on here anymore. Half the time it has just become an echo chamber of Wesley is crap. I just went on the wesley thread and someone was like JK should start because wesley can't do anything. JK may be good enough to start but they shouldn't be acting like a guy with 4 goals an assist (1 disallowed) and who has delivered excellent link up play does nothing. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Laughable Chimp Posted December 21, 2019 Share Posted December 21, 2019 Just curious, how would you guys rank all our central midfield players in terms of how good you think they are. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Zatman Posted December 21, 2019 Share Posted December 21, 2019 10 minutes ago, Laughable Chimp said: Just curious, how would you guys rank all our central midfield players in terms of how good you think they are. He has got a bit of stick recently on here but its clear McGinn is still our best centre midfielder Hourihane - he gets valuable goals and assists though goes missing a lot Nakamba - good energy and tackler, not great on the ball Lansbury - probably the complete opposite of Nakamba, probably the best on the ball but has no speed to play this level Luiz - can see he has talent but as I said in his thread he probably needed a loan instead of been thrown into deep end. Will come good in future We lack legs in the middle of the pitch and thats our big issue, only Nakamba and McGinn can get about. We probably could have done with Bjarnason as a backup 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
abdulaziz1 Posted December 22, 2019 Share Posted December 22, 2019 Yesterday the midfield was another story. We weren't good the last three games. But wow, just wow! Don't know whats happening to be honest! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TheAuthority Posted December 22, 2019 VT Supporter Share Posted December 22, 2019 (edited) 6 hours ago, Zatman said: We probably could have done with Bjarnason as a backup Good Lord no. He was a liability in the Championship. There's a reason we paid him off. Whelan however, I could have seen being really useful this year on a 1 year deal. Edited December 22, 2019 by TheAuthority 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sne Posted December 22, 2019 Share Posted December 22, 2019 1 hour ago, TheAuthority said: Good Lord no. He was a liability in the Championship. There's a reason we paid him off. Whelan however, I could have seen being really useful this year on a 1 year deal. Even if he agreed to really low wages he'd a be a very expensive spectator. The games would just pass him by. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mikeyp102 Posted December 22, 2019 Share Posted December 22, 2019 I’ve mentioned before but I could see smith getting in Ryan Woods. He’d be fairly cheap as Stoke don’t use him often (now I know some would say he’s crap then). Smith got the best out of him, and he knows what smith wants to do with the ball and how he wants it played. We don’t have midfield option at the moment who recycles the ball and moves into space. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
zab6359 Posted December 22, 2019 Share Posted December 22, 2019 On 20/12/2019 at 18:24, MotoMkali said: Very funny mate. I was just suggesting things that might reduce the issues I have seen. They are unlikely to fix everything or maybe anything. Everyone knows we have been struggling with our midfield for a while now and I thought I would say my thoughts on it. Far more 'issues' with our forward line than midfield! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
zab6359 Posted December 22, 2019 Share Posted December 22, 2019 On 19/12/2019 at 09:30, A'Villan said: I think what you're seeing is a new team getting familiar with each other and making the inevitable fumble Smith included, Smith especially. Grealish, McGinn and Luiz are not really midfielders I would describe as miserable in their influence on games or general footballing display. Grealish - One of the best midfielders in the world at present. End of. Any team he's not in is missing out. McGinn - Already established himself as PL quality, no denying his development. Daring and tenacious. 1 Luiz - Would be playing for a spot with last years champions had things not gone our way. Brazil international. 2 Should we survive the drop this year, mark my words, that will go on to be one of the best midfields in England, and worldwide. 3 As a team we are very much finding our feet, I liken it to a youth side, still not sure of how or when to apply the skills and tactics being developed and worked on. Everyone brings a unique experience of football to the table with them, no two coaches are identical, no two players have ever played an identical match. We're struggling to be on the wavelength we need to be in order to achieve in this league, understandable as I've outlined in other posts. But we're not in the drop zone, and my guess is that with time will come progress for this young and talented ensemble. Hopefully a half season sees enough of it for us to survive. 1. I think we have over hyped SJM after a great start to life in the PL he proving to be very average, but good enough for this Villa side. 2. Sorry not a chance in hell he'd get into citeh's side now or ever! 3. Again no way sorry. We would have a decent midfield for a team in our position if players were playing in there proper positions! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
the_eristic Posted December 23, 2019 Share Posted December 23, 2019 Time to shift to 4-5-1 of some sort with Doug and Marv being told to stay disciplined and just sit, then move Jack inside (or Jota/Conor/Lansbury as a 10 if Jack needs to stay on the left and can afford their lack of defensive effort)? We're so easy to play through, just congesting the space would be an improvement, plus I feel like both Marv and Doug were bought for specialized roles (ball winner and DLP, respectively) rather than as all-rounders, but since we've mostly been playing them alone behind players who offer little support in our own half, we haven't really been able to utilize either effectively. If we can get them in sync so they make up for each other's shortcomings (Marv putting in the hustle, Doug taking the ball from him to move it), we'll be in a better place. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
delboy54 Posted December 23, 2019 Share Posted December 23, 2019 We don't have "show ponies" in our team, we have cart horses, slow and predicable.......something has to change or we are down Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sne Posted January 13, 2020 Share Posted January 13, 2020 Not sure the exact reason but it's strikingly often with both central and wide midfielders that whoever is subbed on is the one who looks the least poor. Grealish is obviously excluded from all this. If AEG starts then Trez often looks better when he comes on and vice versa, same with central midfield where Luiz, Nakamba and Hourihane all often look bleak when starting but bright when subbed on. And that's despite us often looking far worse in the second halves. It can't be that easy that they have more energy and are playing against tired players because it's never this obvious with other clubs and players, usually pretty difficult to play when subbed on. Be it nerves, poor stamina, unclear tactics, pressure, the constant switching between starting line-up's or all of the above. Obviously our midfield is among the poorer in the league, and even more so our wingers but there must be something we can do to make it less obvious. It's extremely frustrating, as is easily visible when looking at Grealish and his reactions to his teammates struggles. 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
M_Afro Posted January 13, 2020 Share Posted January 13, 2020 This is absolutely our Achilles heel. Until we get it right in the middle of the park, everything else will seem worse than it is. You can only play one of Drinkwater, Conor, Luiz, Lansbury. Their partner needs to be an athletic, physical, dominant box to box midfield player. At the moment that must be Nakamba but in all honesty we need better than him. He may improve in time but he is not at the required level yet! We also need an attacking midfield player who has pace, can carry the ball, beat a man and effectively support Jack in linking midfield and attack. These are the two signings that I would absolutely prioritise. We obviously now need a CF too due to injury but the rest would simply look much better if we add this to the team. 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tom13 Posted January 13, 2020 Share Posted January 13, 2020 On 21/12/2019 at 23:26, Laughable Chimp said: Just curious, how would you guys rank all our central midfield players in terms of how good you think they are. McGinn Dougie Marv Hourihane/Lansbury Drinkwater to be decided. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KenjiOgiwara Posted January 13, 2020 Share Posted January 13, 2020 On 23/12/2019 at 14:21, delboy54 said: We don't have "show ponies" in our team, we have cart horses, slow and predicable.......something has to change or we are down Absolute nonsense. Simply cause we lost heavily to one of the best teams in the world, doesn't mean it's full crisis. We're a work in progress, and are roughly where everyone half rational expected us to be after getting promoted through play offs and buying 10 players to gel over a season. Stop this negative rubbish. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
delboy54 Posted January 13, 2020 Share Posted January 13, 2020 Sorry mate I disagree, I want to be positive but we have seen this similar capitulation before this season Leicester, Southampton, Watford etc etc....we showed no "bite", resolve or fight....This league is unforgiving isn't it? no team can hide and just turn up play the "winnable" ones... We played out of our skins against Liverplop "fought like lions" and yet we can have a complete opposite approach to other teams "as much resistance as a chocolate fire guard" like yesterday. I just want us to look like we are at least playing the same sport as the opposition! I have to say though we did gift Ci£y most of their goals though. Regards Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Risso Posted January 13, 2020 Share Posted January 13, 2020 None of the midfield players are good enough. Whichever random comination he picks of Nakamba, Luiz, Hourihane and now Drinkwater, you can be sure that they'll be weak, sloppy, and afford neither protection to then defence or support to the attack. Hopeless, the lot of them. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dr_Pangloss Posted January 13, 2020 Share Posted January 13, 2020 I think Drinkwater might end up being decent but he has a long way to go with fitness and sharpness, might be a bit too late by then. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts