Ross Barkley

[VillanousOne]

1 hour ago, AVTuco said:

Another two losses coming then... hopefully that's it.

we have won and drawn games without Barkley

[Demitri_C]

13 hours ago, Davkaus said:

Newcastle and West Ham won't be pushovers, but if missing one player means we can't compete, we have no hope this season.

We drew against both wuth no barkley so hopefully we can do even better this year

[VillaFaninLondon]

13 hours ago, AVTuco said:

Another two losses coming then... hopefully that's it.

Inexcusable if we lose the next 2 games even if Barkley is out. We've got to stop dropping points in games we should be getting something out of, beating Arsenal, Liverpool and Leicester was great but then losing to Leeds, Southampton and Brighton made it painful as we should be doing much better in those games.

 

We need to try to grind out a draw at Spam and beat Newcastle. If we lose this ridiculous high line and Mings stops making absolute howlers then we should be capable of that. We can't be accepting of poor results just because we have one player out and we have started the season well.

[Vive_La_Villa]

I look at the next 2 games and I’d say a point at West Ham would be a good result but we should be beating Newcastle at home with or without Barkley. They are shit.

[The Fun Factory]

6 minutes ago, Vive_La_Villa said:

I look at the next 2 games and I’d say a point at West Ham would be a good result but we should be beating Newcastle at home with or without Barkley. They are shit.

That's setting us up for a fall then. Our current form suggests we do better away than home (not sure why given no crowd). West Ham will be  a more open game whereas Newcastle could nick a set piece goal and put 10 men behind the ball. We  find that hard to break down with or without Mr Barkley.

[Philosopher]

16 hours ago, TRO said:

I watched Ward Prowse and Romeu against Wolves, not to mention against us.......foraging and ratting all over the park, can play a bit too........that's what central midfielders look like.

reminds me of Townsend and Richardson.....that's what we need.

If Ward-Prowse was a villa player McGinn would struggle to be first choice. For me he should be up there with Declan Rice in terms of standing in the England squad. Fine player.

For me our issues at home stem from not ever really having control in the middle of the park. This is partly to do with style of our current midfield 3. Luiz is more of a cross between and traditional defensive midfielder and deep lying playmaker. I'd like to see him try to dictate things from deep, but he doesn't really do that. McGinn is action man but his touch and passing aren't reliable enough to dictate play. Barkley is very attack minded always looks to get forward quickly, which is good but not going to help establish control.

Ward-Prowse is a tenacious controller in the middle, and his set piece delivery is fantastic. He is the perfect example of what we are missing in middle. Our 4-2-3-1 would be better with him instead of McGinn. And our 4-3-3 would be better with him instead of Barkley. Not saying he is better than them, just offers something they don't. 

As you can tell I'd love him in our squad. Not realistic though.

[villalad21]

31 minutes ago, Vive_La_Villa said:

I look at the next 2 games and I’d say a point at West Ham would be a good result but we should be beating Newcastle at home with or without Barkley. They are shit.

West Ham isn't the same team without Antonio.

He's as important for them as Benteke was for us under Lambo

[WallisFrizz]

Antonio is due to feature against us, even if only in the bench.

[Vive_La_Villa]

49 minutes ago, The Fun Factory said:

That's setting us up for a fall then. Our current form suggests we do better away than home (not sure why given no crowd). West Ham will be  a more open game whereas Newcastle could nick a set piece goal and put 10 men behind the ball. We  find that hard to break down with or without Mr Barkley.

True but I look at games on paper where we need to be picking up 3 points as we are a better team and Newcastle is one of them along with Fulham, Albion, Burnley and Sheffield United. 

Doesn’t mean I’m gonna flip out if we don’t beat them but I would be disappointed.

[Davkaus]

Newcastle will sit back, let us have as much of the ball as we like, and occasionally hit us on the counter. It's exactly the type of play we struggle against. I think we'll do better against West Ham as they'll come in to the game looking to beat us. 

[Philosopher]

1 hour ago, villalad21 said:

West Ham isn't the same team without Antonio.

He's as important for them as Benteke was for us under Lambo

We will need to be very creative, but also responsible at the back if we are to beat West ham. Antonio holds the ball so well but also has the pace to get in behind. If they start with Haller, Fornals, and Bowen we should be able to get away with the higher line we used against Brighton, as none of those are quicker than Mings and Konsa. So I'd fancy our chances.

If Antonio starts we will have a hard game that could go either way.

This will tell us more about how we good we are without Barkley, than the Brighton game where all of our attackers (except el-ghazi) played Internationals, and McGinn, Luiz, and Hourihane also played 3 Internationals. 

[The Fun Factory]

1 hour ago, Vive_La_Villa said:

True but I look at games on paper where we need to be picking up 3 points as we are a better team and Newcastle is one of them along with Fulham, Albion, Burnley and Sheffield United. 

Doesn’t mean I’m gonna flip out if we don’t beat them but I would be disappointed.

Yes but the start of the season I would put 3 points next to Southampton and Leeds and nil points next to Liverpool, Arsenal and Leicester.

[Zatman]

16 hours ago, AVTuco said:

Another two losses coming then... hopefully that's it.

pretty sure we had 6 points from 6 before he arrived

 

[Wainy316]

Even if he is back in two games time, I get the feeling he's going to be missing a lot more games over the course of the season.

[TRO]

2 hours ago, Philosopher said:

If Ward-Prowse was a villa player McGinn would struggle to be first choice. For me he should be up there with Declan Rice in terms of standing in the England squad. Fine player.

For me our issues at home stem from not ever really having control in the middle of the park. This is partly to do with style of our current midfield 3. Luiz is more of a cross between and traditional defensive midfielder and deep lying playmaker. I'd like to see him try to dictate things from deep, but he doesn't really do that. McGinn is action man but his touch and passing aren't reliable enough to dictate play. Barkley is very attack minded always looks to get forward quickly, which is good but not going to help establish control.

Ward-Prowse is a tenacious controller in the middle, and his set piece delivery is fantastic. He is the perfect example of what we are missing in middle. Our 4-2-3-1 would be better with him instead of McGinn. And our 4-3-3 would be better with him instead of Barkley. Not saying he is better than them, just offers something they don't. 

As you can tell I'd love him in our squad. Not realistic though.

I would too....i like your description of Luiz....he is good player, but many of the things we need doing, he is very up and down....he is ok, when teams we play are open, when the game is tight and we are being squeezed, he become passive or gives fouls away in dangerous areas...there are Brazilians like casemiro or Rafael who are naturally aggressive, but Dougie needs to improve that aspect of his game.

I like Dougie and he is only 22..... he needs to study Ward Prowse and pick up some tips.

[DaveAV1]

23 minutes ago, The Fun Factory said:

Yes but the start of the season I would put 3 points next to Southampton and Leeds and nil points next to Liverpool, Arsenal and Leicester.

Funny old game init! 

[TRO]

3 hours ago, VillaFaninLondon said:

Inexcusable if we lose the next 2 games even if Barkley is out. We've got to stop dropping points in games we should be getting something out of, beating Arsenal, Liverpool and Leicester was great but then losing to Leeds, Southampton and Brighton made it painful as we should be doing much better in those games.

 

We need to try to grind out a draw at Spam and beat Newcastle. If we lose this ridiculous high line and Mings stops making absolute howlers then we should be capable of that. We can't be accepting of poor results just because we have one player out and we have started the season well.

The contrast in those performances, is markedly concerning.....Dean needs study why.

In terms of Balance, i think the Leicester result was one of the best.....why can't we initially play like that at home.....and when we secure the initiative, then take the game to them.....why come out all guns blazing at home.

[Vive_La_Villa]

43 minutes ago, The Fun Factory said:

Yes but the start of the season I would put 3 points next to Southampton and Leeds and nil points next to Liverpool, Arsenal and Leicester.

Fair point. I guess after nearly quarter of the season has been played we’ve seen that we along with Leeds and Southampton will compete with most teams and should easily survive relegation. Newcastle on the hand I think will struggle in most games and will be down their come the end of the season. 

[The Fun Factory]

33 minutes ago, DaveAV1 said:

Funny old game init! 

Football marvelous isn't it? Jumpers for goalposts.

[TRO]

1 hour ago, The Fun Factory said:

Yes but the start of the season I would put 3 points next to Southampton and Leeds and nil points next to Liverpool, Arsenal and Leicester.

I think we all would.....but i think there is something in there, that tells us why, that has been so.

 

i guess we will all have our own opinions on that.