Reivax_Villa Posted May 5 Share Posted May 5 The reason why we are struggling is due to fatigue and injuries.. When everyone is fit, our squad can compete across all competitions at a high level.. Things are s**t atm.. 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DJBOB Posted May 5 Share Posted May 5 4 minutes ago, VillaChris said: 4-2-3-1 is really hurting us though. We were basically sleep walking to a 1-0 defeat today with Brighton getting a lot of players in the central position and overloading. Chelsea also wised up to it second half. Not a good idea to just play it v Liverpool and Palace will also cause us major issues with Olise and Eze coming inside once in possession. Tim might not be good enough currently but he's still an extra body and that will give McGinn and Luiz less ground to cover and ability to get more on the ball past the halfway line. Bailey is half fit and Diaby is floating around the pitch doing very little so we're effectively three players down in the final third currently and that's why Ollie is feeding on scraps. That Tim and a formation change will change our fortunes is not really what Unai is going to hinge the last 2 (or 4) matches on. We’ll continue playing the same way and hope we have enough bodies to win 1 league game and 2 more cup games. We’ve gotten 4th and a SF in this system. Keep playing the same way so everyone knows where everyone should be according to the system instead of changing it for the last few matches. It would be a bigger mistake to play 433, that we haven’t played all season, for just 2 or 4 matches. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
VillaChris Posted May 5 Share Posted May 5 8 minutes ago, DJBOB said: That Tim and a formation change will change our fortunes is not really what Unai is going to hinge the last 2 (or 4) matches on. We’ll continue playing the same way and hope we have enough bodies to win 1 league game and 2 more cup games. We’ve gotten 4th and a SF in this system. Keep playing the same way so everyone knows where everyone should be according to the system instead of changing it for the last few matches. It would be a bigger mistake to play 433, that we haven’t played all season, for just 2 or 4 matches. I'd have liked to have seen the change on the hour mark today. We showed a bit more intensity when Cash came on and actually had decent possession for a five minute spell so think that would've been a good time to put him on and release McGinn a bit more. Not really sure what the allergic reaction to going 4-3-3 is when early part of the season we were constantly starting Cash as a right winger and that didn't really work. And three CBs has been up and down with results aswell. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Made In Aston Posted May 5 Share Posted May 5 (edited) The facts were had to bring chambers on tells you all you need to know about our injury situation. Its got so bad I wouldn't be surprised to see kellyman starting on Thursday. Edited May 5 by Made In Aston 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tinker Posted May 5 VT Supporter Share Posted May 5 Its a borderline miracle that we have managed to compete with the players we have available, watching Spurs and Liverpool bringing on seasoned international players sort of shows the quality of our available squad that we cam play. Whether we get top 4 or not emery and the players deserve a huge amount of credit for the way have fought to the end, it sad to see players, who we know can play at the top level, playing like they have ran a marathon, which they have every week for a few weeks. UTV Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paul33 Posted May 5 Share Posted May 5 The team changes for the good overnight if Unai stops playing Konsa out of position at full back and stops playing McGinn as a defensive midfielder. Play Konsa at CH because he is a CH and a good one too and play McGinn as an attacking midfielder because he is a total liability anywhere near defence and we need him supporting Watkins too. Hard to believe that Unai doesn't see the problems caused by playing those two out of position ...... oh and Luiz looks spent ! 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
VillaChris Posted May 5 Share Posted May 5 Going two upfront doesn't work either. Did Duran even touch the ball once? That wasn't a great decision by Unai at all with still a decent chunk of the game left. The most obvious call and he just didn't want to do it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Fun Factory Posted May 5 Share Posted May 5 We have been juggling with the setup ever since Kamara got done for the season, and Tielmans being out has royally screwed us. 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
VillaChris Posted May 5 Share Posted May 5 23 minutes ago, Paul33 said: The team changes for the good overnight if Unai stops playing Konsa out of position at full back and stops playing McGinn as a defensive midfielder. Play Konsa at CH because he is a CH and a good one too and play McGinn as an attacking midfielder because he is a total liability anywhere near defence and we need him supporting Watkins too. Hard to believe that Unai doesn't see the problems caused by playing those two out of position ...... oh and Luiz looks spent ! I think Cash was just rested today. Unai knows we will need his energy on Thursday. I think the left field selection might be Moreno coming in at LW on Thursday. See if he can manage an hour as Digne is another running on fumes currently and I doubt Rogers will be in contention. If Zaniolo is feeling pain he won't be starting either so I'd rather say him for Palace if we need a result there. Only other option is to go 5-2-3 and just have Pau constantly coming out of the backline with the ball and in effect being the third midfielder. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DJBOB Posted May 5 Share Posted May 5 54 minutes ago, VillaChris said: I'd have liked to have seen the change on the hour mark today. We showed a bit more intensity when Cash came on and actually had decent possession for a five minute spell so think that would've been a good time to put him on and release McGinn a bit more. Not really sure what the allergic reaction to going 4-3-3 is when early part of the season we were constantly starting Cash as a right winger and that didn't really work. And three CBs has been up and down with results aswell. Even when we have played different players, the system never changed except for that freakish Tottenham home game that was a disaster. Out of possession - 442 midblock, diamond midfield in a high press, 532 or 622 when defending leads In possession - 4222 box midfield in the first phase, 343 or 3box3, when advancing up the pitch or in the final third The names changed and players shifted around but the core of the system didn’t change. We saw what a disaster it was when Unai suddenly shifted to a 532 for Tottenham. Players didn’t know where others were, missed obvious runs and passes. The same would happen if suddenly switched to a 433. What’s our first phase build up? What’s our second and third? How do we defend OOP? And do this with everyone dead tired with a Thursday and Monday match. I don’t see it happening. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
VillaChris Posted May 5 Share Posted May 5 Yeah Spurs game was what I was thinking with the 3-5-2 which totally nullified Bailey and the players looked utterly confused with the approach. We also started with Duran and Watkins at West Ham and Duran was quickly hooked at half time and we looked much better second half. I refuse to believe starting a game with a 4-3-3 or changing approach midway through would look worse than what we did in those games. Need to do something different for Liverpool otherwise our GD will be taking a significant hit in that game. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ozvilla28 Posted May 5 Share Posted May 5 (edited) Something has to change last 2 games because it aren't working currently. Still maintain we need to shore up that midfield and I would have started Tim. Edited May 5 by ozvilla28 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
VillaChris Posted May 5 Share Posted May 5 3 minutes ago, DJBOB said: Even when we have played different players, the system never changed except for that freakish Tottenham home game that was a disaster. Out of possession - 442 midblock, diamond midfield in a high press, 532 or 622 when defending leads In possession - 4222 box midfield in the first phase, 343 or 3box3, when advancing up the pitch or in the final third The names changed and players shifted around but the core of the system didn’t change. We saw what a disaster it was when Unai suddenly shifted to a 532 for Tottenham. Players didn’t know where others were, missed obvious runs and passes. The same would happen if suddenly switched to a 433. What’s our first phase build up? What’s our second and third? How do we defend OOP? And do this with everyone dead tired with a Thursday and Monday match. I don’t see it happening. With Palace away it would just be make sure we tightly mark Olise and Eze and make sure they don't have 10-20 yards to run in down the right or central like Adingra and Gross had today. Nothing too complicated if all we need on final day is a draw. It's effectively a one game season then. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nepal_villan Posted May 6 Share Posted May 6 Compared to our rivals - I just don't see a second gear in our style of play that puts teams to the sword or under immense pressure. Hopefully that will come in the next iteration of our development under Emery. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TRO Posted May 6 Share Posted May 6 On 15/04/2024 at 17:54, DJBOB said: Unai cooked Arsenal/Arteta precisely because he has a decade of experience at various levels. Arteta, for all of the dominance shown so far, does not vary his teams. Part of that is that most teams set up a certain way to stop Arsenal in a low block or they rely on their high pressure and counter-press schemes to force mistakes and pile on opponents. But all year - Arteta has only shown "respect" to Pep and to a much lesser extent Klopp - by not pressing too high and forming a formidable low/mid block. Arteta showed little respect for us, deploying Jesus and Havertz, and as a result - slowly losing the midfield battle as we danced around Havertz. Had he deployed a more defensive minded Jorginho or Partey, perhaps Morgan wouldn't have been so free to run around as he did in the middle. It was also little respect to keep chasing and pressing high as we did - even though it was soon becoming obvious that we had figured out how to play around them. But he reacted too late and his players were on toast in the second half from running too hard in the first. Unai knew what Arteta would try to do and anticipated it the entire 90 minute timeline. Whereas Arteta showed us little respect and played as if we were a bottom half team instead of 4th in the league. For sure, a great result. and with all that in mind.....what do you think is causing us to be so off it, in the last few games? How do you account for such a drop off in form.....has UE now got it wrong? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TRO Posted May 6 Share Posted May 6 22 hours ago, VillaChris said: Yeah Spurs game was what I was thinking with the 3-5-2 which totally nullified Bailey and the players looked utterly confused with the approach. We also started with Duran and Watkins at West Ham and Duran was quickly hooked at half time and we looked much better second half. I refuse to believe starting a game with a 4-3-3 or changing approach midway through would look worse than what we did in those games. Need to do something different for Liverpool otherwise our GD will be taking a significant hit in that game. I just don't think we have the running power, to challenge them.....not sure we do, when we have a full tank. Teams like Liverpool, Newcastle and to some degree united with Rashford and Garnacho....simply blitz us with running power. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TRO Posted May 6 Share Posted May 6 23 hours ago, The Fun Factory said: We have been juggling with the setup ever since Kamara got done for the season, and Tielmans being out has royally screwed us. but even Tielemans is not a No 6 either......We simply haven't got one, and that's the dilemma. In terms of selection, I feel for Unai, he has limited options......in terms of recruitment, he needs to strengthen, central Midfield, else he is going to make his own job very hard, indeed. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TRO Posted May 6 Share Posted May 6 On 05/05/2024 at 18:36, Made In Aston said: The facts were had to bring chambers on tells you all you need to know about our injury situation. Its got so bad I wouldn't be surprised to see kellyman starting on Thursday. Who ever comes in, they have to dictate......too many are passive, and willing to stand off, they semi press, and just wait for the pass, to start a move.................these actions encourage willing opponents to take the game to us....and we just retreat and rely heavily on a sublime goalkeeper. We need players who can dominate the ball, win it back, and start sorties.....our forte is in transition, but to do that, you have to win the ball and turn it over, first......have we got players for that? not so sure we have. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TRO Posted May 6 Share Posted May 6 On 05/05/2024 at 17:10, sidcow said: I don't know. Easy with hindsight. Our injuries have been so ridiculous. I know all teams get and have had injuries, but the number of long term whole season injuries to key players has been just unbelievable. They have.....and I am not trying to be super critical here, as the season has been great..........but why do we go in to a new campaign with 1 recognised dedicated CDM? No getting away from injuries, but has somethings, been our own fault?........We have attacking midfielders/wingers galore. sure Dougie has No 6 on his back, but not all of us are convinced he is a CDM. I simply don't get it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pinebro Posted May 6 Share Posted May 6 29 minutes ago, TRO said: For sure, a great result. and with all that in mind.....what do you think is causing us to be so off it, in the last few games? How do you account for such a drop off in form.....has UE now got it wrong? UE has not got it wrong Squad is depleted. Our squad isn't deep enough 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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