Team shape, tactics and personnel

[villa4europe]

7 minutes ago, Keyblade said:

I don't think we ask for too much in all honesty. Just good attacking football and trying (and hopefully succeeding) to win games. I think it says more about the managers and our various boards than our fans that only 1 guy in the last 12 years has managed to satisfy this.

Honest I don't even ask for that 

I'd like them to give a shit and give 100% every week

I've got no patience for good players playing badly and I don't believe this need more quality stuff

[Demitri_C]

Just now, Eastie said:

He keeps going on about your style of play that he wants but does anyone have a clue what it is? Looks a total shambles

From what i can see its more a possession passing press side. Problem is we are not very good at it.

What annoys me with gerrard is you can see how dangerous we look as a counter attacking team yet we do not play like this. Bailey would be lethal 

[brummybloke]

Having no one who can beat a player with skill in our team or anyone who is rapid means we will continue to play 90% slo mo predictive rinse and repeat football.

While it may have worked at rangers in a league where quality isn't anywhere near as high, it clearly doesn't work in yhe premier league with the players we have.

He wants us to play like man City with players not as good. It won't work.

Relying on digne for balls into the box as while Bailey looked half decent at some things was not linking up with cash for any overlaps so no balls into the box from the right.

 

This unbalanced line up of players is going to kill us.

 

You either have Ramsey Or mccginn , neither can play regular accurate balls but both can carry it forward.

He won't drop big phil so play him behind the striker so he doesn't slow up play in the middle of the pitch.

All basics everyone can see.

Find a solid formation and use the correct players for that formation rather than shoe Horning favourites in to the detriment of the team.

 

Either Gerrard gives his head a wobble and accepts it or start talks with poch now

[UpTheVilla26]

I think it's time to ditch whatever formation he is playing and add some width. 

I'd go 4-5-1 but with 2 holding Midfielders and 2 proper wide players. 

Luiz & Kamara would be my 2 in Midfield. Luiz would be more progressive when we have possession, both can pass and are comfortable on the ball. Buendia would be in at number 10. 

By having 2 wide players, Digne & Cash are no longer expected to play 2 roles. Yes, a full back will overlap, but these lads are being asked to basically add all the width to the game while having players in front of them who don't want to help out defensively. 

Bailey could play down one wing, then instead of this mythical number 8 we think we need, we go and buy another proper wide player. 

But we won't because Gerrard is obsessed with whatever formation he's trying to implement working - I can't even work out, especially yesterday, what it is? 

[CVByrne]

The same attacking problems as last season, we don't create chances. This leaves us in the same position when if we concede first it's really game over and a draw salvaged at best. 

[calcifer]

1 minute ago, CVByrne said:

The same attacking problems as last season, we don't create chances. This leaves us in the same position when if we concede first it's really game over and a draw salvaged at best. 

If only we had a player that could unlock defences... Oh right we do but he is not Stevie G's mate!!! 

[CVByrne]

I wonder if it's the set up with full backs as part of the attack and then the 3 attacking forwards. We don't use the midfield 3 properly in attack as they need to cover the full backs. I dunno. 

It's very hard to figure out after just one game. Especially when we gave away such an early goal from a set piece. That changes the game as Bournemouth just sat deep and we really struggle to break teams down when they do that.

[Shirtman]

We need more physicality and stature in the team. Playing two centre backs that small against a fired up newly promoted side is crazy.

 Coutinho is his favourite despite so many inept performances. Buendia should start. His treatment of Mings is woeful. Gerrard should look him in the eye and apologise to him.

 

[a m ole]

Honestly don’t think any particular formation is the major problem, switching to something else isn’t suddenly going to make us find the spaces, move it quickly, pull the opposition out of position where we can exploit it.

plenty of teams play without wingers, and two 10s. They just do it well. We don’t seem to know how to work the ball and create problems for the opposition. We tried various combinations of narrow 10, wide player, central 10 yesterday and none of it really looked like working. The best chances came with some good 1/2 touch passing around the edge of the penalty area. We HAVE to do better and moving the opposition around and creating GOOD space for Buendia, Coutinho, Bailey or whoever to operate in where they can attack backpedaling defenders, be in 2 v 1 situations, find the strikers runs in behind.

Move. The ball. Quicker.

[WHY]

20 minutes ago, a m ole said:

Honestly don’t think any particular formation is the major problem, switching to something else isn’t suddenly going to make us find the spaces, move it quickly, pull the opposition out of position where we can exploit it.

plenty of teams play without wingers, and two 10s. They just do it well. We don’t seem to know how to work the ball and create problems for the opposition. We tried various combinations of narrow 10, wide player, central 10 yesterday and none of it really looked like working. The best chances came with some good 1/2 touch passing around the edge of the penalty area. We HAVE to do better and moving the opposition around and creating GOOD space for Buendia, Coutinho, Bailey or whoever to operate in where they can attack backpedaling defenders, be in 2 v 1 situations, find the strikers runs in behind.

Move. The ball. Quicker.

Spot on, yesterday we had plenty of the ball but did nothing with it due to not doing the above. We were keeping the ball well at times but would eventually end with a pointless cross into the box or a speculative ball to the back post. We should have just been more patient in our approach and kept moving the Bournemouth players around. Our delivery into the box could have been better but it wouldn’t have made much difference given we had no height in there. We just made it easy for them. 

[Villarocker]

13 hours ago, a-k said:

What's the point of having squad depth when you ostracize that depth?

 

He's have to be a complete imbecile to let Kesler-Hayden go on loan. Who is back up to Cash then? Chambers, Konsa, Young? Square pegs in round holes if you're trying to make your right back play like Trent Alexander-Arnold. 

Some of his decisions baffle me. Coutinho clearly isn't working where he wants him to play. Why not give him a free role behind a lone striker and play wide attackers on both sides? Bailey and Buendia out wide with Watkins down the middle. A middle three of Coutinho, Kamara and one other, probably gotta be McGinn. 

[PeterSw]

Looked slightly better when we went 4231 in second half but who's plays on the left of the 3? Coutinho doesn't have the work rate to play there.

Hudson-Odoi on loan might be a decent option now that he is available. 

[DCJonah]

1 minute ago, PeterSw said:

Looked slightly better when we went 4231 in second half but who's plays on the left of the 3? Coutinho doesn't have the work rate to play there.

Hudson-Odoi on loan might be a decent option now that he is available. 

I'd love us to play with 2 proper wide wingers and an attacking number 10. 

[PeterSw]

Hopefully Crichley has a set of nads on him and actually tells SG that this 4321 isn't working and the squad is better suited to 4231. Better to change it after GW1 rather than 1/4 way through the season. 

[MWARLEY2]

After yesterdays shit show with everyone getting in the way of everyone else he needs to sack off the high fullbacks straightaway. 

Forget the quality and experience. We need balance. 

                              A striker 

DAVIS               BUENDIA               BAILEY

              KAMARA          IROEGBUNAM

DIGNE        MINGS       CARLOS        CASH               

   thats how i would do it.  Because quality and experience on paper just isnt working. 

Tim and Kamara ... i just have a 6th sense that they will be perfect together. 

Strength / finishing / pace / creativity / leadership / guts. / height

Footie is a simple game and having a little and large up front ,having more tenaciousness in the middle and a talker at the back will more than compensate for the dropping of his 4 favourites.          

[Ingram85]

What the hell have they worked on in pre season exactly? We have a team of athletes that always look like they’ve had too much for Sunday dinner and need a nap. 

We never look mobile enough, we are last to the ball, like our legs turn to lead weights. It’s always a slog. It feels exactly how it felt under Bruce and the last 6 months under Smith. Slow, plodding and aimless. 

[Herman22]

Looking at the players we have I wonder would a back 5 work well? It seems the only way we can get some width is to get the full backs forward. I’d even consider Kamara as the centre of that 5. 

Martinez 

Cash Carlos Kamara Mings Digne

McGinn Luiz

Couthino Buendia

Watkins

This allows us to get two 10s on the pitch and gives the full backs the chance to overlap! 

[DCJonah]

Could we try 3 at the back? 

Cash and Digne are the width.

We could have a midfield 2 of Kamara and Luiz/Mcginn

Then either a number 10 behind Watkins and Ings

Or an attacking 3. 

Without proper out and out wingers I feel this would offer us more in the final 3rd. 

[Rightdm00]

2 hours ago, Ingram85 said:

What the hell have they worked on in pre season exactly? We have a team of athletes that always look like they’ve had too much for Sunday dinner and need a nap. 

We never look mobile enough, we are last to the ball, like our legs turn to lead weights. It’s always a slog. It feels exactly how it felt under Bruce and the last 6 months under Smith. Slow, plodding and aimless. 

Fully agree. The game yesterday looked like the 39th match of last season. Nothing has changed. We still abandon the middle of the park and attempt to force our way down the flanks. When that doesn't work we either recycle to the CBs or loft in an aimless cross. It's all so predictable and boring. At this point I hope Purslow is building out his new manager list because Steven will not be long for this job. 

[Indigo]

1 hour ago, JAMAICAN-VILLAN said:

You know what's frustrating?

I don't even think some of our issues are even that difficult to fix.

I think he could help himself massively by dropping Coutinho for one.

He hasn't been performing, and he very much seems like a confidence player, bring him off the bench in a game we are coasting for him to get his swagger back.

Start Chambers or Mings with Carlos, hell, i'd have even taken Kourtney Hause yesterday, he'd have cleared alot of those crosses and high balls into the box.

Move the ball quicker! We have skillful players with some pace, pedestrian paced passing nullifies them.

Sign a strong, solid partner for Kamara ( Or play one of our existing ones beside him - Luiz / Sanson ? ), or he will just become another incredible talent we murder at VP.

As a matter of fact, when I think about it again, I think most of our problems could be solved by simply moving the ball around quicker!

To be fair, I think this is an issue we have had even before SG, slow and predictable, then sometimes from somewhere it's like we wake up, and start passing and moving quickly, and look instantly dangerous, then revert to type, i don't get it.

 SAY IT LOUDER 

 

Might I also add please for the love of god ditch the obsession with creativity being provided by full backs whipping crosses in, when your forward options consist of strikers not suited to it as well as diminutive 10s and wingers.