DRAGONZ_RULE Posted April 3, 2022 Share Posted April 3, 2022 8 hours ago, Delphinho123 said: I don’t think he knows how to play them both and in what system. Therein lies the problem. Simple solution. 4-2-3-1 or 4-3-3 with Buendia and Coutinho as the wide players. Coutinho wide left as he did so often for Liverpool, Buendia wide right as he did so often for Norwich. It really isn't rocket science. Alternatively, sack Coutinho off because he's a luxury player and build around the guy who was the club record signing and was player of the month before Coutinho rocked up and caused him to be benched 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DevonIsAPlaceOnEarth Posted April 3, 2022 Share Posted April 3, 2022 Worryingly headed straight down the tunnel at full time. Did not even go to the fans. He’s understandably upset at the state of things. he was impressive yesterday Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Zatman Posted April 3, 2022 Share Posted April 3, 2022 15 hours ago, VillaChris said: How did it actually work with him and Cantwell at Norwich? I know Cantwell is miles off Coutinho level to put it mildly but you're still talking too AMs in same team and Norwich obviously blitzed the championship in 18/19 and were then reasonably competitive in prem up to xmas 2019 so they had some degree of control with that. I think Cantwell played left wing and they had another player on the right. Luckily we have a manager who doesn't like wingers so it takes away a lot Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Demitri_C Posted April 3, 2022 Share Posted April 3, 2022 Done ok but for me he is very inconsistent. We badly over paid for him. 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CVByrne Posted April 6, 2022 Share Posted April 6, 2022 I think we need to give him a run out at 8 in place of JJ who needs a rest. Buendia Nakamba Sanson with Coutinho Watkins and Ings in a 4 1 2 1 2 4 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MrBlack Posted April 6, 2022 Share Posted April 6, 2022 13 hours ago, CVByrne said: I think we need to give him a run out at 8 in place of JJ who needs a rest. Buendia Nakamba Sanson with Coutinho Watkins and Ings in a 4 1 2 1 2 Yes Please. Although I would be happy with Luiz or Sanson in that other spot. McGinn and Ramsey should both get a rest. Their form has dropped lately and it's the one area of the team we have a huge number of options. Even Luiz would be an option further forward (and I expect better than he is as a 6). 2 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tomaszk Posted April 6, 2022 Share Posted April 6, 2022 (edited) On 03/04/2022 at 05:12, Demitri_C said: Done ok but for me he is very inconsistent. We badly over paid for him. He's been pretty good most starts I think. Certainly after the first few months. Not been great since Coutinho has come in. Couple of times he's been brought off unfairly or not started when he should have. It seemed steep but it was throwing some weight around to get him ahead of Arsenal quickly. A good early statement in the transfer window overall. Edited April 6, 2022 by Tomaszk Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Spoony Posted April 7, 2022 Share Posted April 7, 2022 I just don’t get it. Your record signing starts really slowly, he starts to look every bit of the £40m we paid and then he is instantly dropped. 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
picicata Posted April 7, 2022 Share Posted April 7, 2022 4 hours ago, Spoony said: I just don’t get it. Your record signing starts really slowly, he starts to look every bit of the £40m we paid and then he is instantly dropped. It is odd and I don't blame him for looking a bit pissed about it all 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Delphinho123 Posted April 7, 2022 Author Share Posted April 7, 2022 (edited) It’s all about Coutinho and the system. I don’t think Gerrard knows how to play them both together. You could argue one could play off the left and the other off the right but that means we have no pace in the wide areas and both prefer to get on the ball centrally. The problem with playing either of them at 10 in a 4-2-3-1 is we don’t have a good enough midfield behind them to stop teams walking through us. If you do play them both as 10’s, they seem to tread on each others toes. Like I say, playing them in the same team is difficult. The only way I see it working is if we sign two defensive midfielders in the summer and play the double Pivot with Coutinho as the 10 and Buendia cutting in from either the right or left. We have an imbalance throughout the squad in most areas but almost all of our problems stem from the fact we don’t have a single defensive midfielder that operates at a high enough level. Sign two of them in the Summer and it opens up a lot of different options re. The formation and you’ll see Buendia shine (I don’t think he’s been all that bad to date either way). Edited April 7, 2022 by Delphinho123 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
IrishVilla10 Posted April 7, 2022 Share Posted April 7, 2022 (edited) 4 hours ago, Spoony said: I just don’t get it. Your record signing starts really slowly, he starts to look every bit of the £40m we paid and then he is instantly dropped. It’s a weird call, the problem is it was worked well with Ollie Ings and Coutinho when he was dropped. Edited April 7, 2022 by IrishVilla10 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tom13 Posted April 7, 2022 Share Posted April 7, 2022 On 03/04/2022 at 10:12, Demitri_C said: Done ok but for me he is very inconsistent. We badly over paid for him. We didn't. If anything he'll turn out to be a bargain IMO. According to Transfermarkt, he played pretty much exclusively at RW for Norwich, and we've hardly used him there, so he needs time. His wastefulness with short passing has been frustrating, and he needs to take more care with that, but his eye for a through ball, and technique/ball control in general, is excellent. Some of his through balls are so unique, and it takes a second for him to spot them. I genuinely believe that once he relaxes a bit (he's still desperately trying to prove himself at Villa), he'll be much more consistent, and his sloppiness will disappear. I'm much happier that he's been struggling with the basics than the more difficult parts of the game, as the basics will correct themselves, he's way too good for that not to happen. And he actually has natural tenacity and workrate, it's not forced like it is for a lot of attackers. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CVByrne Posted April 7, 2022 Share Posted April 7, 2022 2 hours ago, IrishVilla10 said: It’s a weird call, the problem is it was worked well with Ollie Ings and Coutinho when he was dropped. Yeah the problem was Buendia was dropping deep to get the ball and we had only Watkins in the box to score. With Ings and Watkins we had more of a goal threat. The problem is we have a system which a large number of our players are not comfortable in the roles they now play. They're all adapting to new roles. Buendia playing with a second 10. Watkins playing without wide forwards in support. Ings playing as a lone striker or a split forward. McGinn as a shuffler covering fullbacks. Luiz as a destroyer CDM. Ming's as a ball playing CB. Cash as a full on attacking fullback. Bailey as a 10. All adapting to roles that they're not accustomed to essentially. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CVByrne Posted April 7, 2022 Share Posted April 7, 2022 50 minutes ago, Tom13 said: We didn't. If anything he'll turn out to be a bargain IMO. According to Transfermarkt, he played pretty much exclusively at RW for Norwich, and we've hardly used him there, so he needs time. His wastefulness with short passing has been frustrating, and he needs to take more care with that, but his eye for a through ball, and technique/ball control in general, is excellent. Some of his through balls are so unique, and it takes a second for him to spot them. I genuinely believe that once he relaxes a bit (he's still desperately trying to prove himself at Villa), he'll be much more consistent, and his sloppiness will disappear. I'm much happier that he's been struggling with the basics than the more difficult parts of the game, as the basics will correct themselves, he's way too good for that not to happen. And he actually has natural tenacity and workrate, it's not forced like it is for a lot of attackers. To me he should play as an 8 as his passing range is excellent and his workrate without the ball is outstanding. His lack of pace isn't an issue centrally. It does require us to possess that quality CDM and a shuffler beside him to allow Buendia to play there. Alternatively we can change how the full backs play so one tucks into midfield. Hickey would be absolutely perfect for this type of role. Ramsey as a 10 potentially beside Coutinho also gives us a bigger goal threat from the 10s. These tweaks can work with the team we have now. Buendia Nakamba Sanson/Luiz in midfield three. The issue is a total lack of size and physicality there though. We really need that CDM to progress in any way at all in midfield 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tom13 Posted April 7, 2022 Share Posted April 7, 2022 2 minutes ago, CVByrne said: To me he should play as an 8 as his passing range is excellent and his workrate without the ball is outstanding. His lack of pace isn't an issue centrally. It does require us to possess that quality CDM and a shuffler beside him to allow Buendia to play there. Alternatively we can change how the full backs play so one tucks into midfield. Hickey would be absolutely perfect for this type of role. Ramsey as a 10 potentially beside Coutinho also gives us a bigger goal threat from the 10s. These tweaks can work with the team we have now. Buendia Nakamba Sanson/Luiz in midfield three. The issue is a total lack of size and physicality there though. We really need that CDM to progress in any way at all in midfield I'd have to be sold on him as an 8. But if we're playing 433 with no true 'number 10' it could be the best option, and he could play as the most advanced 8, I guess. But I'd definitely want him to be the one playing the final ball more often than anyone else. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
duke313 Posted April 7, 2022 Share Posted April 7, 2022 3 minutes ago, CVByrne said: To me he should play as an 8 as his passing range is excellent and his workrate without the ball is outstanding. His lack of pace isn't an issue centrally. It does require us to possess that quality CDM and a shuffler beside him to allow Buendia to play there. Alternatively we can change how the full backs play so one tucks into midfield. Hickey would be absolutely perfect for this type of role. Ramsey as a 10 potentially beside Coutinho also gives us a bigger goal threat from the 10s. These tweaks can work with the team we have now. Buendia Nakamba Sanson/Luiz in midfield three. The issue is a total lack of size and physicality there though. We really need that CDM to progress in any way at all in midfield You've left out the 'first-name-on-team-sheet' and 'un-droppable' John McGinn. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jas10 Posted April 10, 2022 Share Posted April 10, 2022 (edited) Stupid to drop him and continue to leave him out. He has so much quality and creativity but also workrate and tenacity to go with it. I don’t think anyone in our squad passes it as well or has such an eye for a killer through ball as he does, can be a star on the pitch if the team is set up right. He was improving with each game but has been punished for it? Makes no sense. Seeing Ings trying to support Watkins frustrates me, it should be Buendia and Coutinho laying on the chances for a single CF and getting their fair share of goals. Solidify midfield and let the attackers thrive. Will be so pissed off if we unsettle him and he looks to move away. Utilise him and bring the best out of him! Edited April 10, 2022 by Jas10 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
VillaParkAvenue Posted April 10, 2022 Share Posted April 10, 2022 1 hour ago, Jas10 said: Stupid to drop him and continue to leave him out. He has so much quality and creativity but also workrate and tenacity to go with it. I don’t think anyone in our squad passes it as well or has such an eye for a killer through ball as he does, can be a star on the pitch if the team is set up right. He was improving with each game but has been punished for it? Makes no sense. Seeing Ings trying to support Watkins frustrates me, it should be Buendia and Coutinho laying on the chances for a single CF and getting their fair share of goals. Solidify midfield and let the attackers thrive. Will be so pissed off if we unsettle him and he looks to move away. Utilise him and bring the best out of him! We haven’t created much with Coutinho and Buendia both on the pitch, clearly better with Coutinho only. Buendia has become the victim of Coutinho coming, he had just about become our best player when it happened and I don’t see a solution except Villa for some reason not signing Coutinho. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sharkyvilla Posted April 10, 2022 Share Posted April 10, 2022 Away from home I would try to keep things tighter and have Buendia in the attacking midfielder as he has a bit more tenacity, then bring Coutinho on after an hour to try and cause havoc against tired legs. At home let Coutinho play from the start. It's difficult to see how we can play both unless one play as a false 9 (which I wouldn't mind seeing but probably involves more coaching than Gerrard seems capable of). Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jas10 Posted April 10, 2022 Share Posted April 10, 2022 Just now, VillaParkAvenue said: We haven’t created much with Coutinho and Buendia both on the pitch, clearly better with Coutinho only. Buendia has become the victim of Coutinho coming, he had just about become our best player when it happened and I don’t see a solution except Villa for some reason not signing Coutinho. Solidify midfield and they can thrive together. Supplying either Ings or Watkins. Either of them have the ability to do a better job in the role that Ings has been occupying too. As ever, our weakness lies in midfield. And SG’s stubbornness or rigidness with his preferred system. Buendia creating, Coutinho linking w CF and grabbing a few goals himself… it’s what I’d like to see anyway. Keep it solid behind them, if at all possible… Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts