tom_avfc Posted July 24, 2021 Share Posted July 24, 2021 51 minutes ago, villalad21 said: Meanwhile West Ham are smashing Celtic 6-2 Should never look too much into pre season but nevertheless they still look impressive. By should never look too much into pre season do you mean shouldn’t take any notice of pre season results at all? Just looking quickly down the list of pre season games in the last couple of days I get the following: Cardiff 2-2 Exeter Bradford 2-0 Blackburn QPR 4-2 Man United Stevenage 1-0 Palace It’s pre season and it’s early pre season at that. Martinez, Konsa, Mings, Targett, Luiz, Sanson, Grealish and Traore are all likely first eleven players to not be on the pitch for that today. Why do you take pleasure in trying to put Villa down at every opportunity? If we’d beat Stoke 10-0 would you have been on here saying how much better than Man United we look ahead of the new seasons Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
smg Posted July 24, 2021 Share Posted July 24, 2021 1 hour ago, AV82 said: We have known AEG and Nakamba aren't good enough for a while now. El Ghazi potentially, but Nakamba needs time to develop, not too long ago ‘We’ decided Idrissa Gueye wasn’t good enough, unfortunately he went on to play in the Champions league with a top European team, who knows what will happen but as a group of fans ‘We’ have decided that a large number of players haven’t been goad enough in the recent past and then they have gone on to develop and shine in Europe. Are Spurs still signing that shit Italian goalkeeper from Atalanta ? Yes I know we now have EMI but if we had kept him we wouldn’t have pissed around with loans for a few years. Let’s hope our new signing from Norwich steps up otherwise he can expect the wrath of the Villa talk forum in the coming months. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sir_gary_cahill Posted July 25, 2021 Share Posted July 25, 2021 14 hours ago, AV82 said: We have known AEG and Nakamba aren't good enough for a while now. I think both of them are good options to have in the squad, we only paid £9m for AEG, he scored 10 goals in 28 Premier League last season, that is a good return for a winger. We persisted with him for so long on the right when he’s clearly so much better on the left, I feel he has been mistreated and he gets a lot of abuse where I sit at home matches for some unknown reason. Nakamba is a very capable defensive midfielder for me, he might not be spectacular but he gets the job done. He wins the ball, he does the dirty work so the better players can flourish, I rate him highly. We only paid £11m for him, it shows that value for money can be found abroad 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PussEKatt Posted July 25, 2021 Share Posted July 25, 2021 IMHO the best 2 players were AeG and Cash and I thought that Nakamba has improved a lot from last season. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TRO Posted July 25, 2021 Share Posted July 25, 2021 (edited) 18 hours ago, Tomaszk said: Right so you think if we don't improve, we'll be where we were last year? I think that's keeping your neck nice and safe, which is absolutely fine. What do you want me to say, I think we will win the league?...and make wild predictions. Not really, the plan is to improve.....Top 6 is only achieveable with a better home record than last season, away was ok, because we like to counter attack...at Home the onus is on us, we need players in the middle to dominate the ball to do that and secure the initiative in a game, not just score breakaway goals and take the points that way.....which is ok, but not improvement. If you can't see where our weaknesses lie, thats up to you.....The stoke game is just a fitness run out, my comments are based on a general nature. I will say it again and during the season, you can quote me on it.............If we don't tighten up the midfield, we will struggle to improve. That can mean many things..Nakamba, could surprise me and improve, like he did at the back end of last season, Luiz could get his act together, but judging by his frustration in the Olympics, I am not holding my breath, Mcginn could find his championship form. We had 15 clean sheets last season and Emi played a huge part in that, but we had a habit of defending too deep, backing off and retreating, much like England v Italy.....We have to find players, who can hold our ground in midfield.....it also affects the front men to score, if we can't keep the ball in midfield, don't matter how good the strike force is, if you can't feed them, their talent is negated. get the midfield right and we can go far, without it, I expect much like last season. thats my opinion. Edited July 25, 2021 by TRO Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TRO Posted July 25, 2021 Share Posted July 25, 2021 17 hours ago, villa4europe said: Does seeing that we need new players count as preparation? Goes two ways, it can be for players to stand out and say I'm ready or unfortunately it can reinforce the opinion that they're not There are some back up / squad players playing themselves out rather than in, Hourihane for example, Wes and keinan The kids is more interesting, I'm sure their performances will be heavily analysed, the data analysts with the black bra things gets all that info to see if they are ready for the demands, looking at positioning, off the ball stuff, fitness levels, sprints and recovery, all kinds of things that we don't notice This is not a criticism, its an observation only.....overall I think we are doing great and the feel good factor is well and truly in operation. but the thing for me is this......we are linked with many players with guile and talent is the prerequisite, from where I am sitting.....nothing wrong with that as far as I'm concerned......but... all the teams we are chasing have one thing better than we do.....control in midfield...its ok making lovely passes and link up play, but its not enough.....we need dominance of the ball, to contain and dictate the tempo, players who can nullify attacks and turn the ball over, players who can stay on the ball when caught or challenged. These players are not easy to find or recruit, but the top teams get them, that is our challenge....Leicester, whose model we seem to admire had Kante, now they have Ndidi, they have now signed Soumare, thats the importance they place on these kind of players, who can do the above.....Soumare, would have been a good signing for us, imo. My disappointment, is mainly borne out of not even being linked or seeming not interested in that kind of player....we cannot fill our team with attacking wingers and expect to control games....sure we will have the odd spectacle, but the league is about endurance as much as flamboyancy, we have to wise up to getting the balance right. I can't see Mcginn and Luiz in a 4-2--3-1 being the answer to that control.....I wish I could. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sir_gary_cahill Posted July 25, 2021 Share Posted July 25, 2021 23 hours ago, OutByEaster? said: Bogarde getting his big man in the air at Stoke lesson. From what I’ve seen of him, he has a lot of potential, I find myself saying that a lot Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
villalad21 Posted July 25, 2021 Share Posted July 25, 2021 2 hours ago, TRO said: What do you want me to say, I think we will win the league?...and make wild predictions. Not really, the plan is to improve.....Top 6 is only achieveable with a better home record than last season, away was ok, because we like to counter attack...at Home the onus is on us, we need players in the middle to dominate the ball to do that and secure the initiative in a game, not just score breakaway goals and take the points that way.....which is ok, but not improvement. If you can't see where our weaknesses lie, thats up to you.....The stoke game is just a fitness run out, my comments are based on a general nature. I will say it again and during the season, you can quote me on it.............If we don't tighten up the midfield, we will struggle to improve. That can mean many things..Nakamba, could surprise me and improve, like he did at the back end of last season, Luiz could get his act together, but judging by his frustration in the Olympics, I am not holding my breath, Mcginn could find his championship form. We had 15 clean sheets last season and Emi played a huge part in that, but we had a habit of defending too deep, backing off and retreating, much like England v Italy.....We have to find players, who can hold our ground in midfield.....it also affects the front men to score, if we can't keep the ball in midfield, don't matter how good the strike force is, if you can't feed them, their talent is negated. get the midfield right and we can go far, without it, I expect much like last season. thats my opinion. 100 % agree with you there bud. I'm shocked we aren't linked with any defensive midfielders. To me it is a top priority, no clue what the club is thinking. It seem so glaring and obvious. Our midfield is getting bypassed so easily because we have so few midfielders with a defensive nature and instincts. Likes of McGinn, Ramsey and Luiz they are all more in their comfort zone when running forward. I like Nakamba but we need more balance in midfield. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Stevo985 Posted July 25, 2021 VT Supporter Share Posted July 25, 2021 Pre season games mean almost nothing 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sir_gary_cahill Posted July 26, 2021 Share Posted July 26, 2021 18 hours ago, Stevo985 said: Pre season games mean almost nothing How does this make fans feel that have paid money good money to go the pre-season friendlies? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tom_avfc Posted July 26, 2021 Share Posted July 26, 2021 16 minutes ago, sir_gary_cahill said: How does this make fans feel that have paid money good money to go the pre-season friendlies? Anyone paying money to go to a pre-season game should be fully aware that the game is a fitness exercise first and foremost. They don't mean anything and pre-season games at this early a stage mean even less than pre-season games closer to the season. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Stevo985 Posted July 26, 2021 VT Supporter Share Posted July 26, 2021 1 hour ago, sir_gary_cahill said: How does this make fans feel that have paid money good money to go the pre-season friendlies? I'm sure they had a great time. I've been to plenty and it's still good to see a match. But if anyone is drawing any serious conclusions about the upcoming season from what is essentially a glorified kickabout then they're mad Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sir_gary_cahill Posted July 26, 2021 Share Posted July 26, 2021 1 hour ago, tom_avfc said: Anyone paying money to go to a pre-season game should be fully aware that the game is a fitness exercise first and foremost. They don't mean anything and pre-season games at this early a stage mean even less than pre-season games closer to the season. No such thing as a meaningless fixtures, it gives young players a chance to stake a claim and showcase their talents Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sir_gary_cahill Posted July 26, 2021 Share Posted July 26, 2021 24 minutes ago, Stevo985 said: I'm sure they had a great time. I've been to plenty and it's still good to see a match. But if anyone is drawing any serious conclusions about the upcoming season from what is essentially a glorified kickabout then they're mad Agreed, there’s always a good atmosphere at pre-season friendlies I think you are correct but it shouldn’t be a glorified kickabout but essentially, that’s what it is Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sidcow Posted July 27, 2021 VT Supporter Share Posted July 27, 2021 Not sure why people are reading anything into our result against Stoke. We could field a team containing Ronaldo, Messi and Mbappe against Stoke and still fail to beat them. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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