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Who partners who in central midfield!

Delphinho123

By Delphinho123
in Villa Talk

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Who partners who in central midfield..  

73 members have voted

  1. 1. Pick the two!

    • Luiz + McGinn
      0
    • Luiz + Tielemans
      9
    • Luiz + Kamara
      61
    • Kamara + Tielemans
      2
    • Kamara + McGinn
      0
    • McGinn + Tielemans
      2

This poll is closed to new votes

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  • Poll closed on 11/08/23 at 06:56

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Awol Grand Master

Awol

Posted
Posted
10 minutes ago, The Fun Factory said:

Where is the Dendoncker love?

The Belgian international who’s also a very decent option and doesn’t even get a mention!  We talk about having the best CB depth in the league bar Man City, but we can’t be far off that level in midfield now, too.

It’s unbelievable, Geoff. 

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It's Your Round Grand Master

It's Your Round

Posted
Posted

I think our best team would fit into a 553 formation. But I don’t think we’ll get away with that. I’d start with Douglas-Luiz and Kamara, two very classy midfielders good defensively and capable of some outstanding passing. But then so is Tielemans, and McGinn… it’s amazing to have so many options but I’m glad it’s not my choice. 

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VillaChris Grand Master

VillaChris

Posted
Posted

Kamara + Luiz +.....

It's great Tielemans has looked good in pre season but let's remember his level for Leicester in recent times. If he plays like he did for them between 2019-21 he starts for us, not if it's the last 18 months level so that's the challenge for him.

He starts at Newcastle as things stand imo so let's see how he does there against a midfield that presses manically. 

We are completely stacked at midfield so it's going to be great to see. Let's not forget Ramsey's played most of his football for us centrally aswell.

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lexicon Grand Master

lexicon

Posted
Posted
2 minutes ago, JAMAICAN-VILLAN said:

I don't envy Unai with this decision at all.

Before pre-season I thought this was a straightforward.

Tbh I think it is still straightforward - Luiz and Kamara are clearly our first-choice pairing IMO. 

That said, I expect to see a variety of combinations based on who we're playing. Against weaker midfields, we might want to play Tielemans and Luiz to just dominate possession easily, or rest Luiz etc.

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Awol Grand Master

Awol

Posted
Posted
3 hours ago, VillaChris said:

Kamara + Luiz +.....

It's great Tielemans has looked good in pre season but let's remember his level for Leicester in recent times. If he plays like he did for them between 2019-21 he starts for us, not if it's the last 18 months level so that's the challenge for him.

He starts at Newcastle as things stand imo so let's see how he does there against a midfield that presses manically. 

We are completely stacked at midfield so it's going to be great to see. Let's not forget Ramsey's played most of his football for us centrally aswell.

Rewatched the highlights from last night and Tielemans’ passing was sublime, those two goal creating through balls to Watkins and Cash were ridiculous.

Totally agree that Kamara and Luiz are a fantastic partnership, but I don’t really want to see us leaving Tielemans or McGinn on the bench either (and that’s even before JJ is fit again).

If Buendia is going to play I reckon he’s competing for a spot in the forward line, but if we sign another quality forward then team selection becomes a joke to predict.

We might see a lot more 60mins Vs 30mins rotation rather than players having the full 90, maintaining the energy levels in midfield for a high press all game.

 

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TomC Veteran

TomC

Posted
Posted
6 hours ago, Leeroy said:

I'd like to see a 4-3-3 with Luiz, Kamara and Tielemans all playing.

I see zero chance we're going 4-3-3, except maybe an isolated occasion. Unai has put a system in place and that isn't one of the variations.

 

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TomC Veteran

TomC

Posted
Posted (edited)
8 hours ago, OutByEaster? said:

I think the question will be on whether we play with a winger and a support forward or whether we play with the box four midfielders.

If we play with the box, then it'll be a straight shootout between Luiz, Kamara, McGinn, Tielemans and Jacob Ramsey, with one of those missing out.

If we play with Diaby and Buendia behind Watkins, then I'm guessing it'll be McGinn, Luiz and Kamara with Tielemans and Ramsey backing up.

I think we'll mix it up a lot though.

With the box, I don't see it so much as one straight shootout as two straight shootouts. Tielemans, Doug, and Kamara for the back 2 of the box; JJ, McGinn, Buendia, Bailey, and JPB for the front 2 of the box.

If Unai wanted to use McGinn in the back 2 of the box, he wouldn't have bought Tielemans. Doug, Kamara, and McGinn could have been the rotation back there, but instead Tielemans will be in that rotation. He knows McGinn can contribute more from an advanced position.

I voted Doug and Tielemans because, in the three preseason games I saw, Tielemans outperformed Kamara. That said, I think that it's pretty clear that you will see all three in most games while they're healthy. He will probably rotate which two start, and will almost always sub one of them as long as all three are healthy. It's probably the most demanding position on the pitch and is going to be the most subbed.

If he goes with more of a 4-2-3-1 variation rather than the box, I don't think the analysis changes much for the pivots. How JJ, McGinn, Buendia, Bailey, JPB, and (without two forwards) Diaby fit into the 3 might differ a bit.

 

 

Edited by TomC
Added JPB
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villaslash Community Regular

villaslash

Posted
Posted
59 minutes ago, Awol said:

We might see a lot more 60mins Vs 30mins rotation rather than players having the full 90, maintaining the energy levels in midfield for a high press all game.

 

I would love to see more subs in the 60-70 minute range. Emery has been good about this and we now have a team that can strategically justify bringing someone from the bench. Especially with 5 subs you can keep the team at a pretty high tempo.

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ender4 Grand Master

ender4

Posted
Posted
2 hours ago, duke313 said:

Can't see Dendoncker staying now, he's not going to get much game time, except probably to rest Kamara.  But if we need cover for Kamara then Chambers can surely fulfill that role.

I think Dendoncker is a little better than Chambers to replace Kamara in that DM position.  Whereas Chambers is better at replacing someone at CD or RB if needed.

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duke313 Grand Master

duke313

Posted
Posted
8 minutes ago, ender4 said:

I think Dendoncker is a little better than Chambers to replace Kamara in that DM position.  Whereas Chambers is better at replacing someone at CD or RB if needed.

He is I agree, but Chambers is possibly more content to be backup as he can cover CB, RB and DM so is more likely to be used as a sub or start in the event of an injury crisis.

There is no guarantee that Dendoncker would even come in to the starting XI in the absence of Kamara, we could see Tielemans x Luiz, Tielemans x McGinn or Luiz x McGinn combinations before we see Dendoncker.

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Marka Ragnos Grand Master

Marka Ragnos

Posted
  • VT Supporter
Posted (edited)

Tough one, obviously -- and great thread idea. What a luxurious "problem" to have, really, especially when you think of where we were just a year ago. I chose Luiz and Tielemans, mostly because McGinn is so versatile in several places and Kamara, while amazing, still seems a little injury-prone to me.

Edited by Marka Ragnos
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