Nigel Posted October 19, 2023 VT Supporter Share Posted October 19, 2023 1 hour ago, lapal_fan said: I worry about Antonio's strength against a player like Pau, if I were Antonio, I'd be spending my time getting at him. If we're as ambitious as we think we are though, we should be looking at 3 points in this game, especially at home, bad record or not. One that comes could go either way, but I'll say 3-1 Villa, which would be LURRRRRVVEEEELEEEEEE. Me too, I'd move pau to the left like we did preseason, Carlos would be better suited to this job. 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rjw63 Posted October 19, 2023 Author Share Posted October 19, 2023 They have a great club song though, amirite? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
romavillan Posted October 19, 2023 VT Supporter Share Posted October 19, 2023 Is Moreno fit? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Marka Ragnos Posted October 19, 2023 VT Supporter Share Posted October 19, 2023 29 minutes ago, romavillan said: Is Moreno fit? From what I can tell, as of this moment, it's still a question mark and nothing more or less. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Philosopher Posted October 19, 2023 Share Posted October 19, 2023 Very interesting game this one. Clash of styles, and Bowen and Antonio on the counter with be a dangerous prospect for Pau. They will definitely look to exploit the high line, but also look to trigger press us. Could go either way this one. Alvarez is out apparently, so that could help us. 4 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Marka Ragnos Posted October 19, 2023 VT Supporter Share Posted October 19, 2023 7 hours ago, Pinebro said: Obnoxious fan base. I would never care to go out of my way and read what they have to say. As long as you keep going out of your way to read what I have to say, I'm content. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
one_ian_taylor Posted October 19, 2023 VT Supporter Share Posted October 19, 2023 34 minutes ago, Philosopher said: Very interesting game this one. Clash of styles, and Bowen and Antonio on the counter with be a dangerous prospect for Pau. They will definitely look to exploit the high line, but also look to trigger press us. Could go either way this one. Alvarez is out apparently, so that could help us. Feels like one where we might sit back a little more possibly? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MaVilla Posted October 19, 2023 Share Posted October 19, 2023 this will be a real test. two years ago when they qualified for europe via the league, they tended to play a low block and hit teams quickly on the break, which led to a lot of very good results for them. last year i saw a good article about how they tried to play a more possession/control based style and it just didnt work (in the PL). It seems this year they have gone back to the low(ish) possession, low block and hitting teams on the break again, which tbh makes them dangerous, especially to the way we seem to play under Emery. added to that, we always seem to make a meal out of playing Spam since we have been promoted, a few draws, a few losses, have we actually beaten them since we came back up? edit: i just checked, the answer is no, we havent beaten them since we got promoted, we have played them 8 times since promotion, Won - 0, Drawn - 3, Lost - 5. the last time we beat West Ham was May 2015. 2 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TRO Posted October 19, 2023 Share Posted October 19, 2023 I could write reams of good stuff about us and our progress, but let me just pick out couple of concerns, where we will have to be careful. 1. Bowen and Parqueta, must be stopped, we have to win one on ones , if they get around the back of us, they will cause damage, with Antonio marauding through the middle. 2. We must be savvy without the ball....its not our best attribute, but we must show some discipline ,workrate and organisation, to cancel them. Working without the ball is difficult, but it nullyfies opponents and creates doubt, when they have it.....we simply can't be too open. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DJBOB Posted October 19, 2023 Share Posted October 19, 2023 We have to score first and make spam come out of their low block. Unai I’m sure will get this message across. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
troon_villan Posted October 19, 2023 Share Posted October 19, 2023 Very easy win. 1 2 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
VillaChris Posted October 19, 2023 Share Posted October 19, 2023 7 hours ago, Nigel said: Me too, I'd move pau to the left like we did preseason, Carlos would be better suited to this job. That could be worth considering tbh. Not sure if you mean pushing Cash on into midfield again or leave Digne out but this does feel a game for Carlos to play, has he started a league game at VP so far this season as he's played 3-4 times away already. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
VillaChris Posted October 19, 2023 Share Posted October 19, 2023 West Ham been priced at 13/5 to win this. Even the draw is 12/5 so pretty generous odds when you think how bad our record is v them since 2019. Think we're 4/5 on to win. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TRO Posted October 20, 2023 Share Posted October 20, 2023 13 hours ago, VillaChris said: West Ham been priced at 13/5 to win this. Even the draw is 12/5 so pretty generous odds when you think how bad our record is v them since 2019. Think we're 4/5 on to win. There is nothing in history that will affect this game, only the ability of players, the tactics and their application, mental and physical. If we get things right, like we can, we will be ok.....that's what will determine this outcome. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TRO Posted October 20, 2023 Share Posted October 20, 2023 18 hours ago, Philosopher said: Very interesting game this one. Clash of styles, and Bowen and Antonio on the counter with be a dangerous prospect for Pau. They will definitely look to exploit the high line, but also look to trigger press us. Could go either way this one. Alvarez is out apparently, so that could help us. Very much so. This game will go some way to see if we can mix it, with different style teams....if not, then we need to be mindful of this, in our next round of recruiting, and bring in players to make us more rounded. I too fear for that left side, I thought we should have been in for Bowen, when he was at Hull, a Snodgrass type winger, fairly physical. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
turvontour Posted October 20, 2023 Share Posted October 20, 2023 14 hours ago, VillaChris said: West Ham been priced at 13/5 to win this. Even the draw is 12/5 so pretty generous odds when you think how bad our record is v them since 2019. Think we're 4/5 on to win. But between 2015 and 2022 our average league position would have been something like 2nd in the championship? It's like two different clubs. We've been the best home team in Europe over the last eight months. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
VillaChris Posted October 20, 2023 Share Posted October 20, 2023 46 minutes ago, TRO said: Very much so. This game will go some way to see if we can mix it, with different style teams....if not, then we need to be mindful of this, in our next round of recruiting, and bring in players to make us more rounded. I too fear for that left side, I thought we should have been in for Bowen, when he was at Hull, a Snodgrass type winger, fairly physical. It surprises me we didn't go in for him in summer 2019 given our transfer model that summer. He moved to West Ham in the January for 22m so same price as Wes. Maybe DS (or Suso) didn't want him, maybe we didn't have the finances to sign two forwards for 20m +? Maybe he didn't think he'd have a chance of meeting Dani Dyer from the bright lights of Aston...... I always thought that summer we signed one defender too many (proven correct with Gulibert and Engels both falling out of favour by the xmas of that season) and were really short on attackers given Kodj and Kienan were the main back ups to Wes. Only thing you could say is Grealish was king on the left at that stage and this is where Bowen's played his best football for West Ham. They've tried him more central in recent times but not sure he'd have done that well if we'd got him and immediately put him at CF. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Zhan_Zhuang Posted October 20, 2023 Share Posted October 20, 2023 26 minutes ago, VillaChris said: It surprises me we didn't go in for him in summer 2019 given our transfer model that summer. He moved to West Ham in the January for 22m so same price as Wes. Maybe DS (or Suso) didn't want him, maybe we didn't have the finances to sign two forwards for 20m +? Maybe he didn't think he'd have a chance of meeting Dani Dyer from the bright lights of Aston...... I always thought that summer we signed one defender too many (proven correct with Gulibert and Engels both falling out of favour by the xmas of that season) and were really short on attackers given Kodj and Kienan were the main back ups to Wes. Only thing you could say is Grealish was king on the left at that stage and this is where Bowen's played his best football for West Ham. They've tried him more central in recent times but not sure he'd have done that well if we'd got him and immediately put him at CF. I agree Bowen would have been great for Villa on the right... He predominantly plays right-side for them and did against Australia for England. Regardless, Bowen is a danger man and I really rate him. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Philosopher Posted October 20, 2023 Share Posted October 20, 2023 2 hours ago, TRO said: Very much so. This game will go some way to see if we can mix it, with different style teams....if not, then we need to be mindful of this, in our next round of recruiting, and bring in players to make us more rounded. I too fear for that left side, I thought we should have been in for Bowen, when he was at Hull, a Snodgrass type winger, fairly physical. I too think we should have been in for Bowen, he would have been able the exploit the space our right side used to get with Grealish on the left. Much better player than Snodgrass, quicker and better goal output, higher workrate. Both good set piece takers. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TRO Posted October 20, 2023 Share Posted October 20, 2023 (edited) 1 hour ago, Philosopher said: I too think we should have been in for Bowen, he would have been able the exploit the space our right side used to get with Grealish on the left. Much better player than Snodgrass, quicker and better goal output, higher workrate. Both good set piece takers. Yes, I agree...but I was referring to the analogous styles of the 2 players....more durable, than the lightweight, hit and miss types. Edited October 20, 2023 by TRO Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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