oishiiniku_uk Posted October 14, 2023 Share Posted October 14, 2023 Even with the shinier names in their side now (Kudus, Paqueta etc.) they still play risk-averse (but annoyingly effective) counter-attacking football for the most part. They've had the second lowest possession of any team but Moyes doesn't care about that fancy-schmancy possession football! I watched their game against Brighton and they had about 20 percent possession, scored 3 and had a much better xg from 12 shots vs. Brighton's 26. They are good at what they do - creating high quality chances on the break and then shutting up shop when they get the lead. I just hope we can move the ball quickly enough to pull their 5-4-1 out of shape and don't get caught on the counter (Moyes' eyes will be even wider than normal thinking about our high line). Diaby's been a bit quite the last few games so I'd love a big, match-winning performance from him. 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sheepyvillian Posted October 15, 2023 Share Posted October 15, 2023 Can't wait for this one. About time we gave them a hiding, who knows, we may even be top 4 by Sunday night. Come on me Babbys! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
alreadyexists Posted October 15, 2023 VT Supporter Share Posted October 15, 2023 Hard one to call this one, traditionally it’s the kind of game we’d lose, but we’re an Emery side now with a game plan and genuine talent… I think we can win! Villa Park is finally a fortress Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TRO Posted October 15, 2023 Share Posted October 15, 2023 (edited) 17 hours ago, oishiiniku_uk said: Even with the shinier names in their side now (Kudus, Paqueta etc.) they still play risk-averse (but annoyingly effective) counter-attacking football for the most part. They've had the second lowest possession of any team but Moyes doesn't care about that fancy-schmancy possession football! I watched their game against Brighton and they had about 20 percent possession, scored 3 and had a much better xg from 12 shots vs. Brighton's 26. They are good at what they do - creating high quality chances on the break and then shutting up shop when they get the lead. I just hope we can move the ball quickly enough to pull their 5-4-1 out of shape and don't get caught on the counter (Moyes' eyes will be even wider than normal thinking about our high line). Diaby's been a bit quite the last few games so I'd love a big, match-winning performance from him. Moving the ball quicker is key, the slow build up can leave us vulnerable at times....and counter attacking sides love that, where they nick the ball in transition. I think it will be close and hard fought, but I favour us to shade it, with home advantage. Edited October 15, 2023 by TRO 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Demitri_C Posted October 15, 2023 Share Posted October 15, 2023 And u just know JWP will score ffs 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
romavillan Posted October 15, 2023 VT Supporter Share Posted October 15, 2023 7 hours ago, TRO said: Moving the ball quicker is key, the slow build up can leave us vulnerable at times....and counter attacking sides love that, where they nick the ball in transition. I think it will be close and hard fought, but I favour us to shade it, with home advantage. We'll have to score first to open the game up. If start full guns blazing we're well capable of being a couple up early doors. Then that's their game plan in tatters. 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TheAuthority Posted October 16, 2023 VT Supporter Share Posted October 16, 2023 This international break seems to gone on longer than a rugby world cup 1 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
oishiiniku_uk Posted October 16, 2023 Share Posted October 16, 2023 I watched a bit more of West Ham's games (will this international break ever end???) and a couple of potential weak points were evident: Coufal is a decent defender but isn't that great 1v1 against a quick opponent (Doku was getting by him all the time for Man City). With Moreno & Ramsey still out we don't have a natural replacement who could run at him, unfortunately but Coufal gets forward a lot too to overlap Bowen and so it's possible to exploit the space behind him on the counter. Also, WHU get very well set in their banks of 5 & 4 but look susceptible to a scooped/chipped ball from the edge of the box. Margin for error in executing that is pretty small as they don't allow much space behind, but Man City and Liverpool both used this tactic to good effect. We have a number of players (Luiz, Kamara, Torres etc.) who look to play that kind of ball at times so might be a good game to employ it and get Watkins/Diaby/Bailey making those runs in behind. But yeah, not too many obvious defensive flaws. Going to be tough, as everyone is saying. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BOF Posted October 16, 2023 Moderator Share Posted October 16, 2023 19 hours ago, romavillan said: We'll have to score first to open the game up. If start full guns blazing we're well capable of being a couple up early doors. Then that's their game plan in tatters. We've a 100% record when we score first in the league this season, so that'd be nice. FWIW when we concede first we've still managed to win one (Palace), draw one (Wolves) and did lose the other 2 (Barcodes & pool) 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
duke313 Posted October 16, 2023 Share Posted October 16, 2023 Would be more worried about this if it was away. Our home record has been brilliant under Emery, we won't lose this. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sheepyvillian Posted October 16, 2023 Share Posted October 16, 2023 On 15/10/2023 at 09:27, alreadyexists said: Hard one to call this one, traditionally it’s the kind of game we’d lose, but we’re an Emery side now with a game plan and genuine talent… I think we can win! Villa Park is finally a fortress It was a "fortress" under Saunders, I think we only lost to Ipswich at home the season we were crowned Champions. In fact, we only lost 10 games all season. And now we have our very own continental version of RS. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sheepyvillian Posted October 16, 2023 Share Posted October 16, 2023 20 hours ago, romavillan said: We'll have to score first to open the game up. If start full guns blazing we're well capable of being a couple up early doors. Then that's their game plan in tatters. It would be lovely to go the whole season unbeaten at home, don't think we have ever done that whilst I've been a supporter. 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sheepyvillian Posted October 16, 2023 Share Posted October 16, 2023 On 15/10/2023 at 12:46, TRO said: Moving the ball quicker is key, the slow build up can leave us vulnerable at times....and counter attacking sides love that, where they nick the ball in transition. I think it will be close and hard fought, but I favour us to shade it, with home advantage. We can sometimes look a bit pedestrian, although, not so much at VP. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
andym Posted October 16, 2023 Share Posted October 16, 2023 On 10/10/2023 at 16:20, BOF said: If we're Brighton's bogey team then West Ham are ours. With seemingly no rhyme or reason, their approach just seems to nullify ours time and time again. I could say we're due a result against them, but football doesn't work that way. Maybe our form will carry us through and we'll beat them all things being equal, although they're a bloody good side on their own merit this time around. That hasn't always been the case. A draw wouldn't surprise me. But I'll be positive and say we can do this. We'll hopefully have Moreno back by then. Not that Digne has been bad by any stretch, but Moreno gives us another dimension. Villa 2-0. I'm not sure its necessarily been the case their style nullifies us, but for whatever reason we just seem unable to get a win against them. Last season the game at VP was a shocker from both sides, but their winning goal was a huge deflection. At West Ham we were winning and then they get a soft penalty for their player throwing himself to the floor. The worst one was when we lost 2-1 in 2020; we had 65% possession, 16 shots (6 on target), missed a penalty, Trezeguet missed an open goal from 6 yards out, then we had an equaliser disallowed for offside, but the only reason Watkins was offside was because he was being fouled, so actually it should have been another penalty. West Ham had 2 shots on target and both went in. Football does seem to throw up random instances where even over many years, so covering different managers and players, one team seems to have the hoodoo over another one. 2 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kingman Posted October 16, 2023 Share Posted October 16, 2023 4 hours ago, duke313 said: Would be more worried about this if it was away. Our home record has been brilliant under Emery, we won't lose this. Now look what you've gone and done mutley! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Leeroy Posted October 17, 2023 Share Posted October 17, 2023 Martinez Cash Konsa Pau Digne Kamara Luiz McGinn Diaby Zaniolo Watkins Subs: Olsen, Diego Carlos, Lenglet, Moreno, Dendoncker, Tielemans, Bailey, Traore, Duran Assuming Ramsey is still out, if not swap him in for Traore. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Vive_La_Villa Posted October 17, 2023 Share Posted October 17, 2023 (edited) Biggest home challenge so far this season? I know we played Brighton but they were so open they played in to our hands. West Ham will be solid and hit us on the break or make the most of set pieces. Edited October 17, 2023 by Vive_La_Villa 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
VillaChris Posted October 17, 2023 Share Posted October 17, 2023 19 hours ago, oishiiniku_uk said: I watched a bit more of West Ham's games (will this international break ever end???) and a couple of potential weak points were evident: Coufal is a decent defender but isn't that great 1v1 against a quick opponent (Doku was getting by him all the time for Man City). With Moreno & Ramsey still out we don't have a natural replacement who could run at him, unfortunately but Coufal gets forward a lot too to overlap Bowen and so it's possible to exploit the space behind him on the counter. Also, WHU get very well set in their banks of 5 & 4 but look susceptible to a scooped/chipped ball from the edge of the box. Margin for error in executing that is pretty small as they don't allow much space behind, but Man City and Liverpool both used this tactic to good effect. We have a number of players (Luiz, Kamara, Torres etc.) who look to play that kind of ball at times so might be a good game to employ it and get Watkins/Diaby/Bailey making those runs in behind. But yeah, not too many obvious defensive flaws. Going to be tough, as everyone is saying. Yeah their full backs are o.k but nothing special. Emerson Palmieri has been playing in premier league for over five seasons now and I still don't know if he's any good or not! Coufal did a great man marking job on Grealish a few seasons back when he was in his pomp for us, I think getting Diaby over that side regularly would be beneficial, think Bailey will start on the other side as Emery uses plays him in home games. Beyond that people on this forum still think he's overrated but we always struggled v Rice in midfield. Not just the duels but he's excellent at intercepting infront of the back 4 so so many attacks from us would break down and then out of position they'd ping a quick diagonal for Bowen or Antonio to chase after. Alvarez-Ward Prowse-Pacqueta is still pretty good but I think on home turf we can edge it with our regular midfield, will be a very even battle. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
VillaChris Posted October 17, 2023 Share Posted October 17, 2023 47 minutes ago, Vive_La_Villa said: Biggest home challenge so far this season? I know we played Brighton but they were so open they played in to our hands. West Ham will be solid and hit us on the break or make the most of set pieces. Our toughest home game since Newcastle in April........ 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
oishiiniku_uk Posted October 17, 2023 Share Posted October 17, 2023 (edited) 5 minutes ago, VillaChris said: Yeah their full backs are o.k but nothing special. Emerson Palmieri has been playing in premier league for over five seasons now and I still don't know if he's any good or not! Coufal did a great man marking job on Grealish a few seasons back when he was in his pomp for us, I think getting Diaby over that side regularly would be beneficial, think Bailey will start on the other side as Emery uses plays him in home games. Beyond that people on this forum still think he's overrated but we always struggled v Rice in midfield. Not just the duels but he's excellent at intercepting infront of the back 4 so so many attacks from us would break down and then out of position they'd ping a quick diagonal for Bowen or Antonio to chase after. Alvarez-Ward Prowse-Pacqueta is still pretty good but I think on home turf we can edge it with our regular midfield, will be a very even battle. I was wondering about putting Diaby out on the left wing too. Did he play there for a bit of one of the games earlier this season? He's definitely got the pace to trouble Coufal and to make him and Bowen a bit more reluctant to get forward. McGinn could play second striker then and Bailey on the right, as you say. I'd not paid much attention to Paqueta until recently, but he's a really classy player, isn't he? A bit wasted in that deeper, wide role where Moyes puts him, too. Edited October 17, 2023 by oishiiniku_uk Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts