Alec Posted September 12, 2011 Share Posted September 12, 2011 He cant play in the system McLeish plays..He has just left a club that are built to play passing football, by working the ball through the team, spreading it out wide etc...Bent and N'Zogbia will struggle at hoof ball. We need to start playing the game, passing more to bring N'Zogbia and Bent into the game more. I don't often say this but I agree with you. I don't think this is the case - as others have alluded, N'Zogbia isn't necessarily one to receive the ball and immediately look to cross. That wasn't the way Wigan set up last season - he played in virtually the same position, drifting in from the right, dribbling and working the ball on to his left foot when in range. The formation that we've started with is fine, in and of itself, and one that should play to N'Zogbia's strengths. That he isn't firing at the moment is down to three things in my opinion; firstly, he's now a much smaller fish in a much bigger pond and every attack is not designed to feed the ball to him as there are other attacking players just as key to us; secondly, I think the current formation is seeing us work the ball into much more promising central positions than I've seen us do under either of the last two managers due to the way our forward line is so interchangeable as opposed to the flat 4-4-2 we have been generally used to, but unfortunately Heskey is the weak link in that despite his impressive work-rate and above-par performances on a personal level this season, he slows the play down too much and can't keep the ball moving to the likes of N'Zogbia, Agbonlahor or Bent as quickly as a specialist 'no. 10' would; thirdly, his work-rate and determination to find form has been underwhelming to put it politely. Agbonlahor has started the season very well operating in the same role on the other side of the pitch but his work ethic is always evident and ensures he makes a contribution even when out of form. We knew we were getting a different type of player in N'Zogbia and McLeish will no doubt have to decide what is the best way to manage him. Personally, I would take him out of the side for a couple of games and let him try and make an impact in the last twenty minutes of matches to re-discover last season's form. Albrighton's exquisite cross for the second goal on Saturday was easily the best we have seen from any Villa player this season and we shouldn't be afraid to freshen things up. With Heskey limping off, hopefully we will also see Jenas or Ireland brought in to add a little more fluidity which would help as well. But overall, our formation isn't the problem and shouldn't be preventing N'Zogbia from playing well - the player needs to dig himself out of this rut and, in all fairness, I think he will. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
briny_ear Posted September 12, 2011 Share Posted September 12, 2011 ^^^Thanks, Alec, saved me trying to construct a post trying to make the same point. N'Zogbia has a fantastic opportunity to step up at Villa and so far isn't taking it. I agree with Mat Kendrick With his accurate assist alone, substitute Albrighton conjured up more creativity in 18 minutes than the man he replaced, Charles N’Zogbia, mustered in the preceeding 72.Funny that Albrightion did OK in this supposed "hoofball" system when N'Zogbia couldn't. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Stevo985 Posted September 12, 2011 VT Supporter Share Posted September 12, 2011 I remain unimpressed but still early days. Same. He needs time. Our wingers/attacking midfielders have a habit of taking a while to settle in. Milner and Downing both took some time and then ended up being superb. Hopefully Charlie will be the same Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
steaknchips Posted September 12, 2011 Share Posted September 12, 2011 I think he has joined a team where he is having to work for the ball more. And when he gets the ball he has very little support or movement from the rest of the team. Both he and Bent look isolated at times.. Either Delph or Petrov need to push up ALOT more and support the attacking play by making runs to create more space for N'Zognia to exploit. I can see why he looks frustrated, its a completely different type of game at Villa for him atm. If you watch our midfield when we get ball, its kinda static, yet you do see Bent and N'zogbia making good runs off the ball. It all comes to down to the lack of confidence in Petrov's ability to hold the midfield defensively..We tend to have a gap between striker/attack and the midfield and someone needs to bridge this gap. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wiggyrichard Posted September 12, 2011 Share Posted September 12, 2011 I think he has joined a team where he is having to work for the ball more. And when he gets the ball he has very little support or movement from the rest of the team. Both he and Bent look isolated at times.. Either Delph or Petrov need to push up ALOT more and support the attacking play by making runs to create more space for N'Zognia to exploit. I can see why he looks frustrated, its a completely different type of game at Villa for him atm. If you watch our midfield when we get ball, its kinda static, yet you do see Bent and N'zogbia making good runs off the ball. It all comes to down to the lack of confidence in Petrov's ability to hold the midfield defensively..We tend to have a gap between striker/attack and the midfield and someone needs to bridge this gap. Stephen Ireland. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Alec Posted September 12, 2011 Share Posted September 12, 2011 I think he has joined a team where he is having to work for the ball more. Don't fall into the trap of confusing Wigan's 'pretty' football with dominating possession. They are a lightweight outfit who spend more of the game chasing the ball than playing with it due to their own lack of an effective holding player/ball-winner in midfield. You may be quite right in that N'Zogbia is having to work harder now, but as much for the team as for the ball - expectations are higher here and chipping in with a few fancy dribbles alone is not going to cut it. I think he will become a better player for developing other aspects of his game here but clearly he is still very much adjusting. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ChrisNichollsToe Posted September 12, 2011 Share Posted September 12, 2011 Tell me - what is he doing wrong, please? F Hes playing shite, and was largely invisable on saturday. I think fans have a right to say it as they see it, if im honest. Hes not a flop though. Weve only played four games, he never had a proper pre season with us, and i guess he will tale a little more time to settle in. With that, i do think some should show a little patiance, and remember that most of the time, Footballers are not cartoon figures and behave deifferntly when not on the xbox and playstation ect Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Witheorwithoutyou Posted September 13, 2011 Share Posted September 13, 2011 Do you not approve of his change of heart then villan_007 ? No feed him to the hounds BOF! I'm very shocked he's had one. Followed his rants daily before we signed him, and thought he would have had the zog burnt at the stake if he could. I nearly got myself banned out of frustration at what I saw as a huge step backwards for the club. It was a blunder of the highest magnitude but people were on here wanting to burn ME at the stake for not being so optimistic. I promised to reserve judgement until November and until then CNZ would get my full backing as a supporter of AVFC. Seems like many have turned on him already and I put that down to a massive dose of over expectation. He is a good player and will improve but he is not downing / young and he is certainly not worth £10m of anyones money. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Richard Posted September 13, 2011 Share Posted September 13, 2011 I hope that one of the problems Nzogbia is not having to deal with is weight of expectation. We lost both Young and Downing, that left us with about zero creativity, we replaced with one player and I hope that the expectation is not that he will provide as much as the two we have lost, it is simply not the case despite being told at the time that we had the better deal with him for 9.5M than either plop or manure did for our two players In saying that he has been disappointing so far and I hope he improves Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NeilS Posted September 13, 2011 Share Posted September 13, 2011 It's early days yet for N'Zogbia at Villa so he has a long way to go yet. I was of the opinion before we bought CNZ that he wasn't as good as Ashley Young, and so far he hasn't disproven that thought. I hold out hope that he will improve in time and give good service for us as he settles into his new surroundings, but I still think anyone thinking that he will be better for us right away than Young was, is probably in denial. He is cheaper than AY, and that is because he wasn't/isn't as good as AY at this current time, our hope is that we can improve CNZ so that he becomes as important a playerfor us as AY was. i really hope we can, because he has some big boots to fill. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AngryToast Posted September 13, 2011 Share Posted September 13, 2011 Zoggy had very little pre-season at all, not just here but at Wigan as well. So he was set to be worse off than usual this season from the get-go. Not to mention moving from to a different system up at Wigan to us. I don't expect that much of him until Christmas time, when I'm hoping for to see some positive signs moving forward. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SiDanger Posted September 13, 2011 Share Posted September 13, 2011 Let's judge him on a season not 4 games. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kevangrealish Posted September 13, 2011 Share Posted September 13, 2011 The post has been put up within 4 games so therefore everyone should comment? ^^^ Zoggy just hasnt done it yet, you can see he looks very nervous on the ball and gets it passes it all the time as if playing as petrov or someone else :s. He has massive amounts of potential and as for him or downing i'd pick him all day ! A bargain for his ability but lets hope he doesn't become another Stephen Ireland(so far anyway) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
briny_ear Posted September 14, 2011 Share Posted September 14, 2011 You could get worried reading this thread. A player who has often been held up on these pages as a desirable buy for Villa/better than Ashley Young/what we need to increase our skill on the ball etc., joins the squad and now we are being told authoritatively he only has 1-2 good games in 5, we need to change the formation and style of play to accommodate him, he shouldn't be expected to work for the ball...and so on. Let's just hope these views are wrong and he can settle down to providing consistent performances within the existing squad with their current style of play. Otherwise, we have just bought a £9.5m flop. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Houlston Posted September 14, 2011 Share Posted September 14, 2011 This thread is akin to the Heskey thread whereby there is rejoice Heskey is injured. Whereas this thread is already put paid to Nzogbia as an average player after only a handful of games in a new team with a new manager finding his feet. VT beggars belief. To compare him to the impact Young has had at Old Trafford is mental and totally irrelevant. But it will happen because thats the easy thing to do for a "I told you so." Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pilchard Posted September 14, 2011 Share Posted September 14, 2011 Another French flop so far. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wiggyrichard Posted September 14, 2011 Share Posted September 14, 2011 He's just lacking form, nothing more...nothing less. Drop him to the bench and give Albrighton a chance. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DelboyVilla Posted September 14, 2011 Share Posted September 14, 2011 He's just lacking form, nothing more...nothing less. Drop him to the bench and give Albrighton a chance. Brilliant replace one out of form winger with another???? Ha ha Witheorwithoutyou is back to gloat!!!! LOL!!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sir_gary_cahill Posted September 14, 2011 Share Posted September 14, 2011 Another French flop so far. give the lad a chance ffs Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pilchard Posted September 14, 2011 Share Posted September 14, 2011 Another French flop so far. give the lad a chance ffs Hence the so far. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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