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The Midfield


Condimentalist

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Based on him being unable to influence games, his attitude (which seems to implode every 6 months)

& lambert having a nasty streak

I sense friction at some point

Same with NZogbia btw

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Mmmmm, I won't hold my breath on Ireland

I can't see him lasting the season under Lambert personally

Hope he proves me wrong

Can you tell me why?

2nd. Ireland is talented and is playing under a manager that has a history of getting the best out of players.

Why would he not succeed?

Does have to be paired with a midfielder/midfielders who can get the ball back and pressure.

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I honestly believe Ireland wants to prove himself as a top midfielder under Lambert this season. He seems very motivated to succeed. Ireland did well under McLeish's tactics, so imagine how he will do under Lambert's?

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Based on him being unable to influence games

let's perhaps come back to this point in a couple of months when a PL team with ireland in has played a few games shall we?

Agree, we should assess say after the first 6 games

See how he's doing

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Ireland was our hardest worker last year.

I really don't get this nonsense. He is hardly involved in games, Chelsea away aside, what other game did he have any real influence on ??

Ireland was ok last season but hardly set the world on fire. People seem to think he is some sort of genius at villa park because he managed to put in 15 decent performances

Lets not forget these are the only decent performances he has managed in 4 years and for a man on his money i expect a whole lot more from him.

I am yet to be convinced he is anything special

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15 decent performances ? I'd even question that

Last year he achieved 1 goal and 2 assists

That's bloody pathetic

In fairness he who shall not named did not help. Ireland only ever looked really good when he played with robinho.

Im never really sure how bothered he is. his attitude reminds me of collymores

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Well we'll soon find out. Ireland should be taking games against teams like west ham & everton by the scruff of the neck, not being on the periphery and just running around a lot (nowhere near the ball)

I think he's a clever person and has managed to endear himself to fans even though he's been a massive flop

Hence at away games why he gets big brownie points for clapping the away end all the time

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Well we'll soon find out. Ireland should be taking games against teams like west ham & everton by the scruff of the neck, not being on the periphery and just running around a lot (nowhere near the ball)

I think he's a clever person and has managed to endear himself to fans even though he's been a massive flop

Hence at away games why he gets big brownie points for clapping the away end all the time

I'm genuinely excited about watching Ireland play with El Ahmadi. I think El Ahmadi is the sort of player Ireland has been waiting to play along side.

I hope, El Ahmadi will be the key to Ireland flourishing.

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Really quite intrigued to see what formation Lambert goes with, we don't have 2 decent proven wingers to rub together anymore, but nor to we have a DM that'll just sit in front of the defence judging by KEA in pre-season. 4-3-2-1 I guess would suit the players we have.

I hate the 4-3-2-1 formation. Against better teams it turns into a 4-5-1 very quickly with the gap between the 5 and the 1 usually about 40 yards

This is more to do with how a team plays rather than the formation. Under MON, we'd sit so deep and invite pressure, the midfield would have too much ground to cover, in order to get forward quickly. When Petrov and Barry were playing together, we had no attacking threat from CM as neither had the pace to counter attack and make forward runs, as they spent much of the game protecting the back four. This only changed when Milner moved to a central position. It was the same with England at the Euro's.

If we are able to keep posession and have a more attacking philosophy to our game, then 4-2-3-1 / 4-3-2-1 / 4-5-1 (really isnt much difference when you look at the position of each player in midfield) can work. And by all accounts, from some of the comments i've read from some of the players, this could well be the case.

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The only way Ireland & KEA will work is with a big DCM sat in behind them

Currently there's a piece in the jigsaw missing IMHO

You're right and I think that's unfortunatley been the problem with the midfield in the pre-season, KEA and Ireland have linked up well but they've needed a solid player behind them as a brick wall,

Bannan has been good at the collecting the ball from the defence and passing it on side of the position but not the defensive side.

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I'm not sure there's much attacking quality there, no real final ball, unless Ireland comes good and I seriously doubt he will. We need someone to effectively link the midfield to the attack, and someone that can do that more than once every 5 games.

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Really quite intrigued to see what formation Lambert goes with, we don't have 2 decent proven wingers to rub together anymore, but nor to we have a DM that'll just sit in front of the defence judging by KEA in pre-season. 4-3-2-1 I guess would suit the players we have.

I hate the 4-3-2-1 formation. Against better teams it turns into a 4-5-1 very quickly with the gap between the 5 and the 1 usually about 40 yards

This is more to do with how a team plays rather than the formation. Under MON, we'd sit so deep and invite pressure, the midfield would have too much ground to cover, in order to get forward quickly. When Petrov and Barry were playing together, we had no attacking threat from CM as neither had the pace to counter attack and make forward runs, as they spent much of the game protecting the back four. This only changed when Milner moved to a central position. It was the same with England at the Euro's.

If we are able to keep posession and have a more attacking philosophy to our game, then 4-2-3-1 / 4-3-2-1 / 4-5-1 (really isnt much difference when you look at the position of each player in midfield) can work. And by all accounts, from some of the comments i've read from some of the players, this could well be the case.

We dont have enough quality to keep possesion, especially against premier league opposition.

I can see us reverting to type and dropping deep. Its a nasty habit Villa have had for years

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We dont have enough quality to keep possesion, especially against premier league opposition.

I can see us reverting to type and dropping deep. Its a nasty habit Villa have had for years

I hope we keep possession when given time on the ball, which would be an improvement on last season but when pressed by the more physical an/or organised teams we could have a bit of trouble.

Dropping back has been a nasty habit in a Villa team for a few years, under different managers, like you said. And I hope that's one thing Lambert addresses.

Although that may be part of the psychology which maybe why he's bringing in a Ethics coach...although he's a defender :) I'm not sure.

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