briny_ear Posted July 28, 2014 Share Posted July 28, 2014 I certainly don't think he deserves abuse from the fans, though I think you can overstate the extent of that. It's not his fault he isn't good enough. He was brought into the squad on the false prospectus that we could create a successful premier league side with lower league players. That was never true and now seems to have been more or less ditched. But the fault doesn't lie with the players who were part of the failed experiment. 4 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
villa4europe Posted July 28, 2014 Share Posted July 28, 2014 He'll no doubt offer far more as a wing back than a full back. Hope he gets the chanceWell let's face it he could hardly offer much less. He has been nowhere near as bad as some make out. It is rumoured that the reason he was pulled was because of us, the abuse got to him and wrecked his confidence. He had a couple of sinkers admittedly, Norwich towards the end of the season before last being a prime example. But after a year out of the limelight can we not, as a collective, afford him a second chance? Was it not also possible that his poor performances damaged his confidence? I actually think there's a decent player in there and with a bit of experience and growing up he might start to show it but he needs game time, should be loaned out to a good championship team Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
markavfc40 Posted July 28, 2014 Share Posted July 28, 2014 I certainly don't think he deserves abuse from the fans, though I think you can overstate the extent of that. It's not his fault he isn't good enough. He was brought into the squad on the false prospectus that we could create a successful premier league side with lower league players. That was never true and now seems to have been more or less ditched. But the fault doesn't lie with the players who were part of the failed experiment. This is an excellent post. I genuinely can't see how anyone can give stick to a player who is giving 100% but is simply not good enough to compete at the level he has been asked to. I never got the impression with Joe that he wasn't giving it his all simply that at the time he wasn't good enough. That unfortunately could be said of many of our players over the last couple of years but the fault for that lies much higher up the tree than the players. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
VillaChris Posted July 28, 2014 Share Posted July 28, 2014 Just don't think he has a defensive bone in his body, o.k going forward. Can't see anything other than Richardson as first choice. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
il_serpente Posted July 28, 2014 VT Supporter Share Posted July 28, 2014 Looks like he's bulked up his arms with additional ink. It's important not to fall too far behind the competition in that arena. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dont_do_it_doug. Posted July 28, 2014 Share Posted July 28, 2014 He'll no doubt offer far more as a wing back than a full back. Hope he gets the chanceWell let's face it he could hardly offer much less. He has been nowhere near as bad as some make out. It is rumoured that the reason he was pulled was because of us, the abuse got to him and wrecked his confidence. He had a couple of sinkers admittedly, Norwich towards the end of the season before last being a prime example. But after a year out of the limelight can we not, as a collective, afford him a second chance? If in doubt, blame the fans. I wasn't doing that personally, but for logical reasons you can see why the manager might want to pull him out of the firing line. I was offering it up as a reason rather than a criticism. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LordSepulchrave Posted July 28, 2014 Share Posted July 28, 2014 Might be mad of me, but still haven't written Bennett off. Just as one good season doesn't make a player a world beater, one bad season doesn't necessarily make a player a flop. 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ermie123 Posted July 28, 2014 Share Posted July 28, 2014 Perhaps he may be better as that winger we are in need of? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HanoiVillan Posted July 28, 2014 Share Posted July 28, 2014 Bennett's problem - and the reason I preferred Luna - is that his mistakes often seem to lead directly to goal-scoring chances for the opposition. He always seems alarmingly likely to make a kamikaze backpass or give away a penalty. Nevertheless, he does always seem to be giving 100%, and I hope he can improve in the future. Richardson will surely be first choice though. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sne Posted July 29, 2014 Share Posted July 29, 2014 Anyone playing LB/RB using the "tactics" we used last season will be in trouble because neither Gabby nor Weimann offers any protection or help with defending. They are both hardworking (when they are up for it), but lack tactical intelligence and the main abilities to work well as wide players. Both of them are playing out of position and always move in towards the center of the field leaving the flanks open. This combined with a powderpuff midfield that can't retain the ball makes the job for the defenders impossible. Bennet, Luna, Bertrand or anyone we chuck in the LB position will struggle. Newboy Richardson will have his hands full and will be cought out more than a few times, mind you so would Philipp Lahm too if he played in this system with these players Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Risso Posted July 29, 2014 Share Posted July 29, 2014 Anyone playing LB/RB using the "tactics" we used last season will be in trouble because neither Gabby nor Weimann offers any protection or help with defending. They are both hardworking (when they are up for it), but lack tactical intelligence and the main abilities to work well as wide players. Both of them are playing out of position and always move in towards the center of the field leaving the flanks open. This combined with a powderpuff midfield that can't retain the ball makes the job for the defenders impossible. Exactly. 4-3-3 with full backs who can't defend is absolute defensive suicide, as has been proven time and time again over the last two years. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BG_Villa_Fan Posted July 29, 2014 Share Posted July 29, 2014 Anyone playing LB/RB using the "tactics" we used last season will be in trouble because neither Gabby nor Weimann offers any protection or help with defending. They are both hardworking (when they are up for it), but lack tactical intelligence and the main abilities to work well as wide players. Both of them are playing out of position and always move in towards the center of the field leaving the flanks open. This combined with a powderpuff midfield that can't retain the ball makes the job for the defenders impossible. Bennet, Luna, Bertrand or anyone we chuck in the LB position will struggle. Newboy Richardson will have his hands full and will be cought out more than a few times, mind you so would Philipp Lahm too if he played in this system with these players From what I've watched the design was that it's not Gabby and Weimann who were supposed to track back but KEA would help the right back and Delph - the left back. This always left Westwood all alone in the middle, which combined with a defence that sits deep always left huge chunks of space in the middle. Very flawed IMO. Could only see this work with a very high defensive line and a proper defensive mid in place of Westwood. I don't think we'll see a lot of 4-3-3 in the upcoming season. 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bobzy Posted July 29, 2014 Share Posted July 29, 2014 Anyone playing LB/RB using the "tactics" we used last season will be in trouble because neither Gabby nor Weimann offers any protection or help with defending. They are both hardworking (when they are up for it), but lack tactical intelligence and the main abilities to work well as wide players. Both of them are playing out of position and always move in towards the center of the field leaving the flanks open. This combined with a powderpuff midfield that can't retain the ball makes the job for the defenders impossible. Exactly. 4-3-3 with full backs who can't defend is absolute defensive suicide, as has been proven time and time again over the last two years. I can see us going (granted, haven't watched any pre-season) 5-3-2 with wing backs and 3 central defenders. I'd be more confident with ANY of Luna/Bennett/Richardson/Lowton/Bacuna in a wing back role rather than a full back role, too. Lambert has experimented with this before, Vlaar has excelled in this formation at the World Cup - could be a goer? 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GREAT_BEARD_OF_ZEUS Posted July 29, 2014 Share Posted July 29, 2014 Considering every single one of our fullbacks are better going forward than defending, a back 3 with wing-backs would be a very sensible approach. Therefore expect 4-4-2 against Stoke. 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HanoiVillan Posted July 29, 2014 Share Posted July 29, 2014 Anyone playing LB/RB using the "tactics" we used last season will be in trouble because neither Gabby nor Weimann offers any protection or help with defending. They are both hardworking (when they are up for it), but lack tactical intelligence and the main abilities to work well as wide players. Both of them are playing out of position and always move in towards the center of the field leaving the flanks open. This combined with a powderpuff midfield that can't retain the ball makes the job for the defenders impossible. Exactly. 4-3-3 with full backs who can't defend is absolute defensive suicide, as has been proven time and time again over the last two years. I can see us going (granted, haven't watched any pre-season) 5-3-2 with wing backs and 3 central defenders. I'd be more confident with ANY of Luna/Bennett/Richardson/Lowton/Bacuna in a wing back role rather than a full back role, too. Lambert has experimented with this before, Vlaar has excelled in this formation at the World Cup - could be a goer? I really dislike the formation, but if we're going to play it, it's at least better to have the personnel who fit it. Hence I think Richardson was a good purchase - think he'd do the role better than Bennett. Everyone talks about Bennett being much better going forward, but if I'm being honest, I can't recall seeing that. Maybe I just missed those games. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Shaw_nuff Posted July 29, 2014 Share Posted July 29, 2014 I really dislike the formation, but if we're going to play it, it's at least better to have the personnel who fit it. Hence I think Richardson was a good purchase - think he'd do the role better than Bennett. Everyone talks about Bennett being much better going forward, but if I'm being honest, I can't recall seeing that. Maybe I just missed those games. To be fair to Bennett, I can't remember many games that the team went forward. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DelboyVilla Posted July 29, 2014 Share Posted July 29, 2014 Considering every single one of our fullbacks are better going forward than defending, a back 3 with wing-backs would be a very sensible approach. Therefore expect 4-4-2 against Stoke. Tends to be throughout football that full backs these days don't defend. Look at Manure paying £30m for a full back and his main strengths are his attacking? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mightysasquatch Posted July 29, 2014 Share Posted July 29, 2014 Considering every single one of our fullbacks are better going forward than defending, a back 3 with wing-backs would be a very sensible approach. Therefore expect 4-4-2 against Stoke. Amazing!!! Lmao Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mightysasquatch Posted July 29, 2014 Share Posted July 29, 2014 Jamie Carragher had the best a analogy of a modern full back. "No one grows up wanting to be Gary Neville fullbacks are failed wingers" While Neville is stood next to him, brilliant. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
samjp26 Posted August 4, 2014 Share Posted August 4, 2014 Scored another goal, for the U21s this time. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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