Aston Villa Team Talk/Gossip/Rumours Thread 2019/2020

Patser

Amazing what happens when you shoot, even in a crowded box

artanevilla

That's a goal. Yep confirmed.

Patser

Actually slightly surprised, there looked clear offside by is in build up, pass before pass to Grealish, the one up in the air

CSF

basillarkin wrote: »

A statue would b more ettective than big wes

Amazing, how the whole team can stink the place out week after week and the criticism always falls on Wesley. When was McGinn’s last game?

CSF

Those are the kinds of times when you do miss Mings. Proper catch 22 with him of late.

Easy Rod

Shocking tackle from Targett. Should have been off. Cowardly.

Bounty Hunter

Far too easy for Evans.

I agree Wesley gets stick when others maybe also deserve it but when the team are playing poorly Wes is never going to look anything but isolated and poor.

Lots of players on Yellows now

basillarkin

CSF wrote: »

Amazing, how the whole team can stink the place out week after week and the criticism always falls on Wesley. When was McGinn’s last game?

I hear ya. Its like the gaa. The whole team might be playing bad but the corner forward is first off. My point still stands. He is stinking out villa Park.

Bounty Hunter

Easy Rod wrote: »

Shocking tackle from Targett. Should have been off. Cowardly.

Very poor challenge alright, lucky to not get a red.

CSF

basillarkin wrote: »

I hear ya. Its like the gaa. The whole team might be playing bad but the corner forward is first off. My point still stands. He is stinking out villa Park.

He is, along with 9 others. Heaton and Grealish the only ones who can hold their head up high. I’m no fan of scapegoating.

Easy Rod

Clever corner from Leicester and super header from Evans but for a seasoned pro like Elmo you shouldn’t be caught with a simple block like that.

basillarkin

CSF wrote: »

He is, along with 9 others. Heaton and Grealish the only ones who can hold their head up high. I’m no fan of scapegoating.

Although back in the bottom 3 as things stand. There is a nice run of 5 games coming up which will define the season for me. Get 3 wins or amass around the 9 points. Hopefully they will be able to kick on.

CSF

basillarkin wrote: »

Although back in the bottom 3 as things stand. There is a nice run of 5 games coming up which will define the season for me. Get 3 wins or amass around the 9 points. Hopefully they will be able to kick on.

I hope you’re right. And I agree about the fixtures, but I think we are in crisis mode. There’s not a team in the league you can put in this performance (basically a replica of the Wolves performance) against.

JPA

Stick on Kodija for Wesley. Try something different.

Patser

I don't think we're in crisis mode yet. We've shown a lot of positives, one of the higher scores in league, haven't really had a hiding all year, and IMO we're just a form striker short of a good team

Problem this season is it's all so congested, that you lose 3 games in a row you're in relegation, win 3 and your chasing Europe. We've just played Chelsea, Utd and Leicester (2nd) and not picked up much, but pick up 9 in next 5 games and we're suddenly top half.

But we still have a Jekyll and Hyde team - wgoll5 show up, great or muck.

JPA

Game over , if there was any question.

CSF

It’s December and we are in the relegation zone, playing League 2 football more often than Premier League. Doesn’t get much more crisis than that IMO.

Patser

Ok now we're in for a hiding, and we've learned nothing

Long , fast ball and room for Vardy to exploit. That space should never be afforded again after 1 st goal. That's madness

JPA

We are definitely in crisis mode, and it's a bit worrying that we never change anything in terms of tactics.


Targett gone off, didn't fancy it from the start.

circadian

Honestly think we have a half defcent squad. I'm starting to think Smith just doesn't have the chops for this league, not ye anyway. I reckon with this squad and a better manager mid table would be very easy to achieve.

JPA

circadian wrote: »

Honestly think we have a half defcent squad. I'm starting to think Smith just doesn't have the chops for this league, not ye anyway. I reckon with this squad and a better manager mid table would be very easy to achieve.

Not happening anytime soon with his new contract.

Patser

I don't want to blame Elmo and Targett, I think its tactics wrong here. They were encouraged to bomb on forward, leaving centre 2 exposed against 2 Leicester speedy forwards, so fast counter attacks and we were shagged.

Nakamba or Luiz should have been told to hold back. But again with Grealish and McGinn effectively wingers or attackers, El Ghazi definitely a winger and 2 FBs out wide as well, Luiz had to move up as a central link point.

So maybe it is time to rest McGinn, or be less aggressive with FBs

Bounty Hunter

I also don't think we are in crisis mods even if this is hard to watch. Just want to fast forward to the next match now.

We have had some terrible luck in some games where we could have done much better like the 1st minute penalty given away by Heaton and Var decisions going against us in some early games and looked good but let things slip against some of the top teams in the league but they are poor excuses.

It is a full squad of new players gelling and I did not expect us to be doing brilliantly in the first half of the season. I think I said that if we are not in the relegation area going into January I'd be happy enough as I'd expect better in the second half of the season and maybe the offensive recruits we didn't get in the summer might be signed. We are dropping into the bottom 3 as things stand right now but the team is good enough to get something from the next handfull of games before January.


Another terrible attempt by El Ghazi there. Maybe as a squad player but he really isn't good enough to be starting for a premiership team imo.

Easy Rod

All this crisis talk is a bit early. We’ve had an incredibly difficult run of games. If after the next 5 we’re in the same position, fair to say it’s a crisis.

There is a worry that Smith has been a bit naïve in not adjusting tactics based on who we’re playing but he’s trying to instil a mindset which takes time.

JPA

Elmohamady was poor 4 years ago getting relegated with Hull yet here he is starting in the PL again.

Easy Rod

Some real petulance on display from Grealish, Mcginn, Targett and Wesley today. Not good to see.

Patser

Late winner looks like for Newcastle, means we avoid relegation zone.

Still annoying to see Bruce leering down on us, especially after we tore his team apart

Corholio

Bad, bad day. Hard to pick too much positive from that. I think players and manager got today wrong. I admire Smith's 'win your place back' style but it is wrong sometimes. Guilbert will feel very hard done by not playing today, his pace would have helped a lot with some of the problems caused today. Have to say Leicester looked superb, even better than I thought despite their very good results.

Wes just isn't working. It's not that I specifically blame him, although he could do lot better, his style of play just doesn't suit how Villa go forward. It always seems a disconnection between midfield/wingers and him.

Tough run of games, and won the game Villa probably thought they might. I guess it's just other clubs surprising bigger clubs has put Villa a bit behind. Can't be that open in first half of games though. Hopefully can get back on track in next few few games. Have to be targeting wins against Southampton and Watford.

Bounty Hunter

Not in the bottom 3 because Southampton and Norwich gave up their results.

Maybe I am judging some of these too harshly given how many of the big teams they have played recently and how things went sideways with injuries, red cards and VAR in some of the more winnable games.

Nakamba needs to be sitting deep, breaking up the opponents play and then keeping it simple as he hasn't really shown he can do much offensively.

I barely hear Luiz's name mentioned in many of the games he played in. For a guy who is now picking up caps for Brazil, what am I missing?

All our wingers minus Grealish (who arguably isn't really a winger anyway) are simply not good enough for me. They may have picked up the odd goal so far but I reckon any premiership standard winger would have probably gotten as many goals/assists with the opportunities they have had.

Targett seems to not be the toughest of lads and goes down with knocks others wouldn't in games he isn't enjoying. Still think him and Guilbert should be starting every game although neither has wowed me.

Mings like Wesley maybe gets a bit more stick than he deserves here but it's true that most games recently he has had at least one clanger as well as some great defending, today we didn't get to see the latter.

I've liked Engels mostly this season but think both him and Konsa probably need a vocal leader type such as Mings beside them.

Wesley is getting isolated a lot, ends up trying to bring others into the game with link up play when we need him in the box firing in shots instead of trying to set up poor players like El Ghazi. He needs competition and to be subbed off in some games when he isn't doing great.

Heaton & McGinn I've mostly been happy with although McGinn isn't hitting his early season heights recently although the opposition has been tougher and I think our attacking player has bypassed him a little more with Grealish on the wing instead of in the center.

Hourihane has done well enough as a player who imo should only be on the bench or played in cup games etc but he should not be starting games.

Grealish has easily been our star man and I do think we need to improve things or teams will try to prize our captain away from us in the summer (can't imagine the club even considering letting him go anywhere in January unless we were offered ridiculous money.

Bounty Hunter

Easy Rod wrote: »

All this crisis talk is a bit early. We’ve had an incredibly difficult run of games. If after the next 5 we’re in the same position, fair to say it’s a crisis.

There is a worry that Smith has been a bit naïve in not adjusting tactics based on who we’re playing but he’s trying to instil a mindset which takes time.

I completely agree but I also think this Villa side are a team far more likely to win or lose than draw and oddly that could help in a relegation battle. 3 points are always massive. A couple of them over the next few weeks badly needed.

Esse85

Leicester are the best side we faced all season.
Thoroughly outclassed us.
We usually fall apart in the second half, they made us look like school boys.

3 games against 3 good sides in a week was always gonna be a monumental effort, particularly with the small squad we have.

Mings had his usual clanger, Engels and Konza didn't look good together.

Midfield was outplayed and over run as often happens, you could see the level of frustration in McGinn, Grealish, Luiz and Targett, the latter lucky not to be sent off with a disgusting challenge.

Wesley is absolutely useless and demonstrated that again as he consistently does. He doesn't look like scoring in an u13 match. Can't control a ball, can't win a header, complete liability.
Serious upgrade needed or we'll be relegated.

artanevilla

Benteke. January. Do it.

Esse85

artanevilla wrote: »

Benteke. January. Do it.

He'd be better than Wesley but we need better again.

JPA

Paper talk of Batshuayi, would be super.

Bounty Hunter

JPA wrote: »

Paper talk of Batshuayi, would be super.

I'd be happy to see him brought in (was the link a loan move?) but I do think an upgrade on Trez/El Ghazi is needed too. Weirdly I just read about his team mate Pedro being inked to Villa in January but I don't see that happening myself even though he could be surplus to requirements at Stanford Bridge and only has 6mths left (on his 100k contract).

artanevilla

If you were Pedro or Batshuayi, would you want to go to the Villa?

CSF

artanevilla wrote: »

If you were Pedro or Batshuayi, would you want to go to the Villa?

No interest in Pedro. Go get Bowen or Benrahma. Batshuayi id only be interested in if it was a permanent deal.

sc86

badly need a striker in if we want to stay up , im sure smith knows this but doesnt want to say it in public

Sono

sc86 wrote: »

badly need a striker in if we want to stay up , im sure smith knows this but doesnt want to say it in public

We do but we also need to sort out our defence, only the top 6 have scored more than us yet we find ourselves in the bottom 3. We are great going forward but leave ourselves so open in defence.

CucaFace

Sono wrote: »

We do but we also need to sort out our defence, only the top 6 have scored more than us yet we find ourselves in the bottom 3. We are great going forward but leave ourselves so open in defence.

Couldn't agree more. As bad as our one striker is, we are still scoring and creating chances. An upgrade on our striker would certainly help, but we have other equally bad issues elsewhere in the team.

Our defence however looks likely to concede at every attack.

We are especially weak at defending crosses into the box or corners. 5 of the last 8 goals have come from crosses that should have been easily defended.

CucaFace

As much as I love Dean Smith and the style of football he has us playing, he has a major weakness and its tactically he just doesn't have a lot going on in his mind it seems.

We play one formation in every game, 451. Regardless of who we are playing this is what he will go for. When things aren't going well, he can't see a change to make to alter this.

Now this could be a requirement due to the fact we only really have one striker to use so we have to play this formation but in Jan I really think we badly need 4 players in.

We need a full back, we are an injury away from having to play Elmo or Neil Taylor which im sorry if we have to play them for more then a game here or there we are doomed for relegation. They are both worthless.

We need another winger.

We need another striker, one who can at the very least hold the ball up and bring our midfield into the game.

And I really think we need another CM, one who we can use in a 442 formation so at least we can change things up from time to time. A CM who is decent on the ball as well as strong in the tackle. I really love McGinn but he hasn't been playing well of late and in reality he isn't that type of CM who controls games. Our CM yesterday were absolutely destroyed. Maybe McGinn could be used further up the pitch in a role where he could at least hold the balls played up to him?

Sono

The frustration of Wesley is there for all to see but I also feel the defenders are getting a free ride completely cos we are scoring so many goals and that’s without a free scoring striker!

artanevilla

Massive gaps between the midfield and defence is leaving the defence exposed. Wingers are not tracking back (Grealish/Trezguet/El Ghazi) and Nakamba and Luiz I dont think are up to speed.

Really think we'd have benefited from keeping Whelan on.

Easy Rod

artanevilla wrote: »

Massive gaps between the midfield and defence is leaving the defence exposed. Wingers are not tracking back (Grealish/Trezguet/El Ghazi) and Nakamba and Luiz I dont think are up to speed.

Really think we'd have benefited from keeping Whelan on.

Nakamba is a massive improvement on Whelan.

basillarkin

artanevilla wrote: »

Benteke. January. Do it.

no just no, crazy talk.

CSF

Think there’d be a case for playing Elmohamady as a wide midfielder in games where we expect to be up against it.

Next 5 games are arguably games where we should have a go though.

Esse85

artanevilla wrote: »

Massive gaps between the midfield and defence is leaving the defence exposed. Wingers are not tracking back (Grealish/Trezguet/El Ghazi) and Nakamba and Luiz I dont think are up to speed.

Really think we'd have benefited from keeping Whelan on.

Agreed with this, but not the last point.

Defense is far too exposed too often, yes our defenders could and should do better but they have limited protection in front of them.

All the top teams have DM who protects his CBs, just look at NDidi, Fabiano, Jorginho and Fernandinho, our lads are miles off that.

Whelan definitely not an option for me, way past the premier league.

Bounty Hunter

CSF wrote: »

Think there’d be a case for playing Elmohamady.....

...And you’ve lost me.

Seriously though the lad isn’t good enough, think I remember a stat from the game of him losing possession 23 times. Composure is one thing this team is lacking atm

Esse85

CSF wrote: »

Think there’d be a case for playing Elmohamady as a wide midfielder in games where we expect to be up against it.

Next 5 games are arguably games where we should have a go though.

I think the more Premier league game time the likes of Elmo and Taylor get, the greater the likelihood we'll be in the championship next season.
I do feel Guilbert gets exposed too and identified as an easy target, I'm sure opposition manager target him and instruct back post crossed aimed in his direction, knowing full well positionally he's questionable and physically he's weak.

CSF

Bounty Hunter wrote: »

...And you’ve lost me.

Seriously though the lad isn’t good enough, think I remember a stat from the game of him losing possession 23 times. Composure is one thing this team is lacking atm

The problem is, El Ghazi isn’t good enough either, and at least Elmohamady provides more for his fullback.

My opinion is that wide areas are a much bigger area for improvement than the striker area. El Ghazi is garbage and Trezeguet is still getting used to English football.