Aston Villa Team Talk/Gossip/Rumours/Champions League Thread 2024/25

CucaFace

JPA wrote: »

It was a coup to get him, I wonder does Smith feel some kind of obligation to play him? He should definitely be benched Saturday for me.

I think this may be the issue.



He has been very poor in most games for us.



He thinks he is far better then he actually is, and is playing like a winger in the CM area which is a very dangerous game. He is constantly trying to nutmeg players in there and when it doesnt come off the team can counter on us in very dangerous positions.



I would drop him for Sansom and play McGinn more advanced perhaps.



McGinn is another guy who is hugely overrated by the way. He is not a proper CM. His positioning is often very poor.

CucaFace

Are we going to do a MON team and not win a game in Feb?

Smith seems to have the same total disregard for squad rotation so it wouldn't surprise me.

pavb2

CucaFace wrote: »

McGinn is another guy who is hugely overrated by the way. He is not a proper CM. His positioning is often very poor.

He’s not been at his best for some time but I’m not sure if that’s down to his injury or because he’s not playing in his natural advanced position as a result of having to accommodate Barkley

Esse85

pavb2 wrote: »

He’s not been at his best for some time but I’m not sure if that’s down to his injury or because he’s not playing in his natural advanced position as a result of having to accommodate Barkley

He wasn't much better during the 8 games Barkley was out injured either in fairness.

He's been poor a long time now.

rebelomar

CucaFace wrote: »

I think this may be the issue.



He has been very poor in most games for us.



He thinks he is far better then he actually is, and is playing like a winger in the CM area which is a very dangerous game. He is constantly trying to nutmeg players in there and when it doesnt come off the team can counter on us in very dangerous positions.



I would drop him for Sansom and play McGinn more advanced perhaps.



McGinn is another guy who is hugely overrated by the way. He is not a proper CM. His positioning is often very poor.

Agreed. Barkley and McGinn were both shocking. McGinn either by instruction or lack of awareness won't show for the ball off Mings or Konsa. He's not pushing up high either when he go long...he's in no man's land really and Lingard and Benranhma pushing infield cleaned up from this tonight.

Barkley just too casual but he genuinely doesn't look fit to me. He's stuck in the mud. The dynamism we saw vs Liverpool etc isn't there now.

I think he's attracting too much ball now and it doesn't work if he's not in form or sharp. Grealish constantly looks for him also so he sees an awful lot of the ball.

Esse85

CucaFace wrote: »

Smith seems to have the same total disregard for squad rotation so it wouldn't surprise me.

Yeah MON used be a stubborn mule for that too.

These fixtures haven't come out of nowhere, it's really poor squad management by Smith.

pavb2

Esse85 wrote: »

He wasn't much better during the 8 games Barkley was out injured either in fairness.

He's been poor a long time now.

Yes not necessarily his pace but he’s just lost that dynamism we saw in the championship

LeBash

Esse85 wrote: »

His reputation and big salary gets him into the team.
Before the Sanson signing, there was only Nakamba and Houihane to challenge him.

Grealish and play 2 of El Ghazi, Trez or Traore on the wings. Same way we played while he was out.

Sick of hearing English commentary teams bigging him up when he hasn't been playing great.

Esse85

Jacks best position is out left. That's where the space is.
It's too crowded and congested in the centre, I would not be a fan of seeing him there.

AEG despite his December form is still unreliable as he showed tonight.

CSF

I remember Trez being unreal before his injury, can’t get much of a lookin since. I remember Barkley being fairly poor before his injury, has been largely the same since.

Sanson or Ramsey have to play ahead of him on Saturday. Make life really difficult in the middle and allow Jack, Ollie and either Trez or Traore to do the business up top.

JPA

Why was El Ghazi selected on the right? He's done his best work from the left

CSF

JPA wrote: »

Why was El Ghazi selected on the right? He's done his best work from the left

The lineup just made very little sense. Especially once West Ham doubled up Fredericks and Coufal.

Panrich

CSF wrote: »

Anyone wanna take a stab at how many good games Barkley has had for us?

Not fully sure how he plays every game when fit. He doesn’t do enough to deserve that.

I have been looking at him closely and he certainly can be a liability when he’s not scoring goals. He does take up some good positions but he loses possession way too often and too cheaply and his defensive efforts are non-existent.

For a biggish lad he doesn’t punch his weight in the physical stakes either.

The odd flash of good play or nice touch only makes the rest of his contributions more frustrating to see.

gaffmaster

After ten minutes you could see that El Ghazi and Barkley were both playing on their heels. I was pleasantly surprised that Deano made an uncharacteristic change at halftime but he should have changed both - definitely get the sense that Barkley's place in the team is somewhat political - perhaps even to keep Jack happy.

The whole squad looked tired, and when we went behind, found themselves in less familiar territory and perhaps took too many risks with so much space in behind.

Credit to West Ham though, they completely nullified Villa for 80 minutes.

kilburn

Not sure if it was mentioned earlier but we have a new head of football research another FC Copenhagen recruit Frederik Leth

Also Terry being considered by Bournemouth but to be fair he is being linked with everything

Esse85

gaffmaster wrote: »

After ten minutes you could see that El Ghazi and Barkley were both playing on their heels. I was pleasantly surprised that Deano made an uncharacteristic change at halftime but he should have changed both - definitely get the sense that Barkley's place in the team is somewhat political - perhaps even to keep Jack happy.

The whole squad looked tired, and when we went behind, found themselves in less familiar territory and perhaps took too many risks with so much space in behind.

Credit to West Ham though, they completely nullified Villa for 80 minutes.

We have a poor record when we go behind, usually ends in defeat.
Dunno is it a mental thing and do the heads drop etc.
Do they need D.S to be more vocal on the touchline when that happens.

I would drop Barkley and El Gahzi against arsenal and play Nakamba and Traore instead.

CSF

Esse85 wrote: »

We have a poor record when we go behind, usually ends in defeat.
Dunno is it a mental thing and do the heads drop etc.
Do they need D.S to be more vocal on the touchline when that happens.

I would drop Barkley and El Gahzi against arsenal and play Nakamba and Traore instead.

Do we think that Sanson is really not ready at all? I wasn't expecting him to be first name on the team sheet or anything, but thought he might be ready for a rotating starting role when called upon at this point.


I don't know that much about him, but assumed he would be more valuable to us than Nakamba based on how others have talked about him.

Esse85

CSF wrote: »

Do we think that Sanson is really not ready at all? I wasn't expecting him to be first name on the team sheet or anything, but thought he might be ready for a rotating starting role when called upon at this point.


I don't know that much about him, but assumed he would be more valuable to us than Nakamba based on how others have talked about him.

I've no idea about Sanson, I felt Nakamba played well recently and I'd rather ease Sanson in. Therefore I'd be in favour of having Nakamba sit alongside Luiz to allow McGinn push on while dropping Barkley.

Patser

Shows how much football finances have changed, when a £14million signing has to be eased in, rather than key superstar thrown in

pavb2

Crazy to think that we won the league in 81 with just 14 players playing 42 games.

Maybe aside from the games coming thick and fast due to COVID the game is that much more physically demanding.

Neil3030

Patser wrote: »

Shows how much football finances have changed, when a £14million signing has to be eased in, rather than key superstar thrown in

Would love to know how much 14m is today, as a proportion of club revenues. In comparison to, say, Darren Bent's fee (18m?) as a proportion of 2011 revenues.

LeBash

Players aren't having a fry up, a pack of smokes and 10 pints before a game these days either.

The downside is there is fewer characters out there.

LeBash

Reading on twitter that Luiz is suspended for Arsenal. Is that right?

~Rebel~

LeBash wrote: »

Reading on twitter that Luiz is suspended for Arsenal. Is that right?

Yeah, one match suspension.

<edit> just realised 2 Luiz's... Arsenal Luiz is suspended, Villa Luiz is not.

CSF

LeBash wrote: »

Reading on twitter that Luiz is suspended for Arsenal. Is that right?

Their Luiz. Not ours.

basillarkin

Leno and Tierney out aswell

LeBash

~Rebel~ wrote: »

Yeah, one match suspension.

<edit> just realised 2 Luiz's... Arsenal Luiz is suspended, Villa Luiz is not.

Thats what I read, some Arsenal fans saying our Luiz is a bigger loss than theirs.

kilburn

Last 5 games

3 on BT Sport lost all 3.
2 on Sky won both.

We are on BT tomorrow......

But then 3 in a row on Sky!

sc86

Hourihane with another goal tonight.
A beauty at that

CSF

Him starting to put a more positive light on his name, right when many of us are starting to get browned off watching Barkley

sc86

Team selection today should be interesting.

matrim

Nakamba for luiz and Traore for El Ghazi.

Surprised at Nakamba starting with Luiz in bench.

JPA

matrim wrote: »

Nakamba for luiz and Traore for El Ghazi.

Surprised at Nakamba starting with Luiz in bench.

He is addressing the problem area but most of us would have swopped out McGinn or Barkley before Luiz.

Esse85

That's surprising but maybe it's based on some sports science data we are unaware of. Interesting to see how 2 left footers will get on in there.

sc86

When nakamba played when luiz was suspended , mcginn played much better

CucaFace

Poor calls from Smith selection wise, leaves in both CM's that at least one of needed to be replaced in McGinn and Barkely and drops Luiz for a game we really need him.

Nakamba , sorry he is really poor on the ball and now the fact he has to take the ball off the CB's today will hugely hinder our ability to keep the ball. He is very like Mings, he is always just a second away from losing the ball in very bad positions as it seems to take every ounce of his concentration and skill just to control basic passes to him.


Im very disappointed in that team selection.

CucaFace

sc86 wrote: »

When nakamba played when luiz was suspended , mcginn played much better

That was against a terrible Newcastle side with the likes of Henrick in their CM.

JPA

[Deleted User] wrote: »

What planet is Smith on? Barkley looked utterly spent on Wednesday, don't see a magical transformation in under 72 hours. McGinn also fortunate to be in the starting line-up. Nakamka for Luiz doesn't make sense unless Douglas isn't 100%. Meanwhile Trez & Sanson are wondering what they are doing wrong. This game has an ominous feel to it, a loss will largely rest on Smith's shoulders as he has ignored squad rotation to allow sufficient recovery.

Nothing ominous about it. Arsenal have improved hugely since we last played them.

I would take a draw.

artanevilla

Right 4-0 Villa here we go.

CSF

Don’t like the lineup today but feel Arsenal will be saying the same about theirs due to absences so we have every chance.

Barkley has huge pressure to perform after avoiding the drop/rest.

JPA

Woop

artanevilla

Easy money.

artanevilla

We can add me leaving Ollie Watkins on the bench in FF to the list of superstitions.

artanevilla

Pitch doesn't look great.

rebelomar

Great start. Very well done for Traore for the goal. Very very sharp play.

Our midfield is a wasteland again. Only looks a matter of time here.

When did we become a long ball team all of a sudden. Not in the big Sam mould but the centre backs and GK are hoofing it a lot.

matrim

12 goals in all competitions for watkins. Would hope he can end the season with around 17. He has some issues but his general play and movement is good and he's looking like a very good buy from smith.

Patser

Brilliant takr doen by Watkins, in lead up to Traore chance, great turn by Traore too - just tried to be too clever with finish

artanevilla

rebelomar wrote: »

Great start. Very well done for Traore for the goal. Very very sharp play.

Our midfield is a wasteland again. Only looks a matter of time here.

When did we become a long ball team all of a sudden. Not in the big Sam mould but the centre backs and GK are hoofing it a lot.

I've no problem with a bit of hoofing, teams when they refuse to not play out from the back can leave themselves very open to mistakes. There is a happy middle ground there somewhere between playing out and direct.

rebelomar

artanevilla wrote: »

I've no problem with a bit of hoofing, teams when they refuse to not play out from the back can leave themselves very open to mistakes. There is a happy middle ground there somewhere between playing out and direct.

Oh I agree with you there but I just don't think we are getting the balance right the last few games

sc86

I hope im wrong but barkley looks yet another very over rated english player.