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

Bounty Hunter

I don’t disagree with you. Thankfully it’d seem Smith somewhat agrees with us too.

I’m not happy and I take no pleasure in the performance, but I’ll take the point obviously.

“We take pride in our performances and here our performance wasn’t very good. We’ve looked good in training and prepared well, but it looked like a bad touch became contagious and a bad pass became contagious.

“Brighton are a good team – they recently beat Liverpool, beat Tottenham. I got into them at half-time because I didn’t think they were good enough and I thought we played a little bit better in the second half, but it didn’t take a lot to do that.”

Someone asked here yesterday about nakamba and how much he's played, I thought at the time that the simple answer was not enough, good that smith agrees the performance isn’t great but he needs to start setting his midfield up better. Not saying it hasn’t worked in some games nor that Nakamba for example should play start every game but at the very least should have been coming on to sure things up when needed.

Hopefully now having the option of Sanson and seeing some of Barkley /Nakambas recent performances Smith realizes he can play more than just his obviously preferred starting 11 especially in CM.

I don’t think Barkley will be a Villa player next season anyway and the signing of Sanson / the development of Ramsey while we have him (and then subsequently blame Chelsea and his wages while saying we’d love to keep him) will prove a shrewd move.

Bounty Hunter

Yeah reading more quotes from Smith he definitely knows we weren’t good enough (excluding Martinez)

“Emi’s a fantastic goalkeeper and a great acquisition for Aston Villa but he’ll be the first to admit that for the 12 clean sheets this season he’s been protected really well. Today we didn’t and we kept giving them the ball back and he was called into action too much.

“He was very good today. It was a one-man show at times, such was the sloppiness of our play.”

cyclops999

IMO Barkley is a distraction to Jack the whole midfield looks unbalanced McGinn & Luiz are not only having to play there own midfield game but Barkley gives ball away to much with stupid flicks and soft passes they are having to clear up his mess. Teams appear to have found that double teaming Jack nullifies our game.

CSF

Bounty Hunter wrote: »

Yeah reading more quotes from Smith he definitely knows we weren’t good enough (excluding Martinez)

Yeah, let’s hope he actually changes it, rather than just assuming the lads will perform better on the next day.

Esse85

CSF wrote: »

Yeah, let’s hope he actually changes it, rather than just assuming the lads will perform better on the next day.

Exactly, its one thing Smith being verbal about it which I admire, he's not afraid to call out a bad performance, he's honest in that respect.

But failure to take action on what he sees is a bigger crime.

Some times, a team plays better with a different balance, it's not always about the 11 best individuals. Barkley is not fitting into the system, so we need to change the players, not change the system.
Putting Nakamba in along side Luiz and putting Sanson or McGinn ahead of them allows players to play in their natural positions.

matrim

cyclops999 wrote: »

IMO Barkley is a distraction to Jack the whole midfield looks unbalanced McGinn & Luiz are not only having to play there own midfield game but Barkley gives ball away to much with stupid flicks and soft passes they are having to clear up his mess. Teams appear to have found that double teaming Jack nullifies our game.

I think the hope was that Barkley would take some of the pressure off Grealish. If 2 players are marking Grealish then there must be more space for Barkley to do something. Unfortunately outside of brief spells he hasn't been good enough at that

listermint

Hourihane was shipped off for less tbh. Barkley is simply not at the races. And only 3 goals return.

CucaFace

matrim wrote: »

I think the hope was that Barkley would take some of the pressure off Grealish. If 2 players are marking Grealish then there must be more space for Barkley to do something. Unfortunately outside of brief spells he hasn't been good enough at that

I would agree with the logical thinking of this.



But in reality his positioning is so far advanced he is practically playing like a striker who comes deep to link the play up. I would prefer an actual striker who would be better at this then a CM who is moving here because he isnt capable of playing deeper.



I must admit i never paid much attention to him in his career before, but now looking at him he seems to lack certain key aspects required in a creative CM (if this is actually what he is). He seems only capable of running at players. That's not what you normally want in a CM player(its an added bonus for sure if you have the main attributes required to play in this position). You want them to be good on the ball with regards to quick passes, quick control, good positional play and vision. So far he has shown very little in this regard.



So as far as i can see McGinn is now playing with just Luiz in a 2 man CM and the reality is that McGinn also lacks certain abilities and he cannot play in a 2 man CM effectively.



The solution for me would be to drop Barkley immediately, and move McGinn into a more advanced role in the CM and have Sansom play in the role where McGinn currently is now.

eagle eye

Barkley keeps the ball too long imo. I've never been a fan, if he got rid of it quickly he'd be a fine player but seems to take that second to see if he can go it alone.
I'm wondering if fatigue might be a factor, I thought some of your players were a little off the pace last night.

CSF

eagle eye wrote: »

Barkley keeps the ball too long imo. I've never been a fan, if he got rid of it quickly he'd be a fine player but seems to take that second to see if he can go it alone.
I'm wondering if fatigue might be a factor, I thought some of your players were a little off the pace last night.

Fatigue is definitely a factor, but you would think we’d be playing better now after a week without a game than we were when we were playing 3 games a week.

Obviously those 3 games a week spells have had an overall impact, but we shouldn’t be regressing even further now with these increased breaks.

First and foremost Smith needs to stop playing the same lineup every single game. I understand the back 5, Grealish and Watkins playing every game, but nobody else is so important that they should be ran into the ground that way.

pavb2

CucaFace wrote: »

I would agree with the logical thinking of this.

But in reality his positioning is so far advanced he is practically playing like a striker who comes deep to link the play up. I would prefer an actual striker who would be better at this then a CM who is moving here because he isnt capable of playing deeper.
.

To be fair he played like this against Liverpool and was really good if he could keep that form then I think there is an argument to try and accommodate him. Unfortunately he hasn’t hit that level of performance since and his inclusion affects the whole balance of the team

Corholio

A lot of the problem with Barkley for me is not actually on the ball, not that he's been pulling up trees on the ball, but he lets players in possession near him away far too easy, something that a striker would do when they know the midfield will probably take care of them. This is happening deeper than where a striker would be though and it's causing a problem. Luiz and McGinn often have an extra player to watch and deal with because of this.

CucaFace

Smith can't be so blind to all this though after the last 5/6 games.

I think maybe that to get Barkley to come here during the summer perhaps Smith made Barkley a promise that he would be a starter here.

Smith to be me seems like a very decent and honest human being so maybe he now feels an obligation to Barkley to start him regardless of his performances now?

basillarkin

CucaFace wrote: »

Smith can't be so blind to all this though after the last 5/6 games.

I think maybe that to get Barkley to come here during the summer perhaps Smith made Barkley a promise that he would be a starter here.

Smith to be me seems like a very decent and honest human being so maybe he now feels an obligation to Barkley to start him regardless of his performances now?

Can't believe that to be the case, he has to be strong and lead from front. What you have described there makes him look weak.

CSF

basillarkin wrote: »

Can't believe that to be the case, he has to be strong and lead from front. What you have described there makes him look weak.

Yeah, the person being described there is not a leader of men. Can’t imagine Smith has gotten to where he is now being that weak.

LeBash

BBC and Athletic are saying Spurs and Liverpool are looking close at Konsa.

He is contracted until 2023 and he's been so good I imagine the offer would have to be absolutely huge.

Hopefully we tie him up soon though.

Bounty Hunter

LeBash wrote: »

BBC and Athletic are saying Spurs and Liverpool are looking close at Konsa.

He is contracted until 2023 and he's been so good I imagine the offer would have to be absolutely huge.

Hopefully we tie him up soon though.

They also supposedly have an option to extend it to 2024 so even better.

Really was a great signing a bargain in retrospect.

Esse85

Can't see either club affording him.
Liverpool could barely scrape half a million together for a couple of transfer fees last month.

Spurs buying a 23 Yr old English CB from another Premier league club, no chance.

I'd be more worried if Man Utd, Chelsea or City were sniffing about.

CSF

Tell them they can have Mings instead for 50

kilburn

CSF wrote:

Tell them they can have Mings instead for 50

David Luiz 2.0

CSF

kilburn wrote: »

David Luiz 2.0

Ah no, Mings is much better than Luiz when he is good. But he is too error prone. He could be anything he wanted if he were to cut out the errors.

LeBash

CSF wrote: »

Ah no, Mings is much better than Luiz when he is good. But he is too error prone. He could be anything he wanted if he were to cut out the errors.

Hes massively improve the last few games. He's doing a row Z these days when under pressure instead of trying to be the football equivalent of the Harlem Globetrotters.

CSF

LeBash wrote: »

Hes massively improve the last few games. He's doing a row Z these days when under pressure instead of trying to be the football equivalent of the Harlem Globetrotters.

Yeah he has had a couple of very good games in a row (Arsenal in particular), will take a fair few more before I can start trusting him though.

Esse85

CSF wrote: »

Tell them they can have Mings instead for 50

I actually wouldn't sell Mings for £50m

He's better than Harry McGuire who cost £80m so I'd want at least that.

Plus, Mings has some great attributes, left footed CBs are scarce, he compliments Konsa and Martinez well.
A solid defence is priceless, we should know, its donkeys years since we've last had a solid defence in this league.

The grass isn't always greener.

As a result, I'd rather keep what we have.

CSF

Esse85 wrote: »

I actually wouldn't sell Mings for £50m

He's better than Harry McGuire who cost £80m so I'd want at least that.

Plus, Mings has some great attributes, left footed CBs are scarce, he compliments Konsa and Martinez well.
A solid defence is priceless, we should know, its donkeys years since we've last had a solid defence in this league.

The grass isn't always greener.

As a result, I'd rather keep what we have.

I don't think he is better than Maguire myself. I think I would take 50 million for him unless he has a really error free end to the season. I've really lost trust in him.

Corholio

Barring signing a world class centre back, we'd see how important Mings is if he were to be not there for a period of time imo. Been in great form lately too. His errors were usually in dangerous areas, and as silly as they were, overshadowed a lot of what he does good. One of the best in the air defensively too statistically.

On another note, looks a possibility that Kaine Kessler, a highly rated right back may be promoted to senior squad with Cash's injury. He's 18 and captain of the U-23's.

Patser

Any update on Cash? How long out? Konsa played RB a few years ago for us, and while not ideal could also be used as a stop gap - although with Hause also out that leaves a gap in centre unless Engels comes back into frame.

LeBash

He went off holding the hamstring so unless he came off with a tweak (which I assume he wouldnt) it will be Elmo for the next 3 to 6 weeks.

Elmo will do an ok job and thats probably the most 17 teams in the PL can expect from the back up.

If it is Elmo, wonder will Smith go with Trez or Traore. To me, Trez will offer way better cover and seen as Elmo has barely played, you'd assume he will be rusty.

Corholio

Smith has said today Cash will be at least a few weeks out. Elmo against Barnes will be a position Leicester will target for sure (if Elmo comes in), a pity as Cash was the ideal type to deal with player like Barnes.

JPA

Corholio wrote: »

Smith has said today Cash will be at least a few weeks out. Elmo against Barnes will be a position Leicester will target for sure (if Elmo comes in), a pity as Cash was the ideal type to deal with player like Barnes.

Leicester have 7 out and are playing tomorrow night, so won't be 100% themselves.
But Jamie Vardy terrifies me!

CSF

Corholio wrote: »

Smith has said today Cash will be at least a few weeks out. Elmo against Barnes will be a position Leicester will target for sure (if Elmo comes in), a pity as Cash was the ideal type to deal with player like Barnes.

I think we’re about to hit the beginning of a bad run of form. I’ve lost that confidence going into games and Cash being out, coupled with me not having the confidence that Smith is brave enough to make the big calls make me think we might suffer for a bit.

JPA

CSF wrote: »

I think we’re about to hit the beginning of a bad run of form. I’ve lost that confidence going into games and Cash being out, coupled with me not having the confidence that Smith is brave enough to make the big calls make me think we might suffer for a bit.

If it's the same team with Elmo in for Cash, then we will lose.

CSF

JPA wrote: »

If it's the same team with Elmo in for Cash, then we will lose.

I think we might see Trez in for Traore to protect Elmo a bit more, but I don’t see Smith as the kind of manager who makes the changes proactively, and we’ve seen last season how much loyalty he shows to bad loan signings.

First time this season that I’ve started to feel a bit negative about us.

Patser

Recall Guilbert?

I liked him last year, not sure what caused to fall so far from favour so quickly. He's definitely a better option than Elmo

CSF

Patser wrote: »

Recall Guilbert?

I liked him last year, not sure what caused to fall so far from favour so quickly. He's definitely a better option than Elmo

Doubt we can do that in between windows

CucaFace

In fairness Elmo didnt let us down in the run in last season.

I thought he was one of the better players for us after the restart. He won't have the same engine as Cash but he will do a decent job for us there.

But he will be up against a top player in Barnes against Leicester.

JPA

There's a Twitter rumour that Grealish is out for tomorrow.

CSF

JPA wrote: »

There's a Twitter rumour that Grealish is out for tomorrow.

The rumour is that he is out for a good bit longer than that too. Heres hoping that neither is true, especially the latter.


We've been bad lately even with Cash and Grealish. Without them would be a real struggle.

siblers

Looks fairly ominous he's injured

https://twitter.com/insider_fpl/status/1362841388795244556?s=20

CSF

siblers wrote: »

Looks fairly ominous he's injured

https://twitter.com/insider_fpl/status/1362841388795244556?s=20

The question is if it’s just a 1 week thing though, even if it is.

artanevilla

Big chance for lads to step up in his place.

CSF

artanevilla wrote: »

Big chance for lads to step up in his place.

Nobody can near fill his void, but if the likes of Barkley (he will defo play now), El Ghazi, Traore and Trez can perform even a little bit bitter than they have been, it could make all the difference.

Watkins the only one we can truly rely on to definitely perform.

VillaMad

Confirmed that Grealish is out by Sky.

Out for the next game too at the very least.

CucaFace

Disaster but bound to happen at some stage.

We will see now what the others can really do without him.

I would still drop Barkely and play a 3 man CM of Luiz, Sansom with McGinn in the more advanced role and put El Gazi on the left.

JPA

Team to face Leicester: Martinez, El Mohamady, Konsa, Mings, Targett, Luiz, McGinn, Traore, Barkley, El Ghazi, Watkins.

Subs: Heaton, Taylor, Trezeguet, Nakamba, Sanson, Davis, Ramsey, Chukwuemeka, Hayden



There's the potential to be ripped apart with that lineup.

Corholio

Players get injured, just have to get on with it. He's done well to play the huge amount of games he has without picking up anything much really since his last one.

Kesler and Chukwuemeka on the bench too, the latter being quite highly rated.

CucaFace

JPA wrote: »

Team to face Leicester: Martinez, El Mohamady, Konsa, Mings, Targett, Luiz, McGinn, Traore, Barkley, El Ghazi, Watkins.

Subs: Heaton, Taylor, Trezeguet, Nakamba, Sanson, Davis, Ramsey, Chukwuemeka, Hayden



There's the potential to be ripped apart with that lineup.

Yes i dont trust that CM to be able to keep the ball at all.



Delighted to see Chukwuemeka on the bench. He is supposed to be the next big thing (hopefully).



Who is Hayden?

Esse85

If Barkley can't perform in Jack's absence, he can have no excuse if he's not kept on at this club. He will have plenty of time to play centre stage, can't say he's not betting enough of the ball etc.
Hopefully Sanson gets more time to shine now.

The running power of Jack and Cash not being in this side now and going forward is a worry.

Mings really needs to be careful he doesn't over-commit today and leave space in behind for Vardy to run into.

Corholio

CucaFace wrote: »

Yes i dont trust that CM to be able to keep the ball at all.



Delighted to see Chukwuemeka on the bench. He is supposed to be the next big thing (hopefully).


Who is Hayden?

Kesler instead of Hayden.

sc86

Im shocked at the amature way online jacks injury was leaked + spotted.