M_Afro

His first half performance against West Ham was the worst individual performance I have seen by anyone all season.

So so poor. Thrilled it’s still 0-0. Marv and Trez on for SJM and Barkley. Move jack inside. Let’s get at them. No changes and I predict they will score in the first 10 minutes of the second half

I just don’t think SJM is disciplined enough. He gets excited, bombs forwards and often loses possession which then leaves us wide open. Anyway, I of course hope I am wrong. UTV. COYVB

I don’t think it should be about Luiz or Nakamba. I would have played both of them today and dropped SJM and Ross. They could both then be used as second half impact players.

I have to say, I am with Villalad on this one. I hope I am wrong and I do feel dirty but there it is. That midfield three leaves our back 5 exposed time and again.

I have to be honest but I thought Arsenal totally dominated the middle of the park yesterday. I thought SJM did ok but he was largely outplayed by his opponents. Ross was also very poor. It is way too easy to get to our back 4 with those two both starting. I would like to see us play with Marvelous and Dougie sat in front of the back four with Sanson just in front. You can then use Ross and SJM as impact subs if required. We need to get back to controlling games from the middle of the park.

I love watching Bert play football. He has such natural ability. It is effortless at times. He just glides over the pitch with the ball at his feet. I genuinely can’t think of another former villa player like him. He is really working hard for the team now as well. Top signing

Spot on. Arsenal played through us with ease today. We are lucky to have a fantastic back 5 that keep us in games. We need to be able to dominate the middle of the park if we are going to properly progress though. It’s our biggest weakness.

They are totally dominant in centre mid. Winning every second ball unchallenged. Ross has to come off at half time. Bring on Luiz or Sanson.

Outrageous is a bit strong but it certainly is surprising. To be fair they were all awful on Wednesday. I agree that dropping one of the others instead would give us better balance. I expect us to lose again today after being thoroughly dominated in the midfield

This feels like an absolute away banker. Hope I am wrong but performances have been poor. The boys have proved me wrong before and there’s always hope but it just isn’t clicking at the moment. Marv, Trez and Bert in. Use Ross, SJM and Sanson from the bench as required.

We should be allowing him to go back to Chelsea and thank him for his only season in claret and blue. He is a luxury that we cannot afford. He is capable of genius but his all round contribution is not good enough. He is also too injury prone. Finally, he would cost way too much in fee and wages. Hopefully we can still get plenty out of him this season but after that let’s look elsewhere.

West Ham deserved their win yesterday. I thought they played really well. Moyes set them out perfectly to reduce our potency whilst finding huge gaps in our team. Dean needs to get the balance of the side right still. He took way too long to change the system yesterday and the end result was inevitable. We are so charitable at times it is painful. Two of their goals came from our centre forward losing the ball! We are also woeful after conceding first. We seem to visibly lose our composure. It happened last week against Burnley too. It happens all the time. I like the defence and I like the front three but the three in the middle do not work. If you want to play Barkley you need two players to shield in the same way that Liverpool play. If you don’t it’s way to easy to get at the back four. It happens all of the time. AEG must also never ever start games when Traore and Trez are fit. He is good emergency back up or as an impact sub but he lacks the physicality or consistency to start games. Even when he’s scoring his all round game is not good enough. It was a bizarre decision to start him yesterday. Utterly bizarre! Much to ponder ahead of Arsenal. Hopefully we can bounce back. The season has been good so far but some of our old failings are creeping back in. Dean needs to address it. He says that we bounced back against Southampton but we didn’t really, we were just very lucky.

Drop both

Maybe but if so why are they playing?

West Ham deserved that. Moyes totally out thought Dean tonight. Dean just stood and watched it happening for an hour. Our midfield balance is all wrong. AEG is not good enough to start. Marvelous has to start on Saturday. I would be tempted to drop Luis as well for Sanson. Plenty to ponder

Our best performance recently was with Marvelous in midfield. We are better balanced with him. Without him our back 4 are way too easy to get at.

He was just as bad on the left to be fair

Our midfield balance does not work. We need more physical energy in there. AEG and SJM off for me to be replaced by Marvelous and Bert. Needs to happen now. That was so easy for West Ham. We are sleep walking towards defeat unless Dean acts

Beyond awful so far. Needs to come off

I would play Marvelous in place of SJ M. Other than that, it’s as we are. Watkins double in a 3-1 victory. UTV

It’s an interesting topic this. My view is that our back 5 are all good enough. They do though need real competition. Two young full backs and a young centre half would fix that, whilst Tom can continue to provide competition for Emi. Our front 4 options are pretty good too. Ross will need replacing if we don’t sign him in the summer but otherwise I think we are well set, particularly if Wes comes back firing. I am still not convinced with the midfield two. SJM is good but inconsistent and Luis is still learning his game. Sanson will help the competition but I think a top class operator is needed to really help take us up a level. Imagine a young Kante playing alongside Luis. That would really make a difference. It does feel great to be having these types of discussions after the past few years. Long may it continue. UTV.

Agreed. He was also running at full tilt which makes it even more impressive.

Must be in contention for an England call. In the form of his life.

Amazing goalie. He is my favourite player. We have had some clowns in goal over the years but this guy makes up for all of them in spades. Love him. He has won us so many points this season.