Team shape, tactics and personnel

[AV82]

To be so shortsighted after a toothless pre-season and a turgid end to last season is the final nail in the coffin for me. I hope and expect him to be gone by Christmas, if not sooner.

 

Konsa over Chambers

Coutinho over Buendia

Ramsey over Douglas

McGinn over Sanson

 

All 4 of those impressed in pre-season. As did Archer. It’s baffling. Why bother having a squad, not to mention a pre-season, if you persist with the same 8-9 players? There’s hardly an ounce of pattern of play. On the surface it looks like we’re trying to play possession based football with hardly any movement and our best ball players sat on the bench.

 

I hate to resort to petty insults but **** off you absolutely clueless idiot. You’re a top level manager thanks to your name alone.

Edited August 6, 2022 by AV82

[nepal_villan]

His love affair with McGinn, Coutinho, Young (on the bench instead of KKH or Sanson) is going to ultimately cost him.

[Zatman]

Buendia on to save him then dropped again next week

[VillaChris]

No style, cohesion or zip to our play at all.

Cash and Digne hardly got to byline today, were just hitting crosses from 25 yards out to no-one.

Some really poor performances in midfield and attack, very little link up at all.

We're a very very easy team to defend against when opposition gets plenty behind the ball.

Same again next week again lads I take it in terms of team selection bar Ollie probably starting.

Edited August 6, 2022 by VillaChris

[rodders0223]

Just now, VillaChris said:

No style, cohesion or zip to our play at all.

Cash and Digne hardly got to byline today, were just hitting crosses from 25 yards out to no-one.

Some really poor performances in midfield and attack, very little link up at all.

Same again next week again lads I take it.

Just need to dust ourselves down. Get back on the training and get wor bit of luck.

[villa89]

Can we change the title of this thread to "Personnel" because we don't have a team shape and I'm at a loss as to what the tactics actually are. 

[Keyblade]

6 minutes ago, JAMAICAN-VILLAN said:

Not an excuse in the slightest, however, from manager to manager, our team are just too bloody small.

We get destroyed by any team with big players.

I dread facing the likes of West Ham who are both big AND can play

We missed Ming's 

You can compensate for this by playing quick football on the ground and take the height out of the equation. Some of their guys have the turning radius of an 18 wheeler. We should have given them the run around.

[VillaChris]

1 minute ago, Dale said:

Swinging a hundred crosses into a box containing three centre backs really spelt a lack of thought! 

Will be interesting the tactics for next week then as Lampard is starting Mina-Tarkowski-Godfrey v Chelsea so we'll probably struggle to break them down if it's just a diet of deep crosses.

He at least has to mix the team up. Expect all of Mings, Luiz, Buendia and Watkins to start v Everton.

[maqroll]

He will sink or swim with his McMeatball favoritism. 

My money is on sink.

It is almost beyond comprehension. 

 

 

 

Edited August 6, 2022 by maqroll

[a m ole]

Yes Gerrard but is it OK to ask what the **** Aaron Danks is doing at Bodymoor? We’ve been shit ever since he was given to Deano.

[messi11]

Worrying thing is we stuck with Diego Carlos and Coutinho on big wages in their 30's. The New Everton?

[macandally]

Players talked about the “Gerrard identity” being stamped on the team, if that is it then he can keep it.  It is now a case of when he will go rather than if he will go

Another here for Rogers, Pochatino underperformed with the Crown Jewels at PSG, Rogers builds decent teams that play in the right way.

[ender4]

This has to be a coaching problem.   
 

We know we have talented players as they look amazing for other teams and I’m sure they’ll end up looking great once they leave Villa.
 

Therefore why aren’t players looking better once they come to Villa and why doesn’t the team look better than the sum of its damn decent players?

[VillaChris]

1 minute ago, Mantis said:

That, but there's also a deeply entrenched culture of weakness running through the club. Even when we're being well-run right now and things are good off the pitch, we still have that weakness there. Don't think it'll ever be fixed.

There's still stuff we can do. Everyone's been going on about a good box to box central midfielder for how many years? Gerrard seemed to have sussed that in January when he went after Bentancur + Bissouma. Instead Spurs sign both and we'll be finishing 25-30 points off them yet again.

I can't believe we've just abandoned a search for one just because we've signed Kamara, it just smacks of not trying hard enough and settling for easy option of another 12 months of McGinn starting every single week.

If we want to be serious about top half we simply need better in that area.

However it's very much on the manager the front 3s we put out don't function very well at all so I'm hopeful the next one would quickly settle on front 3 and really drill them on the training pitch.

[MWARLEY2]

Just threw my coffee cup and had to post this. If he was going to make Ty a second choice centre back then i question why he bought Diego Carlos. He is a very good defender but hes 6 foot, just like Chambers and Konsa. No joined up thinking . 

We need a biggun in the prem. And i cannot ever remember a big striker getting the better of Ty in a game. Its the speedy clever forwards that he can struggle against. But one on one against a biggun he has always been a warrior 

[VillanousOne]

The decision to drop Mings and make McGinn captain has made us even weaker and none of the other issues from last season have been resolved.

[Don_Simon]

"No creative spark". Our best player, the one who would right that issue instantly, you keep putting on the bench you **** imbecile. 

Sick and tired of the issues being identified but absolutely nothing done about them. 

 

[Tom13]

19 minutes ago, MaVilla said:

Konsa over Chambers or Mings.

McGinn over Sanson or Luiz.

McGinn immune to being dropped, even though he is s***, whats worse, is Gerrard called him "my type of player", sorry Stevie, if McGinn is your type of player when we are aiming for top 8 (LOL), you are mad.

Ramsey has his positives, but he doesnt mix well with McGinn as neither are intricate/composed passes of the ball, they are both similar(ish), and it makes our midfield non-existent.

McGinn and Ramsey leave Kamara super exposed and with no passing options.

The formation leaves Kamara exposed and alone in the middle, and when he has the ball players arent showing for passes. (did you see kamara win the ball high up the pitch?, then he looked around and nobody showed for the ball at all? - shocking)

What are our fullbacks doing?, they offered little going forward, and little defending, its like they are at a tea party.

Buendia not playing (Emi and Couts need to be playing....WITH Bailey - prob in a 4231).

I also think Cash is overrated if im honest.

4231 clearly plays to the strengths of the players we have, yet we persist with this weird 433 that just doesnt seem to work.

We still lack height and power through the spine of the team (although Kamara was excellent tbh)

I dunno, i just dont get what we are doing.

 

I didnt think it would be possible to hit the levels of epic fail that was the Watford game last year, but my lord we managed it, and then some.

Agree with everything.

Cash is definitely overrated, his energy and fight you can't argue with, but on the ball, he is bang average.

Kamara was indeed excellent. But as I said in the match thread, he's gonna be thinking "Have I really got to try and link up with McGinn every week?"

[picicata]

Just now, VillanousOne said:

The decision to drop Mings and make McGinn captain has made us even weaker and none of the other issues from last season have been resolved.

Yeah, those decisions are very worrying. I like McGinn for what he's done for us but I was hoping he would become a squad player this summer. Instead it's almost certain that he will start every game. Not only does that me we are going to play with a midfielder not up to the task, we will also be sticking to a formation that doesn't work with the squad.

Gerrard is making so many mistakes at the moment and I don't think he has the ability to turn it round.

[HanoiVillan]

His problem is he's made several big mistakes and he either can't or won't go back on them. The first mistake is signing Coutinho, which then means we need to play with 10 men every week. The second mistake is taking the captaincy off Mings and dropping him and playing Konsa instead, despite the latter being a significantly worse player; this particular mistake will presumably end with Mings leaving in either this window or one of the next two. The third mistake is giving the captaincy to McGinn, who isn't good enough to play all the games and isn't much of a leader either.

The first mistake can't be solved, the second and third won't be gone back over. So we've somehow got to hope that he can get this mess into midtable.