CVByrne Posted August 7 Share Posted August 7 20 hours ago, sne said: Be interesting to see who will handle the build up now that we lack both Kamara & Luiz. Martinez to Pau and then? Onana is not that player and I doubt Enzo is, yet at least. Guess it's Tielemans or are we thinking that Barkley is good enough to start? Luiz is a bit more of a worry than Kamara, I think Onana is a better CM than Kamara in build up given his size. I think Martinez Maatsen Pau Konsa are the elite level on the ball we need for build up. Behind those it's not deep, Mings and Carlos are not as good. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JPAngel Posted August 7 VT Supporter Share Posted August 7 I'm trying not to overthink our pre-season defeats too much but I'd feel an awful lot happier if we started tonight with a lineup like the one below and ended up blowing Bilbao away. It'd be nice to get a couple of great performances in before the start of the Premier League campaign. 4 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jas10 Posted August 7 Share Posted August 7 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MaVilla Posted August 7 Author Share Posted August 7 cant see Diego Carlos in that training vid. 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PaulMcGrath_5 Posted August 7 Share Posted August 7 13 minutes ago, MaVilla said: cant see Diego Carlos in that training vid. Will be interesting to see if he is in the squad tonight. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MrBlack Posted August 7 Share Posted August 7 6 hours ago, JPAngel said: I'm trying not to overthink our pre-season defeats too much but I'd feel an awful lot happier if we started tonight with a lineup like the one below and ended up blowing Bilbao away. It'd be nice to get a couple of great performances in before the start of the Premier League campaign. That's my current first choice 11. I wouldn't be throwing the three new returnees straight back on though. 30 minutes at the end for them 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TRO Posted August 7 Share Posted August 7 (edited) On 06/08/2024 at 10:19, rodders129 said: We’ll 100% be evolving tactically from last season. Really interested to see what Unai does. The high line might drop a bit deeper maybe and also interesting to see if we maintain the slow tempo/minimal pressing or up it. Teams started to figure us out last season and Unai is too smart not to make changes. Who knows, we may do an Arsenal and go back to being a 1-0 team/hard to beat I agree. My observations, tell me we have come a long way, but I still think we have some way to go. I also think, that when we discuss, defending, it's not just talking about the back 5....Its the whole team. When we study, Man City or Arsenal, it's clear the whole team, keep the ball, this in itself, is defending.....They are also constantly pressing, for goals, and are usually a constant threat, by contrast, we rely on "moments" in a game to secure our goals. I am not suggesting we are as good as them, but I am suggesting our 6 in front of the back line, have the keep the ball better, than we do. Until we can emulate those teams, by being a constant threat, we have to rely on a robust back line, to keep us in games. We are evolving, that's for sure, and keeping the ball a bit better than we are, will help us, progress....in the meantime, until we master the art of ball retention, and control, we have to be better at not conceding. Edited August 7 by TRO Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TRO Posted August 7 Share Posted August 7 7 hours ago, JPAngel said: I'm trying not to overthink our pre-season defeats too much but I'd feel an awful lot happier if we started tonight with a lineup like the one below and ended up blowing Bilbao away. It'd be nice to get a couple of great performances in before the start of the Premier League campaign. I also think that line-up could morph in to 4-4-2, 4-3-3, 4-2-3-1,4-4-1-1 or 4-1-4-1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TRO Posted August 7 Share Posted August 7 (edited) On 06/08/2024 at 10:36, sne said: Be interesting to see who will handle the build up now that we lack both Kamara & Luiz. Martinez to Pau and then? Onana is not that player and I doubt Enzo is, yet at least. Guess it's Tielemans or are we thinking that Barkley is good enough to start? Tielemans or Barkley, but I don't think Amadou is a slouch on the ball either. Edited August 7 by TRO Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TRO Posted August 7 Share Posted August 7 23 hours ago, TomC said: Our goals against was pretty competitive the first half of last year, if not quite top-3 quality. It fell off in the second half, probably a combination of losing Kamara and teams figuring out our high line. My questions on the defensive end are: 1. Can Onana fill the Kamara gap until he comes back? 2. Do we have enough depth? That depends on whether Diego stays, whether Mings is back to his best, and whether we sign anyone else. 3. Will the high line continue to work? I don't think the highline in isolation, is the problem.....it only becomes a problem, when we keep losing possession, further upfield. Without the ball, they (opposition) cannot keep launching, those long raking balls, that undo us. So it's a combination of issues, the kicker and the runner......one of the 2 has to be negated....and so far, ( inc last season second half) we are not doing either. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TomC Posted August 7 Share Posted August 7 2 hours ago, TRO said: I don't think the highline in isolation, is the problem.....it only becomes a problem, when we keep losing possession, further upfield. Without the ball, they (opposition) cannot keep launching, those long raking balls, that undo us. So it's a combination of issues, the kicker and the runner......one of the 2 has to be negated....and so far, ( inc last season second half) we are not doing either. Agreed. He's not going to give up the high line completely. Most of the time we just need to press a little higher and harder to stop teams from undoing us like that. That said, for the teams (especially Newcastle) that have the right personnel to beat it, we could use an alternative plan. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DJBOB Posted August 7 Share Posted August 7 On 01/08/2024 at 06:07, DJBOB said: The first match a little over a fortnight away and the starting XI is starting to be pretty clear for me for the first match. The largest question is what we’re going to do with the RCB/RB situation, the CM pairing, and which LB. The most likely pairing is going to be Diego/Konsa but it is definitely a weak link. Emi Konsa-Diego-Pau-Maatsen (but could be Digne) Bailey-Onana-Youri-Rogers McGinn-Watkins Think is slowly coming together. Might see Digne on opening day considering his familiarity with the system but would be shocked if this isn’t the lineup. Some questions on the CB/RB situation but would be surprised if it were not this lineup on opening day. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nepal_villan Posted August 7 Share Posted August 7 Formation, shape and squad depth are pretty clear now. CB only position where we need to buy. Other positions depend on outgoings. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Indigo Posted August 7 Share Posted August 7 (edited) I like both Cash and Carlos as players, they've proven themselves to be able to compete at the top level and have had some big performances in our best season for a long time, but I think it'll be disappointing if either are in our strongest XI (dependent on where Konsa plays) come the end of the window just because they're the most improvable part of it. Edited August 8 by Indigo 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TomC Posted August 8 Share Posted August 8 17 hours ago, Indigo said: I like both Cash and Carlos as players, they've proven themselves to be able to compete at the top level and have had some big performances in our best season for a long time, but I think it'll be disappointing if either are in our strongest XI (dependent on where Konsa plays) come the end of the window just because they're the most improbable part of it. This is the most balanced assessment of those players that I've seen in a long time. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TRO Posted August 12 Share Posted August 12 As we are purported to be a possession based side, or working towards being a possession based side......does anyone know how many times we won the possession stats in the league, last season? now I know, its not the be all and end all.....just interested to know? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Indigo Posted August 12 Share Posted August 12 1 hour ago, TRO said: As we are purported to be a possession based side, or working towards being a possession based side......does anyone know how many times we won the possession stats in the league, last season? now I know, its not the be all and end all.....just interested to know? Not sure about numbers on a game-by-game basis, but if you ranked the table last season in terms of average % of possession Villa would be 7th in the league. City, Spurs, Liverpool, Brighton, Chelsea and Arsenal are 1st-6th in that order, though the difference from Arsenal to Villa (58.4% vs 52.8%) was the biggest gap in the league. So we were essentially the best of the rest in terms of possession. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hank Scorpio Posted August 12 Share Posted August 12 (edited) So the question is. Is Maatsen an upgrade? Is Onana an upgrade or is Barkley for Luiz? I want to be but I don't think the team as of today is better than last season. It certainly isn't what I thought we would be able to do having got the so called holy grail that is champions league. Yes we have Buendia back and Mings, I know, but they are not ensured to be available after major injury. Edited August 12 by Hank Scorpio Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MaVilla Posted August 12 Author Share Posted August 12 Just now, Hank Scorpio said: So the question is. Is Maatsen an upgrade? Is Onana an upgrade or is Barkley for Luiz? I want to be but I don't think the team as of today is better than last season. It certainly isn't what I thought we would be able to do having got the so called holy grail that is champions league. Yes we have Buendia back and Mings, I know, but they are not ensured to be available after major injury. the starting 11 is definitely not better than last season, different for sure, but not better or worse. On paper Maatsen is defo an upgrade at LB, Maatsen was in the CL team of 23/24. Onana is different to Luiz, i dont think you can really gauge better/worse, they just have different strengths/weaknesses. Im not concerend yet, still plenty of the window left to go, but we have spent 140m ish and we havent actually improved the starting 11, if thats still the case by the end of the window, it wont be good. Will have to wait and see i guess, maybe we will strengthen towards the end of the window, ie: the big boys take their shares (players they want), and then we see what is left over to scrap over players wise. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hank Scorpio Posted August 12 Share Posted August 12 6 minutes ago, MaVilla said: the starting 11 is definitely not better than last season, different for sure, but not better or worse. On paper Maatsen is defo an upgrade at LB, Maatsen was in the CL team of 23/24. Onana is different to Luiz, i dont think you can really gauge better/worse, they just have different strengths/weaknesses. Im not concerend yet, still plenty of the window left to go, but we have spent 140m ish and we havent actually improved the starting 11, if thats still the case by the end of the window, it wont be good. Will have to wait and see i guess, maybe we will strengthen towards the end of the window, ie: the big boys take their shares (players they want), and then we see what is left over to scrap over players wise. Counter point is we may have spent £140 million but have much have we recouped? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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