Popular Post villabromsgrove Posted July 28 Popular Post Share Posted July 28 I thoroughly enjoyed the game. The MLS coverage was excellent with light hearted commentary, and seeing both sets of supporters mingling and enjoying a drink on what looked like a very warm evening was great. My thoughts on some of the players: It was a good training run out. Nedeljkovic looks like our best right back option. Barrenechea is a real prospect. Onana .... he's a recovery machine, and can pass as well. The other players will all benefit from time spent training and playing together. Potential weaknesses: Our defence will still make sloppy errors this season. Cash is making too many mistakes, Torres is excellent going forward and ordinary going back. Carlos seems to be playing from memory these days. I love Digne's desire and skills but he's far too slow. Moreno also has excellent skills on the ball and good pace, but dodgy defensive positioning. Maatsen will probably make a positive difference when he's fully integrated into Emery's style of football. Feeney is a good young lad but his lack of pace and experience catches him out, so a loan at a lower level where he plays regularly is essential. Mings is still a long way from coming back into contention so we can't factor him into the defensive equation. It highlights how much we miss our most important member of the defence .... Konsa. We'll be more solid when he returns soon. The fact that Joe Gauci looked like a rookie was also concerning, although his positioning in response to our 'high line' can be improved with intensive coaching. I guess we will have to look forward to outscoring the opposition while still conceding too many sloppy goals again. It could be 'heart in mouth' stuff in a very important season. If I sound a bit negative that is most certainly not how I feel, I'm just sharing my current defensive concerns. The number of quick and technical young players that we have added to our midfield, and the return of Buendia and Ramsey (very soon I hope) is exciting. It will give Unai a nice set of selection and game plan options. Throw McGinn and Tielemans back into the mix, and of course Barkley and Dendoncker (who was okay last night in my opinion) and we have a plethora of choices. I love the carnival atmosphere of these pre season matches. Bring on the next one! UTV. 4 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
villan95 Posted July 28 Share Posted July 28 1 hour ago, MaVilla said: As you say, Onana is in there, for me the other CM is Tielemans, with Barrenchea as development backup and Barkley as straight backup/rotation. McGinn is defo not a CM in this system. He had some good games there alongside Tielemans (Arsenal away, Bournemouth at home) so I think there are occasions he could be used there. 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
VillaChris Posted July 28 Share Posted July 28 2 hours ago, Stevo985 said: Rogers is better than JJ anyway. Even if he’s fit JJ won’t be above Rogers in the pecking order Ramsey was exceptional in the run in for 2023. However he's barely played in a year and so him finding his feet again from the bench in opening weeks is the most likely way to integrate him back into the premier league. Rogers deserves to start. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sheepyvillian Posted July 28 Share Posted July 28 1 hour ago, Paul33 said: Emery Out ? Too soon ? Here's the mad thing, I can imagine some being really angry at that post. As if you meant it. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FLVillan Posted July 28 Share Posted July 28 1. It's pre-season. 2. Replace Feeney and Gauci/Zyech with Konsa and Martinez and we win 1-0. 3. Replace Archer with Watkins and we win 2-0. 4. It's pre-season. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pongo Waring Posted July 28 Share Posted July 28 (edited) 19 minutes ago, FLVillan said: 1. It's pre-season. 2. Replace Feeney and Gauci/Zyech with Konsa and Martinez and we win 1-0. 3. Replace Archer with Watkins and we win 2-0. 4. It's pre-season. What if Martinez and Konsa get injured? What if Watkins gets injured? Edited July 28 by Pongo Waring Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FLVillan Posted July 28 Share Posted July 28 1 minute ago, Pongo Waring said: What if Martinez and Konsa get injured? What if Watkins gets injured? What if....the sky falls in and the entire squad is decimated by a falling meteorite..... do you seriously believe that Feeney, Zyech and Gauci are going to be second (or even third) choice players in the season ahead? It's pre-season. The first two weeks. First friendly against a team that has played more than 2 games. In very hot weather. After an 8 hour transatlantic flight, followed by a 2.5 hour domestic flight. With Konsa, Martinez, Watkins not even in the country. With Tielemans, McGinn, Ramsey, Olsen in the stands. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Genie Posted July 28 Share Posted July 28 24 minutes ago, Pongo Waring said: What if Martinez and Konsa get injured? What if Watkins gets injured? It’s still not pre-season, nothing like full tempo / effort / energy / commitment. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sidcow Posted July 28 VT Supporter Share Posted July 28 10 hours ago, Jas10 said: Dr Tony? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sidcow Posted July 28 VT Supporter Share Posted July 28 9 hours ago, Ginko said: We practically dominated possession for both halves, but got caught with the long ball in the first 45 and made a dreadful error in the second. We looked tired and sloppy, you know, like everyone does in preseason. Whether that’s down to lack of fitness and sharpness, the fact the opposition ARE fit and sharp due to them being midseason, the heat and humidity, the new players being unfamiliar with each other, that were missing key players, any other perfectly valid reason… Most likely it’s a combination of all of the above. Nothing to see here. I'm fairly sure at least one and possibly 2 of their goals would have been ruled offside by VAR Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
El Segundo Posted July 28 Share Posted July 28 Positives Onana (bit of a beast) Maatsen (calm and skilful) , Kosta (fast and solid, good going forward) , KKH (looks fast and skilful). Rogers stood out again, reminds me of Bellingham more every time I see him play. Emi B is back Lots of first choices to come back We controlled most of the game, had most of the possession and created 4 or 5 really good chances, mostly first half. Their striker was sharper and more clinical than Archer and Rogers. Concerns Barkley has looked slow and ponderous and given away possession in dangerous areas several times in pre-season. Every time I start to think I’m a bit harsh in my judgement of Cash he has another defensive brain fart. Last night’s was special though, what the hell was he thinking? Not taking our chances Defensive lapses – 3 of the four goals were down to individual/collective defensive errors. Our high line defence tactic relies very heavily on marginal offsides being spotted by the linos or VAR. Without VAR it’s extremely high risk. Our frequent habit of conceding just before and just after half time reared it’s ugly head again. We didn’t look any better aerially than we did last season – can’t remember us winning a header from an attacking corner or free kick. Philogene didn’t look all that, nor did Dobbin as main striker through the middle. I had no idea who had come on when Dobbin appeared and neither it seems did the VTV commentators. Gauci looked a bit like a rabbit in the headlights, but then he was left exposed several times. The fact that Digne came on at left CB – was this an indication that Unai was less concerned about the result than with getting minutes into the legs of a few players? Or is because we had no-one else and need to sign a another left CB? Overall I think the scoreline was not a fair reflection of how the game went. It’s early in pre-season for us and I’m sure we will sharpen up and tighten up as we proceed. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RicRic Posted July 28 Share Posted July 28 10 hours ago, BOF said: While it is definitely possible and probably going to happen at times, I do still think McGinn is one of the first names on the team sheet. Even though there are arguments to the contrary. I just don't think you can make up for his workload in the aggregate. He has to be on the pitch, and then you go from there. It's a bit like Gallagher at Chelsea. Only ours is better, with a better arse. Definitely one of the first names and i cant see how there are many that would leave him out, his energy is A1 and Onana will compliment him well Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RicRic Posted July 28 Share Posted July 28 7 hours ago, TheMelvillan said: Course we bloody did. They're American! Jk I thought they were very good, pressed really well, transitioned in a heartbeat and exploited our high line That wee fella who got the hatrick had a hell of a finish on him too That fella had scored against us in the opening game in the 21/22 season for Watford when they beat us 3-2 crazyy!! then he left to join Columbus the following summer. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sidcow Posted July 28 VT Supporter Share Posted July 28 7 hours ago, Stevo985 said: Every year it’s the same. Pre season friendlies are meaningless. They are glorified training sessions. We’ve had pre seasons where we’ve been amazing and then been absolutely dog shit in the league. We’ve had seasons where we’ve been dogshit in pre season and been amazing in the league. It means absolutely shit all I actually get worried when we have a great pre season. It almost always heralds a terrible season proper. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sidcow Posted July 28 VT Supporter Share Posted July 28 4 hours ago, Stevo985 said: Rogers is better than JJ anyway. Even if he’s fit JJ won’t be above Rogers in the pecking order I don't know. It's a bit of a distant memory no just how very good JJ was before his injury. Rogers is looking so good, but so was JJ. Think Rogers is just at the forefront of people's memories now. Hopefully JJ can get back to where he was because we'll have 2 truly excellent players on our hands. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
El Segundo Posted July 28 Share Posted July 28 10 minutes ago, sidcow said: I don't know. It's a bit of a distant memory no just how very good JJ was before his injury. Rogers is looking so good, but so was JJ. Think Rogers is just at the forefront of people's memories now. Hopefully JJ can get back to where he was because we'll have 2 truly excellent players on our hands. Rogers has a tendency to look great for half a game but then kind of disappears. I'm a huge fan of Ramsey, I think he was brilliant before his injury and was getting better. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Marka Ragnos Posted July 28 VT Supporter Share Posted July 28 (edited) The teams we face are a lot like sparring partners in boxing. Sparring is a useful and important part of the process of getting ready for the big bouts. It also helps get the Villa name out there and into fan markets where we need absolutely much much more prominence. Also gives new and old players a chance to build team relationships. English Villa fans can sit back and enjoy a Brum-centric (!) universe without worrying about future markets and see Villa in their local papers and see Villa shirts down at the pub etc etc, but that's a tiny fraction of the potential. The preseason is as much a promotional tour as an enterprise in fitness/team-building and tactics practice. I'm a little disappointed Ollie and Martinez aren't there, to be honest, because it's going to cut down on the excitement a bit. I get they need a rest of the Euros, but from a club promotional standpoint, it's a dumb move. Edited July 28 by Marka Ragnos Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sidcow Posted July 28 VT Supporter Share Posted July 28 9 hours ago, OhioVilla said: Emery needs to drill them for a good week. Get the feeling down and get down to business. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Stevo985 Posted July 28 VT Supporter Share Posted July 28 3 hours ago, VillaChris said: Ramsey was exceptional in the run in for 2023. However he's barely played in a year and so him finding his feet again from the bench in opening weeks is the most likely way to integrate him back into the premier league. Rogers deserves to start. I think Ramsey is massively overrated if I’m honest. He had an excellent run of about 12 games. The rest of his Villa career he’s been way off that. He’s a very good player. But he doesn’t get in our first XI, and I’m not sure it’s close 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TomC Posted July 28 Share Posted July 28 What formations did we use? The usual 4-4-2 in defence and 3-box-3 in attack? Did both fullbacks attack or just the left? Who played where? How did they use Iling? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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