janpawel

In light of the lengthy run of poor performances and the fact we have Mitchell now who'll be thinking of a sustainable style of play going forward, could anyone see him wanting us to play with a more athletic / defensive minded midfielder and a shift in midfield tactics? Was thinking all of the top sides have someone like so - City - Rodri, Arsenal - Rice, Chelsea - Lavia, Villa Onana, Madrid - Tchouenemi, Liverpool were on the market for one, Tottenham fans want one etc etc The top teams also have someone who is able to support the DM and progress the ball (we have Bruno) , or they invert a full back (I think Hall would be good at this) Just wondering if it's something that could happen with the changes, I think it's something that would improve us imo. Though not sure what established players are on the market, I know Liverpool couldn't get Zubimendi so I doubt we could either 😂

Was that for the challange or kicking the ball away? 😂 Fuck Arsenal and all the teams who are for FFP 🎉

Walker was disgraceful on that corner

Yeah, I think Villa are a 'high floor' team, especially considering the way they recruited in the summer. Whereas we have had some outstanding games and blew teams away in impressive manner Then again, I remember watching Villa vs Man City last season and I thought that was the best I'd ever seen a team play against City, absolutely dominated them

Then add 500m spend to this squad, if anything there expectations should be way higher than ours

I should have explained more, but they spent more before we got took over. What Emery inherited was way better than What howe inherited There squad was better than ours to start, then we spent equally once we got took over based on what you provided

We had a headstart with the managers compared to Villa, since we got Howe a year or so before they got Emery But their club was way ahead of us in terms of the academy, selling Grealish, others etc which has helped FFP They have also managed the FFP situation way better than us, flipping players, more dodgy deals etc They also sold their best midfielder and opted to recruit an array of players, giving them depth, again something we don't and haven't done, we prefer to add a backup / future signing, or an expensive one They've also recruited well from lower placed teams / champo teams, Archer and Duran look quality and will no doubt be valued highly if they want to sell them As for Howe V Emery. I really rate Howe, and maybe blind bias but I always refer to the first 1.5 seasons as what he does for us, and think it will get better. Though Villa do play a more sustainable style of football, and don't need to overpower teams to win. That can only help over the long term, plus managing injuries etc

Really hope he can turn the performances around. It'd hurt me so much if we lost Eddie, even if down the line it was justified

It's incredible to think we have upgraded the team in many ways since the 2022 season, yet we are the complete opposite of it defensively and out of possession, I miss those days of having confidence in us as a unit and restricting the other team Now are a liability all over the pitch, makes no sense

Very excited and curious at how we line up and perform with both Joelinton and Willock in midfield, we haven't done it in ages and always opted for Longstaff on the right..buzzing!

Surely Chelsea struggle massively out of possession with that midfield?

Maybe PTSD from last season, but I'd be terrified only having 1 CM on the bench, knowing what can happen to us with injuries

Got an eye on Ederson, thought he was class in the Europa final last season and we were linked with him. Just got a yellow mind

Imagine that's Gordon up front then? Wonder if Osula will get some minutes

No wonder he's mates with Gordon

How have these done in their first 4 games? Looking forward to our good 20 min start and from there then back and forward game..

Villa started pretty well too, good job is customary for us to take 6 points off them during the season

Definitely agree Hall would be the better option to invert, he's seems a talented passer, and also means Tino is on the right of a back 3 so we have his 1v1 ability and recovery pace there Guess the risk is that means Burn is on the left of the 3 and after last season, Howe might not fancy that. Though we have Kelly now..

Aye Tino and Trippier couldn't be more different as right backs I really think Tino has enough to be an elite RB, he has all the physical qualities in abundance, just needs to keep working on a few things But we do miss Trippier's ball playing ability when he isn't on

Yeah they were absolutely quality, and both bulletproof that season too unlike now Kind of sad we will likely never see it again, understandably since we have Barnes and Gordon there

Unreal seeing that, especially after having 2 away games

Left CM for sure. Could probably do a job as a number 10 but we don't play a formation that enables that It's between him and Joelinton for that left CM slot. It's been a while since Willock has had a run of games, but I do think he is better than Joelinton at most things going forward, especially when we are in possession Joelinton is better defensively and is also a good target man for going long from goal kicks or when we want to beat the press etc. Nice to have both of them imo

Do worry about his defensive ability, of course he's young and will still improve, but those who are very good defensively tend to show more ability for it at a young age, e.g it was one of Tino's strong points when he was at Southampton etc

Missed the last 15 mins, but surely we won't get an easier away game this season? Need to turn this around

Tonali would be absolutely perfect for this game, we are having a lot of the ball and not receiving much pressure. And we also haven't played many adventurous passes forward