Match Thread: Villa v West Ham under the Monday Night Lights | Page 15 | Vital Football

Match Thread: Villa v West Ham under the Monday Night Lights

Time for a slight change in my opinion.

Heaton
Guilbert Engels Mings Taylor
Luiz Marvelous
Trez or Jota SJM Jack
Wesley or Kodija when fit.

4-2-3-1 May well suit us better at the moment?
 
Frustrating night.

We're 2 good wingers and a decent striker away from being a good Premier League team.

But with that sack of spuds up top, and average wingers we're far too reliant on Jack and John to try to produce and it becomes predictable and easy to defend against.

We've got the spine of a very good side but I think we'll live to regret not signing a decent striker in the summer.
 
Front 3 well short of premier league quality.

Wesley could perhaps improve over time but not sure if we have the time to give him. Jota would look decent in the Spanish league more time and space on the ball and a lower tempo but the game mostly just passes him by in this league. El Ghazi just too inconsistent
 
Disappointing we didn't make the most of Mike Dean's poor decision, though they should have been down to 10 men in the first half after Noble's dive which should have led to a 2nd yellow. Didnt move the ball well enough and lost possession too easily after the sending off. No real cutting edge in the final third which is a concern. That said, some positives, Heaton literally had no save to make in 90mins other than a weak shot in the first half, two clean sheets in a row at home, Engels continues to show what a quality centre half we've bought for peanuts,Guilbert had another good game I thought and Marvelous had a decent debut. And we gained a point, every one is vital!
 
My ratings in case any one cares.. which they probably don’t.

Heaton 6 - can’t remember him having anything to do
Guilbert 7 - made some good tackles but ran out of legs towards the end
Engels 8 - looks very comfortable
Mings 7 - looks good but got caught once or twice (hence slightly lower than Engels)
Taylor 6 - ok performance limited going forwards though
Nakamba 7 - decent debut worked hard won some tackles
Mcginn 8 - 100% effort as always
Grealish 4 - worst performance in years
Jota 4 - completely ineffective
El Ghazi 4 - thought he was slightly better than Jota but that incident with mings just plain stupid
Wesley 5 - limited impact and had one or two chances to score
 
I don't agree that Grealish was as poor as some are making out. To my mind, he's trying too hard.

There was a discussion on WM as to whether the captaincy is too much responsibility. I don't think it is. I think football captaincy is completely over-rated when compared with cricket, for example.

My problem with Jack is that he continues to play far too deep, coming and collecting the ball from the CBs in areas where he has no impact. He has too much ground to cover after that and leaves himself far too much to do.

He's much more dangerous getting the ball 30-35 yards out and driving forwards - teams can't handle it. That said, some (maybe all) of his decision making in and around the box was way off tonight, although he was not helped by lack of movement and support from others.
 
Interesting ratings. I thought Mings was outstanding.

I also thought Grealish was our best player in the 1st half, but possibly our worst in the 2nd half. Think a 4 is harsh though given his first half performance.

Wesley was the worst player on the pitch for me. Missed a glorious chance, keeps falling over, doesn't particularly hold the ball up very well. That dive at the end was embarrasing.... could he have stuck a leg out and scored if he'd stayed on his feet? I've not actually sen a replay as I switched off as soon as the full time whistle went but at the time I just thought what a shit dive when he could have scored.
 
In other news, Mings and Engels are the bollocks, Marvelous was excellent for most of his home debut, and I loved the passion from Mings in the ridiculous 'head-but' incident with AEG.

Also, Mark Noble is still a massive cock and was very lucky not to get sent off. Made a number of dodgy challenges before his belated booking, and then when he made that ridiculous dive, I was surprised there was no further action.

The West Ham lad should never have been sent off - never a yellow.
 
Fulford said:
West Ham were what I thought they would be, a mid table team.

More points dropped to me, we need to beat the likes of them at home.
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Sorry Fulford. Just flicked onto the thread and this was the first thing I read.

The likes of them.

West Ham?.

We have had 10 years of decline including 3 years in the championship and got promoted finishing 5th. Doesn't give me any pleasure but every team in this league are ahead of us either in stature, development or being premier league established.

Sooner people get a grip that every game this season is tough the better . Liverpool, Citeh, Bournemouth or Sheffield united makes no difference.
 
El Ghazi can't start another premier league game for us, simple as that. Absolutely dreadful performance made worse by headbutting one of our best, high profile players in front of an audience of millions who were looking for any talking point. He offers nothing, he's so out of his depth at this level that it's embarrassing to watch.

Bright side is Mings and Engels are rock solid and we have a real premier league goalkeeper. McGinn is fantastic. Douglas Luiz is brilliant too and if he had played from the start instead of El Ghazi, maybe it would have been a different result.

Grealish needs to be managed and captained, not captaining. He was most effective today when he overlapped and linked up with Jota and that's the position he should be in, a free role number 10 with no responsibilities but to create and score goals.

Wesley looks like he has potential to be a great player if we has good players around him. He was constantly frustrated with long balls up to him and no one to knock it down to apart from El Ghazi. Grealish and McGinn should be up there with him, a lot closer to him. Jota is a little magician, I think the more he plays the more he will spot and the more runs people will learn to make when he has the ball. Guilbert has him sussed.

Fix that left side, push McGinn and Grealish higher up and play Douglas and we had that game easy.
 
If I were Dean, first thing I'd do at the training ground is rip up the 4-3-3, tell Jesus to scout some decent wingers and left backs, and start working on a 4-2-3-1 with Grealish, McGinn and Jota given a hell of a lot more freedom and a hell of a lot higher up the pitch with Douglas and Hourihane behind them.
 
Melon Donkey said:
Sorry Fulford. Just flicked onto the thread and this was the first thing I read.

The likes of them.

West Ham?.

We have had 10 years of decline including 3 years in the championship and got promoted finishing 5th. Doesn't give me any pleasure but every team in this league are ahead of us either in stature, development or being premier league established.

Sooner people get a grip that every game this season is tough the better . Liverpool, Citeh, Bournemouth or Sheffield united makes no difference.
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West Ham were poor and if we want to stay in the league we have to beat teams like them. Especially at home when we have an extra man.

It isn’t going to be easier against the likes of Man City and Liverpool, or Arsenal next week.
 
JuanPabloAngel said:
I don't agree that Grealish was as poor as some are making out. To my mind, he's trying too hard.

There was a discussion on WM as to whether the captaincy is too much responsibility. I don't think it is. I think football captaincy is completely over-rated when compared with cricket, for example.

My problem with Jack is that he continues to play far too deep, coming and collecting the ball from the CBs in areas where he has no impact. He has too much ground to cover after that and leaves himself far too much to do.

He's much more dangerous getting the ball 30-35 yards out and driving forwards - teams can't handle it. That said, some (maybe all) of his decision making in and around the box was way off tonight, although he was not helped by lack of movement and support from others.
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Grealish was poor tonight but I agree he is trying too hard. He needs to play simpler and quicker at times. Southgate was watching tonight and I think Grealish was too aware of that.
 
Lot of negativity tonight which I am not surprised about as we didnt win and that's how some seem to roll

This time last year. We had just beaten mighty rotherham to our first win in five CHAMPIONSHIP games. We then lost 1 and drew 2 of our next CHAMPIONSHIP games while being subjected to Bruce's losing of the plot. Bruce then went and we lost 3 out of the next 4 games. 2 wins in 13 CHAMPIONSHIP games

Fast forward a year and we are disappointed that we didn't beat West Ham in a PREMIER league game having had a massive pre-season overhaul and having been competitive in every of the 5 games played thus far including away to the european league finalists spurs

That's progress in my opinion.

UTV.
 
Langoe66 said:
Disappointing we didn't make the most of Mike Dean's poor decision, though they should have been down to 10 men in the first half after Noble's dive which should have led to a 2nd yellow. Didnt move the ball well enough and lost possession too easily after the sending off. No real cutting edge in the final third which is a concern. That said, some positives, Heaton literally had no save to make in 90mins other than a weak shot in the first half, two clean sheets in a row at home, Engels continues to show what a quality centre half we've bought for peanuts,Guilbert had another good game I thought and Marvelous had a decent debut. And we gained a point, every one is vital!
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In truth Noble's first yellow should have led to a second yellow.
 
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