Match Thread: Villa v West Ham under the Monday Night Lights | Page 19 | Vital Football

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

This is how poor Jack was tonight, for anyone interested...


That's all well and good, but he's our 'star player' isn't he? Missed a good chance and gave the ball away when not under any pressure at all a few times (which he acknowledged in the post match interview). He needs the killer touch and he needs to stop trying to do everything, laudible though his effort is. This should be down to the manager and coaches to make sure others are doing their jobs so he isn't back in defence (unless all players are back) ... He has to be the one pushing us forward.
 
I think there's a reality check that needs to be had with Wesley.

And that is £22 million doesn't actually buy you very much in terms of strikers these days.

If you compared him to Haller last night Haller looks miles ahead...but he cost £45 million so you'd expect him to.

Same with Joleinton at Newcastle.

The Villa policy of 'adding value' has been lauded on here as the right approach, but we need to understand that in general that means we won't be buying the finished article but a player with potential. The finished article would cost at least twice as much.

My biggest concern with Wesley though, is that I don't even see the potential. He doesn't look to have anything that Davis doesn't have.

I hope I'm wrong. I keep expecting him to get used the the English game and be more powerful and dominant but it never seems to happen. Maybe it will just take time.

yup... and I do worry if the policy is adding value, as to what the actual aim of the hierarchy is.
 
The only player I can never really fault is McGinn, always puts a shift in and unlike some of the others he didn’t have 2 weeks off..

He always puts a shift in true and had two decent efforts on goal. However, apart from that he was more of a peripheral player last night finding it as hard as many others to make an impression on the game or create anything for others.
 
Always the problem...if Wesley isn't a reasonable replacement for Tammy then where are thd goal coming from on a regular basis? Also as I said before the hotchpotch of players bought in the summer are not quality. We've been here before. Tbh grateful for a point before the inevitable arsenal beating.
It isnt an inevitable Arsenal beating. It probably will be a defeat but this is a very unprdictable Arsenal side still struggling for form and low on confidence when attacked, nothing like Arsenal teams of old.
 
Ah, come on now. The run and finish for Wesley's goal against Everton, I'd need to be resuscitated if Davis did that. Wesley has the attributes, but desperately needs some more coaching. Get in an ex pro for extra sessions.

Yup, the run was a great one, Davis (Gabby before him, along with a few others) would wait for the ball to come to them. Davies has time to develop but it frightens me he is our back up, nothing else, as we will need goals - which isn't exactly a surprise is it?

Unless Wesley clicks, we are in trouble.
 
Yup, the run was a great one, Davis (Gabby before him, along with a few others) would wait for the ball to come to them. Davies has time to develop but it frightens me he is our back up, nothing else, as we will need goals - which isn't exactly a surprise is it?

Unless Wesley clicks, we are in trouble.
McGinn looks good for a goal nearly every game and if Grealish was told to play as a number ten higher up, he would be amongst the goals as well. Jota is a creative genius. We need to play Targett and Guilbert and two defensive midfielders behind the forementioned three.
 
Last night confirmed the great defensive base we have as a foundation. Engels is the buy of the summer for me and his partnership with Mings has really settled down. Guilbert looks like the right back we have been missing for ages and Taylor, even allowing for his weaknesses, has performed well. With Heaton behind them we have as good a defence as any in the league.
On the minus side I was less impressed with our passing last night. Too many wasted inaccurate balls giving away possession. Hopefully the players getting more familiar with each other will improve this.
Wesley's record seems to be about one goal in every three games so he's due one against Arsenal.
 
He always puts a shift in true and had two decent efforts on goal. However, apart from that he was more of a peripheral player last night finding it as hard as many others to make an impression on the game or create anything for others.

Yeah like I said, really hard to pick out any stand out performances last night. Just a few had decent if unspectacular games, I’d say he was one of them. Both teams really sat off each other when they had the ball, was hard for either team to create anything.
 
Afternoon guys, long time reader/lurker in the shadow, first time poster.

Decided to register, mainly through boredom at work, to throw my two cents into the mixer.

Having slept on the result, I see it as a good point. If you offered me a point before the game, I'd probably have taken it.

Think there's lots of things we can pick away at but ultimately it's another point on the board. Sure, there's a few causes for slight concern showing at this point, Wesley's form (or lack of) being the most pressing, as well as the ineffectiveness of our wide players.

However, it's surely better to have a solid defence and need to improve going forward, rather than being poor in defence and solid going forward. At least we've got a foundation to build upon, which is something that should hopefully give us the time for the creative players to gel and get something working.

I did have a tinker around this morning at the idea of some alternative line-ups/formations. Feel free to pick it apart!

5-2-1-2/3-5-2
---------------Heaton---------------
--------Engels Mings Hause--------
Guilbert---------------------Targett
---------McGinn Marvelous--------
--------------Grealish---------------
--------Wesley------Kodjia---------

Kinda based around the hypothetical idea that the wingers aren't cutting it and looking at an alternative approach.

I really like the idea of the 5-2-1-2. Plenty of pace and strength at the back to cover for Guilbert and Targett bombing forward and providing width. Would also potentially cover for any defensive frailties Targett may have, as the general consensus seems to be he's handy going forward but a bit lacking at the back.

Midfield three are interchangeable. Given the five defenders, you might even be able to take Marvelous out and put in a Hourihane or a Lansbury to give us more going forward.

Then Kodjia along side Wesley, offers something different to Wes. Might create something himself but also provide any defence with a lot to think about, especially if McGinn, Conor and Jack were making runs into the box with wide balls from the wing backs.
 
On one hand I feel that we need to take a reality check, we are the newbies in this league, finishing below the other 2 promoted sides last season.

West Ham are an established PL club & have enjoyed the benefits of the vast sums of money that goes with that status, they have added big money, quality signings over a period of time.

A concern for me is that none of our wingers have any pace & Wesley still has much to do in terms of coming to terms with English football.

Jota is incredibly skilful, but, when he tricks a defender & opens up space, he checks back as he doesn't have the pace to exploit the space that quickly gets shut off.

El Ghazi is, I believe, a sympathy signing, he didn't impress me last year, apart from the odd moment, not consistent & assume he thinks defenders are ghosts, as he tries to run through them.

We must find a way to hurt teams when we have the upper hand.
 
As a positive, I didnt see a relegation bound team last night. We played some good stuff, competed all over the pitch and gave a side tipped for the top 6 a run for their money, so all in all not bad. A clean sheet is fantastic, and we will have easier challenges this season. All we have to do is survive.
 
That's all well and good, but he's our 'star player' isn't he? Missed a good chance and gave the ball away when not under any pressure at all a few times (which he acknowledged in the post match interview). He needs the killer touch and he needs to stop trying to do everything, laudible though his effort is. This should be down to the manager and coaches to make sure others are doing their jobs so he isn't back in defence (unless all players are back) ... He has to be the one pushing us forward.

I hear you, totally. But I was trying to illustrate that JG performed a lot better than a 4 or whatever people rated him.
 
On one hand I feel that we need to take a reality check, we are the newbies in this league, finishing below the other 2 promoted sides last season.

West Ham are an established PL club & have enjoyed the benefits of the vast sums of money that goes with that status, they have added big money, quality signings over a period of time.

A concern for me is that none of our wingers have any pace & Wesley still has much to do in terms of coming to terms with English football.

Jota is incredibly skilful, but, when he tricks a defender & opens up space, he checks back as he doesn't have the pace to exploit the space that quickly gets shut off.

El Ghazi is, I believe, a sympathy signing, he didn't impress me last year, apart from the odd moment, not consistent & assume he thinks defenders are ghosts, as he tries to run through them.

We must find a way to hurt teams when we have the upper hand.

Yup. We are a inexperienced team with unproven players at this level.

We are not going to dominate games and have periods of sustained pressure , so we are going to have to be far more clinical and ruthless when we get chances.
 
Afternoon guys, long time reader/lurker in the shadow, first time poster.

Decided to register, mainly through boredom at work, to throw my two cents into the mixer.

Having slept on the result, I see it as a good point. If you offered me a point before the game, I'd probably have taken it.

Think there's lots of things we can pick away at but ultimately it's another point on the board. Sure, there's a few causes for slight concern showing at this point, Wesley's form (or lack of) being the most pressing, as well as the ineffectiveness of our wide players.

However, it's surely better to have a solid defence and need to improve going forward, rather than being poor in defence and solid going forward. At least we've got a foundation to build upon, which is something that should hopefully give us the time for the creative players to gel and get something working.

I did have a tinker around this morning at the idea of some alternative line-ups/formations. Feel free to pick it apart!

5-2-1-2/3-5-2
---------------Heaton---------------
--------Engels Mings Hause--------
Guilbert---------------------Targett
---------McGinn Marvelous--------
--------------Grealish---------------
--------Wesley------Kodjia---------

Kinda based around the hypothetical idea that the wingers aren't cutting it and looking at an alternative approach.

I really like the idea of the 5-2-1-2. Plenty of pace and strength at the back to cover for Guilbert and Targett bombing forward and providing width. Would also potentially cover for any defensive frailties Targett may have, as the general consensus seems to be he's handy going forward but a bit lacking at the back.

Midfield three are interchangeable. Given the five defenders, you might even be able to take Marvelous out and put in a Hourihane or a Lansbury to give us more going forward.

Then Kodjia along side Wesley, offers something different to Wes. Might create something himself but also provide any defence with a lot to think about, especially if McGinn, Conor and Jack were making runs into the box with wide balls from the wing backs.
I am an old fogey that harps back to the days of Ron Saunders and his way of playing.
He had;

Rimmer

Williams Evans McNaught Swain

Morley Cowans Mortimer Bremner

Shaw Withe

We could have at moment

Heaton

Taylor Mings Engels Guilbert

Trezeguet McGinn Nakamba Luis

Grealish Wesley

That could work?
 
Afternoon guys, long time reader/lurker in the shadow, first time poster.

Decided to register, mainly through boredom at work, to throw my two cents into the mixer.

Having slept on the result, I see it as a good point. If you offered me a point before the game, I'd probably have taken it.

Think there's lots of things we can pick away at but ultimately it's another point on the board. Sure, there's a few causes for slight concern showing at this point, Wesley's form (or lack of) being the most pressing, as well as the ineffectiveness of our wide players.

However, it's surely better to have a solid defence and need to improve going forward, rather than being poor in defence and solid going forward. At least we've got a foundation to build upon, which is something that should hopefully give us the time for the creative players to gel and get something working.

I did have a tinker around this morning at the idea of some alternative line-ups/formations. Feel free to pick it apart!

5-2-1-2/3-5-2
---------------Heaton---------------
--------Engels Mings Hause--------
Guilbert---------------------Targett
---------McGinn Marvelous--------
--------------Grealish---------------
--------Wesley------Kodjia---------

Kinda based around the hypothetical idea that the wingers aren't cutting it and looking at an alternative approach.

I really like the idea of the 5-2-1-2. Plenty of pace and strength at the back to cover for Guilbert and Targett bombing forward and providing width. Would also potentially cover for any defensive frailties Targett may have, as the general consensus seems to be he's handy going forward but a bit lacking at the back.

Midfield three are interchangeable. Given the five defenders, you might even be able to take Marvelous out and put in a Hourihane or a Lansbury to give us more going forward.

Then Kodjia along side Wesley, offers something different to Wes. Might create something himself but also provide any defence with a lot to think about, especially if McGinn, Conor and Jack were making runs into the box with wide balls from the wing backs.

I like it but hell will freeze over before the gaffer switches from 4-3-3.

Another one which I think would work would be

4 - 2 - 3 - 1

Heaton

Freddie Mings Engels Hause

Luiz Marvelous

McGinn Greakish Trezegut/Jota

Wesley

One other thing, have you PM'd Mike Field for your welcome pack?
 
McGinn looks good for a goal nearly every game and if Grealish was told to play as a number ten higher up, he would be amongst the goals as well. Jota is a creative genius. We need to play Targett and Guilbert and two defensive midfielders behind the forementioned three.

It is no good looking good for a goal though ldg, you actually have to score a goal for it to count.