Aston Villa v Sporting Braga 6.30pm Friday 17th July

My heart isn't in it after the Delph debacle, but I suppose Villa life goes on.

As usual I hope no one picks up a serious injury as the squad is getting slimmer.

This is where I'd normally say Up the V...., but I really can't be arsed.

Never a dull moment in a Villa Pre season

Sherwood in the Delph role?

It'll be interesting to see if Benteke starts. I'm not sure I can muster any more enthusiasm but I'm going to watch it anyway and crack open some wine. Whoever said recently that they can only watch Villa when they've been drinking is onto something.

VB can you post links on here for the game?

FoxyAV wrote:It'll be interesting to see if Benteke starts. I'm not sure I can muster any more enthusiasm but I'm going to watch it anyway and crack open some wine. Whoever said recently that they can only watch Villa when they've been drinking is onto something.

No Benteke in the team for either half.

Fpuppys wrote:VB can you post links on here for the game?

Not officially. If I found one later I'd have to remove it. 8)

thegaffer6 wrote:

FoxyAV wrote:It'll be interesting to see if Benteke starts. I'm not sure I can muster any more enthusiasm but I'm going to watch it anyway and crack open some wine. Whoever said recently that they can only watch Villa when they've been drinking is onto something.

No Benteke in the team for either half.

Hmmm. It would seem odd to have him out there but not play him, surely?

I thought this was in Portugal or Spain. Why is the speaker sounding like a sumo wrestler

FoxyAV wrote:

thegaffer6 wrote:

FoxyAV wrote:It'll be interesting to see if Benteke starts. I'm not sure I can muster any more enthusiasm but I'm going to watch it anyway and crack open some wine. Whoever said recently that they can only watch Villa when they've been drinking is onto something.

No Benteke in the team for either half.

Hmmm. It would seem odd to have him out there but not play him, surely?

Can't risk our most saleable asset getting injured

Gabby is looking up for it

His one good performance in 20?

thegaffer6 wrote:

FoxyAV wrote:

thegaffer6 wrote:

FoxyAV wrote:It'll be interesting to see if Benteke starts. I'm not sure I can muster any more enthusiasm but I'm going to watch it anyway and crack open some wine. Whoever said recently that they can only watch Villa when they've been drinking is onto something.

No Benteke in the team for either half.

Hmmm. It would seem odd to have him out there but not play him, surely?

Can't risk our most saleable asset getting injured

It's good of us to get him as fit as possible, and keep him uninjured for his new club.

villabromsgrove wrote:

Fpuppys wrote:VB can you post links on here for the game?

Not officially. If I found one later I'd have to remove it. 8)

Carles Gil a class above Delph and I'm pretty sure Gueye would have stole his place anyway, still here's something I found earlier it's in French but still beats listening to Jack Woodward. Not working sorry guys,

Gil standout MOTM for me, with Gabby and Gardner tying for effort.

Westwood made some cracking passes. He can't tackle for toffee but he's excellent at distribution. Pretty much the opposite of Sanchez!

Ist half enjoyable, 2nd half hard to watch. I can't see who's going to score enough goals for us .... again!

villabromsgrove wrote:Ist half enjoyable, 2nd half hard to watch. I can't see who's going to score enough goals for us .... again!

Someone we haven't signed yet....I hope!!! Did you see AVTV cut away from Benteke, with an awkward mention of Senderos sat next to him? See you CB, very telling. Ah well, onwards and upwards!!

GadgetMan wrote:

villabromsgrove wrote:Ist half enjoyable, 2nd half hard to watch. I can't see who's going to score enough goals for us .... again!

Someone we haven't signed yet....I hope!!! Did you see AVTV cut away from Benteke, with an awkward mention of Senderos sat next to him? See you CB, very telling. Ah well, onwards and upwards!!

If we go into this season with Gabby as our main attacking force then we're but doomed. Sad but true! We have to hope that at least half of the cash in from Delph and Benteke will go towards adequate replacements and not just 6 more Luna's or Syllas

That second half was dull wasn't it?

So far I have this lot I'd be more than happy seeing play:

Guzan, Okore, Clark, Richards, Gil, Westwood, Grealish, Benteke.

I also like Sinclair but am not sure where he fits in, unless on the left of a 4-3-3. Gabby and Kozak are subs or up front for strength but playing with a star striker, hopefully the one we have. We need to see more of Gardner and Gueye. We need a LB, Cissokho is a back up defender, Richardson is a wingback. We could do with signing someone who can do both. Hutton is a wingback, so is Bacuna, neither is particularly good in defence, both are caught out of position. I've forgotten some more - N'Zog, Cole and a few others look ok but shouldn't be first choice.

Gardner looked assured Westwood looked positive Cissokho looked better than Richardson. Gil had nice touches Sinclair looked lively Gabby started brightly Calder looked good. Didn't watch all of the 2nd half but we need bodies not exactly a secret I know.

FoxyAV wrote:That second half was dull wasn't it?

So far I have this lot I'd be more than happy seeing play:

Guzan, Okore, Clark, Richards, Gil, Westwood, Grealish, Benteke.

I also like Sinclair but am not sure where he fits in, unless on the left of a 4-3-3. Gabby and Kozak are subs or up front for strength but playing with a star striker, hopefully the one we have. We need to see more of Gardner and Gueye. We need a LB, Cissokho is a back up defender, Richardson is a wingback. We could do with signing someone who can do both. Hutton is a wingback, so is Bacuna, neither is particularly good in defence, both are caught out of position. I've forgotten some more - N'Zog, Cole and a few others look ok but shouldn't be first choice.

Zog didn't look okay at all. He was easily, easily the worst player on the pitch - and it was a shit game. Well, shit second half, as you say. The first half was more entertaining - I'm sure Gil is already hoping he has a new striker or two to put some nice through balls to having seen Gabby mess up a couple, bless him, eh  :)

Only real bright spot in the second half for me was Calder, although that doesn't mean I want or expect him to be involved with the first team come next month. A season-long loan somewhere would do him good though. He's certainly 'built' for one so young, and having seen him play left side, I think he looks better in the middle where he can be a bit more physical.

Kozak to be fair won his fair share of headers and was right to complain about a needless elbow towards the end. The thing with Kozak is he's very limited but he's good at what he's, um, well, good at! He's a solid bench option I think, but that is all he should be in most games. Either way, even if you think he's utter shit, it's just nice that he's playing again after such a horrible injury.

Gardner may not cut it at this level but a couple of simple late runs into the box from him (and Bacuna, who hadn't played in midfield for a while) showed just how crap we've been in that area for too long. I've no idea if Gueye is any good at it but our lack of midfielders getting beyond the striker is a big reason why Benteke's goals have been so crucial in recent seasons.

But it is what it is, it's all about fitness. Joe Cole did a perfectly reasonable job in defensive midfield for example but I'm sure none of us expect to see him playing there when shit gets real  :)

I still don't see the point of N'Zog. I mean what does he actually do? He's scored four goals in five years which although one better than ex-England international Fabian Delph is not in any way acceptable for an attacking midfielder. He makes about one assist per season too. Bacuna has scored more goals and he's been played as a defender.