Aston Villa v Watford Saturday 28th November 2015

villajk wrote:Gardner skill wise is not a gamble

How can you possibly say this??? 

I get that you're a big fan of his but he's only really performed in the academy and the championship last season. He's shown nothing at this level and has been injured consistently. I thought he'd be the next big thing a couple of years ago but it hasn't happened due to bad luck. But to say he isn't a gamble is just plain foolishness

Cha Ching wrote:This is going to be my son's first ever match at Villa Park. He has only started supporting Villa in the last 18 months or so, and it's a bit of a trek for us on planes, trains and automobiles to get there, so I really hope he will be a lucky omen.

Its not too late to take him elsewhere & spare him a lifetime of misery & pain.

Seriously, I hope he enjoys the day & bring us a little luck !

We have to win, we are drinking at the last chance saloon already.

playing a Fit Gardner is no different to playing Veretout ,who is from a different league altogether and not proven in the prem as a few others, JP Angel had I good 1st game against MU then took a year to reach prem level,and Veretout is no JPA

achilles wrote:

NARLA24 wrote:On a lighter note we beat Fleetwood today at BMH winning 5-2, Traore with 2 goals and according to a little birdy he ran the show from start to finish. Must play on Saturday surely?

Did Kozak play/score?

Played but no goal

villajk wrote:Gardner skill wise is not a gamble ,Veretout.. is way off the pace, I did not see anything in the 2nd half to suggest different .Only Sanchez's looked good in our midfield when he came on.

If Sanchez is the only player you think good enough, and you're not taking a gamble on a player I'm not sure we've seen play in the Premier League yet, are we fielding a two-man midfield or are you going to fill it out with some strikers and a defender or two?

NARLA24 wrote:

achilles wrote:

NARLA24 wrote:On a lighter note we beat Fleetwood today at BMH winning 5-2, Traore with 2 goals and according to a little birdy he ran the show from start to finish. Must play on Saturday surely?

Did Kozak play/score?

Played but no goal

Cheers.

So a midfield of Gardner - Gueye - Veretout - ? this is what you said, replace Veretout with Sanchez

Really not getting the Gardner obsession.

EbeneezerGoode wrote:Really not getting the Gardner obsession.

Me neither. I've never seen Gardner do anything half useful when he's played for the first team. There's the ridiculous notion that he's better than Veretout just because we're struggling to get results atm.

Gardner or Veretout ? Dunno to be honest. Both need to up their game but both have very good potential.

Lose to Watford and we'll be 5 wins from being able to overtake them, and if other results go against us then we could be 3 wins from being able to go past the 2nd bottom team. The more i look at the table and how previous seasons have panned out the more i edge toward the "we're screwed" argument. I'm just not confident we can beat anyone, we don't seem able to score what i refer to as easy looking goals, I think we have to rely on screamers to give ourselves a chance and they don't come along too often. It's not like we're creating lots of opportunities, or keepers are making great saves against us.

GG simply has not proven he's 1 over his injuries and 2 able to cut it in the Premier League. Veretout has shown more in his handful of appearances than Gardner has in his. 

A few years ago GG was our biggest and best prospect - he had the skills and the physicality to step up. But injuries have stopped this and, 6 good months in the Championship last season aside, his loans have not yielded ground-shaking results. Veretout has been performing in a league arguably of the same standard as the Championship and there has made a strong reputation for himself, with admirers around Europe, and played consistently. You simply cannot say the same for GG, regardless of any personal obsession. 

I'd love nothing more than for Gardner to come good, as I predicted he would about 3 or 4 years ago. But it just isn't happening right now.

Veretout has to be in front of Gardner for this weekends game imv. You never know what is going through Inspector Clousoe's mind or what has been seen on the training pitches. We should have more of an idea by Friday about who will be in the starting line up on Saturday.Going to be a tough game no matter who plays. Lets just hope we can break this dismall home form and at least make a battle of this situation we are in instead of just rolling over and getting shafted every week.

Dazzle wrote:Lose to Watford and we'll be 5 wins from being able to overtake them, and if other results go against us then we could be 3 wins from being able to go past the 2nd bottom team. The more i look at the table and how previous seasons have panned out the more i edge toward the "we're screwed" argument. I'm just not confident we can beat anyone, we don't seem able to score what i refer to as easy looking goals, I think we have to rely on screamers to give ourselves a chance and they don't come along too often. It's not like we're creating lots of opportunities, or keepers are making great saves against us.

We do have some decent players, and Garde at least stopped the rot with the draw against ManC but I know where you're coming from. Hopefully Garde can do something with the players we have, and we'll see what happens in the January window.

....................................Guzan..............................
Hutton............Richards...............Clark.........Richardson
....................................Sanchez.............................
.........................Gueye............Veretout..................
....................................Gil...................................
.....................Sinclair...................Ayew..................

Don't really want Richardson in at all, we should have Cissokho back by now but have left ourselves exposed with no obvious replacement at LB.

Dazzle wrote:....................................Guzan..............................
Hutton............Richards...............Clark.........Richardson
....................................Sanchez.............................
.........................Gueye............Veretout..................
....................................Gil...................................
.....................Sinclair...................Ayew..................

Don't really want Richardson in at all, we should have Cissokho back by now but have left ourselves exposed with no obvious replacement at LB.

This would be my line up, my only change I might be tempted to make would be Traore (if his midweek performance yesterday was as good as told) for Sinclair

Dazzle wrote:....................................Guzan..............................
Hutton............Richards...............Clark.........Richardson
....................................Sanchez.............................
.........................Gueye............Veretout..................
....................................Gil...................................
.....................Sinclair...................Ayew..................

Don't really want Richardson in at all, we should have Cissokho back by now but have left ourselves exposed with no obvious replacement at LB.

We can't go too narrow in the midfield with our defence on the left so weak, plus most of the front two's service is going to come from Guzan, but we can't rely on our remaining left sided attacking player (Sinclair) to adequately cover LB either. I think I'd rather see Kozak alongside Ayew, even though he's not very good getting on the end of and bringing down long balls. It's a variation on a 4-3-3 though, and until we sort out a LB we need to play something like that to cover that side of the pitch. Gil isn't a right winger and is our best number 10 right now.

I like the look of this formation. I've been wondering if we could see a three-man defence: Richards - Okore - Clark, which would compensate for the lack of LB, and allow Richardson to play wing back, where at least he can make a decent attacking contribution. Okore and Clark looked good in places last season, and with Sanchez sitting ahead of them we'd have a very solid defensive midfield. Hutton has been pretty good for us so far but we could bring back in Bacuna, who makes a better wing back.

I really hope Garde is going to be flexible with his formation and not stick religiously to 4-1-4-1 before we have the players - or the ones we have trained properly - to make it work.

Villa_Dan wrote:

Dazzle wrote:....................................Guzan..............................
Hutton............Richards...............Clark.........Richardson
....................................Sanchez.............................
.........................Gueye............Veretout..................
....................................Gil...................................
.....................Sinclair...................Ayew..................

Don't really want Richardson in at all, we should have Cissokho back by now but have left ourselves exposed with no obvious replacement at LB.

This would be my line up, my only change I might be tempted to make would be Traore (if his midweek performance yesterday was as good as told) for Sinclair

No way of having both Traore and Sinclair in the starting line up ?

NARLA24 wrote:

Villa_Dan wrote:

Dazzle wrote:....................................Guzan..............................
Hutton............Richards...............Clark.........Richardson
....................................Sanchez.............................
.........................Gueye............Veretout..................
....................................Gil...................................
.....................Sinclair...................Ayew..................

Don't really want Richardson in at all, we should have Cissokho back by now but have left ourselves exposed with no obvious replacement at LB.

This would be my line up, my only change I might be tempted to make would be Traore (if his midweek performance yesterday was as good as told) for Sinclair

No way of having both Traore and Sinclair in the starting line up ?

Who for? Ayew I like the look of, but he'd be the only option to drop. Gil has to play. Or you'd be weakening the midfield to fit them in.

NARLA24 wrote:

Villa_Dan wrote:

Dazzle wrote:....................................Guzan..............................
Hutton............Richards...............Clark.........Richardson
....................................Sanchez.............................
.........................Gueye............Veretout..................
....................................Gil...................................
.....................Sinclair...................Ayew..................

Don't really want Richardson in at all, we should have Cissokho back by now but have left ourselves exposed with no obvious replacement at LB.

This would be my line up, my only change I might be tempted to make would be Traore (if his midweek performance yesterday was as good as told) for Sinclair

No way of having both Traore and Sinclair in the starting line up ?

How about starting with Kozak alongside Ayew and then making three subs with Traore, Sinclair and Gestede coming on? Ok, probably overkill, but I bet Traore and Sinclair would give Gestede the service he needs. All three fast although Watford might try to take out Gestede after he turned them down in our favour in the summer.

I'd play:

                     Guzan

Bacuna - Richards - Clark - Richardson

                  Sanchez

               Gana Veretout

Gil                                      Ayew

                  Gestede

Though my mind changes every hour. I think Hutton has been one of our better performers, so it's hard to leave him out, but Bacunas crossing would help Gestede. Let Ayew and Gil come on the inside for shots or outside for crosses to Gestede. If we lack goals within the first 45 I'd get Sinclair on as well and take Sanchez off probably.

For some reason my brother and I have elected to spend our hard earned money once again on the Villa! Will be our first home league match of the season as due to work and study commitments (and the team being more shit than usual) taking priority so would love nothing more than to get a much needed win! However I'm far from confident, I'm predicting a 1-1 with us to score first early on, a second half Watford equaliser and a nervy ending with us holding on for a point.

We really need to win but I'm going for a 1-1 draw I hope I'm wrong and we get the three points.

Joppe... Not Gestede. He's done nothing to convince me he's a premier league player. Play Kozak and Ayew together, Gil behind and keep the rest of the team the same... except for Richardson. I'd play ABR there! Anyone but Richardson.

Me neither tbf. I was probably the first person on here to conclude he wasn't a Premier League player, but he's unfortunately the best bet we got for a targetman.

I'd rather play with Ayew and Gil wide than a narrow "in the hole" tactic, simply cause we need to. When we utilize our flanks we relieve so much pressure off the team, I'd say Ayew and Gil out wide is mandatory.